31/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Banana bruschetta (5/5- omnomnomnomnom!)
Morning tea - Protein shake
Lunch - Mediterranean vege sandwich
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Meat Pie with Mushy Peas (5/5- kangaroo mince is amazing!! I used tomato paste in the pies instead of tomato sauce)
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt

Exercise
Completed my exercise plan for the day with my partner! It was great to have someone with me to complete the exercises with me. Now I only have the SSS session to go for the week & I know I'm going to smash it!!

Study
Completed & submitted my ECON2272 assignment.

30/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast- Berry bruschetta
Morning tea- Banana & camomile, honey & vanilla tea
Lunch - Mediterranean vegetable sandwich with Basil ricotta (4/5, very nice- quite a few ingredients but I could definitely eat this again)
Afternoon tea -Protein shake (tried strawberry flavour--- not as nice)
Dinner - Chicken parmigiana (4.5/5, super easy to make & tastes lovely)
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passion fruit yoghurt

Exercise
Completed my workout for the day but had a bit of a slip-up with the barbell for chest presses. I think I'll be using dumbells from now on---- at least till that part of my body is stronger.

Study
Watched my Wednesday clash lecture & went to today's lectures.... Really need to finish my maths assignment so I shall do that now.

Weigh in Week 1

Loss of 200g for the week!

29/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Chicken & cheese turkish bread *treat meal*
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Fish burger
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passion fruit yoghurt and one square of dark chocolate

Exercise
Completed my cardio & core workout this morning before I went to uni & my god---- I can pump weights for an hour or two but I can't do 12 sets of 'fancy planks'! I am absolutely marking this exercise as my nemesis, who invented it anyway?? One of my mini goals is now to be able to belt out 12 of these by the end of the month.

Study
Today I completed my macro tute questions, read my prep for my management tute & watched yesterday's lecture. I also attended all classes for the day. I had another go at my maths assignment for the week but the questions are killing me! I may need to get some help.

Changes

Well I've been eating healthy & exercising regularly for over a month now... I'm really beginning to see some great benefits, not just in body tone but in other factors too. Firstly my acne has pretty much disappeared & my skin is now nice & smooth--- I guess my excessive coffee intake was really taking a toll. Secondly my mind is incredibly clear--- normally by week 5 of uni I would be stressed & unable to sleep, my mind would be whirring with unwelcome thoughts and I would have a mental fog that would make the air of Hong Kong seem clean & clear. Thirdly I actually feel like I've given myself some purpose (other than studying my brains out)... I got up this morning & realised that for the first time in a while I'm very proud of myself. It feels very nice for a change.

28/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Berry Bruschetta (4.5/5- fab, easy & filling!)
Morning tea - Diced apricots
Lunch - Prawn & Avocado sushi
Afternoon tea - Protein shake
Dinner - Lamb cutlets with mushy peas (5/5, so easy to make & so delicious! I could make it everyday if lamb cutlets weren't so expensive!)
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passion fruit yoghurt

Exercise
Completed my exercise routine for the day! My weak points are currently mountain climbers, skipping & over-the-fence jumps. I can't keep them up for a whole minute yet but you bet I'll be able to in a couple of weeks!

Study
Finished & submitted my management literature review. It's great I finished it a day early but I'm still being slack with my study. At this very moment I know I should be printing out tute questions but I'm so exhausted all I can do is sit here & type.

27/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Diced pear & peach and a banana
Lunch - Weightwatcher's calzone
Afternoon tea - Protein shake
Dinner - Cajun fish stew
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passion fruit yoghurt

Exercise
Completed my exercise plan for the day at the gym! Hoorah!!!!

Study
Nearly finished my management literature review.

Cajun Fish Stew

This dish is perfect! It gets a 5/5 from me. However I did only add 1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning instead of 2 because I'm not a spicy food fan.

26/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast- Special K & milk
Morning tea - Banana & 200mL diet coke
Lunch - Not-so-naughty Nachos (4/5, these went down well with my partner!)
Afternoon tea - 2 squares dark chocolate
Dinner - Caramelized pork with kumara mash
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt

Exercise
Went for a 4km walk today to go watch the city2surf! The marathon runners were really inspiring.

