6 Months

Six months ago today I weighed 93 kg. My body fat percentage would have been over 50%

Today I weigh 75.6 kg and my body fat percentage is 38%.

I have lost 17.4 kgs (over 38 lbs) and more than 12% body fat.

I have gone from wearing size 18-20 to size 14-16 (more 14 than 16!!)

I have lost many centimetres.

I can run 6 kilometres ... and still be able to breathe at the end.

I have confidence I had forgotten existed (if it ever did).

I shop for clothes in 'normal' shops and enjoy the process.

I haven't dieted ... I eat what my body wants and it often wants chocolate or cheese. I don't eat low fat food unless it tastes bloody good - which is rarely.

I have fitness goals. I want to do a challenging bush walk and will start training for that in the new year.

I still have a long way to go. I want to lose another 12 kilos and 13% body fat but I know it will happen if I keep focused on my fitness and not the scales.

Six months ago today Fireman Sam came over and started the regime that has resulted in this incredible internal and external transformation.

And I feel fantastic.

A Day OFF!!!

Blogger won't let me upload a photo :(

I have been in my new role for 6 weeks. And because I am full time I get an accrued day off every four weeks. Tomorrow is my first. I have never been so excited about a day off! My boss is good and let me leave an hour early to make up for extra time I've put in.

I went to Camberwell to pick up One and went for a wander down Burke Road. I ended up in a shop and bought a new skirt and three new tops. Well, I bet you would have too if you were able to buy MEDIUM sized clothes instead of XL. Now I need some new summer work shoes.

We came home and I started cleaning up the house. It really needed a good going over. Himself has done bits and pieces but it's never had all the floors done, the surfaces dusted and the bathrooms cleaned. I have tidied the main living areas and our bedroom, dusted all surfaces (coff coff) and swept the tiled floors (most of the house). My back started to really hurt so tomorrow I will vacuum the carpets, clean our bathroom, change our sheets and wash the floors. I had hoped to have it all done tonight but I want to run tomorrow and don't want to risk knackering my back. Hopefully from here on in I can keep on top of it all.

Speaking of running, I did the 5 laps (6k) in one go yesterday. It took me 50 minutes but that's OK. The new regime is running MWF and weights and ab work T and Th. And probably one day on the weekend. And I plan to do something at the weekends, either a good long walk or a bike ride.

It's 9.00pm and Three has just arrived home with pizza so I'm off to watch some telly, enjoy a glass of wine and eat pizza. And then hit the sack so I can get up and run tomorrow.

I am stoked!

I have just got back from the early morning training session. I ran 3 laps of the park which = 3.6k. I then had a break as One sprinted shorts laps in training for his fireys fitness test. I then decided that I had another lap in me so set off and as I was coming round the final bend Fireman Sam was there telling me to keep going. He ran with me and I did a 5th lap!! So in less than 6 months I have gone from not being able to run 20 metres to running 6k. That is now my benchmark. From now on I run 5 laps.

GO ME!!

Sunday afternoon

The weekend has snuck away from me again.

Yesterday I played golf with my usual partners. It's a small course and the fairways aren't very long but even so, I was gobsmacked when I shot a hole in one!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness the girls were with me and we were all watching my ball. Very exciting that was.

The boys have been out and about all weekend. Himself has been fitting blinds to the windows at the back of the house to keep those rooms cooler. It's getting hot early this year. Forecast for 37 degrees C tomorrow.

I had great plans for a long bike ride or at least a good long walk this weekend but haven't achieved either. It's now nearly 4pm so neither are going to happen but I'll go for a walk around the block and park shortly.

Fireman Sam and I had the morning to ourselves on Wednesday as Gina and One couldn't get themselves out of bed. We were talking about other goals and he mentioned a mammoth bushwalk in southern Tasmania. It is only for experienced bushwalkers and the conditions are very rugged. I have always wanted to bushwalk (hiking for those non-australians out there!) but have never found anyone to walk with and it's not a good idea to go bush on your own. I could join a bushwalking club but that's not really my scene as I prefer to do things with people I know well, like family. Anyway. My ultimate goal is to do the South Coast Walk one day. So I need to start with small walks. With Christmas fast approaching (and I've done NOTHING!) I doubt I'll get out until next year but Fireman Sam says he'll put together some walks and we'll see where we go from there.

