Task 7... The Fitness Test

Well today I completed the Fitness Test part of the 12wbt.

I had shin splints years and years ago and I find that if I walk without warming up they come back.  Well today I took off in a very slow job (I am rather unfit now after months of not exercising) and I was in absolute agony!  So bad that I was having trouble walking.  I was very disappointed in my 9 minute 1km walk.  It was rather embarrassing to be honest.  I am really going to have to investigate this shin splint thing!  I just can't understand how after my first jog in about 20 years, why within about 5 minutes I was in such incredible pain!  For anyone who has never had them, they are excruciating.  I wonder if it's my shoes?  or the way I walk?

Anyway my 9 minute result put me in the Beginner category for the 12wbt.  Then it was on to the push ups.  Oh dear, I used to be good at those, LOL.  In the one minute I did 26 of them which put me in the intermediate category.

Next was abdominal strength test.  Well I don't have any abdominal strength, LOL.  So I was in the beginner category for that test.

Next was the wall sit.  I felt like I was sitting there for minutes.  I was somewhat shocked when I stood up and my son stopped the stopwatch.  It was only 35 seconds!  Beginner again!   My 12 year old son decided that the wall sit looked cool, so he wanted to try it.  I reset the stop watch and he got into position.  He was in a perfect right angle, perfect position.  How long did he sit there?  I was mortified! Mortified at how long I had sat there compared to him.  He sat there for 3 minutes and 25 seconds!  Yes, that's right!  3 minutes 25 seconds.  He is starting rowing next term at school.  He may be quite good at that with that leg strength!

The final test was Sit and Reach.  With this test, we had to put our feet up to a step and have a ruler to measure how far forward we could reach.  I made it to +4 cms (which was 4cms past my toes).  This was the intermediate category.

Now to work out wether we are Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced for the 12wbt, we take the average of our fitness test.  My average was Beginner.

Thank goodness that is over!  I really don't like tests, of any kind.  Have to do it all again at the 4 week mark, but I should be fitter by then and I'm looking forward to seeing my improvements.

Task 6... Organise and Diarise

Another task complete.

I really loved this task!  I love being organised!  One of my favourite stores is Kikki K.  I could wander around there all day and buy almost everything in that shop.

I have purchased a few things to help myself get organised for this 12 week challenge (life time transformation).  I have purchased a book called Fit Book  This can be purchased in Australia too, I bought mine from a discount nutrition supplement store just up the road from me.   This is a fabulous diary to keep track of your food and exercise.

The next thing I have done is to print up all of the recipes for the coming week, as well as a few more.  There were a few recipes that I didn't like so I have just decided to have different recipe for that particular meal.  I have found other recipes where a serve is very similar calories.  I have bought a folder, dividers and plastic pockets and have added all of the printed menus into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and desserts.  At the front I have a printout of my meal plan for every meal for the whole week. In another section of the folder I have also added some pages of preferred snacks.  So that is the meal planning all organised.  All I have to do now for this is to create a cover for the folder.  It has a plastic slot at the front of the folder for me to slid a piece of paper into it, so I want to create something really inspirational to put in the front.

I have printed off my exercise planner for this week and will be adding that to another folder all of it's own.    I purchased a weekly planner from Kikki K and have written out the week's plan for exercise, supermarket shopping, work and activities.

I still think I will tweak this planning as the weeks go on.  I really do love planning and having things all set out and organised.  This was such a fun task!

Task 5... Kitchen Makeover

The Kitchen Makeover is done!

This task required you to throw out all of the junk from your pantry.  All of those processed foods, all the chips, soft drinks (soda or pop), sweet biscuits, you get the idea.  

Well this really was not a problem for me as we don't have any of that anyway.  The only thing I had to throw away was an old packet of ice cream cones that my son had added to the shopping trolley once and there was one cone missing from that box and the box expired in January 2011!!!!  Shows how badly my pantry needed a clean out!

We don't drink soft drink, juice or cordials, we don't eat chips or sweet biscuits.  We really eat very little processed food.  I don't allow those things in the house, my son doesn't eat that sort of thing.  If he wants a snack he will have some fruit, or he will mash an avocado and add some garlic and have some wholegrain rice crackers or he has been known to have cereal as a snack.