Study
Completed half my ECON2272 assignment & have chosen my articles for my management literature review.

Getting there

I believe this to be true...

25/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - Berry smoothie (skim milk)
Lunch - 6 pieces fish sushi
Afternoon tea - Large handful of popcorn & 200mL diet coke
Dinner - Vegetarian Burritos (4/5, we did not use tofu, instead added extra beans)
Dessert - Vanilla fruche & 25g dark toblerone (not a good choice--- turns out that EACH 25g piece of one of these suckers has 125 calories in it! steer clear fellow 12wbts!)

Exercise
Completed Michelle's Super Shredder Circuit dvd this morning. Boy was I feeling it by the end; Difficult but lots of fun!

Study
I didn't do any... Even though I had the day off work. I've got my exercise & diet on track now I just need to  find some head-space for my units!

24/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Chicken & Cheese Turkish bread (once again I shouldn't have had this but I figure it's the last time--- what an excuse!)
Afternoon tea - diced pineapple, pear & peach
Dinner - Pumpkin & spinach couscous bake
Dessert - No fat vanilla yoghurt

Exercise
Walked around Perth Zoo for 2 hours, I should have done more but I'm planning to do a Saturday morning exercise dvd.

Study
Handed in my ECON2272 assignment. This weekend I must finish my MGMT3346 literature review.

23/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Prawn & avocado sushi
Afternoon tea - Camomile, honey & vanilla tea
Dinner - Potato & Egg Salad
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt

Exercise
Went to the gym for an hour & completed my regime. I ramped up the weights a bit but then found myself getting nauseous while running so I was forced to skip a few intervals & walk instead.

Study
Completed my finance speech.

Potato & Egg Salad

This salad tastes absolutely epic, my picture doesn't do it justice by far. You can find it in Michelle Bridge's No Excuses Cook book.

Program Release!

So the exercise regimes & recipes for the first week of the 12wbt have been released! I'm super psyched to be able to go through them & see what's in store for me.

Having gone through the exercise regimes I have decided to swap my program to Lean & Strong as I feel this is more suited to my purposes as well as my workout environment. While I will take up running once the 12 weeks finishes I'm first going to focus on achieving some nice body tone during this period. Lean & Fit seemed to be primarily focused on weight loss- something I don't really have to worry about- & contains less of my preferred exercises (I loooove gym machines).

22/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli & milk with mandarin
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Hoisin chicken stir fry
Afternoon tea - Approx 50mL coke zero
Dinner - Chicken schnitzel burger *treat meal*
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passion fruit yoghurt and 1 square of dark chocolate

Exercise
None today other than charging around uni. I did successfully wake up early enough to exercise but needed to use that time to complete tutorial questions for my 9am tute. Next time I'll have to prepare ahead & get the questions done earlier--- no excuses!

Study
Completed most of assignment 3 for Mathematics for Economists today thanks to my partner. He was incredibly patient & helped me through the linear equation questions (which thank goodness I think I understand now). My Finance speech for Friday is nearly complete though I have to create the slideshow tomorrow. I must also remember to prepare my finance tute questions for Friday & complete my Literature Review for Management over the weekend.

21/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Banana, mandarin & diced pear
Lunch - Weight watcher's BBQ pizza
Afternoon tea - Berry smoothie
Dinner - Hoisin chicken stir fry
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt plus blueberry, apple & rosehip tea

Exercise
Completed Michelle Bridges' tight toned & terrific dvd and wow were my muscles sore by the end of it! I found the back toning to be the most difficult part of the dvd (possibly because my weights are a bit too heavy).

Other Thoughts
I'm having a bit of trouble organizing myself at uni this semester, I really need to work on doing things well before they're due rather than at the last moment.

Hoisin Chicken Stir-fry

So for the first time I decided to cook some food in advance to take with me to uni! This recipe is great, I've made it several times already.

Measurements 1

This is actually pre-season task 8, but I've decided to do it a couple of days early.
My measurements for this week are:

Chest: 87cm
Waist: 68cm
Hip: 96cm
Left thigh: 58cm
Right thigh: 57cm
Left arm: 24cm
Right arm: 24cm

I really have no point of reference for these measurements but I think they're quite good... From now on I'll be measuring them once a month to track my progress.