Work is really good. I am enjoying it and getting really good feedback from my immediate boss and the manager of the department for the network.

On Friday I popped into my old department to see if a particular patient was there (he was and I was pleased to see he is doing as well as can be expected). Another patient was having treatment. This bloke doesn't have cancer but requires treatment every 6 weeks or so for a blood disorder and has been coming for years. He commented on not seeing me for a while and I explained that I had changed jobs. He asked if I had lost weight to which I replied 'yes'. He then said "You look good. You look REALLY good!" I'll take compliments wherever I can find them!!!

On that note I'm going for a walk. I still need to lose another 10 kilos to get into the healthy BMI range. It's very easy to become complacent when receiving positive comments and having more choices with clothes shopping but I don't want to stay where I am. I want to get super fit and the weight loss will be a pleasant by-product.

I'll try and update more regularly now that I'm not so knackered after work! Have a great week everybody.

Where did the weekend go?

On Friday night Himself and I went to a different place for dinner. It was OK. We fluttered on the pokies and won enough to pay for one meal so that was good. We will go back to this place and probably become members.

Yesterday I played golf with Jenny. More good holes than bad but I'm still a crappy player and really need to get some lessons. Time is the problem.

In the afternoon I went for a walk down along the beach at Brighton - and took my trusty camera. The above are all from that walk.

Two came over for dinner. It was good to have him around. One went out with some friends. Three rang to say he had fallen at a shopping centre and split his chin. It had been raining and was very slippery underfoot. Tina took him to hospital and he has stitches. I guess he was lucky he didn't do more damage.

Today Three and I went shopping for shoes. The ones he was wearing last evening had no grip left on the sole! I tried to find some casual summer shoes for me. I have been looking for the past few weeks and have found them but the shops either don't have them in my size or are so understaffed I get irritated and leave without being served. Today was the latter. Again.

The house needs a good clean but it's been raining and people keep traipsing muddy footprints all over the place so I might give it a go on Tuesday which is a holiday - Melbourne Cup.

I will be training on my own this week. One, Fireman Sam, Gina and Steff are going away for a few days leaving tomorrow afternoon but none of them want to get up in the morning!

And on that note, I'm going to bed.

Have a good week, all.

Wednesday ... Yay!!!

I am officially knackered!! This is my third week in the infection control role and I am exhausted.

I have been getting up at 5.00 to exercise and daylight saving started this week so my body/brain thinks it's 4.00 am! But I am enjoying it. I was getting slack and wasn't happy with the way I was going. I don't know if I will ever get back the intensity I had when I first started this but that's OK as long as I keep doing something, the weight keeps coming off and I feel better.

I am missing Two more than I thought I could. We caught up briefly yesterday at the specialists to discuss his ongoing throat issues. He rang me today to say that further investigations have resulted in him starting on a drug which will suppress his immune system which will help reduce the swelling in his epiglottis but could also make him susceptible to other infections and reactivation of the varicella virus resulting in shingles. I would be happier if he were still at home but that is not to be so I just hope he can manage everything.

Golf was great fun. It turned out that Steff couldn't come so Himself, One and Fireman Sam played together and Gina and I played a hole behind them until we joined forces on the 6th. It was a quiet day for golfers and we let those that wanted play through. We started the day with breakfast for all who played and ended up having barbecued chicken and salad for dinner with Fireman Sam, Gina, Three, Tina, One, Himself and me. A lovely family day.

I have tried 3 times to upload a photo but blogger isn't cooperating so you'll have to go without.

I have had a large gin and tonic, a chicken burrito and have the first mango of the season sitting on the bench. Not sure whether to have it for dessert or take it to work tomorrow. Decisions, decisions!

It's also Halloween. This is very much an American festival which they have embraced and celebrated for years. It wasn't that many years ago that it was totally unobserved here but now we get kids trick or treating. At least some of them have made the effort to dress up and I have a bowl of chocolate bars which Three will polish off once the door bell stops ringing.

Tom has another abscess in his ear. He stinks. Oh, boy, does he stink. And he is spending most of his days huddled on our wardrobe floor which is where he goes when bad weather approaches. He is obviously not feeling very well. But he was able to go out in the early hours and kill a medium sized rodent and bring it in to Himself as a present when One and I were up at the park. But Himself didn't show appropriate gratitude and shut the bedroom door and pulled the covers over his head. To which Tom yowled, scratched at the door and put his paws underneath to rattle the door. And then disappeared leaving the beheaded rodent on the floor for me to discover when we got home. I knew there was a reason I have tiles at all the outside doors!

