12WBT Round 4, 2013

I'm back! I've signed up for 12WBT Round 4, 2013!

My baby girl is 11 weeks on Wednesday...already!! I've officially finished breastfeeding (due to Princess #3 being lactose intolerance) and I'm ready to get back into shape.

I had a DEXA scan done today and the exercise physiologist recommended I stick to 33% cardio and 66% strength training. Due to this, I've decided to follow the Lean and Strong program (with added HIIT cardio) as a way of increasing my lean muscle mass and decreasing my fat mass.

This is a totally different approach to what I've done in the past, so it will be interesting to see how my body responds.

I'll be sticking to 1200 calories per day and exercising six times per week. I need to commit to going to sleep earlier of an evening, otherwise I'm going to find it hard to get up in the mornings (especially if I'm up with Princess #3 during the night).

Looking forward to the challenge ahead!

Have you signed up to Round 4? 

What exercise program will you be following?

Fitbit Flex

Yesterday I was given an early birthday present, a . . .

Image via HERE.

Fitbit Flex

I've worn a pedometer on and off for many years and I've always used the WW ones. I love how they calculate how many PP you earn. Last week I went in search for my pedometer and it was no where to be found :(

I searched high and low and could not locate it. I love tracking my steps. A downside of the normal pedometer is that it has to be strapped on to the waist of my pants or my bra. I would take it on and off numerous times throughout the day and I obviously lost it the last time I used it.

I wanted to track my activity levels again, so began searching for alternatives to the WW pedometer.

I'd heard of the Fitbit and had read a few blog posts from WW members who use them (I especially loved reading Anne's review of the Fitbit...thanks Anne!). I also saw them featured in the new WW magazine and thought I'd research them a little more.

One feature I love is that the Fitbit Flex is worn on your wrist...just what I need to ensure it's not lost!! I'm also curious to see how well my sleep patterns are...which is going to be a little difficult to monitor whilst I'm still up breastfeeding at night! One thing I will miss is that the Fitbit won't calculate how many exercise points I've earned :( I'd love to figure out a way of converting the steps I've accumulated throughout the day to PP values!

I love the sleek design and that it syncs data to my iPhone and iMac.

It's my sister's birthday on Thursday so we bought her one too...that way we can keep each other motivated and on track with our fitness goals.

I've started wearing it today and look forward to seeing how this new gadget compares to the trusty old pedometer!

Introducing...

my third little princess...

Gabriella

It's been quite a while since I jumped on my blog...but as you can see, I was busy growing a baby! My precious little girl was born two weeks ago, on Wednesday 21st August 2013.

We have been waiting for our little angel for quite some time. Last year, as many of you may remember, was a tough year for our family. I had two miscarriages and I dealt with my grief by throwing myself into my weight-loss journey. I definitely built a healthier and stronger body during that time.

I fell pregnant in November, and we found out the good news in early December. I tried to exercise throughout the pregnancy, but battled ligament pain. I was petrified that something would go wrong, so didn't keep up with the exercise as much as I would have liked. My eating relaxed, but I definitely didn't overindulge.

Despite my best efforts, I still put on more weight than I wanted to throughout the pregnancy...but do you know what...I wasn't that worried, as I knew that I would be able to work hard and get back to my goal weight after the birth.

I went for my first 30min walk yesterday and have started tracking again. I'm on 42PP values...and it seems like so much...but I want to breastfeed as long as I can, so I will definitely be eating healthy and consuming all my PP values!

It's been two weeks since Gabriella entered the world and I'm feeling great! My older girls are being a great help and love cuddling their little sister! We're enjoying life as a family of five and I'm so grateful to have three beautiful and healthy daughters.

Life is good!

Pregnancy and Exercise

 Image via HERE.

I am now 17 weeks pregnant and everything is going quite smoothly. I've been pretty exhausted over the last few weeks and when I saw my obstetrician last Monday, he decided to put me on iron tablets, as my iron levels weren't the greatest and could be the reason for my overwhelming tiredness.

I was exercising quite regularly in my first trimester but over the last few weeks I haven't done a thing, due to my dwindling energy levels and ligament pain in my lower tummy.

With no exercise, I haven't really been watching what I've been putting into my mouth. Isn't it funny...you exercise and your self-esteem goes through the roof, therefore you eat well. You don't exercise, you feel like crap...so you eat crap!

Well, I'm feeling better so thought it was about time to get back to looking after myself during this pregnancy. I lost over 15kg last year and seeing the kilos creep back on has been hard to stomach. I know it's all for a wonderful cause but it dosen't make the blow any easier!

So today, I restarted the 12WBT Pregnancy Program. The day 1 exercise program consisted of cardio. I walked for 20 minutes on my treadmill, completed my pelvic floor exercises and finished off with some stretches. The speed I walked at was a lot slower than I'm used to but it's all about consistency...slow and steady wins the race!

I'm happy to report I have no ligament pain after my workout so the low intensity definitely helped. I burnt 115 calories for the 30min workout, so I'm happy with that.

I aim to blog about my progress as a way of keeping myself accountable.

The Biggest Outdoor Family Workout

This morning my beautiful family and I attended The Biggest Loser Family Workout.

As soon as we arrived, my girls spotted Michelle, Shannon and The Commando! We registered and made our way to the The Promise tent and pledged our family promise...

Just before the workout began, we were lucky enough to see Michelle. Isabella and Daniella were very excited to finally meet their favourite trainer! I thanked Michelle for providing her 12WBTers with a Pregnancy Program, which is helping me stay fit and healthy during my pregnancy.

I was also able to take a few pics of these handsome guys... ;)

We met Bec, a 2012 TBL contestant. She is absolutely lovely! She had a great chat with Isabella and I.

Then it was on to the workout...we were trained by each of the trainers for 10 minutes. Shannon started off with a boxing warm-up, Michelle followed with some crazy 30 second bursts of interval training and the workout ended with The Commando...and his beloved burpees!

We all had a great time! Daniella and Isabella were little machines and enjoyed every minute of the workout. My sister and husband smashed it out and I stuck to a very low impact version. It was nice to be outside together on a beautiful Sunday morning training together!

My beautiful hubby, sister and daughters hard at work!

After the workout, we had a photo with all the trainers! Shannon was so pleased that we were there as a family and said that our girls would be so thankful to us for being an active, healthy family. The Commando loved our promise and asked us to hold it up during the photo. This is definitely going to be enlarged, framed and hung up in our home gym!

Check out this Channel Ten News report featured in tonight's News At Five bulletin! My gorgeous hubby made it to the small screen! He's shown holding up our family pledge!

Some exciting news to share...

I've been a little quiet on here for two months...

and I've GAINED weight...

but it's all for a good cause ;)