back in the saddle

So I have been off line for a bit lately, I am actually three week behind now. I have been a bit of a crazy woman lately trying to do everything at the same time... you know what it's like.

But I’m not going to throw in the towel; I am just going to pick up where I left off.

I know I’m not suppose to make excuses.. but here are my excuses:

Baby in hospital – poor little munchkin' (don’t worry bubs is all okay now)… but being stuck in hospital for three days was bad enough – but believe it or not there was a MacDonald’s down in the canteen… WTF?? who has a MacDonald’s at a children’s hospital?? Well KK’s Singapore does!! So that was what I ate for three days with no work outs... naughty naughty....

My Second lost week was due to preparing for the most grueling job interview process ever .. so that took up a whole lot of evenings (got the job though… yah!)

The third week was lost due to visitors… which ended up incorporating this:

And this:

And then this:

While doing a whole lot of sight seeing in Singapore (I had a great week thanks!)

But now I am back to it.

Two good motivating points this week have been…

Yesterday I was working out at the condo gym (the gym size is tiny… it squeezes in three treadmills, a bike, a x-trainer and some free weights in a 10ft by 6ft space… and I say squeeze, I mean squeeze..Squeeze as in me trying to fit back into my old size eight jeans kinda squeeze)…

Anyway.

Motivation Point One: Yesterday I was bicep curling away and this little guy doing weights next to me went ‘Wow you’re really strong!’ I was curling 2kg more than him… awwwww.

Motivation Point Two: Tonight I had an amazing work out, I was all about form and posture… and it had nothing to do with the hottest guy EVER being in the gym (remember the tight squeeze I told you about… ) so I was all standing tall, sucking my belly in and smiling at the mirror as I pretended it was all no effort…..

well it's all about what motivates you isn't it????

Lucky Hubby doesn’t read my blog!

Anyway…. As I said I am back and ready to roll… I have maintained weight the last three weeks so I just have to start working a bit harder to lose those last 5kg and just be nice and give me an extra three-week credit okay…. 

The dress fits!!

What a feeling!!!! It all happened in slow motion:

I step into the dress.....

I turn slightly to the left.....

I'm slowly pulling up the zipper....

…. I haven’t worn this dress in three years....

… higher…higher.... it goes…. 

the zipper is moving...

.... upwards… 

slowly reaching the crucial last section… 

It fits!! 

Happy dance!!!!

It is week 4, otherwise known as milestone week… That means weigh in, fitness test, and measurements to be re-taken.

It is also the week of 'The Ball' I have to go to at the Marina Bay Sands for a work do…. Yep that pic is the location, pretty cool hey?

So the question on everyone’s lips is ‘What to wear?’… well, until two weeks ago a hessian sack was looking like my only option… but then as the weight started shifting I got a little more optimistic.

It all started with getting dressed for work last week. I had to dress a bit fancier. so I pulled out the suit dress I bought when I went back to work 6 months ago, none of my old work clothes fitted (this was post-baby, and let's not discuss the feeling of leaving my 8 month old bubs... *sad face*). Therefore, going back to work meant I had to make a few purchases. I usually like clothes shopping, but this wasn't a fun shop… shopping because nothing you own fits you is actually depressing,  especially when looking in the mirror asking that question 'do I look fat in this???' then realising -  'derr - that's why you're out buying clothes two sizes bigger than your current wardrobe '.

Anyway… last week I put on the dress I bought 6 months ago and it was huge… I looked like an eight year old playing dress ups, my chest looked like a deflated balloon and it hung off me like a bed sheet  … my inner Rocky did an air punch, progress!! I looked ridiculous and loved it!

… so I pulled out my old work dress from pre-pregnancy… tried it on.. well lets say I could technically get it on (just) but it looked crazy too tight (I looked like a hooker) and it was riding half way up my bum (I looked like a cheap hooker), my inner Rocky hung his head in shame… more training needed… so the pre-baby dress went back and the post-baby fat-girl-dress went back on… with a padded bra and a belt…

So I’m in limbo-clothes-land… current clothes don't fit… old clothes don’t fit.. so I either look like I'm a sack-man or I'm showing every bump, lump and overhang, either way I lose. Still, I refuse to buy more clothes at this in-between stage, as ‘new-clothes’ are one of my rewards list for ‘goal achieving’.

