Inspiration Board

Week 2's weekly task was to create an Inspiration or Vision Board - one to help keep the focus of the goals set for the round.

I love this kinda task - it screams creative flare, which let's face it - I ooze right......???....well ok maybe I just "drip" creative flare - but I was keen to get it down none the less :)

 

Let's take a walk through

· Top left hand corner - This is me after my first Round of Lean and Strong - I felt fantastic when I looked at my comparison pictures and realised how far I had come in 12 weeks - I live for that feeling again!!

· JFDI - what else gets you up at 3am for training??

· I choose to make the REST of my life the BEST of my life - no more moaning and complaining about the things that I do not have - Time to go get 'em!!

· Weight in Wednesdays - 10 more to go before the end of the round - My focus is time round is those scales and meeting the goals I have set forth

· THAT finale dress - the one I never bought for the Perth Finale - the one I only ever dreamed of looking good in....it WILL be mine for this finale!!

· I really must take pride in how far I have come instead of always focusing on how far it seems I have to go

· My family - of course!! We are super heroes - I want so much to make my husband proud, to show my children how to live a HAPPY, HEALTHY life filled with self love and self worth.

· My Fav picture of me and Mish!! My hero – my lifeline!!

· Be the best version on myself – oh absolutely!! This is what it is ALL about!

· Willpower – boy will I need to be flexing my will power muscle this round throughout the Christmas Season – I can DO IT!!

· Don’t stop until you’re proud!! – I have stopped many times before – it’s my fall back move – “this time” I will NOT ever give up until I can stand in the mirror proud!

·  She Believed she could and she did – I will get nowhere near achievement of my goals without believing that I will be a success!

·  I am forever comparing myself to others – it really is a joy stealer!! – My journey, My results, My way!!

· Tri Like a Girl – I am going to complete the Pink Triathlon in April – this round I will work on my fitness to make that goal a reality

· No Excuses!! Self explanatory!!

· And of course – My Oxygen Magazine Entry next October into the Covergirl Competition!

 

 

 

DOcember

My Sister-in-Law gave me a great idea – in finishing NOvember I should DOcember!!!

I love it!! (and not just because I get excited about stickers)

 In December I am going to:

·         Do each and every one of my scheduled Training sessions

·         Do clean eating - 1200cal Cap!!

·         Do the Christmas Season festivities whilst FOLLOWING  the 12wbt Christmas plan

·         Do a loss on the scales EVERY week – even over the dreaded Christmas Period

·         Do a meditation session every day even if it’s only for 5 minutes - 5 minutes to focus on my centre and my positivity is NOT unreasonable!!

·         Do the “Mean Abs Challenge” that I say I’m going to do and never successfully complete!! (yay more stickers!)

 Bring on some more positive self-talk and positive results for the month ahead!!

 

 

Good-bye NOvember

30 days of clean eating with no sugar and no rubbish food, no excuses, following the plan, sticking to 1200 calories, no negative self talk and no regrets!!

 I did it!!

 2 slips ups – 1 choc chip cookie on a night shift – No excuses – just did the wrong thing and 1 extra afternoon snack and bread roll at dinner on a camping trip last weekend – clean but over the 1200cal.

 I am super proud that I made it 28 days out of 30 – the negative, nasty mole sits on my shoulder and scalds me for the slip ups but the new positive, more accepting, kinder version of myself is patting me on the back!!

Like a child I placed my stickers on my Calendar before bed every night to symbolise my success at getting through the day without compromising my goals and it sounds funny, but it actually works!!

 From the 1^st to the 30^th of the month I lost 1.6kg but most importantly I have lost that crutch on sugar I was using to get through the days – and that little bonus is immeasurable. 

 

I will most definitely keep up the stickers for December and take myself through the silly season with further losses on the scales!!!

Heavy Lifting

A Lean and Fit Tuesday looks a little like any old day of Lean and Strong - Leg presses, shoulder presses, chest presses, biceps and triceps, lunges and burpees - just to name a few!!

"No Problems - I'll be all over this" I thought to myself having missed the feeling of strength training lately - But I forgot one teeny tiny element.....the "Ladies" area of the gym is closed off after hours and I got there at 4am.... So what?? So, when I'm hitting the cardio, I don't really care who is around me, but when it comes to the weights area.....I kinda do...actually, as it turns out, I really do!

I am not comfortable lifting in front of men who are straping 20kg weight plates to their ankles while slamming out pull ups off the cage!! It was such a reality check because I used to be absolutely comfortable in there after a round of Lean and Strong..... but after leaving all the heavy lifting out of my training for months and months (and gaining 5kg), I went stright back to that intimated, shy, insecure, unsure, fat girl, in the weights room.  Oh how I wish the ladies area opened before 530am - I had to be home by 530!!!