Two more days til the weekend. Hooray!!

Two weeks down and it's starting to make sense!

This was one of the views from the bush track down near Lakes' Entrance. It was beautiful.

Work. I am starting to find my groove and we are starting to catch up on the incredible backlog. A lot of the work is clerical. Data collection for government departments on infection rates and the like. But I quite enjoy it and so far I'm not missing the patient contact. I am still in two minds about the full time side of things, especially as we had some lovely days this week and could have played golf with Fireman Sam or gone for a bike ride.

Last night Himself and I went out to dinner. We thought we'd try the pub we used to frequent. After two appalling meals we remembered why we stopped going there. It was beyond mediocre. It was bloody terrible. Himself had the butter fish. It was $20.90 and the piece of fish was tiny and all but inedible. Literally. I had the greek salad and paid an extra $4.90 for bbq prawns. Which were 4 ALREADY COOKED almost shrimp sized things stuck on a skewer and 2 of them had tiny spots where they might have been waved over the grill. The Greek salad was uninspiring to say the least. Too much dressing over tired lettuce with not very nice fetta.

We threw some money at the pokies and left.

Today I bought a skirt. I had to get a size larger than the pants I bought 3 weeks ago (from the same store) but I'm cool with that as I am an odd shape when it comes to skirts and things. I bought two shirts in a size smaller than what I'm currently wearing so that sort of made up for it!! I also bought a pair of shoes, two new bras and a pair of knickers which claim to slim the tummy. It's the waist that's the problem but I'll see how these go. I know there are tummy shapers but they feel like you're wearing amour. I like to be able to breathe.

I also bought a lot of books. And a couple for Christmas pressies.

Then we went to the Apple shop and bought Two some softwear so he can edit in a professional role as he has a couple of things lined up. He can't use student softwear if he is going to make money with it. And he can't be seen to be anything other than squeaky clean. We also bought Himself a new computer. A huge step as he is going from PC to Mac. And we bought One a new laptop for which he was going to pay us back but we decided that as it's to help him freelance we would subsidise like Two's softwear as we have always said we would help any way we could to set the boys up in their chosen careers. Even though One is applying for the fire brigade he will always do some sort of design work. We are turning Two's old room into a home gym so I also bought a docking thingy for the ipods so we can all listen to our own music when training without tangling ourselves up in headphone wires (from personal experience).

And then we went and bought a piece of gym equipment that does lots of things. Lat pulldowns, pec decks, rows, and stuff. With pin weights. The X trainer has been moved in as has the weight bench and the weights. The Piece of Equipment will be ready to pick up early in the week.

A good day!! Expensive but good.

On Thursday night we had a big family dinner as Two and GGF came over. We also had Fireman Sam and Gina over and it was a great evening. Lots of laughs. I guilted Gina into coming training with us on Friday and we had a ball. We are both a little sore today but she is ready to go again on Monday. Tomorrow we are playing golf. Himself, me, One, Fireman Sam, Gina and Steff (a friend of theirs who is also a friend of One). Three was meant to play but has been called in to work for stocktake. We are starting off with breakfast here and then will go and play 9 holes. One, Gina and Steff have never played before so it could be a funny day. Regardless, it will be fun, Himself will be out and moving which can only be good and, hopefully, it will be the start of something semi regular.

Himself took himself off to the doctor and has had a barrage of tests. Blood work, ECG, abdominal ultrasound. He is going back to the GP on Monday for the results. I think he will be told to lose weight, stop drinking and to exercise. I don't know how he will take that advice but I think he is finally scared enough to listen a little bit. He has a referral to a hospital that specialises in drug and alcohol problems and I hope he follows that through. I thought I would never be able to drink again as I was (as you all know) a very heavy drinker. Getting fit and exercising has changed all that for me and I can still have a drink or several just not every bloody night! During a normal week I only drink on Friday and Saturday nights. If Himself can do that as well it will be fantastic. It used to be that we all drank far to much far too often and now it's usually only Himself who drinks midweek. Keep your fingers crossed!

OK. Dinner's ready and there's good stuff on telly.

I'll take some photos soon of early morning training and the new gym room and stuff.

Have a great week.