Post Shred Apocolypse!!

Ok, so the titles a wee bit irrelevant, but i like the sound of it so it stays!!

This post is a wee bit late, but better late than never!!  I have FINISHED THE SHRED!!!  Yup, Done, Complete, All gone!!!  And i'm feeling amazing!!! I don't feel like my body shape changed much in the last half, but i feel stronger, and my endurance is hugely improved! (Towards the end i was only sweating buckets instead of pools!!)

So here are my stats from day 1 of the shred, to day 30!

Beginning Shred                          End Shred
Weight:       84.85kg (187lb)          Weight:     75.5kg (166lb)

Measurements
Bust:      100cm                             Bust:      96cm
Waist:     102cm                            Waist:    92cm
 Hips:     116cm                              Hips:     109cm
*waist measure is lower abdo

So i have lost:  Weight: 9.35kg (20.61lb)   Bust: 4cm,   Waist:  10cm,    Hips:  7cm

PROUD MUCH!!

So these are my final Shred photos!!

 

And since September....

            Weight loss    -13.1kg (28lb)

Bust                 -8cm

Waist               -14cm

Hips                -12cm

 And just cause i love doing the before and after pics.....

Id like very much to express how i feel about being given back my health/strength/enthusiasm and motivation but i just don't know that there are words that fit the job description!!  

Lal, you have changed my life!!  Sure you've helped me lose weight but that was just the bottom of the list. Even better than that, you've taught me whats more important, a healthy body, healthy mind, and healthy soul!!  You've taught me the importance of positive changes for myself as a whole, you've taught me to explore new things ('Broadbeaned' my horizons as it were....hehe, bean pun!!).  You've given me confidence in myself, and in what my body can handle, and you've shown me that even when i reach my limits, i can still push it a little further!!

You and Sally have both motivated me, kept me enthusiastic, and kept me trying hard (i can be a wee bit competitive too!)  Exercising alongside ya's has kept me strong, and i'm so thankful for your friendships!!(....is this starting to sound a bit like an Grammy's speech?? "so as i accept my award.....")

Lal, Your just one truly gifted woman of God!!  I still have no words to express how i actually feel, but i want to say that God has blessed you with some amazing talents and you use them Awesomely!!  It has been a privilege being your 'Jilli-Lal' guinea-pig and i am sooo looking forward to your boot camp (*Cough, be nice, *cough)

Right, id like to add down the bottom here that i haven't yet reached my goal, and will still be trailing after my 'Jilli-Lal' soaking up more little bits of wisdom on my fitness journey, and gearing up for runs, and (shameless and totally worth it advertising) i'l be following the workouts and recipe's and articles on your website as often as i can!!

So.....Bring on 'Ripped in 30'!!!

Toodles!! :)

Shredding my weighty issues!!

This was me back in August, before i started to change my wicked food ways!!  The thing i hate most about these pics is not the weight (although i'm not a fan of it)  Its the defeated look on my face and the slump of my shoulders!!  Being unhealthy SUCKS!!!   The constant tiredness, the icky feeling after a big meal of Macca's, that general feeling of Meh!! 

 Today im feeling the burn!!  For the past 2 weeks (approx')  My very own Jillian Michaels (aka Loral) has taken my fitness to a whole other level!  The Biggest Loser workout dvd was introduced first, which resulted in 3 of us in sweaty fits of laughter and chatter, lying prone on the floor pretending that we were doing press ups!

Then she busted out the big guns!! Introducing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred!! OMG!! It burns!!  It also works!lol!  Somewhere in the last couple of weeks, several cm's have disappeared from my hips!!  My HIPS people!!  The place i'v always had issues moving weight from!!  What's even better, is that my Jilli-Loral is also watching my intake, making sure im getting all the right stuff going in, in the right amounts for a breastfeeding mama!!  I feel very blessed to have someone constantly pushing me, and through the pain i feel very coddled!! Its fantastic!!

So today im posting BEFORE pics, and in 30 days (unless my muscles freeze over and i cant type) il be posting some AFTER (hopefully fitter looking) pics!!  If im feeling amazing il also post some half way pics!!

And just because i like seeing before and after photos side by side im going to do that too!  Then when i add some more i can line them all up and marvel at how different my body looks!!  So off i go to Shred some more!! Stay tuned as i update on my progress!!

So the first lesson here, is stop wearing stripes!!lol!

The 2nd lesson is that healthy eating and exercise is working!! (And get a haircut!!)

Im looking forward to updating this status soon!!

Toodles!! :)

Another Weighty Issue!!

For this last month i'v been super motivated to be healthy and fit and guess what..... I HAVE BEEN!!  I'm so impressed with myself and my commitment to the cause this month.  I decided that enough was enough and excuses were no longer acceptable, and most important i found some like minded friends!! (Accountability is a hideous marvelous thing!)

This month i have worked on cutting out chocolate and bread....How's that going i hear you ask!?  Flippen awesome!! I'v had no bread, choosing instead to make myself healthy Pita pockets, and the chocolate? You know, the stuff i'm hideously addicted to....I managed to cut down, (The first day of my food diary does contain an entire packet of chocolate biscuits...ooops!) and then this week i thought, enough is enough!! I'm currently on day 4 with ABSOLUTELY NO CHOCOLATE!!  I know right!!!


I'v been exercising at least 4 x a week, but usually 5, and i feel fantastic!!!  Weight loss...only 2kg so far but i'm pretty darn impressed with that!! What's most important to me is that i'm so proud of myself for actually sticking with it!  And i'm so super thankful for my friends that are dragging me out for my walks (thanks Sally and Loral!)  I'm also amazingly thankful that my wonderful hubby has jumped on the bandwagon and is refusing to buy me chocolate (Silly Brave man).


