Day 10 - Cross train and HIIT, PUSH YOURSELF!

Sprint as fast as you possibly can!
We don't do it enough!
Push your body to the max, if only for 100m .
When was the last time you ran as fast as your legs could possibly push and stride with your lungs absolutely aching but you keep sprinting to that set point? I know personally that before last night I hadn't sprinted at my absolute fastest potential in...years?

HIIT?
High intensity interval training.

Periods of high intensity intervals (eg. flat out sprints) combined with low intensity intervals.

And the cross training? Kicking a soccer ball around the soccer oval. Just dribbling it up and back with a friend, kicking to each other, trying to score against each other and booting it up into the night sky.

I also did 3 flat out 100m or so sprints racing against my very fit boyfriend. And I did pretty damn well!

Had fish again for tea with veggies and a small amount of pasta. Also love that I have cut white bread out of my diet, having rice cakes with my chicken/lettuce/tomato tastes so good, fills me up and leaves me feeling great! And lots of delicious green tea!

Day 9 - Yum! Veggies! and Miranda Kerr

I don't know why I have never been a big vegetable eater. But, I've had large mixed servings (with the 'gross' stuff like beans and broccoli I wouldn't normally ever touch) 2 nights in a row now and they have tasted fine, nothing poisonous about them.
Perhaps though it is because I have been so damn hungry after my runs that I really will eat anything?
Either way I'm getting my veggie intake properly now.

So yes I went for a walk/run tonight - was feeling very tired and unmotivated when I started off though. So, I told myself I deserved to just power walk this one and listen to my music relaxingly.
Well that didn't last because before I knew it I found myself pounding the pavements - and for much much longer  distances than the previous times too.

Did you see Miranda Kerrs return the catwalk on the news tonight? She looked bloody amazing in the cossie. It's definately not the body I am aspiring to achieve but she did look really good since having a baby!

No tae bo. I thought this whole weight loss part of the journey was going to be centred around tae bo. But the only place I can do it is in the lounge room, when noone is home - which is rare because my brother does shiftwork, so the lounge room is usually occupied. I did try it in my bedroom but there just wasn't enough room (or air!).
Plus I do like listening to my own music and getting out the house rather than steaming up the lounge room with Billy Blanks yelling at me. That said, I do love tae bo; it just doesn't fit well with my schedule at the moment in that its hard to find the TV free and its much much easier to just step outside and run!

I'm still dwelling on how much I weigh. Can't believe I weigh 72. Disgusting.

Oh! Good news though, my boyfriend has been inspired by my sudden desire for a healthier me and has started his own training as well. He's always been a healthy eater and gone jogging regularly but thinks he has slacked on the strength training part lately so he is focusing on improving that area now. Its great!

Day 7 and 8 - Get a good nights sleep

After some shocking sleeps Tuesday left me absolutely buggered beyond repair (and I think my muscles and body needed repairing) - so no exercise on day 7...but I ate well...except for two pieces of garlic bread...there was so much of it leftover it needed using up! Give me a break.

Went to bed at 830/9 on Tuesday night for a nice read and a well needed sleep and I felt excellent today because of it!

Did I weigh myself finally?
Yes.

I might tell you the results at the end of this blog..

So how was my day 8 you ask? Great!
I had wholemeal bread, 2 pieces of fruit, spaghetti for dinner but I cut the portion in half and stacked veggies in to fill me up. And, as someone who doesn't really eat much outside of potato corn and carrot, the beans actually went down quite well.

No tae bo but a walk/run before dinner. A longer one this time, and I made sure that I included some of the hills in the running portion and also tried not to let other people out exercising put me off my game (sometimes I get a  bit embarrassed about my puffing and running style etc).

Oh! And some weights too! After the run, not many but enough to add that extra burn to my burning body.

Alright alright...I'll tell you how much I weighed...only if you promise not to..well...I'm not sure but here goes..

72.

That's right.

72kg.

5 more...FIVE MORE than the last time I weighed myself.

I have never been in the 70s...I've skimmed it at times but a couple of years ago I weighed 63kg! About 18months ago I weighed 67kg and now, now I weigh a massive 72. Which is HUGE for my height which is around 165cm give or take.

It was a predicted shock I must say.

Day 5 - Run run run run runawaaayy

I ran!
Like the wind....then stopped and walked...then ran like the wind again!

Initially I was planning on doing a Tae Bo session however about 2 minutes into the Tae Bo video I just really wasn't feeling it - wasn't pumped up or trying hard or anything.
So, I downloaded some new music to listen to on my run and away I went into the night.
I came home exhausted, puffing and soaked in sweat against the freezing winter air...but most of all...I felt amazing!