I found myself hiding about the place, taking my weights to different areas of the gym to hide myself and my insecurites away from the grunting and the slamming and the high fiving happening in the scary grey jungle of the main weights room!!!

But I did it - I did every bit of what was asked of me, I got up at 345am, I hid away in a corner and I got the job done!!  I am well prepared for the DOMS that will surely await me - and seeing as though I am working tonight, into the wee hours of the morning, I am sure I will feel the progression of the aches and pains long before I hit the hay. 

I'm sure that as I start to lose weight and get stronger, I may gain some more confidence in the Grey Jungle - Bring it on!!!



My arms were shaking too much, post workout, to get a clear shot of the grey jungle!!

Week 1 Day 1

Alarm set for 4am - Check!
Training gear by the front door - Check!
HRM located and ready - Check!
After Hours Gym Key - Check!
Positive Attitude - Check!
Training plan written out - Check!
H20 bottle filled - check!

Ok I'm ready!!

I smashed up my first day of Round 2 with a HUGE 1013 Calorie burn!!!

I parked myself at the gym and walked to my start point of 1km of flat ground to complete my time trial for the fitness test!

I started the clock and sprinted for my life.....well lucky my life wasn't in real jeopardy because I felt myself slowing, after about a minute….I stopped the clock at the 1km mark with a time of 5min and 4sec.

 

This is slower than my last time trial – but the first of this round, so its onwards and upwards from here.

 
I walked up the MASSIVE hill back to the gym and I smashed out my Lean and Fit Training session from start to finish.  My HRM was showing a burn of 850 something calories – too close to 1000 to leave  now!!

 

I climbed up onto my stair master – always there for me in need of a fast calorie burn – and smashed out 10min to climb my way (literally) to the 1000 mark!!

 
Feeling good!!!

 

Home for some Apple Muesli (thanks Mish – I loved it!!) and on with my Day.

 

A relaxing pampering session with Miss 3 and a meditation session to boot, to focus my energy, think positive thoughts and to take much important time for me!!

 

Today I have set the pace for a round where I will try harder, go further and eat cleaner and relax more – I am excited about the things to come and the results I know I will achieve!!

 

 

 

No More Excuses - JFDI !!

Week one is finally here!!!

 

I have been preparing my mind, my kitchen, my diary, my life - ready for the start of the round and it is finally here.

 

Re-visiting my Pre-Season tasks was quite confronting – Setting goals is always fun, I enjoy thinking about what I can realistically achieve, Saying it out loud – is something I find easy, Kitchen makeover was quite unremarkable, I also enjoy diarising and planning, so that was great too – but Getting Real…. That was the task I was dreading the most – confronting my excuses, laying them out on the table and really facing them in order to conquer them – that bit can be a bit tough.

 

Excuses are such a crutch! We’ve all got them – we all carry a bag of excuses around with us, ready to pluck one out when we’re faced with something that we should do, that we maybe don’t want to do.  Last week I used every excuse in the book to get out of my training from “My Friend doesn’t want to come with me” to “My husband stole my early morning training spot” to “I didn’t get a good enough sleep last night”, what about “The round doesn’t start until Monday” or “Sunday is a rest day” – HELLO!! Not if you haven’t trained for most of the week it isn’t!!!

 

When in reality – I was coughing up excuses left right and centre because I was in yet another funk – my head spiralling with self-doubt and fear and that nasty little voice telling me that I’m only setting myself up for disappointment beginning this program again!! Useless mole that voice is!!! So the excuses came flying – sad thing is I didn’t believe a single one of them – I was just throwing them out there because I didn’t want to do the work.

 

So if I didn’t want to go to work would I phone up and say “Sorry, I didn’t get enough sleep last night” or “My husband isn’t home, I can’t leave the kids in the house by themselves, so I’ve just gone back to Bed”???!!! NO! I wouldn’t – there is NO WAY that I would throw an untrue excuse out there to avoid going to work – that would let down my peers, my colleagues, my patients and the company – it’s a no brainer. So why do I easily allow my excuses to stop me for working for me???

 

No more excuses!!!

 

I will train 6 days a week, I will keep these appointments that I have made with myself, I am important, I need to respect to myself more and do what it takes – I go to work because I enjoy it and because I get paid – I train because I enjoy it and the payOFF is the hot bod that I will achieve in 12 weeks time!!



Is it hard work - absolutely!! Can I do it - ansolutely!!

So this is what I'll tell my mole self if she tries to stop me from training - If you wouldn't use this excuse to get out of going to work - get your butt up and out and JFDI!!

 

 

 

 

 

Hello NO vember

I am so excited about this month – this month where I am taking back control of my life, my nutrition and my training regime!!

I have been letting my negative self- talk and crazy work hours determine what I put in my mouth and when I get my arse into the gym – but NO vember will see me saying “No” to the sugary treats and the sleep ins that have become oh too normal lately.

This month I commit to….

