Self Portrait

Linking up today with Jess from Diary of a SAHM for IBOT.

Last week, Jess put a call out for people to help read and comment on the posts that link each week. I put my hand up, as this is the one linky that I regularly follow and although I don't comment on every post, I do read all the posts. By being part of Team IBOT, I will be able to comment on all the wonderful posts that are linked up each week.


Jess asked the 6 of us to answer a few questions about ourselves and also to post a photo. I neglected to send a photo as I am not very good at reading instructions, and Jess used my blog picture - which to be honest, I would have sent anyway.

This is the picture I use on my blog, for twitter and commenting etc. I think this is a representation of how I want the world to see me - doesn't she look relaxed and without a care in the world?! I used a cartoon, not for anonymity, but as I just don't have any photos of myself. I have been looking through our photos, and since Master Z was born, I am only in a handful of ones we have taken. I put on a huge amount of weight when I was pregnant and have only lost half of this. I think this has a lot to do with why I don't 'do' photos, but I realise I have missed so many opportunities to be in photos with my little boy and I think this has been quite selfish of me. I tend to be the photo takerer (so a word!) and shy away from being in group photos. I am one of those annoying people that 'untags' myself from photos on Facebook and I usually demand to veto any photos people take of me if I think I look really crap.

I have decided that this would change as of today. I won't hide behind a drawing and I am going to lay myself bare. What better way to get it all out there (don't worry, I mean figuratively) than to put it on my blog. I am including a few of the photos I have of myself from the last few years and once I press 'publish' I am going to have to get over my insecurities.

This is the photo I put on all my uni Master's degree unit home pages - mainly as you can't really see me and 'hey, check out Everest in the background' Pity its about 7 years old..........

This is the worst photo of me, but was taken at the happiest point of my life. He was born at 7.10am, and I had an hair appointment booked for 9.00am that day - he didn't have the decency to wait for me to get styled!

6 months after Master Z was born, at a wedding in New Zealand - not a great photo of either of us, but I like this photo as it shows my total love for that boy (chubby bubby :o))

The only photo of our family I could find. I am horrified at this and will start to change it.

The only photo we have of me by myself. In New Zealand - almost 2 years ago! I hate looking at it, but will have to get over it!

And finally, here is a photo of me, today, warts and all. No make up, minimal sleep and I haven't brushed my hair for a few days. I am going to change my twitter and blog photo to something that is my reality. This is the start of it for me and hopefully I can start to be in photos so that Master Z can know that I was actually there by his side each day.

What are you like at having your photo taken? Are you a shining light, or a wall flower?

Chantel x

Small Things

I am currently addicted to Where's My Water? a puzzle game app that I have on the iPad at the moment. I am late coming to the party, but have spent my last few nights mastering all the levels.

Simplistically, it is a problem solving game based on the premise of needing to fill Swampy the Alligator's bath with clean water. You dig the dirt away with your finger to allow the water to flow through certain pipes. I had been playing this particular level below for about 20 minutes last night and was bombing out every time. It wasn't until after several minutes of utter frustration that saw steam coming out of my ears, that I actually stepped back to see how I was tackling the level.

For this level, you needed to get the blue (clean), purple (poisonous), and green (sludge) water from the areas on the left out in a certain order. When I looked at what I was doing, I was releasing them in the same order every. single. time. and I hadn't realised. I was repeating the same mistake over and over and over again, without any learning from my error. It took a simple change in the order I was getting the water out for me to solve the level very quickly.

So many things in our lives that frustrate us are from us repeating the same behaviour over and over again. (Many come to mind for me, particularly what I eat). Sometimes It is not until we step back from the situation, breathe and assess that we can see that often a negative outcome that keeps repeating for us can be altered with one simple change to our habits. 

Is there something in your life that you keep repeating the same action over and over again with an unsatisfactory outcome? 

Chantel x

I think lack of oxygen to my brain from exercising may be making me crazy......

Soooooo.........