Weight Goal Smashed!

So today I hopped on the scales to find that I'm exactly 66kg! I'm now at the weight I set as my goal weight for the entire 12wbt with a loss of 800g this week & 4kg overall. According to my wii fit my BMI is 21.31 but I checked the 12wbt charts & it seems to suggest that my BMI is 20.8. Quite frankly I'm really thrilled that I managed to drop to this weight before the actual program started; My first instinct was to eat as much a possible before the 'real program' began but I showed self-restraint & it really paid off. Now my main issue will be trying to maintain the weight---- this will mean eating about 300 calories more than I am at the moment. I tend to swing from one extreme of eating to the other so adding this amount to my diet will be difficult for me. I don't really want to lose any more weight nor do I want to gain any!

20/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Banana & diced peach
Lunch - Weightwatchers BBQ chicken pizza
Afternoon tea - Camomile, honey & vanilla tea
Dinner - Basil & walnut pesto
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passionfruit yoghurt

Exercise
Today I completed my fitness test & completed my gym workout.

I like this Acronym...

Fitness Test 1

This is pre-season task 7! Only one to go after this! The purpose of this test is to gauge which fitness level you are at in order to select the correct exercise regime.

My results:
1km Time Trial - 4min 30sec (advanced level)
Push ups - 11 on toes & 20 on knees (advanced level)
Abdominal - level 3 (intermediate level)
Wall sit - 42sec (beginner level)
Sit & Reach - 16cm (advanced level)

Despite my low wall sit result most of my other results were at the advanced level. Therefore I'll be taking on the advanced lean & fit regime during this round.

19/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast- Special K with milk
Morning tea - 200mL diet coke
Lunch - Mini homemade pita pizza with mixed salad
Afternoon tea - sliver of banana cake
Dinner - Caramelized pork with sweet potato & apple
Dessert - Light peach, banana & passionfruit yoghurt

Exercise
Went for a walk around lake Monger with my partner today, the weather was absolutely beautiful & we saw some gorgeous ducklings following their parents around on the grass. I'm really looking forward to the fitness test tomorrow!

18/8/2012 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Weightwatchers BBQ chicken pizza
Afternoon tea - 2 handfuls of popcorn & 200mL diet coke
Dinner - Slow roasted chicken salad (lots of rocket with cherry tomatoes, chicken & green beans plus dressing & parmesan) & a glass of diet coke
Dessert - N/A

Exercise
No exercise today unfortunately. I had a 6 hour shift in the morning then went out with my partner & his friend in the evening.

17/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & banana
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Chicken & cheese toasted turkish bread (probably not as healthy as I should have had)
Afternoon tea - Berry smoothie
Dinner - Cumin-crusted lamb cutlets with lemony broccoli & broad beans
Dessert - Camomile, honey & vanilla tea and light peach, banana & passionfruit yoghurt

Exercise
Today I completed Michelle Bridge's Cardio Kicker dvd.

Other Thoughts
I had an absolutely exceptional evening with my partner today; One of those evenings that just makes you feel like you're glowing, floating on air & playing in a sea of marshmallows all at once. I'm feeling the best I have in ages.

Organise & Diarise

This is pre-season task 6! I'm very excited that we'll be getting our diet & workout plans one week from now!

The purpose of this task is to make time in my schedule for 6 workout sessions per week. The 6 workout sessions are- fitness x 2, fitness (SSS), toning x 2 & light fitness/core/strength. I've decided to give myself a range of options for when to complete the workouts. The ones I choose will depend on my workload for the week.

Monday - Fitness
Gym 7.30-8.30am or 3-4pm
Home 9-10am

Tuesday - Tone
Gym 7.30-8.30am or 3-4pm
Home 9-10am

Wednesday - Light fitness, core & strength /or/ Rest
Home 6-7am or 7.30-8.30pm
Gym 10.30-11.30am (Uni)

Thursday - Fitness SSS
Gym 2.30-4.30pm
Home 2.30-4.30pm

Friday - Tone
Gym 2.30-3.30pm
Home 3.30-4.30pm

Saturday - Fitness /or/ Rest
Outside/Gym/Home 3-4pm (with partner)

Sunday - Light fitness, core & strength /or/ Fitness /or/ Rest
Outside 7-8am (with partner)
Home/Gym 10-11am (with partner)
Home 4-5pm or 7-8pm

My first mini goal is to run 2km, my second is to run 3km & by the end of this round I hope to run 4km.

