A long overdue THANK YOU!!!

This is a very LONG overdue thank you to my wonderful husband. He is my best friend and I wouldn't be the person I am today without him. I know that sounds soppy but there is going to be a bit of that in this post.

Here's a bit of background...We went to pre primary and yr 1 together. Then my family moved away and I came back to do yrs 10 -12 in my old town. I almost asked him to be my partner for my Debutant Ball but on my way to ask him my friend told me she had just asked him. And I am glad that she did as he was the perfect partner for her and they continued on with the dance lessons after the ball. She passed away 12 months later and I am really glad they had that time together. We stayed in touch over the years and then the year we turned 21 we saw eachother a LOT! I may have got rather drunk one night and made a move. (My brother has a whole story about this night but I am telling this story so this is my version) It took another 2yrs before I agreed to go out with him.

We moved in together 12 months later, got engaged after 18 months together, married after almost 3yrs together & had our first baby just after 3yrs together. We have been together 10yrs, married for 7yrs, lived in 3 different towns, lived in 7 different houses and have 3 beautiful kids.

Happiest day of my life!!!

As the old saying goes "A girl will marry someone like her dad". Well I took that to the extreme some would say. As Mark and Dad look very alike. My brother jokes that Mark looks more like dad's son then he does. But he also has dad's patience and calmness. Which balances us out perfectly. I come up with brilliant brain wave ideas and he lets me go off on my tangent before he pulls me back to reality. 

He is always supportive and never more so then in the last few months. Our house is always hectic during hockey season and he puts up with a lot of crap. (there's no other word for it) He has to listen to me vent about people and circumstances. And like most women I am not looking for him to fix it but just listen. But like most men he puts in his 2 cents worth and he is usually right. (not that I will admit it to him) He puts up with me forgetting meetings until the last minute. And as these meetings are 45min away that means I am often out of the house before dinner, bath & bed time. 

I know a lot of people have husbands who are very unsupportive of their fitness and weight loss goals. He is always supportive and over the years and I have tried EVERYTHING to lose weight and paid A LOT of money to do so. He has a lot of times rolled his eyes at the latest craze I have brought into but he has gone along with it. Also he has NEVER once told me I need to lose weight. I have been big the whole time we have been together and he has always told me I am beautiful the way I am. 

Recently with my training to run a half marathon at the end of September his support has gone up to a whole new level. He comes home from work and sends me out the door for a run. When I come home he has either cooked dinner or finished it off, done homework with the kids, bathed the kids & on hockey training nights (2 nights a week) he does all of this as well as dinner with kids and bedtime. The whole time I am on my runs I am thinking of all the things I should be doing at home. And feeling guilty that I am not there to do all those things with my family. 

I owe him so much and I could not have lost 22kg, run 12km, been secretary of hockey & EVERYTHING else with out him by my side. I know that I am VERY lucky to have such a supportive partner and I sometimes take it for granted. So this is my way of say THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU and I couldn't have done it without you. I am looking forward to our holiday in October when all the craziness of hockey and the half marathon are over and we can spend some quality family time together. 

THANK YOU!! 

Here are this weeks weigh in details. 

Weight 84.5kg

Weekly loss 1kg

Total Weight Removed 22.1kg

Weight to remove until body scan 7.9kg. 

14.5kg till goal!! 

My 'other' family & life.

Today I want to share a little bit of the other side of my life. It's my second family during winter really. Hockey!! I have played hockey since I was 13. Which by some standards is a late start. Growing up I was a netball girl. I would spend my Saturday mornings at the netball courts playing then as I got older umpiring and coaching. But our family moved when I was 14 and hockey took over from netball.

I have played for 3 different clubs over the years as we have moved around. I have loved each and every one of them. I am my fathers daughter and can't help but get involved. He can't say no when it comes to taking on committee roles and I am not much better. It's a bit of a control freak thing. For the last 3 years I have been secretary of our club and I have loved almost every second of it. Sometimes I do wish I could just turn up and play but that feeling doesn't last too long.

This weekend we won our semi final which means we now play the preliminary final to make it into the grand final. I have never played in a grand final and I am really hoping we can change that this year. We are pumped and have all worked very hard to get to where we are now. Only 2 games to go and the season is over for another year.

I thought I would share some photo's that a lovely local lady takes of all the games each week. Sue O'Brien does a fantastic job and we all love looking at her pics on facebook each week.

The reason long Sunday runs aren't working at the moment. 

And the reason you should ALWAYS wear a mouth guard. Could have been soooo much worse.

Although I tend to let it take over my life for 5 months of the year. I have made some fantastic friendships through sport & hockey.I love playing in a team and partying with a whole club who support eachother. I have also had some of my funnest times with hockey girls both on and off the field. It's like having lots of sisters, sometimes you love eachother, sometimes you hate eachother but in the end we are all there for the same reasons to have fun and win a premiership!!! 

