Last little Update - 2 weeks after the Challenge

My final results are in and I lost (officially on the scans) 10.3kg :D

The F45 8 week challenge was definitely not the easiest thing I've done, but it was one of the simplest.  All I had to do was follow the instructions.  Once I made the decision to commit, I was on the rollercoaster ride for the full 8 weeks.  It wasn't hard to follow the instructions - but at times, it was very, very uncomfortable.  The last 10 days were the worst - but with the finish line within reach, I found the drive to stay strong and end with a bang.  People keep asking if I would do it again - and are surprised when I say no.  I definitely will be keeping eye on the next Challenge recipes; I will be tracking my progress through body scans; I will be drinking warm lemon water and 3L each day; I will continue to train at F45 most days...  But with the tools I have learnt from this Challenge, and the weight I have lost, I don't plan on having the need to follow the Challenge as strictly as I have this time.  I've had amazing results, but I've also learnt how important planning is - I know what a proper meal looks like, I know how to make it.  I have an abundance of snacks ready to go - nuts, protein balls, berry oat cookies.  I know how to make sensible choices, and I know where to find all the things I need to continue living a healthy, positive life.

BOOM!

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.

Unsolicited Update

Hi crew! (Mum, Hi Mum :) )

just a quick update to say we are now at the end of week 5, and everything is going swell.  Yesterday was the first time I felt like I winged it with the food.  So, I got up in the morning, had my warm lemon water, and went into F45.  Then, I thought it would be a good idea to go grocery shopping quickly - so I had my morning tea in the car (15 raw almonds, om nom nom).  I got home around 10:45am - having not had breakfast.  It was supposed to be oats and a bit of banana - but I wasn't feeling that, so I just had a whole banana.  A few hours later I cooked and ate salmon for lunch, and a few hours after that I prepped half of dinner (but didn't eat it), had half a protein shake for afternoon tea, and went off to a birthday party.  When I came home at about 8:45pm, I finished cooking dinner and it was delicious :)  I am stoked I was able to have a manic day, and still fit in my 3L water, still eat 5 "meals", and more or less follow the meal plan - or adapt it to my life.  The most tempting things at the party for me, despite there being pizza, donuts, crisps, and chocolates - were the nuts and healthy wraps!  Seriously!

When I was at F45 yesterday, we had playoffs.  Playoffs is an intense 10 minute test with 10 exercises, each with a multiplier that gives you an overall score of maximum 1000 points.  Each summer there is a state competition followed by a national competition, where we can compete either individually or in teams of 4.  There's a big 2 storey truck with the exercises set up as a course.  Sometimes we practice that in the studio - like yesterday.  It was my first ever playoffs test, and I did better than I thought - I got a 406 score (with some shortcuts).  Our top athletes are getting about 575, so 406 is pretty good!  Here are my results:

Rower:  225m

Bench Hops:  34

TRX Push up and Knee Tuck:  6 (I had to do these on my knees)

5 cone Lareral Hop:   45

Box jump to burpee:  7

Chin Ups:  10 (I used both a green and purple band)

Bar bell squat press:  15  (5kg+5kg)

Medicine ball russian twist:  39 (4kg ball)

Hurdle Hop:   5  (I hated this one!)

I am sick today.

Last night, after the gym, I came home and smashed out some meals in the kitchen - made breakfast for today, did the salad for today and tomorrow lunch (still need to cook the beef), and made dinner for last night and tonight.

I was really nauseous and I couldn't finish it (lucky I have a dog - he even ate some kale!).

I felt pretty sick the rest of the evening - and then I couldn't sleep, and ended up sleeping in by about 2 hours.  Not feeling well again today...  better, but not 100%.  I'm also lucky I work from home in the mornings, so I can do it in my PJs until I get my shit together! 

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the challenge.  Perhaps it's just my cooking - very good possibility!  I have been feeling quite worn out lately - working the two jobs, meal prep and grocery shopping, 120 squats and some planking every morning, F45 every evening, Saturdays I switch those around, and Sunday I elaborate on the squats/planking and skip F45.  So I'm not really getting a rest day - because the F45 challenge says you should "exercise to sweat" everyday.  So I am!  Next week I am going to Malaysia for 3 whole days, and maybe that forced break is exactly what I need?

In other news, I should record it here, I have been having some chest pains.  This isn't abnormal, I have had various chest pains for the past 15 years.  A Doctor once told me the stabbing sensations I feel over my heart are most likely my oesophagus having a spaz, not my heart.  So I don't really notice them often.  But I feel like they have gotten worse, or at least I have been noticing them more - not necessarily linked to exercising, but I seem to be exercising a lot so they may be.  I wondered if it was the vaping, but I haven't been doing that at all lately?  I kind of seem to notice them for a couple of days and then forget about them.  I'm also still getting that dreadful anxious feeling at times.  Not bad at all, just sometimes it pops up to remind me I'm still not 100%.  Great :(

Alright, whinge and moan over - I'm back to work!