Why do I have a weight problem then, well I don't move enough!  And I am not strict on myself when it comes to eating, I am at home, as there isn't anything bad to eat in the house, except my organic raw chocolate.  Outside the home is my problem, those double chocolate muffins, the chocolate cake, the scones with jam and cream (I always have to have extra cream too), the hot chocolates (that are almost just melted chocolate with a little milk added), the hot chips (fries).

Anyway the makeover is done!  I cleaned out about two garbage bags of out of date food!  There is a list of pantry essentials we need to stock up on, but I found I had almost all of them already in the pantry and the others I will get when there is a recipe coming up that calls for them.  There are a few fridge and freezer essentials and I had every one of those already there.  So again, not too much extra shopping to do.

Anybody thinking of doing this program, it starts in two days (Monday, or Sunday in the USA).  So far I am very impressed and really looking forward to this new life journey.  This is not just a 12 week challenge for me, this is a rest of my life lifestyle change!  

Task 4... Say It Out Loud

Well I have taken this bull by the horns and have been shouting everywhere, LOL.

I am committed to this challenge, for myself, to change my life, to lose 12 kgs and to change my attitude towards exercise and diet.  I will give this challenge 100%, everything I have!

I have been blasting on twitter, I have been posting photos of my different purchases on Instagram, I have joined facebook groups for my area and I have been posting on the 12WBT forums.

I have also been saying it loud here on my blog!  I am happy for the world to know that I am doing Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge and I am going to change my lifestyle, my diet and the way that I think about diet and exercise.

I am going to get back my 20 year old self (in my 40's) in my way of thinking.  I had a great attitude back then and was fit and healthy.... Well in some ways,  not in others.  I drank a lot back then and I hardly drink at all now, I was also prone to having the odd cigarette or 40, which I did stop in my late 20's.  So I am a healthier me now... but my way of thinking, my attitude towards diet and exercise was a lot different back then.  That is what I want to get back, without the drinking and smoking!

I can't wait for this challenge to begin!  I am not just looking forward to gaining exercise habits but I'm really looking forward to an attitude adjustment.  Finding the real me, the me that has somehow become lost over the last 12 years, the me that has become stuck in a rut and developed some bad habits and negative ways of thinking (about myself).

So the new me.... is on her way!  I bet you are all looking forward to meeting her as she evolves or breaks out of her self destructive shell that has been building over the years.

Task 3... Gear Up

Pre-season task number three is Gear Up.

For Gear Up, we have to make sure we have everything we will need to carry through with our workouts.  There are three exercise options.  Gym, Outdoor or Home.  You can choose one, two or all of the exercise options.  I have chosen home and outdoor.  I really want to learn how to work out at home and also outdoors, where there is little cost involved and it's good to get out and about in the fresh air.

So for the home exercise option I had to get a few things.  I needed some DVDs, so I got the Michelle Bridges Crunch Time DVD set.  There are three DVDs and they will be great for the home exercise program.

I also purchased a stepper which was listed as one of the optional items that we could get for the home exercise.  I found this one at Big W and it came with two dumbbells and was very reasonably priced.

Another optional item was a heart rate monitor which I decided to invest in.  At the gym I used the machines to monitor my heart rate.  I am restricted to a maximum heart rate of 145 by my Dr, due to my  past torn artery and high blood pressure, so I felt that the heart rate monitor was necessary for me when not training at the gym. 

Through the 12wbt website there was a discount code for 30% off from the Polar website.  After comparing lots of prices I couldn't find anywhere with a price any where near that 30% off so I ordered from Polar.  It was amazing!  I ordered late on Wednesday afternoon and it arrived on my doorstep on Friday morning!  I was very very happy with their service.  So can recommend them.   I got the pink FT4 model.  I haven't used it yet, it's still sitting in the box, so I will read the instruction manual soon to work out how to use it.  

 

So those are the items that I have added to "Gear Up"  I do already have an ipod and an exercise mat, which were other optional items that were on the home exercise list.

This time next week, the challenge will have officially begun!  I am so looking forward to it!