So that's how that's going!! I apologize for the wordy post with no pics but i haven't taken any recent ones of myself!! 2 Weddings coming up though so brace yourself for some Picture-Mad-Posts!!

I'l leave you with this picture of the new Nude-Stretch-Pants!! These are awesome!lol!!  I almost cried until i realized you could see where the tights end at her ankles!!

Have a great Friday everyone!!
Toodles!  :)

A different kind of weighty issue!

So i'm not sure what i'm hoping to achieve out of this post really. But i'l just ramble on and hope it makes sense and maybe an impression!

My husband showed me a link to an article about how the age of those presenting to hospital with eating disorders is dropping, with some patients as young as 10 years old (and i'm sure younger) being hospitalized with their bodies ravaged by a lack of food. (This is just admissions to public hospitals as private hospitals are not counted in the statistics)

So one of my questions is who or what is responsible?? Is it parents that aren't paying attention to their kids? The media? Peer pressure??

I guess when you look through mags, and see whats on the telly now, it shouldn't be a surprise that young people have an unrealistic idea about what they should look like! Team that with a real fear in society of rising childhood obesity rates, and the popularity game and you've got a base for eating disorders to start! Famous young women are slender and well made up, with perfect faces and beautiful figures, no signs of acne or cellulite, and certainly no rolls for miles! Young 'regular' kids don't see how much work goes into creating these images that they see on the big screen and in magazines. And what these kids definitely don't see is the crap and stress these famous 'beautiful' people go through on a regular basis just trying to maintain this often fake image!!

They don't see the photo shopping, the body doubles, the digital enhancements (is that what its called?) the insecurities, and distorted views start to grow! In fact even the above article says this "...what is regarded as "ideal" figures – difficult, if not impossible, for many ordinary people to achieve." Are they saying that famous people aren't ordinary, and are able to achieve these ideal figures without digital assistance??!!! (I do realize that there are some people out there that match societies views of beauty without help, but they are few and far between!!!)

I was so pleased to see this you tube vid from Dove about what goes into the creation of the beautiful people that we see on billboards and no doubt magazines!!

I wonder what would happen if young girls saw this?? Would it change their minds about that 'ideal' image?? Would it make a difference? Part of me thinks it wouldn't make a difference because there are always going to be other factors in this fight, but it would certainly help!

I also had an interesting thought... would we still buy beauty mags if the women in them were overweight and not wearing make up?? Would we still watch the likes of Cameron Diaz if she had a wobbly tummy and a size 16 bum?? I'm embarrassed and horrified to admit this, but i'm so tuned in to wanting to see these ideal images that we 'need to aspire to' that i'm not sure that i would! And even more embarrassed that i say 'wobbly tummy and size 16 bum' like these things might not be beautiful!! (I'd like to point out now that those 2 things are me!!) Does this mean i'm part of the problem?? Are we (grown ups and parents) really paying attention to what our kids are absorbing??

If a grown woman like myself, mature (haha) and aware of myself, can fall into this trap, imagine what its doing to the minds of our kids! They're so impressionable, and at ages where their bodies are changing and doing weird things without permission!!

I guess what i'm hoping to achieve here is just that everyone supports and puts out a message like the one that the Dove campaigns do. Everyone is beautiful!! We may not be traditionally beautiful (what does that even mean???), or reach the norms set by society, but we are beautiful!!! The images that kids see aren't real/realistic and kids need to be made aware of this!!! Being skinny doesn't solve problems, it doesn't make you popular, and it wont make you successful.

Being healthy is everything!!! Lets teach kids to be fit and healthy, and as much as we can, steer them away from these unhealthy images and point them towards healthy role models that eat healthy and exercise regularly and are still confidant and happy with themselves and their lives!! Lets teach the young girls and boys around us that they are exactly as they should be, and so beautiful in their own way!!!

This post isn't a dig at people attempting to lose weight, (i'm currently attempting that journey) or at people that are naturally, healthily slim people ( I know many beautiful tiny people! I'm also aware that some people have significant weight loss as a result of illness, this isn't what i'm aiming at) Its not a dig at anyone really, its just a random rant about a topic that i ponder on a regular basis!! I think when your in a position to see the results of some of these disorders it hits a bit harder and makes you really aware of the importance of having positive, real role models!! Id also like to add that this isn't a dig at any particular famous people either!!

Anywho, i hope this has made sense and hasn't offended anyone (baby brain makes writing sense difficult....does that even make sense??) It's just something close to my heart that i'd love to hear what others think about it, if they even think about it! So if you'v made it this far, thanks for sticking with it!! I promise my next post will be a positive one!!!

Toodles!!

"A whole new world"

Ok, not really a whole new world, but it kinda feels that way! I have a reasonably new husband, a fairly new job, and a very new bubs!! For the past few weeks, in fact the past year, iv been trying to find how i fit into all the new shapes that my life has taken, finding a shoe that fits so to speak!

And since pregnancy has worked its magic on my body, i am also literally trying to find a shoe, ANY SHOE, that fits!!

Since i'v been introduced to the blogging world i'v read sum amazing and inspiring blogs, written by real people with real life experiences. I love being able to 'share' their experiences with them and decided that i wanted to have a go at this. So i'm going to share my own story about the life i'm living and want to live, and all the bits that go with it!!

I want to share my experiences about being a new wife, a new mummy, and once upon a time (only 2 years ago) a new registered nurse. Hopefully i can also share the journey towards a healthy, happy me as i tackle the weighty issues that came with the beauty of pregnancy!

Im challenging myself to the task of writing something at least once a week in the hopes that it will hold me accountable and inspire me to be motivated! (Secretly i also want somewhere to show off my scrumptious new buba!)

So here goes.....