So far I don't really have any red-flag days (days in which I might let my diet & exercise slip).

16/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Mixed sushi
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Salmon teriyaki with mushrooms & Asian greens
Dessert - Citrus cheesecake yoghurt with chamomile, honey & vanilla tea

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks completed for the day

I didn't feel like going to the gym today, I've probably done the same routine a few too many times & I feel like I need to mix it up a bit. Instead I did one of Michelle Bridges workout DVDs; It was actually quite a lot of fun & I managed to keep up for the whole workout. Other than that I went for a walk in King's Park this afternoon--- the view was absolutely spectacular today. I realise that to succeed with this program I really need to keep myself interested by trying different forms of exercise.

15/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Mixed sushi
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Chicken Schnitzel Burger *Treat meal*
Dessert - Forme no fat yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress
All planks done just now!

I spent the whole day at uni & got a bit of exercise charging from class to class. I consumed my treat meal today which means watching what I eat for the rest of the week!

14/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Berry smoothie
Lunch - Prawn & avocado sushi
Afternoon tea - diced peach & pineapple
Dinner - Potato & Egg salad
Dessert - Camomile, honey & vanilla tea plus no fat vanilla yogurt

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks all done.

I weighed in today! I currently weigh 66.8kg, a 100g loss from last week. Given I'm not really aiming at losing weight any more I'm very happy to have maintained my current weight. Plus I've clearly gained some more muscle mass! I went out & bought a bright blue triumph triaction bra top to wear to the gym as I'm feeling much better about the way I look. When I wore it to the gym though I felt really awkward & worried that everyone was looking at me & judging me. Clearly I have to get used to wearing something so bare. I completed my workout once again today.

Eating out - Drinks & Snacks

I've been going shopping quite a bit in the last few weeks & I keep feeling like I'm missing out when I don't get a drink of some kind in a coffee shop. So I decided to compile a list of drinks/snacks (that I like & without coffee in them) within a 150 calorie limit.

Dome

• Berry Bliss Smoothie 
• Mango Fandango Smoothie

I couldn't find the calories for the banana burst smoothie but from memory it's also below the 150 calorie limit.

Gloria Jean

• Chai Latte (small or regular; ask for skim or soy milk & no sugar)---- I got this info off MyFitnessPal but I've just checked the 12wbt & think that it may be wrong; according to Mish a 330mL Chai tea is 260cal (lucky I haven't had any!)

The hot chocolate is not below the 150 calorie limit nor are any of the iced drinks.

Coffee Club

Nothing; Do not have drinks here!

Pure & Natural

They juice their own fresh veges & fruit in front of you at Pure & Natural and don't add any sugar. My assumption therefore is that their juices would be in a 150 calorie limit.

13/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - diced peach
Lunch - 1/2 pack latina kid's ravioli & rocket with chopped yellow capsicum
Afternoon tea - Banana
Dinner - Basil & walnut pesto
Dessert - Light strawberry yogurt

Challenge #7 Progress
All planks done today!!

Today I renewed my gym membership for 3 months & completed my routine once again. I didn't run a kilometre this time but I did do all my intervals. I also went grocery shopping so I have my ingredients for all the healthy recipes I'm going to make this week!

Kitchen Makeover

Time for pre-season task 5! Over half-way through!

Well this is an easy task for me... There are currently no processed & unhealthy foods in the house that I actually enjoy eating! I asked mum to stop buying them & I've been doing the grocery shopping with her to make sure that we only buy the items on my list. I'm having a bit of a problem using up the healthy items she bought before the program though! For some reason there's about 6 or 7 packets of various types of pork in the freezer so I've been trying to make at least one pork recipe every week to use it up (unfortunately between her books & the blog Michelle has only got 2 different pork recipes so I hope the meal plans include some different ones).

