Busy little bee and WINNER!

So I have been a bit slack on here but things have just been so busy I've had my head down bum up and workin away. 

Things have been going great exercise wise. Diet well I'm still snacking too much. I haven't been organised enough due to slacking off just that little bit so I haven't had the required food. Breakfast lunch and dinner are great but I had no healthy snacks partly because I forgot them last weeks shopping. I have them now after today's shop though. Only problem was maltesers were on special. Those little malt balls of goodness are pure evil lol. 

I am still hoping to weigh in 1kg down this week. I ende up restarting this 12weeks. After Zach got sick then the other 2 boys and having a whole week of a max 1-2hours sleep at night I was searching for empty calories during the day. I actually went back up to 76kg :( I'm back down to 75.4 now but that's how easy it happens. 

Training wise things are good. I have my first mini tri this weekend :) I know I can do each distance easily. It's only short. 300m swim/ 9km ride / 3km run.

Now I have been doing these distances a lot over the last couple of weeks. 300m swim takes around 6 minutes, the 9km ride about 18mins and the 3km run i can do in just under 17minutes. But this is all separately. 

The swim I have trained to use mostly arm to ensure my legs aren't too tired. But it's the jelly feeling after the ride that gets u. I do have some big hills here that I do on my rode run which adds to the jelliness. This is the same course i did in 2008 so I know there aren't any hills so hopefully this reduces that feeling. 

I went out for my road ride and run on Sunday. Well it was kinda a mega fail day. I just couldn't get my body moving. I did keep pushing though. I think there were 2 big issues. Firstly I was on AF and I think my iron drops dramatically so I have started taking a supplement twice a day. Also te heat. I went just slightly later than normal and the spring heat is already setting in. I'm used to running at 5-6. This was 6:30-7:30 and it was HOT! My body is definitely not used to it and it hit me hard! 

I really have to hydrate this week. My race doesn't even start until 9am so it's likely to be 25 degrees and the sun has a kicker bite even at that time of day. 

I am a bit nervous about it all. It's been a very long time since I have done it and I'm doing it alone. No one I know is interested in this stuff. It's ok though. I will feel so good once I'm doing :)

Oh and I Nearly forgot haha not sure how but I was contacted by the magazine a couple of weeks ago and I am a monthly winner :) the lady said they are thinking of publishing my story in the December edition. I will update more details when I know. 

So the habit of exercise has well and truly set in. Most days are a blurry haze of busy activity. I missed a day last week as Zach had not slept. He screamed ALL night and I ended up getting him to bed at 5:30am. Although I didn't get to go to sleep myself there was no way I was pushing my body to go to the gym. I did how ever feel it. I just feel so much more energetic and motivated when I go to the gym or even just my road run and ride. Getting that done in the morning is a fantastic start to the day.

After a few months it really does just become habit and a way of life. Now to control my sweet snacking and I will be doing really well! :) 

I have settled in with the working but too. Most days I do 3-4hours of book work. I'm hoping to get it down to 2-3days only. It's hard working from home as u do always have ur little ones to attend to and if they are a little off they want lots of cuddles. It's a double edge knife really as working from home means I can spend more time with the kids and they spend less time at day care but it also means work takes me 4 times as long due to constant interruptions if I had a few solid hours a few days a week it would be so much more productive. The fact that I can do work now without them trying to touch my computer is a great start :) I'm sure once Zach gets Mobile that will change. 

I've also had a change of diet. Probably why the weight isn't coming off as quick as I would like. Hubby and I are going to start trying for no4 in January and we are doing a girl sway. If it's a boy we will be happy of course but this is our last and a girl would be lovely. A girl diet though involves lots of dairy for calcium. My body doesn't like dairy at all. :( but I'm doing it until we are UTD! 

I will go through my new diet and exercise plan next blog :) 

Down week

So I've had a bit of an off week. Little Zach has decided its time for a wonder leap and for the last 3 nights has woken 2 hourly. Agh!! I'm out of the habit of no sleep as we were at 2 wake ups. So I've been too exhausted to drag my butt out of bed at 5:30 to get to the gym. 

I've also been snacking too much. :( my main meals are great it's just the mindless snacking partly from being so tired and searching for the energy boost. 

I'm in week 2 of this second round and I haven't had the best start but thats ok. I'm going to dust myself off and pick myself up and tomorrow back into it. 

I have a bit of a cold too but that's never stopped me. 

