Taking it to the streets

I don't know about you, but I find running in the street so much harder than on the treadmill.  It's good to mix up both, I guess the treadmill is teaching me stamina, but it's regular, it's routine, it just keeps bouncing along.

The street on the other hand, whew!  Firstly to get into a rhythm takes me a bit, then a fly will buzz past my face and the rhythm is broken trying to swat it away.  Then there's the sun or the wind or both.  Then there's the little hills, that only look little until you are trying to get up that slight rise and all of a sudden they feel like Everest.

I told Mike that this morning I wanted to run my longest run around the streets yet.  So I mapped out a virtual course in my head, what streets I would take, the streets I know there are loose dogs to stay away from, and the like.  I woke up this morning and rolled over and went back to sleep.  I woke up again and thought where was my resolve, wasn't I a woman of my word?  If I can't honour the promise to myself what good was I?  So I got up.  Dressed.   Fed the dogs.  Stretched.  Warmed up.

And I was off and running.   17 minutes 21 seconds.  And I did it all without stopping.

A total of 2.4 kilometres.  I know this because I just got out in the car this afternoon and drove around it with the trip thingy going!!

Now this might seem like small potatoes to some, but to me this is HUGE.  These old legs are getting a spring in them that I never knew existed.  And it feels WONDERFUL !

So the PB running without stopping tally is:   3.7 km on the treadmill / 2.4 km on the streets.

***************

Now a lovely and very unexpected surprise to share.  Mish from the Mindless Natter blog has awarded me a Versatile Blogger award.  Thank you so much.  :-)  Completely unexpected, I mean I know I have a handful of people that read this blog because of the comments they leave, but you just never know who is out there reading do you.    Hopefully my incessant ramblings as I go through this journey put a smile on someone's face.  I'm not out to teach or preach, heck I'm learning myself as I'm going.  This blog really is just my own ramblings as I wade through this whole weight loss, healthy, fitness, mind cleansing journey.

So the rules for accepting this award are:

*  Display the award certificate on your website.

*  Announce your win with a post and include a link to whoever presented your award.

*  Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.

*  Create a post linking to them and drop them a comment to tip them off.

*  Post 7 interesting facts about yourself.

Right so I've had a good think here and I do have a number of blogs that I frequent on my Google reader, but I'm going to nominate only my top 3, because a lot of my fave blogs have already been nominated.  Hope that is okay and doesn't mess with the mojo of the award.

1.  Click Three Times by RubySneakers.  Love the way this girl talks!  So much fun in her words, I imagine I'm reading exactly how she speaks.

2.  Finding my way back to the Thinner Me by the wonderful KCMason, who you will have seen in various photos on my blog, someone I'm happy to call my friend.

3.  Diary of a Dieting Diva by Monnie.  I like this blog a lot, I love the peek into Monnie's life and her own trials along this journey we are on.

Now I need to post 7 interesting facts about myself, yikes!  

1.  I didn't marry until I was aged 39, didn't meet the right guy until then, and was blessed with four of the most wonderful step-children I could ever imagine.  All now young adults, sometimes I forget they are not my own flesh and blood I love them so much.

2.  I played for many MANY years (about 25 years) in a brass band.  Ending up in an A Grade band we travelled around Australia for yearly competitions.  I don't play any more, I met Mike, married and it kind of fell by the wayside.

3.  Bearing in mind number 2 above, I went overseas in 2000 BM (before Mike!!) and played at the Whit Friday Marches at Saddleworth.  Ever seen the movie Brassed Off?  The contest was featured on there.   Truly the Greatest Show on Earth and one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

4.  When I married I moved from a city population around 200,000 to a teeny tiny town population around 1,000.  Can we say culture shock?!!  Now I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love that I know all my neighbours, that no one uses the front door, that there are no footpaths in our street, that a 10 minute whip down the road can run into an hour because all the shop keepers know me, or people in their yards doing their garden stop me and we have a chat.

5.  I can't sleep if my feet are touching.  You really needed to know that right? ha.

6.  My best friend lives in Tasmania, we met through banding when she lived on the mainland.  We keep in touch through phone, email and facetime and see each other way to seldomly and she is going amazingly with her own weight loss plan herself.  Can't wait to see her again.  And I know she will read this on the blog!

7.  I have worked with the same employer for 27 years.  Now that's loyal !!

Thanks again Mish for the nomination, I appreciate it.

Fist pump !

I went to the gym after work and actually ran for 30 minutes non-stop on the treadmill, a total of 3.7 km.  What a fist pump moment for me.  My personal best prior to this was to run 3 km without stopping.  That was a big improvement.

I am entered into the Surf T Surf fun run next Sunday.

OMG it's NEXT SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, just a little heart palpitation there.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Sweats.

Profusely.

Okay stop the dramatics and start again...

I am entered into the 6km Surf T Surf fun run next Sunday, just over a week away.  This is my first real serious fun run.  I'm not counting the Color Run, yes it was a fun run, but there was running, walking, singing, hugging, dancing all involved in that.   This Surf T Surf is something I'm doing completely seriously.  I have no doubt I am not going to be able to run the whole race, there will be a run/walk/run/shuffle/run thing happening.