So there I was, the potential ‘Ball’ dress fitted,

'Yah!' 

But it wasn’t quite right for the event,

'Boo'

… so I sent out a facebook plea 'Cinderella needs a dress for the ball!!!'

And am I the luckiest girl EVER... the fairy godmother responded, I got lent the most gorgeous dress!!

It looked amazing!! I did have to dig out the spanx and wear two bras for it to fit right (Literally: I. Wore. Two. Bras!!!  correction. ... Literally I. Wore. Two. padded Bras!!! You see, my fairy godmother is totally gorgeous and curved in all the right places… I on the other hand am curved in all the wrong places, but this dress was perfectly complimentary, I felt gorgeous in it and who knew a redheads could pull off pink? 

Well, I guess Molly Ringwall did.

So in the end my milestone week has gone well.. Statistics confirm:

* 4kg down

* Total of 16cms off in all the right places

* Fitness test 'take-two': I can run 1km -  1min & 55 seconds faster  (now 5 mins 38), I can do 9 more push ups (from knees) in a minute (36) and I can sit against a wall for one minute and nine seconds.

Things are looking up… up, up and away….

My Inspiration

This week I missed my homework, Mentor M set the challenge to create an Inspiration Board, naturally I missed the deadline, but thought I should still do it anyway.

But first, I want to add a clip I think is truly inspiration, and filled with true superheroes:

I am now two weeks into my training (12WBT) and I am feeling it. I have stuck to the training (kicking and screaming - which does burn calories too), but I am not so good on sticking to 1200 cal a day.

I find keeping up with the training hard, I nearly talk myself out of it each day (I have to do some work, I have study to do, I have a baby to play with, I should mop under the fridge....). 

What really works is having people ask how's it going. It is hard to get out of it when people know you should be doing it... I am a bad liar, so I have no choice, the task must be done.

Today I had to do my Super Sadistic Saturday ...on Sunday... as I missed it yesterday (Sunday is usually the day off... so I took my day off Saturday). The problem with leaving it to the last day  is even though it was 30 degrees and raining I still had to do it... I had no days left in the bank!  

Today I suffered. Doing SSS is bad enough, doing it in the rain...that was torture, well maybe not so bad as I looked like I did it in the rain last week. At least this time I remembered more water, but forgot my mat... talk about getting dirty (actually I turned blue because of the blue tarmac, mixed with rain... I looked like a smurf, and not the cute girly smurfette, probably more like Grouchy Smurf)

What I really want is to see the magic. 

My friend, who is also doing the program, had this cool quote and I think it is going to keep me going for now.....

So I definitely can't quit... in 6 more weeks you're all going to be gushing about how fabulous I look (don't worry I will remind you to compliment me... but it is on the 21st of October if you want to put it in your diary).

So, as I have now done my homework here it is..... my inspiration board:

I better go mop under that fridge... 

.....up.. up and away...

P.S I have also always really loved this (no, not just because of Mel's voice)

30°C and I trained in it!

Image by://wackyjacquisdesigns.com

30°C, one hour  and 1200 reps, I think maybe I am superwoman!!!

Mentor M should rename ‘Super Saturday session’ to ‘Super Suffering Saturday’.

When I went to bed last night I told my husband I was going to get up early to do my ‘SSS’ (I think he may have misheard the first time, by his expression  - Saturday morning S& what??).

 However, after the baby waking up three times in the night, getting out of bed to train was not easy… actually it didn’t happen.

I know it is dangerous leaving it to the end of the day.. but that was the plan.

After going out for lunch, having a pedicure and chicken rice take away dinner... things weren’t looking good.

Then I filled in my Nutrition Diary and Google told me chicken rice is 666 calories… Nobody told me!! It’s evil, the devil's number! That's double my meal allowance! (btw, I’m not making it up, it really is 666... proof here).

So I knew I better get out there. It was 7pm and 30°C…. But I was determined to do it.

So I went outside, found a good spot and got out the yoga mat, right next to the step-up seat and away I went.

