Measurements and weight loss

The diet plan hasn't really worked. I'm not sticking to my rules. I have eaten outside of the set times. I have broken my treat days. See my rules here to get an idea of what I mean.  In fact I've developed a love of white bread which is really bad. I have never really eaten white bread and during this pregnancy I just loved it and craved it. Now it is a habit that is hard to kick. Instead of just having one sandwich for lunch I've been having two. Naughty however I have managed to continue exercising every day, except this morning. I will have to make sure I go for a run tonight. Buddy's going to get lucky tonight. He'll get to go twice. Once with me and then with Kevin. I am very grateful to Sarah who has kept me motivated and on track. Tomorrow is walking day and I'm planning lunges and squats on the walk too. 

I am entering the 3rd week of my exercise routine. Swimming or walking every day for those 2 weeks except the day I was very sick. I'm pretty happy with that. It feels good. Kevin always says I need to get up early and get going. It's very difficult when it's cold in winter or when you're pregnant and have very little energy but I agree with him, hear that Honey you are right!, I do operate mush better when I get up and have some time alone or time to wake up before I deal with 4 or 5 nagging children. I've always been a morning person, as in I like being up in the morning. I don't necessarily like communicating early in the morning. I don't like questions being constantly asked and my attention required constantly. I like the mornings. I'm glad I'm doing the early morning exercise. 

I've finally got around to measuring myself. See my measurements below. Last week at the doctors I had lost weight since Kevin's 10 day check up. In 4 weeks I'd lost 1.6kgs. I'm pretty happy with that. I've read a lot that says a breastfeeding mother shouldn't shed more than half a kg a week so I'm happy with the loss I've had.

Measurements 15th October

All measurements are in cms.

right arm               13.2

left arm                 14

bust                      43

belly button          41.5

hips                      42.5

bottom                 46

left thigh               26.7

right thigh             27.1

Before we moved I had all of my measurements written on the mirror in our bedroom. I tracked them for 8 months. It was great to see the measurements decrease over time and then increase with muscle gain. Unfortunately I cleaned the mirror without taking a photo. I remember my dear friend, Leesa, did but I don't know whether she deleted the photo or not. I'll have to check with her.

I still haven't been organised enough to take a photo. I'm a little scared to be honest. I was very keen to start with. Now I'm not so sure. 

Until Friday my dear friends and family.

Amity

10 on the 10th Getting fit post baby

I wrote a blog post here about my desire to get fit and healthy. I didn’t, as I promised I would do, measure myself and post my results here. I will endeavour to find the measuring tape to do that this week. For some reason the measuring tape is not in the sewing box. I might have to bite the bullet and buy a new one. I know measuring myself is a far better way to measure my results than by standing on the scales. More of those measurements later.

Here is my plan to eat well and get fit.

Rules.

1.1.      Have a support person. For me that is actually two people. Firstly Kevin, who will kick me out of bed if necessary or like this week when he smsed my 2^nd support person to say I was too sick to exercise (I must have been very sick for him to insist I don’t attend.) and secondly my exercise buddy. She is someone who I know won’t miss our sessions, won’t find an excuse like it’s too cold or the kids have been up all night. She will commit 100% which is why I didn’t want to miss this morning’s walk because I don’t want to break the cycle and cause the commitment to lessen.

2.2 .  Don’t buy treats in the shopping. If it’s not there you can’t eat it. I’m not a bit buyer of food for outside the home so the temptation to eat unhealthily outside the home is rare.

3.3.     Meal plan. Set out meals for a week or two weeks. Only buy for set meals. Not only does this mean you don’t have to think about what to cook it also means you save money because food doesn’t go to waste.

4.4.     Have set meal times. Only eat at these times. Have breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner at the set times and not to snack in between.

5.5.      Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Drinking water keeps my hunger at bay and doesn't allow me to eat more than I need to.

6.6.     Follow the 4 Ds. These are quit smoking technique which I found very helpful when quitting smoking and I guess the love of food is also an addiction and so helps me quit that need to eat. The 4 Ds are; Deep breath, Delay, Drink water, Do something else.  These are the steps to take if you are feeling like food but know it is only a short time to your set eating time.

