Please meet my newest best friend ...

Where have you been all my life, you beautiful beautiful thing.  Truly, the most delicious lasagne I have EVER tasted, all courtesy of the 12wbt recipes.

It's no secret I'm not following the meal plans religiously, I'm doing a lot of mixing and matching with the meals, just because it's easier for me that way.  So I haven't actually made the lasagne yet until tonight.  We didn't end up eating till about 8pm because I fiddle faddled about with it and ended up making a double quantity so I had lots of servings to freeze.

I didn't tell Mike any of the ingredients that were in it either, I knew he'd turn his nose up at ricotta cheese, but one bite was enough to tell me this was a little ripper!  And to be quite frank I'd probably never make traditional lasagne with the bechamel sauce again.

So a big thumbs up from Mike, who incidentally had three servings and a huge smile on his face!

And an even bigger thumbs up from me.  Yum!  Whoever knew that healthy cooking could taste so darn good.

It's Hump Day !!

Literally !

Not only is it Wednesday, well let's face it Wednesday is nearly done.  But at today's weigh in I dropped 400 grams and ... I'm now 94.9.  Yahooooo.  I've gotten over the hump and I'm on the low side of the 90's! Still chipping away at things but it felt like a milestone nudging under the 95 mark.

I started thinking I just may get to my goal at being in the 80's by the end of the round.  That's what I'm aiming for.

I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the car tomorrow driving down to Geelong and back for a meeting.  I already have dinner planned for tomorrow night, Mike is cooking his own and I have one of my frozen cook up meals waiting for me, so at least there's no stress in grabbing anything.  It will be interesting going down to the Geelong office.  None of my workmates down there have seen me since before 12wbt started.  17.4 kg ago.

I'm looking forward to seeing their reaction.

Well ... I hope there IS a reaction!

Little by little I am getting there.

Ouch!

Ouch, Ow,  @*$&(:#*&\& ... I've said it all today.   My poor calves have knotted up, I'm walking like a wounded old lady.  Even pressing the clutch in on the drive to and from work was agony today.  I managed some sit ups tonight, but that's as far as the exercise went.  I'm still so proud of my efforts on Saturday, so incredibly proud, but sounds like a few of the girls have pulled up sore.

I've just finished soaking in a nice hot radox bath tonight and that has helped, and the warmth has loosened my calf muscles quite a lot.  Lets hope it won't be too long till I'm walking without wincing.   Cause let's face it, we have to be well and truly fit for our 8 week milestone.  I know what we've discussed, I won't spill the beans here, but lets just say  Volcano Schmolcano with what we've got planned!

I quite like this quote I found tonight, and I'm going to take it on board for sure.

Hope you are all having a great start to the week, onward and upward, let's smash it!

I feel like a Rock Star !!

... a limping sore one, but a rock star nonetheless.

We've just completed Week 4 so time for a mini milestone challenge.  The ever adventurous Jane thought up a challenge like no other.   To take on a volcano!

[[ cue the delirious laughter here!!! ]]

So she set about getting a group of us from the Warrnambool & Surrounds crew together to take on Tower Hill and in particular the impressive crater peak climb.   Now Jane was aiming for us to do it four times, to be quite frank as soon as I saw the first set of steps I thought I'd be happy enough just to get up and back once.   But I am proud to announce I went up and back FOUR TIMES!!!  Not only that but she had devised an evil plan to have us do 10 burpees, 10 Turkish sit ups, 10 push ups and 10 jumps every time we hit the bottom before climbing back up to the top again.

Here we are looking all fresh faced and excited before we started, a lovely tourist stopped to take our photograph then told us quite frankly we were nuts!

And then we were off.   The climb to the top of the crater is a mixture of steps and steep paved inclines, some of which particularly at the top I did need to haul myself just about to get up there.   I just sighed then looking at this photograph as I uploaded it remembering the pain!!!    I did take my camera up on my second climb up so I was able to snap some photographs on the way up and down, but I tell you it was so darn heavy to lug, it was a one time only, any other photo opportunities had to go begging.

And here I am further up the trail looking down on a couple of the girls at one of the landings.   Yep it was steep! 

