Week 6 So Far!

I have to say I had a pretty good weekend.
Saturday was spent getting my hair done for 3 hours, that’s right 3 hours that’s how damn long it is/was! Well it’s still pretty long but I had some colour put through it too! I haven’t had my hair done in about 2 to 3 years so this was definitely needed!

 
Aside from getting my hair done and feeling pampered I also spent some time just chilling out and not worrying about having to complete assignments or anything because I’m officially finished my course and will be getting my Cert II soon, yay me! Being qualified in something I love makes me incredibly happy!
On Sunday morning I got up nice and early so that my favourite PT, Ray, could come and pick me up and take me to the foreshore for one of his killer boot camp sessions and killer it was! I’m honestly surprised that I didn’t vomit!
Ray set up a circuit of roughly 10 exercises and all of them brought the pain especially his “unbalanced shoulder presses” OUCH! I felt it in my poor shoulders yesterday and today! The battle ropes were also pretty intense considering I’ve never really done them before. I think they’re now on my list of dislikes for exercises, man do they hurt and who would have thought that rope would be so damn heavy!?
After the gruelling workout we headed to Fast Eddy’s for some much needed sustenance!

We are now in week 6 of the 12WBT, half way! I can’t believe the time has gone by so quickly, I’ll be in Adelaide partying it up in no time with my beautiful JFDI Dames!

I expected to lose a lot more weight for this round but unfortunately I haven’t put in the effort for that to happen. I could blame it on my stress with work and study but when it comes down to it there should be no excuses! I should know better of all people.

Tomorrow is our week 6 weigh in and I’m hoping I get a loss, I’ll take anything even 100 grams! I’m feeling more focused this week and know what I want to achieve and I will make sure I get a better loss for the remainder of this round!

Last night, due to not having class, yay! I actually had time to make myself some delicious dinner!
I decided to try a new 12WBT recipe and went with the “Chicken & Leek Pie” although I completely forgot to buy a leek so I used onion instead!
The recipe is delicious!! I absolutely love it! Because my ramekins are very small I got to have 2 little pies coming in at only 290 calories for the the two!
If you haven’t tried this one yet, get onto it! definitely a winter warmer.

Amydeville xoxo

Week 5 – New Start

I’m back!
So sorry I’ve been away and neglecting my beautiful little blog! I promise to never stay too far away again!
To be honest I have just been super busy. Work is busy, life is busy, doing assignments keep me busy. The list could go on but no more excuses I’m back and writing again.

I have one more night of evening classes and then I’m free! Bring on Wednesday night I say!

So what’s been going on in the wonderful world of the 12WBT?
Well, last week was week 4 and also our “mini milestone” week where we re-do the fitness test and also re-take our measurements.
I haven’t really lost a whole lot of weight so far in this round but I have lost a few centimetres which makes me feel a whole lot better!
So far this week I have really picked up my game and gotten back on the bandwagon.
Weekends completely derail my efforts but I’m putting in 100% this week because I want to start seeing some damn good results!

I’ve had a cm loss of 4.5cm which is great but I know it could be better! For week 8 I want a much better result and I’m going to aim high and really push myself to stick to my nutrition and get more exercise in because my course will be finished (Yay!)

We’re currently in week 5 and things are going pretty good. My cold is still hanging on which really sucks but I’m trying my hardest to kick it!
Heading to the gym tonight to stretch out my poor little calves who are still hurting from last weeks workouts!
Have a great day everyone!

Amydeville xoxo

Week 2 WIW & Learning To Organise!

I know I’m a day late but Week 2 Weigh in was yesterday! That’s Right WIW, 2 down 10 to go until the end of the round!
On Tuesday evening, before our weigh in on Wednesday morning, I went straight to the gym after work to put in a last bit of effort and hope for the best!

I did 20 minutes of interval training/running on the treadmill then hit the weights section for 15 minutes and finished it off with 60 push ups (on my knees, I dream of the day where I do them on my toes!) then did a cool down and stretch.
I got to try out my brand spanking new Polar HRM too which was awesome! Yes I get excited over my HRM, but come on, it’s pretty awesome! I can tell you that it works perfectly and is very comfy to wear as well. My results are below along with a few other snap shots!
Yes I had the Stroganoff again, it was so good! I had the left overs for dinner last night too, yum!

So how did my Weigh in Wednesday go?!
Well I had a loss, yay me! I wanted to at least get to the 500 gram mark but I can settle for the 400 grams that I lost. I had a bit of a “splurgy” weekend so I can understand the 400 gram loss, it would have been more if I could just behave myself over the weekend! Below is my ever growing chart.

