Doubt Fairy, She gets us all.....

I think we all get to a certain time in our weight loss challenges and the old habits start to slip back in, you know the odd chocolate won’t hurt or I exercised yesterday I don’t have to do it today….

I find it hilarious that I make such a big deal of exercise,  when I should be making it routine, I mean every morning I get up  (hit snooze 5 times) have a shower, brush my teeth, drive/train to work, have breakfast, work lunch, work, gym/boot camp/exercise, home, dinner, play with Joey (my adorable little kitten)..  The funny thing is sometimes the gym/boot camp/exercise part slips off, now I can guarantee you that the shower, brush teeth breakfast part will NEVER falter, so why can’t I do it for exercise?

I need to make my exercise part of my day, it’s not a chore, it’s not an effort, it’s not hard wok (ok it is hard work but that’s because I choose a hard workout)..  It’s not something that I hate to do…. I actually LOVE exercising I love the way it makes me feel, I love feeling my body getting stronger, fitter, faster, leaner……  I just don’t enjoy getting ready to go..

I exercise in the afternoon as my day starts at 5am and finishes at 4pm, so trying to find an extra 1.30min in the morning is too much for me.. However I enjoy the arvo exercise as it 1. Stops me eating, I finish work at 4pm, I’d be home say 4.30pm, so from 4.30-6.30pm I eat, I’m not hungry I just eat, because I’m home and the couch, tele and fridge is there…. BUT When I exercise from 4.30-5.30 drive home (traffic takes longer at that time) I am home at 6.30 which is dinner time and because I have just kicked butt in the gym I don’t ruin my workout with eating 1000s of calories before dinner ( I could easily get through a packet of chips, whilst watching tele and not even realise that I had finished them and then say to myself, oh the packet must have been full when I brought it… (Wow I got off topic there) and 2. It makes me sleepy, I’m buggered when I finish my sessions, I get home and make dinner, have a shower, play with Joey and then I’m normally in bed by 8.30pm and then dead to the world). When I don’t exercise I drink more Pepsi max and hence the caffeine keeps me up for longer.

It’s amazing what just a small couple of changes to your lifestyle can do. I.e.

1.   I exercise in the afternoon – hence I stop eating – so instead of eating extra calories on the couch I am actually burning extra calories off my body

2.   I get tired after sessions, so I sleep like a kitten.. (Babies don’t sleep soundly) ha ha.. Where Kittens can sleep all day… and very soundly…

3.   Believing in yourself – Believing that I can make a change and sticking to those changes..

I must admit I still find myself comparing myself to others that habit will take a little longer to change.  But in saying that I’m also comparing my old body to my new body and the awesome changes that I am starting to see, smaller thighs and butt, thinner face, happier person, more full of life, not as negative…. I always found it hard finding positives, but in the last 5 weeks, I am finding it much easier to remove a negative and replace it with a positive,  I don’t feel like exercising, but if I do exercise, I will feel amazing afterwards,  or like I did yesterday I didn’t feel like going to the gym to do weights or run, I felt like dancing, so I got home and put on Wii Just Dance, and danced for an hour, it was the best workout – I burnt over 450 cals and was did it doing something I love….. So I am now finding others ways to exercise which I enjoy…

The Doubts that I have I am slowly focussing on ways to move past them and in some instances, I am kicking down Doubts door and showing him whose boss!!

On a final note – don’t doubt yourself, we are all beautiful ladies, who have the world at our feet, its up to us to take that first step (which we are all doing with 12WBT) and step out of our comfort zone.

If you want to Box, then Box

If you want to Dance, then Dance,

If you want to run, then pound the pavement

If you want to Laugh, Google Cute Kittens and puppies…..

If you want this, you’ve got this…..

 

Live…Laugh…Love

Sparkles for everyone…

xoxox

Be in Love with your life, Every Minute of it....

This is a blog purely about my life transformation in just 4 short weeks.. I came across this quote

 ‘Be in love with your life, every minute of it'

I have come to realise that I am pretty awesome person and finally starting to see what everyone keeps telling me I am,  in a previous post I have mentioned that a very good friend of mine once asked me What do you like about yourself – I had nothing, well here is my updated list.

