me at the end of my last program (about 4 weeks ago) 

this pic was taken yesterday... i can't believe the difference a few weeks has made to the lower half of me... I hardly felt as if i'd lost anything... i'll let youy guys check out my b-hind.. because i think sometimes you don't even realise you've lost it 

Thanks Teresa

9 Stay positive and put yourself first
It's really important for us to realise that we need to put ourselves first and look after ourselves in order to enjoy our everyday lives. These days society demands that we look great. We constantly beat ourselves up over the way we look, doing damage to our health and self-esteem. Remember to enjoy your food and exercise in moderation and being able to have the occasional treat when you feel like it is ok, so long as you're not treating yourself every day! If you love your body, the best things you can do is to nourish yourself with healthy foods , get regular exercise and plenty of rest. A positive approach is the best way to tackle anything. Remember you are what you believe.

www.teresacutter.com

VIRUS SMIRUS

Hi, well i have the day off and feel like crap. I got out of bed quite amitious, ready to do weights abs and cardio, i went for a wlk around the block then took my self home... the cramping that i had yesterday is a hundred times as bad...can't get off the toilet...yukky....

So, i've had some tablets to numb the pain, my neck and shoulders are SO tight...i'm glad it's blowing it's ass off outside, because it makes me feel a whole lot better about spending the day feeling sorry for myself in bed. I don't feel like eating anything, and i don't know if eggs and veg will make me feel worse... walkign a fine line here... i feel like oats, but i'm on low carb..... hmmm the mind boggles...

I seem to be plateauing with my weight.... waittingt to hear from Sue re this....i don't know whether i should use a thermogenic to get cranked up again....

I'm entering the body blitz again today... it means i will have to keep working out for four more weeks after my IBO program finishes, but i wanted to get some kind of fitness plan in place for life after IBO anyway... so maybe this is the PERFECT solution... i actually think it will work out quite well, it will force me to make better food decisions and learn to cook healthier stuff...

k well, going to check forum out now... got day off work ,so will toodle off home (don't have net at home) i know.... i shouldn't have come in but i wanted to check e-mails and forum.

Have a great day!

ME ON THE WAY TO THE GYM....

Its moooonnnday - and Im feelin' ok....sounds like a song- my singing doesnt really work with those lyrics though - Im more of a mariah carey girl myself...ahem.

So yeah - Im ok - woke up this morning to start my 9 week countdown - with a HEAVY and I mean HEAVY workout - said Raes words in my head of 'lift heavy or go home' - it really motivated me - I actually felt my abs through the workout - love the feeling of a strong 'inner core' - just got to see them work!!

My arms were shaking when I had my post shake - my muscles sucked up the protein like a sponge - they bloody needed it!! Had to laugh - still going to this country gym - 2 old school classrooms pushed together - equipment is old, but hey, it does what I need it to do! I picked up the 10kg for my bicep curls and I had 3 women crowd around me and watch!!! They had never seen the 10kg used by a girl before - I was shocked!! I felt like ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGER!! Told them they will have to take some photos when I pick up the 12.5kg...!! It was good - I think it motivated them to pick up a heavier weight than a 4kg - 'chicks should and CAN lift heavy!!'

Meals today:
Meal 1: 1/3 cup oats w 30g protein powder
Meal 2: 1/2 cup oats w 200g cottage cheese
Meal 3: 100g chicken w 100g sweet potato & mushrooms
Meal 4: 100g chicken
Meal 5: 150g lamb w green beans

Other:
3x coffee
post-workout shake

I know I said I wont be having cottage cheese - but I hadnt had time to preprepare meals - so it was the easy option. One thing I have to confess is my 'abuse' of soy milk....yep have been drinking it out of the carton!!! so...I will have to control my addiction - 2tbs per coffee bella!!! Lite Soy Milk DOES NOT replace WATER!!! Phew - feel better - I think all those nice pink drawings on the carton doesnt help - it all looks so friendly and good for you....damn marketing ploys - gets me everytime!!

so....I'LL BE BACK....sorry guys had to say it!!!

PUMPED

Well, i gotta say that apart from feeling a bit snoozy i am feeling amped and so focused! I've decided to focus all of my energy into the remainder of my program and give ALL i have! It has made such a difference, even my abs work outs are so much more focused...i feel so much better... it's like i've finally got this undescribable boost of energy... weird energy, more like a mind energy... my eyes are still heavy but it's just been a major attitude adjustment...

you guys will just LURV this...

ok,. so the other day, Bella nad I apparently had some kind of motivating lightning hit as at the same time *weird* , since then i've been working my butt off to get all of my stuff done, abs, cardio, weights etc....anyway, it meant doing something morning and night... I decided to go for a fish with Dan last night though, at first i was bummed because i thought i was going to miss a work out... we-elllll how wrong i was...

