Don't You Dare Give Up On Me!

Haha - discovered why I didn't have more people knocking on my door asking about their results over the last two weeks - it was because many of you did not post your measurements!  Now don't you dare give up on me, let alone yourself!  Yes it is a difficult time of year for eating well, but did you know there is ALWAYS a reason to eat a little more - its the reason why most Australians gain about 1kg/year.  At the moment the excuse is - "but its all the Christmas functions,"then its "but its Christmas", then its the new year, then its a long weekend, then its someones birthday (a few times over) then its Easter, then its the school holidays, then its another long weekend, then its winter (everyone uses winter as an excuse to keep eating) then its school holidays, a birthday , a long weekend, your holidays and.... Christmas again!  There is always something happening to provide an excuse to relax the eating.  You've worked hard for 5 weeks, DO NOT LET the next 5 weeks cancel this out.  Be honest.  Measure up. Don't bury your head in the sand. The difference between successful people and those who aren't is that even if they have a bad day/week, they pick themselves up, get straight back on that horse, and work harder than ever.  They don't run away from the truth and put off the hard work for "later".  Be a successul person in transforming your life and your body.  Dig Deep, Train Hard, Eat Well and Love Life!

Now that you've been good and told - here are the results from the last two weeks:

18th November:
1st Maree  - 2.61% (awesome work)
2nd Barb - 1.11% 
3rd Anisa  - 0.92%

Overall
1st Lisa D - 8.86%
2nd Mikayla - 7.41%
3rd Maree  - 6.76%

25th November
1st Lisa D - 0.86%
2nd Georgina - 0.62%
3rd Melissa - 0.25%

Overall
1st Lisa D - 9.72%
2nd Mikayla - 7.41%
3rd Maree - 5.89%


Well done to everyone.  Last week was a bit lean on fat loss -lets make this week a bumper one!

Its been a Mystery Week!

Its been a mystery week hasn't it - "what's going on with the body fat challenge?"  "what are this weeks results?"  "how did I do?".  Yep, totally intentional - not.  I've just been ridiculously busy and haven't been able to sit down and do the calcs.  So this week will be a double whammy of results.

But having said that, you don't really need to see those magic numbers to know how you are doing, do you?  Deep down you know.  You know if the clothes feel a little loser or tighter this week, you know HOW your body is feeling (feeling the after effects of working hard, or feeling sluggish from doing nothing) you know if your tummy looks a little flatter etc.  Look for these cues that help you monitor how your body is reacting to your lifestyle - these are the long lasting sustainable ones that will help you maintain your body transformation in the long run.  You need to be well tuned in to your body on a daily basis to adjust your exercise and nutrition and give it what it needs.

Keep it up guys, not long till Christmas.  Today would be a good day to plan your attack for all the Christmas activities.  Sit back outside with a tall cool drink and your calendar, and look at what's scheduled in for December.  If you think its likely you might be tempted to eat a little extra, you absolutely MUST get your exercise in, and preferably a little bit more.  Where is it going to fit?  How are you going to achieve it?  Do you have to be a bit more flexible and do some different things to fit in with different time slots for exercise?  Do you need to get up an hour earlier for the next 4 weeks to fit it in, or plan to exercise later in the evening at home?  You have worked so hard so far DONT LET IT GO TO WASTE, and be cancelled out by the festive season.  Enjoy the season, enjoy your body changes so far, but make sure that every day is still progressing towards your goals, and not away.

The Amazing Race TONIGHT!

Its on TONIGHT - 6.30pm Port Broughton Foreshore.
Its a team game not a workout (I lie, its really both) for all fitness levels.  $10/participant.
Obviously if you complete the race you end up looking like two of the previous contestents as per bottom photo.
PS - If you would like this to come to your town, as a special event - contact me.

This is Soooo True

Dont ask yourself which days you will exercise this week, ask yourself which day will I have off?
Make it a daily habit, and you will feel deprived when you miss out.  Every day doesn't have to be intense  - just get out there and do it!

Week 4 Results

Well here they are.
As we move towards the halfway point, I want to encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP.  This is the point where motivation starts to slide, maybe you're happy with what you've acheived, or maybe its all getting too much.  But this is the point where those "who stick at it" will make a difference, and those who don't will just go back to the way things always were.  Which group do you want to be in?
For some extra incentive, read the post by Melissa below.  Ive already mentioned her amazing journey this year, and if you have a significant amount of weight to lose, this could be you next year.  You just have to set your mind, and believe in yourself!
So Melissa - in answer to your question - get rid of your big clothes - you have to be committed and believe that you are not going back to them. If nothing else the cost of "bigger" clothes (smaller clothes you never seem to mind paying for!) will push you to stay the fit and healthy size you are now!

Week 4 Leaderboard:
First Place - Tracey!  3.02%
2nd Place - Adam - 1.75%
3rd Place - Maree - 1.74%

And overall:
First Place - Lisa D - 8.57%
2nd Place - Mikayla - 7.41%
3rd Place - Anisa - 4.91%

Well done!

Just a reminder - those using Nutrtition Complete - I post your individual results are in the diary section, and I have emailed the rest of you.

Lastly - over the next couple of days I have an interesting article to post about losing body fat - and what you should aim for.

So go read Melissa's post below and be inspired - and see you at the gym, you health nuts you!

Losing Weight, its all in the mind!

(A post by Melissa, regarding the amazing (!) transformation she has made this year....)

As Lisa alluded to in one of her previous posts losing weight for me has been a slow process over the last 12 months.  Whilst I have lost (and regained) weight throughout my life for some reason in February this year after a great family holiday I knew that this was my time……….

