Pre Season Task 2: Get Real

This task is about getting real and honest, putting down all the excuses you use and coming to terms with realistic solutions to them.  Because to achieve what I want to achieve - there are NO excuses.  I am very good at keeping my gym routine, I love excercising now in fact!  I've only been doing it since the end of January but I enjoy it thoroughly, so I don't really use excuses to excercise.

I have listed what I have put together so far.  The challenge I have with this task is, I really need to jot down the excuses as soon as I think/say them.  So this list will become longer I'm sure!

My Excuses and Their Solutions

Internal Excuses

EXCUSE:  I’m too tired and stressed to cook, maybe one night of take away will be ok. 
SOLUTION:  No it will not.  You’re spending $88.00 a month on a great gym membership, you’ve spent $200.00upfront to do this challenge, you’ve just spent $105.00 on a heart rate monitor and not to mention how much you are spending on feed each week/fortnight.  That’s over $1,300.00 plus food.  If you want to fail, then go ahead – just so you know – this could have been a new laptop, a TV for the bedroom, or even more importantly – this could have helped those extremely affected in the QLD floods, NZ/Japan earthquake.  Don’t let this go to waste.  And think of the effort you’ve been putting in to planning all those healthy meals each week before you go shopping.  What a waste of effort.  Just start bloody cooking!  THEN you can relax, and feel even more relaxed knowing you just did your body and yourself a favor

EXCUSE:  I had an excellent loss on the scales this week, one good meal or chocolate will be a nice treat.
SOLUTION:  Forget it, staying away from those foods is exactly why you had that excellent loss.  You are accountable for everything you eat.  The more unhealthy stuff you eat, the worse your number will look on the scales.  Hold out, in a few days you will jump on those scales and be thankful for saying no and sticking with the plan!  Think of those size 10 jeans and tops you want to fit back into.  You don’t need new clothes, you just need to fit back into your old ones – they are in perfect condition.  And by fitting back into them, you will save money by not having to buy too many new ones!


External Excuses  (Within My Control)


EXCUSE:  Need to give gym a miss tonight so I can spend time with my partner tonight.  He works night shift and we have very limited time together.
SOLUTION:  That’s fine, instead of eating into our time together in the evenings, I can wake up ½ an hour earlier as he will be starting to go to sleep.  Waking up at 6am instead of 6.30am and fit a workout in.  Zumba in the shed, or even interval running around the block or even school oval we have around the corner from home.  I can be in the shower by 6.50am and still have time to eat breakfast and get ready for work to be out the door by 7.45am.  Then I have all evening to spend quality time with my partner on his night off from work

External Solutions  (Outside My Control)

EXCUSE:  Family health issues sometimes require my time and attention where I need to break my gym routine and unable to cook/eat at home
SOLUTION:  You can't help/control these situations.  It is rare that this occurs.  You can still get up at 6am and do a workout, as these crisis' never require you in that time.  Even strength training in the lounge room is better than nothing.  Crisis' dont mean you have to eat junk.  Wherever you are, just make the healthiest choice as possible.  And if you're not hungry, simply say that and don't eat the bad food.  If you NEED to get take away, stick with Subway and make a healthy choice there, or call into a servo/IGA and pick up some salad supplies and a can of Tuna in spring water - it takes 2 minutes to put together

Pre Season Task 1: Introduce Yourself

So I think my introduction to myself was quite lengthy, but it was a bit of a journey I went through to get to where I am today, completing the 12 week body transformation.  It was honest and heartfelt:

Hi Everyone! My name is Amanda, and as mentioned in the topic I am from Adelaide.

I am 28 years old (turning 29 late May). I used to be a healthy Size 10 weighing 68kg. I was happy with the way I looked, and this was back in 2006/2007. Unfortunately, I was in a terrible marriage where I was abused and controlled for many years, I had stopped going to the gym after reaching my goal weight. Life in general was not very pleasant at all and I believe the constant stress and anxiety is what prevented me from gaining weight. At the time, I just thought I had a lucky metabolism!