Sorry for the size! Please click on it to see the whole thing 🙂 

Aside from having weigh in, I also decided to start using a diary app on my phone to keep track of events, workouts, my night classes and all the other important things I should remember! I downloaded “Calenmob” onto my Iphone and I’m finding it really easy to use and awesome to put in appointments as you can also set an alarm for when the event is starting.
So far I have popped in my workouts which are Tuesday, Friday & Saturday and my night classes which are on Monday & Wednesday. I’ve also popped in that I plan to do some makeup tomorrow night on my mum, need to get the practice in!
I’m trying to get better at diarising and organising because we all know just how important it is to plan these things out and make sure that we make the time for our workouts through the week. I also plan on making some time to cook a few things up over the weekend for week 3!
Thinking I might make the vegan muffins and maybe those yummy pies!

How do you keep organised? Do you use a paper based diary? Or do you use something similar to my Iphone App?

Just before I go I will let you know that I passed my first Practical Assessment in class last night, Yippee!!
We had to apply Remedial Makeup over a tattoo and I had my awesome brother come in to be my model.
This is his before & after!
I know he has an amazing beard too haha!

I need some more practice but for my second try at it I think I did pretty good! Plus I passed, which is all that matters in my eyes!

Have a great day 12WBT’ers and Everyone else!!
Amydeville xoxo

Week 1 Down!

Week one is down and it’s onto week two with gusto!
How did my week 1 go?
Well my Monday to Friday went pretty great, I kept to my calories and worked out and tried some new recipes which was nice. Saturday & Sunday… well, I didn’t quite stick to the plan.
Weekends really are my down fall. I get “relaxed” and then I make poor nutrition choices even though the voice in the back of my mind is asking “why?”.
For the weekend coming I’m going to devise a plan of attack to get me through. Plan my nutrition better for those two days and execute it! Maybe I’ll tell myself that it’s a “test” maybe that way it’ll help me to stick to it better to see if I actually can stick to my calories.
Aside from having a poor nutrition weekend everything else was great. I worked out 3 days, which is what I set out to achieve and I felt good about the program.

I tried Mish’s Stroganoff recipe which is delicious by the way! I really don’t know why I hadn’t tried it before in the previous rounds! Instead of the usual beef though I used Kangaroo and it was super yummy!

Taken from my Instagram account: amydeville

I told myself that in this round I would try some new recipes and mix it up a bit to keep things fresh and new!

I wasn’t only in the kitchen over the weekend though. I also went out with the girls to see the Wayans Brothers show at the Regal Theatre. We had a great night and yes I ate something naughty for dinner.
We decided on “Mad Mex” and I had some nachos with guacamole which were delicious! I didn’t eat it all though it was incredibly filling! I think that was where my nutrition for the weekend went down hill though so I need to work on my choices when I go out as well and try to make the better one.

Thought I’d add in a picture of the theatre and also the must be taken bathroom selfie! This is Me and V before the show!

We had a great night out and had some much needed laughs!

So what is my plan of attack for week 2?
Well aside from sticking to my 1200 calorie limit I’m aiming for another 3 workouts. Tuesday, Friday & Saturday (Hopefully I’ll have my HRM for them!)
I want to be more aware of what I’m eating too, I don’t eat my meals fast at all, I’m such a slow eater but what I want to achieve is to be aware of the taste and texture and take my time chewing every bite so that I really experience what the flavour is.
I want to plan out my weekend meals and snacks before it hits that way I know exactly what I’ll be having for the day and all I have to so is just stick to it!

How did you go in Week 1?
Do you have a plan for week 2 at all? Or are you following the program to a T?
Let me know!!

Amydeville xoxo

WIW & Exciting Graphs!

We are half way through Week 1 of Round 2 and things are going pretty good so far.
If you’re doing this Round you know that Wednesday’s are Weigh in Days “WIW” or “Check In Days” you can call them whatever you like!
Yesterday I hopped on the scales and was pleasantly surprised, I had an 800 gram loss since my Saturday Measurements test, I was stoked!

Sorry it’s so small! If you can’t see it you can click on it to make it bigger 🙂

I can’t wait to see that graph filled up with all of my weigh ins for the next 12 weeks.
I’m feeling really positive and optomistic about this Round, I’m ready to push myself and get down to my goal weight!
Another thing I’m REALLY looking forward to is the Finale!!
One of my very good friends is also doing this round and we’ve both decided we’re going to head to Adelaide for the Workout & Finale Cocktail Party!! Very Excited!!
If you didn’t know, after each Round Mish throws a big Finale Party in her chosen state and this Round happens to be Adelaide. Through the day she holds a massive group workout for those who come for it and then we all get glammed up for a night out on the town. My excitement is huge!

