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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Valentine’s Day 2013

Just too beautiful for words.  Mr. J surprised me with these beautiful pink roses during the week before Valentine’s Day – which was totally unexpected and even more awesome!

I know everyone says Valentine’s Day is all commercial bull**** but it was really lovely to take a walk in the city before our dinner date – to see all the couples wining and dining, feeling the love and taking a couple of hours to spend quality time together.

Mr. J took me to Mezzalira Ristorante, a new place for both of us.  There were three dining options – the degustation, the 3 course and the 2 course.  Because I started 12WBT this week, I said no to the degustation and would have preferred the 2 course, but we compromised with the 3 course.

In 12WBT standards, I probably enjoyed myself a little too much, but the food was fabulous – in particular the dessert.  I did feel a little too full after, which is a good sign that my body is changing.

Anyway, enough diet talk, so the food was amazing, and the evening was lovely – one complaint however, for those interested in a Mezzalira review – the service was a little lacking.  I know it is Valentine’s and they were busy, but I expected more.  This does not extend to all the wait staff, it appeared as though other waitstaff were happier about working that night 

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Getting there

It is Mr. Js birthday today(!)  We are heading out tonight for Steak, but only the best steak in Canberra – Kingsley’s Steakhouse.  I will try my very best to take pictures, even though I am iphoneless at the moment (10 more days max!!!!).  Expect to see a birthday/Kingsleys/night off post with pictures for once!

It will be nice to take the night off to just relax, well as much as I can relax right now 

About today, I hit a little bump, or a setback… thesis is still coming along, just a bit slower than I would like.  Just small edits that take way too long(!)  Anyway, because of editing/writing, and my mid-placement review this morning (another stressor ha!), and Mr. J’s birthday, I wasn’t sure if I would have to re-schedule p90x day two (yup p90x day one done yesterday!).

I probably could have done more work today if I hadn’t worked out, but hey, I want to make it a priority again.

>> So day one, Core Synergistics, it was okay.  And today, day TWO, done!  Cardio X, also ok.  I would have liked more cardio, for longer (only 14mins vigorous), but I am still sweaty!

I am still not monitoring my intake, but I have decided that beginning November, it will be official – I am gonna bring it(!)  [p90x style]

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August Review

August has come and gone so quickly! I should be doing an assignment right now, which is due tomorrow(!) but this is way more interesting 

Here is what my August looked like (click to enlarge) -

Time to re-visit my August Goals.  So here was an + overview of my plan, and = how I measured up.

+  Exercise 23 out of 31 days, to see an improvement of 15% from July.
=  I achieved this exactly… 23 out of 31 days with some sort of moderate-vigorous activity, without really trying(!)  Awesome 

+  Aim for walking 40km over the month of August, beginning to jog.
=  Bit of a fail here.  I walked 28.99km, but… I did start jogging.

+  Weekly yoga and step.
=  I missed 2 step and 2 yoga classes – I guess that is what happens when life gets in the way.

+  Complete 30 Day Shred level’s 2/3 once a week.
=  Excluding the week we moved, this is achieved(!)  And all level 3′s.  I am still doing modifications, but definitely seeing some improvements 

+  Track calories in and out – every single item of food will be recorded.
=  I tracked calories in and out 27 out of 31 days.  I am pleased with this, but some of my tracking was very much a guestimate

+  An improvement in my average calories burned, anything above 2260 cals.
=  My average for the month of August was 2456 cals burned!  I think that has alot to do with the week of moving though…

+  Aim for a 500 calorie deficit every day, which amounts to a 1lb loss each week or 1.8kg for the whole month
=  There were only 3 days that I did not make the 500 mark.  However, as I said, there has been some guestimating going on, so need to tighten my recording up and ensure my logging is accurate.

And now it’s measurement time:I was pretty nervous about taking my measurements, but overall, I was SO surprised.  I have to admit that I find it really hard to measure my own body accurately – I couldn’t remember exactly where I had taken the measurements in July… but I tried my best.

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July Review + August Goals Cont’d

So before getting stuck into planning/beginning August, I thought I would do a brief review of July.

Highest calories burned = 2774 (Saturday, walked 6km)
Lowest calories burned = 1821 (Sick)
Average calories burned = 2260

435 minutes spent at the gym, 40km on the bike, 20km on my feet.

Now on to August!  I previously posted about my goals for August here.  I now want to add to that -

+  An improvement in my average calories burned, anything above 2260 cals.

I am also going to start taking measurements, following others such as Amanda at MeVstheBulge and Alexandra at TheSecretsofThin.

So here is the first round!

Arm: 28cm
Bust: 90cm
Wasit: 74cm
Hips: 98cm
Upper thigh: 90cm
Mid thigh: 55cm

So excited!  Bring it, August! 

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