1.       I love that my body is keeping up with me in my challenges

2.       I love that I can stand in front of a mirror (dare I say it – half naked) and like what I see.

3.       I still love my hair, see attached photos, and you will love it too.

4.       I love that my body is shrinking, slowly but it is

5.       I love that I have a waist again,

6.       I love that my cheeky chin dimples are showing,

7.       I love that my face is thinner,

8.       I love that clothes look better on me,

9.       I love that I do boot camp in fitted lycra and feel so confident,

10.   I love that IM CONFIDENT in my body now at 108.8kg

11.   I love that I have lost 6.7kg and 37cm off my body.

12.   I love that my mind is no  longer negative,

13.   I love that if I slip up I don’t hate on myself for a week, I accept and I move on,

14.   I love that I can say No to chocolate and eat the Broc/Caul and Hummus.

15.   I love that I love me, I will stop now trust me I love so much about my body now it’s not funny,

It’s amazing what a quote can do, how words written on paper can actually pump you up, get you motivated, make you smile…  Get you OFF the couch and running….

 

I’m not going to lie to you, I have had some slip ups, 1am hot chips through room service after a Christmas party, the odd slip back into comfort eating, but you know what I did, I accepted the fact that I ate bad and that the outcome was it didn’t really make me feel any better, it actually made me want to run ha ha. So I am slowly starting to realise that food doesn’t make me happier or comfort me, I don’t get the high from food that I used to do, now after a good hard 12WBT exercise session I’m loving myself even more, yes I look in the gym mirror and take photos of my body changing and I smile bigger and bigger every time, yes I have attached photos.. Yes I love photos and yes I love being in them (always have always will)…..

Comfort food – No High..      Exercise – VERY HIGH!!!! 

 I see a pattern that I like…..  If I’m upset, punch a bag not a bag a chips, if I’m happy  get a massage or buy a bag don’t buy a bucket of KFC and so on……

We had a work Morning tea and a awesome lady brought in a platter of raw vegies and dip and fuirt, I was in Morning tea heaven, Im so grateful that people actually bring healthy food in, so I got to celebrate Christmas Morning tea with everyone and not ruin my calorie count for the day, which I must admit I have kept some from the week as we have our work Chrissy lunch today and I really want to enjoy the lunch...

I had my Christmas Party last Friday night and I had decided that I wasn’t going to drink a lot and I was going to DANCE… (Which I do anyway – I love dancing)….  I got ready into my dress and took some photos – WOW I could really notice this working, I loved that I didn’t look flabby, I’m looking more toned, even though I’ve have about 20/30kg to lose, I still love what I see….  I’m Beautiful, Pretty, Attractive woman….



This is me in my work Christmas Party outfit.

This is another quote that I love to bits, I have had ALOT of negative back and forth in my head for years, Ive been told by numerous friends that I need to be more positive in everything, you know if something bad happened, then everything in my life went to shit.. but you know why because I made it happen, I dwelled on the past, I dwelled on being single, fat, alone, lonely yada yada yada.. Guess what Angela, your're not fat, you're slightly overweight, you're not ugly you're a beautiful lady and guess what happened, GOOD THINGS started to happen,  I started losing weight, I believed I could do it, I started loving what I see in the mirror, things just started happening, I got carparks in busy shopping centres, I got the last shopping basket at Coles or the last bag of Spinach.  I know none of that has to do with it, but how awesome.. haha.... 



Weight loss for me is the journey not the destination, I am LEARNING so much about myself, how far I can push my body and sometimes pushing it that little bit more and being able to accomplish events that I never though possible, when I look back in ten years, Im going to say 2012 Ange- that was the YEAR that I changed my life for the better....

Live Laugh Love.

xoxoxox

Wishing you all a SUPER Sparkly day !!!!

xo

Boot Camp Babes.....

 Here are a couple of words I never thought I would say - I LOVE BOOTCAMPS....

I have never met such a likeminded bunch of awesome strong ladies, as I have at Sunday PIP Bootcamp, its like a mini family of togetherness..

We push each other, Ange pushes us, we work at our own pace but are encouraged to push that little bit harder, I leave bootcamp feeling happy, fit and energetic.....  I have even incorporated Anges 5 mins after workout meditation in my own gym workouts.. Its amazing how 5 mins of just letting everything go and being one with yourself can make you feel... Truly Bliss!!!

