Cravings!

Eeek I'm battling some huge hormonal cravings and mood swings this week! Yesterday I got sooo hungry after lunch that I had to bring the next two meals forward. Found a little easter egg chocolate in my desk drawer at work the other day, and wouldn't you know it, it made its way into my tummy this afternoon. aaaaggggghhhhrrrr! Naughty naughty me! Apart from this I have been doing well this week.

Trained back and biceps on Tuesday, felt good because I increased some of my weights and felt pretty strong. I still feel like I'm lifting 'baby weights' sometimes and I want to lift heavier! I always lift to failure, but sometimes it feels like my progress is agonisingly slow! I know that everyone is different, and what's heavy for me may be fairly easy for someone else (and vice versa) but I want to be stronger!!!! Patience, patience!!!

This morning was freezing again - 5 degrees! Thats just a prelude for next week when I go to Melbourne. Then I'll know what winter is all about. This morning before 7am I went out to the garden to water our 25 new plants (in my still-damp gym clothes), and when I came in I felt like my hands had frostbite - they felt like chunks of ice! lol! And its not even winter yet!!!!

Yesterday I had coffee with Rae and Jadey before Rae left to go home. It was so lovely to get a bit of time to catch up with them away from all the excitement of the comp. Tried to get a couple of photos but unfortunately my camera batteries kept going flat... grrrrrr!!!!! Rae had to take a photo with her phone. Both Rae and Jadey are absolutely gorgeous girls, and as lovely as I thought they would be!!!! I'm so happy that I got to spend a little time with them before Rae left, and hopefully Jadey and I can catch up more often, now that we know each other!

Anyway, time for me to start dinner I guess!

Other people and things can stop you temporarily. You're the only one who can do it permanently. Zig Ziglar

Saw my first comp!

Here's Jadey, Rae, me and Splice at the comp yesterday! I felt so short! (and I'm not really that short!)

Well yesterday I watched my first ever comp... and it was fantastic!! I got to finally meet Rae, Jadey, Bella, Splice and Andrea! Rae looked absolutely stunning and gorgeous up on that stage, so graceful and totally at ease with sooooo many other girls! It was such a big field!! (I think there were 14 competitors). We all made as much noise as we could to cheer her on! Well done Rae - I think you were amazing, and such an inspiration!

It was quite a long show, I only stayed up until intermission at 4pm, and the show started at 10.30am. So I didn't get to see any of the NABBA stuff (all the WFF classes were on first), but unfortunately I had things to do (like do all my cooking of lunches for the week, put a roast chicken on, do some ironing of work clothes... the usualy Sunday stuff).

It was so cool to meet the girls. I felt a bit strange saying to my BF that I was off to this comp and meeting "some friends from the internet" - sounds a bit shady you know! But I was so happy to meet such a great group of like-minded women, and all such lovely people too! :)

The downside to going to the comp was the fact that I didn't drink all my water, and my meals were all out of whack. Never mind, it was so inspiring to see all those buff bodies up on stage - at the gym this morning I couldn't stop thinking about how fit everyone looked, and how hard I needed to work lol!

I'm going to catch up with Rae and Jadey tomorrow before Rae catches her plane... lucky I've got a great boss!

My plans to NOT have a free meal didn't eventuate... my free meal consisted of cheese and crackers, and 3 glasses of white wine (eeeek). I normally drink red wine, but I went with white this time for a change. It gave me the worst headache, and of course all that cheese wasnt a good idea either. Actually felt really gross and horrible afterwards. Will I ever learn?

Next Sunday I'm off to Melbourne for two weeks for work (well I'm coming home for the long weekend in the middle) so my schedule will be all out of kilter, again! At least I get to stay at a hotel that has a gym, but eating on plan can be a bit of a challenge. I have to take lots of food with me, otherwise I tend to make unwise choices. Not sure how I'm going to cope with the cold weather, I'm definetely going to take my scarf and beanie!

Ok well I've rambled on enough I guess. I'm still on such a buzz from yesterday! Have a great week everyone!