After dinner I did a small weights session with my 5 kg weights; did squats with them, bicep curls, tricep curls, lifts etc. I discovered that the squat and lift (squat down with the weights at shoulder height and as you stand up again you lift the weights above your head) is unbelievably hard and tiring - feels good though, a good burn in several muscle groups.

Oh I forgot, I also did well during my bbq dinner tonight, I replaced some white potatoes for a stack of sweet corn, which I believe is heathier.

Tomorrows plan? Another run hopefully!

Aaaand I'm planningg on weighing myself too :s

Day 3 - aaaaaate sooooo muuuuucccchhh :-(

Ugh I ate so much today.

BUT I started the day so well!!

Before heading out for the day I warmed up in the lounge room on the exercise bike then did an Tae Bo 8 minute workout just to kick-start my metabolism and start the day on a good foot. And I felt amazing afterwards.

But then I saw some lollies I had been looking for for ages at the shops....so a bought a packet....

That was when the day started spiralling downhill...

I cooked and ham and egg omelette for lunch, finished off the packet of lollies, a few handfuls of salted popcorn...

Maybe not so bad you may be thinking?

Well...then dinner time came around...and Friday is takeaway night, so I ordered Thai food...which is bad, but hopefully isn't that bad...I mean..I could have ordered pizza, right??

Nevertheless I never got around to doing more exercise today, I was meant to though. But at least I did the 8 min workout in the morning!!

I'll do better tomorrow.

Oh and no I haven't weighed myself yet...I will...some time...sigh.

Day 1 and 2 - Starting exercise again

I haven't been completely lazy for the past 18 months. I still walk to and from uni and do bush-walks, go swimming etc..

But, since starting a new relationship and being sooo comfortable in it...I began  to slack on keeping track of what I ate and stopped doing deliberate exercise like going for walks; which I used to do once a night for about 30 minutes. At one point I was even doing 3 (THREE!) half an hour walks a day.

I felt so much happier about my body back then.
I'm happy in general with my life at the moment, but partly that's because I feel like I don't have to impress anyone any more...yep...my poor poor boyfriend is getting a happy but slowly fatter and fatter girlfriend. That's the harsh truth.

I always felt like I never really put on weight. I've never been skinny, but, I've always seemed to stay around a moderate weight, nothing too serious or depressing but nothing spectacular either.
But, since being in this relationship, my first ever one, as well as starting university 18 months ago, I've been tired and stressed but content with everything. Too relaxed. When winter came I started having porridge everyday without a care in the world. You may think porridge is just oats and milk and surely isn't that bad for a person. And that is true....when you don't heap tablespoons and tablespoons of brown sugar over it. Which I did. I would have a bowl of porridge as an afternoon snack after uni! Disgusting, I know.

Anyway, back to what every person trying to lose a bit of weight wants to know - what exercise am I doing?

Well, since I've been through these fitness phases time and time again, each phase ended because of one crucial factor- sheer and utter BOREDOM!

So I really want to vary my workouts this time.

DAY ONE:
High intensity intervals on the exercise bike; 8 second sprint, 12 second rest for 20 minutes.

As the bike clock told me I was nearing the 10 minute mark I was beginning to suffer from a bad case of boredom which made me focus on my tiredness. So I stopped at 10 minutes. Watched some more of my tv show and did another lot of 10minutes a bit later.
So day one 20 minutes of exercise... definitely not enough but definitely better than nothing! And I felt great afterwards, just great. My bad mood which I was previously in left and I felt more energised for the rest of the day. My lack of exercise might explain why I keep falling asleep in all my lectures, you have to use energy to create energy.

DAY TWO
5-10 minutes of 12kg dumbells weights. (Did moves like squats, bicep curls, triceps, side lifts)
2 minute warmup on the exercise bike
20 minutes (approx) of Tae-Bo exercise video called Tae Bo Basic
8 minute Tae Bo workout (which uses similar moves to the basic video but faster and less reps - its pretty intense)

So, overall I did about 35 minutes today. I really want to build up some arm muscle, I used to have heaps from surfing regularly and lifting shopping bags at my old job, but now I don't do either.

Another thing I aim to regain is some definition in my legs. You know that line that appears around your inner thigh area when you lift your legs - like when your walking or even just lifting your leg up and forward in front of the mirror. I used to see that so clearly. And now its pretty much disappeared altogether.

They say you should stick with something for 6 weeks before you will get into a routine. So if I can keep this blog going for 6 weeks recording my journey, that will be a major achievement!

And my 2 weeks goal? Feel less tired at university.

I will also weigh myself this week (argh I'm scared! I've never been over 70kg...but I have a feeling I will be well over that now...I'm so scared to look at the scales...It will really put how hard this journey is going to be in perspective).

Stay tuned...