Back to the gym in the morning and stopping the mindless snacks :) 

I weighed in at 76.1kg this morning. So that's up 700g but there is still 3 days until official weekly weigh in so still time to turn it around and at least break even. :) still 10 1/2 weeks until my birthday and end of round 2 and plenty of time to reach my goal of hitting the 60's so even 69.9 is reaching that goal. 65kg is my ultimate goal but being the last 10kg I know it's much harder to lose so I'm being more realistic about what I can achieve. 

How

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. 

12 week challenge finished.

Well I finished my 12 week challenge yesterday and I reached my goal :) yay! 

Final stats 

-11.4kg

Measurement wise 

Arms -4.5cm

Chest -7cm

Waist -12.5cm

Hips -13cm

Thighs -15cm 

Gluts -12.5cm

Calf -3cm

I still got up and went to the gym this morning and still eating really well. 

Everyone said once I was finished I would stop. No this is a lifestyle change :)

Now the training begins for the 3 mini. triathlons I've entered over the next few months :) 

In the last week

I've been a bit quiet I've just had my head down working hard. 

So in the final week only 4 days to go. 

I weighed in at 76.9 last week which leaves me 1kg to lose for this week. 

I did a practice run with my tan late last week and it looks good. Just a little colour and definitely not over the top. 

So I'm planning on doing another 12 week challenge after this one. This next one has 2 mini triathlons in it so my training will have a lot of focus on this but also muscle definition whilst hopefully getting the last 10kg off. 

I will also look at a bit of a change in diet. Firstly to spice it up a bit but also the wheather is warming up so I like salads for lunch in warmer seasons. 

I went for a different road run this morning figured it was time to change and make it more challenging. I knew of some stairs I wanted to head to and do a few laps of so I headed out this morning. I did my normal walk up the hill outside our house. Ran to the stairs did 10laps and ran home walking two small hills about 50-100m each.

I did the calculations when I got home. 4km there. 550 stairs (55stairs x10) and 4km home in 65mins! 

Very happy with my fitness progress but wow I was very sore and shaky after that one. I will make it my normal Sunday road run now and just try to improve every week. 

I was also 3 seconds off doing my 5km Treadmil run in under 30mins. 

I'm going to incorporate constants into my training too so I can work on PBs for them. I know they say u don't need to do cardio etc etc. but I love it. I love running and like cycling lol. Perhaps as I get stronger at riding I will like it more too. 

At the moment though I have a sick little baby who needs my focus and attention. 

2 weeks to go

So I have had a bad week. I stuck to the exercise I didn't miss a beat there and I ate reasonably well. I stuck to my diet mostly but I kept snacking. I'm a chocoholic I am the first to admit that and this week I had way too much. LOVE my sweet food. Cakes, buscuits etc. It seems to link in with ovulation for me. I want another baby and or some reason my mind gets so stuck on this around ovulation. We aren't going to try until next year but it's still on my mind a lot. Now that's passed today I am super focused again and ready to smash out these last 2 weeks! 

I have a bit of a cold again which is annoying. Having little kids they bring everything home from day care. It's nothing major just headaches, sinus and a bit of muscle stiffness especially in my neck. 

I have been doing really well with my cardio. Not sure if I have already mentioned my 5km run but I did it in 31min which I was very happy with. So after this I thought I would do my ride then run. I did the 9km ride and 3km run in 35mins. 

I've gotten my 3km run down to 17min.

So the mini tri is getting closer. It's on the 5th October. It's a 300m swim, 9km ride and 3km run. I have the run and ride down but I'm really wanting to get into that pool. It opens in 2 weeks. They close it for the winter which is understandable as it's a quiet time and they always have a lifeguard on when the pool is open. 

I don't think I have lost any weight with which of course im annoyed at myself for. If I had stuck to my diet I would be closer to my goal. Now I still have 3.2kg to lose in 2 weeks :( seem out of reach now. Won't stop my trying though. I will give it all I can. 

This is what I have decided to wear for the final photo shoot.

I'm getting my hair done on the Tuesday which I am also excited about. That and I'm getting a tan done. I can't believe how fast this 12weeks has gone. 

Plugging away

So things have just been the same old. Settling into more of a routine with things. I did a 5km run at the gym yesterday morning. Did it in 31min. That's a 6m20s km! Very happy with that! 

Tomorrow is weigh in day and 3 weeks left. Today I weighed in at 78.4kg so I suspect it will be that tomorrow. 75kg is still with in reach. 

Everyone is always so shocked by how much I have lost but I am still only seeing how far I have to go! It's silly and I'm frustrating myself with it. I have done so much and worked so hard but it's those changes in my body after kids that's hard to accept. The fat on the tummy is the hardest. :(