Day 2. No Sugar No Coffee

Well!
Today is significantly better. I woke up to the same pounding headache, had to drag myself out of bed... but once I'd had a glass of water and left for weightlifing, I felt...fine!

I'm been a bit more cravey today than yesterday..the breaks between meals/snacks feel soooooooo long... but I haven't been any more hungry than usual.

I did realise that I ate way too much fruit yesterday... I know fruit has awesome properties etc...but I'm pretty sure a banana, pear, 2 apricots, 1 punnet of blueberries, 1/4 punnet of raspberries... is too much when they dont form part of any of your actual meals heheh.

So today, I've had  banana as part of breaky, a pear and an apricot, and will leave it at that.  That way I'll know that I'm not substituting sugar for sugar!

My mood is a lot better today, maybe coz I feel a bit proud that I've survived two days hahaha.

Ok not very interesting stuff but I figure it'll be good to look back on and see the changes :) don't worry I won't blog like this every day!!! haha.

ClaireS
xx

Day 1. No Sugar No Coffee

Hooly Dooly!
I ate a LOT of sugar yesterday in a wham-bam farewell to the white stuff.
BAD idea.  Anyone planning on having a "last hurrah"before 12wbt kick-off... goodness don't! Or keep it clever.

I woke up this morning feeling so tired. 40mins of the snooze button, I was SO close to canning my workout. But I'd made a commitment to my weightlifting coach that I wasn't going to break.  I dragged myself up, almost in tears.  I realised - I've had plenty of sleep, I'm nice and fit, this feeling is 100% sugar induced.  What have I been doing to myself!!
I was also massively hungry - rumbling belly, desperate to eat something... but I knew I had eaten right up until sleep the night before, there was no way that my body needed food!! Again, sugar-games! Not ok.

Breakfast I had 2x poached eggs with tomato, spinach and parsley. Yum.  I was full until 11... didn't crave my 10:00 coffee much at all actually.  I did want something sweet though at 11, I had a banana figuring it was sweet enough, but wouldn't stir up all those cravings too much.  By 12 I had a thick heavy haze over my eyes and felt like I've got a ring of rubber bands around my head.  The rest of the day was much the same - not cravey at all, just a really heavy head, low energy, really wanting a nap.

Headache is still smashing me now actually, so I think I'll head to bed.
Bring on day 2.

ClaireS
xx

CS-TOP-TIPS #1 - Breaky at work!!

Ok, here are my top suggestions for putting together a breaky at work in the morning. All you need is a microwave and a sandwich press!!

Breakfast is my FAV meal of the day - and 5 days a week I eat it at work. 
90% of Michelle's recipes can be addapted to a microwave and a sandwich press:

• cereal/muesli/yoghurt and fruit- porridge/couscous/quinoa with cinamon/apple/berries/honey!- toast with
• egg (put in a wet cup for poached, or a wet bowl for mini omelete), break the yolk or stir right through. Put in covered for 30seconds, then stir for scrambled, flip for poached/mini omelete, and put in for another 10-20secs. [goes great with pepper, parsley, ricotta, parmesan]
• avo/cottage cheese.. with tomato/mushrooms/ham - can be cooked lightly on the sandwich press to be fancy!!
• spinach - put in bowl/ziplock and add a dash of water, microwave for 10-20 scs to wilt (I usually have fresh)
• baked beans
• ricotta and cinnamon, with apple (I put chopped up apple in a ziplock with cinnamon and zap for 20secs to make it warm and cozy)

These are my usuals...haha...but once you get the idea that you can poach in a microwave and and gently fry on a sandwich press...breaky is easy!! 

[this all sounds time consuming but if you do the basic prep at home each ne is a max of 5mins!]


Happy to post up specific instructions on how to cook and serving sizes...let me know!!


ClaireS
xx

SUGAR BABE to PALEO PRINCESS

Tomorrow something major happens.  I give up sugar, and begin the process of giving up caffeine. 
Ey?!  Lets come back to that.