We ALL have those days were we need to release our day and the best way is to grab a sledgehammer and smash tyres, what a release, we did a circuit of about 10 different exercise, and I was looking forward to the sledgehammers to come back around...

Who would have thought that me Awesome Angela Sparkles would have lost 6.7kg in 4 weeks, feeling awesome about herself, actually liking what she sees in the mirror and loving herself to the power of rad.....;D




Awesome group of PIP girls on Sunday...



Heavy Duty Equipment



There comes a time in everyones life where you have a bit of a 'spare tyre' around yoru belly, well this me picking up my spare tyre and getting rid of it for life, my new life change has been amazing, people, my friends and most of all my Mum has seen this awesome change in me, Im no longer down on myself, Im probably a little to in love with myself at the moment... ha ha but thats a much better way to be...

 A friend of mine took some photos of me Front, Back and Side, I can see change that could also be that I am standing proud now...  I do see some change in my arms, belly, butt I feel more like Angela now...  This Ange was always in me just took some 'downer' moments for me to pick me up and maybe shake me a little - and WOW look at the changes, I am becoming unstoppable and I like the way that feels..



Enter POSER!!!! ha ha

 Being that this is only Week 4 I am SO excited to see what the next 8 weeks have in store for me... I am excited to think that im 8.9kg i will be at my goal of two digits.... then I can start to focus on my next goal and become lean and strong... and truly Awesome inside and OUT!!!!!

Bootcamps - if you havent already started doing them - please give it a go, dont be embarrassed if you think you are not fit enough or hate wearing lycra, I was the same, I never wear tight clothes, especially Lycra, but now I wear it proud, my body is changing and I am very proud of my progress.....

Live... Laugh.. Love.


Sparkle on..

xx

Mini Milestone Week 4 - Mission Complete

So I have been inspired by a friend of mine to challenge myself more. My Week 4 Mini Milestone was to run 5km in under 45min, my PB was 46.35. So I wanted to beat that, if I could beat that I know Im heading in the right direction.
I had a hectic day today, I got to work early my plan was to start at 6.30am, work through lunch and then leave at 3pm so I could go and do my mini milestone challenge, then go and get my tan for my work Christmas party at 4.30, I was all set, everything was going to plan, I finished all my work, I got changed and walked over to the gym, there was no way I was going to do this in the heat of outside, I needed aircon. I will also do this challenge again at my next 5k Parkrun event after the Christmas season.


I started running I felt good, I covered up the machine so I wasnt 'clock watching' the whole time, but checked every so often, when I did check I got the SHOCK on my life, my first 1km took me 11.25 to complete,  I was taken aback, How can I run on 8km a hour and it take me 11.25mins? I was devastated there way no way that I could do this if the first 1km took me 11.25mins, I didnt get it, I was nearly going to just walk and do it another day, when I realised thats what old Ange would do, what if new Ange tried her best to get to the 5km... I also noticed that the grade was up to 2 so the first km I was running up hill, once I lowered it down my next km wasnt to bad, I was looking good, I just kept running, I got to the 3km mark and I was starting to shake, my body is still 109.8kg so theres still A LOT of pressure on my knees and joints ( I have to get my knee drained on a yearly basis as the pressure builds up, I have had a couple of knee surgeries in my life and running probably isnt the best for them, but when it starts to hurt I walk ( I walk at +6km) so for someone with short legs this is fast. ha ha....


I was up to 30mins and I had two kms to go, I would have to have a miracle occur for me to be able to finish this off, I flash backed to my first km and the 11.25 and started to sink into negative alley... But then Fighter by Xtina came on my Ipod and I dont know what came over me but I ran, I pumped up the tready to 9km and I let the music take me.

I was running at 9km hr my little short legs were pumping so fast, I thought I was going to slip off the back at some times, when the song finish I looked down and I was 4km and the time was 38mins I had 6 mins to finish this last km, after the 9km running my legs were shot, I was already shaking, but its only 1km Angela, you can do this, give it EVERYTHING you have and you know what I did, I looked up and focused on the BODY PUMP poster 

This WILL be me one day..