So only a few weeks and life will be back to normal for our little family. I think Mark will be happy that our weekend will be free again and the kids will be happy to have Mum home every night. We have been training twice a week plus netball Monday nights has made for a hectic last month or so. 

Hoping to get a long run in this afternoon. I really need to get into my 1/2 marathon training. Only a month to go!!! 

What do you do when you have lost your running MOJO????

Well if you are me you stop and take photo's!!

Here are some pics from Sunday's run in the city along the river.

Bit different to the roads I normally run along.

Beautiful City of Perth

Beautiful Swan River. 

Now here are some pics from my run/walk at home yesterday. 

Beautiful blue sky.

Footprints amongst the tractor tracks. 

Some kangaroo prints (not something I saw on my Perth run)

This windmill marks 500m to home. But it also marks the bottom of the hill we live on. It's a love/hate kind of thing. 

My last 2 runs have been a real struggle so today I am hoping to get out there and just run. Not worry about distance or times or anything. Hopefully I won't be posting anymore photo's from my runs anytime soon. 

What do you do to get back your running MOJO????

I am officially over weight and I am stoked!!

Today's weigh in has seen me hit a new milestone. I am officially not obese anymore according to my BMI. (Body Mass Index) I am now in the over weight range!! And when I hit my goal weight of 70kg I will be healthy. Only 14.5kg to go!!

To celebrate I went shopping today to buy my 20kg reward. New running shoes!!! I have only ever bought shoes either because they look pretty or for a specific sport like hockey & netball. Other then when I have had my brother has been there to help me fit them I have always only had a pimply faced teenager who really doesn't know much more then I do about what I need and want.

So after hearing so many rave reviews I went the The Running Centre in West Perth today. I normally would have been intimidated going into a place like this. But as soon as I walked all my apprehension left. I had great help from a lady who was great but I unfortunately didn't get her name. She was young, fit and great! She was very understanding and reassuring. After a quick chat about what sort of running and how much running I am doing they measured my feet. Turns out my left foot is a full size bigger then my right foot. Who would have thought.

Now here come the funny bit I had to run on a treadmill, barefoot, in my jeans. Which would have been ok but my jeans are now a little loose and I didn't have the best bra on!!! Luckily I only had to run for 30 seconds and that they only record your feet otherwise it would have made a great youtube video!!

They sit down and show you the vision of your ankles. Apparently mine are very strong and straight when I run. I tried on 2 pairs of shoes and as much as I wanted to buy the darker pair as they would be more practical purely for keeping them clean on my muddy tracks! I went with the prettier ones which were a wider fit. Even my feet are fat!

And here they are!! 

They are so comfy I didn't want to take them off!! I wanted to go for a run there and then. I was so distracted I nearly walked out of the shop with my jeans still rolled up! 

I did some other shopping today. I had to stop myself from reaching for the larger sizes. It has always been my first instinct and it is a hard one to change. Everything I bought today was a size 14. Well except my shoe's they were a 10&1/2 WOOHOO!!! Most things fit some are a little more snug then others. I even brought bathers & boardies. But I won't be sharing that pic any time soon. 

Here are this weeks stats

Weekly loss 900grams

Round 3 12WBT -900grams

Total Loss 22.2kg 

7.8kg until I can book in my body scan. 

This is post is in no way a sponsored post. It is purely written based on my experience at The Running Centre today. 

The reason my legs are so sore!

 From weeds to roses.

 Another view and the reason for my sore legs. 

 No more weeds amongst the veggies. 

Now we lemon, lime, mandarin & apple trees

Everyone lending a hand. 

(well except for the fire picture but they definitely earnt the beer) 

Before pics of a different kind.

When you play a sport that usually takes up one day every weekend for a few months you make the most of the weekends when you are lucky enough to have a bye. We have a bye this weekend and I had made plans to go and watch a my bestie play hockey. This was going to be a long overdue visit which would cover a multitude of things
A, Watch great hockey (my old team)
B, The kids would all get to see eachother
C, It's her babies 2nd birthday on Sunday
D, We would get to catch up. Of course we all know this was the real reason for the visit.

However.........a two weeks ago Mum said that they would come over for the weekend and help us get our garden sorted. How could I say no to that??? We have lived here for just over 3yrs and it is long overdue. I have tried roses in the past but neglected them & the rabbits had a lovely feed. About the only thing I have managed to plant and keep alive are some Geraldton Waxes & 4 Frangipani's in pots.And of course the lawn & weeds.

So this is what we are up against!!! This will be turned into garden beds with 11 rose bushes. We also have some fruit trees to plant. The plan is to then slowly add to the garden and have it looking great for Christmas time when all my family will be here.

Here is an update on our little veggie garden. We have flowers on the peas and broccoli starting to grow! The kids are very excited. We also have herbs sprouting and carrots growing.

