12WBT Round Two

So 12WBT round one 2013 has come and gone. Amazing how quickly 12 weeks passes by.

After some success last round, I have decided to sign up again to consolidate what I have learned and lose another few kilos.

The dexa scan has really helped with my goals and expectations for my weight/health. According to the dexa I have excellent bone density, good muscle mass, but could do to lose a bit more fat.

This round I really need to tighten up and build some muscle. Last round I did zero weight training. And zero running. So this round, along with the weight loss goal, I want to focus on fitness oriented goals too.

For the 12wbters reading, yes I am little late to the party this round. Tomorrow is week 2(!) weigh in. Unfortunately I have been sick since returning from Thailand (typical, right?!). But I finally feel like I am pulling through and readying smash it

So what are my goals this round? Not in any particular order-

- lose around 5kg
- stick to the nutrition plan
- start lifting
- weekly hot yoga
- run 5km (I reckon I may stretch that to 10km)

And … Go!!!!

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Mt Ainslie and my #12WBT #SSS

Oops where has April disappeared to?  Following Easter I held strong with my 12WBT exercise, especially the Super Saturday Sessions (SSS).  This past weekend however, life got in the way, and I actually missed it!  Now, I don’t think I really missed the ‘during’, but the ‘after’ and the sense of accomplishment!

A couple of weeks ago I did a 13.6km SSS, kinda by accident.  I wasn’t really feeling it, but I thought I would head out with Mr. J and aim for 5km.  Well, when I finally decided to turn back, we had passed the 6.5km mark!  I actually got a little sun burnt, because I did not expect to be out for so long.  Yes, by the end and almost 2 and a half hours later, I was totally over it, but hey it was awesome!  And of course, I wasn’t complaining with the calorie burn:

The following weekend, unfortunately I was feeling the same – just a bit off, and a bit over it.  But what does MB say?  JFDI.  So off we went to Hackett walking tracks, and decided to see where the road took us.

Well,… it took us up Mt Ainslie – a first for me

A pretty easy walk, other than the elevation!

Isn’t it pretty?   Haha…
According to Runkeeper, it was a personal best for elevation -

Teehee!

 

Mt Ainslie – definitely recommended.  Get out there and feel the burn and check out the lovely views

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SlimKicker Giveaway – And the Winner is…

And the winner is – Angela, who said:

Weather is getting warmer, so my challenge is: to get outside and get some Rays for at least a hr everyday.
Natural source of Vitamin D too.

Angela, I have sent your details to SlimKicker, who will be in contact with you  

Thanks to those who entered!!

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The Weekender – Easter 2013

I was so excited for a low-key long weekend, staying at home, no need to rush with the Easter traffic, and no need to over-indulge on Easter treats   So I set out for relaxation, and that’s exactly what I got.

Sleep ins – tick
Exercise – tick
Quality time with my husband – tick
Some indulgence – tick

Friday, I slept in, made a lovely brunch for myself and Mr. J – can’t go wrong with bacon and eggs.

Look at that perfectly cooked egg!    Anyway(!)  Chillaxed, made some hot cross buns, went for a walk in the sunshine with husband and later I went to Zumba.  I *love that my classes were still held over the long weekend.  Great chance to get out there and do more to make up for the extra treats.

My hot cross buns were babies – the 12WBT recipe called for 15, I made 20.  So they look a little knobbly, but were even more snack friendly!  I didn’t get a good ‘after’ pic, cause we were too busy eating them

Saturday was another sleep in, and I met a gf for chats before Samba Fitness.  Another yummy brunch, before heading out to the shops – Funny how it gets so busy over a long weekend when people can’t go the day before/after (Good Fri/Easter Sun). We scored a
couple of bargains though, and I enjoyed having a leisurely tea and sharing a junior spoil at Koko Black.

Saturday night I made pizza, even the dough(!) and we had a movie night at home.  Talk about domestic goddess; well I try

Sunday the weather was not looking to good, but I dragged Mr. J out to the Lake and we took it fairly easy, but tried to maintain a good pace for 10km.  We were a little slow while checking out the new developments on the Kingston Foreshore – pretty crazy.  Although it
was a little chilly, and threatened to rain; the temp was better for a good pace, and it stayed clear.

Not overly speedy, but good amount for calories burned.

Monday was more relaxation, interspersed with washing and the threat of going back to reality (work) the next day.  Some cleaning and then Samba that night.

Farewell long weekend, see you again in June 

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SlimKicker Giveaway – Get motivated and Win!

I have been at this health and fitness thing for a while now.  Motivation comes and goes, and I have been learning about what works, and doesn’t work for me.  I find anything that has immediate feedback is more likely to keep me interested

Recently I was introduced to a free health and fitness app – SlimKicker. The website and app uses people’s fitness and health related goals and turns them into a game with challenges, such as quitting chocolate for a week 

SlimKicker also has a lot of recipe ideas such as this chicken soup recipe.  It’s starting to get chilly, and soups are a great healthy lunch idea.

So, SlimKicker are on the hunt for new challenge ideas and in exchange for your ideas, you could win this slow cooker –

To be in the running:
• Sign up to SlimKicker – Check it out, it’s free
• Follow me on twitter and tweet about this competition – SecretLifeJen
• Leave a comment on this post with a great fitness or health challenge idea … for example – “doing 10 pushups every day for 1 week” or “doing squats between commercials” or “drinking a glass of water before every meal” – I could go on(!) But over to you, give me your ideas!

SlimKicker will choose their favourite challenge idea after one week, and use it on their site, so entries close next Sunday 14th April, 2013.   SlimKicker has offered this competition to US and Australian readers – so my Aussie readers, go for it!

The winner will be announced here on the blog and I will forward the winner’s details to SlimKicker to post the slow cooker – perfect timing for this winter-y weather 

Note: No remuneration was received for this post.