(on a side note the chick in that photo has the best body, its toned, not to skinny but great definition I was lost in that photo when Ilooked down I was at 4.9km and the time was 43.42, I was going to do this, I was nearly there, 100m to go I was on fire... as it ticked over to 5km and I read the time of 44.31 I actually through my hands in the air and screamed YES!!!! I was so stoked, that I had kept going and actually beat my time with seconds to spare, let me just repeat that.

I JUST DID 5KM IN 44.31 Minutes....  

My old PB was 46.35 - I am right now Smiley McSmileson from Smilesville, Smileseana..

When I finished the PT behind the desk came up to me and said you seem mighty proud of yourself, whats your achievement I told him and he high-5d me, then the guy beside him high5 me and so did the girl on the bike, I felt like I was QUEEN of the gym, whilst I know they would all do it a lot faster then me just having people recognise my effort and not stare and snicker at the big girl on the treadmill made me feel invincible...

This program is making me jump leaps and bounds ahead and I am enjoying this awesome ride. I'm happier, healthier, fitter, did I mention happier, I'm thinner, I'm lighter, I'm smiling more, I love life and I love my body.  Yes you heard me correctly I LOVE MY BODY!! I love that it keeps me going, I love that it spurs me on, I love that when I'm tired my iPod even loves me and gives me a song that will know I need to keep me going...  

Today 6/12 I achieved my Week 4 Mini Milestone (and its not even Week 4 yet) bring on the rest of my life, I cant wait....

One last jump in the air of excitement...

xoxoxoxox

Sparkles out...

Week 2 Recap – You fall, you get up, you dust yourself off and you carry on…

14 days – 336 hours – of my new life…. It’s amazing how quickly you change the way you think, I mean don’t get me wrong I have struggled to lose weight my entire life,  I have tried all the diet fads (yes all of them) never did I think – Angela - Believe you can do it.. Was all it would take, the first sign of me starting to put on weight, I stopped everything that I was doing and went back to eating bad, not exercising because I believed that what’s the point, nothings changing… LIGHT BULB MOMENT - How about I don’t give up and just move on from that day? One day is not going to hinder my week – I’m not saying that I intend to slip up every week, that’s most definitely not going to happen, let me tell you what happened.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was on fire, I was so Bright that if you were around me you would have your sunnies on, I was eating perfect, I was exercising EVERY DAY following the awesome exercise plan, I was kicking goals left right and centre, I was living the dream J then I started getting massive pains in my stomach, had to leave work and ended up at the Drs – 10mins later I leave with a Drs Certificate, Prescription and an Inflamed bowel. Yes it’s painful, so what did I do went for my comfort food of Twisties and chocolate covered liquorice, and yes I ate it all. I was devastated with myself after I ate it all, I was sitting on the couch looking at the reflection looking back at me in the TV and I realised what I was doing – I threw away the packet (there were 4 choc liquorice pieces left in the packet), I also sprayed and wiped them so I wouldn’t go back later to get them. I got up and drank a litre of water then and there to fill me up so I couldn’t possibly want to eat anymore. I laid back down as unfortunately that’s the only position that didn’t hurt, I got up Friday made my Muesli and ate perfect that day, I didn’t feel guilty I kept at it. I pulled myself up and I didn’t falter.  I want to see the new version of me, I like the new version of me, yes I fell off the wagon but I jumped right back up and took charge.

I’m learning a lot of things about myself whilst doing this program some are great, some are bad and some are just plain ugly.

I’ve learnt that I can do this, I have the power to do it, and day by day I am becoming more AWESOME ANGE…    I am starting to like what I see in the mirror, see photos (yes there are a lot of them, but I am currently loving me) I have always liked myself a little but never actually been able to look in a mirror, in underclothes and look at my beautiful smile or great hair, or smooth skin, all I ever saw was a big ugly overweight person…

I have lost 4 kg since starting this awesome program, and whilst many more have lost a lot more, I feel like I have gained 10kg of confidence, 20kg of self love and 30kg of pure get up and go.

Whilst I still compare myself to others (this will take a while to curb) I am slowly getting there day by day… 

I read my stars this morning and this is what they said - The day should be excellent, Angela. For the past several days, you've been searching for a meaning in what befalls you in life. There have been changes in your chief occupation, new relationships, bursting ambitions... Today, you can let all of that soul searching go. Instead, you're likely to whip up a huge mixture of the whole experience and be grateful for the thrilling life you are leading right now!  Today, the association of Death and the High Priestess is causing you to change your approach to your emotional situation, Angela. You'll want to take a close look at your life, which may lead you to give up some material comfort in your search for the truth. It's time for positive reassessment.