I finally left my husband and abandonded that terrible part of my life. Since then, I fell in love with my current partner who is absolutely wonderful to me. I truly do get royal treatment :o) I am so relaxed with him and we are the absolute best of friends. I am completely confortable with him, and unfortunetely because I was so controlled and never had fun in my previous relationship, I was eating like a kid had full access to a candy store! I went crazy on chips, chocolate, soft drink etc! I had so much fun doing it, because I was never allowed to do anything! The weight started to stack on.

In 2009, my cousin was tragically murdered, This turned my life upside down. This was the first family death I have experienced at an age where I actually understand what it means. I fell into an emotional heap. Not only was the death hard to comprehend, but the way it had happened. He was only 25. I was eating chocolate to feel the smallest bit of happiness, and again, the weight piled on.

Not long after that, my partner was diagnosed with Vestibular Disorder which put him out of action for 3 months. He still deals with this every day but has now been able to manage it in every day life. His father was also diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. He went through months of treatment and it was obviously very emotionally draining on the family. And you guessed it, I was eating and eating and the weight piled on even more! Just when we were coming to terms with the fact that his father may not get through it, final tests confirmed he was in remission. It was the best news!

Life started to turn around and look more positive. My partner and I went on our first holiday interstate together, a nice 2 weeks on the Gold Coast. We got engaged in August 2010, it was by far the happiest day of my life! We spent the next 2 months announcing the news, planning a date for our engagement party, everything became so exciting!

In November 2010, we learned that his dad had Lymphoma in the brain. This shook us a bit, given he was in remission after beating Stage 4 the year before. He became very unwell, and was in hospital for a solid 2 months. It was Christmas Eve he came home, we were told that the treatment wasnt helping, and there was nothing more they could do. He had a hospital bed setup at home, and nurses coming to the house twice daily. My partners mum is the most amazing and caring woman I have ever met in my entire life. She had been his carer for so long, so she did a fantastic job of caring for him when he finally came home just in time for Christmas.

Even though things were not good, my partner and I still hosted our engagement party in January 2011. A great time was had by all, and it was nice to put the sad stuff on hold for a night. Unfortunately, just days later, we lost his father to the Lymphoma. This has been an incredibly sad time for us and the family.

Having gone through such tragic events, I have come to understand that I am very much an emotional eater. Eating and drinking has eased the pain, well so I thought. After the death of my partners father, I realised what I had become. Being almost 20kg heavier than when we started dating, I knew I was heading down a path of no return. I joined Fernwood Gym at the end of January so I could start improvivng my lifestyle, and instead of dealing with grief by eating, I was hitting the gym to workout.

I discovered Zumba which I love doing so much. It gives my mind an escape, I have so much fun with it and it makes me feel great at the end of it. I am now doing it 3 times a week and feel great for it, but my eating habits need a revamp! I have only lost 2-3 kilos since January, which is not good enough!

Just over a week ago, I bought the Crunchtime Cookbook and have been using the recipes in that since Monday last week. I kept my normal gym routine and cut out coffee, chocolate etc. Didn't touch the bad stuff! I was pleasantly suprised when I weighed in yesterday morning. 1.3kg's GONE! If I was able to do this following the cookbook, I can only imagine what I can do by participating in this challenge!

I have been looking into it for some time now, and I just couldnt wait to sign up! Hence the cookbook purchase :o) I am doing this challenge because I have finally realised, I need to turn my life around before I get myself into such a state where it all feels too hard. I am overweight, but I can do this! It is also a positive change to make, and I am all about the positivity! This is something to give me to focus on, I love setting goals, and I love achieving them!

Time to put the emotional eating aside, and time to revamp my life! I am climbing out of my hiding place, and facing the music. No more feeling sad and sorry, no more excuses. I not only need to do this for myself, but I need to do this for the loved ones around me. It's not just about looks and confidence either, it's about reducing my health risks too such as diabetes and heart desease. I want to be healthy again, and most importantly...STAY HEALTHY! :o) I have already quit smoking, now it's time for the next step!

Thank you for reading my story if you've made it this far, I have a bit of a habit for writing lengthy stuff hehe! I look forward to learning about you all and seeing/hearing about your progress. Let's do this! :o)