That is what I will be upto this weekend. Along with a run both mornings to make up for the lack of hockey. Saturday morning will be a 10k with hills. Sunday morning not too sure yet.

Hope everyone else has a productive or relaxing weekend. I will post up the after pics next week. Fingers crossed for some big changes and not too many sore muscles.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses.....

Days that look like this are always full of excuses for me. I can't possibly go running because it's too cold, wet, slippery etc. Also another good excuse I have is that I am too busy. Not so much that I am too busy but more so that I am too busy at the times I am able to go running. Let me explain....

During the day whilst my two older kids are at school all day I still have a 2yr old at home. She is very cute and I love being home with her but not exactly young enough to sit in a pram for an hour or so and go for a run. And definitely not old enough to leave at home. I have tried going into the local oval so that she can play in the playground while I run laps but she is not into that at all.

Hubby comes home for lunch most days. And generally he is home for an hour. Perfect time for me to go running. Except lately he has only been coming home for short spurts as he is spraying or spreading or something. (clearly I'm a good farmers wife who tunes out when he starts talking farming)

He gets home from work at around 5pm. Which gives me about an hour of daylight to go for a run. However Monday nights I have netball. Tuesday nights are Lochie's football training which we don't get home from until 6pm, Wednesday nights are Molly's dancing not home until 6pm & Thursday nights are hockey training. So I get a work out then. And mornings are too dark and cold at the moment. I have to be home by 7am for him to go to work and I am scared of the dark so running in the dark isn't for me.

All of these are EXCUSES for not working out or running. We are now training 2 nights a week for hockey so Monday, Tuesday & Thursday nights I am exercising. That leaves Wednesdays as my major excuse day. Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays are all good I can make them work. So what to do on Wednesdays.......

Well today I had a realisation that running isn't the only form of exercise and there are plenty of things around the house I can do either while bugalugs is sleeping or with her joining in.

Here are my old friends who are my new Wednesday work out buddies. I was using these at the start of the year before I discovered running. Actually they may even become my everyday work out buddies. I will get a bit more sorted over the next few days putting together a bit of a circuit. But for today here is what I did....

60 squats
45sec plank
40 what I call pass overs. (laying on my back passing the ball from behind my head to my ankles & back again.) Hope that makes sense. I am not a big fan of sit ups or crunches as I can't really do them very well.
50 leg squeezes
40 bicep curls.

I may not have gone for a run but at least I did something. Like I said I will put together a proper circuit including some cardio with skipping and running around my verandah. But for today I just wanted to GET IT DONE. I was all motivated after finishing the vacuuming. I was already working up a sweat so I figured I may as well keep going. If anyone has any tips or exercise suggestions I would love to hear them.

So here are this weeks weigh in results.
85.4kg
Weekly Loss .5kg
Total Loss 21.2kg
I have worked out my reward for my next 10kg. I am going to have a body scan done. These show you all your body fat and muscle. You also have a consultation to see how to remove the fat and build muscles in the areas that need work.

I am hoping to go shopping for my new shoes next weekend!!!

5min plank, 200 squats, 18km & 5.9kg. Can I do all this in August???

The start of a new month and another milestone reach. Did you hear I hit the 20kg mark. 20.7kg to be exact! I think the whole world must know it by now. What's next??? Well I have decided to set myself some goals for the month of August as since going public has been working for me so far I am putting them out there for the world to see.

Some of these might be hard to reach but I feel like I am at the stage where I need to push myself. And hopefully my alcohol ban will help me reach these.

I am doing a plank & squats challenge. So by the end of the month I will be able to hold a plank for 5 minutes and do 200 squats. I am a little skeptical about these but I am going to give it a go. Time to start doing something other then running. And after flashing my tummy to all the hockey girls last night I really need to start working on my tummy. Not to mention I blinded them with how white my tummy is. It hasn't seen daylight since I was about 14!

I got some great running advice last night and I am going to increase my running by 2km each week. I am starting this Sunday by running 12km. So by the end of August I will be running 18km. WOW!! That doesn't seem possible at the moment either. This goal may be adjusted to 1km a week. Will see how I go and let you know.

As for my weight loss goal for August. Well I am going to really try to lose 5.9kg. Which would put me at 80kg. Now given that it has just taken me 12 weeks to lose this same amount it is also a pretty big goal. But I am re committed to pulling my finger out and losing this last 15kg. Hopefully with the above exercises, the alcohol ban & watching everything that goes into my mouth I can achieve all this.

These all didn't seem that scary until I wrote them down. Now I am thinking I may have bitten off more then I can chew. I am not going to beat myself up if I don't achieve all these but I am going to give it a red hot go. And if I need any inspiration I will get it from the size 14 shorts I ordered yesterday that I am sure I don't fit into now but hope to very soon. I will let you know when they come.

This is what will get me there! Think I may need to print this out and put it on the fridge. 

Has anyone else set themselves some challenges for August? Do you set big goals or smaller more achievable goals??