WOW I know right, I have been on this little mission on what I want the past couple of days and to read that just put it all into perspective for me. I want to live the best life that I can, I want to be healthy, fit and toned, I want to feel love and be loved, I want life to be happy and I want to be grateful for all of my experiences in life.  I am the person I am today from all of my ups and downs in life.

A couple of things that have gotten me through the small struggles are:

Water consumption - we sometimes all struggle with this and drinking so much per day, I must admit since drinking 3L of water a day I have felt amazing, I feel like my insides are being cleansed, this is what I do to make sure I am keeping my water consumption up – I note a lot of people do this in different ways but this is what works best for me… and since doing this I sometimes forget to have my 10am Pepsi Max 1/ because I am full of water and 2/ I just don’t feel like it.

Food Prep -  I never thought about cooking up meals and freezing them, but this week when I didn’t want to cook or whilst I was sick at home – getting something out of the freezer and zapping it for 3mins and bam dinner is done was fantastic.. I cooked up the Penang chicken (as everyone has been talking about it) OMG I felt like I was eating store brought take out.. It was delish, luckily I put it into 3 containers after serving myself dinner otherwise I would’ve tried to eat the whole lot……..



Smoked Salmon and Veggies Treat meal :D



Penang Chicken



My new snack of choice.. Carrots, Celery and Hummus.



Treats - I’m not a big sweet tooth person, give me savoury any day, but I have worked Into my plan a Choc paddle pop three days a week – so the days were I REALLY NEED A TREAT I know I have a choc paddle pop at home waiting for me and not a bag of chips, block of chocolate and KFC. It’s amazing when you have Penang Chicken and a Paddle pop I feel like I’m cheating when in fact I am well in my 1200 limit…. It’s amazing how much food you can actually eat when you plan ahead.

Motivation – I sometimes find it hard to get up an exercise or eat properly but then I say to myself, ANGELA you want this? You do it.. Easy as that…  I don’t want to go through another year of me being upset about my body and single…The only reason I am single is because I have a bad body image which effects the way I date _ or lack thereof.   The more I see myself as a beautiful lovable person the better…  I look at my visual wall or Wall of Awesome as I call it for all of my achievements I have done in the past 6 months, I have done many fun runs and events, but I’m only focussing on what I have done in the past 6 months, as you would have seen on earlier posts I did a Triathlon, my first one I also did Warrior Dash.  I took before photos in undies and bra no sucking in and fully relaxing my body, I wear tight clothes to Boot camp, ok not tight fitted might be a better word.. ha ha and yes I still do have rolls (that would make a bakery proud ha ha) but I’m starting to love my body as is, all cuddly and round, but I’m also working on making it still cuddly but in a different more toned way. ;D



Great Run and Cardio Session



Weights Session - Not as many cals burnt.



I have met some fantastic people at PIP Boot camps, 12WBT Boot camps, through other friends and also on the forums… One lovely lady in particular Mish, we talk often (I need to shape up with my replies sometimes) but it’s great to speak to someone who doesn’t know me and all the dramas that I have been through, it’s like making a new friend with a clean slate, we are both doing this to lose weight and make us the best version we can be. I am so humbled that she put up my blog for the weekly challenge, I love that Mish can read my blog and take something from it or be inspired.  I started the blog as a therapeutic vice to let go of all that was in my head… so Thankyou Mish for reading my blog I love our email chats and I look forward to meeting you even if it’s at Finale with our hot new bodies and changed minds.. ;D

I am a little nervous this week with my weigh in tomorrow like I said I had a BAD day and most people will say one day won’t hurt which is probably right, but I have only exercised 4 days this week – although one was a kicker at PIP on Sunday but being that I have chatted your ears off in this blog I will do a new blog for my awesome boot camp experience and turn around…..

Thanks for reading, you guys rock, I love that I get to share my life changing transformation with such a great bunch of people…

Live…Laugh…Love…

Have a sparkly day…

Sparkles xxxxx