Changes

Throughout my journey to date, a lot of changes have been taking place.  Some I've noticed and some I haven't.  And some that have taken me completely by surprise.

I've definitely noticed my rings getting looser, to the point that my engagement ring just spins around my finger now.   I have gone from being someone who had to hold my hand in the air a few minutes so that the blood would run from my fingers to be able to get them off, to now just slipping them off with ease.  I'm almost at the point I'm going to have to get them resized down.  Wow.

And the other day I was in the car at the traffic lights, just sitting, waiting for the lights to turn green, and something made me try to put left hand around my right wrist and MY FINGERS TOUCHED !!!!  I could circle my wrist completely.  That hasn't happened a very very long time.

Sometimes the simplest things like that can make you feel like you're walking six foot tall all day and give you a genuine thrill.

And there's other changes that hit you in the face, literally.   Mike keeps telling me how much my face is changing, actually a few people have said that now.  To be honest I haven't really noticed.  I mean, it's the same face I look into every day in the mirror, the same eyes staring back at me.

So last night I sat down and went through some photos of me from throughout this year.  When I went back to the start of the year looking at photos I saw a stranger looking back at me.  A little bit inside of me died a bit last night looking at my early photos and even now thinking about the feelings that welled up, I'm tearing up as it pains me to see myself and where I started.  And I sit here and wonder how on earth Mike could ever have loved me 20 kilograms ago, when I see this stranger looking back at me.

So because I'm being frank and honest and I need to face things like this to be able to recognise it, own it and move on, here is a small journey of changes to my face that has happened.

My 12wbt journey started on the 4th May 2012, pre-season to Round 2 in 2012.  And I continue to see a bright and wonderful future ahead of me.

A different kind of workout

Mike and I went down to the Camperdown Cruise yesterday.   I have never been to a Rockabilly Festival and it was great.  We loved strolling around looking at the cars and admiring those who were in full 50's garb.  But the best part of the day was signing up for an hour of Rockabilly dance lessons.

Flipping my hips, back and forth, round and round, it was so much fun, so exhausting, worked up a sweat and I honestly finished at the end of the hour realising how those women of the 50's had such teeny tiny waists.   We both felt like we had had a work out like no other.

Amazing how much fun you can have when you are well on the way to becoming fit and healthy.   Dare I even say, it feels like our relationship has received a whole new spark.   :-)

Quote of the Century !!!!

Oh boy, it happened tonight and I was dumbfounded.

Mike looked at me and said :  "You know I've always loved you, but I wish you could see what I am seeing right now, your true beauty is really shining through."

WOW.

Gobsmacked.  

Thank you 12WBT.

That is all.

8 Week Mini Milestone

Although I would hardly call it mini...

WE TOOK ON A MOUNTAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I said we had something big in store for our mini milestone.   Casey being ever the event co-ordinator, put a shout out to the Warrnambool & Surrounds 12WBT crew as to whether we'd be interested in climbing Mount Abrupt in the Grampians last Sunday.  Of course I shot my hand up as quick as I could.  I'm ready to tackle anything at the moment.

And so it began.

Seven eager women met at Dunkeld and onto the mountain we went.   Woah, up close they look even bigger than I know them to be in my jaunts up to Halls Gap.  I don't mind telling you I was nervous.   The smile here on my face belied the fact my legs were already turning to jelly at the thought of the climb.  But I was full of bravado, all the while thinking I was older than probably all of these girls and Mike had put the thought into my head earlier on "know your limitations".  I know he believed I could do it, but I think he was worried.

One thing though that the 12WBT program has taught me is that I have no limitations.  I can do whatever I set my mind to do with determination and strength and sheer mindedness.  

So we set off and soon we were steadily rising and the heart rate was rising with it.  There were spots where the track was pretty good.  Hey this wasn't going to be so bad after all.  Right?

Then there were parts where the track, do I dare even call it a track? was a bit more strenuous.    It was a matter of pick a rock and step and hope it didn't wobble.

Then there were parts that the track was downright ridiculous!    It became a matter of hauling up a rock, grab onto a tree and hoist myself in parts and just pray I didn't tumble.  

There was a sense of feeling very miniscule against the mountain.  I love this photo of Alison and Delise waving to me.  I wonder at the time if they realised that there wasn't much under that overhang they were on!!!