I have been feeling in a real slump lately with this whole exercise, nutrition, health thing of the 12 wbt. I am not seeing the scales move STILL and feel like I am flogging a dead horse. So, I decided I need something to aim for. 
Something to work towards....


I signed up to do the HBF Run for a Reason in Perth on 27th May. That's 7 short weeks away - yep, 7!!!!!!

I am not a runner. I could swim for miles, I could swim all day. Running however, is another story. I run at the gym, 4 times a week, but only on a treadmill, and only 5 km. That's 7 kms less than what I am expecting myself to run in 50 sleeps!!!! And when I say 'run on the treadmill' - I mean that in the loosest sense of the word - I more shuffle my feet with my arms flailing about.....


I think I might be crazy......


But, it will give me something to aim for. It may make me stick to healthy food choices and avoid alcohol (still not doing this yet) and it may just kick start a new passion and habit.

I have done heaps of reading (one thing I am good at is reading and planning!!!) and designed myself a training programme, one that includes a long run, a medium run and 2 short runs a week, as well as one session of stretching and core work and one aerobics class a week. I have worked it so that I will have a few practice goes of 14 km runs in the weeks prior and hopefully I have increased it slowly enough that I will not pass out each Saturday.


My aim is not to race the 14km, just finish. And I know that I won't really be running, but more 'jogging'. I am aiming to complete the 14km track without walking or stopping for a rest. I know I am not going to break any records and that some people walk faster than I jog. I have put myself in the group just before the walkers and prams - if I finish before them, I will be stoked! I want to see if I can actually stick to a goal and hopefully drag my health and weight loss along with me, kicking and screaming.


I wanted to fund raise for a charity that worked with genetics and genetic disease as it is an area close to my heart, but unfortunately there weren't any involved in this run. In light of a tragedy that a good friend is dealing with at the moment, and also seeing the good things that Madam Bipolar is doing with her blog, I think that LifeLine is the charity that the Run for a Reason is supporting that fits best for me. I think by having a run that fund raises for a charity definitely makes you more accountable and means there is no backing out!


Watch this space!!!!!

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Linking up today with Kate for the 12 WBT journey over at Kate Says Stuff

Have a safe and happy Easter break - I will be running somewhere.....

Chantel x

Keep on Running.....

The other night I thought I would do a quick fitness test on the treadmill before I started my workout - as you do. I am doing 5km on the tready each day I work out as part of the 700 - 1000 calories I try to burn each session - aiming for 5 days per week- and I usually run for 3 km of that. 


The fitness test seems to be based on heart rate - and what is your acceptable heart rate range to work in based on your age. So I did the test and my result was:

Yep, way to make me feel good about things!! I know my fitness is way below what it has been, but each time I go to the gym and use the tready, the x-trainer and the rowing machine, I feel stronger and more in control. I am going to aim for a 'Good' rating next time - I would even settle for a plain old 'Poor' without the adjectives - ha ha!!

I am getting a bit disheartened as my weight loss is negligible each week. I have about 25 kg to lose, so I should be losing at least a kg a week, but its only a few 100 gms here and there. I am being very committed with my exercising, but I haven't stuck that strictly to the 12 WBT nutrition plan. I think maybe I need to follow this more to the letter. I have also being allowing myself alcohol - nothing major, just the occasional glass of wine. I am going to abstain totally (O.M.G!!! - bring me the sniffing salts, don't know if I will cope!) for the next 6 weeks and see if that makes the scales go down a bit quicker.


I have had some centimetre loss, so that has been OK and I am feeling a lot of energy. I see a chiropractor once a month for an adjustment - something I started when I was pregnant with Master Z - and I credit the speed of my labour largely to regular adjustments and yoga, so I have kept it up. I went on Tuesday and Dr S checked me over and didn't go through her usual adjustments. She just asked - "what have you been doing differently since I last saw you, as everything is in almost perfect alignment?" The only difference I could think of is exercising 5 times a week and she agreed that must be it.


So, the weight isn't coming off how I want it, but it must be having a pretty positive effect on the rest of my body. My energy and concentration is up and I am feeling really good about things and keen everyday to get to the gym.


