Lets do this!

4 weeks to go and it's time to pull out all the stops.

first task ........drop some more body fat. I've been very cautious about my weight on the scales and how low it is dropping (currently sitting around 46.5kg). And as a result, I have backed off the cardio. But with just 4 weeks to go and an absolute fear that I won't get to where I want to be, it's time to bring back the cardio!

second task.........no more protein balls. I made these last week and although they are full of goodness (almonds, protein, cranberries, goji berries) they are delicious and I eat too many. They are all gone now and there's no way I'm making any more!

Finally..........Improve the weight workouts. After watching Max's tv last night, I introduced a couple of new things into today's session - 2 second hold on each rep, 5 second hold on final rep (if possible) and drop sets (Lower weight for final set, rep till failure). Will be doing this at each session from here on.

So today was Day 1 of the final 4! And I've had a ripper! Awesome legs set this morning which resulted in very shaky legs by the end ........and a 10km run on the treadmill tonight. Feeling very pleased with myself. These legs better be sore tomorrow!

On a side note, it was my brothers 40th birthday on the weekend. I wore a lovely dress that a friend gave me. Very different to what I would normally wear but I am feeling so good about my boy that I'll wear anything and rock it! I was pretty good with my nutrition. Managed to resist all the desserts at the party on Saturday night. But Sunday night was a different story. I thought long and hard and decided that I would enjoy a piece of potato kuchen (my nanas recipe) with a scoop of icecream. With some conditions........that's it for the next 4 weeks, and it had to be guilt free. I didn't want to have it and then regret it, so I decided that I was going to enjoy it, and would not be racked by guilt after. It was delicious, I did enjoy it, and I don't feel guilty at all! 1 piece of cake in 10 weeks is not going to kill me!

Finally, i must be happy with the way I'm looking.........I wore a crop top on the treadmill tonight! Bring back the crop top! I love running in just a crop but the first time in a while is always a bit nerve racking! Woo hoo!

Bring on the net 4 weeks!!!!!

Maxine's challenge - 8 weeks down!

My training diary

About 2 weeks ago I got myself a little notebook which I have made my training diary. Pretty simple - I just write down everything I do in terms of training. Sounds good but this has absolutely changed the way I train! I now know exactly what I'm doing in each session, what weights I did last time so I can try and do a bit more, which order I did them last time so I can change it up a bit. It's just great!

so the photos are a look at my last week. I'm pretty happy with it.

2 x legs sessions

2 x shoulders, chest and tris

1 x back and bis

2 x cardio sessions with 2 more to come on the weekend

Thats 5 weights sessions and 4 cardio - perfect!

Ive decided for the final 4 weeks of the challenge I am going to try and do each body part twice a week (legs, back&bis, shoulders&chest&tris). That's 6 sessions in the gym per week which I am already doing. I will continue with 3-4 cardio per week but I'm not looking to lose any more weight so don't want to overdo the cardio. Really need to just build some muscle now!

I also got some advice during e week from Kate and Wendy about nutrition. They advised to add some sweet potato in at dinner and increase the protein. This will prevent further weight loss and increase muscle growth. I've also decided to cut dairy so am now having my oats on water - doesn't taste too great but can live with it! The things we do!!!

So my daily nutrition now looks like this:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oats with water, handful blueberries, shake, long black

M Tea: 15g almonds and pear

After workout: 3 rice cakes and shake

Lunch: 100g chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, salad or steamed veg

A Tea: shake or bar

Dinner: Meat and steamed veg and sweet potato

Snack: shake

Pretty basic but it does the job!

Weekend in noosa this weekend which I'm really looking forward to. No gym access but I did a Weiss set today knowing that I'd have 2 cardio days over the weekend.

Feeling positive and looking forward to some awesome changes over the next 4 weeks! Can't believe there's only 4 weeks to go!

Forgot to post!

15 September 2013, 10:44pm

Measurements and photos today. Happy to have lost more off my waist. Was hoping to have had better results in my legs - can't see much change in the photos. Perhaps the most change is the IDE view of my arms - getting some more muscle definition there.

feeling very impatient with the results. I know I've come a long way and the transformation already is fantastic but I'm still not looking the wy I want. Still 5 weeks to go but I think I need to start upping the ante a bit. I'm just not really sure how.

my nutrition is going well. I've started introducing a couple of low carb dys a week. That's going ok. Perhaps I cn increase that to 3/week??? Something to think about fbegone last 4 weeks.

so perhaps th only thingi can do is up my training. I am doing something every day so I'm not sure how th can happen. Maybe I should look at doing some more double session days. At the moment, the only double day I do is Thursday - walk in the morning and weights in the afternoon. I can definitely see if there are other days that I can double up - off the top of my head, Monday is a possible and th weekend. Will have to talk to Trent about it and look at his training schedule.

legs in the gym today. A pretty good session: 95 SM squats supersetted with walking lunges, and 2 sets of the 50 leg press. Was sore after but not now. Hopefully some soreness tomorrow.

a bit lost.....