And this just made me giggle, in a rocky clearing someone had decided it was a good place for a Stone Henge to take place.  Despite the wind I can't believe it balanced like that.  It teeter tottered in the wind, but didn't fall.  Crazy!

Alison turned around and took this photo of me a moment after I lost my balance.  I must have been delirious, because I thought it was pretty darn funny that I could have rolly polly'ed all the way back down.

It's a funny climb Mount Abrupt, you have spectacular views of the neighbouring mounts, but not actually to the top of the one you are climbing.   I actually thought we were getting pretty close, then round a bend and this view hits you.  HOW THE HECK AM I GOING TO GET UP THERE????  Those were the words that were ringing in my ears.  Are you freaking kidding me?!!?   That was the top.  

But steady as she goes I kept plodding along, until this beautiful sight hit me.  WE WERE AT THE TOP!!!  We had made it.  So that neither of us were last, Alison and I who were bringing up the rear at that stage, stepped onto that final rock together.  Yahooooooo.  We were on top of the world.

And the view was magnificent.  The wind was strong, the air was cold, and I was elated.  I think I was flushed with achievement.  I wanted to jump up and down, but the wind was so strong I'd probably slip.  I soaked in the view all round, it was just beautiful. 

What a reward seeing how high we were up and that tiny snake of a road all the way down there where we had started from.  Words really can't describe the elation I was feeling.   I quickly took a photo with my phone camera and sent a message to Mike and Sonia (my bestie) ... "I DID IT!!!!".

I can't even describe how windy it was at the top, the photos really don't show it.  One of the cameras were carefully placed on the ground and we got in for a group photo.  We were at the point at that stage that our fingers had started turning blue from the cold and it was time to head down.

Well heading down was a feat in itself.  It was a lot harder getting down than up.  Having to step and land on a rock and a few times my knees buckled from under me, once over balancing and my thigh hitting a tree trunk.  Ouch.   Must admit I did love my new walking boots, I am really going to make good use of them.

So for me, I went up and back (and a bit of time taking photos at the top) in 3 hours 16 minutes.  Not bad.  And I burnt 1127 calories.   Not only that, it cemented more friendships on this crazy 12WBT journey we are on.  

What can I say, we girls became "Queen of the Mountain" last Sunday.   What a milestone.

WE DID IT !!!!!!!!!!!!   And thanks again to Casey for organising it and getting us involved.  I have really become an event junkie and loving every minute of getting out and about and enjoying fresh air, exercise, new friendships and life.

Some big happenings today

Firstly the biggest thing.   Ready for it.   I lost that 800 grams that I talked about after last week's weigh in.

I have lost freaking 20 kilograms !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still can't believe it.   Well actually I can, cause I've done it.  Still a long way to go, but I'm on the downward slide on my ticker.  I am OVER-THE-MOON !  I went racing into Mike still in bed after my weigh in this morning yelling "I've lost that big bag of dog food, yahoooooooooooooo".  Pretty elated.

The second huge thing that has happened to me today, is dress shopping.  After a few of the Warrni girls now telling me they've got their dresses for finale (some may have more than one dress, don't they??? hmmmmm wonder who I'm talking about Miss KC!! giggle) I thought I better start looking myself.    I've had a bit of a squiz online and everything seems so darn short and so dicey because I don't really know what I can fit into and what I can't.

So with a brave faced fixed on I walked into three of the lovely ritzy chi chi pooh pooh dress shops in town. I kept the whole "I'm just looking" face on as I flicked through the racks.   I felt like I had a sign on my back "I've just lost 20 kilograms and I'm clueless".   The saleslady at the second store started chatting to me and before I knew it I had blurted out my whole tale.

Yep, way to go Carol, reeeeeeeal smoooooth!

Anyway she was actually quite helpful, checked out my body type, found a dress that would suit and suggested I try it on.

Well I did.

And I took one look in the mirror and burst into tears.

Happy tears.

It was the size 16 and it was too big.

Probably didn't help that I was standing there in my black socks either, but I did a twirl and got all excited.  Tried on the size 14 and it fitted beautifully.

I got changed back into my work gear, thanked her very much, put the dress back on the rack and walked out of there.  I don't know why I just didn't lay my bucks down on the counter there and then.  I've tried to rationalise it in my head walking the whole way back to work.  I have come to the conclusion that I don't think I was worthy of such a gosh darn elegant dress.