Although when I'm out there pounding around town or on the treadmill training, getting my fitness levels and stamina up, I keep thinking back to a post that Coco Girl wrote some time ago on her blog  Do go and have a read of it, it's very inspiring.  I wonder if she even knows what a profound effect this post had on me, I've bookmarked it and have read it often.  I hope I can be as gutsy as she next Sunday.

Christmas at the G House is now officially over!

Oh boy, what a couple of days we have had.  Christmas has been WONDERFUL this year.  Is it because of a new found joy for life?  Who knows.  But I just know that I have embraced it and run with it.  Literally.

Christmas Day.  Beautiful weather.  We had done the big family thing the weekend before, so Christmas Day was to be ours.  Amazing how many people try to talk you into coming to their Christmas day meals when they find out you are spending it alone.  But we actually love the Christmasses we hide out here, do our own thing, have our beautiful meal, take our time, enjoy each other's company.  This year was no exception.

Mish had asked for a Christmas gift from us, that we do a workout on Christmas Day, with a hat on, and send it to her.  So I went jogging around town just after 7am.  I hope I gave the neighbourhood of this little town a giggle if they looked out their windows and saw me jogging by wearing a santa hat.  And kudos to Mike he got up after I left and hung around outside waiting to see me jogging back down the street from the other direction to snap some photos for Mish.

Yep, I do live in a little community, we don't have footpaths in the majority of streets, so jogging is usually down the centre of the road!    I love that last photograph, you'd think I'd just won a gold medal for a marathon run!

I made sure I set up the tripod and thanks to the timer, I got a photograph of Mike and I.   I really love this photograph, so different to last year, which I'll have to dig out.  I feel so confident and well to be frank, it's like we've turned into a honeymoon couple once again.  We've never been so close.  I'm happy, so he's happy.  Wonderful.

We did the ham and turkey and vegetables as usual, that's Mike's favourite and so it was important to me to make that.  But I made sure I dished my plate up using the 25% rule, and I left the table feeling satisfied and not at all bloated like I usually would.

We set about opening presents and I was delighted that Mike gave me a fabulous walking back pack, he knew how much I loved walking the Otways and hiking Mount Abrupt and I've said I want to do more of that in 2013, get right out into nature and breathe the fresh air and push myself to achieve.  This is so perfect, it is light, it has nooks and crannies, perfect for camera, lunch, water bottle, jacket or whatever else I would need.  And it's so comfortable too.

Inside the backpack there were smaller wrapped up gifts, oh joy!  This man of mine really put thought into surprising me this year.  I got a beautiful pendant in the shape of a heart with the inscripton "LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH".   How perfect is this for the new me I am becoming.  Totally my motto.  And there were a couple of Michelle Bridges books too, another great choice.   

There was a bit of this going on after that.   Someone felt full as a goog.  That totally would have been me in years gone by, sleeping with a gurgly stomach, but not this year.  I had energy to burn, so played with the dogs for a while with their new toys.

The fact that we were pacing ourselves meant that 4 o'clock had rocked around and we decided that we'd now have dessert.  I made the Mini Chocolate Fudge Cakes from the 12wbt Christmas menu.  O...M...G they were sooooo good.  I'd totally make these for a dinner party, they were so stylish and delicious.  So I ate my one beautifully set out plate.  Mike on the other hand had multiple!  Still, we were able to freeze what was left over.  How's this for special...

We didn't end up having dinner, I had a yoghurt but that was about it.  What a terrific day it had been.  I felt strong, I felt in control, and I now know that I can survive Christmas without taste testing everything in sight.  And the fact I even got out and exercised on Christmas Day, what a great way to set up for success.  

So we ended up snuggling on the couch and watching a movie Christmas evening, talk about a perfect way to end the day.  And then someone else wanted to snuggle too  :-)   Complete and utter peace.

So that was it, our perfect Christmas Day, followed by another perfect day for Boxing Day today when the kids came tonight for dinner.  They were absolutely rapt with the Vietnamese rice paper rolls and vegetable slice and salad, there were only crumbs left on the plate!  Success!

So I hope that your Christmas has been a wondrous as ours was.   All done for another year.  But followed straight away today by weigh in.  I was absolutely jumping for joy when the scales had recorded a .5kg loss. Absolutely pumped!

The Grand Plan

I was able to leave work around 1.30pm today so was able to get in and out to the supermarket nice and quick to pick up my fruit and veg for tomorrow's lunch.  No lines.  Bonus.

So home early from work today and what do I do?  Make soup.  Ha!  While everyone is busying themselves getting ready for the Christmas food fixings, I'm making my favourite Thai Pumpkin Soup.  I want to have something delicious and simple on hand in the freezer that I know is satisfying to help me over the next week if needed.

So in the last few days I've made some plans and some deals with myself as to how the next two days are going to go down.  I want to say now I am a woman of my word and I don't want any surprises so I've planned my days, which sure, does include an indulgence but a PLANNED one.