6 Degrees

It was 6 degrees in ol' Brisbane town when I went to gym this morning... brrrrr.... not used to these icy temperatures! Woke up when the alarm went off, stuck my toe out and thought "ooooooooh I dont wanna get up!". So I slept in 15 mintues, finally dragged my butt out of bed - of all days to have gotten shorts out to wear, I had to pick today! lol! But its all good, when I got there I soon warmed up.

Did 45 minutes of cardio (including 20 mins of jogging, I seem to have lost some of my jogging stamina) but could NOT stop thinking about breakfast during my cardio - so hungry! I had one of those mornings where I just thought "Gawd I'm just not in the mood for this today..." - sad but true. I stuck it out though. Rewarded myself with a steaming bowl of oats with protein powder and diet strawberry jam - yummy!

Tomorrow is legs, better get a good night sleep tonight, my mission is to have jelly legs tomorrow when I leave the gym. So I need to work HARD and concentrate on doing some nice slow, deep squats (although not too deep as I'm still scared I'm going to hurt my knee again). I have to go to work early on Friday so I may have to do my chest and triceps at home. Bummer. We have lots of weights at home, but I hate training at home. The dumbells are spin-lock ones, so it takes a while to get the weight set up, and for some reason I just cant get into training at home. Its not the people at the gym I miss (I dont talk to many people when I go to the gym) I think it might be the confinement of the small room or something. Anyway... I ramble.

Not that I really watch it, or follow NRL, but GO QUEENSLAND in the State of Origin tonight!

I'm shrinking...

I'm shrinking...

...in the chest department! lol! BF doesn't think its very funny though! (me neither actually)
First time I did a programme with Sue I lost some 'fullness' in the chest but stayed the same size essentially, but now its time to go buy some more bras I think, I've shrunk a whole size! Boohoo!! Oh well, one of the prices you have to pay I guess when you're shrinking your booty. ;-)~

Strangely enough, during my last challenge i lost weight/bodyfat from my FINGERS.... my skinny little FINGERS of all places!! I'm one of those people who wear a chunky ring on each finger and all my rings keep falling off. Now my fingers just look skeletal. What a dumb place to lose it, you'd think it would come off my butt or legs or something, but no, face, chest, fingers.... grrr

Sooo hungry today - had a lovely chicken and vegetable soup for lunch, which had rice in it for my carbs, but I'm still hungry. Its nice when your metabolism kicks in, but its not nice to be feeling so hungry that you cant think about much else! Got a HUGE bottle of mustard on the weekend - that should last a while!

Trained shoulders this morning, and then had 25min HIIT. Need to work off some of those carbs I had on my free meal. Bleugh I still feel heavy. I think I'm going to have to go without a free meal this weekend, it always ends up making me feel yuk and bloated, and I feel like it takes me half the week to lose the kilo that it makes me put on. I always overeat. Perhaps I'll just have a glass of wine as my free meal, and just eat as normal. I can handle that!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. - Elaine Maxwell

Congrats to Rae!!

A big congratulations to Rae for winning her comp!!! Woohoo well done girl, you deserve every success!! Rae was such a big inspiration to me when I started on my own fitness journey - awesome job!

This weekend has gone so fast! I'm pleased to say that I've had a fantastic week this week. I had my free meal last night. Have to say though, I certainly didn't enjoy my meal that much... its always the same, I build up the free meal, get excited about it, and then I end up not enjoying it that much.

The wine was yum though.... one and a half glasses! After two sips I could feel the alcohol coursing through my muscles, hehehe I'm such a cheap drunk!

But today after my spurge meal, my weight has gone up one whole kilo. Why does one free meal make my scale weight go up so much?

Not been sleeping too well this week... well I had about 4 hours on Wednesday night, so when the alarm went off I dragged my sorry arse out of bed and went and did a less than energetic leg workout. Hmmmm - doing legs when I'm tired always makes me feel nervous, my strength is depleted, my motivation is depleted, so I'm always scared to lift heavy. So sadly I didn't leave the gym with jelly legs, but my butt and hamstrings were sore on Friday, so I must have done something right.