I have already gone out & bought an oil spray as well as swapped to a brand new non-stick frying pan. We also purchased a beautiful new char-grill pan last week so I can make things like skewers & char-grilled veges. I have a circle of various herbs & spices lined up around my cooking space as well.

Say It Out Loud

This is actually pre-season task 4; I looked at it & watched the video days ago however I'm not really sure how I want to go about this one. Both my mother & my partner have heard my commitment as have two of my closest friends. I don't however feel ready to announce my fitness goals to anyone else (with the exception of my dad I guess --- he kind of got the jist already but he still keeps trying to feed me cake!!). From previous experience I know that some of my other friends will put effort into trying to sabotage my attempts & that I'll once again receive judgements of 'oh you don't need to do that... You're fine already!' Thanks but that's not really all that helpful. Instead I'm hoping to fly below the radar on this program---- they can hear about my success once I've completed my goals!

12/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Special K with milk
Morning tea - 100mL diet coke
Lunch - Small tin tuna with torn iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes & a sprinkle of spring onion & cheddar
Afternoon tea - 100mL diet coke & small snowball (101 calories)
Dinner - Caramelised Pork with Sweet Potato mash & apples
Dessert - 1 punnet of strawberries & a Forme no fat yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks Completed for the day!

This morning my partner & I got up early to go for a run (despite the rain!). We managed to run a kilometre before I completely lost my breathe & we fast-walked the rest of the way. On the plus side we beat my previous record running on the treadmill (which was 8 minutes) & ran the kilometre in 5 minutes. We're planning to exercise together at least once a week now & I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be nice to have someone to compete with & try new exercises with. I'm hoping we'll try a gym class at some point (we used to go to Bodypump & Bodycombat together). I just did my 5 push-ups for the day---- I really want to do more but I need to build up to it.

11/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Weight watchers supreme pizza
Afternoon tea - 200mL diet coke
Dinner - Leftovers (relatively healthy) plus steamed broccoli, snow peas & peas
Dessert - Creme chocolate (Brownes dessert, 197 cal)

Challenge #7 Progress
All planks completed for the day

Today I didn't really do much exercise as I had a 6 hour shift in the morning. However my partner & I did have a go at push-ups in the evening. I found that I could only do 5 on my toes & can't get down very far at all. I'm hoping to improve this so I'm going to try & incorporate push-ups into my daily routine, starting with 5 per day.

10/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Mandarin
Lunch - Weight watchers supreme pizza
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Hoisin chicken & pumpkin stir fry
Dessert - No fat vanilla yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks all done!!

So today I went to the gym for an hour again. I decided to try running 1km again & managed it, though with a bit more difficulty than yesterday (I was a bit tired). I actually feel a lot better having eaten Michelle Bridges recipes yesterday & today for dinner, it must be all the vitamins in the veges improving my focus--- I can definitely tell the difference. My cooking skills are also getting better, it doesn't take me nearly half an hour to chop up a pumpkin now!

Really psyched to see I have 15 Australian blog views today! For some reason before I joined the program most of my viewers seemed to be from Russia--- I still can't figure out why!

9/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Mixed sushi
Afternoon tea - Apple, celery & carrot juice
Dinner - Miso chicken skewers with steamed Asian veggies (4/4, veggies need to steam longer than stated!)
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks completed!

So today I made my one month goal by running one kilometre without stopping! It turns out that I'm not as unfit as I originally thought, it's just my negative thinking that's holding me back. I went to the gym for an hour today.

I've Decided

You know, I've always thought 'oh I can never be like those athletic girls, they were born that way'. In reality though that couldn't be further from the truth; I'm quite capable of being athletic! I just need to break past the mental barriers I've created, put in the hard work & become the person I really want to be.

Rewards

I realise that I haven't really put any rewards/incentives in place to coincide with my goals in this journey. So I've been thinking about what I really would like to do with my new-found physique & what sort of rewards would be suitable for me. These are the ideas I've come up with:

• Massages - I get incredibly stressed during the semester & lately my entire back has been seizing up & hurting. I could use the money I save not buying food to get a massage as my one month reward.
• Pole dancing lessons - I've wanted to take these for over a year now but I never felt fit enough; I probably can't fit them in during the semester but if I'm on track by the end of exams there's no reason for me to not give them a go! 
• Travel - I'm also saving my excess cash to use on a holiday at the end of the year with my partner. We're about to book & we'll be going to Melbourne & New Zealand (for the second time this year!). 
• Video games - I've just bought myself a 3DS so I can buy myself some new games for smaller milestones.

