Loungeroom progress – 1 week

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Kim

Well, that moved along much more quickly than I expected. We had a weekend with no real plans so my husband kept asking “what’s next” and as long as I kept coming up with things for him to do, he just kept doing them – he’s awesome like that!

It still looks a bit of a shambles, but we got SO much sorted out. The bookcases are cleared of any books that will be going. One of the tall bookcases has disappeared upstairs and the purple bookcase you can now see is in place. It’s pretty empty so far, just a few old Enid Blyton books and some others from my childhood. The remaining tall bookcase is practically empty – baby books are down the bottom and a few photos and ornaments up the top (plus a couple more bits and pieces that still need to disappear upstairs. A bit more bookcase swapping went on and the books of ours that we are hanging on to are now either in a small bookcase behind the desk you can just see in the right corner of the photo or in a narrow bookcase now sitting in our upstairs hallway.

Still a bit to be done, but we can start to see a bit better how it will look when we get it all finished. Now it just needs to me sort out a few boxes (hiding behind the recliner – shhh!) so we can move on to the next steps!

Brisbane

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Kim

So we decided that I needed to take myself on a little holiday before the next baby arrives. It had to be a weekend only and nothing too far away – heading south was too cold, so I decided that Brisbane would be it! I had a few mum friends up there that I only knew online so far and was looking forward to getting to meet at least some of them, as well a friend I had previously worked with that recently moved up there. So it was always going to be a busy weekend.

I managed to arrange a few shoots (most of which ended up re-scheduled due to crappy weather!), had cake with friends and also got out for a wander along Southbank. These photos are all from my wandering at Saturday lunchtime, I had a delicious lunch at Popolo (brilliant recommendation from a friend, was absolutely delicious and they made me up a yummy fruit mocktail), while listening to live jazz being played down by the river and the rain held off until I made it back to the hotel – perfect!

Sunday morning ended up being utterly hectic but fun. Getting up early for breakfast and packing before heading up to Roma Street Parklands for some shoots. These gardens are absolutely amazing and the amount of colour in them for the middle of winter was gorgeous. Then it was rush back to the hotel for a late checkout and off to lunch with a friend before heading for the airport. Phew!! Exhausting, but the break was exactly what I needed and I was happy to get home and see my little family again that evening.

This little guy was just hanging out beside the path trying to take in what sun there was

This little guy was just hanging out beside the path trying to take in what little sun there was

Phase One – the lounge room

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Kim

One end of our lounge room is nice. It is organised, simple and we use it all the time. It has comfy lounges, a big coffee table, the tv and we can both happily use our laptops there. It’s also where we usually eat dinner.

The other end of the lounge room has become a bit of a hodge podge and dumping ground. There’s a treadmill that hasn’t been used since I got pregnant again (was brilliant and used all the time by me before that!), a sofa bed my mum sleeps on when she visits, bookcases, a large recliner covered in “stuff” and this is where we let Emily make most of her mess.

It finally got to me the other week and I decided something had to be done – and soon! With another bub on the way and the current one being increasingly mobile, we needed a kid focussed space that they would be safe in. So operation nesting / getting organised has begun! (I have plans for other rooms and different parts of the garden, but one thing at a time…).

This is what we started with:

“The Mess”

The plan will be to get rid of the treadmill (already done!), at some point the sofa bed will go too. The bookcases will be reduced/moved to new locations and we will get rid of a whole lot of books as well. There’s a coffee table down the end and it, as well as the things on it, need to go too. We have a kid size table/chairs that can then go up against the window for them to use as they get older, an easy-clean play mat to cover the carpet and a barrier to put right across the whole area to create a safe “we know where they are” space for them to play so I can disappear for a minute or two and know they are safe and not getting into things they shouldn’t.

We should be able to make some quick progress on most parts of this, so hopefully each update will show a fair bit of improvement!

What do you think? What else are “must haves” for a space like this? I think the wall with the air conditioner on it might be screaming out for some photos to be printed and put up too.

After a bit of a break…

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Kim

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I last posted at the end of the 12wbt challenge. I would definitely have to say it was a success too! At the end of it all I was healthier, fitter and lighter. My husband was also healthier, fitter and lighter! In another challenge we had, his cholesterol had been a little high and his doctor wanted it under control – being on the 12wbt plan and sticking to the eating guidelines has managed to get his cholesterol into a much better place in only 3 months – that’s a definite win right there for us.