Aside from tracking my weigh ins I’ve also been a good girl and have kept at tracking my food intake as well trying to keep within my 1200 limit. I usually allow about 100 calories either way but aim for no more. I don’t want to starve and I don’t want to over do it either!
Below is a picture of Tuesdays intake, I apologise for the size!!

Same for this picture, apologies for the size! You can click on it though!

There are a few things in my “diet” that probably shouldn’t be there but no one is perfect and I’m still working on beating the demons! I find the mental battle one of the hardest things to over come when it comes to eating and living healthy.

How did you go with Week 1 Weigh In? Are you feeling confident about this Round? Let me know!

Amydeville xoxo

It Has Begun! Round 2 2013 Is Underway

DAY 1 is here!
That’s right, Round 2 2013 has begun today!

Over the course of Friday and Saturday I completed my Fitness Test and also my Measurements.
Below are the results I got:

It’s a bit blurry I know!
My measurements from left to right are for my chest, waist, hips, right thigh and right arm (in cms).
The fitness test left to right begins with push ups on my toes, the box is empty because I still find it difficult to execute these! I definitely need to work on my upper body strength!
It then goes to push ups on my knees, the sit & reach test (flexibility), 3km bike ride time trial, wall sit and then ab strength (planking).
Both my wall sit and plank are pretty terrible times but it gives me something to improve which is a plus! Not to mention I had my dog in my face the whole time, he likes to join in!
My starting weight, which was taken on Saturday, for this round is 80.6kg it’s a little up probably because it was the weekend but that’s ok, again it’s something I intend to make smaller!

 I was a busy bee on the weekend!
not only did I do my fitness test and measurements, I spent some time grocery shopping and also cooking up some food for the first week. I will no doubt be back in the kitcken through the week though!
I went through the recipes on the 12WBT index and came across a “Sweet Potato Stew”  I was so excited to see some lovely new recipes! Yay! So I had to make it. The smell of all of the spices together was absolutely amazing! It reminded me of Mexican cooking and well we all know I love Mexican food!

I then decided to cook up a batch of “Banana Bread” except I decided to make them into muffins instead of a loaf. At least as muffins I can control my portions better!
I’ve made this before and I just love the flavour. its the perfect snack!

If you’re doing this round let me know how your first day has started. Did you prepare any meals over the weekend?
How are you feeling about Day 1 of the Round?

Amydeville xoxo

Preparation For The Fitness Test

Just a quick post this morning to say that I will be doing my Fitness Test today! YAY Finally!
I’m feeling much better then what I did earlier in the week, thankfully this cold doesn’t seem to want to linger for much longer which is great! Thanks the stars for cold n flu meds and a good cup of tea!

I was so upset/angry this morning when I packed my gym bag. I’ve lost my HRM Transmitter 😦
I’m a bit strapped for cash but a HRM is a must for me so I’ve decided to buy a new one from the 12WBT shop. 
I’ve gone with the FT40

It’s a little expensive but luckily I have a credit card (I’m naughty I know!) Thankfully we do get discount for being members of the 12WBT so that really helped bring the cost down!

If you’re looking into getting a HRM for yourself then I highly recommend Polar.
I’ve used other HRM’s in the past and found that Polar’s are just so user-friendly and easy to work with. It’s just all very straight forward for someone like me who gets confused easily when it comes to technology!

I’ve taken the features below from our 12WBT shop so you can see what this little baby does:

Product features:
– The ability to define target heart rate zones to determine the right workout intensity
– Visual and audible alarms to let you know when you are out of the preset zone
– Energy Pointer feature which displays whether you are in the “fitness” or “fat burning” zone
– Fitness test measures your aerobic fitness at rest and calculates your progress
– Store up to 50 memory files within the watch
– Coded Heart Rate transmitter to prevent interference from other training computers
– Water resistant up to 30m

Plus it will also tell me the time and date, the usual happenings of a digital watch which is handy to have!

I’ll let you know how I go with my fitness test!

