TinyStar

Thanks sammie - I always have my water bottle (1L of stainless steel goodness!) I just like drinks with flavour and I've been a slack@ss. I did manage to avoid diet soda today - it helped that I was very busy at work and went to the gym at lunchtime - so no opportunity to visit either the vending machine or the store. I drank green tea instead (I love that my workplace is so "healthy"). Food wise I kicked butt today - porridge with protein powder and berries for breakfast, smoked trout for snack 1, yoghurt snack 2, and a banana snack 3. leftovers of chicken, spinach, haloumi, pumpkin and pine nuts for lunch. A small pile of mixed nuts on the bus and finishing up a tuna salad with pumpkin for dinner. I also bought a new work outfit today - It's still really weird seeing how people relate to me as a smaller person. I got a size 10uk (US 6) off the rack and tried it on. I thought it didn't fit because I stupidly didn't undo the zipper enough when I put it on and it was awkward. So went back out to get a 12, asked the sales lady for advice only to be told - You're young and skinny - go rock the 10! hahahaha meanwhile I'm looking behind me to see where this "young skinny" person is. A year ago nothing in that shop would have fitted me and I would have been ignored by the sales staff. There is still one sportswear outlet I refuse to shop in for that reason, ignore me when I wanted to buy stuff - BIG MISTAKE lol.

errrgghhhhh, eating wise was not so crash hot today - had a mishap with some malaysian roti at lunchtime :-( went over my fat grams by a lot, which is a shame. Otherwise ok. I just finished a spin session - I had the little sweat beads on my shoulders and a little pool of sweat under the bike - I was stoked! Then went and did some basic core stuff. Good times! Tomorrows challenge - no simple carbs - no bread or wheat products OF ANY KIND - I will pack an apple in my gym bag now in anticipation of the sugar crash I will get after tomorrows class (which i will count towards my metabolic workout) otherwise carbs will come from oats, fruit, yoghurt and pumpkin/sweet potato. Need to go shopping to buy my usual protein based foods - but too lazy to drag kids to shops and dont want to go after gym.

Ok so going well with the exercise so far. last week i managed to fit in all my goals - cardio monday, stretch tuesday, metabolic wednesday, strength thursday and cardio friday. Eating was ok but had a major carbo blowout on friday, rest of the week was fine. Getting out of bed is still a challenge - it's really really cold here at the moment. I am wearing a coat I purchased on a school trip to Tunisia when I was 16, it's made of camel hair and is a traditional berber design - made to cope with freezing desert winter nights. I look like a freak wearing it in the Sydney CBD but I don't care. It's so warm! My kids dont want to get dressed in the mornings either and are being PITAs about it, making me dress them. I went and got a new weights program today - my new trainer is super nice and a body builder, he gave me a much quicker workout than the old one - so this will be much easier to stick with, I just have to be a bit daring by levelling up my weights quickly. In the new program there are no recovery periods and you reduce the weight with each rep rather than increase it. So have to be brave with the first set! I also weighed myself on thursday - 70.05 kg. so I guess thats my starting weight. Down from 70.2 the week before last. I wish I still did PT every week as then I get weighed on the special scales that give the mass breakdown, maybe I can beg one of the trainers? Anyway onward and upward - gotta keep my food under control - this will be my biggest factor in getting the weight down. I totally forgot about the diet soda promise I made - so must remember that one as well. Thanks for your replies guys - I love that there are so many people all in this together.

Thanks Sora! Today I was within my macros - yay and completed my first strength workout in 2 months. I also booked in a for a program session with a trainer who is a weights specialist - cant wait!

Well so far so good - I stayed within my macros today and I ended up doing a metabolic workout at home. Anyone wondering what the heck that is it's weights with high intensity intervals in between sets to elevate the heart rate and increase calorie burn. I did a total of 200 reps of compound movements with free weights - but with a few more upper body sets, 2 lots of 10 minute bike intervals and 2 tracks of body combat (cos thats my favourite) total calorie burn = 556 av HR = 133 peak HR = 178.

Hi Marie, love your goals. I'm a confessed cardio junkie too, I need a good beat to elevate my efforts and get a rush from being in a group fitness class so i find strength training "boring". Best of luck with everything and yay for bodypump!

Hi there i have been reading the blogs from nerd fitness for a few months now but this is the first time I have come into the forum or joined a challenge. This comes at a good time for me as I feel I really need the motivation to further level up. Don't get me wrong I have done some amazing levelling up in the past year. At the moment I just feel really flat and need a huge shot in the arm to find my fitness mojo once more. This time last year I was 15 kg heavier, 3 dress sizes larger and pretty much miserable. I turned up to the gym and worked out, but had no focus and got nowhere. I changed gyms and met some great new friends who helped me find my way. For once I had a plan, I was driven and to my total amazement I lost a whole stack of weight. Anyhow in June I travelled to the Middle East to visit my husbands family. I lost my whole way of life - Firstly I was very sick, training was so difficult (I was restricted to body weight training in aunties lounge room and the odd jog) my diet was impossible to follow. ( I eat a high protein, moderate carb diet - I eat more protein based foods in a day than what many there would consume in a week, the tray of eggs my husband bought me because I was sad was considered a huge luxury) and the list goes on. So my weight loss journey which was cranking along just nicely has come to a grinding halt. I have hovered around 70kg since the end of May, and I would like that to change thank you very much! So my fitness/diet goals are: Goal 1: lose 3kg Goal 2: stop being such a wussbag and be able to deadlift 1/2 my bodyweight Goal 3: be able to lock my knee out for standing leg to knee pose at bikram (needs more leg strength than what I have) My personal goal is that I will get out of bed at 5.30am and leave the house before 7. (I have 2 kids to get ready and I am always running late) The plan of how i will achieve these goals : workouts, i will complete 4 workouts a week 2 x cardio, 1 x metabolic training and 1 x strength plus attend 1 x Bikram yoga (thats pretty easy as I am completely addicted to Bikram) I will chart my macros 6 days a week (carbs, fat and protein grams) and no I'm not telling what the numbers are, it's my secret! I will only drink diet soda on Fridays, So there you go - there are my goals and my plan. I know I started a day late but not to worry! Yesterday I completed a zumba class - which sucked. Not nearly enough sweat or effort exerted, I was glad I went to the gym but didn't feel the zumba love. Today i went to centergy which is a balance/yoga class set to music, I was still feeling blah and thought it might cheer me up. Tomorrow I am trying to pick between Zuu (a wierd sort of body weight training class - fits into the metabolic training) or group power ( a barbell/pump style class) or cycle and weights at home. what to choose what to choose! thanks for reading this far, you rock