As well as  NO going over 1200calories a day  

 and          NO skipping out on My Fitness Pal

 

I have re-signed up for the next round of Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation.  And in the coming days I will set forth my pre-season tasks that are going to see me set some goals and really look at all the excuses I have been using lately – my work schedule has been HUGE over the last 2 months – long long shifts through the night, followed by busy busy days on VERY little sleep – I have been letting all of my old excuses creep back in – so it’ll be great re-focus and re-train my brain into telling my body all the right things to do to see me smash my goals.

 

I am going to put a little sticker on my calendar every night before I go to bed  - it seems a little childish, but I tell you, it feels good to have a little merrit system in place to reward myself for eating clean and training hard.

I feel good, I feel in control - winning!!

 

 

Starting Over

Dear Persevering Girl,

It might not look like it, it might not seem like it, but that BIG THING that you are working on that you have been working on for SO LONG, that you have put your heart and soul and wishes as prayers into, it really is happening. It might be going slower than you want it to go, but it IS HAPPENING.

Be inside of THIS PART of the journey today. What will happen when you get there? To that place you are working to be?

Once you are there, you will look back and wish you would have savored each moment of getting there, because there's so much fabulousness wrapped up inside of every step of difficult, long journeys. So many lessons, so many miracles, so many new and wonderful people that show up exactly when they are supposed to show up. So many tears and hard days. So much FEELING.

 

You can't REALLY feel the good stuff unless you know what the bad stuff feels like. Good days feel SOOOOO beautiful after a string of really hard days, don't they? You sure wouldn't appreciate them as much had you not had that string of difficulty. Life is so cool that way.

Keep going. Don't you DARE give up. You are closer than you know. Look around and see just how far you've come.

You are absolutely phenomenal. And THAT is the truth.

 
 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

 

What a wonderful way to start my new blog, a friend posted this on Facebook today - It was just perfect!!

 

It was like she found it and posted it just for me!

That "Big" thing I have been working on that I have been working on for SO LONG, "that I have put my heart and soul and wishes" into.... is really only just becoming BIG again... Truth is - I gave up - I thew in the towel - not because I wanted to, not because I stopped dreaming of the body of my dreams, not because I no longer wished to be lean and strong - it was simply because I let my weaker self beat me.  I let my weaker self talk me into believing that it wasn't working, that it wasn't worth it, that I'd never achieve my goals so what's the point??!!

 

Where do you think that got me?? A BIG FAT NOWHERE!! That's where. Giving up on something that I had been so focused on, so driven toward for so long was a BIG mistake - but one that I have thankfully managed to learn from.

 

 

For 2 whole months I ignored my better self (who was still was trying desperately to talk the weaker side into not giving up) and I ignored my healthy eating program (ok, so both sides were kinda excited about all the extra chocolate) and I ignored all the life lessons I had incorporated into my daily life so that I could focus of self pitty and self-destructive thinking patterns - sounds fun doesn't it!!?? Well is wasn't.  The shame and disgust that it brought out in me was all too familiar and oh so disappointing as I swore that I had left that all behind me 12 months ago!!

 

Not only did it bring back the mind of a person I thought I left behind, it also brought back the body of the person who lacked self control, disipline and self respect. 

 

Starting in September last year I turned my life around, in 8 months I managed to achieve this....

 

 
And then in a few short months I managed to do this....
 

 

So - am I back to square 1?? No - absolutely not, but most days it feels like I am.  I have put on an easy 5kg and my new focus is shredding that off (and then some) to sculpt the body that I have dared to dream of.

 

I promised to be focused and lose it in September - and September came and went with a kilo loss here, a kilo gain there, up, down, round and round - I was training maybe 3 days a week instead of 6 and I was eating "clean" maybe 3 or 4 out of 7 - just enough to keep things all the same.

 

So October 11th is here and I have had 11 days of clean eating and constant training which has seen me lose 1.2kg already in this time.  I am focused, I am committed and I am Blogging again!!! Hooray!!

 

 

When I threw in the towel with my training regime and my healthy eating lifestyle, I also threw in my ability to up lift, to find the positives in every day, that I used to write about in my Blog. When I blog, I am forced to find the light in every day, in every situation to share - no one wants to read self-loathing dribble - how depressing!! (Which is what I have been). So I know that blogging again will help me feel as light as it used to, as inspiring as I once felt and lets me share the GOOD - there is always GOOD!!

 

I have called this blog "from faking it to making it" because I really feel like for the last few months I have been totally faking it!! Too ashamed to let people know what was going on with me - still talking the talk - but absolutely not walking the walk!! Time to put the advice I give out to others into place in my own life - to once again start living my BEST life!!

 

I feel a little like this is my time - that I had to fall in a heap and scramble backwards in order to find my way again.

 

 

 
Better, Faster, Stronger from here!! Looking forward to the re-building!!

Xx