I've signed up for the Triathlon Pink event!

Yesterday I finally got together with some ladies from our SWSyd Crew for a 6km power-walk around Mt Annan Botanical gardens and then a swim session last night.

The walk was fantastic, with the real champions of the day being the kids. It was great to finally participate in a group event and my girls loved being with the other kids. It's great that we have a Crew where even the little ones can get involved.

Last night a few of us hit the pool for a swimming session. It's been a long time since I've been in the water, and I realised last night just how much I've missed it. I loved doing laps up and down the pool, with freestyle and backstroke being my strongest strokes. I'm going to make swimming part of my weekly exercise routine from now on.

At the beginning of the week, I had decided that I'd do the Pink Fun Run instead of the Triathlon Pink event due to lack of preparation...but last night Geanina and Rachel encouraged me to compete in the triathlon...and I did the craziest thing by accepting the challenge! 

We've decided to do the Triathlon Pink short course 100m swim/3km cycle/1km run. I think it's a good distance for our first ever triathlon and if I do well, my aim is to compete in the Women's Triathlon Festival at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith on the 25th November. The distance is longer for this event with a 250m swim/10km cycle/2km run. A distance that will definitely be a challenge.

I'm excited about next Saturday and can't wait to get in there and have a go. It's something I've always wanted to do and I'm finally going to try and tri!! I told my daughter that I'm racing for her next week. As many of you know, she suffers from General Anxiety Disorder. I told her that mummy is racing for her to show her that it's fun to try new things and the most important thing is to give it a go, have fun and smile. She promised she'll cheer me on the whole way!

I would love to crack the 70s and be in the 60s by next weekend for the event, so I'm determined to shed the 1.6kg to get me there...I've increased my workouts so fingers crossed the scales go in a downwards direction!!

Weigh-in-Wednesday: 26th September 2012

After a big weekend, I'm happy to report that I stayed the same...no loss - but most importantly no gain!

SW: 80.7kg
CW: 71.5kg
WIR: 0g
TOTAL SHED: 9.2kg

That 10kg loss is still taunting me! I want to get it this week! I've been mainly walking the last few weeks...and now I think it's time to up the intensity. Running...here I come!

My transformation so far...

In June this year, I was obese and extremely unhappy. I let my emotions rule what went into my mouth and let my 'emotional eating' be my number one reason why I couldn't lose weight. I was the biggest I had been (non-pregnant) and knew that if I didn't get my act together the scales were going to continually rise.

I was committed and determined to get myself healthy. I began to eat cleanly, track and exercise fiercely. I knew what I had to do and I just did it. The journey this time has been different.

Why?

I have stopped emotional eating.

I'm not letting my emotions dictate what goes into my mouth. My emotions have had a battering the last few weeks but instead of heading to the pantry, I head to my homy gym. I'll jump on the treadmill and walk my worries away.

We celebrated my sister's 21st birthday Saturday night. I hosted the party at my house and had over 70 people here. It was a black,white and red theme and I loved the outfit I chose. I felt confident in my own skin and had a brilliant night. I received so many compliments from my family and friends on how well I'm looking. I feel good on the inside and I think that it shows on the outside.

I put together a slide show for my sister's party and I was shocked to see how I looked just over 3 months ago. I looked big, frumpy and old. I now feel confident, healthy and in control.

Sunday 10th June 2012 - Saturday 22nd September 2012

I'm only half-way in my journey and still have close to 12kg to shed. But this time I realise it's not the end that is important, it's the journey.

Weigh-in-Wednesday: 19th September 2012

After a big loss last week, I wasn't expecting to pull high numbers this week. Am happy with the 400g loss.

SW: 80.7kg
CW: 71.5kg
WIR: -400g
TOTAL SHED: 9.2kg

We're getting close to the 10kg mark...800g to go. My aim is to get there next Wednesday.

Our WW Chinese Banquet

My sister-in-law bought us the new WW Takeaway at Home Cookbook last week and after checking out the new recipes we decided on creating a WW Chinese Banquet for dinner at our next family night.

My mother-in-law is also doing WW, so the three of us were designated dishes to prepare. Here is what was on the menu tonight...

All recipes came from the new cook book and all the dishes were quick and easy to prepare and tasted soooo good! We had a small portion of each dish and the whole banquet came in at 15PP.

We had a lot of fun tonight and will definitely be making more dishes from the cookbook for future family night dinners.

Beef in Black Bean Sauce

A classic asian dish, cooked in just 10 minutes!

ProPoints: 12 | Calories: 304
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

- Kan Tong Inspirations Sauce Pouch, Sizzling Black Bean

- 450g lean rump steak

- 125g fresh baby corn, sliced in half

- 1 medium capsicum, cut into 2cm cubes

- 100g snow peas

- 450g Hokkien Noodles                 

- 1tbs peanut oil

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Heat oil in a wok, add meat and stir-fry until brown. Remove from wok.

Add vegetables and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

Return beef to wok. Stir in the black been sauce and heat through.

Prepare hokkien noodles as per packet directions.

Add hokkien noodles to the beef and black bean mixture. Stir and heat through.

Serve and enjoy!

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Weigh-in-Wednesday: 12th September 2012

Stepped on the scales this morning and was one very happy chappy!