We planned the fishing trip so we had to walk a long way to get there and back, so i trekked out in soft sand carrying my fishing rod and a back pack....which was fantastic...

i stormed ahead of the guys so i could get a really good work out, then when i got up the beach i thought yes i have a towel(i wish it was premeditated... but sadly im not that smart) ... ABS ON THE BEACH woo....so got stuck in and did my abs.... half way through the guys arrived...stood in front of me and pretended to be my drill sargeants...lol usually i would have been way too embarrassed... but i just decided i didn't care.... they then shook their heads turned around grabbed a cold can and cracked it, remarking how i make them tired just by watching... :-)

it was wicked... so stoked with myself! so fight fight fight....Raes poem from body log has helped me heaps. You know what, also an affirmation from Anthony Robbins, i've been saying these out loud when i run...
"Everyday in every way i'm getting stronger and stronger" you can replace stronger with whatever you want, ie happier, richer, whatever you want. I have the stuff that i can send to you guys if you are interested, i've found it so empowering. If you want them, e-mail me your postal addresses and i'll send them out. I have the "hour of power" loaded on to my ipod, take it for a run and feel like a new girl at the end of it...it's a bit dorky, but it works.

My affirmaiton is " Every day and every day i'm a fit and happy non smoker, everyday in every way i'm a fit and happy non smoker..." Beki, trying shouting that out whilst you're running... it brings tears to my eyes when i do it... put a big smile on your face... and look like an idiot, i only first did the smoking one this morning as i'm testing it out to see if it helps...working so far.... one day at a time though right...

So, let's get "juiced" as he says... cracks me up every time....

FAT CLOTHES

Hey, we all have ‘em. Admit it. I’m wearing some of mine right now, but not because I’m “fat” but because I just WANNA. I wear very loose clothing most of the time, even when I’m ripped. Then, right when you least suspect it: BAM!! Speedos. I’m an artist and we like our stark and drastic changes.

Like the combover, fat clothes aren’t fooling anyone but yourself. Wear all black and dark gray vertical stripes until the cows start to quack and you’ll still be fat when you’re neekid. Most of your friends and co-workers will just mutter things like, “Hmmm…doesn’t he/she have any fashion sense? I mean, just because he/she is FAT, I mean…” Get it? Good. Because we’re about to turn the tables on fat clothes and use them to our advantage.

You see, we all have fat clothes, and now you know (hopefully) that they suck.
Here’s the secret: most of us have fat clothes that are a size too small right about….now.

Here’s a great trick for discarding fat faster than Donald Trump discards the people on his reality tv show..

Today, go put on a pair of jeans that’s one size too small…or a half-size. Wear these all day. See how much less you crave food. Go ahead and dawn this ensemble with a trendy fat-clothes top so you don’t feel like an utter jackass. That’s okay in this exercise. No…really…GO. Now. I’m not typing another word until you….okay then.

How does it feel? Sucks, doesn’t it? Good! Wear them around for as long as you can, then slip into something more fatty later in the evening, like this wonderfully-lined and fashionable pair of Armani (read: Target) sweats I have on right now. I’m right there with you.

Then, put those pants on your bedrail, dresser, or if you’re really freakin’ cool, hang them from your ceiling and call it abstract art. Take them down in a week or two, and put them on again. Guess what? If you’re doing the 10, they’ll fit. In psychotherapy, this is called desensitization. It’s a trick I learned when overcoming panic disorder many moons ago. You see, we ‘fear’ those clothes. Really. They remind us of everything fat reminds us of:

Being uncomfortable.

What we used to be.

What we wish we were.

Take a stab and this and watch how fat clothes, unlike the combover — which serves no useful purpose other than Blog Fodder — can start serving your goals.

Oh, before I forget: be sure to keep your ‘current’ fat pants when you fit into the others, just for a few weeks or so. Then burn them. It’s fun to wear them around with a belt and feel really lean and healthy on your way to becoming truly lean and healthy. But burn them. That way going back is, at best, an expensive option. Think “Greek” here folks. They burned their ships when they landed on an island they wanted to conquer.

No retreat.

No capture.

No surrender.