8/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Prawn & Mango Sushi
Afternoon tea - Small banana & 150mL diet coke
Dinner - Chicken fillet burger (from charcoal chicken) *treat meal*
Dessert - 1 square dark chocolate & diced fruit

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks done for the day!!

So today I'm very tired after my stock take shift.... I let my dad choose dinner tonight for the two of us so I ended up eating something less healthy than I would have hoped. I'm going to consider this to be my treat meal for the week which means I'm going to have to watch what I eat for the rest of the week! I didn't go to the gym today but I spent the day charging around uni & racked up 5,341 steps (I decided to carry a pedometer). I also climbed up & down 7 flights of stairs today.

7/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Diced fruit & 3 strawberries
Lunch - Atlantic salmon healthy choice meal
Afternoon tea - Banana
Dinner - 1/3 cup cous cous, steamed veges & salmon
Dessert - 1 biscuit

Challenge #7 Progress
Completed all my planks for the day.

So I didn't manage to post yesterday's progress till now because I had a stocktake shift until 11pm last night. As a result I'm very tired & I feel a real need to get some sleep. The shift gave me a good workout (moving, lifting & sorting various items plus powering around the store) & I also went to the gym for an hour beforehand. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to make a proper dinner & I think I may have had too much to eat. Having said that I probably did need the extra energy at the time. Today I'm really struggling to not turn to caffiene to wake me up; I have 2 hours of lecture left & I'm pretty much the dead walking. I might go see if I can find a small bottle of diet coke somewhere (not one of those 600mL ones!) just for that extra bit of push.

Milestone!!

So I am actually now beneath my original goal weight (which was 67kg). I now weigh in at 66.9kg with a BMI of 21.60. I'm incredibly happy with this & its the lowest BMI I've ever been at. Looking at my body now I think I should only lose 0.9kg more & then focus all my energies on tone. I'm beginning to see some changes already (dear god you should see my arm muscles) & I only have the faint line of a 'love handle' on my right-hand side.

I'm really surprised to have nearly reached my weight goal in pre-season since we haven't even started on the proper exercise regimes yet. It's quite possible that I'll have to up my calorie intake a bit as I'm losing weight at quite a rapid rate. Once I'm down to 66kg I'll switch back to full-yoghurt & ensure I eat two pieces of fruit a day. I think I'll also start to introduce the concept of a 'treat meal' once a week.

6/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Mixed Sushi
Afternoon tea - Banana
Dinner - Salmon teriyaki with Mushrooms & Asian greens
Dessert - Strawberry & Passion fruit semifreddo slice

Challenge #7 Progress
Planks done for the day!!

I went to the gym for an hour today & did the most running I've managed so far. I can do about 350m straight without stopping so I have to try & work up to 1km by the end of the month!

Gear Up

This is pre-season task 3. The main idea is to think about where I would like to exercise & to obtain any gear I might need.

I already own a good pair of sports shoes as well as general work-out gear so I'm all set in that respect. I think I'll mainly be working out at the gym but I've bought some of Michelle Bridge's workout dvds just in case I'd prefer to stay home. I'm not so sure about which program level to do yet but we'll be taking a fitness test to determine where we're at. I think I may end up doing either advanced lean & fit or lean & strong since overall I have quite high stamina.

5/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Special K with milk
Morning tea - 1/2 can diet coke
Lunch - 2 taco shells with mexi-beans, grape tomatoes & lettuce
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Pork chop with cauliflower mash & steamed veges (ran out of cauliflower)
Dessert - Light strawberry yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress Report
Planks done for the day, I'm now holding all 5 for 40 seconds rather than 30 seconds.

I did pretty well today when it came to sticking to the calorie limit. I also went for a walk with my partner.