Christmas lunch will consist of ham and a rolled roast turkey as a specific request from my husband.  I'll be doing vegetables as well, sweet potatoes, broccoli, brussell sprouts, cauli, etc.  I'm going to go by the 25% rule thanks to Mish's advice in a recent video.  25% meat, 25% low GI carb, 50% vegetables.

Dessert will be the little Mini Chocolate Fudge Cakes thank you to the 12wbt Christmas lunch menu.  Hubby is actually looking forward to it, we don't do the traditional plum pudding as we both don't really like it, so this is not a break from the norm for us to have something different.

Boxing Day the four kids are coming for dinner, soooo looking forward to this.   I'll be making Vietnamese rice paper rolls and will make three different dipping sauces for everyone to try.  I think this sounds delicious, will be a lovely change after they will have had a big Christmas at their mums the day before.  I'll also put together a salad and a vegetable slice to offer something a bit different for them if they want it.  But I'm looking forward to the rolls in particular.

My only indulgence is the planned dessert.  I'm making individual raspberry chocolate trifles.  I like the thought of making individual servings, it's a controlled amount for everyone, including me.  This is a planned indulgence and I will savour every mouthful.

There's going to be a bit of give and take there on Boxing Day, but overall I have a plan and I aim to stick with it.  I have the sparkling mineral water in the fridge getting nice and chilled, and my usual porridge or sultana bran for breakfast.  I think I'm good to go.  :-)

Another amazing moment just happened to me 10 minutes ago.  One of my husband's mates popped in, we've been storing a couple of their bigger gifts for their kids in our shed, so the kids have gone to bed and it's time for them to collect the gifts.  Anyway he finished his cuppa and as he left he gave me a kiss and wished me a Merry Christmas and told me in case I didn't know, I've inspired so many people in town, his wife included, who is now out walking of a morning with another of our friends.  I don't know that I'm the inspiration behind this but the fact he said he is also proud of me, really gave me a warm buzz tonight.

The only other thing to say...

Whatever your plan, have a good one.

When will it sink into my head?

Huh?  That's what I want to know.  When does my head catch up with my physical?  Hey this isn't a rant, don't worry, but it's enough to do my head in at times.  I was heading over to the next town to grocery shop today and something made me stop in the main street and go for a walk along the shops and I ended up in a lovely clothes shop named Clobber.

Now I'm going to say it was the jacket that subliminally called me in ... "Carol ... Carol ... come in and meet me Carol".   That's my story and I'll stick with it okay?   But the minute I walked into the shop my eyes fell on the most beautiful green boucle type materical, short jacket.  I took it off the rack and looked, hmmm size 14, and it looked like a small 14, not going to fit.  Plus I don't "do" short, I really don't need to draw attention to the fact my bulbous arse is hanging out the end of a short jacket.

A short discussion with the sales lady and I said, "love the jacket, love the colour, it's not going to fit".

She looked at me strangely and checked the jacket.  "It's a size 14, it's the only one of this jacket in the store, it looks about right for you."

Who was she kidding, that jacket was NOT going to fit.  So almost as if to prove a point I put it on.  One arm in, hmmm, you know that went in easy.   Other arm in, same deal.  Shrugged the jacket on, and not only that but DID THE BUTTONS UP TOO!  It fitted.  It was a good fit, it was a nice fit and yet I still have room to move in that it would look good even looser.

I was jumping up and down (in my head of course, because to do that in the shop would just be weird yanno).  Laid my money down on the table and bought it.    Eh!  It can be from the dogs for Christmas for me.  Any excuse  :-)

But it got me thinking about how I instantly saw the jacket, saw the size and equated it with the fact it wouldn't fit me.  So that goes to show I still have a long way in the head to go for my mind to catch up with the physical body.  I mean I know I've lost weight, I know my measurements are going down, I know I'm fitting into things I haven't fitted into for years (wearing my comfy old red tab Levis right now, haven't worn them for probably, well I won't even go there, for as long as I can remember).  So whilst I *know* all of that, I wonder why it's taken so long to equate it with me, the physical me.  Ahhhh such a mental game of gymnastics going on in my head right now.  I'll get there.

So since the last tally, I've had another Christmas function, a very large group at the pub/restaurant in the next town.  Score A+ for me.  Warm chicken salad followed by a skinny latte.

SCORE:   CAROL  5 and 3/4    --   CHRISTMAS (and birthday) FUNCTIONS  1/4

:-)

I'm losing count of the score card

The Christmas party/function/get-together scorecard that is.

Let's see, since my last post my husband has had his birthday (51 ... shhh don't tell him I told you).   I made sure I cooked him a special meal, which I didn't particular care for, prawns, ick!  I had a wonderful salad instead.  And pav schmav, it did not pass my lips.  He had the whole pav to himself, a life long fervent wish that he could have a whole pav and didn't have to share with anyone.  Not in one sitting mind you.  I on the other hand had the remaining strawberries, sliced banana and vanilla yoghurt.

PASSED THAT ONE WITH FLYING COLOURS.

Then on Sunday we had an early big family Christmas get together at my father-in-law's place.  Headed down to Ocean Grove, not knowing what on earth he was going to cook up for us.  Mike kept saying, just eat what you feel comfortable eating, he knows you are on this program, you won't hurt his feelings if you turn anything down.  But it must be a woman thing, it's all about the feelings right?