Posted by Jon Benson at November 4, 2005 01:19 PM
www.10in10challenge.com

Breaking the HABIT

THIS IS NOT AN ATTRACTIVE HABIT!

kat - its really good that you have identified your nutrition hurdles - diet coke/ artificial sweetners etc - you have to become AWARE of them before you can give them the A**. My other issue is at around 3pm EVERY DAY - I have a 'lets go and have a look at whats in the kitchen' idea - well BAD IDEA. I stopped myself today - wasnt craving sugar just a mixture of boredom and habit - and have decided each time I say NO when I get this 'idea' - these 2 things WILL become weaker - and will just eventually disappear. Habits are weird things - I can do the same bad thing and beat myself up for it over and over - then I go away on holidays or whatever - dont do it - and come back asking myself why I ever did it in the first place!!?

EATING BAD FOOD GIVES YOU BAD MANNERS!! 

too true... 

It's been a loooong week...

Firstly, i have left comments for Bella and Beki in a couple of the posts below... RE: the fag hag stuff...
Secondly... no it didn't last again....
THirdly... i'm over it! - this is going to sound disgusting to everyone but you know why i still smoke... i've worked it out...because i get driven nuts when i'm sitting around tables of food and alcohol at social occassions....it's like if i don't smoke i eat twice as much!~ stupid i know....still working on it...

Isn't it funny how some weeks fly by and other weeks just drag and feel a bit like torture... well i've had a week of the latter...

I'm pleased to say i like knowing that i have made improvements within myself... up until Thurs i had not done a single weight session and very little cardio... in the passed i would have thought "stuff it, weeks over" and given up until Monday, however, regardless of how crappy i've felt have resolved doing nothing would make me feel worse and have now only got one more weights session to do phew... almost there....

Drinking copious amounts of alcohol just isn't worth it... this is what happenned...
1. GOt SO bloated....ate lots of bad stuff for 2 days afterwards... it through me right off... and i bloated up with fluid...like 3kg's of it! I know this happens to me easily as it has happenned a thousand times before, so don't know why i do it to myself...
2. The bad food leads to bad "manners" .....i stink for 3-4 days (so EMBARRASSING!)
3. Been exceptionally tired...


So decided some serious thought had to be put in to my current situation. I have just agreed with Sue to write out a pact to swear off the boozers for the remainder of my 12 week program... if i decide to drink it's an absolute maximum of 2....i figure, it's a small sacrifice to make to get the body i want....so, decided i can't have my drink and swallow it too.... as Daniel and I discussed yesterday, beer is like glue to my hips... goes down my mouth and remains on my hips and takes far too much effort to move it!It's not fair, but i have to face facts and learn to deal with it or i'll just go putting all the weight back on again.

It's funny, as soon as i went back on to clean eating... no cheating... my sugar cravings went too... i'm with you guys in that the artificail stuff seems to make them worse... and sometimes even create them...

Re: everything else, i have spent sometime looking at my diet... i have barred coffee all of my low carb days (because i put far too much milk in it) have switched to green and regular tea) i bought a mixed pack of the Moccona coffees today...i love Moccona... so decided to have a coffee as a 'treat' on high carb days...and this way i get to have a really yummy coffee...i'm also putting an end to my free meals.... because my free meals usually end up being alcohol....i can live with that....

Re: artificial sweetners... i drank a few cans of diet coke yesterday and had a really bad headache last night....i wonder if was the DC's.... i don't use much artificial sweeteners only 1 splenda tablet in tea/coffee.... don't use it in anything else... and yes Beki, i am sick of cottage cheese too... i've decided to have my protein in scrambled egg whites instead...i figured that not wanting to go to the fridge to get your meal because you know what it is, was was BAD....it makes things harder, i'll still have the cottage cheese, just not every day, i'm making an official point of having more variety.

Looked at my high carb days and decided that i'm not having enough variety... so plannned my menu yesterday for today...so i have a better variety of food... a yoghurt, some fruit, chicken stir fry w rice for lunch..yum! The low carb days won't be so bad if i am more organised on my high card days and eat some different stuff.

So, at least things are looking up.... being organised is definately the key....geeze.. almost on to week 4 already... time is flying by.

Jobs for this week:
1. Put together a plan for social gatherings... so i don't pick at crappy food ie dips and crackers, smoke ciggies, or drink alcohol (is it humanly possible...i guess i'm about to find out)
hmmm... well that's about it... oh Dan and I are starting to do the Anthony Robbins Get the Edge program together this week.... it will be a big WEEK.

DRY AS A CHIP

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE BRING ME SOME WATER!!?

