Week 8!!

I can't believe that we are about to head into Week 8 already!! It is amazing how time flies! This week is mini milestone week and I have to say I am pretty excited to try Michelle's Mini Mile High Club Workout. I have been getting myself all prepared for the week ahead. This pic shows some of my weekly shopping :-). I am starting to increase the protein within my diet and lower my intake of fat and carbs. Thanks to this amazing program I am becoming very good at planning in advanced. Today I made a salmon pie for my lunches and I plan to have that with salad. I also made Michelle's Mexican Style Shepherds Pie for dinner which was delicious!! It also gives me another night's dinner so when I get home from the gym I don't have to worry about it.

This week I am looking forward to trying a lot of Michelle's new recipes! This week's task is also to design your own meal and I plan at giving this a crack :-) I am nervous but excited about this week. I hopefully will have success with my weigh in. It is always a daunting experience to hop on those scales and hope that they show a lower number than the week before.......

SSS

Well yesterday was my Super Saturday Session and although I was not in the mood to go I had to JFDI especially after I looked at my motivational poster on my wall. Once I was in the gym I really got in the zone and I was smashing through my workout. My partner came over and said I was like the energiser bunny and I really did feel like it. I just kept going and going and going and it really felt like nothing was going to stop me....

Until.. I was in the last round of the SSS and I was doing some ice skaters when I accidently jumped on one of my dumbells that was sitting on the ground and rolled my ankle! It hurt but the pain soon subsided and I continuted with the little amount of workout that I had left. Now it is the next day and my ankle is really sore! I am finding that I am limping a bit. It frustrates me because I am always getting injuries that interfere with my workout.

My plan is to work around my injury and this is where I am seeing a real change within myself. Normally I would let the injury take control, stop going to the gym and basically give up. This time no way! I can actually tell that I have changed a lot because my partner was just leaving for the gym and I was crying because I couldn't go. Crying because I can't go to the gym?! Michelle Bridges look what you have done to me! I love the gym now and I genuinely hate to miss any sessions! I have decided to listen to my body and to rest my foot for today and then see how I go tomorrow. Hopefully resting it will make the pain go away and I will be fine to do a session tomorrow... Fingers crossed.

I'M BACK!

Wow! I have not updated my blog in quite some time! I have been away from my computer. Lucky me, I had school holidays (I am a teacher) and could go up and see my sister and her beautiful kids for two weeks. Unlucky for me whilst I was away I went for a run and hurt my foot so I could not work out the whole time I was away and just had to be really mindful of what I was eating.

Now I am back and into the swing of things. My partner's work roster has changed which has upset a lot of things. We used to go to the gym together every day after work (I would finish at 3pm and he would finish at 4pm) we would head to the gym at 5pm. However, my partner now doesn't finish until 8pm most days and I am finding that I have to go at it alone. It is hard not to have a training partner and I am finding that I have to be more organised. The night before work I have to pack a back pack with my training gear and then straight after work I have to catch a train and then a bus to get to the gym. I am finding that I have become a lot more independent and it is actually more easy to get into the right headset to go to the gym after work.

This week has absolutely smashed me, first week back at the gym and all my muscles have been aching! I am hurting in places where I didn't even think I would have muscles to use! I am loving this feeling because it means that I am doing something right.I have already started to notice changes in my body and my whole general outlook on life. I feel much more alive, happier each and every day.

This week I did my first ever boxing session. I was so nervous about going in and I noticed that all of negative thoughts started to come back in:
- you're too unfit to do this
- everyone will laugh at you
- you're way too fat to be doing boxing

I found that once I started those negative thoughts seem to go away and I was really getting into the zone. It helped that my trainer was a lot like Mish and she made me push that extra bit harder. After I came out of the session I was totally exhausted! I had smahsed over 700 cals in a 45 minute session and I was amazed!! I had never felt more alive and more pumped and I think I have found my new favourite class. I can see why shannon ponton brags on about it so much!

The next day after boxing my muscles were so sore, my whole body was screaming! Although I was in pain I have to admit that I love the feeling!!

My new pink boxing gloves!

Success

Well here I am about to head into Week 4 of this program! I can't believe how quick these weeks are going. I think I am finally over my virus. I have been slowly weaning myself off the tablets that the doctor prescribed. Week 3 was a success, a massive overhaul to my mindset! I am very proud of myself, proud that I stayed true to my word and focused on my nutrition 100%. I have not been able to exercise but it is amazing to see some results already. I took a sneek peak at the scales and I am proud of what I have seen.

