Goals & Accountability

It’s been a pretty crazy few weeks, between having to apply for my job again (that’s what happens when you work for the government, it sucks!) & everything else life tends to throw at us, it’s been hectic! That’s not to say I haven’t been watching what food goes into my mouth though. I’d like to think I’ve been pretty good, nutrition wise, over the past week, minus a few slip ups over the weekend. Plenty of sunshine & BBQ’s will do that to you though. Cider & cheese are sometimes just too good to pass up!

I have noticed though, with all of this healthier eating, that when I do eat something that I probably shouldn’t, my body pays dearly for it. Cramps & plenty of trips to the toilet. It’s funny how our bodies work.

This week I’ve been completing the second & third 12WBT pre-season tasks, which are Set your goals – say it out loud & Nutrition truths – snack swaps.
Mish is big on goal setting, but to be honest I’m not the best at it. My overall goal for this round of the 12WBT is weight loss driven though. I want to drop between 15kg – 30kg this round. I would be stoked with 15kg but more would be amazing! I want to be able to stick to my goal of following my meal plan & also getting in as much exercise as I can.
I recently got myself a new Fitbit Charge 2 & it’s amazing! I love how I don’t have to wear an uncomfortable strap under my bra to find my heart rate anymore and love that it’s small & comfy enough to sleep with it on. This will be the best little thing for me to track my calories & also my exercise, keeping me accountable.

The third task, Nutrition truths, has so far been a little bit of reading and a short “test” of your knowledge when it comes to nutrition facts. Who knew that 1 serve of fruit is the size of a tennis ball? I sure as hell didn’t! But that’s the beauty about coming back for another round, I’m already learning so many more things to do with nutrition, which to me, is one of the hardest factors of weight loss.
I’ve been trying out a lot more of the 12WBT recipes lately & all have been super yummy of course. I like that I have this pre-season time to go through all of the recipes and find food that is quick & easy to make but also really tasty! Even hubby has been loving the dinners we’ve been enjoying together.

12WBT Chicken & Broccoli Laksa

12WBT Char-grilled Chicken & Satay Sauce

12WBT Herb & Parmesan Schnitzel

I’m hoping to start getting into doing more exercise “on purpose“, that is. I’ve unfortunately been suffering with a sore groin/hip area for a little while now which has stopped me from getting more into it, but I have been able to do my walking with the dog & take him out to play with his puppy pals still which makes the both of us super happy!

@archiethepugaus

Excuses? What Excuses?

Trust me, I have plenty of excuses. You need one, I got one!
It’s not that I mean to use excuses not to exercise or eat healthier, but somehow it just happens. Unless of course I do have a valid excuse, that is my Physio tells me to take it easy with movement. The joys of back, hip & knee issues, hello wheat bag!

This is where the first pre-season task from the 12WBT comes in, “Get Real“. As Michelle Bridges says “Getting real can be hard to swallow” and boy does it hurt going down.
I’ve let lots of little things get in the way of me losing weight, being healthier & finding time to do some exercise. In this task Michelle asks that we write down some of our Internal excuses, External excuses & External excuses that we can’t control.

Internal Excuses are those little excuses we make like “I’m too tired” or “I can’t do it” you know the ones, the ones that we manifest ourselves much like “I’m just not good enough“. I’ve used them plenty of times!

External Excuses are something like “It’s too hot or cold outside today“, “I’m too busy” or “I can’t afford it” (hence why instead of paying the $199 upfront I opted to pay weekly increments of $19.99). Yep, I’ve used these excuses heaps!

External Excuses – out of your control are those excuses that bring with it a major life crisis. It could be an unwell family member, my Husband has Type 1 Diabetes so making sure that he is healthy is up there on the priority list. It could be a work crisis or even a family pet, I know I would drop everything to look after our beautiful Pug Archie, he really is our baby.

So you can see how excuses can kind of just pop up everywhere and in any of those forms above. I know I’ve used them A LOT in the past but I do plan on trying to break through them and just get on with it, because honestly, everyday I do things I don’t necessarily want to do, but these things become second nature eventually.

On another note, since joining the upcoming round I’ve been trying out some of Mish’s amazing recipes and even trying some new ones which I had overlooked in past rounds. At least this way I’ll have a good idea of what I like & don’t like before the round begins in December.

12WBT Pork & Sweet Potato Mash

Can I just say, the pork & sweet potato mash was AH-mazing! Why haven’t I tried this in previous rounds? What’s wrong with me? Of course instead of nasty green beans, ew! I instead had some yummy carrot. Definitely going onto the favorites list!

Now to go and experiment some more with yummy food!

I Think It’s Time For Some Change

Being in your late twenties & severely overweight is never fun for anyone. Especially for someone who has been overweight for basically their entire existence. Sure I’ve lost weight before, done plenty of yo-yo-ing, but I could never really keep it off. It seems all I have to do is think about delicious, naughty foods & I find myself balloon out like a blimp ready for take off.
At my lowest weight I was sitting pretty around 75kg. Yep, I thought I was still SUPER overweight and “gross” at this weight even though I had lost roughly 30kg to get there. What was wrong with me?! I look back now and think, wow, I can’t believe I made it to a healthier weight & STILL hated myself. I would put myself through grueling workouts that I hated & restricted myself to 1200 calories or less some days, any more then that number and I dived into a body hate spiral. What I’m getting at, is the fact that I wasn’t happy, even though I had put in the hard yards I was still unhappy with my body. I never thought to praise myself for getting to a more suitable weight for my body frame.
Eventually I gave up, threw in the towel and walked away from workouts & trying to eat healthier. Fast forward 3 years and here I am, at my heaviest weight just under 140kg. Yep, I have managed to basically double my lowest weight.
BUT, I don’t hate my body anymore. Isn’t it funny how that works out. I’ve learnt to love my body. Sure I have days where I get down about being overweight, yes I know I don’t have a healthy body right now, but I think about all of the things that my body does and allows me to do and that’s what makes me love it.

I’m ready for a change though. I may only be 26, going on 27 next year, but the older I get the more scarier things are health wise. I realise that my eating & exercise habits are disastrous and that they really need to go through an overhaul.
Going to the GP recently gave me a huge wake up call. I went in there purely to refill a script but instead was weighed and told all of my surgery options, scary shit I know!
So here I am, signed back up with another round of the 12WBT because I know it works. Even though my weight is significantly higher then the first time I did a round I know it’ll still work for me if I stick to my guns and dedicate myself to the process. 

Bring on December 12th!