What perfect timing to come out of a 12 week challenge and into the silly season....NOT!
I love Christmas, and for all the same reasons my body is not going to like it! So much food and drinks, so many functions, so many people to see and catch up with over more food and drinks. Work is crazy busy, time is limited for training and food prep and my will power is being tested with all the delicious treats I'm surrounded by!
When it comes to eating, I know that I fall to pieces unless I have a goal/plan to focus on, so enter 'Bec's Plan of Attack to Battle the Bulge this Festive Season'...hmm might need to work on the name but you get the idea! Let me make it clear that I'm in no way trying to lean out further/lose any more weight, I was pretty happy with where I finished up after the FTC, but what I definitely don't want for Christmas is to undo all my hard work and feel all sad and sorry for myself the way I did after our American binge eating fest honeymoon. (You can read about my post-honeymoon blues here)
So 'Bec's Plan of Attack to Battle the Bulge this Festive Season' (stop laughing now, this is serious!) is:
- Maintain my current weight as much as possible
- Relax, be merry and allow myself yummy treats at functions without feeling guilty BUT
- Eat as clean as possible in between said functions
- Limit alcohol - I've picked the main events that I want to be able to let my hair down completely and have a few drinks but otherwise (and this is my opinion for myself only) I don't see the need for it.
- Get stuck into the clean baking so I can bring a plate of nourishing goodies on Christmas Day
- Keep my training up as normal - this is my priority! I'm lucky to have a sister who's a PT, we've even planned to train Christmas morning - the second year in a row!
- Keep up the supplements - multivitamins, probiotics, CLA and I'm adding greens to my supps for added nutrition
- Stay hydrated - plenty of water, herbal teas etc.
- Fill my plate up with as much protein and vegies as I can...maybe they'll be no room left for sweet treats? (Who am I kidding here?)
And now I give you...an apple in a santa hat! Merry Christmas!
I'd also like to take this opportunity to welcome back pumpkin, natural yogurt and peanut butter back into my life, it's a pleasure having you back! I experimented with batch of protein brownies last night which are almost ready for me to share with you and chucked my cottage cheese chocolate mousse in my new ice cream maker with some PB2 and hey presto, I've got myself some chocolate peanut butter ice cream! Woo hoo!
Enjoy the holiday season and stay awesome xx
This weekend saw the completion of my second Fenix Transformation Challenge. I honestly can't believe how fast the last 12 weeks have flown!
I had my final weigh in, measurements and after photos done on Saturday. I'm pretty stoked with how I did, I'm definitely in the best shape I've ever been in at the moment which is exciting.
Compared to my first challenge where I lost 64.5cm around my body, this time around was not as impressive with a total of 18.5cm lost. I did however, drop significant amounts in my skinfolds (30cm) and therefore my body fat percentage and weight went down also.
Without further adieu, here's the final results:
|
Week 1 - 09/09/12
|
Week 12 - 01/12/12
|
Final Results
|
Weight (kg)
|
63.6
|
58.6
|
-5
|
Body Fat %
|
20.3
|
15.3
|
-5
|
Shoulder (cm)
|
103
|
103
|
1
|
Chest (cm)
|
89
|
84.5
|
-4.5
|
Navel (cm)
|
79
|
73
|
-6
|
Right Bicep (cm)
|
27
|
25.5
|
-1.5
|
Left Bicep (cm)
|
27
|
25.5
|
-1.5
|
Hips (cm)
|
89
|
87
|
-2
|
Right Thigh (cm)
|
53.5
|
52
|
-1.5
|
Left Thigh (cm)
|
53
|
52
|
-1.5
|
Right Calf (cm)
|
37
|
37
|
0
|
Left Calf (cm)
|
37
|
37
|
0
|
I love this part! Revisiting my original goals (I blogged about them here):
- Run 10km in 50 minutes - that's wiping a full 5 min 30 secs off my pb - DONE
- Get control of my nutrition - kick the sugar and binging habit in the ass - cos it doesn't matter how much I train, you can't out-exercise a bad diet! - DONE. My relationship with food is better than ever and I am so glad I was hard on myself for those final 6 weeks. It's made me appreciate foods like yogurt, dark chocolate and peanut butter as treats so I'm more likely to treat myself with foods that are good for my body rather than the junk I used to count down the days until I could eat again!
- Lean up quite dramatically - especially my lower body - would like to hit between 12-15% body fat - This one is harder for me to gauge, I have leaned up alot, as you can see above I'm sitting just above 15% body fat. My low body is still being difficult to respond with 15.5cm of the 18.5cm I lost coming off my upper body! Looking back at this goal now, as much as I'd like and will continue to improve my lower body, I don't think I want to be much under 15% body fat.
- Achieve a flat stomach with muscle definition - I can see some muscle definition in my stomach and on a good day, I can see my top abs starting pop out first thing in the morning, however, it was never my goal to get a six pack! So I'm going to say DONE to this one.
- Achieve an athletic body - look fit, healthy and strong to an outsider who doesn't know how hard I work - This one is hard for me to judge also, will have to ask an 'outsider' their opinion on this.
- Do 5 unassisted chin-ups in a row - Just missed out on this one - my best is a set a four in a row followed by two sets of 3.
OK so moment of truth - I think I'm feeling happy enough to share my before and after photos - I cringe when I look at my before photos but that's the whole reason they're before photos right?
Stay awesome xx