How has your exercise been this week? I am linking up with Kate at Kate Says Stuff for the 12 Week Blogger Transformation. Head there to read about other's journeys.

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - Mark II

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Some of you would have read my previous posts about Michelle Bridges' last round of 12 Week Body Transformation. I was posting each Friday, I went in gung ho, did great with exercise and eating for 6 weeks, 6 kilos lost, then had a weeks holiday away, became sick for 2 weeks and then *crickets*. Nothing. I went silent on the whole thing.

As you can imagine, it was because yet again, I had fallen off the wagon. Yet again, I had stopped allowing myself to feel wonderful and healthy and I went back into that horrible cycle of eating crap, no exercise and regretting every bit of my lack of will power. I get angry with myself, and then to make myself feel better, I eat. Then, I get angry at my lack of will power, so I eat. So then the cycle goes round and round and round.

It makes all the things I said here seem meaningless and full of shit. It makes me sound as though I am spineless, weak and can't even make the simple commitment to living healthy for my family. I have had some sadness over the last 10 weeks, nothing major, just little hills to climb, but I have found myself eating for comfort yet again.

This has to stop. If I want to have anymore kids and be able to leave the house on my own steam, and not with the help of the fire brigade, I need to get my shit together. I need to sort my head once and for all and commit to something for the long term. My relationship and my family is one of the few things in my life that I have managed to commit to. Usually, I lose interest, or sabotage things. I need to put my relationship with my body in this category too and commit to it for life. From now.

I know that you have heard it all before, that you don't believe me and that's a very fair attitude going by my history. I just have to prove to myself and to you that I am worth it and I need to do this for me, first and foremost and my family. I feel wonderful when I am fit and healthy - why do I think I don't deserve to feel like that every day? Some brain gremlins I need to address I think. 

I am linking up today with Kate and Natalie's new linky for bloggers that are doing the 12 week body (blogger) transformation. I hope to link up each week or every few weeks. Good luck to those starting Monday. Wish me luck! - things need to change........

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - Week 6

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Sunday will be the end of Week 6 of the 12 Week Body Transformation and will be the half way mark. 

I have lost 6 kilos so far, so am sort of on track for my 15 kilo target - just need to step it up a bit. I have found it really hard to exercise this week as I have been sick a few days, so haven't really ventured out of the house. I had a migraine Monday, which although sounds bad, I take as a good sign as I only get them when my hormone levels are changing. I figure as I lose weight and fat burns, my hormones change, so often when I have been dieting or exercising I will get a migraine. That's me trying to see a positive out of 32 hours of hell and a foggy head!

I need to kick the exercise up a level, so will try and fit in a Super Session at the gym tomorrow with a 5km run, 10km bike ride and 2000m row again. 

We are going away for a week soon, so that is going to be a pressure point for me. We are going to wine country, so I will need to do everything in moderation. My plan is to do all 3 DVDs each day, as well as doing a walk each day - which will happen as the scenery where we are going is just magic! We will eat out each lunchtime, and cook dinners in our chalet, so I will make sure our dinners are pre-planned and will have salads for lunch - which I am more than happy to do this time of the year. Wine will be my downfall, but I am not going to say 'No' to it, as I would then end up begrudging everything, throw a tanty and throw all my hard work out the window. I think I will approach it with moderation, allow myself a glass or 2 a day and not have any snacks. I think this will be the best way for my mindset and I will just have to hit the exercise extra hard.

So half way, and still really enjoying it! Have a great weekend. 

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - Unexpected side effects

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Sorry that things have been quiet this last week. I have an assignment due tomorrow night that I have had to procrastinate about, had more sickness in the house and had a wedding yesterday, so missed my usual Friday 12 Week Body Transformation update.

This week has been great - still nothing fantastic on the scales, but the level of energy and fitness I am feeling is making up for it. We had to do a fitness test last week and I improved my 1km time by 30 seconds, so I was stoked. I also did a super session workout the next day for our mini-milestone - and completed 5km run on treadmill, 18km bike ride and 2000m row. Burnt just over 1000 calories, and I felt brilliant.