So with trepidation I see him laying out the plates, everyone could serve themselves whatever they wanted and BLESS!  He had a big bowl of salad there too.  I wondered if it was with me in mind.   So I was able to have some turkey and salad, and a huge glass of water.  And I didn't feel deprived.  I cracked my bon bon and wore my silly paper hat with pride.  And being the shutterbug of the family, I busied myself taking photos all day so was up and down and snapping away, no time to snack on lollies like everyone else was.

I did however have the smallest slither of Christmas cake that my father-in-law's partner made and it was delicious.  More so the white icing which sends me into the sugary stratosphere.  So I'm going to call that one a 3/4 PASS.  The day was a success, lunch I passed with flying colours, but I shouldn't perhaps had the Christmas cake for dessert, more so I shouldn't have had the white icing.  But I did enjoy it :-)

SCORE:   CAROL  4 and 3/4    --   CHRISTMAS (and birthday) FUNCTIONS  1/4

And I was delighted this morning to jump on the scales and see an even stevens 1 kg loss for the week.  Yahooooooo!  I've now hit 25.4 kg gone forever, or as my mum likes me to put it into "her speak" that's 55 pounds.  

And here they are, my extended family that I married into, who I love each and every one of them with all my heart.   Hubby in the middle, father-in-law and partner, sister-in-law, husband and two young children, and my four step-children all young adults now.  This is what it's all about isn't it?  Making sure we are the best that we can be, fit and healthy to live a long life with those we love.  

Oh and the two kissing, that's my step-daughter and her fiance!   We'd taken 2 shots due to the magic of the timer on the camera so I could duck back in on the side there, this was the second shot which we didn't realise they had done that until we looked in the view finder.  Love this pic most of all !!  

Three for three

WARNING WARNING ... RED FLAG ALERT 

So I passed another red flag event today, my work Christmas party where staff members from offices far and wide meet for a meal.  This time up in Hamilton at a very lovely restaurant. 

So I made a considered choice - tomato, basil and goats cheese frittata with a green salad, no chips.   And I thoroughly enjoyed it.  And then when it came time for desserts and lots of the staff were ordering these delicacies that they had on display, I settled for a skinny latte.

GO ME!

SCORE:   CAROL  3  /  CHRISTMAS FUNCTIONS  Nil

WARNING WARNING ... SECOND RED FLAG ALERT FOR THE DAY

And the day is not over.  It's Mike's birthday today so I'm cooking him a special meal tonight.  Garlic prawns, his favourite.  Lucky I don't like prawns, probably saying that is like blasphemy in a few people's opinions!!  But prawns = ick for me.  I've bought a little piece of ling fish and am having a small salad with it for dinner.

Now Mike is not a big one for birthday cake, every year he asks for birthday pav.  And it's his dream to have a whole pav to himself, yikes!!!  Not in the one sitting mind you, he's not that crazy.  But tonight his dream comes true.  I've made a small pav shell last night (no licking the beaters!!) and it's all his.  I have yoghurt and a banana in my future for dessert.

I'm really feeling strong and on top of things and IN CONTROL, it's a GREAT feeling.

And what I want the most is the girl I am becoming, and to be frank, over half way there.  I love the me I am right now, and there's no way I'm selling her short by losing control all for the sake of a bit of pav.

My exciting news

Yesterday I got an email from 12wbt to tell me my little ol' blog here was chosen as one of the 10 blogs that Mish and the team chose as their favourites, thanks to the beautiful people on 12wbt who nominated it.

So thank you all.

The 10 winning blogs are listed here, and I'll attempt to link them up so do pay them all a visit also.

• Tracey MP
• Aedita
• amydeville
• GI Jayne
• ozgoddess
• carollee  (that's me !!)
• Lou83
• jil05
• daynamorphic

I've won a dermaviduals set valued at $250, how exciting.  

And interestingly I'm taking so much more care with my skin at the moment too, as part of this whole mind, body, spirit journey I'm on.  I had previously decided my reward at the end of each 12 week round was to have a facial and back massage.  I've visited my favourite spa twice now for that very special treat at the end of each of the 2 rounds I've completed.  And it is a treat, let me tell you, it was over 20 years since I'd last had my one and only facial, before I started this treat session.  I aim to keep it up.

I know in the past, I've been a bit sad at the end of a round, it's like a parting of the ways with fellow 12wbt friends who go their own way and have finished their journey.  But even though it's a bit sad, I'm excited knowing I have a facial treat just round the corner. 

Thank you once again 12wbt.  You keep changing my life in every way.

Oh and before I go, today I went clothes shopping and it was terrific.  Actually having a selection of clothes to pick from.  I ended up with an olive green linen look pair of capris pants.  

IN
SIZE
14
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it shouldn't be all about the tag, but darn it, today it was, it was all about the size on that label.  :-)

A case of mistaken identity

Sooo funny tonight.  I live in a little country town, pop. 1000 (give or take a farmer or two), so I know the local constabulary.  I got pulled over tonight at a random breath test on the way home.  She had recognised the car and was suspiciously wondering who was driving it, until I wound down the window and spoke and she realised it was me.