Amydeville xoxo

Fitness Test & Measurement Low Down

This week is the last week of completing Pre-season Tasks!
The Tasks set for this week are our “Fitness Test” and also “Measure Up!”  
The Fitness Test doesn’t involve too much (so it’s not too scary!) but just enough activities to determine where we are all at with out fitness level so that we can choose the most suitable plan to follow for the Round.
It involves us completing a 1km timed walk/run/sprint or if you suffer from injuries like myself Mish allows you to complete it by swimming or cycling. For this round I have chosen to do my time trial on the bike in the gym. In this case I will need to complete 3km not the 1km like those who are running. I’m not too sure on the “why’s” of it but I’ll stick to what Mish says.
The test also involves Push-ups – every one’s favourite!! (Yes I’m joking, only because I suck at them hehe). With the pushups you aim to do them on your toes but if you can’t then you can do them on your knee’s and set the timer for a minute.
You will also need to test your abdominal strength. Mish gives us a little video on how to and shows the different variations of the sit up from easy to difficult.
After abdominals comes your “sit and reach” you will need a ruler for this one. Basically you sit on the ground with your legs straight out infront of you and your aim is to touch your toes or go beyond! Where your fingers reach you take the measurement of how far away or over you are from your toes.
After you’ve completed the sit and reach you will have to endure a wall squat! OUCH! Even I still suffer doing wall squats! You will need a timer to time how long you can hold the squat position against the wall.

Once you have completed the Fitness Test Mish will then release “Measure Up!” on Thursday for us to complete where she will get us to measure certain parts of our body.
Make sure you have a tape handy!!
The usual measurements are the Chest/bust, Waist (I usually take this measurement from my belly button even though it’s not really my “waist“), Hips, Arms and Thighs.

I will be completing my Fitness Test later this week as I’ve woken up this morning with a terrible cold and feeling like crap! Woe is me!!
And I’ll be sure to Measue Up either on the weekend or just before.

If you’re doing this Round how are you feeling? Are you starting to get excited? Are you pumped for the First week plans to come out this Thursday? I know I am!

Amydeville xoxo

Body Composition Readout Results!

I can’t believe we’re in May already! Where has the time gone?!
It always seemed to take forever to get through the years when I was a kid and now because I’m older and aware of the concept of time I really don’t like it! (That’s my whinge for the morning hehe)

So last night after dinner I had an appointment at my gym with a “Food Coach“.
I didn’t really know what to expect walking into the office but coming out I thought it was way too short and I wasn’t really asked anything much about what exactly my issues were and what I wanted to work on. So I’m back to being on the prowl and on the lookout to find a good Dietician here in Perth who can help me to over come my issues with food and help me to get on the straight and narrow!

I did however walk out of her office with a low down on my bodies Composition, which I thought was really cool!
Below is the read out that the machine took when I stepped on it, pretty damn cool if you ask me!

So my weight last night after dinner was 82kg this morning for weigh in it is sitting at 79.9kg (sadly a gain from last week).
It’s amazing how much your weight fluctuates throughout the day though, this is why you should always weigh in at the same time every Wednesday weigh in when doing the 12WBT. Ideally it should be after you’ve woken up and been to the toilet and are still in your birthday suit! (queue: wolf whistle)

So looking at the outcome of my reading my BMI (Body Mass Index) is currently sitting at 30.9.
A healthy BMI for my height and age would be between 18 and 25. I’m not far off achieving this number just another 5 to go!

My BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which is the number of calories my body burns on any given day at the moment, so if I decided to stay in bed ALL day and not do anything this is what my body would burn! It’s currently sitting around 1636 calories.

Going further down the list we find my Body Fat % the food coach told me that this is the number that I want to get lower! If it gets lower than my lean muscle mass grows and my body will work more efficiently and also burn more calories!
It’s sitting at 35.7% at the moment.
I’ve been looking into this a bit more and I’ve found my ideal BF% for my age would be somewhere between 20% – 25% so this is something I have to work on reducing!
If you read a little lower though it says on the print out that ideal for me would be between 21% – 33% so going by that number I’m not too far off having a “healthier” BF%  – yay me!!

Just thought I would add the above picture in, of course it does depend on your height as well but found this interesting!

 From there is my Muscle Mass – The good stuff! The stuff I want more of!
At the moment my body is made up of 52.7kg of muscle. I’m so glad that, that is over half of what I weigh! *phew*

Then we get to my water weight.
The Food Coach said ideally our bodies water should be 50% of what we weigh. Mines a little bit lower, oops, sitting at 38.6kg. Although in saying that it’s only 2.7kg away from my actual weigh in weight today!

At the very bottom of my print out which I had to chop off in the picture above was a little section about my “Targets”.
My Target BF% to achieve at the moment would be 30%
My body fat to lose would be 6.7kg
Fat mass to get down to would be 22.6kg

Overall I think the visit was worth it!
Although it wasn’t what I had hoped it would be I was still really happy to have come away with these details!
I’ve recently ordered a pair of “high-tech” scales so I’m hoping they come in the mail soon so I can start to track my own BF%, Water weight, BMI etc. They are even Wifi too which is great, so all of my weigh ins will be documented through an app or on the website it goes through! Pretty neat!