Task 2... Set Your Goals

My goals are really quite simple.  I still have 24 kgs that I want to lose.  So this challenge my goal is to lose 12 kgs.  12 kgs in three months, in 12 weeks, a kg a week is doable.  I lost 12 in the last challenge (which became 14 in the 2 weeks after the challenge finished) so I know I can do 12 kgs.

My goal in the last challenge was to get off my blood pressure medication... well I didn't achieve that... YET.  I did however, over the 12 weeks, go from 300 mgs a day down to 150 mgs every second day.  Now that I have been slack with exercising over the last 6 months since I did the challenge last year, I am back up to 150 mgs a day.  So it is my goal to get back to 150 mgs every second day again and long term (6 months at the latest) to get off it all together.

My biggest goal though is to form new habits and get a new lifestyle.  When I did the challenge at my gym last year, it was all about exercise.  Yes there was a hint of diet related in there.... in the way that you had to have protein shakes 3 times a day and 3 meals, but there wasn't any assistance on what to eat and what not to eat.  It was just sign up, here's your book to write everything down that you eat and exercise and your measurements and off you go.  Diet is a big thing for me, it's not that I actually eat a lot of bad foods (which I will get into in the kitchen makeover post) but I really don't eat well.  I don't think I eat enough, I think my metabolism is virtually dormant, it died off with the dinosaurs, LOL.     

So it is my goal to start eating properly and to find an exercise that I love, maybe get back into Tennis or take up rowing in the summer.   I did rowing a few years ago with some other mothers from school, they have a mothers rowing program during the day.  My son is going to do rowing at the end of the year, so if they still have that program for the mothers I would like to get involved in that too.

My Goals for the next 12 weeks...
To lose 12 kgs
To get my blood pressure down
To reduce my blood pressure medication
To for new habits and a new mindset when it comes to food and exercise
To put myself at the top of my important list (in my head)
To find a new (or get back into an old) sport

8 Days Until It Starts

It is 8 days today until the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation challenge starts.   Until that starts there are a number of preseason tasks to complete.  As I started late I have been having to play catch up this week as I had not just this week's two tasks to do, but the four from the previous fortnight.

This week I have been

1. Getting Real 

2. Setting my goals

3. Gearing Up

4. Say it out Loud

5. Kitchen Makeover

6. Organise and Diarise

and next week, the final week of preseason I will have the Fitness Test and Measurement tasks to complete.

I haven't completed all of the tasks yet.  I have done Getting Real - No more excuses, I have set my goals and I have been gearing up, I have been saying it out loud but I am yet to complete Kitchen Makeover and Organise and Diarise.

"Getting Real" 

Is all about excuses, what has been holding you back and acknowledging these excuses.  

I have had many excuses over the years but I think my main excuse is time.  I'm a single mum, I work, I run my own business, I do charity work, it's full on and exhausting and I always have in my head "I don't have time to exercise, I don't have time for breakfast, I don't have time to make a good lunch" It's all rubbish, I do have time in the morning to make myself breakfast, I make sure my son has a good breakfast every day but for myself, I'll just grab a banana or a piece of toast or just a cup of coffee.  I do have time to exercise!  I have time to sit here on the computer and write my blog, I have time to go to different forums, I have time to watch Real Housewives of  NY, OC, BH!  I have time to watch TV, but I don't have time to exercise???  Yes, it's rubbish, I do have time.  It's about priorities and over the years my priorities have become a little out of wack.    

I have this ridiculous thought/excuse that goes around in my head.  Every single time I went to the gym I would be so embarrassed walking in and around in there.  I would think that those super fit looking people were all looking at me, thinking to themselves, there is that big heffalump acting like she is going to work out and get that weight off.  Since I have gained and become overweight over the last 12 years  have always felt too fat to be seen exercising!   Well that is just ridiculous!  But the funny thing is ... when I was not over weight, prior to having my son I had never been overweight.  Up until my 30's I was always a normal healthy weight, sometimes probably a bit thin.  I remember in my early 20's I got up to 58kgs once and I thought I was obese and I went on a massive milkshake diet to get myself back to the 48 to 50kgs that I normally was!  Wow, back then the thought of being 80kgs would have given me a heart attack and to be honest I think back then I would NEVER have thought that I would EVER be 80kgs.