Waiting for bath time ~ Emily, 11 months

My final challenge/reward took place the first weekend of March. We had signed up for an urban rogaine – basically orienteering around the suburbs finding waypoints. It was all through the hills of Mosman, an area we know quite well, and we arrived on the day and plotted our course with alternatives depending on how I coped with it all. I was more than a little disappointed in my performance, in the 3 hours I only managed to do 16km. From the start I was puffing and struggling and my heart rate was fairly high for the effort I was putting in. This was the first inkling I had that something more might be going on here! It was still satisfying to have done this and get back within the three hour time limit, and I was definitely sore for a couple of days, but I had to wait a few more days to check out my hunch about what was going on. Sure enough, by the end of the week the pregnancy test came back positive! Amazing! I truly believe that a huge part of this is due to my being healthier and fitter due to the 12wbt – there are a few things I had going against me, not least of which is my age at 39.

So where to from here? I cut back on my exercise straight away as my body was obviously finding it a bit too much of a challenge to keep going with. I increased how much I was eating, but still continued to slowly lose weight over the next couple of months. Luckily now, at 5 months pregnant, I am back to what I was at the end of the 12wbt in February and have even started gaining a little more – my belly is certainly showing I am pregnant anyway! Other than being more tired than normal, this pregnancy has been pretty much as straight forward an unproblematic as the last which has been wonderful. Running around after an under one year old at the same time would have been a LOT harder if I had more to deal with on the health front as well!

I’ve continued walking most days and this has been a big help physically and mentally to get some “time out”. We try and make it a bit of a family time and my husband joins me when he can and Emily gets pushed along in the pram.

Getting around ~ Emily, 9 months

So where does this blog go now? I seem to be hitting a bit of a nesting / home improvement patch So along with sharing my photos, I will be following my plans to “kid-friendly” our home, fix up the garden a bit and seeing what chaos having a second child can bring to our family! I hope you join me for the adventure.

Flair – a beautiful Australian Red Kelpie

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Kim

Not that I ‘m biased or anything, but this is the loveliest dog around. She’s outgrown the naughty puppy stage and is now a gorgeous, young dog. One that loves a game and loves her owner (my Mum) and will do almost anything for a treat! Nick spent ages throwing a ball for her while I took photos and I’m sure Flair could have kept going (and going and going). Then, when it all got too much for her, she would curl up for a snooze on her blanket on the lounge.

Change of pace

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Kim

So with the 12wbt over for now, it’s time to start changing things up a bit on this blog! I’ll still be posting fitness updates, and yummy photos of yummy food, but I am also going to start posting some of my photographs that I’ve taken recently. Starting with these ones – over the Christmas break the three of us (my husband, daughter and I) went up to visit my mum. She lives on roughly 600 acres in the middle of nowhere – solar power, tank water, etc as she’s too far from town to easily get any services. It’s a magical, relaxing place with so many photo opportunities and it doesn’t hurt that my mum is a keen photographer too.

This first lot of photos are a sunset, sunrise and night sky. We really lucked out this time and due to a lot of rain and overcast days these were pretty much the only decent sunrise/sunsets we had while we were there. And the sunrise was on the morning we left… This was also my first attempt at a night sky shot trying to get some star trails – I wasn’t overly happy with how it turned out, but plenty of time to try this again another time.

Final weigh in and results

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Kim

Little disappointed that all the final tests, weigh in, measurements, etc are done middle of this week instead of at the end. I feel ripped off that I miss out on that extra half week to lose a little more weight and get that tiny bit fitter. Ah well, it really won’t change that much anyway, so here it is – what changed from nearly 12 weeks ago until today?

1km time trial – 5:32 (down from 8:01)
push ups – 28 (up from 21) in a minute
ab test – level 2 (up from 0)
stretch – 13cm (up from 6cm)
wall site – 2:36 (up from 1:08)

The only real changes from 4 weeks ago is the time trial and the wall sit. And can I just say I’m pretty damn proud of myself for the time trial. At the start, I think I managed 300 metres jogging before I slumped back to a walk and I was absolutely shattered at the end of it. I didn’t have the best prep for it either, I had barely any lunch, no afternoon snack, not enough water during the day and I have always done my exercise in the morning, not the evening. So to kick another 30 seconds off my time is so cool! I think the improvement has come from the damn hill intervals I’ve been doing over the past 2-3 weeks. Cranking the treadmill up to 10 incline has really pushed my quads and given them the extra strength needed to push harder and faster.