Part of the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation key to success is the preseason tasks - going hard in the four weeks before the season begins to set your life up for success as soon as we hit 'kick off'.
Step 1. Excuses - I've posted them on the site but still a little shy to post them here.
Step 2. Goals - I'm still working them out...but I'll update you on them soon.
Step 3. "Gear Up"...get all the Stuff to be effective - scales, gym gear, gym membership etc etc... I'm all good on that front (though...lorna jane is always calling!)
Step 4. This is where the blog kicks in. "Shout it out Loud"


KISS always starts to rumble in the back of my mind...my toes start to wiggle...and "SHOUT IT, SHOUT IT, SHOUT IT OUTTA LOUUUUDDDDD" can be heard around the house for the full week of the preseason... I love it. It challenges every bit of me... saying on Facebook "Hey Friends, I wanna lose weight...keep an eye on me" "I commit to losing XXkg and working out XX days a week" "I'm gonna wear a bikini and blah blah blah"  I hate it, and, love it.


Well, here I can give some more context to my shout-out-loud.


Let's start with my Commitment.


I commit to getting back to 58kg. I was 58kg for 2 rounds, but my binge eating, secret eating, and anxiety got out of control and I am now 65kg. that's a lot in essentially 2 months for someone who works out 6 times+ a week.  I commit to keep up my exercise, and really focus on weightlifting, but I commit to maintain my cardio so that I will achieve my ultimate goal of completing Kokoda in October this year.  [I don't want to carry an extra 7kg with me in chocolate!!!]


Now, lets move to next week.


Next week my husband and I will begin a "Paleo" template of eating.


UHOH I hear you say. a fad.


Don't worry, I am switched on, I know there is no quick fix to changing your weight that is sustainable.  But this is clever, this sounds like something I WANT to do, and, once I add dairy back in, I believe I could do 80% of the time for pretty much ever.


Let's learn a bit more:
Paleo eating is based on eating as close to our ancestors as possible - no grains/wheat/dairy as these are part of the agricultural revolution, no legumes or soy as they are poisonous/bad for you raw, no sugar except for that in fruit, minimal raw raw honey.
That sounds rubbish - what can you have? Any meat, preferably beautiful organic free range grass fed, eggs, green veg, nuts, sweet potato, tamari, berries, fruits.... yum!!!
I think the only thing I will reaaaaaaally miss is cheeses and dairy... [I can't bear to talk about sugar and chocolate right now ok!?]  but many people chose to add some back in once they know their body better.


HERE IS A GREAT SITE I FOUND WHICH EXPLAINS STUFF WAY BETTER:
http://www.fitbomb.com/p/why-i-eat-paleo.html#part6 


Now, to tomorrow.
"Tomorrow something major happens.  I give up sugar, and begin the process of giving up caffeine."
I plan to start the paleo diet on Monday with hubby, but I'm really nervous about sugar and caffeine as I LOVE sugar, bread, chocolate, icecream, etc etc...so I'm giving myself a head start.  Also, now is a good chance to let you know, I DO plan to do the 12wbt - I will follow the gidelines that michelle sets - I wll just do a bit of substituting and tweaking, I've already worked out that 80% of the recipies from previous rounds will be fine once I switch out the chickpeas/lentils/dairy for something else :D  


Finally: Right now. How do I feel?
Rubbish.
I've been overeating for the last 4 days, and binge-ate today [I won't say how much chocolate, you wouldn't believe me]. I had a final flavoured yoghurt, final beer, coffee, lemon slice... and how do I feel?  I have the sweats, my stomache is all swollen and sore, my eyes are heavy, kneck is sore, I feel my head is heavy and tight. I don't feel like I have any energy, motivation, and I feel like crying. 
I had plenty of sleep, I honestly feel like it's all the cr*p in my system.
I'm scared though...what is it going to feel like to get this all out of me!?!?!?!?  So tonight, early night sleep, lots of water... and we'll see how we go.


Holy cow this is a LONG post...AGAIN!
I have an idea, i'll chuck out a quick post at the end of this of some of my CS-TOP-TIPS!!!


Thanks for reading my rant...I expect as I get this rubbish out of my system there'll be a LOT more ranting to come!!


ClaireS
xx

IT'S TIME


Ok, I've done it. 
I have clicked the "start blogging" button.