I think I need to go back to the store tomorrow.  Right?

The Universe is great   :-)

Before I go I must tell you about this website I stumbled on and absolutely love.   Actually the website is TUT, but I particularly like Notes from the Universe.  I signed up and every week day I get a note from the Universe to me.  Mike just rolls his eyes when I tell him that the Universe has written to me.  Sometimes the notes really resonate.  Like the one I received today, which I want to share.

No truer words were spoken and I am going to really take this thought to heart.   Go check out the website and sign up for your own note from the universe.  It's a bit of fun, but hey, if it makes you think, then it's well worth it.  Remember I'm exercising here my mind, body AND soul.

Mammoth Sunday ... smashed it !

One thing about the 12wbt program and my own personal (shall I say) metamorphasis, is that I am trying things I never thought I would do.  Left to my own devices I probably wouldn't do.   But with great like minded and new friends by my side, we are pushing ourselves to our limits and it is just amazing the things I have been achieving.

Well I said in the last post that I would be making good use of my new walking boots yesterday, and that I did.   I met up early at 8am with Casey and Debbie and we set off down to the Otways with the plan of seeing 4 waterfalls in the day.  Well we didn't just see 4 waterfalls, we saw 4 and a bit (haha! you'll have to keep reading to see what I mean by that), covered about 20 KILOMETRES in walking for the whole day (yes you read that right!!), really firmed up new friendships, laughed like I have never laughed before, pushed my body to it's limits and then pushed some more, seen some magical sights and had a wonderfully exhilerating day, which ended with me walking back in the door here at home at about 10.15pm.   Wow!  What a day.

First Stop Melba Falls ...

Absolutely beautiful scenery that we were walking through, huge tree ferns, and the air was so clear, there was also a fair bit of laughing going on. 

Our walking also involved a lot of the dreaded steps.

But soon enough we were rewarded with the view of the falls.

And the obligatory selfie we took at each stop.  We were looking pretty keen, pretty eager to keep going, the day was young!! 

Next stop - Little Aire Falls...

Onward we went, a lot more traipsing to get to these falls, with a muddy trail that Casey soon found out about when she went slipping!   But the falls were beautiful.

The day was warming up and we were still eager.  Yet another selfie.

Onward to Triplet Falls ...

This was a neat loop of another 2.5 kilometres, and as the name implies there's three parts to these falls, these are my best captures. 

And of course the selfie at Triplet!

I was feeling pretty great at this stage, holy heck, I was walking kilometres!  Looking a little bit hot and flustered, but I was keeping up with the girls as fast as these old knees would let me.

On to Hopetoun Falls ...

After a picnic lunch, which I might say tasted better than anything!!  I was starving!  and with Beauchamp Falls out of action due to unsafe trees, landslide conditions, we headed on to Hopetoun Falls, I thought this was one of the prettiest falls we'd seen. 

And again the selfie, I'm wondering now looking at it, were our smiles just kind of only half there at this stage.  Our smiles are not quite reaching our eyes, if you know what I mean.  I know I was feeling quite stonkered but willing to keep up with the girls.

So that was four waterfalls in a day.  But surely we could fit something else in.  We decided on popping into Maits Rest, which was a beautiful walk amongst the lush green rainforest type conditions.  It was a great relaxing walk after our hard climbs.  Talk about replenishing the souls, this place was magic!

That was it, we'd done it!  But the niggling feeling that we could go one more kept at us.  After popping into Cape Otway Lighthouse and finding out the exhorbitant price just to go and check out the lighthouse, we spotted a sign ... Rainbow Falls ... 5.5 km.   Should we round off the day with a final 5.5 km walk?  It did sound exotic, we imagined a huge waterfall with the sun hitting it just so that a rainbow would be formed.  The itch had to be scratched.

Rainbow falls to finish up ...

So we set off walking ... and walking ... and still walking.   This was a different type of walk, it was beachy, it was sandy, there were scrubby wind blown plants.  The path took us up along the cliff face with a magnificent view, but heck!  Where were the falls???

We had been walking for about an hour and a half, and ended up down the dunes into the beach below.

Still walking, we had come this far, by hook or by crook we were going to find these jolly falls.  Until we came to this.  

