As part of Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Turnaround I have to tell the world, so to speak, of what I am doing and hope to accomplish during this round.
Well this is where I am going to do that.
I will also try to document what I do and how I do it as well as how I feel over the next 14 weeks.
I may bring in some gripe that I have with family - but I will try to keep that to a minimum, as this is not what this blog is supposed to be all about.
I have done this sort of thing before. The 2nd last time was waaaaaay back before child #3 when I did 6 months of NutriSystem - kinda like jenny craig. I told myself then that if their program did not work then that was it for me. No more diets; I was destined to be overweight. Prior to that I had done Weight Watchers (twice) as well as my own food regime when still at high school.
I wasn't an overweight child. That happened when I was 14-15 and I gained 1 stone. Then I found a food regime in a magazine, cut it out and decided to follow it. Mum was helpful in buying the snacks I wanted and cooking my food how I wanted it. I lost that stone, plus a bit.
Then I got a boyfriend and everything went along just fine until we got married. He was active and had the typical young male metabolism where he could eat anything and not gain weight. We enjoyed meals out on a regular basis - 3 courses with 1 or 2 bottles of wine (can't do that now), ate well at home often with a desert after dinner. We found Sara Lee Danishes. So yum and so easy to eat the whole pack in one sitting. That's half each - they are supposed to serve 6 I think - with icecream and or cream. After 12 months I had found that extra stone again. And so started the merry go round.
The last time was 2 1/5 years ago. I used shakes and managed to lose 11 kilos. I started at 120kgs. People noticed, which was great, but I could not keep it going.
What prompted me this time?
Last year, it was the lead up to Christmas and I was at the shopping centre looking for gifts. I had parked the car at one end and needed to get to the other. It's not that far really, from 1 end to the other, but it nearly killed me. My knee was playing up. For some reason I have not slowed down (ok I probably have but it doesn't feel like) whenever I walk anywhere. So that day it was really hurting. When I got back to the car I was exhausted and thought "I have to do something about this" I know I need to get my knee looked and I know the doc is going to tell me to lose weight. That is most likely half of my problem with it. I am just too heavy for it now. I did injure it many years ago and back then getting medical attention was not on the agenda. It was the 70's and I didn't play sport and could still walk after the bruising went down, so nothing more was thought of it. - thanks mum.
I had a whinge to a friend who has lost a lot of weight last year. I asked her how she did it. We talked a bit about it and I went home and had some thinking to do. I decided that what she did was not for me. One day I was at the newsagents and I found some cook books that looked interesting. In flicking thru them I saw that most of the meals were what I call real food. None of this goats cheese and tofu stirfry with balsamic vinegarette but parmas and stews and burgers. The author had apparently lost weight herself by looking into the meals she was preparing and figuring out to reduce the fat content of them. She even has a satay chicken recipe - something that's usually high in fat. I bought some of them and started using them for dinners. Some meals were great, others not so.
One thing these cookbooks taught me was to plan your meals. Make sure you know what you are having for dinner so you don't just go 'oh heck, lets have takeaway'. I know those nights when nothing is planned, that's when we most often get takeaway.
So - for the next 14 weeks (that's 2 weeks of pre-season stuff and 12 weeks of body turn around) I will endeavour to follow the program to the best of my ability. I will eat what and when I am told to; I will exercise how and when I am supposed to.
I have underlined to the best of my ability for a couple reasons. I am totally unfit and haven't exercised for 20 years, if not more. But I need to do something to get this excess weight off my poor aging bones. I am also rather picky with my food. I can't stand mushrooms or seafood so I know any recipe that says I have to include those just won't be getting cooked. So to the best of my ability it is going to have to be.
My goals for this round is to get rid of 15 kgs. That's 1 kilo per week (or just over). If I go onto doing another round (and at this stage I might), then the goal will be something different. My long term goal is to get rid of 50kgs, to be able to wear my wedding and engagement rings again, to be able to take the dogs for a walk without having to think about pain killers before hand (or after). I'm not into running marathons or anything like that.
I have a couple of rewards for myself in mind too. I feel that they are important. The first one is to get under 100kgs, stay there for 2 weeks and get acrylic nails. I have never had them before and I love having nice looking nails and I can't do that naturally. The other reward is to have really nice underwear. My current drawer full is rather sad to say the least.
So there you have it. My intentions and goals out and proud.
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