What now?


I wish I'd started this earlier.  When I was 20kg heavier, lost, tired, desperate for a change.  I would love to have a record of the last year, of everything I've achieved.


This year, 2012, is about my mindset.  I want to challenge myself in a different way to put out there who I really am, let my guard down a bit, and work through the stuff that makes me me.


This blog will be mainly about health, fitness and wellbeing I expect.  It will probably cross over to my general life - wife, public servant, volunteer, soon to be studying again too.  I'll be focusing on a 'blogging challenge' run by one of the lovely local ladies in the health and fitness program I'm part of, as well as anything that inspires me along the way.  I expect a lot of what I write might be things I've discovered along the way, hopefully that might be handy tips for others on their health adventure... I don't just want to be on here venting all the time!!


A bit more about the health/wellbeing program I'm part of - the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation.  It's an awesome program run by the Biggest Loser trainer Michelle that provides weekly menus, recipes and shopping lists, daily workouts, bi-weekly mindset lessons, challenges, milestones, support forums, and adventures...and wraps up with a mass workout and massive party in a major city.  Three rounds run each year, this will be my fourth round.


It has changed my life!  I LOVE how exciting and interesting life is now... I thought rather than blab about that, i'd post a couple of bits from my 12wbt journey.


Thanks for getting to know me a bit...first blog
DONE.


ClaireS
xx
1. My first ever Video blog
The youtube video is pretty daggy but was a challenge one week in the first round I did of the program.  A couple of the extremely tacky sentences are ones we were supposed to answer so apologies for the cringe factor!!


2. My 2nd Video blog
round 3 last year: Same kinda deal, but I thought I'd be a little less WOOHOO and a bit more honest.
I still gloss over the hard stuff, but maybe i'll get the guts to do that later in writing...


3. My most recent post on the 12wbt forums which shows a bit more about who I am and what I'm achieving...and also hints at the challenges I still have ahead :)

...I got out of bed, after finally 'realising' that my time being 'thin' was over, that I was on the track back to getting fat... that i'd lost the drive, the commitment, I was a fraud and everyone was about to realise it. I decided, I can't shut off my mind. I'll type it all out. I went in to write my excuses - I decided, i wont try and write the solutions while I feel like this. Then I got a FB message from a girl I haven't seen in probably 8 years "just wanted to thank you for being such a great ambassador for 12wbt" She told me her sister had joined because she'd heard about it through a mutual friend who'd seen me embrace it on FB. It reminded my my mum and dad have both got to healthy weights because of 12wbt. My scout leader/mentor, my best friend from high school, a girl I went to kinder with, a girl I know through another mutual friend, 3 collegues at work, a coupe of guys I know, a girl from high school, and my husbands workmates have all joined because they've seen how much i've loved the program - and they've all transformed their lives now too and are loving every minute. So I guess, as well as feeling a bit 'woo I rock' which is somethng I've only been faking for the last little while, it's a bit of a reminder as to why I joined up in the first place, and why I keep coming back. I'm not here to lose weight (though I want to lose what I've put on). I'm here because I have FUN here. I try really cool stuff, I challenge myself and I win! I try things I would never try, and I smile and walk around all super proud coz i'm doing cool things. I've focused too much on my exercise i think - VERY proud of what i've been doing, but i've been using exercise as a way to justify the fact that i'm eating bad, or, as a way to punish myself back in to calorie deficit...which results in over eating. I look at my 12wbt photos, and they're not about me looking thin. They're about me doing amazing things - rock climbing, cooking with friends, fun runs, running circuits, supporting others at healthy breakfasts, getting up early and seeing the sunrise. I might still feel a little weak - I still have a lot of self-worth stuff to work on and repair... But there is no way i'm giving up. I will get back to healthy, and I will get back to fun and feeling like a rockstar! At some point i'll write about my binge eating, my issues with sugar, secret eating, and all the stuff that holds me back. But right now, I just want to celebrate that i'm here, i'm hanging on... I'm going to have FUN this round, and through that fun, that pride will return and I'll get results I can only imagine.... again!! ClaireSxx