4/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk & mandarin
Morning tea - N/A
Lunch - Weightwatcher's supreme pizza
Afternoon tea - Banana, 1/2 can diet coke
Dinner - slice of cashew loaf, piece of roast beef, 1/2 a roast potato, beans & carrots
Dessert - 1 mini profiterole

Challenge #7 Progress
I didn't do my planks for the day...

Saturday wasn't such a great day in terms of my regime. I probably ate a bit too much cashew nut loaf & I had some diet coke because my partner was drinking mocha chill & I felt like I wanted something as well. I'm still happy that I limited myself to one profiterole & didn't get any seconds at dinner though.

I didn't do any exercise which is a shame because I'm really starting to see the benefits of what I'm doing. My abs are starting to show slight visual structure & I feel quite energetic. I plan to go to the gym at least 3 times next week. Today I'll begin my planks again.

3/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with milk
Morning tea - Mandarin
Lunch - Prawn & Avocado sushi + 2 pieces of California sushi (too much, shouldn't have had extra)
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Sweet Potato & capsicum pizza (I made a variation for my partner with different toppings - grated cheese, baby spinach, capsicum, broccoli & twice the amount of sauce)
Dessert -  Strawberry & Passion fruit Yoghurt Semifreddo (4.5/5, I had a slightly bigger serving than I should have)

Challenge #7 Progress
I almost didn't do my planks but I just made the effort & pushed myself to do all 5.

Since it's my anniversary today I let my regime slip a bit, I ate a bit more food & barely did any exercise. It's just a one-off though & I'll be back on track tomorrow! At least I didn't eat anything unhealthy.

Strawberry & Passion fruit Yoghurt Semifreddo

Made this for my 2-year anniversary today! It's absolutely delicious, just remember to let it defrost a bit before eating. (Please ignore the Bratz plate XD)

2/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with skim milk
Morning tea - Mandarin & diced peach
Lunch - Prawn & avocado sushi
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Cumin-crusted lamb cutlets with lemony broccoli & broad beans (5/5, tastes amazing! I love the banana chilli, it isn't hot at all; I cooked the lamb for 3 min one side then 2 min the other)
Dessert - Strawberry no-fat yoghurt

Challenge #7 Progress
Completed all 5 today!

Today I did an hour workout at the gym. It wasn't as intense as yesterday but it made me feel better as I was feeling unhappy towards the end of the day. It's amazing how much a bit of exercise can perk up your mood.

I also made a Strawberry & Passion fruit Yoghurt Semifreddo in advance for my 2 year anniversary tomorrow. It's from Michelle Bridge's 'Crunch Time', I hope it turns out well! At the moment it's setting in the freezer.

Take Control - Set your goals

So pre-season task 2 has come out today. The idea behind this task is for me to plan out how I'm going to achieve my goals & identify milestones in 12 month, 6 month, 3 month & 1 month blocks. These are the milestones & methods I've set for myself:

1 Month Goals: Lose 1kg & run 1km without stopping
How I will get there: Follow my nutrition plan & build up running distance at the gym on the treadmill

3 Month Goals: Lose 1.7kg (& fit nicely into my beautiful dress from Germany), run 3km without stopping & see a clear visual change in my body tone
How I will get there: Continue to build up distance at the gym & keep working on my fitness & eating

6 Month Goals: Run 6km without stopping & see a clear visual change in my body tone
How I will get there: Continue to build up distance at the gym, also start to go for runs outside & continue fitness & diet plans

12 Month Goals: Run the 12km City2Surf & have a flat, well-toned stomach
How I will get there: Continue to build up distance at the gym as well as train by running long-distances outside. Continues fitness & diet plans.

I'm not actually sure if I should lose another 2.7kg but I'll see how things pan out. My main goal is to tone but I think it would be a great achievement to be able to run the City2Surf.

1/8/12 Progress Report

Food Intake
Breakfast - Muesli with skim milk
Morning tea - Banana
Lunch - Asparagus, rocket & ricotta frittata with rocket salad
Afternoon tea - N/A
Dinner - Fish Burger
Dessert - 1 square dark chocolate & no fat strawberry yogurt

Challenge #7 Progress
All planks done for the day!

Today I went to the gym & completed my hour routine. I'm feeling pretty tired but I'm glad I did it, I can tell that I'm getting fitter.