7.7.   Plan for naughty days. For me I know that Thursdays will involve yummy food as we have playgroup and the Mums always provide nice food. I also know that during Friday night scrapbooking it is good to eat chocolate or something sweet and yummy. I also know that by totally banning a food group you only seem to crave it more, well I do anyway. I know that by giving myself the freedom to indulge I am more likely to eat well the rest of the time. It also means I can put in more effort during exercise on those days and plan to skip say morning or afternoon tea on those days to make up for it.

8.8.     Commit to an exercise for 2 weeks. It is the hardest to start with but it ALWAYS feels good afterwards. I have found that after 2 weeks you are in the habit of getting up early or leaving the dishes so you can exercise. After that you’ll actually enjoy it and it’ll be part of your life.

9.9.       Make healthy food choices you know you really like to start with. You can always introduce new recipes or less enjoyable foods once the need for sugar or fat has gone from your system. Things taste better once they are out of your system and you don’t depend on them so much.

1.10.   Have attainable goals. Don’t think I’m going to lose 1 kg a week if you know you realistically can’t. I know for me, being a breastfeeding mother, it is not something that is recommended. Similarly don’t think you can eat a salad for dinner every night if you know your kids are going to fight you all the way. Make choices which are family friendly and are realistic.

TThese are the steps I’m planning on taking to take control of my health. What do you do? What else could I incorporate to improve my strategy?

On a health kick

I did my first session with the personal trainer this morning. I didn't realise how unfit I was until she put me through the paces. I cannot believe after all that walking all through winter that I have lost so much fitness. In 5mins on the treadmill I ran 900m so I can still run. It's the weight bearing activities that are my challenge. Everything with my arms is very difficult and that has to do with my shoulder injury and the lack of work they do. I can only improve from here.
My aim is to loose 7kgs so I can get my holiday without the kids. Now just to find someone to have the kids. One of my friends here offered to have the kids, she is a mother of 4 herself, but I don't think I will have got within my BMI before I leave.
Kevin is also on a health kick because he wants to purchase EuroStar which he can as soon as he gets in his BMI. Kevin has already lost 1kg this week. So unfair but good on him. We have decided not to purchase any treat foods until our Christmas celebrations. We have also decided we won't eat any food unless we have to prepare it or have it prepared for us ie. by each other or if we are lucky enough to get to go out to dinner.
One of my biggest problems is getting to bed early. One of my main goals is to get to bed by 10:30pm. That won't and hasn't guaranteed  I actually get to sleep early but I have so start somewhere. Right? I have been a night owl my whole life so it is difficult to change this habit. There are two main downsides to staying up late. Firstly I don't want to get up in the morning and then it makes it difficult to deal with the kids. Secondly, I eat at 10-11pm which is not conducive to loosing weight. For the last 5 days I have not eaten after 8pm. I have been drinking a lot of water in an attempt to ward off hunger pains but it doesn't seem to be working.
My workout routine will look like this:
Mon- PT 6-7am
Tues- walking 6-7am
         aqua aerobic 6:30-7:30pm
Wed- PT 6-7am
Thurs- walking 6-7am
           aqua aerobic 6:30-7:30pm
Fri- walking 6-7am
Sat- 1/2hr swim
Sun- rest day
A pretty full schedule. Isn't it lucky I have such a fantastic husband who supports me.
Stay tuned for some photos and an update on how I'm going.

My exercise

Bootcamp had its last session this morning. Now what to do?

I need to have some kind of committment to keep it all up. I find getting to the gym quite difficult. Oh I can't imagine why with 4 kids?  A friend told me about this site The Rage Within and I was thinking of giving it a go. I thought it was quite achievable. I mean who can't do 50 elevated push-ups a day? Well me probably with my shoulder but I can  easily crank out 23 normal boy push ups without any problem. Feeling pumped and I want to keep it up.

Prior to the commencement of bootcamp



After the first session. Not the best photo of me but one which indicates how hard I worked.



After 6 weeks of hard yakka this is the result. A fitter, stronger, healthier me.

Only 3.5kgs lost but you should feel those muscles. Here's to a fitter, stronger, healthier, happier body.