Remembering 2012...

2012 has been quite a good year! I vowed last new years eve that i would make this year alot better than 2011 and i did!

 

 

This was the photo that really started it all! Last xmas at our family gathering this is My sister and I... and the first official before photo i took when i started my blog in January!

 

Our family holiday in febuary! Which was so perfect! I managed to do a beach run most days!

 

TOUGH BLOKE CHALLENGE

My first challenge run! This started my obsession =)

 

My Half way goal.. My birthday in June

 

 

Getting my amazing family involved in my journey.. It has been the best thing! Having the total support of my family and theyre really fun to have tag along! Excited for the warrior dash in Feb with them =)

 

 

Our katoomba steps challenge! It was a really great day!!

 

 

Evies 1st Birthday!!

 

 

Getting back to myself with yoga retreats

 

Managing to lose weight and still be a great mummy & wife

 

 

Making time for those i love.. Mother & Daughter time

 

 My cousins wedding was so beautiful

 

THE STAMPEDE!!

Even conned my bestfriend into it!

 

Girls nights

 

My first triathlon!!

 

Making new friends and trying new classes!

 

 

 

stronger and more inlove than ever

 

Spending more time with my lovely sister in law

 

 

Starting my new job..finishing my cert III

 

Applying for Uni and starting my career

 

 Spending quality time with family!

 

 

 

I hate these.. dont look!!

Before and after..

Jan-Dec 2012

down..

13.1kgs

10.1%body fat

57cms all over

 

All the things i did in 2012 im so proud of! I completed my first challeges and even a traithlon! I have set the bar high for next year!

All my relationships have grown and evolved and i think im getting a little more settled in who i am as a person. Taking time to think how i want to live my life, what kind of person i am and what is important in my life. Ive come to the realisation that you dont have to do things the way theyre "supposed" to be done! and its ok! You still live a great life! For example.. i unexpectedly got pregnant at 19 and had my baby before i was married! Im now married with two children at 23 and my life is amazing! Just because we didnt get married, buy a house and then have kids doesnt mean we are any worse off. Also yes i am young but i like my family life.. i can go out and have a great night with my young single friends but its ok to stay home and relax. Different priorities.. also simple things like leaving the wiggles concert early, not finishing everything on your plate haha Im finding that if it doesnt fit into my life im not struggling as much to keep it there or keep up the act. This is me this is my life and im not going to conform to societies/people expectations of how i should do things. Things flow in my life now and if it doesnt seem right i let it go.. its quite peaceful =)

 

Finishing the year with a bang! Advanced holiday bootcamp! Holy Hell! 90 minutes sessions! Its kind of weird really because i get a second burst of energy at around the 50 minute mark.. like it takes me that long to warm up haha i get all hypo and happy and can push myself a little harder. it feels os mazing to actually be smashing my workouts again! I really want to try and keep up this intensity on a regular basis! If only i could afford PT every second day!

 

 

Really excited for 2013! Lots of exciting things! Challenging yes but fun!

We will see how things play out..

 

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

May this year be as awesome as last year was!!

'Tis the season... Xmas special

WOW!!

Christmas was crazy this year! So much going on and working around everything and doing bootcamp.. no wonder i need an afternoon nap most days! haha

Xmas actually started 2 weekends before for me! with extended family gagtherings! I love christmas time its always good to catch up with the family with a big get together. Christmas spirit was definately around and damn the food was good! I was quite impressed how healthy everyone was this year! Ofcourse there was some yummy treats but i was really impressed at the good food available!

 

Made up some biscuit packs for presents and ofcourse my cupcakes! This year i put some fruit on top.

 

My work is killing me! SO MUCH CHOCOLATE!! Any present we get from residents or our chemists goes in the staff room and i swear we have had atleast 30 boxes of chocolates! Even one of those giant whitmans sampler boxes! I move them all the time haha i put them in the cupboard or on the bench! Its so annoying im trying to eat my salad for dinner and theres chocolates staring me down! Rack off would ya!

 

Christmas Eve dinner at my mummy's was so good! She went all out healthy style and i was so proud of her! Chicken, prawns, cold meats mmMm ham! and a lovely salad! Even dessert was healthy! Lots of fruit! yumm yumm

 Christmas day was much the same as all the family gatherings! Prawns, salmon, asian crunchy salad and Ham. I mainly stuck to protein and salads and fruit for dessert.. i was super craving roast pork and crackle! mmMmm i got a little bored with all the healthy eating.. like its christmas people what the hell is going on?? haha Plus it was freezing and rainy christmas day perfect weather for roasts!