I am proud but I am also scared. I am scared because once I start to see results I start to become complacent and I am not tight enough when it comes to my nutrition! This is where I need to really remind myself of my goals, my commitment and the preaseason tasks that I have completed. This will be my round of success and I will do whatever it takes to get results. Hopefully I can start to get back into my exercise and really start seeing some amazing results :-)

Timing!

Well I have really learnt my lesson..... Read the recipe so you know how long it is going to take to cook your meal!! Hahaha it is 7:12pm and I am still making my Mexican Style Shepherds Pie!! It is simmering as I type and it smells delicious! I only wish that I had started earlier, I am getting pretty hungry and silly me did not look at the total cooking and preparation time!

This is really the first recipe I have made so far from Michelle's recipe index. My other nightly meals I have calculated the calories myself and stayed within the 300 cal quota. I am loving the sound and look of all of these recipes and can't wait to try some more. I am loving the inner master chef that is coming out :-)

Week 3 = Massive overhaul to my mindset!

So you may have all realised that I have been struggling lately. I have been finding it very hard to stick to this program due to the virus that has been attacking my body. I realised that I had just been buying into all the excuses that I have used time and time again and this was really not on.

Michelle posted this on her facebook page this morning

"It's Week 3 kick off for my Round 3 team today. Get prepared for the week ahead!! LIKE this post if this is going to be a gooooood week!"

I liked it, and I would have done so a million times if I could because this week I am giving my mindset a complete overhaul. I  may not be able to workout but I can stick to my nutrition 100%. I have even bought myself a personal training diary which allows me to keep track of not only calories consumed but the amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates that I am consuming each day also. There is also a section to write in my workouts and daily calorie expenditure! I am in love with this, it is my new bible!!

So here we go guys, let us all have an AMAZING Week 3!!!

Pre-season Tasks still playing a major role!

Having done previous rounds of the 12wbt before I have always completed my pre-season tasks. The pre-season tasks are tasks to get your prepared for the 12 weeks that are approaching. They include

1. Get real - which has you outline all of your excuses and write down solutions for them
2. Set your goals - the goals that you want to achieve along your journey.
3. Gear up - making sure you have all the right equipment ready to aide your success
4. Say it out loud - saying your commitment to the universe!

5. Kitchen Makeover - throwing out all of the unhealthy food in your house
6. Organise and Diarize - organising your workouts and eating plans
7. Fitness Test - to see what level you are going to start off at for the program
8. Measure up - taking all of your measurements

ALL of these tasks are confronting, and I can see now why Mish says that all of these tasks are important for your success. I believe that the problem I had in the past was that I was great at completing all of these tasks but I never went back and revisited them. They were like an essay that you write for english but you never really go back and read it do you?! I realise now that I have to make these tasks a part of my whole journey not just something to get me ready for my journey.

Get real is the one that I find I am reaching for now more than ever. I even placed my excuses smack bang in the middle of my inspiration board. I make all of these excuses but what good are they saved on my computer and not put up right in front of my eyes so that I can revist it everyday!! I have gotten sick and that was one of my major excuses that when this happens everything falls out the window and depression mode sets in and yup you guessed it that is exactly what has happened. I predicted it and I put it in my pre-season tasks yet when I got sick I didn't go back and read what to do, I just went back to what I always do.

I guess what I am trying to get at is that it is all becoming clear to me now, how important all of these elements are and how they are not only important at the beginning of your journey but all the way through. Even if you have not been struggling go back and revisit those excuses and solutions and the other pre-season tasks to keep you accountable and on task!

In my get real I decided to take on board Michelle's tough love approach... here is what I wrote.....

1) I’m too tired
2) I’m not motivated
3) Everytime I try I fail or something gets in the way so why bother?
4) I’m too unfit
5) I will fail and disappoint myself and all of my family
6) I have just spent the entire day at work and I am too exhausted/can't be bothered to do a work out

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MOTIVATION! Put your shoes on and get out there now! You don't want to exercise, well too bad. You want a hot body and you need to do the work to get it! Don't let the past hold you back, everyone has made mistakes. Stop being so hard on yourself look at how far you have come! You have lost 20kgs! I know it seems hard after a long hard day at work but think about how you will feel when you are at the finish line! Get out there and do it!

1) I am too busy
2) It is too hot /cold
3) Id rather go out for a drink and catch up with friends
 
Are you serious! Look at these excuses, they are ridiculous! The approach you are taking is all wrong. By the time you get to the gym it will be nice and warm/air conditioned inside for you to train. Seriously, drink with friends? Let's not let all of our hard work go out the window now, your celebratory drink is waiting for you at the finish line, not now where it could easily be your downfall. Too busy? Too busy to get a fantastic butt and sexy abs... I don't think so! GET TO THE GYM NOW!