I am a terrible blogger!

Every single day when I'm plodding along at work I think- must update that blog of mine tonight! But every night I get a massive case of the CBFs and go to bed. Haha.
SO what have you missed?

A bit of this:

Aand this:

Oh, aaaand this!:

YEAH! THATS RIGHT BABY! 10.8kgs GONE FOREVER in 6 WEEKS.
Woh.
I never expected this, I don't think its really sunk in how far I've come. I do however fit into size 14 work skirt now.. from SES. My old work skirts were a size 18 from Crossroads. Wow.

I've also noticed how much happier I am nowadays. I catch myself with a smile on my face 24/7, I feel like I'm finally getting out there and enjoying my life and appreciating every aspect of it. My work performance has improved considerably, I no longer get that 2pm slump that I used to need a red bull or coffee to get through. I'm more focused, I work faster and I do my best to keep everyone in high spirits.

I've conquered spin class, its killing me, but I'm burning about 750 cals per sesh, and I'm determined not to plateau anytime soon. I've got my fingers crossed to lost 10 more kilos for this round.
Anything is possible!
People at work are already calling me skinny minny, apparently I don't look my weight? Ha. So god knows what they'll be calling me when I'm at a healthy BMI level.

So thats basically a vey quick bunch of highlights from the past few weeks, I promise to be more regular in the future!!

Exhausted.

Phew. Week 3 is definitely shaping up to be a tough one. 

Weigh in this morning:

Woohooo :D 

So thats a pretty big positive this week. Can't believe that I'm already more a third of the way to my goal weight for this round!

Monday was off to a cracking start, completed my first normal cardio sesh with my HRM and burnt just over 500 cals in 45 mins. So gooood. How did I ever train without it?!

Tuesday I slept in, awaking at 6:05am (the time my train leaves). I decided to do pump class on my lunch break instead, but man oh man did it throw my whole routine out. Work was hectic, but not as hectic as North Sydney Finess First at lunch! I could barely change without elbowing someone in the boob, it was so packed. Yuck. I felt lethargic all morning, hungry after not eating all of my breakfast and just annoyed at myself for sleeping in. I also ended up staying back at work to make up time for my lunch break, so it felt like a really long day. Can't wait for my morning Pump class tomorrow morning, I never thought something that involved waking up at 5.30am would be the highlight of my week.

Today was another dud. I was less then impressed with lunch sadly, rice cakes have never been my thing. I'd much rather have one nice piece of bread or muffin as opposed to four, bland pieces of cardboard. Food that I don't enjoy always puts a downer on my mood, especially if I've prepared it myself, so I had a pretty shitty afternoon. I found myself starving, as I'd only picked at lunch,but was conscious of  eating at the right time to tide me over for my gym sesh. 

Now, this is the biggest downer on my day......

I MISSED TRAINING :( :( :(

Around 4pm today, almost the entire Cityrail network went down due to someone attempting to cause self harm at a major station. Trains came back up just in time for peakhour, but there were extensive warnings about major delays and overcrowding etc. etc. Now, normally, this wouldn't be an issue for me, fine, I'll get home a little late blah blah. BUT. Today, of all days, I left my phone at home. Now I'm not exactly a savvy public transport person. I get on the train, I get off the train, but any more then that and I panic. Especially in crowded peak hour. In fact Monday night, my train terminated suddenly at Strathfield due to another suicide, and I almost had a panic attack. Luckily my boyfriend talked me through and came to pick me up. So the thought of travelling on an altered train schedule, with no phone and thus no security was completely nerve racking.

This combined with my complete exhaustion caused me to ditch the training and go straight home.

I don't regret it, I know that I've been pushing things quite severely with work, sleep and food, so things had to falter at some point. The most important thing now is that this doesn't become a habit, which I'm sure it won't. I still feel determined through my exhaustion.

I have a few red flags coming up. Saturday I'm going to be at Future Music Festival allll day. I won't be drinking alcohol (a first for me), and it'll be a fairly active day, and from memory, food is usually hard to get a hold off due to crowds, so I might even be under calories for the day. You can't BYO food or drinks which is a shame. My main concern is dehydration. Sundays definitely going to be a kill-yourself-on-the-X-trainer-day to make up for all my missed sessions this week. 

The weekend after I'll be on annual leave (THANK GOD) and on a mini break in Nelsons Bay (no gym :S) so I'll need to do some serious planning to make sure I'm getting exercise in. 

I'll keep you posted on plans, any holiday workout ideas will be much appreciated though! At the mo, I'm thinking about getting a Mish DVD and do a little of that to keep up.

Anyway, bed is calling. Good night lovelies! x x

Oops, Catch up time!

So clearly I need to pull the reign in on this whole blog thing. Haha.
I had an exhausting, but ultimately fulfilling week. Even now, after a good nights sleep last night I feel pretty exhausted. I'm not complaining though, I know its just my body adjusting to this new lifestyle and increased activity, nap times over body! I definitely prefer exhaustion to lethargy.