Oh, and yes, I DID lose a decent amount of weight. Over 10% body weight in fact – I’ve gone from 82.2kg, down past my pre-pregnancy weight and this final week I dropped below my previous “holy crap I need to lose weight” weight. I’m getting close to my previous stable weight, but if I keep exercising and watching what I eat, I’m aiming to get back to my old “kinda fit” weight. I’m not aiming for my old “fit” weight – too time consuming but my next target is to get below 70kg. I’m thinking this is entirely do-able, possibly within the next 4-6 weeks since I managed nearly a kilo this week.

So onwards and downwards… Not sure what’s going to happen with this blog, I still have a few more posts to make for this round and then we will see what happens. It won’t stop, but it may change focus a litttle!

Nearly there and losing focus

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Kim

Japanese style prawn noodles

Well, not much to write about at this point. Less than 2 of the 12 weeks in the program left to go and it seems a bit strange that it’s nearly all over. I know once I finish I need to keep eating right and keep exercising – and luckily my husband is 100% behind me in this. In a lot of ways it will be a relief to have some of the time back, but I also know that I still need to find time for most of the activities I have been doing anyway.

My struggle at the moment is to stay focussed. I stuck to my plan to do some exercise each day over the long weekend which was good, but I slacked off in the eating department a little. Not a huge amount, but I had a couple of glasses of wine that I wouldn’t usually have and probably snacked a bit on the wrong things. Nothing major, but it lets me know that I am really going to have to watch things once I’m off the plan to make sure I don’t get back into old habits. The hardest part is that my husband needs to eat more than what we have been at times, so he will have dessert or extra yummy things in dinner and I have to talk myself out of having them too. It really doesn’t seem fair sometimes. But then he doesn’t need to lose as much weight as I do!

I just need to keep reminding myself that I’m getting really close to my original goal weight and once I get there I can ease up a little on the strict calorie control to maintain rather than lose weight. It’s not really taking that long to lose it – if I look at the past 10 weeks, I’ve lost well over half a kilo a week, almost a full kilo a week if I take out the 2 weeks over christmas when I didn’t stick to the plan, and I’m still losing the weight well. I haven’t really had a slow down in weight loss, it fluctuates from week to week, but overall I’m still losing a decent amount each week – I haven’t hit the “I’m restricting calories, exercising, but my weight doesn’t change” plateau yet.

I also need to remind myself why I’m doing this – to feel better about myself, fitter and healthier, to be able to keep up with my daughter and play with her as she grows, to be a happier, healthier wife to my husband and to give myself a focus and a plan for getting there.

Tired again

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Kim

Steak sandwich

Slow week for me. I’ve been absolutely exhausted all week, mainly from not sleeping too well and from the baby not sleeping as well either. As a result, I’ve been hungrier than usual and the 1200 calories just isn’t cutting it. I’ve had a few “extras” to eat while still being mainly good about the choices I make so still managed to drop some weight but I haven’t had the energy (or time) to do any exercise.

Actually, today is probably the first day that I’ve felt up to it all week and I still didn’t do any exercise. But you know what – I’m ok with that. For now. I spent the morning doing other useful stuff that I hadn’t been able to get on to in the rest of the week, so I already feel like I’ve accomplished something today. Exercise picks up again tomorrow and with it being a long weekend I think I’m going to exercise every day to make up for being slack the rest of the week.

With only 2 weeks left on the program, I’m starting to feel a bit burnt out. It’s been a lot more time consuming than I expected which has affected all of us. While the exercise is only for an hour, it takes up most of the morning once you add in cool down and a shower – which usually doesn’t get to happen until the baby has been up for a couple of hours and goes back down to sleep again. Then the food prep has taken a lot more time than I’ve expected some days as well. I’m trying hard to stay focussed but it’s getting more and more difficult as we get closer to the end.

It’s not like I’m going to just stop everything once the program finishes either. We plan on going through the recipes, pulling out some favourites and putting them on regular rotation for dinners. My lunches have definitely changed too and I’m happy eating a mountain bread wrap or corn thins with some yummy toppings. I’ll also keep doing regular exercise - I’m enjoying feeling fitter again and that as I’m losing the weight I’m also getting more toned.

So really, I’m not stopping, I made a commitment to see this through, I’m just feeling a bit run down and am looking forward to this weekend and getting things back in order again and seeing what I can achieve in these final two weeks!

Saturday done!

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Kim

Taco corn thins

175 assorted squats

137 assorted push ups

95 step ups (each leg)

90 tricep dips

120 assorted ab reps

Finish off with a few stretches and that is the Saturday Session done. I actually completed all reps (some modified) in the program, and check it out – all those push ups too!