One of the weird side effects of regular exercise and eating well appears to be a need for neatness and order. Well, this idea has thrown me for a six, as I am the most disorganised, very messy person around. I am one of those that can't abide the 'pop in' as my house always looks like a tornado has been through it. I try hard, but at the end of the day it usually stays untidy. Things get left lying around, piles of washing, of dishes and papers. Don't get me wrong, things are always clean, just terribly untidy and disorganised. 

For some strange reason, the last few weeks I have had a feeling of unrest, a feeling that things need to change around here - and I can only put it down to exercise and healthy eating. I haven't changed anything else in my routine - still using the same washing powder and shampoo, but I have felt the insane need to get my shit together and get things in order. It has been a strange paradigm shift for me, but it has happened and is happening slowly. 

I know that Kate is big on systems, so I checked through her archive and came across her mentions of the Fly Lady and things just clicked. The Fly Lady focuses on a little cleaning and often - like the exercise on this 12 WBT - and she breaks everything down into manageable tasks. I think this is one of my big issues - I want everything to be perfect immediately and when I can't keep things perfectly clean, or maintain it at a level all the time, I just abandon it - probably a bit like my weight - interesting to ponder!

The FlyLady recommends starting with a shiny sink and making sure that when you go to bed each night, that the sink is shiny. For someone who ALWAYS went to bed with dirty dishes in the sink and never seemed to get through the pile, this was going to be a big ask. But wow!, you wouldn't believe the simple pleasure this shiny sink has given me each day and how easy it has been to tackle one small thing each day. Slowly over the last 2 weeks, the house is coming into a good order, and seems to be staying that way. There have also been simple systems introduced and so far, so good.

So, I can't come up with any other reason for why I have had this need, this need to order and maintain, other than the fact that I am organising and maintaining my exercise and eating habits. Something must be rubbing off into other areas of my life! If I could only get that urge to finish the assignment that's calling me......................................

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Have you had any weird side effects from any life style changes you have made?

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - Finding My Rhythm

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This week, the 4th week on the 12 Week Body Transformation, was going wonderfully. I was finding my rhythm, getting into a habit of good eating, exercising every day, then Monday, I woke up with the stomach from hell. Master Z's bug of the week last week was a stomach bug (this week it is conjunctivitis!!!!!) and I copped it. It meant no exercising for Monday and Tuesday, but probably actually went a long way to helping clear out my body! I am still a bit ginger and it hurts to exercise, but thankfully it didn't hang around for as long as Master Z or my dad had it.

So, on the scales, I lost what I put on last week, plus another kilo, so I am stoked. The most exciting thing for me though, is that I have lost 35cm all over, which makes me very happy - and means that my pre-baby clothes are just that bit closer.

Tonight I am completing my fitness test, so I am hoping that 4 weeks of exercising will have done something towards improving my dismal 1km run time. Tomorrow is going to be a big day though, as Michelle has asked us to complete a mini-milestone as we are 1/3 of the way through. My plan is to do a 5km run, 15 km bike ride and 2000 m row (in the gym of course). Really looking forward to see how I go with it. I am sure there will be a few walks and slow breathers in there, but I am aiming to go the distance.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - The one where I try to kid myself

I 

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Its Friday, so its 12 Week Body Transformation post time. Week 3 weigh in.

This weeks weigh in was hard for me. I  had an increase in weight and instead of looking at what I needed to do to improve for next week, I tried to kid myself, registered a lower weight in my stats and then pretended it didn't happen.

I thought that if I just put the weight in as a lower number, next week I would do better and it would all even out. What lies I tell myself! This is probably one of my biggest problems - if I tell my inner self something enough times, then it must be true. Who am I kidding? Only myself! Who am I letting down? Only myself!

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Then I read this post from the wonderful Sarah and I saw the contrast in attitudes to dealing with disappointment. I buried my head in the sand, she resolved to make a difference. It was reassuring to know that others were experiencing the same situation as me. 

With that in mind, I resolved to get over myself and exercised my butt off on Wednesday night. Instead of throwing in the towel like I would usually do and console my self with food - emotional eating much??? - I am going to continue to exercise hard and eat well. 

I have stuck to the programme to the letter, so it was really disheartening to see an increase. It was an increase of less than a kilo, but it wasn't a loss. I realise there are many reasons that you don't lose as much weight one week compared to the next, and I am really hoping that I see some results next week. I would even be happy if there was a cm loss at our measurement next week, or an improvement in the fitness test. That will at least reassure me that I am heading in the right direction and all this is not a futile exercise.

Onwards and Upwards - or scales downwards at least

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Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - The one where I talk food

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Well, 1st weigh in done and we are now almost at the end of week 2 of Michelle Bridge's 12 Week Body Transformation programme. We weigh in on Wednesdays, and I have lost 2.1 kilos in the first week (and 2 days, but that doesn't sound as good!). Happy with that, as I wanted to lose at least a kilo a week and know that in the first week you will also lose a bit of water, so on track.

It has amazed me how effortless this has been. I am eating a lot of great food, am never hungry or craving anything and it has been so easy to exercise. It is amazing what a mindset change does and how easy it is to break entrenched habits if you persist and swap them with new, healthy habits.

The food has been great, TBone has eaten the dinners as well and has enjoyed them. We have had lasagne, fish, steak, pizza to name a few. I even had a pork medallion, which I usually avoid as I find pork tastes 'dirty' - don't know why, just one of my 'things' - but I actually enjoyed it. All easy recipes, and good, natural food. I consider myself a bit of a foodie, I love to cook, eat at nice restaurants and I love to eat, so the food has to be flavoursome for me to enjoy it and this has ticked all the boxes. Last night's Pad Thai was the only time TBone mentioned what we were eating tasted like 'healthy' food. 

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Probably the only thing I am having an issue with is lunches. I have previously tended to avoid dairy, wheat and bread as the repercussions are not pleasant. My mum is a coeliac, but I am not, I just seem to have an intolerance so only ever have gluten free in the house. Probably 5 out of the 7 lunches each week on the meal plan suggest a sandwich, which I have been having. I am substituting all of the dairy suggestions in the meal plan, so I thought if I avoided them, I could at least give the wheat a try. The suggested sandwiches have been really tasty and I have enjoyed them - I LOVE fresh bread!!!! - but am suffering terribly after. I think I am going to have to concede defeat and wherever a sandwich is suggested, substitute it for a similar salad. I will try this, but stay with 'gluten-ful' other products and see if its just the bread that is the trigger.

Oh bread, How I love thee...

Exercise has been great, and I am starting to get that buzz you get when you exercise regularly that makes you want to do more. I went back to Zumba last night..... Yep, confirmed its not for me. I think there is a distinct difference between not being able to do something well and not being able to do something at all. I must have missed that dancing gene unfortunately. Luckily, I love Pump, Step and Combat classes and am really enjoying Michelle's Crunchtime DVDs. In fact that is what I had best do now whilst Master Z is snoozing - if anyone popped their head into our living room, they would have the shock of their lives!!!!!

Until next week, 

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah - The one where I get jiggy with it

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Today is Friday, so the day I do a re-cap of how my week has been doing the Michelle Bridges 12WBT run by Huggies. We started Week 1 on Monday and so far, it has been great. The eating plans are full of fresh, wonderful tasting food. I have not been hungry throughout the day and not looked to top up with anything tempting.

Exercise has been easy as well. I have diarised what I am doing each day and its funny how your mindset changes, but if the diary says 6.30pm Pump class, it gets done with minimal fuss. I am doing a combo of classes and DVD workouts. TBone leaves at 5am for work 6 days a week, so I can't eave the house in the morning to exercise - and I am not going to exercise before 5am regardless of how much Michelle threatens to kick my butt. So weekends and 2 week nights I can get a class in, but the other days are DVDs in nap time, which seems to be working well. It gives me enough variety to keep my goldfish attention span going.

I love the Les Mills classes, particulalry Body Pump, Body Step and RPM. I find the repetition suits me, nothing tricky and I can just switch my brain off and exercise. Then last night I tried a Zumba class ..........

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My mum must have learnt early on that I probably wasn't going to make a career as a dancer. When I was given the 'lead' teddy bear role in The Teddy Bear's Picnic ballet recital she probably guessed. 'Lead' sounds good yeah? No. I was just the teddy bear that stayed in the centre of the stage the whole time in first position and all the other girls pirouetted around me. She also probably realised that I wasn't co-ordinated enough for gymnastics from all the bruises I came home with. And by the time I was doing Jazz Ballet, she was confident enough that I could miss the grand finale recital so we could go to Perth to have my braces tightened. I was sure I would have rocked to Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, but she obviously recognised the truth.


I love to dance, but it is usually confined to the house or with the aid of cocktails. Having a love of something, doesn't mean you are good at it and last night proved it. 

I have always wanted to give Zumba a go. I was blinded by the hype. I had seen the ads and thought it would be easy. I expected a Latino instructor, but was met with the tiniest whitest girl - don't get me wrong, she was good at what she did, but I think I would have done better if she spoke Spanish.......

I was atrocious. I didn't really even get a sweat up because I spent most of the time just trying to stay upright 20 steps behind the class. There are lots of salsa and cha cha moves, a lot of hip gyrating and pelvic thrusts. I couldn't, for the life of me, get my pelvis to move separately to my arms, so ended up looking like a helpless octopus. I wasn't even helped by the song words "Put your left hand in the air", "Put your right hand in the air".

The other women (only women) in the class seemed to have some idea what was going on and had genuine looks of enjoyment on their faces - just like the ads promised me. They didn't all match what the instructor was doing, but kept dancing through the whole thing and I think that is the key. I came home feeling that I needed to do more exercise to make up for the lack of sweating I did, so today I will have to do a morning and evening DVD session.

Will I try Zumba again? The Old Me would say No. 

Next week, Michelle wants us to focus on breaking old habits. Maybe one of my habits that needs to change is that I don't persist with anything that I am not immediately good at. Maybe to make new habits, and a new mind set, I need to give it another go, get over my self-consciousness and realise that although I think the world revolves around me, no-one else in that Zumba class cares about what the fat chick (soon to be healthy) in the back row is doing with her hands. 

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I may just have to put myself out there and give it another go. I will let you know. 

How do you exercise? Do you get self conscious of how you look?

Chantel x

Preparation is the Key

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As I mentioned in this post, I am taking part in Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation and it starts on Monday. Every Friday until the end of the year, I am going to post about how my week has gone, what I have learned and how the kilos are melting off me - here's hoping!!!

Michelle has set several pre-start tasks and I have now completed all of them. I completed my kitchen makeover today, where I had to get rid of anything tempting. Surprisingly, there was not a lot to throw out - what was more disconcerting was the stuff in the pantry with expiry dates pre-2008. I also took the opportunity to clean the pantry and the fridge - very satisfying.


I have planned the exercise I am going to do - and if I am honest, I am really excited about getting back to regular exercise. I love the feeling you get from regular exercise and am planning to do a mix of Step and Pump classes, DVDs at home and I am going to will myself  to try a Zumba class. I love doing the Step and Pump classes as it is mindless exercise for me - after a few classes, when you get an idea of the routine, I can switch my brain into neutral and wake up in an hour. Two times a week, I am planning to get up at stupid o'clock to exercise - we will see how long that idea lasts!!!


The final task we had to do prior to commencing is measuring!!!!! I knew this was not going to be pretty, I knew what most of the measurements would be, but it was a definite reality check as to why this needs to have my 100% commitment for the next 12 weeks. We also had to take a photo - yep, that ain't going to ever see the light of day! But I think that I just have to look at it as motivation to never get back to looking like I do today - I never want to weigh this much ever again.