I shed 1.9kg this week...I reached my 10% and now have only 2kg to shed to be back in the 60s!

SW: 80.7kg
CW: 71.9kg
WIR: -1.9kg
TOTAL SHED: 8.8kg

Next goal...to shed 1.2kg to reach my 10kg loss.

The hardest post I've had to write...

I haven't posted in over a month and so much has happened in that time.

I should have been in Perth tonight, partying hard with the SWSyd girls at the Round 2 12WBT finale but unfortunately am unable to travel. I thought tonight was the best time to reflect on the last few weeks and share with you what has been happening.

So here goes...

During Week 8, I found out I was expecting. I was extremely excited, but nervous as I had had a miscarriage in February this year and hoped that history wouldn't be repeated.

I eased off the exercise, but continued to eat really well. I felt fantastic...but extremely tired! My blogging fell behind, as all I wanted to do was sleep...I was so exhausted and would be in bed by 8:30pm most nights.

I hit 6 weeks and was relieved...I had gone past the dreaded 5 weeks...where I miscarried last time.

I continued to walk most days and stuck to my healthy eating. I felt fantastic and on Monday 20th August I had a dating ultrasound (I was 8 weeks pregnant). Our little jellybean was doing well...a great size and had a strong heartbeat.

My precious little one

We were so excited and told our two gorgeous girls. They were going to be big sisters and were very happy. Life was great...

...that was until I woke up the very next morning.

I was bleeding and I broke down. I went straight to my GP and she took bloods. They raced through the results and told me that my HCG levels were great...not to panic and to have bed rest. So that's what I did. I tried to stay as calm as possible and rested. It got to Thursday (23rd Aug) and I was still bleeding. I rang my obstetrician and explained what was happening. He brought my appointment forward and I saw him on Monday (27th Aug). He examined me and performed another ultrasound...he could still see the baby and heartbeat. Even though I was relieved to hear this news, I was still extremely worried. I was still bleeding and the baby's growth had slowed down. I was instructed to continue on bed rest and was to return on Thursday (30th Aug).

Thursday morning came and back to my obstetrician we went. I walked in and the first words I said were "I'm still bleeding". He performed another ultrasound and explained that he could see the baby, but couldn't get a good picture of the heartbeat. I was sent for further ultrasounds and my worst fears were confirmed...at 10 weeks pregnant, my baby's little heart had stopped beating.

I was booked in for surgery the very next day (being last Friday). I came out of theatre and was in recovery for two hours. When they moved me back into the day surgery ward, my blood pressure dropped really low. I had absolutely no energy and just wanted to sleep, but the nurses brought me some food to eat, to try and get my blood pressure back to normal. It stayed quite low for the remainder of the day but I was allowed to go home.

We were devastated...and the hardest thing was telling our girls. My family have been so beautiful and extremely supportive. My hubby, my mum and dad have been amazing. They knew when I needed a cuddle, a shoulder to cry on and dropped everything to make sure I was ok. They shared school drop-off and pick ups and looked after our girls whilst I was on bed rest. I love them all so much.

I was in a lot of pain last weekend (both physically and mentally). I didn't do much for the first few days after surgery...I was just totally exhausted. I'm feeling a lot better this weekend (and have even managed a few walks on the treadmill)...but I'm STILL bleeding...19 days now. I'm over it. I just want the bleeding to stop. I see my obstetrician for my post-op appointment this Thursday. Hopefully he has some test results and can shed some light on what caused the miscarriage.

I want to thank three special SWSyd ladies who have been so supportive over the last few weeks. To Carly, Jayne and especially my gorgeous Rose...thank you for your words of encouragement and your prayers. Your messages really helped me through this difficult time and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So to reflect on Round 2...
I am so proud of my achievements.
- I managed to shed 7.8kgs and maintained (and even had a few small loses) during my pregnancy.
- My fitness increased...and I even ran 3km without stopping.
- I've lost heaps of centimetres from my body and am starting to like what I see.
- I was in the top 15% of Round 2.
- I made some amazing friends...and love our SWSyd Crew.
- And my biggest  achievement...I beat emotional eating. Through everything that has happened, I have not had one binge. I have not had the urge to turn to food...and that is just mind blowing! I'm in control of my emotions and I'm not letting them rule me.

So, where to from here?
I missed Round 3 registration, so am unofficially doing 12WBT this round. I have decided to not count calories, but to go back to counting my ProPoints (Weight Watchers). I've counted points for the last 12 years (so it's kind of embedded in my brain!!!). I enjoyed the break that counting calories gave me, but I'm a true WW at heart and just feel more comfortable with the points system.

As soon as I get the all clear next week, I'm going to start training again. I'm going to follow the 12WBT Intermediate exercise plan and look forward to running again...did I actually just say that?!! I really want to participate in our SWSyd group workouts and events this round (as I missed out on all of them last round due to illness and then the pregnancy).

I hope to fall pregnant again in the future and pray that everything goes well. For now, I'm giving myself a few months break. We've been trying to conceive since November last year and have had two miscarriages within 6 months. I emotionally need a break. I want to concentrate on my health and my weight-loss journey. I am determined get to my goal weight by the end of the year. I know that I can do it...I've overcome my biggest hurdle...emotional eating...and know that with the amazing support from my family, our SWSyd Crew...and my two little angels...I will get there.