That was just the BEST feeling.   She said my face had changed so much, she really didn't think it was me when she first saw the car.  Yippee!

I've shared this before but I'll share it again.  Imagine this looking at you from out the car window.

Another weigh in tomorrow and I just know the scales are heading in the right direction!   Looking forward to it.

And some exciting news too which I'll share tomorrow.   :-)

I did a PB today !!

Just love that Olympic talk, it gets me going.

Okay so today, I really couldn't be bothered.  You know what it's like when you have a case of the "I can't be bothereds" ?  Well I had that today.  I had planned to go to the gym after work, but 3.30 rocked around, 3.45 ... 4.00 and I was slowly talking myself into not going.

I had a split in the skin on the side of my foot.  
I was tired.
I had had a busy afternoon, I deserved not to go.
I needed to get home to wrap Christmas presents.
I should really go to the supermarket instead.
I, I, I.

But 4.30 came around and I got into my gym gear and off I went.  Ooooooh so glad I did because if I didn't, I wouldn't be feeling so darn good right now.

I ran for 3 kilometres.

NON-STOP !!!!

That has NEVER happened before.   My best time non-stop was 2.1 km and that's purely because I was working out with my friend Tania and she's such a gun and, well to be frank, I was probably trying to impress.  Ha!

But here I was after work.  On my own.  Only me motivating myself.  And I ran for 3 kilometres non-stop.  In 26 minutes.

Yeah I know, it's not earth shattering, it's not ground breaking, but it was non-stop.  I slowed down during the third kilometre, but I kept my shuffle running up.  There's life in the old girl yet.

WARNING WARNING ... RED FLAG ALERT 

I mentioned I was going to another red flag event last Friday.  The Christmas function at the local pub for Mike's Masons.  Actually it was really cool, a lot of them hadn't seen me for a while, and the shocked looks as I walked in, or should I say "sashayed in" !!!! tee hee  Loved it, and so did Mike, he was lapping up all the stares from them.

I checked out the menu and warm chicken salad it was.  It was a delicious meal and I still felt on top of things.  Plus the plate looked really pretty too with the balsamic patterned onto it.  

SCORE:   CAROL  2  /  CHRISTMAS FUNCTIONS  Nil

Sooo happy.  It makes such a difference when you are feeling in control and positive, such a great by-product of losing weight.

Next Christmas function is on Thursday at a work lunch up in Hamilton at a completely unknown place who doesn't seem to have a website so I can't check out the menu.   But I'm 2 for 2, let's go for the hat trick.

A moment of madness

Tonight I had a moment of madness when I went back through some of the many emails I received when I wasn't receiving emails and found that Marathon Photos had sent me a link to the Color Run photos that I appeared in.

And I ended up buying the package that contained all my photos, about 7 of them.  Delirious perhaps.

But when I looked closer at the photos after I downloaded them, I saw something in them that I had to look really closely to recognise.

Freedom.

This one is probably my most favourite photograph.   Not a care in the world.  I'm running, actually running, out there in the public, not worrying about who was looking at my wobbly bits, I was free.

AND I FINALLY GET IT !!!!  This is what the running is about.  This is the switch that I've been waiting to have turned on.  I've plodded and plodded with my running and really not enjoyed it, but I've done it, waiting to feel that "high" that I hear about.  Kind of thinking that I would never get that feeling that people talk about.

But in this photo I see it.  I was having fun granted, with colour flying at me every which way, but this is the look of happy.

My other favourite photo of the day is this one.  I forgot about it, I remember there was a photographer who took our photo at the end, not realising it was one of the Marathon Photo people.  I couldn't have wished for two better friends to share this experience with other than Casey and Tania.  Thanks you two!!!

WARNING WARNING ... RED FLAG ALERT 

So I passed a red flag day yesterday with flying colours, so proud of myself.   I was going out with the local CWA ladies for our Christmas lunch, yeah yeah okay lets get it out in the open now, I'm part of our town's Crazy Women Association!! tee hee.

So knowing where we would be going I did my research and downloaded the menu from their website, forewarned is forearmed.  I was delighted to be able to have a beautiful small piece of grilled ling fish with salad and some small chat potatoes.  Score one for me.  As I saw hugely calorie laden plates come out to other diners, I tucked into my beautifully cooked fish knowing I had won this round.

SCORE:   CAROL  1  /  CHRISTMAS FUNCTIONS  Nil

Another Christmas function to go to tomorrow night to our little pub in town.  Stay tuned.

Do I dare hope???

The internet is working.  At long last!   After 12 days without it.  I know it's not the end of the world but it's really interfered with things I've taken for granted - ducking on and grabbing a recipe, checking the exercise sheet, motivating myself in hard patches by reading the forum.

One thing that does motivate me is the support I get from the Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt crew.  9 of us met last Sunday morning down at the water front and had a bracing walk for an hour, plus met up with a new member doing this round (hi Laura if you are reading this!).  We then had a healthy brunch at Simons on the waterfront.  It is so great to touch base with these girls, someone will suggest a get together and whoever is able to turns up, whether it be a social gathering, an exercise session, an milestone event, or whatever.