Haven't blogged for a while.......not really sure why. Kind of feel like I have nothing to say. Nutrition is on track, training is on track. Perhaps slipping in enthusiasm a bit??? Not really sure.

Took some progress pics and measurements on Monday. Some small losses in the measurements which I'm happy about. I couldn't see much change in the photos and was pretty down about it. But my husband had a look and he said I'm crazy and proceeded to point out all of the muscle gains that I have made. I guess because its not fat that's going anymore, the changes are going to be slower and more subtle. I'm desperate for this 6 pack to arrive. most of the time I can't see it, but again, my husband says it is definitely coming. So I guess I just need to be patient.

Was supposed to go for a run this morning but the friend I run with isn't running so I've booked into the gym instead. Am thinking about doing a HiIT session but not sure what to do. Will have a look on the forums now and see what people suggest.

My husband will be home tonight and said that I could go to the gym if I wanted so will do that - good excuse for a double day! So perhaps I'll do legs this morning and some cardio tonight. As you can see, my head is all over the shop - need to get that sorted! Feel a bit like I'm going from day to day with no real plan and I'm not sure that's a good thing. 

Anyway, I'm going to go and get organised. By the end of today I will have a concrete plan for the next week and a half. I will post it here tomorrow so that I am accountable and don't need to continually doubt what I'm doing. That will get me through to week 8 and then I need a big push for the last 4 weeks.

just feeling a bit lost........

Life is good!

My birthday today! 35!!!!!

Ive had a pretty quiet day. A nice easy 6.5km run this morning. This was actually harder than it sounds because my legs and glutes are sooooo sore from my PT session yesterday. I'll briefly mention that first.

9 sets leg press @90kg! 9 sets! 3 x normal feet, 3 x narrow feet, 3 x wide feet (definitely the hardest)

followed by

5 sets of walking lunges - 16 x 7kg db, 16 x 10kg, 16 x 12kg, 16 x 12kg, 12 x 15kg

followed by

4 sets of seated calf raises @ 30kg

followed by 4 sets of leg press calf raises @ 64kg

That was enough! My PT (Michael) warned me that I would be pretty sore. Oh yeah! But I love it!

Back to my birthday today........

Some awesome gifts which I really needed - gym bag (my old one was falling to pieces), 2 pairs of gym shorts and a camera.

I also got myself a small gift - a chin up bar for home!!! I'm determined to do 5 unassisted by the end of this challenge. So I put it all together, hung it in the doorway and then thought I'd give it a go......bam......2 unassisted chin-ups!!!!! I can't believe it! All by myself!!! Now every time I walk past I jump up and crack out another 2. It just makes doing 5 so much more realistic. Very exciting!! I must be getting stronger!

We went out for dinner tonight. It's a tradition we have started since having kids that its birthday persons choice of restaurant. I chose Thai tonight because I knew I could get a meal that fit in my nutrition plan - stir fry chicken & veg with cashews and no sauce. Was lovely. So I've managed to get through my birthday with no hiccups. Saturdmidnight we are going out for a birthday dinner with friends. I'm sure ill find something to eat and would love to have a few drinks but not going to. I'll drive and then Trent will be able to have some for me!

On a totally different note, I have started a September abs challenge. I put it on my Facebook page and asked if any of my friends would like to do it with me. To my absolute surprise, there are 13 of us doing it! Some of my friends who don't do very much exercise are giving it a go and we've formed a lovely little group who report in each day on our progress and just generally encourage each other. I'm actually really proud that I've been able to get 13 people off the couch every day to do some form of exercise. And it helps me too because when I don't really feel like doing it, I just have to think of all of these girls who are doing it and it forces me to do it! I would feel like an absolute fraud if I didn't do it each day.

One of my friends even sent me a message saying that I was such an inspiration to so many people. This made me feel so good. Another friend told me that they are blown away by my commitment and dedication to the challenge. I'm still having trouble believing that people see me in this way. It's really nice! 

Life is so good!