The lighting was bad (or good), It sure motivated me, you see there was a light on the ground behind me… now that does not make nice shadows on the wall…. I looked like an Oompa-Loompa….that kept the step-ups going.

About forty minutes in I was really suffering. My water bottle was running out. I was sweating so bad I was sliding off the mat during the pushups. By the end of round two I was on fire (literally my skin was crawling with heat) but strangely I was feeling good (my inner Rocky was doing air boxing in support). Then my water ran out and I had the last round to go.... twenty minutes left. I started getting a bit delusional. My counting was off… I was doing 12 reps on the 4 rounds and frequently lost count and had to start again.

But I did it!! Three rounds, one hour  and 1200 reps of torturous activities!

As I staggered back home I managed to bump into someone I know, typical…. 

In lycra and bright red face (looking more and more like an  Oompa-Loompa), he asked if I had gone for a swim in my clothes?

So what did I learn today:

1. Bring more water
2. I still hate burpees
3. Dont have a pedicure prior to training… you need those callous
4. Chicken Rice is the devil's food
5. Put the ipod in a plastic bag (there is a lot of sweat happening in Singapore)  

So week one done and dusted… 11 more to go, oh %$£@!!

Up, up and away... well, actually shower and face planted on the floor…

I hate burpees

It has begun!

Monday

I went to the gym ready to roll.....

First I had to do the x-trainer & bike (easy as I can read my kindle on those so I am distracted) and then I had to try running…. Let the suffering begin.

I did feel good though pounding the treadmill (I'm a very noisy runner!)

My body had a very slight recollection of running three marathons, I didn't have endurance, it hurt but it felt good to be back. Think how gorgeous my legs will look!

Speaking of legs, my dream is to have my thighs NOT touching (you know my running trousers actually have a whole in them now from wear and tear - not a good look trying to do sumo squats with a massive hole in your inner thigh seam!)

So after the gym equipment I went outside to do the rest of the training…. Step ups, crunches, squat jumps and burpees … OMG how much do I HATE burpees they are evil, evil things (mine look nothing like this dude <click here to see a ridiculous enthusiastic guy do burpees>).

What’s worse is where I was excercising is overlooked by a school!

I’m sure the day dreaming students who were staring out the window got great entertainment watching me cheat my way through 30 burpees.

By the end of the hour I was puffing, red faced, sweaty beast... and this is day one!

On the food front I did well. I am not really following Mentor Ms program as I can’t get a lot of the food she recommends, but I have been good and counting the calories. I clocked 1119 (of my 1200 allowance).

Tuesday

Today was a tonning day (still had bloody burpees though).

I was doing the weights and my inner Rocky was truly celebrating (I swear I could hear 'Gonna Fly Now' playing in the background... mm maybe that was my iPod??). I felt soooo cool 'look at me doing these weights', I felt like a  real tough chick doing the bicep curls (I curled the whole 3 whole killograms – please don’t laugh and disrupt my inner Rocky doing his ‘top of the stairs dance' )

So after pounding the raw meat, I had to go outside do crunches, squats and burpees (in the rain mind you!)

So a couple of things I learnt about myself

1.    I count out loud… how embarrassing, I only realized when the ipod did a song change.

2.    I hate burpees

3.    Don’t wear a necklace… it smacks your teeth every squat jump/burpee/pushup!

4.    I HATE burpees

5.    I can count 60 seconds real fast when holding a plank (naughty…  yes Mentor M I now use the timer and don’t cheat)
6. I really really hate burpees

Wednesday

It has only been three days but it is 'weigh in day' (every Wednesday)… I’ve lost 800g. 

But I think that is all the water from sweating like a pscyo in the Singapore weather while doing bloody burpees (I HATE burpees!). The problem with Singapore is I can handle it being 32 degrees but 79% humidity is a killer.....

........ So I finish, have a shower and keep sweating for the next 40mins. Which is not good when I am trying to dress for work and the chances of putting makeup is nill to fudge-all! It drips off……. My face is literally melting!!

Anyway that’s my story so far (do I seriously have to do this 6 times a week????)

By the way: I hate burpees ….

Up, up and away….