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12WBT Review – 8 weeks down, 4 weeks to go

I have been pretty quiet on the 12WBT front, particulay on the forums. Perhaps it just isn’t my style – I have been sharing on twitter and Instagram, but I find the forums pretty overwhelming; so many posts! It is fantastic though, to see how well people are doing; showing how successful the program really is.

The weight is coming off super slowly, and so I am trying to divert my attention away from the numbers. I can easily become too concerned with the numbers, and then quickly disheartened when I don’t see big losses on the scale (like others do).

20cm lost is no small feat, and I should be happy with my results this far. Of course, everyone is different, and I need to remember that this is for me, and for my health. Slow, doesn’t mean that I won’t get there.

But the next question is, what does “there” actually mean? At this stage, I am not sure what my goal should be. And indeed, what my goal for next round should be (Yep, I will be signing up for Round 2, 2013!). I am in the healthy weight range (but it is a large range!), I exercise regularly, I am learning how to consistently eat well (minus a few hiccups), so what now?

Enter, the DEXA Scan. Apparently the dexa scan is the most accurate measure of body fat. It also gives information about bone density, abdominal fat, resting metabolic rate, ideal weight, and calorie intake.

I have booked into Measure Up as they are coming to Canberra at the end of April. I am excited(!) With the above results and recommendations there should be little guesswork about what I should be aiming for.

So this post is less of a review, more of a – What now? And hopefully this will be clearer to me at the end of the 12weeks. For now, or for the next month, I am going to focus on consistency with both nutrition and exercise, hopefully lose a little more weight, and just keep keeping on

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12WBT Week One

Officially three days in to the program and … 1.5kg down.  First weigh in today, and I sucked it up and took the ‘before’ photos.

As I was a little late to the party and missed out on the pre-program, I have been working on my pre-season tasks.  Glad to say that I am done, and ready to dedicate all my focus to the nutrition and exercise plans.  First weigh in today, and I sucked it up and took the ‘before’ photos.  Yesterday I did the fitness test and measurements – I have to say I was surprised at my results, I thought I would do better.  I was pretty sore from Samba the night before, so the wall sit was agony, but I pushed through the 2 min mark.  The run was the hardest; if it wasn’t for the run I would have made it into the advanced, but hey, better to be honest.

Other thoughts >>- I love that the program works around the exercise I already have locked in. e.g. Zumba and Samba are my two cardio days, bikram is my core day – So I just need to do the two toning days and figure out my super Saturday sessions.  I have no access to the gym, so I love that she offers at home vids, and outdoor sessions.

- I have not made many recipes yet, but looking at them – YUM.  I will be altering them to gluten-free, and I have still been fitting in my green monster smoothies, which kinda works as a snack under the program.

- Today was a hard day craving-wise, I think I probably was over my calories, but, I said no to sugar… opting for healthier options.

- Surprisingly I am only burning 380 calories at Samba and 440 calories at Zumba.  There is a fair amount of core work at Samba, which I guess explains for the lower burn.  I am not sure what to do to hit the 500 calorie burn for those days though.  Maybe a walk would suffice?

Noting that it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I have yet to figure out how to eat out on the program.  Obviously I will make sensible choices where I can, but I think I will have to work extra hard to compensate.

 

On that note for tomorrow – Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy National Condom Day!!

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January 2013 Fitness in Review

This month just flew by.  I held really strong on the fitness front, slacking a little toward the end of the month.   Same with healthy eats, really good for a couple of weeks, but then almost to the point of giving up.

Fitness-wise, the initial goal was c25k.  This dropped off as the month progressed, and I started becoming more interested in Bikram (hot) yoga.  I also started a new dance class – Samba Fitness.  This was a great new challenge – amazing the difference between the difficulty in Zumba and Samba – I’m pretty used to Zumba now, and feels like a breeze (well, sorta!).  Just goes to show that you have do different activities, to keep challenging the body.

Nutrition-wise I felt like I was doing pretty much 99% clean, e.g. paleo, no sugar, but seeing no real result on the scale.  And when you look at my activity, seems pretty unrealistic that I would not see a change in weight/body fat.  I think this is why I started to fall off the wagon toward the end of the month, both with healthy eats and exercise.  After seeing a dietician, I have been told to just keep recording my daily eats, focus on consistency and keeping active, while not going too hard (this is where the giving up usually happens).

The good news is that I am loving green monster smoothies, and packing more and more spinach in each one(!)  Sounds crazy, but I am starting to like the taste without needing bananas, berries, or any fruit.

So… on to February then(!)  After a few days off exercise and taking it a bit easy on the diet, I am looking forward to getting back to it.

 

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The Weekender

This weekend was a weekend of bikram yoga. Twice, I went! 8am Saturday and 4pm Sunday. It seems crazy, but I think bikram is growing on me. Originally I purchased a groupon deal, but I’m thinking bikram may become more of a permanent fixture in my routine. Not exactly sure where it will fit in the budget – what with Samba and Zumba, it would be cheaper just to get outside and run. We’ll see!

I have been going strong with the no sugar. I’m pretty much 95% paleo. I haven’t been seeing a change on the scales, but I’m working on ignoring them! Fitness and health first!

Weekend eats included Sammy’s Kitchen on Saturday (was pretty disappointed and considering it was my non paleo feed with rice!). Everyone raves about Sammy’s but I wasn’t too fussed.

Gluten free bread after yoga on Sunday, with bacon and eggs. I stopped at one slice, but it was yummo!

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Heatwave

This heat wave is interfering with my new year exercise regime.

7 days no sugar.
7 days no gluten.
7 days paleo.

C25k week 2 complete (skipped wk 1).

700g down.

I want more. I am ready for more.

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