So I've had many complements in the last few days since completing the challenge and so any people asking for my secret. They get so disappointed when i tell them I did it the old fashioned way with diet and exercise. There are no quick fixes.
The last 12 weeks were hard. I'm not going to lie it took a lot of focus and determination. You can't do something like that until you are ready. There were many days I could have slept in.
Doing something like that with a new born as Zach was only 2 1/2 months when I started and he woke up 3-4times a night. Having 2 toddlers meant no restduring the day either so if I only got an hour or 2 sleep that's what I needed to function on until bed the next night.
At around the 6 week mark I barely got more than an hour sleep a night for over a week. I had all 3 boys sick with a cold and all 3 needed something multiple times a night. I could have given up but I wanted it to much to do that. I might have been blary eyed and exhausted and not able to give 100% at gym but I went and I gave it all I could.
I also could never have done it without the support of my husband. We couldn't afford the extra cost of the crèche at the gym so I needed him to do the morning shift so I could get to the gym.
I put in more hours than one normally would and 40min-1hour is more than enough 3 times a week for slow steady loss. If this is all u can do that's ok. Just know that eventually it will pay off. I also spent 6 weeks showing B that I was serious at this. For the first 6 weeks I did early morning runs and rides and back yard workout sessions with the kids. Blake played while Tyler tried to copy everything I did. I just did a workout when ever u could. Skipping, burpees, push ups, sit-ups, jump squats, lunges etc.
The other side is weightloss is 80% diet. If u can eat well and exercise 3 times a week for 1 hour ur body will start to change and the weight will come off. You will just have to be patient but it is a lifestyle change not a quick fix. Most people think they are eating well and u might be but if ur maintaining weight then u need to have a calorie deficit to start dropping again. Ur body will do everything it can to maintain it's current equilibrium.
In the last 12 weeks the harder I trained the hungrier I got because my body was trying to keep itself at my current weight. If u want to lose put the effort into calorie counting for a bit. Myfitnesspal makes if really easy. Work out what u currently consume. Then adjust ur diet to take in less calories. Not too much though as ur body will slow your metabolism right down and also start breaking down muscle stores if you are consuming too few calories. I was consuming 1800cal a day while pregnant. I dropped to 1600 at the start of this challenge. I wanted to lose more faster so though if I drop more I will lose more but it didn't work. I fel tired and weak and I couldn't train effectively. So 1400 was too little but 1500 is perfect.
Also if you only have 3 days a week toworkout make them count. Have a plan when u go to the gym, park or back yard for a workout. For women trying to lose weight and don't have much time HIIT sessions are the best. But you must make sure u push urself. U combine weights even just body weight exercises with intensity to get ur heart rate right up this will help burn the calories and will also increase ur resting metabolic burn. It's why a weight training program is better than a cardio based one. Cardio will burn only at the time u do it, weights will burn all day. I combined both as I was able to and hence why I lost 11.4kg in 12weeks. Doing what I did was hard on the body. If meant working out while sore and tired. It meant pushing myself through my pain barrier every training session. I love exercise. I love the pain I love the burn. Most don't. Most will actually do much better with slow stready weight loss and that's great. We all need to work to our strengths.
One of the stand out things I learnt early on was that if u wait for the time to exercise to be available it will never happen. We are all busy. If u want it u need to find a way to fit it in.
Before I started my challenge I did a lot of planning. Having 3 kids under 3 i don't stop. Even sitting here writing this blog is taking time from something I should be doing. I set out a daily plan each week.
When I do washing on Sundays I put the kids daycare clothes out and pack their daycare bags. This way it doesn't need to be done by B in the morning or me in a mad rush out the door.
The two days my kids are at day care I do everything that is too hard when I have all 3 kids. This includes grocery shopping, a full house clean and all the paperwork for the fish and chip shop we own. I also do any bulk cookin i need to to help the week run smoother. During this 12 weeks I didn't stop once. I watch neighbours whilst I give Zach a bottle for bed but that's the only tv I watch. From the moment I wake up till the moment I go to bed I don't stop. Something that probably help me lose the weight too. I don't have a weekend. B works weekends and occasionally I will take the boys somewhere special but mostly we just push through like a normal working week. As we own a fish and chip shop B's 2 days off we spend prepping that for the week. Shopping, good prep etc.
We are in a routine now though. B struggled a bit a first with getting up and organising the boys but now that he can see how happy and confident I am he knows how important it is. He can also see how much I do everyday so he is willing to step up and do it. If also gives him time to spend with the boys as he does work so much now.
But this is a lifestyle change for me and I am loving it.
So tomorrow marks the start of spring. The pool opens at the gym tomorrow so it's an early morning swim followed by my final PT session.
My first mini tri is 1 month away so most of my training will now centre around this.
I have done up a new training schedule and diet but this post has taken too long already so that for another day.