 

Xmas day..

MY NEW LAPTOP!!!

Yay now i can blog in bed!!!

Hopefully this will increase the frequency of me blogging! I have been so busy though i really havent had a spare moment to sit down and punch some posts out.. UNTIL NOW!! =)

 

 

Even managed to get the family up and playing some backyard soccer in the rain! It was such a change from previous years! We all had a laugh and got our competitive sides out! hehe

 

 

Boxing day we had breakfast at the inlaws and finally broke my healthy eating cycle! hoorah!!

We had pancakes, bacon eggs and choc coated strawberries! haha It was so amazing! I even had white bread toast! WOAH!! 

 

I also made sure i was having some peppermint tea to help settle my tummy..

 

With xmas over its time to get back to managing normal eating haha

It was wuite nice havign everyone else organise the food for once!

 

Yummy blackberries! and a fridge full of goodness!

Hope everyone had a lovely christmas with family anf friends! Dont feel guilty if you over ate just think youve got all year to burn it off  =) Eat clean nourish your body and work hard!

 

 

 

healthy eating

I'm splitting my healthy eating posts up as i have alot of xmas edition things! So they will be in the "tis the season.." post that is coming!

 

One of the instagram people i follow posted this the other day! i have big problems with herbs and veggies going bad in my fridge before i get to use them! Hence why i desperately want to start a veggie garden! This is herbs in olive oil frozen into ice cube trays! then you just pop them into the fry pan when cooking for fresh herbs! fantastic idea!

 

 

This is what i eat at work! Salad with some form of protein.. i bought my own BBQ chicken this night most nights i have ham off the bone.I love the different things they put into the salad bar at work!i would never put pineaplle in a salad normally and i really love hard boiled eggs! mmMmm

 

My favourite thing at Thai! Prawns and steam veggies in curry and finished in a peanut sauce!

Its like satay but not as greasy and heavy! YUM!!

 

 

New obsession.. vegemite and egg on toast.. this was a splerge capeseed loaf from bakers delight!

 

Ive started drinking green tea when i go out! I tend to get sick of water and its suprising how much tea relaxes me! not to mention how good it is for your metabolism!

 

My grandma has the best veggie garden!!! Im so sad thats he can no longer keep it.. she is getting a little bit old and its too exhausting for her to keep it going! So sad she has everything oh what i would do to swap backyards! haha

This is Imogen and my grandma picking some veggies out for us to take home! Which i used the beetroot and roasted it for a salad! Also freshly boiled it for future use!

 

 

Made a yummy chicken wrap with some sweet potato slices! Just like i used on my pizza i sliced them really thin and grilled them on the BBQ so yummy!!

 I used the left over chicken for dinner at work that night! waste not..

Extreme Workouts!

 

So finally managed to fit in a GRIT class!

Sat morning 8am! I really want to make it a regular addition to my workouts!

Its like PUMP on steroids and some what like i imagine cross fit is like! However with crossfit youre competing against yourself and its what time you get blah blah GRIT is rotating super sets ontop of each other with no break! Its literally do this-ok quick pick up the 10kg weight plate and do this-ok drop it pick up your bar amd do this.. now repeat! its nuts! But it only goes for half hour which while youre doing the clas youre like ok thank god only 10 minutes to go! However when it finished i kind of wished it was an hour class!

Its run at connections gym unfortunately theres no classes at mt annan! so financially i cant really addorf to make it a regular thing!

 

I accidentally left my HRM on but you can see for 20 minutes it was pushing my heart rate through the roof! we do abs at the end and my heart rate dropped a little to level 2 but thats still high! crazy!

 

i have been lucky enough to have my lovely sister in law as a workout buddy! she has been following my workout plan and its been really nice to have some company!

 

We were crazy enough to sign up to the XMAS BOOTCAMP!!! ahhh!!

Its advanced! Runs for 6 sessions and theyre 90 minutes long!!! holy hell!

Not to mention its at 6am! and im working all those nights! wish me luck!

 

You cant really see.. but this was a show i put on during my break one night at work.. It was a weightloss show and this was one of the milestone challenges a women was doing! she had lost 30kgs and was doing a 100km bike ride throught Ireland! It was amazing!! the scenery was so beautiful so ive put it on my list! Bike ride through irish country side!