A few highlights:
- Completing my first Body Combat class in 2 years for my first SSS! Smashed it! Hated seeing myself in the mirrors at the front, but forced the thought of a slim toned me punching the air instead kept me going. I did Body Combat again today for my SSS, and wearing my shiny new FT7 HRM, I burned just over 800 cals!! WOW!!!

- Survived family lunch at the RSL last Sunday, resisted the Salt and Pepper Squid as well as hot chips. So pleased.

- Made all of my gym sessions count this week. Upped my weights in Body Pump again. I'm now back at weights that I was using back in my Body Pump prime. Pretty sure I can do better now! Did some extra hill workouts on the cross trainer with all my fitness workouts this week. I enjoy it way more then the treadmill, its easier on my feet and knees, plus I seem to burn more calories on it.

- I lost 1.8kgs this week. Bringing my grand total to 5.1kgs gone. Completely chuffed! Its so refreshing to know that I'm finally treating my body right. I feel content, proud and excited.

- The comments are starting to flow! I walked into work on Monday and my manager remarked that I looked like I'd slimmed down. Everyone at work has been really encouraging, and I think some of them might be thinking about doing Round 2. Chain reaction, haha. As well as that, I've noticed that quite a few of my work shirts are getting noticably baggy around the midsection. I'm a pear, so I've lost most of the weight on my belly, thank god. I don't mind having a bit of curve around the back, but a big tummy was driving me crazy! Of course I still have another 30kgs to lose, but I'm being sure to take note of these small changes too keep me going.

- I can feel my guns again! I'm constantly flexing my arms and tensing my thighs to see how toned my muscles are getting. Love it!

-Another week of amazing foods, and my stomach is finally shrinking down to portion size. Apart from a mishap with the servings of the pumpkin red curry, I think I'm doing really, really well with food. The only thing I need to work on is snacks. At work I tend to starve myself a bit til lunch or dinner. I know this is no good, and I simply need snacks to make up my calories. I'm going to make sure I include snacks in my shopping list, then there'll be no excuse!

Except for the exhaustion, there haven't really been any lowlights this week. And I'm planning to fight energy dips with vitamins. Recommendations appreciated!

Alright team, hopefully I'll update a little more regularly this week..

Lots of love x x x

Day 5

Haaappy Friday Blog!
Had a pretty great day, tried yoga for the first time today and loved it! I was having a pretty stressful morning so it was the perfect day to take a break at 1 and just stretch all the stress away.
I was surprised at how much some of the poses hurt, I can feel my abs ache every time I move which is good. The lesson flew by, and I especially enjoyed the meditation phase. What a fantastic way to lead into the weekend.
I was a little disappointed with lunch today (Cranberry and Turkey wrap).. it just didn't do it for me. I ended up buying a skinny mango smoothie from Boost after lunch for a snack, so I felt a little more satisfied then.
Dinner was almost a disaster. I'd roasted my sweet potato and preapred my capsicum for the pita pizzas, only to discover that my packet of pitas was completely full of yucky mould. Ughh. Luckily I had two small white pitas leftover from Boyfriends pizzas.
Really can't wait to inherit Mums big tuckerbox freezer. We have a tiny fridge to cater for myself, boyfriend and our housemate. Its getting a bit tight. I'm forever throwing out bread because of mould. Yuck yuck yuck.

Played Biggest Loser on Wii for most of the evening and burned a surprising 200ish more calories. The box fit exercises get pretty intense. Still hanging to buy Zumba fo Kinect though. I may never leave the house again. Lol.

Plan for Super Saturday:
10:30am. Body Combat Class.
11:00-12pm. C25K. Bike program. Xtrainer sprints.
Lunch.
Fitness test (eek!) Hopefully won't be to exhausted for it!
Ahh can't wait. Really keen to just push myself tomorrow. I know I need to up the bar a little, some of the 12WBTers in the forums are doing crazy amounts of exercise! Such great encouragement's.

Sweet dreams x x

Day 3/4

So clearly not into the daily swing of things yet. :P
Well good news! Weighted in yesterday morning and I was....
98 KILOES!! Woohoo! 3.3 Kiloes gone! Such an incredible resort for such a short space of time, can' t wait for the next 11 weeks!
Apart from that, I've had a good couple of days. Had a great cardio workout yesterday afternoon- loosely followed Mish's exercise plan, 5 mins warm up, C25K session week 1 and then a 10 minute hill program on the bike. I'm feeling really great about the C25K program. I was actually surprised about how focused I am when running, I think I actually got into the zone yesterday! I'm keen to get a HRM from polar next week, I'm not burning near enough calories, I need to figure out what my benchmark is for Cardio.
Up early again this morning for a body pump class. Upped my weights again as I still don't think I'm pushing hard enough. My train was late this morning, so I ended up right in front of the instructor.. talk about awkward! I also had to stare at my own groggy reflection the whole class ugh! Haha.
The food has of course been wonderful.. I think a goal for next week is too work on my snacks a bit more. I've just been having some apple or crackers with vegemite. Bit bland really.Though today I hardly felt hungry until home time, so maybe my stomachs finally shrinking?! Yay!
I bought an awesome pair of scales today from Aldi for $9.99. I'm a girl who loves her bargains ;)