I made up for the sleep on Friday night though - 10 hours - heavenly! It was just the best sleep ever. If only I could have that every night. I average about 5 hours a night. Not really enough I know.

No walking this weekend, we've been too busy unfortunately. I have done all my housework, groceries, my cooking for the week is done, plus all the washing and ironing is done, dog food is chopped, so all I need to do now is to start preparing tonights dinner and prepare my gym diary for next weeks workouts, and I'm all done!

Here's to another fantastic week!

Another day done and dusted

Well I've had another fabulous day in terms of training and nutrition. Did an hour of cardio this morning which had me absolutely dripping by the time I was done... I was actually embarrassed by the amount of sweat I was producing, like I was wiping my face every minute because it was just running in rivers down my face. Gross huh?!!!! Felt good though!

Eats were great - my metabolism has definetely picked up this week, I am constantly hungry! I have increased my veges and salad portion in the last few days because I'm STARVING! You should have seen the size of my salad tonight, hehehe it was huge! No matter, it was mostly iceberg lettuce, with onion, capsicum, cucumber and cherry tomatoes on top...

AND--- disaster--- I have almost run out of mustard! Well, the bottle is currently upside down in the fridge in order to get every last drop out of it. On Saturday I'm buying the mega bottle. :) I need a life LOL!

Scott and his mate are watching the Mundine vs Green fight tonight, and they are pigging out on McFlurrys right now. I quite proudly said "No thanks" when I was offered one. I have no desire for ice cream at the moment, or wine actually.

Paid for my ticket to go watch the All Female Classic in Melbourne today!! I have also booked my flights, and organised my accomodation with Alison and Kerry... I am so excited! I cant wait to meet everyone!

"If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning is not very exciting."- Anonymous

A great start to the week

Woohoo I'm feeling great today! Not sure why, as I had to go back to work today, and it was a pretty full-on, intense kind of day. I had one of those days where the phone would ring, then while I was sorting out that problem someone would come and stand at the door waiting to tell me about another problem, then more emails would come through about more problems, then the mobile would ring... you get the picture.

But I'm feeling pretty good tonight. Dinner tonight will be fish and salad - with lots of American Mustard of course - lol! Another reason I'm feeling good is that although I had a terrible day at work, I DONT feel like having a glass of wine, which is usually the first thing I want after a bad day. Actually I'm feeling very strong-willed and determined at the moment, and I'm glad to be back in that place!

I'm happy to report that I completed a 60 minute powerwalk on Saturday, and took the dogs for a 30min walk yesterday. Didn't eat as clean as I would have liked on the weekend. On Saturday night I had half a bottle of wine and potatoes and pasta salad with dinner. And on Sunday I had a glass of wine and some fruit salad with a dollop of ice cream for Mothers Day. Anyway, putting that behind me now and I'm ready to get on with having a fabulous week!

Today was great, I was up and out of bed earlier than normal, so as a consequence I got to the gym before the doors opened (love that feeling - its like you get SOOOOO much more done when you're there a few minutes early) and had a great shoulder workout. And because I was there early I finished my weights earlier than normal, so had a little bit longer to dedicate to HIIT on the cross trainer. Sweat pouring off me... I love my ipod, I increase the intensity level and go as fast as I can in time to the music!! I love being this pumped!

Hope everyone else is having a great day!

Put on weight

Me and my niece last weekend

So... I've put on weight this week - 0.7kg. I got on the scales this morning to be absolutely horrified with what I saw. Ok, so I haven't been totally strict with my diet this week (that for me is the trouble with not being at work, I lack routine), although I have been training hard.

I'm HOPING that the extra weight is due to a delayed response to my 'free-for-all' food weekend last weekend. I'm sure I read somewhere that it takes a week or two for an eating "binge" to have an affect on your body. (although I didn't binge - I just ate lots of sugar!) I hope so. Anyway, time to batten down the hatches, I'm nearly finished week 1 - only 11 weeks to go! Time to make some daily self-promises to myself, and keep them.