Although having said that Mike calls me the 'event junkie'.  I tend to go to all of them.  :-)

So I mentioned recently about the Surf to Surf 6K fun run in January next year, I'm training for it with gusto, or at least as much gusto as I can muster.  I know the Color Run was fun and we danced and jogged and walked.   But the Surf to Surf I want to do properly, a real run.

I've also told enough people now that I've entered that it is keeping me honest.  I don't want to fall flat on my face and run it half heartedly.  I'm really trying my very hardest, even if when I'm exhausted running I end up doing the Cliffy Young shuffle, at least I'm still running.

So now I'm off to read the forums at leisure, and weigh in tomorrow.  After a bit of a disastrous start to this round seeing a gain, I got really focussed this week so it will be interesting to see the results on the scales.

Until tomorrow.

A Sunny day in Daylesford

Subtitle:  Making exercise a priority when you don't really have a chance to exercise.

Today was a glorious day in this part of the world and we did the annual trek to Daylesford to the Highland Gathering for my husband.  Leaving early and coming home late (exhausted).  I’ve been so many times now I can’t count.  My main worry was not having a chance to exercise today because it was so full on just getting there and back.  So once there, I decided to leave him there and go off on my own devices.

Do you want to take the car he asked?

Nope, not me!  I walked back into town and around and round the streets, up and down hills, in and out of shops, I was a walking machine.  And I tell you, there’s nothing more righteous feeling than passing someone walking up a hill and out-striding them to the top.  Is that bad that I felt so good about that! 

It was hot, I was sweaty, but I just kept on going.  Woah!

My legs are feeling tonight like I had a great workout.  Daylesford is a very hilly place, but it was the hill taking me back to the park where the gathering was taking place that near on did me in.

But I have a secret weapon, well in my head I do.  I used to play in a brass band many moons ago.  And you know those stirring marches that brass bands play, well I have a couple tucked away in my memory.  So when I’m attacking a hill, I am playing the march in my head (oh good Lordy Lord, I hope I don’t hum it out loud!!!).  And one foot in front of the other I keep time to the march which is steadily trilling away in my mind.   And you don’t slow down, you might take smaller paces, but the paces are regulated and steady and on the beat.

Works a charm every time. 

The Color Run

Checking in really quickly using the sketchy wireless whilst our internet is still down.  Grrrrrr.

I went to the Color Run in Melbourne last Sunday, oh my goodness what a blast.  My first fun run ever, and whilst I didn't run the whole 5km I probably ran about 3.5 to 4 km of it.  It was also fun to think we were running on the hallowed turf of Flemington Race Course.  Hmmm well with all the winners it's seen over the years, it certainly hasn't seen a running style like mine!

I promise we did start out all nice and clean and shiny, and it was a thrill to be in the first wave of runners in the first Color Run in the Southern Hemisphere!  For those not in the know, every kilometre you get blasted with a different colour until by the end you are a riot of colours.  Proceeds went to the Australian Paralymics so what a worthy cause.

Here's a photograph of my friends on the day, Casey and Tania from the Warrnambool & Surrounds Crew. This is what I love about 12wbt, bringing friends together.

Ahh yes, it was all about the pink for sure!   By the end of the run we were fairly well colourfied!  It was like a chance to get back to being kids and playing, totally fun just looking about seeing such happy happy people.   Looking forward to next year.

Fancy me doing a fun run.  Me?  Running?  It defies description and yet that is another gift that 12wbt has given me.  The chance to be healthy and active out in the community.  I love it.  I love it so much that I've actually entered into a fun run next January in Warrnambool, the Surf to Surf 6k.  And I'm doing this one for real.  Running (hopefully) the entire way.  

Good intentions, but ...

Before I go I just have to share.  I got home this afternoon and there was a present on the kitchen table for me from the local CFA who I took some photographs for recently as a thank you.  I said to my husband just before I opened it, "whew, well at least it's too big to be a box of chocolates".  WRONG!  It's the biggest freaking box of chocolates I have ever seen.    OMG, I did the total calcs from the panel on the back - it contains 16,475.36 kilojoules of chocolate!  

The first Christmas party I go to I'm taking it, opening it, and it can be devoured by everyone but me.  What a way to flex that willpower muscle.

Checking in from the Stone Age !

Forgive this interruption in blog posting!   It seems I am now living in the Stone Age in my part of Victoria.   The telephone exchange burnt down last Thursday and it seems that Telstra do not have a back up plan for us! 

So from last Thursday onwards we have had no phone, no internet connection, no ATMS or eftpos (it's cash everything, too bad if you haven't got cash, no credit cards being used).  It's apparently affected 60,000 homes. 

We have mobile phone coverage, possibly due to the good luck we have a repeater tower on the mount just out of town.  From all accounts the landlines will be back up and running this Friday and they’ve said the internet will be a lot later.  Eeeek! 