Looking forward to Yoga tomorrow! It'll be my first session ever. A friend from work was supposed to go with me, but he's suspiciously off work tomorrow. Hmmmmm. Anyway, hopefully I don't embarrass myself to obscenely. I'm a bit excited.
OH in other news, my boyfriend bought a xBox with Kinect today! It's really fun... I'm planning on buying Zumba for it when I get paid so that I can do thissss:

Of course, I know games like this don't count as a full workout, but it'll be interesting to see how much you burn just from doing them. Theres lots of jumping and running on the spot etc etc.

Week two's menu plan looks fabulous, I'm particularly looking forward to the prawns and the two desserts. Nomnonmnonmnonmnom.

Anyway, bed awaits.

Night xx

Day 1/2

Well now that the uncomfortable first blog is out of he way, I think I'll reflect on the past couple of days.

I went to bed Sunday night so, so excited for day 1. I prepared my delicious carrot tabouli sunday night in preparation for Monday lunch. I've been enjoying this new ritual already. Lunch for me used to be a footlong from subway ("healthy") or some thai takeaway from my favourite shop (thai's low fat right? lol). Occasionally I'd take in leftovers, but nothing that required too much effort or inconvenienced me.
Making these beautiful lunches over the past two days has already given me such joy. I love cooking. Especially if the foods tasty. I can already tell that food is what I'm going to excel at.

Monday night I went to spin, the second one I've attended at my new gym. Now, I did this class about a month ago and hated it. It made me sick, I felt like I was the largest person there.. everyone else was athletic and beautiful looking. The instructor was a brash man, and at my breaking point I felt like running up to his little platform and ripping is head off! I honestly couldn't keep up with the rest of the class and felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a terrible experience, and even though I felt a great rush of endorphins afterwards, I still felt upset at my lack of fitness and my inability to keep up.
Monday, I had the exact same experience! I don't know what I'd though would change, as since that initial class I'd only done a few Pump classes. I felt so down about the whole thing. How did I let myself get to this level of fitness?
I got up early this morning and did a 7am Pump class as therapy. I upped my weights in every track and worked really hard.
I've resolved that I'm going to stick to Mishs excersise plans, as I clearly need a bit more work then I thought at first. I've done one session of the C25K program and plan to do day 2 tomorrow, so I'm hoping that thats a direction that helps me keep pushing my boundaries my own way. In hindsight, I think my keen-ness to do classes everyday was me wanting to take an easy way out. Classes meant that I'd have someone else there pushing me, telling me what to do, how hard to go. But I think its important for me to start taking responsibility, to regain my focus and actually earn that hot body that I'm striving for.
So heres to tomorrow! A new day!

Obligatory first post..

Hello avid blog reader.
So I've decided that I really need to start a blog to better map my progress. I don't believe that seeing the kilos drop off each week will be enough for me to maintain my new healthy lifestyle. I also want to look back at my blog as a 65kg version of myself to see how far I've come!
So a bit about me, I initially wrote this a few weeks before the 12WBT started as part of a pre season task;


My names Erin, I'm 19 and currently have a most unsatisfactory BMI.
I currently live and work in Sydney as an Administrator for an Insurance company. Even though I'm only 19 I've already gotten into a yo yo pattern with my weight. I joined my first gym when I was 17 and loved it, I lost about 30 kilos through their in house weight loss program and felt amazing, inside and out. My weight started to pile on when I turned 18 and trekked off to university to study fine arts. My alcohol intake increased, my sleeping patterns became disjointed and my student budget led to cheap nasty foods. I was stressed and miserable, the university lifestyle was definitely not for me.
I quit uni last year in pursuit of a real job in the real world. For the first 6 months of my job I lived on the coast, 2 hours each way on the train. Those months of commuting took their final toll on my body- I was constantly exhausted and ill and completely unmotivated. I cancelled my gym membership, and essentially gave up.

Thankfully though, I moved to Sydney a few months ago and feel like its time to take control of my life again..
I've joined a new gym near work with a butt load of classes and I'm already making efforts to eat more vegies and less hot chips (my weakness). I'm sleeping more, exercising more and now have more time to love my life.


A friend at work got me onto the 12 Week Body Transformation. I'm hoping that through this program I can kickstart my weight loss and start building my life the way it should be. I'm so excited to get started and get back to that 17 year old Erin who was healthy, happy and motivated. 


Thats a brief history.. stay tuned for more!


Love x x