W.T.F ????   

Were these Rainbow Falls?  Are you kidding me?  About a foot high?

By this stage we were delirious, we took the obligatory selfie.  We were hot, we were bothered.  And to be honest crazed laughter was taking place.

And quite frankly we were thinking about the traipse back, not to mention the sand dune we were going to have to climb back up.  It was then we realised the 5.5 km to the "supposed" (cough cough) falls was not a round trip number.  We had walked 5.5 km there and now we had to talk 5.5 km back!!!!!!

I swear on that way back, our legs were going by autopilot.  We weren't talking, we were just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.  The disappointment for our last so called waterfall was huge.  I was actually numb from walking by now.  I don't know how Debbie was able to operate the accelerator on the drive home!

Heading home we were driving back down the Cape Otway Lighthouse Road around 7pm and came across the most magical sight.  We saw koalas EVERYWHERE.  We looked up into the trees and they were like fruit, perched on all the branches, climbing from branch to branch, up and down trees, wandering everywhere.   We stopped and got out and were amazed and quite thrilled.  After the disappointment of Rainbow Falls, this was magic.  This was the PERFECT end to the day.

It was only when this bad assed angry koala came stomping down the road toward us, with the most impressive grunt and growl, did we realise we still had enough energy in our legs to run when it rounded us up we flew around the other side of the car and got out of its way !!  

 All in all a terrific day, I can't thank Casey and Debbie enough for pushing me out of my comfort zone, getting me out and about, enjoying the fresh air, enjoying pushing my body, enjoying the beautiful vista of the Otways.  We smashed Sunday for sure!

And dare I say, only after we turned to our friend Mr. Google today, we realised they weren't Rainbow Falls after all !!  Hysterical.   We had to walk perhaps another 500 metres up the beach, you can see a small colouring in the base of the cliff in this photograph, well THAT was Rainbow Falls!

Un - freaking - believable !

Support

The support I have been getting from my husband on my 12wbt journey is nothing short of wonderful.  It all stems back dare I say to the day I told him my weight (after being tight lipped about it for our 11 years together).   I think from that moment on I let him in, so to speak.  I included him.  And he has embraced and run with it.  He'll check calories for me.  He'll cook his own meal if he wants something knowing I am planning to eat one of my pre-planned meals.  He'll time me when I'm doing my fitness test and air punch and high five me when I do a "PB" (personal best).  He may not remember to replace the toilet roll, but he'll always remember it's Wednesday and ask me how I did on the scales, this week being no exception.

So I hit the scales on Wednesday marking 19.2 kg gone forever.  For my overseas friends, that is 42 pounds.

So Mike certainly has a way with words.  He was so excited to hear I was up to 19.2 kg, the first words that came out of his mouth were...

"That's FANTASTIC!!!  Only 800 more grams and you've lost a big bag of dog food."

Huh?

It was only then I realised, every time I told him what I'd lost he was equating it to something, a tub of margarine, a packet of flour, a bag of potatoes.  So he marched me into the laundry where yes indeed we have a new 20kg bag of dog biscuits sitting there and told me to lift it.

I couldn't lift it, without struggling and even then it only came a few feet off the ground.

And yet I'd been carrying almost that around.

Wow.

Not only that, another kind of milestone this week for me was my ticker.  You'll see it down the bottom of the page.  I had kind of set an end goal of 75kg to reach, whether I adjust that or not, I don't know.  But that's the number I kind of magically thought up as a good goal to get to.  Look at my ticker, it's over the half way point.  I'm on the downward slide.  I've now lost more weight, than I have to go.   I can't tell you just how happy I have been this week.

Here's to new friendships

One other thing I wanted to talk about in this blog post was an added bonus to the 12wbt program.  Yes we have the diet, yes we have the exercise, yes we have the mind set lessons and the forum and all that goes with it.   But the big bonus for me has been the friendships.  This past week I met up with the lovely Lynn and Jane for lunch and it was terrific, two girls I would probably never have met otherwise.  It was nice to meet up and just be able to talk and enjoy each others company face to face (without huffing and puffing).

And tomorrow I'm meeting up with Debbie and Casey and we're spending the day together.  You'll have to stay tuned to find out what we get up to!  :-)    But it involves these boots, my newest purchase...

Nice!