Mike bought the last wireless dongle in town and we’re using it sparingly for his business purposes.  The connection seems to be sketchy at best, it hooks up and then drops out.  Ahhh the joys of living in a little country town!

I tell you what, this is leaving me to my own devices for sure, menu wise and exercise wise.  Mish would be proud of my efforts.

Be back as soon as I am able. 

And we're off and running - Round 4

I'm back for Round 4.  I've said I will be in this to the bitter end.  And I'm pumped.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact I've just come back from Sydney and had an absolutely BRILLIANT time.

I have cried so much this past weekend too (I wonder if tear loss counts in the weight loss game?!?!!), I became a blubbering mess at the start of the workout.  Oh Lordy Lord.  I was moving along with everyone else and it hit me, seeing a wave of people all exercising with Michelle Bridges leading us.  It was just too much and I dissolved into tears.  A number of times.

We had a small Warrnambool contingent in Sydney and it was great to be able to spend some time with them, exercising, partying and sight seeing.  We don't usually see each other all glammed up, it's usually exercise gear at 10 paces!  So that was a fabulous treat.

Here are some pics from the morning exercise session.   Arriving and we thought we were going to be in for a cold session, it was a wee bit chilly.

The gorgeous Mish, who inspires us to achieve more than we could ever think was possible, and then some.

Lynn and I got to meet Leitchy, fellow blogger and twitterer, is that such a word?   Leitchy is a real motivation in himself and it was great to finally meet.  Go read his blog if you get the chance.

A bit red faced after the workout, we were pumped!

After Lynn and I enjoyed a wonderful Japanese lunch, which Michelle would have been proud of, very healthy, the evening was soon upon us and it was time to glam up.   Here I am with my Warrni friends - Debbie and Casey (my Otway Rainfall conspirators from my blog post a month or so ago) and Lynn (my roomie).

Feeling quite the glam girls here, me and Lynn.

It was thrilling that my two Warrni friends Debbie and Casey made the top 20, and not only that, but Casey took out the title.  

Also during the evening I got to meet Coco Butter.  I thought it was her and I got brave enough to come up and say hello and it was.  So glad that I did.  She is so lovely.  Now I get to put a voice to her blog when I read it.

Quite frankly the memories of the weekend I think will be with me forever, my first Finale with good friends, it can't get any better than that.  It has spurred me on though, I met another one of our Warrni group, the very inspiring Tania at the gym today and I went hard.  I did a PB (don't you love the athlete talk) on the treadmill, finally running 2km without stopping.  Now for a lot of peeps that may not be a lot, but for these 48 year old bones who has never run before 12wbt, it is EPIC proportions. 

First weigh in for Round 4 tomorrow and I look forward to it.  Lynn and I kept each other on the straight and narrow, and well apart from a wee indulgence at a French Patisserie, we ate clean the whole weekend.  

To those I met in Sydney, thank you for coming up to me, or not thinking I'm a total loon if I introduced myself as Finding Carol (it was a bit easier that way)!!  And for new friends reading this blog, I can only say that if you get a chance do go to a Finale Party.  It's a wonderful experience to meet like minded people in celebration mode (celebrating exercise and partying) who have been on the same journey as you.

Oh and before I go, we did a lot of sightseeing in Sydney over the weekend too.  We had fun at the Village Bizarre at the Rocks on Friday night, danced in the street, took in the side shows, decided our White Rabbit Bar bunny mask was the perfect accessory to walking around the Village.  12wbt'ers incognito!!

We sailed around the Harbour to glorious views such as this.  Sensational weather.

We had crazy good fun at Madam Tussaud's Wax Works at Darling Harbour.  Lynn and I totally reverted to kids getting our photos taken in all the settings.  We won't even talk about Johnny Depp's bottom, will we Lynn? tee hee.

~~sigh~~ who knew Eric Bana was so tall. 

Loads of hijinks over the weekend with Sunday night culminating in the Bridge Climb.  Lynn and I had coincidentally both done it before on our respective honeymoons.  So we were eager to try it at a different time of day so chose Late Twilight.  Oh how perfect.   Going up before the sun sets, and coming down in the dark.  SENSATIONAL.

Thank you Sydney, you sure did put on a show for us.  

I made it !

Well I made it to the end of the round, it's now done and almost dusted.   All except for the shennanigans on Saturday in Sydney.

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was on Wednesday morning.  I weighed in straight away, I was hopping about wanting to jump on those scales.  And there it was.  89.4 kg.  I achieved my goal of being in the 80's by the end of the round.   Well I tell you there was a brass band and cymbals and the crowds going wild playing in my head, ha!  I was so darn pleased with myself.

The weight loss did slow down this round, but end result is that it was less than I started with and that's a good thing.  I also lost 7.9% of my body, I think that's what you say, so that also is a VERY good thing.

