Oh Lordy I did it!

It's done!  8 weeks!  I MADE IT!

The last week was very difficult - my body was just done.  Every time I went to the gym something hurt - my back, my shoulders, my knees, something.  Every day I had a period of being "starving".  And most afternoons/evenings, I felt nauseous and thought I was going to be sick.

BUT I made it!  I did 8 weeks, solidly, of controlling my eating :)

I have my final body scan this evening but my Monday morning weigh in at home shows this:

73.4kg down from 84.1kg - that's 10.7kg lost!!!!

30.3% body fat down from 39.0% - that's 8.7% down!

The best part - I did the grocery shopping, and wrote out the recommended meal plan.  And then I changed it to fit with my lifestyle!!  I spend Sunday meal prepping SNACKS - and I have planned to cook every night which will account for dinner and the following day's lunch.

Quick Update

Hi team!  

Just a quick check in to say I am still hungry but yesterday managed with just one extra protein ball snack.  I am going to try and start telling people I am not hungry because I wonder if it's a mental thing, but telling people I am hungry I am reinforcing it to myself!

So, I'm not hungry, I'm FINE.  (Well, I actually am right now, it's breakfast time and I need to smash out another 70 squats and drink some water and then go to work).

AND HUSBY WILL BE HOME THIS EVENING!  

Always a good day when he comes home :)

Gym update - Docklands Cardio class last night, and I have to say I think I went a little nuts - After the challenge, I think I am going to try and keep up the commitment I have made to the gym these past 7 weeks.  That's going to 6 classes a week (one a day with Sunday off).  I can't say I give it 100% every single time because I know there have definitely been times when I have slacked off because of sore muscles or general tiredness, but I don't ever turn up and give nothing - and I have seen an improvement in both my strength and cardio, so maybe yeah, I am giving it 95% - 110% every session?

The Home STRETCH

Howdy!  One week to go, one week to go, ONE WEEK TO GO!

My pal Tim wasn't kidding when he said these last two weeks were the hardest.  High Fat Low Carb diet - I am HUNGRY!!  So normally, I do really well with the low blood sugar - I push through the nausea and forget I'm hungry.  Not on this diet - I feel like I am eating just enough to stimulate my cravings, and I am starving!

Firstly, I am definitely eating the 2 snacks per day now.  I've tried it two ways - Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner - and Breakfast, early Lunch, Snack, early Dinner, Snack...  This weekend, not so good.  Saturday night I HAD to have an extra protein ball snack... and about 40g smoked salmon... and a teaspoon of butter (yes weird I know, I read that was a good idea on a diet such as this phase).  Sunday night was no better, with the same except the salmon replaced with Parmesan cheese.  

I started vaping again this past weekend, again just the evenings.  I haven't done it for weeks - haven't needed to.  I also managed last week Monday-Friday without it so I'm not too concerned!  Just need to get through these last 7 days...   Had a home weigh-in this morning, 74.7kg and 29.9% body fat - I think my scales weigh about 400g too heavy and 1% too light?  So body fat% is moving really slowly, but I am still losing 1kg+ a week :)  We're sitting in at just over 9kg loss so far, with 1 week to go - the 10kg loss is a REAL thing that could be happening!!

In other news, at the gym last week, Tuesday, after my class, I got a trainer to spot me 4 reps of flat bench dumbell chest press - USING 15kg dumbells!  PB for sure.  Later in the week we had a couple fast-paced chest presses (incline, single arm, normal), and I am solidly on 12.5kgs now so maybe this week I will get the chance to push up to 15kg again.

I also bought some skin-firming cream and have been using it a lot.  I do not have that stretchy skin that some of my family members have, that bounces back - so I was expecting some problems if I lost weight relatively quickly (which I have).  However, I don't seem to have as much as I anticipated - but it can't hurt to use the cream anyway.

I'll leave you with this - again, I know this doesn't actually reflect what's happening on the challenge, but still, pretty good feeling to be consistently in the top ten F45 wide:

Only 2 weeks to go!

Well hello interwebs...

It is now week 7 of the 8 week challenge, and we are into the third and final phase - something about fat stripping, high protein high fat?  I don't know.

Anyway - Malaysia!  I went to Malaysia for 3 whole days!  I made the BEST choices.  I knew I wouldn't be working out, but I managed 120 squats every day :)  I knew I would be eating meals out and at random times, but here's what I had the WHOLE time:

Omelette - with vegies in it

Fresh fruits

Salads with raw/smoked/grilled salmon

Salads with chicken

Water

Japanese style spinach/duck

Edamame

I may have had one small wedge of crumbed camembert... but honestly, that was the first day, and I had had 2 boiled eggs at 5am and nothing until dinner, which was a salad.  I didn't plan that well - I meant to eat when I got off the plane at 12:30 but I was just a bit bamboozled and instead went straight into a business meeting.  My favourite was this place called Pokebear, that do Pokebowls - you choose salad, brown rice or white rice, and then a meat, "sides" (such as edamame, carrot, almonds, etc), sauces (I chose avocado and seasame) and some toppings like spring onion, garlic, shallots, etc.  OH MY GOD IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER!  I had raw salmon and OM NOM NOM.  Oh golly my mouth is watering thinking about it.

The point is, I made AMAZING choices and I really think I can do this long term.  I think I have changed my lifestyle - I take pleasure in different foods now.  So, I got back on Saturday early morning after a bitterly cold flight (seriously, I knew it would be chilly so took a blazer and a hoodie - NOPE, still froze), and I had asked husby to take out the two lots of meat I needed for lunch and dinner.  Even though I slept that day I managed to get right back into the meal plan, and Sunday I did the grocery shopping and meal prep (it has really helped having Monday as a public holiday, but hey).

The one thing I have been a bit naughty about is my snacks.  On Sunday and Monday (today), I skipped afternoon tea.  On Sunday, husby and I had movie night, so I wanted to have something to nibble on.  I had 3 of the 5 lemon protein balls left over from a snack a few weeks ago, so I had those.  Tonight, I was really hungry at 5pm so I had dinner, then later I was a bit nibbly - I had 1/2 of the chocolate coconut protein balls from last week snacks.  So, not really naughty in terms of calorie intake and sensible choices, but yeah, it's not on the meal plan!  I have found those chocolate balls, they satisfy me as much as chocolate does.  They taste REALLY chocolatey, which is awesome.  They are definitely on the list to be making every weekend after the challenge!

Oh - weigh in was this morning.  I don't know how much I trust the scales, but it appears I've lost more than a kg this week, and body fat % has gone down about 1% too (which is great news, considering I didn't work out much, I figured I would lose muscle).  This brings me in for losing 8.2kg so far - over 6 weeks, I have got to be AMAZINGLY HAPPY with that.

These last 2 weeks are going to be fine - I have done the hard work, the breaking and making of habits, the commitment to exercise, the changing of my thoughts, listening to my body more.  Although, I trust myself more now, so I'll have to be careful I don't ease up on myself because I think I'll make good choices!  I will - but I still want to stick to the plan for the next fortnight.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.