Update: have been SOOOO thirsty - I think I have already consumed 3ltrs of water before lunch!! - yes I have been peeing like a mad woman - feel like I am in the sahara - and yes beki, still feeling like a camel without the humps...haha
Still no sugar cravings - did look at my boyfriends organic museli this morning and visualised myself eating it - but didnt. Gotta love organic museli with all those litle surprises (nuts, raisins, oats, dried apple et) in it - I pick museli to bits -it takes me ages to eat.
Where the hell are you kat? miss you x

3 days - Change for the better

You know what guys - I am on my 3rd day of clean eating - following my nutrition 100% - and I have absolutely NO cravings - I feel awake, focused and motivated. Very interesting - I have made changes but the main thing is I followed my program - spot on. It has taken a good 3 days to rid my body of any sugar - little bits of sugar that i was consuming almost every day - sugar that was playing havok with my well-being and results!

Its kind of like when I was doing my final week in my 1st program - the first couple of days were really hard - just chicken and green veggies - but on the 3rd day my body responded fine and I didnt crave anything else - I think its true that the body takes 3 days to rid itself of cravings (most anyway) - dont they say the same thing about smoking? - get throught the first 3 days and you will be fine - it takes this long for the body clear itself of nicotine?

Changes to nutrition:
- NO more peanut butter - only using flaxseed oil as my 'health fat.' I LOVE peanut butter - but it was giving my cravings for sugar - weird I know -and it was also difficult to stop at just 1tbs - so it had to go.
- REMEMBER mutli-vitamin after Meal 1 - so I dont foget - I havent taken it consistently for 3 weeks now - I need my VITAMINS!
- ONLYhaving 1 serve of Protein Powder per day. I was eating WAY too much before - 3-4 scoops! aahgr! I am now eating 'real' protein - mainly from chicken / egg whites.
- NO dairy - only lite soy in my coffee. Will eat cottage cheese 1-2 times a week. It gives me bad gas if I eat it every day - thus bloating - thus feeling like crap.
- NO sauces - especially anything that is labelled 'sugar-free.' This includes diet yoghurt / diet jelly / diet coke etc. I think the preservatives - especially asparatame gives me BAD cravings - plus my tummy doesnt feel good after I have these things. Also - no splenda - I can use an entire box on my oats alone!
- AVOID rice cakes - only 4, yeah right - I have 5...maybe a couple more if I chose these as my carb serve. Its now going to be Sweet Potato only! I find I am fuller longer and it is much tastier!!

These are the changes I can think of in my nutrition - I will post more if I think of them.

Reasons for 'sluggishness...'

If you do this....


You may feel like this...!!

things are looking up...

Well, i've been discussing making diet changes with Sue...i'm still not too sure exactly what i should do... must confuse the heck out of the poor lady :-)

Hmmm, aghh just hit the nail on the head... i have to be fatiqued to be feeling this sluggish!!!!!! it's not like me not spring out of bed at 5.30 am to work out, like i seriously never have issues with it!

1. big smack on hand because i haven't been taking multi-vitamin and
2. Maybe i need some extra help like Durathon....

want to make this body an energetic fat burning machine.... any ideas???

Organised Organisation

Wow - have had a great day - after yesterday I had a really good think about my goals, refocused, took a deep breath and put things into perspective - and it worked! For me its all about organisation - both in nutrition and exercise.

I now have a 'daily plan' - that I will do each morning - from meal times to food preparation and exercise.

I have also started to write all my meals down - I did this in my 1st program - and I think it had a lot to do with my end result - which was a success. It made me acountable - and all the pics I glued amongst the pages were very inspiring - kinda feel like Im back in primary school! - although back then the pics were care bears and my meals were mums sandwiches!!

No more of this attitude for Kat and Bella...
WE HAVE A CHALLENGE TO FINISH - BRING IT ON!! :-)

Blah

Am having one of those really 'flat' days...

NO I didnt say 'FAT' days - I know I am not 'fat' - but I do feel 'soft' kinda like a marshmallow...without the sugar content...dammit...

*sigh* - do I blame it on the weather?
1/4 warm - 1/4 rainy - 1/4 cloudy - 1/4 windy?...maybe.

*sigh* - do I blame it on being tired?
Getting a good 6 hours a night - the days have just been crazy busy...maybe

*sigh* - or do I just put it down to 'universal energy'?
Is there a full moon coming up or something - what does my astrology say?...maybe.

ANYWAY - enough of the maybe - could be - probably - should be - mumbo jumbo.

Am going to have an early night...maybe its christmas blues or new years jitters.. does that exist?!!

Day 2 non smoker

yay....

i've had some shocking ups and downs, but overall, i'm still ecstatic that i made this decision... my head is pounding... still eating off plan (well, i've only had 2 protein bars.... but i'm not meant to eat them...)

couldn't deal with a big run this morning, so went for a small jog, better than nothing and made me feel HEAPS better!

so that's me. I have tomorrow off.... got lots of exercise to catch up on, but i will get there eventually!