My fitness levels went up a bit, most noticeable was the dreaded wall sit.   I will never get to the time my bestie in Tassie can do ... a whopping 19 minutes!  Sheer guts and determination that is.   My 1km time trial is inching its way down.   I did at least find that in Week 12 I could run the entire 1km.  Although I use the term "run" loosely seeings I was slightly up on my run/walk from the Week 8 result.  Obviously I run slower than I walk!  (gulp)

So ..... right now I'm looking at a bed that has piles of clothes on it and a bag that's way too small to fit it all in. ha!  I'm getting my things ready for Sydney.   The Finale Party.   My first one.   I kind of know what to expect having checked out the You Tube videos oh about a zillion times and talked to people who have been to one before.  But I'm still going to be wide-eyed I'm sure.

There's a few of us from Warrnambool going up, at different times, staying different places, however I'm travelling and staying with my new friend Lynn.  We have planned a wonderful weekend, culminating on Sunday night with a twilight Bridge Climb.  We've both done it before but during daylight hours.  I can't wait to see Sydney all sparkly at night.

I will be back with lots of photos, lots of memories and ready to get back into it to do it all again.

Bring on Round 4 !

Still going strong

Still going strong in this last week down at mums.  I was out early this morning pounding the pavement once again.  I've worked out now which houses the dogs bark and scare the bejesus out of me!  I swear I nearly wet my pants each time on the first run.  And each time I found an inner strength and ran a bit faster in case some angry dog had jumped a fence and was chasing me!

I've mentioned before my hope that this round I would finish in the 80's and yet despaired it would happen.  Well I did a sneaky weigh in this morning (just to ensure I was on track) and mind you despite mum having perfectly good scales I still brought my own down here and made sure I weighed the same.   So anyway very very happy :-)

89.95kg

I've just got to hang on and maintain that till Wednesday morning weigh in.  And there will be a goal for the Round accomplished.

Yahooooooooo!!!!!!!

It's Sunday and so far so good

I'm at my mums looking after her as she came out of hospital yesterday.  I really worried whether this would set me back in the last week of the round.  No familiar gym to go to, up in the air about my meals, just my every day routine being thrown for a loop.

But you know what?  I'm conquering it.  Yay me!  I printed out some recipes from 12wbt and brought them down with me and done a cook up for mums freezer.  And incidentally the sweet and sour pork I made last night for dinner mum declared the best ever!  High praise to Mish from my mum!

Last night when mum went to bed about 7pm!!! Yikes what a long solitary night ahead of me, I quietly let myself out of the house and went for a run.  Yahoooooo.   Now this may not be record standards but 3 km in 27 minutes and 56 seconds, I was so damn proud of myself.  Ran most of the way, walked little bits of it to catch my breath particularly as there was a rather large hill involved.  Then came back to do some quiet sit ups and push ups while mum slept on.  

I felt so empowered yesterday.  I ate clean, I worked hard, I stayed on track and still managed to look after mum.  So it can be done.

Oh and another point of high praise, I brought my finale outfit down to show mum, dress,  jewellery, handbag and so okay I forgot my shoes, but I dressed up all the same.  Mum took one look at me and cried.  The same cry as she did when I went wedding dress shopping and found "the one" all those years ago.  It's the first real bit of emotion she's shown regarding my weight loss this time round and it was such a great feeling.

Tonight mum is going to experience all the glory that is Penang Chicken.  Mmmmmmmm!

I had a little melt down last night

I don't know what came over me, but I ended up in a puddle of tears.  I think it was the culmination of a long road, two rounds almost done and dusted.  My mum is in hospital and I'll be going down to look after her for a few days after she is released, and we're yet to know when that is.  The timing is not great, of course you would do anything for your family, but it's the last week, the last hurrah, I'll be down there with no gym, no support system (as in Mike), no familiarity.  I guess this is where Mish would come in and say this is a good thing, this is where I am able to adapt the skills I have learnt when life throws you a curveball.  But in the last week of the round?   Plus I'm now on three weeks leave from work which is a good thing, but in the lead up to this time off I've worked some fairly long straight days getting things in order so it's easy enough for my counterpart to pick up where I have left off.  And although I'm so pumped for Sydney and the Finale, it's a bit nervewracking too, having never gone to one before.

So the stress of everything completely hit me in the face last night and the tears flowed.  Poor Mike, he doesn't handle people crying very well, even me.  He said all the right things, did all the right things, but it still didn't stem the tears.

So what do I do to make myself feel completely wonderful (NOT!)  Once I composed myself again I get him to take my end of round photograph and they are horrible, we couldn't get it without a big ugly shadow behind me, which made my ass look bigger than it was.   Gaaaaah!

Not a good day yesterday.

But I will take it all on board and learn from it.   And apologise to anyone who crossed my path yesterday and I wasn't my normal happy self.

I will take these words on board and know that day by day things will be habit and curveballs in life will not send me off the deep end.  I guess one thing I know from this, is in the past the stress of everything would have turned me to food, and at least I didn't do that.  So that's a very good thing.

I will leave you with a happy photo taken of me last month on a rare trip to Melbourne.  Mike and I and oldest stepson went to the museum.  The day was dark and gloomy, but I know on this day I was happy and feeling quite chipper in my bright orange scarf.  No one can be sad whilst wearing a bright orange scarf, can they?!!!    :-)

Having said that, I better go grab that scarf and pop it in my suitcase, I'll need to resurrect that happy chipper self in the next few days looking after my mum.