 My dear old brother amazed me on the weekend! Hes a very keen rock climber thats how he gets his workouts in. He wanted to see if he could climb a rope tied to a tree! So off we went to our grandmothers house where she has lots of space filled with lots of trees! This photo is him climbing the first branch! Aced it in one go! I was amazed! He has so much upper body strength im so jealous! He makes it look so damn easy. I had a go but i was wearing thongs and used it as a cover for my poor upper body strength haha Next he tried a much taller tree with a much higher branch! maybe about 20m high? Admittedly it was a bit more of a challenge but he had already climbed the other rope three times! It was so cool to watch and everyone got involved! My grandparents came out to watch even Katie and my dad had a go! The vibe between us was amazing and im really looking forward to doing more challenges as a family group! Good on ya bro really inspiring!

HOORAY!!!! Finally we all registered for THE WARRIOR DASH!! So we have My brother and his wife, Justin and I and my step dad on his 50th birthday! Im so excited! Just hope no one gets hurt haha I really want to get an adventure camera so i can take action shots!! going to look them up and see if i can get away with lay bying one! (yeah right)

quite obsessed with these shorts..

 

I really need to be in peak performance this year! Make sure im getting my strength days and fitness all timed in right! I have too many big events coming up and want to be ready so i can enjoy them!

City 2 surf, tough mudder and a sprint triathlon!

Bring on 2013!!

Getting in the Xmas spirit??

I'm so excited for Christmas!! Not Christmas itself because we don't have much money and I'm depressed we can't buy people decent presents! But because its the month you over eat and party hard! Christmas parties galore drinking and all the food!! Not to mention NYE! Well.. I'm excited for the challenge! Bring it on! Because this will be my best month yet! I won't be feeling guilty and fat New Year's Day! I won't let my exercise slip! And I won't over eat on terribly unhealthy food! 

You can only do your best with what is given to you! It's hard when you go to places and have no control over what is being served but just make educated decisions and watch your portion sizes! It's so easy to get carried away all the delicious food layed out like an all you can eat challenge! But remember your eyes are bigger than your stomach! Well mine alway are haha and its OK to say NO!

I've got some tips to help you navigate your way through the festive season!

 

Remember the basics! 

Small plate means you can't load up as much!
Drink lots of water so you don't over eat!

Keep up with your training! I know my gym doesn't have classes for 2 weeks!! And god knows how full they will be when they come back in January! So make sure you plan your workouts try to simulate what you were doing in the class in the gym or at home!

 Keep your routine book in your workouts like an appointment because its too hard to get started again once you falter! With warmer weather and daylight savings even if you're busy there's no excuse!!

Try and have a protein shake or something filling before you go to parties as the food can be delayed! Never go anywhere hungry because the minute you're starving you easily slip out of control and stuff anything in your mouth!! 

If you are drinking alcohol try to put you glass down on the table between sips so you're not sucking it down and getting more too often! Try to limit yourself with soft drink have two glasses of water between every glass of soft drink or limit yourself to just one glass.

Play pool or cards or talk to people to distract yourself from nibbles or drink.

It is xmas so Indulge in treats and good food but just remember to balance it with lots of fresh salads fruit and plenty of water! 

Remember Xmas is only a few days but once the damage is done you'll have to deal with it next year! Let me tell ya it's soooooo much harder getting it off than it was stuffing it in! 

Ive started up PT sessions again and am hoping to continue them for as long as my bank account will let me.. Also im going to use some old Michelle Bridges workouts i have for my strength days when the gym is closed and classes arent on! Pulling out all the stops! 8 weeks!! i want to be under 75kgs!!! By god i will try my hardest! Already decided im working new years day so cant have a massive New years eve.. small BBQ at home! Just need to seriously get my eating under control.. decided that my naturopath appointment didnt really help.. the restrictions were too extreme. I havent had to nap since taking the super greens and the multi vitimins so thats good.

I've plotted my workouts up until the 7th January. (When classes start again) Also am getting back on track with meal planning! Got the new Clean eating recipe app on my phone so going to test out some of those! You gotta get going if you want results! Turns out i was only half assing it and whinging that i wasnt getting anywhere! I had a bit of a shock when i went to mums the other night and my sister inlaw says "its my disappearing sister in law..everytime i see you youve lost more weight" it was a nice slap in the face because i have been feeling so down on myself! I can get so stuck in where i want to be and not even see any changes. My mum also asked me what more do i want to achieve weight loss wise? I thought about it for a while and said i just want to get my belly flat and lose more from my arms. THATS IT?! she said why are you so low thats all you have to go! Thats great!
So.. just gotta kepp on keeping on! Ill get there eventually! Going to do some healthy eating xmas specials so watch out for it soon =)