C25K - Week 1, Workout 2

Morning all!

I'm feeling pretty darn good right now - I think the endorphins are starting to kick in. Alas, the workout this morning was much harder than Monday, even though it was the same one! It's as if my body has just clued in to what I'm doing and is putting up a fight. I am totally going to win though, oh yes I am.

I will probably repeat week one next week when I'm in Brisbane (going home for the Christmas holiday) and I think I'll drag my mother out with me... she'll do it. Oh yes she will...).

Running on grass is a good idea, luckily for me there is a running track round the corner from my place. I don't think that my knees could handle the impact otherwise.

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Fat Photo

Someone put a photo of me at my high school reunion up on Facebook. Luckily she didn't tag me as I probably would have untagged it out of utter shame!

That was the first time in years that I have worn a dress without sleeves and now I'm too horrified to wear it again without a top on over it!

If I needed reminding why I am doing this, this is it!

C25K - Week 1, workout 1

So, I did my first workout this morning - having gone shopping for a decent sports bra over the weekend, very important when running!

I had a brisk 5 minute walk to warm up, then alternated 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Luckily for me the dear BF came along to be my timer and run along next to me (not getting anywhere as puffed as I did, darned boy).

It was challenging but I feel good now. I didn't feel overly pressed, and although I was puffing hard by the end I wasn't overcome with exhaustion.

A good start I think.

Couch to 5km

My exercise has completely stalled in the last few weeks. I've been overwhelmed with so many things to do that I just let it drop off. This is a problem...

So, I looked around for something that has a set of goals and a timeframe in which to achieve them. One of the things I've learned in the last four years with my company is that if you're setting yourself a goal it needs to be a SMART goal.

S - Specific
M - Measureable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T - Time Constrained

So, I am going to have a crack at the Couch to 5km 9 week programme - it is designed to start small and build up to running 5km in a 9 week timeframe. And it only takes up 30mins 3 times a week so I can't say I don't have time.

Specific - I want to be able to run 5km after 9 weeks
Measureable - well, 5km
Achievable - It starts very small, however they do say that if it advances too quickly you should scale it back and take longer. I think it is achievable though.
Realistic - I'm not attempting a marathon here
Time Constrained - 9 Weeks.

So, I'm going to make sure I've done all the research, then, from Sunday the 14th December I will have 9 weeks to train. Wish me luck!

Nearing 27

In three days time I will be 27 years old. I weigh less now than I did when I turned 26 but not by much. By the time I reach 28 I want to weigh less than I did when I turned 20, if not 18 (which would have been about 95kg I think, memory is getting a bit fuzzy).

I have been a bit lax in the last couple of weeks but starting again today am feeling refreshed and energetic about the future.

I have lost 7.9kg in 8 weeks. That is an amazing effort and I have never had so much success in weight loss before in my life. I am not going to stop there. I'm not done yet.

My colleagues all know that I am losing weight and over the last week or so (while I've been less diligent than usual) several of them have told me that it is becoming quite noticeable that I am shrinking. This is very exciting.

Of course, I hugged my boyfriend this morning and caught a glimpse of us in the mirror, skinny him and fat me. It freaked me out a bit. Good reason to keep losing!

A New Charm

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but as an added incentive to continue losing weight, my friend and I decided we would get a charm every time we real a goal (whether that be a weight loss goal, a measurement loss, an exercise goal etc.).

Since I achieved my first goal I have now bought myself a new charm. I was slightly concerned that I had only reached goal because I'd been so sick - 2.2kg is a lot to lose in one week after all. Then at weigh in this week I'd lost another 0.6kg which brings me to 5.7kg down (wohoo!). So, I bought a charm. I haven't received it yet, I got it online, it is a tea cup - I'm a teapot & tea cup nut, I know, I am a nerd.

I am so happy!

First Goal!

I am terribly excited as I made my first goal at weigh in last night. I am now 5kg lighter than when I started! This is marvellous motivation to continue. I've been sick for nearly a week and yesterday all I wanted was KFC, food dripping with horrible horrible fat. I weighed in and suddenly that was the last thing that I wanted because success is so inspiring that now I want even more success!

Yay me!

Sick

I am sick and have been for three days now. This is a particularly horrible version of the flu and I suspect may be turning into a middle ear infection. I am highly emotional today, I want to cry and what I really want is to go home and get a hug from my Mother. I am 26 years old and you'd think I'd be capable of looking after myself by now. Turns out no, I'm not.

How this relates to my weight loss:

• I don't want to eat all day
• When I do eat, I make poor food choices
• I am emotion eating - choosing ice cream, and way more than is healthy
• I do not want to exercise (although it may not be a good idea to exercise when sick anyway)

Hopefully I will start to feel better soon as I don't want to undo all my hard work of the last month.

Points, Points, Points

I need to use all of my points. I have consistently only been using between 19 & 21 of my points when I have 24. So, my goal for the next week is to use 24 points exactly on each day. I have lost every week so far, however I want to keep losing every week!

Nothing else to say really, except I'm doing okay.

Stereotypes of Women

Something I think about often is the connection between weight and beauty, and also about what is considered beautiful, and by that I mean what aspects of you go towards making you beautiful.

One of my favourite rant topics is about the stereotyping of women, especially those who work. My regular argument goes that you can be one of the following and that is all:

1. a working woman who doesn't want children & therefore a cold, mean, cruel bitch. Lives only for career and will screw you over to get ahead.
2. a working woman who eventually wants children & therefore to be pitied if she has no husband, or no career prospects as she's just waiting to quit when baby comes along
3. a working woman who has children. Now, there are two stereotypes here, she's either the mother who wants to stay home but has to work and is therefore kind, caring, loving and to be pitied; or, she wants to work and is therefore cold, cruel hearted and a bitch.

You may wonder what I'm getting at with this, and I apologise if this post is a bit rambling and unclear. I just get frustrated that I have to fit into one of these categories when none suit me. At the moment, I have no children and no plans for children. That doesn't make me heartless. My mother thinks that I am too harsh on my society, and that I am the only one who sees things as this black and white and unfair.

I don't really have a point to make today. I'm just whinging really. I like my job, I like working, I like the achievement. If I ever do have children, I don't think I would be selfish to decide to continue with my career. This is just bothering me today for some reason.

Virtual Me

I created a virtual me to show how I expect to change as I move from now to goal. I was highly amused by it so I thought I'd post it here.

A Start

A few weeks ago I had a shock. I realised that I am wasting my youth, and possibly cursing myself to a lifetime of illness including diabetes, heart disease and sleep apnea. All because of my weight. I am 26 years old and have been overweight since I was about 10 years old.


I joined Weight Watchers on the 13th October 2008. I had a starting weight of 119kg. My goal weight is 70kg. Although I have tried dieting before it has always ended in me eventually giving up. I don't have that option anymore. This is going to take a long time, this is going to mean changing my entire lifestyle.

Here are my starting photos, and my starting measurements:

Wish me luck.