I believe that losing weight and living a healthy life is all "in the mind".  To lose weight and keep it off you need to have the right attitude.  If you consider it a "chore" then more than likely you won’t succeed.  You need to turn it on its head and think of losing weight and keeping it off as a positive experience, think of all of the energy that you will have, what you will be able to do with your family and how great you will feel! 

Maintaining a healthy weight is for life, therefore, anything so significant doesn’t come easy.  I set myself very small targets of losing 2 kg a month.  I also gave myself rewards after every 5kg loss; a massage was one of my favorites (funny though 5kg losses seemed to come around fairly quickly so I then started banking my rewards).  I also set myself a regular weigh in day (Monday morning for me) to ensure that I stayed focused and on track.  Whilst it’s not always healthy to focus solely on weight for me whilst I was losing weight this was an important motivator.  I record my weekly weight in a diary so that when it all seems a bit too hard I can look back and see how far I’ve come – this seems to provide encouragement in itself.

Surrounding yourself with people who are also interested in health and fitness has been really helpful.  I started going to the gym with some girls from work and we now try and encourage each other to keep going no matter how tired we feel or how busy we are.  My new attitude to exercise is doing something is better than doing nothing.  Whilst I try and exercise 6 days a week I must admit it’s not always for as long as I would like or as intense as I know is recommended – but for me consistency is the keys.  Even on rest days I try and do something active, going for a leisurely bike ride with the kids, or taking the dogs for a walk.  These types of activities are what I call my “incidental exercise or bonus exercise” which all adds up on the long run to a healthier me!

My attitude to food has also changed.  Fortunately for me I had a pretty good knowledge of healthy eating and being the cook in the house meant that I could control what food we had available. At first I had to be really strict with what I ate and did significantly reduce the amount of carbs that I was eating.  My eating has changed now though as without the extra weight I am able to exercise at a much higher intensity which means I need to eat more to maintain my energy levels…..Food is a science but my advice would be not to get too hung up on it (remember this is for life), just try and eat healthily most of the time.

In summary the most significant thing for me that has changed to allow me this time to succeed with my weight loss and health goals is my attitude.  I feel positive about this change and have come to the realisation that it’s for life!  Don’t be too hard on yourself if you “slip up”, just get back to it tomorrow. 

Now to keep or give away my larger sized clothes is the question???

Week 3 Results -and WelcomeTo Some New Players...

New players in the limelight this week:

1st Place - Kathryn - 2.28%
2nd Place - Anisa - 1.15%
3rd Place - Olivia - 1.11%

Congratulations Girls!

and our overall leaders:

Lisa D on 6.88%
Anisa on 3.77%
and
Fiona - 3.61%

Here's a hint on how to achieve great things:

The fastest route to success, is the slowest route.

Read it again

The fastest route to success, is the slowest route.

That means the fastest route to sustainable weight loss is by doing it slowly but consistently.  Look at Fiona's result - she hasn't made the top three on any of the weeks, but she has consistenly lost a good amount each week - placing her third overall.

You can apply this mantra to many other things - eg The fastest route to running faster/getting fitter, is taking it slowly. Run too fast too quickly and you will be injured/sore/frustrated and give up.

Melissa - not yet featured in this challenges leader board, but would win it if we looked over the whole year, is a great example of slow and steady wins the race. She did this challenge  earlier in the year and has continued on, to lose a staggering 33kgs since my first record!  I hardly recognise her these days.   She's back, I think, to finish the job off.  Well done Melissa - perhaps you'll share some of your tips with us?

My final welcome to the playing field is Barb who joined the challenge this week.  I expect to see your name up there soon Barb, and I hope you can gain some inspiration from all the others in different stages of their journeys.

My Breakfast This Morning

Had a yummy breakfast this morning - Chocolate Protein Pancakes
261 cals, 24g protein, 30g carbs,( can't remember the fat but its low) - made with cottage cheese, egg whites, oats and chocolate protein powder.
I had mine with strawberries and Forme yoghurt.
Have popped it on the meal planner to make it easier for you - enjoy

Don't forget to add/email your measurements today- no neck measurements required.

Want This?

And I'm not talking about the crop, and yes, of course I already have it (LoL), I'm talking about the shape, the definition, the look.
So many times people tell me that they can't wear sleeveless tops because they don't like the look of their arms.  But you could lose a heck of a lot of weight and still not like your arms - because unless you are weight training, you'll still have the same percentage of "flab"
If you are trying to transform your body into something that you are comfortable with the look of (it doesn't have to be perfect) and strong and fit enough to do what ever you want in life, you must weight train.

And the trick here is - it must be at least 3 times a week
AND,
unless you are doing a more complex "split" routine (where you focus on different muscle groups each day) it needs to be on alternate days, NEVER consecutive.  Muscle needs 48 hours to recover from the effort and rebuild into a stronger form.  If you keep hammering away at the muscles before they recover, they will break down even further.
Weight training doesn't have to mean pumping iron, there are plenty of body weight exercises you can do - things like you would do in boot camp with next to no equipment.

"But  you keep telling me I should be exercising every day - now you're telling me alternate days".

Just to confuse you, but both are correct.  Its the type of exercise that you need to vary. Basically you can alternate your weight training days with cardio days.  You also need to consider varying the intensity of your training.  You don't have to smash it out every day.  Some days should be lighter than others to give your body more rest and achieve better results (yes I said you will get better results by putting some light days in).

For best results, you need to plan your exercise for the week, what you will do when.  If this sounds a bit complicated, don't forget I offer one off consultations - I can help you set up a 3 month plan that will take into account your current fitness level, and what equipment/classes you have available.

No point being fit if you don't have the strength to push the shopping trolley through Lorna Jane (yep, that's how much I buy)

Lift weights to live life to the max