Who hasn't been inspired by the Olympics? I've already chosen several sports that I intend to compete in at the Brazil Olympics - Archery and Swimming. Don't laugh! Not sure I'll make the cut but I'm inspired to exercise more and get fitter by all this sport on the TV! You know, once I get off the sofa and turn the TV off. I'm thinking of changing my name to Missy too. [Or maybe emulate the USA female volleyball player, Destinee Hooker - Ed]
I haven't posted much recently and I'll remedy that by posting more from now on promise (Sorry Gareth). But the work is carrying on despite the lack of posts. WARNING: bragging ahead.
I've lost pretty much* 4 stone (56 pounds) since last October, 2 of that with Gareth. Woohoo! (*pretty much means I've put on this week which is really getting me down but it's also a good kick up the proverbial to get back to basics).
My fitness tests each month keep getting better and better - I can now run. Full stop! If you'd asked me if I could run even for a few seconds before I started this challenge, I would have told you 'No, absolutely not!'
But now I can run solidly for 12 minutes and can do 1.5 kilometres in that time. I know that's not amazing to the rest of you but for me, it's great! I used to hate running but now I see it as a challenge that I want to keep beating. I can do more push ups than before and hold a plank for much longer than my pathetic first attempts. (I'll get the actual numbers after the next fitness test).
I've added a third PT session a week with Lottie, another trainer at Physio2Fit. She pushes me really hard and shows me each session that I am capable of so much more. She makes me run faster on the treadmill than I would ever have tried myself on a fitness test. So now I know I can run that fast and I won't fly off the end of the machine, the next fitness test is going to be even better!
My measurements have changed so much that most of my wardrobe doesn't fit. My top half has gone down 5 dress sizes and my bottom half has gone down 4 dress sizes. THAT'S NINE DRESS SIZES! Sort of.
I've lost:
11 cms around my bottom
10 cms around my waist
2 cms around my chest
BMI has fallen by 4.2%
Body fat has fallen by 4.7%
I'm very happy with my progress BUT I did set myself the goal this last March of losing 10 stone in 12 months... Now that 5 months have passed and I've consistently tried each week, I realise now that the goal of losing 3lbs EVERY WEEK may be a little unrealistic. Some weeks I stick to everything but I 'only' lose one pound. Despite the effort applied, sometimes, you can't control everything.
Gareth keeps reminding me that I took years to get here (overweight, not the South of England...) so it may take a couple of years to lose it all and get fitter... so annoying when he's right.
So this week I'm going back to basics: filling out the food diary, scaling down all the little extras that have crept in.
GOAL FOR AUGUST: I want to lose 14lbs by 1st September.
I have to do this. We're going on holiday on the 3rd September to Germany/Austria and it's a cycling holiday. We're cycling 30 miles or more each day from Passau to Vienna, following the Danube (that's a river donchaknow). I want to go on holiday one stone lighter than today.
And I leave you with my dog, Bailey getting in on the sport action at our local park:
