30 July – Prize Giving

The week of waiting is finally over. Went for a 45 minute race walk on the beach front before the prize giving. Had a good workout and a shower afterwards at Kingspark Virgin Active, the outfit I had selected to wear to the prize giving was a disaster, it was too big for me, oops. Like wow, I wore it just the other day. So I had to wear what I had worn to work, still looking good anyway, nice little outfit from Queenspark. I have known the entire Challenge that I wasn’t going to win this one but I was happy with that, I decided to take it a little easier this time, yet my percentage loss was higher. Was very pleased when Martina finished in 3^rd place. I finished in second position and Saleman in first place, he had fantastic weight losses throughout the challenge and was thrilled for him. I missed the biggest centimetre loss by a half centimetre, but that’s okay, the winner for the “Biggest cm Loser” category had completed the challenge 3 times already and she deserved to win, she had done so well. So in the end we had lots of winners and all the competitors received certificates and shopping vouchers. All my hard work had paid off once again, wow, thank you to everybody who helped make this happen, Carol for your fantastic coaching, A very big thank you. Total lost 12.9 kg and 59.5 cm in 12 weeks.

Since the start of the first challenge in January a total of 27 kgs and 156 cms has been lost.

23 July – Week 12 – Biggest Loser this week

Well today was the last day for the 2nd Weightloss Challenge. How the weeks have flown past, but this challenge seemed to take a lot longer than the previous challenge and yet it was one week shorter because we did not have the Easter weekend break this time. I was very excited to have been the “Biggest Loser” again this week, but I must admit that I did put a lot of effort into this weeks weighloss. Strange that I was the "Biggest Loser" for Week 1 and Week 12. Must because of the beginning enthusiasm and then the last bid to try and get the most out of the final week. The centimetre loss was a little disappointing but nontheless I have lost a total of 59.5 cms during this challenge and 12.9 kgs. I did better than expected in the kg loss, expecially with injuring myself last week with a cartilage injury and was out of action for walking and running, so I concentrated on swimming, low level weights with increased reps, powerplate and static exercises. Only thing is, because the competition is based on percentages and we will not know who is the overall winner is until next Friday at the prizegiving, so with baited breath, we wait yet again! So wish me luck this time and see where I have been placed!

Total weight loss since the beginning of the 1st Challenge in January till now is 25 kgs and 155.5 cms.

16 July – Week 11 – One more week to go!

One more week to go and the 2nd Weight Loss Challenge is over. I have only lost 1 kg this week which brings me down to 80.6 kg. Unfortunately I reached a plateau halfway through the challenge and had to change my exercise routine. I have generally battled with this 2nd challenge and these eleven weeks have definately been a tremendous challenge for me. Looking back, I exercised to my maximum but feel that I could have put more effort into the diet. I am happy with the results so far, to date I have shed another bag of potatoes in weight, but have only reached half the goal that I had set for myself this time. It will be interesting to see how the centimetre loss has gone next week.

9 July – Week 10

Had a huge disappointment at the Get Fit Challenge this morning, weighed in at 84 kgs with a weight gain of 2.3 kgs. Was devastated, how is that possible. So my strategy today was just to have my shakes, thermogetics tea and go for my normal 10 km run and then hit the sauna for 20 minutes. This afternoon on the promenade I racewalked the 4 kms to Ushaka in 29 min 42 secs and ran back in 28 min 46 secs. PB both ways. Weighed myself at the gym again after all the activity and lost my 2.3 kgs. Weighed in at 81.6, loss of .7 kgs. Yayyy. So I didn’t have to pay a fine this week. Liz, focus for the next 2 weeks. You can do this!

2 July – Week 9

Friday, beach front, soccer and lots of people. Ran to Ushaka in 29 minutes and race walked back in 33 minutes. Had a good weight loss this week. Quite happy with my progress so far. Was the 3rd biggest loser this week. Got three weeks left to go, so this coming week I am starting my extreme Get Fit eating plan and upping my training a notch. So let’s see what happens next week.

Look at me at now! Feeling great....

25 June – Week 7

Well, I certainly blew it this week. Gained a whopping point 2 of a kilogram. Now this is really a set back but I knew that I had gone off track on Saturday at the dinner party, I tried to compensate by fitting in 4 extra spinning classes this week. I suppose maybe it did work slightly because my gain could have been much more. Stangely enough I had a gain during the previous challenge on week 7 as well. At last, eventually I have seen the light, when you over-indulge a weight gain should be expected and over months or years the points of a kilogram adds up to 10, 20 or even 30 kilograms in time, in my case 50. I am more than halfway back to normal weight again, but it is taking a hell of a lot of hard work and sweat, I'll get there, I can do this!

Here is an encouraging tip from Losing it! With Jillian Michaels

Overcoming a Setback

It happens — you miss a few workouts and you feel like you've fallen off the weight-loss wagon. It's tempting to mentally slap yourself around, right? (Or head for the fridge.) Before you start, I want to remind you of something: Being hard on yourself is the Old You.

The New You knows how to deal with setbacks and get back on the wagon. And after all, there are no mistakes, just learning experiences. Weight loss is a process — it takes time. You will encounter small failures — everyone does — but every pound you gain can be lost.

And if you miss a workout, it's not the end of the world! Get to the gym the next day and continue to focus on your short-term goals. Just because you made bad choices today doesn't mean you can't start over tomorrow. New day? New beginning. And don't you forget it!

18 June – Week 6

Wow, had a great loss this week. Lost 1.2 kgs. Very happy with this weeks weightloss. Lost 7.3 kgs so far in 6 weeks. What did I do differently this week? Started drinking hot water with a slice of lemon to warm me up a bit, it’s been so cold, too cold to drink a glass of water. Increased distance walking and running in the past week and have also increased the intensity of spinning, having good workouts. Have received lots of compliments this week and have felt like a million dollars. It has been fun dressing up for work and feel comfortable with wearing layers of clothing, except of course I am running out of clothes to wear. But that’s good because I can start sewing again and altering existing clothes. Running my regular beachfront run from Virgin Active to Ushaka and back on Fridays. Very busy with people and lots of interesting things happening with the World Cup.

11 June – Week 5

Bummer, only point 3 of a kg down this week. What happened? What did I do differently? One thing, I did was not drink much water, was too cold, tried to change over to drinking hot water with a slice of lemon and Thermogetics. I did eat bread once too often, fresh breadrolls yum. Ok, so from now on, no bread what-so-ever. Now for the good news, measurements were taken this week. I have lost a total of 40 cms in five weeks. I am currently running first in the Weightloss Challenge for the highest amount of centimetres lost so far, but half the members did not pitch, World Cup you know, so we had a lot of bunkers. Whoopie! I am doing this again!

Felt like a million dollars today so Theo took a photo of me.

4 June – Week 4

So much for curbing my nibbling with healthier snacks this week, only lost .3 kg. But I’ve only got myself to blame, went totally off track, and could not bring myself to drink water, was so cold all the time, drank coffee, tea and hot thermogetics instead of water. One thing I can say is that my exercise regime went very well, cut off another 3 minutes from my time with my usual Friday afternoon run from Sun Coast Casino to Ushaka and back in 56 minutes this afternoon. So what am I going to do this coming week? Start drinking hot water with a slice of lemon in it and go on the GetFit extreme diet. Its measurements next week so I need to have good results. So watch this space, here comes Liz.....

Total loss in 4 weeks = 5.8 kgs

28 May – Week 3

What chaos! Roads closed going to beachfront because of the test run of road closures during the world cup around the soccer stadium. Nobody on prominade except workers and loiterers. At one stage the wind was so strong that I was almost running on the spot. Turned around after 20 mins. Finished off my run at Virgin Active. Did not do so great this week, but I have been cheating quite a bit and did not drink my quota of water every day. I’m still happy with my loss though, 5.5 kgs in 3 weeks. Not so bad, even if I must say so myself. But this coming week I’m going to concentrate on my diet a little harder and try and curb my nibbling cravings with healthier snacks.

21 May – Week 2 – PB Kings Park to Ushaka and back

Tried something different today, parked my car at Kings Park this morning and took a walk to Sun Coast Casino, from there jogged to Ushaka and back. Cut another 3 minutes off my time from last week. Did it is 59 minutes. Whoopie! Have cut off 6 minutes in 2 weeks from my time. Spent the whole afternoon at the Cannon Training Roadshow and just barely made it in time for weight-in at the Weight Loss Challenge. Weight loss was not fantastic, but none-the-less I still lost 1.4 kgs. I have been given a food tracker to fill in this coming week. I'm getting there 1 kg at a time which is good.

14 May – Week 1 – This weeks Biggest Loser

On Friday afternoons I miss my Run Walk for Life session because of the challenge so have decided to use the 2 hours between the end of my work day and the challenge to get a session in on the beachfront. Went to Sun Coast Casino and jogged 8 kms to Ushaka and back. Cut 3 minutes off my time from last week. I'm going to see if I can cut at least a minute off each week. First weigh-in at the end of week one. Lost 3.2 kgs this week. Biggest Loser out of all the challengers. Runner up lost 3 kgs. Won a Herbalife Formula 1 Meal Replacement Bar. Yummie!! Secret, drank lots and lots of water and have taken up spinning twice a week.

7 May – Start of challenge

Well, today is the day of the start for the 2nd Weight Loss Challenge. I weighed in today at 90.7 kgs. Have gained 2.6 kgs since the end of the 1st Weight Loss Challenge, but what the hell, I have been on holiday and have had a good time. So its back on track from today. After going for a 8 km jog on the beach front from Sun Coast Casino to Ushaka and back, I arrived somewhat sweaty, smelly, sticky and very late. After measurements, weigh-in and introduction of the program, the before photographs were taken and everybody was introduced to each other. I teamed up with Vino who is an accountant, we exchanged business cards. Amaizing how much you can learn about somebody in a couple of sentences. This time I have entered the challenge not to win but to help me stay motivated and reach my target weight by the end of the year. In these 12 weeks ahead I am hoping to fix some of the mistakes I made in the first challenge, most of all by not having any weight gains and reach my goal that I have set for myself. So this time I am going for 20 kgs. Wish me luck, I can do this! I did it before and can do it again!