Today was productive. My last day of holiday *sob*. I washed and vaccuumed the car, then spent most of the day painting our new shed in the backyard. I'm such a messy painter! I take so much time to be patient and careful, doing all the cutting in nicely, then I look down and I've got big drips of paint up the walls! My hands and nails are all covered in paint now, so looks like its time for a manicure and some fresh nail polish.

Didnt get to take the dogs for a walk this afternoon cos the painting took much longer than I expected, but I will get in a powerwalk tomorrow and Sunday (Sundays might have to be a short one - Mothers' Day). AND I'm going to eat totally clean all weekend, that's a definite!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Before measurements and goals

Ok here it is...

Start date: 8/05/06
Finish date: 31/07/06 (12 weeks)

'Before' stats:

Weight: 56kg

Waist: 67cm
Hips : 90cm
Top of leg: R= 56cm L=55cm
Chest: 89cm

Skinfolds:
Tricep: 9mm
Hip: 8mm
Quad: 15mm

Goals:

• Within 12 weeks I will reduce my hip measurement to 85cm and my wasit to 62cm
• Skinfolds: I will reduce my triceps to 4mm, my hip to 5mm and my quad to 12mm
• I will eat 5 small meals per day
• I will have ONE free choice meal per week
• I will have alcohol at my free choice meal only
• I will drink over 3 litres of water per day
• I will be a comfortable size 8 (rather than a borderline 8-10)
• I will have a defined set of abs
• I will have NO cellulite!

Went to the chiropracter this morning, boy did I need it - you should have heard my neck. After chiro I went to the shops to try to find mum a mothers day present... no luck though. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't there to buy stuff for me!! I did well though, I picked up so many things and I just kept putting them back!

I found these most gorgeous pair of shoes- ... I want them! . I tried them on, walked about in them, and then put them back, how good am I?!! ;-)~

My pink leather ipod case arrived today (bought it off ebay for $0.01 - 1 cent!) so thats another exciting thing! I love new toys!

Anyway, its about time I cleaned my house and did some more washing. I just love being on holidays!

I'm home... and straight back into it

I'm back from our trip to Canberra... it was lovely to see my little niece and nephew again, and how quickly they grow! Its been 6 months since I last saw them and they have changed so much in terms of talking, and developing their own little personalities. Great to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law too!

We had a great time in Canberra. It looks just beautiful at this time of the year - all the leaves on the trees are turning that lovely golden colour and dropping off the trees. We dont get anything like that in Brisbane (except maybe the Jacaranda trees).

We arrived at about 8am on Friday, and then had to walk accross the tarmac to the terminal building... a bit of an icy shock! Quite chilly at that time of the day! Spent the morning doing a bit of sight-seeing in the car with my sister-in-law, and then caught up with Bel for coffee at Manuka. It was just lovely to meet her, she is absolutely gorgeous, and we talked about all sorts of girly stuff! I felt like I knew her quite well anyway, as I was her Mentor when she did her programme with Sue. Great to finally be able to put a 'voice' to the photos/emails!

Then on Saturday we had morning tea at Mt Stromlo Observatory, lunch at Civic, and then we spent the afternoon at Questacon, Scott and I running around like a couple of kids in toyland!

On Sunday we had the most indulgent breakfast at a Pancake Parlour (so yum but a bit sickly) and then made our way to the airport where I met Ali! I heard all about Phat Camp, and we talked about the comp in Melbourne in July (I'm definetely thinking I need to get myself there and meet everyone else!). Ali had her gorgeous son with her too - he is just adorable! And how lucky am I to get to meet two wonderful like-minded ladies in the one trip? It was really inspiring to meet both Ali and Bel - thank you both for taking the time to meet me!

We were home by Sunday afternoon, and we had takeaway for dinner because (a) we had barely any food in the house and (b) I didn't feel like cooking anyway! So that was my final free meal for the weekend, and I was up and straight back into it on Monday, albeit a little later than usual (had to have a sleep in).