Michelle has posted our food plans, - which I must say look very substantial and pretty enticing. I have shopped today, stocked the cupboards and am ready to go. I also got some new work out gear, as the maternity trackies that I have been bumming around in for the last year probably don't need a public showing.
BRING. IT. ON.

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Have a great weekend.

Chantel x

Say Goodbye to Fatty Boombah

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A lot of bloggers are talking about looking into weight loss programmes at the moment - must be the hint of summer in the air- that pressure of having to be seen in public, possibly in a bathing suit will do that to anyone. 

Like so many women out there, I am not happy with how I look. I feel fat, I feel unhealthy and I don't fit in to any of my pre-pregnancy clothes. I have always been a yo-yo dieter, but before my pregnancy with Master Z, I was at my ideal weight, I was comfortable in my own skin and loving life because of it. I then got pregnant, and unfortunately suffered a miscarriage at 8 weeks. In my infinite wisdom, I decided that spoiling myself with all my favourite meals and food treats was going to make me feel better and take the pain away - nothing like emotional eating hey!! For about 4 weeks, I ate everything in sight - so proud of myself that I wasn't resorting to alcohol or anything silly to make the pain lessen. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I now know that in times of hurt, I eat to feel better and it is something I am more aware of and definitely don't want to do again.

Fortunately, we got pregnant again straight away, but the damage was done. I had already put on 18 kilos when I found out I was pregnant the second time and through the course of the pregnancy with Master Z, I put on a total of 42 kilos. I didn't think about what I was eating or doing and even my obstetrician said that pregnancy was the one time you can eat what you want, so I did .... and then some!!!! I have managed to get rid of 23 kilos, but am stuck in a cycle of excuses about how I am going to manage getting back the old me.

One of the blogs I follow is Dr Duncan Jefferson and as I was eating a pack of Tina Wafers last night (not even Tim-Tams! C'Mon Chantel, if you are going to do something, at least do it in style! - but no, I don't keep Tim Tams in the house as I would only eat them - hence the Tina Wafers!!!) I read his post about Stroke prevention. I looked at the risk factors he mentioned and aside from not smoking, I am really not doing anything to look after my health. As I am carrying a significant amount of extra weight at the moment, I am sure if I was tested, I would have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and be heading towards developing Type II Diabetes. These are all factors that can cause significant health complications and even death.

I need to look at being overweight as first and foremost a health issue and focus on getting healthy. I want to be healthy and fit enough to run after my kids, I want to feel good about myself, be able to fit into pretty clothes and most importantly, I want to be around to watch my kids grow up. My biggest short term motivating factor for getting healthy and losing weight is having more kids. If I fell pregnant at the weight I am now, I would not be comfortable and would be putting myself and the baby at risk. 

I had been toying with ways to get back on track, when the universe delivered me I received an email from Huggies, promoting Michelle Bridges' 12 Week Body Transformation. It starts on 26 September and finishes at Christmas. I saw this as a good way to get myself started, get back to eating well and starting an exercise habit back up again. I realise I haven't exercised at all since Master Z was born, so going on 20 months now!

Since signing up, I have read that Sarah at Ah,The possibilities! and Suz at Segovia are also participating and I am sure there are more bloggie people joining in that I haven't come across yet. Michelle has set some Pre-season tasks for us to do, which includes introducing ourselves on the forums, shedding our excuses and making a commitment to ourselves and those around us. So this is me making my commitment - I will do everything in my power over the 12 week programme to make steps towards my short and long term goals. I will blog about it along the way, so sorry if it gets boring, but putting it out there, in this space, makes me accountable and will hopefully be one thing that helps to keep me on track. My goal is to lose 15 kilos over the 12 week programme and have an exercise regime established that becomes a long term routine for me.


So please cheer me along, be stern with me when I falter and remind me of where I want to be at the end of these 12 weeks.

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Chantel x

  linking up today with Jess from Diary of a SAHM for I blog on Tuesdays.