Amydeville xoxo

Pre-Season Has Arrived!

It’s Pre-Season time!
That’s right, us 12WBT’ers who have signed up for Round 2 of 2013 are currently in our first week of Pre-Season Tasks and as always it’s a big eye opener. I know I’ve come a long way in terms of fitness and weight loss but I know I still have a fair bit to go yet until I hit my first goal weight and I know I need help doing it, which is one of my main reasons for joining up for another round.
The Pre-Season tasks are so important to how you travel through the 12 weeks of the program, which kicks off in 24 days on the 13th of May. They are designed for us to get used to planning and goal setting, really nutting out what it is that we want to achieve in the next month, 3 months, a year and even beyond that.
From experience I can tell you it’s a bit scary writing down what it is that you want to achieve. I know I certainly doubt myself as I goal set, “Will I really achieve that?” “I wonder if that’s even possible”. I know that my goals are achievable though because they are “SMART” I’ll get into that a bit more in my next post though.
In this post I wanted to talk about Mish’s first Pre-Season Task (she sets out 8 tasks over 4 weeks for members). The first task is really important and it’s all about being real and being honest with yourself.
It’s about EXCUSES.
We all use them, especially when it’s for something that we really don’t want to do, like waking up earlier, having to exercise, having to eat the healthier option. I know I sure as hell don’t really want to do any of those things but I do them or at least try to do them because I know they benefit me in the long run.

So what kind of excuses are out there in regards to fitness and eating healthier? Well I can tell you there are lots! I use them quite a lot, especially over the last few months where I have gone a bit towards “relaxed mode” and gone, “oh it’s ok, I’ll just have a little bit” or “Surely missing one training session won’t hurt”. Well it does because I’m allowing these excuses to resurface and slowly turn myself back into that bigger, unhappy person I was 6 months ago. I definitely don’t want that!

So, there are 3 types of excuses.
1. Internal Excuses – those excuses we make with ourselves in our heads to get out of doing something we really don’t want to, kind of like bargaining in a way.
My internal excuses are:
– I just really can’t be bothered
– I’m way too tired to workout today
– I’ve eaten something crappy/unhealthy so I may as well just keep eating crap and go into a slippery slope
– It’s been a long day at work, I’m so tired and stressed, I really don’t want to go to the gym and the traffic is going to suck!
– What if I do a move at the gym and I look like a complete idiot doing it? Someones bound to be watching and judging me

Solutions: JUST DO IT! Get the workout over with. If I’m genuinely tired then I can always do it in the afternoon after I finish work. It doesn’t matter when you do it, just that you actually do it.
As for the slippery slope of eating “naughty” things, well I just have to make sure I don’t allow one slip up to turn into a whole day of slip ups!

2. External Excuses (Within my control) – those excuses that are external factors BUT they are still well within my control.
– It’s really cold outside today, I think I can skip a workout
– It’s really hot today, the thought of working out just doesn’t do it for me!
– It’s heading into winter, it’s raining and it’s really dark outside!
– Eating healthy is really expensive, I can’t afford that!

Solutions: If and when I do workout outside and the weather affects me in any way there is always something I can do, put on a jumper or wear less layers, buy workout clothes that allow my body to breathe. Or now that I have a gym membership I can always just take a drive to Fernwood and do my workout there. There is always something I can do, no excuses!
Eating ANYTHING is expensive these days! I just need to learn to budget better and use my money for food sparingly on fresh produce and foods that I know will last a little while longer.

3. External Excuses (Outside my control) – those excuses that I really can’t control, it’s out of my hands.
– What happens if I’m at the gym and something happens while I’m not at home?
– What happens if Chris goes into a Diabetic coma or something happens with his levels and I’m not there to help him?

Solutions: If either of those things happen I’ll just have to drop what I’m doing and just get to where I need to be. There really isn’t a solution for either of these situations I just hope they never happen though!

As you can see there are A LOT of excuses flying all over the place here! I can’t say I have ever used the External Excuses that aren’t within my control, but you just never know!

What are your excuses? Are they similar to mine? Do you find that you ever slip back into using these excuses even though you know better? Don’t worry I do to, no one is perfect!

So I’ll let you know that my Cert II in Makeup course is going pretty great! I’m still so flat out with learning to juggle work, gym and studying but I’m getting there!
I just tell myself that there is always someone busier then me right now who can find a way to workout and do everything else!
I’m learning to juggle these things even though I’m absolutely knackered by the end of the day but I’m glad I can come home and feel like I’ve achieved something!
Last night I picked a few more things for my beauty bag too! Slowly accumulating a mass amount of makeup brushes and everything else a good makeup artist needs!

Amydeville xoxo