We all ran and walked and jogged (and I swear in some cases I crawled) at our own paces, high fiving on the trail as we were passing each other by, offering encouragement, keeping up a never say die attitude that I was absolutely so incredibly proud of.   Here's to new friends, girls we have connected with on the 12wbt forum and in our own local facebook group for our area.  Here we three had hit the top at the same time so had one of the tourists take our photograph.  It was quite the thrill to meet Casey who I really enjoy reading her blog.   She is going great guns on the program, and had even worked out at the gym prior to doing the crater climb, how inspiring is that!!

Yes, I fear that is a look of delirium on my face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Oh Good Lordy Lord!   Note the bags under the eyes.  Ouch.

And here's the girl of the moment!   The fabulous Jane who got us revved up and doing this challenge.  I might be sore and sorry right now, I feel like I have tennis balls in the back of my calves but even with all the hurt, I feel like a total rock star.  So thank you Jane, you well and truly got me moving yesterday!

Roll on the week ahead, although I feel sore, I feel quite invincible!  I realised on my third time up that I had the hidden speed of an Olympic Athlete when I saw a snake sunbaking on the side of the path, I took off running!  Aaaarrgggh!

So this weekend took on a volcano and won!   Tomorrow the world!   Yahoooooooooooooo!

And the good times keep on coming!

I finished work today and talk about enthused.  Friday late afternoon and there I was hitting it at the gym.  There was leftover Penang chicken to be had for dinner tonight, so no need to hurry home and cook.  So it was me time.

I had a great workout, I don't know where all this enthusiasm is coming from but I want to bottle it!  I think I'd make a fortune.

I got home and Mike just nonchalantly said that there was a couple of letters and a package on the kitchen table (trying to hide the grin).  At first I didn't take much notice being that I had ordered a few things lately online so thought it was just one of those things finally arriving.  Until I looked at the return address.

SQUEAL ~~~ MICHELLE BRIDGES !

Oh my goodness my prize had arrived already.   I took my time in opening and savouring the moment.  I was thrilled with the parcel but even more so, there was a note from Michelle, handwritten.  Yep, Mike held it up and declared it not a print, but real handwriting!!  Yippee yippee yippee.  This is going to motivate me even more.

Mike said after all the squealing had died down, "jeez, she's the leader and you're all disciples aren't you".  Well I guess we are!  We are all on the Michelle train to success.

So after I downloaded my camera I realised I forgot to take a photo of the actual chi ball.  I'm totally going to be into this I can already tell.  Once we blew it up I was prancing around the kitchen tonight like one of the Olympic Gymnasts!

4 week Mini Milestone

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, a little bit of apprehension swirling about, but excited nonetheless.  Some of the Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt group organised by the lovely Janie are getting together to take on the volcano !!!  We're heading out to Tower Hill to run (walk ... crawl) up and down the crater.

Now bear in mind, for the 11 years I've been floating about this area having known Mike that long, I've only been to Tower Hill twice.  Both times for long luxurious picnics down at the bottom, eating to our hearts content, basking in the sunshine, marvelling at the emus that would come right up to us, spotting the koalas in the trees, you get my drift.  Nothing strenuous.

Tomorrow is going to be another kettle of fish entirely.

Because of my sore feet tonight from the treadmill at the gym, look what the hero of the evening did for me.  A foot rub!  Bliss.  Said he's taking one for the team!   Oh and the little furry bundle you can see nestled down in the corner of the couch is my little training companion, Lucky, dozing.   He didn't really "get" the Michelle excitement unfortunately.

So as for tomorrow.   Watch ... this ... space !    :-)

Oh Good Lord and Love a Duck !!

One of my mum's favourite expressions I'm afraid.   But for me to use it means I'm jumping up and down and very excited!

Thank you thank you thank you to those who nominated my blog at 12wbt for Round 3.  I was one of the 20 Weekly Surprise Winners, alongside some amazing, witty, inspirational, jaw-dropping blogs written by wonderful 12wbt'ers.

Michelle's email on Wednesday said :

This week’s Weekly Surprise was important not only because the winners are actively inspiring people but because the blogs nominated to win this week will also go on to be the nominees for the end of round Blogger Award. There were so many great entries that I got lost in a time-tunnel reading them all! Well done!!