So here I am now where I never thought I would be and I am trying to think back then how I thought, how I felt about what I ate and about exercise.   I have never been one that loves exercise, even at school.  I mean I played tennis, a lot, I was on my school team so would spend many hours on the court but for some reason never considered that exercise.  I hated cross country running.  I loved netball, snow skiing but tennis was my thing.  So I need to find that again.  No more "I'm too fat to exercise"  "I'm too fat for people to see me in workout clothes"  "I don't have time to eat right".

It's funny how I can make sure that others are not like me.  My son exercises regularly, he played Golf yesterday from 8am to 5pm and is out there again today playing 9 holes.  I make sure that he has good, healthy substantial meals and no junk!  Even my dog for goodness sake, he is a Labrador, Barnaby, you can see pictures of him here, he is my walking buddy!  Being a Labrador they are prone to being over weight, if they are overweight they have a whole host of health problems and will not live as long.  SO... I make sure he is on a strict diet and he has never been overweight, he exercises regularly and he is having some arthritis setting in in his hips and the vet said last time.  "It's so good that you have him at such a good weight, he probably wouldn't be able to walk if he was overweight".  

Now how sad is that.  I make sure my dog's weight is good, I make sure he exercises well, there are no excuses for him, I have no excuses at all to make sure he gets what he needs to be fit and healthy and live as long as possible but I do not do that for myself!  For myself I have created so many excuses so that I am overweight, have health problems due to that (high blood pressure, torn artery, sore knee), I don't exercise and I don't look after myself.  It is time that I became as important as my son and as my dog in my mind, that I stop just making their health, well being and lives the most important and only important thing.  In reality I really should be looking after my health and well being just as much as them so that I am round to continue to make sure that they are looked after!

So..... NO MORE EXCUSES!!!!!!

I Did It!

I have just signed up.

I officially start the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation challenge on 27th August.  Well really I have officially started now as there are steps you need to take in the weeks leading up to the start so that you are ready and rearing to go come start up day.  I have to say I really like this.  In the last challenge I did at the gym, there was no lead up, no getting ready, it was sign up, then a day or two before do your weight and measurements then off you went.

I am absolutely LOVING the fact that Michelle has incorporated the weeks prior to get your self ready, cleaning out your pantry.

It's not all about the gym too, which the last challenge at the gym was about.  In this program there are options for home and outdoor work outs too!  This is awesome as sometimes you don't always want to go to the gym and I love that I am going to be able to learn to exercise myself at home or around my neighbourhood and local park.

I also love that there will be menu plans and menus and shopping lists!  I have to say with the last challenge that I did at the gym, I did have great success with it but really I did feel quite alone.  I had a personal trainer who I saw once a week and to do my weigh ins, but there wasn't anything to help with diet other than to have protein shakes (which I enjoyed) and the different times to eat protein and keep a meal diary.  I think when you have a weight problem, that has gone on for a long time you really need help with nutrition, not just exercise.  It's a lifestyle change that is needed, help with both nutrition and with your exercise routine and I feel that Michelle Bridges challenge seems to cover all of this.

Anyway I have only just joined and just started looking around the website.  I will spend the next couple of weeks getting myself all ready to start the challenge!

I'm Excited!!!!!

Another 12 Week Challenge

Hi Everyone

Well I have been absent from my blog for a while!  Yes... it's been a long while!  Life has been really busy and sadly I have neglected my blog... and yes... myself.

Well after my success on the 12 week transformation challenge at my gym last year, I have been thinking of doing another one.  My gym does not have one listed at the moment (they may do one, but I can not find any information that they are).  So I found the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation challenge.  It starts in a couple of weeks and I'm seriously thinking of doing it!

It's $199 (Aussie Dollars) and comes with menu plans, recipes, workouts for different fitness levels, an online forum to name a few.  It looks fantastic!  The one at the gym last year really didn't come with any sort of eating plan.  We were told how many meals to have a day, when to have protein shakes, but there wasn't much support.  I really felt I was doing it on my own.  Which was ok, I still was really happy with my results but I still have a lot to lose and this program looks a lot more balanced.  Exercise, diet, change in attitude.

I will be back here posting regularly about my progress!

If anyone has done the Michelle Bridges challenge in the past, let me know how it went!  I'd love to hear all about it.