Today I finally went and got myself a new training journal from Rebel Sport, and I'll be quite pleased to write in it today that I have burned 768 calories!!!! Did legs + cardio this morning, and then this afternoon I have just taken the dogs for a 60min powerwalk. (how nice to be on holidays and have the spare time to do this... I dont wanna go back to work!)

I will be back tomorrow to post my before measurements and goals - but now its time to catch up on what everyone else has been doing!

One more day...

...and then I'm on holidays!

Ah holidays... dont you just love them? I think that the actual thought of having holidays is sometimes just as good as the physical taking of them. Well not quite, but close! Just knowing that I'm having the week off next week is giving me the motivation to get through this week, and its been a pretty crap couple of days.

A funny thing has happened to me this week - I have developed an obsession with American Mustard!!!! I dont know why. On Saturday I cooked myself a steak sandwich and I topped it with mustard, and now I cant stop eating it. I'm having it on my chicken every night, all over my salads, I find myself squirting it all over everything, and then halfway through the meal I'll add some more!!! I cant believe I've never really had it before, and I just cant get enough of it. Oh well, I guess there's worse things to be addicted to! I went through a phase earlier this year when everything had to be covered in hommus...

Did my leg workout this morning, I really didnt want to. On each exercise I kept saying to myself "I might skip the next exercise", but I still did everything anyway. I dont know why I've suddenly got an aversion to leg workouts, I guess its cos I find them harder than anything else. Come Monday I'll have a new training routine, a new workout journal (I love new journals, it reminds me when I was a kid at school and you got a brand new exercise book - spotless, clean, not dog-eared) and a new attitude. I'll also have a new set of goals mapped out, and all my measurements. Cant wait!

Yesterday I got sent two copies of New You mag - hot off the press. Dont think its in the newsagents yet. My story is on page 60, its the same story that I wrote for WF&H, with an updated picture of me with my two best training partners - our dogs. It turned out quite well I think!

Lots to do... probably wont be back here until next Monday - hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!!

Lazy long weekend

This is my gorgeous niece and nephew, who I'm going to visit next weekend in Canberra! Cant wait to lavish them with pressies and lots of cuddles and kisses (what is an auntie for, after all?)

Another lazy long weekend for me. Hmmm, I'm starting to see a trend happening here. Saturday night my partner had a boys night to go on, so after I dropped him off down at Surfers Paradise, I went and got myself a girly DVD, cooked myself a nice free meal, did my nails, a few scotch and cokes (needed a break from red wine), read a bit of my book, and then watched my DVD. Then on Sunday I got up and met a girlfriend for a coffee (well I had a green tea actually), bought a new handbag (its red and its gorgeous, and I just want to go out somewhere so I can take it!!) and came home and relaxed!

So after such a lazy weekend I feel like a blob. I'm still thinking about my goals... the main reason I havent decided anything yet is this... a couple of people have asked me if I'd ever thought of competing (perhaps sportsmodel), and it has completely thrown me for a six. I had never considered it, and my initial reaction was "naaaaah - I dont wanna do that".

But its been stewing and stewing in my brain for a few days now, and I'm kind of not sure. I've never seen a competition before, so I dont know what its all about. I have read somewhere that there's a comp on the Gold Coast in May, so I might have to get myself to that to see what its all about. (Can anyone enlighten me on the details of this?)

Its all a scary thought actually! I'm used to being on stage because I was an ice skater when I was younger, and I was a dancer (tap and jazz) until I was 21, but this is a whole different kettle of fish! I imagine you'd need to align yourself with a coach, and have someone who'd done it before to guide you on posing etc. Its not something you could do on your own.

But on the other hand, I think this is something that I could really get my teeth into, and really give me a great goal to reach for, instead of this 'aimless wandering' that I'm doing now.

Anyway, I need to gather some information, go watch a comp, and then decide what I want to do. This week is going to be pretty busy, 3 days of work, then we have a 6am flight to Canberra on Friday. So I'm aiming to have my head down and back into it for next Monday. I will have some goals ready by then, but not all of them.

I have looked at the INBA website, can anyone direct me to some other websites that might be some help?

Hope everyone is having a great day!