SAY WHAT?!?!??  Michelle actually READ my blog.  Woah.  Well that set me off again, more jumping up and down and squealing with delight.

She finished off the email to say:

Each of these amazing bloggers has won a ChiBall™ set including a ChiBall™, instructional DVD and CD worth $75 each!

Mish Xx

How utterly utterly exciting.  Thank you to Michelle and thank you to 12wbt ... changing my life in every way.   :-)   And thank you to ChiBall.  I can't wait to use it.

So after all that excitement and jumping up and down and squealing, I went to weigh in Wednesday morning.  Yahoooo, 400 grams gone.  I might have groaned with that small amount, but after a week in which I was thrown curve balls right left and centre, I'm happy to take on board a 400 gram loss.  In fact I was ever so thankful for it.  This takes me to an even 17 kilograms gone forever.

So the past week I had my birthday (small indulgence).

My stepson's 18th birthday (another small indulgence).

And then on Tuesday I returned to work after 2 weeks off and the girls had bought me in a belated birthday cake.   Aaaaarrrgggh  Tuesday!!!  The day before weigh in.  So I had the smallest piece to be polite and to not throw their gesture back in their faces, and it was a lovely thing to do ... but the day before weigh in!!   So after work that day I worked out an hour at the gym to make up for it.

So yep, I was happy with a 400 gram loss most certainly.

Back to work

Yes, back to work I went today.  Oh well.  Funny I don't even feel like I've had 2 weeks off now.  But I'm back to a routine already so that's one good thing.

I can't believe we're at Week 4 in this round already, so you know what that means, measure up, and tally up.   I'll measure a bit later in the week and do the rest of the trials, but I did the time trial when I got home tonight.  Now just because I'm now running 1.5km on the treadmill, I tell you it's a heck of a lot harder out on the road.  Why is that?  So I still needed to walk on odd occasions in the 1km.  But I chipped away at my starting time so of that I'm giving myself a high five.

Started this round running 1km in 7 minutes 45.
Tonight I ran it in 7 minutes 33.   Yahooooo!!!

That's a big difference from the start of the last round, the start of me on this 12wbt journey, where it was 8 minutes 54.  So I'm definitely improving.

Now you may or may not know if you've seen my other family/crafty blog, that I scrapbook.  Yes I can hear the groans.   But memory keeping is a really big part of what makes me tick.  Putting our stories down on paper.  Now last week I turned (cough cough) 48, and I thought it was a great idea to put down 48 things I love right now on my 48th birthday.  All very random, in no particular order, and yes I realise I put chocolate down first, but hey, sue me.

What did amaze me as I started the list was just how many of these loves (some old, some new) of mine were related to my weight loss, getting healthy, my new lifestyle and the 12wbt program.

* exercising
* learning to run
* losing weight and seeing the number on the scales going down
* fitting into clothes I had long since forgotten
* Michelle Bridges and 12wbt changing my life
* anticipation of my trip to Sydney with new friends from 12wbt and the possibility of meeting the amazing Michelle.
* penang chicken for dinner my favourite
* a glass of cold thirst quenching water
* going to the gym and knowing I've had a good work out
* that I finally feel deserving of the good things that the universe is giving me
* the fact that I am now 48 and am healthy and happy and alive

((Credits for products used in this page from Designer Digitals))   You can click on the scrapbook page if you want to read the full list.


So what things are giving you joy right here right now, relating to your new healthy lifestyle.  I'd love to hear about it.

Speaking of joy ...   :-)

We had my stepson's 18th birthday party last Saturday, it was a lot of fun.  I wore my new black dress and bright green emerald coloured coat.  And honestly the last time the kids saw me in a dress was our wedding day, I'm sure.  So I get there and slipped my coat off and the double takes I got from people who know me and hadn't seen me since before the program started had me internally jumping up and down, silently squealing  and clapping like a seal !!!

Even better that there was an ex-wife there who did one of the double takes.  (Oh, did I say that out loud?  My bad.).   :-)

Have a great weigh in tomorrow!