Twelve weeks on...

Remember back in March how I signed up for the 12 Week Body Transformation?

Yeah.

It finished on Sunday, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how it went. Sure, it wasn't always easy to get home and do an hour-long workout. And it wasn't always easy to eat within my calories sand make sure I followed the recipes exactly even when it involved a truly sarcastic amount of rice.

I mean, really.

But it paid off. I lost 7.5kg over the 12 weeks. My fitness score went from 25 to 75. Which probably means precisely nothing to you, but it means I've gone from being able to "run" a kilometre in just under 10 minutes to being able to RUN a kilometre in about five and a half minutes (although admittedly, doing so totally massacred my lungs and I coughed for the next three days...). I can do a wall sit for nearly a minute longer than I could before. My flexibility has improved by 7cm. I can do planks and push ups on my toes. The 12WBT recommended that I sign up for the advanced program next time around (hahaha ohgod).

Before and after. As of this morning, the last day of the March #12wbt, I'm down 7.5kg!

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Jun 6, 2015 at 5:46pm PDT

And for the most part, the food was totally delicious. Sure, there were times when something was ridiculously time consuming or it just wasn't my cup of tea. But on the whole? It was really tasty and really filling and a pretty big serving considering it was part of a calorie controlled menu.

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on May 9, 2015 at 5:08pm PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Apr 27, 2015 at 3:08am PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Apr 25, 2015 at 2:03am PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on May 10, 2015 at 12:56am PDT

I'm trying things on my own for a while, to see if I can keep up the exercise and keep eating smaller servings and healthy options as much as possible. But it will be nice not to have to push myself to burn 1000 calories every Saturday or do a full hour's workout if I'm exhausted/sick/just in need of a night off.

I'm hoping to lose another 5kg. But we'll see how it goes... Slow and steady wins the race, right?

K xx

Currently...

Um. Hi. Remember me?

Yeah. There are times when I miss the days of unemployment, and blogging is a big part of that. Although given that I got my first full time pay cheque today, I can safely say that the money makes up for my lack of time to blog these days!!

So, rather than just disappear into a black hole due to lack of time and topics, I figured I'd do a "currently" post to give you guys a bit of an update on life in general...

Watching:
Essentially, the stuff I'm watching for Snark Squad - Dawson's Creek, Doctor Who, Supernatural - and occasional episodes of Criminal Minds and Bones. I desperately want to get back to watching Daredevil, but that means giving up something else, and...yeah. It just hasn't happened yet.

Listening to:
Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon is on INCREDIBLY high rotation. It's basically my time-to-start-my-90-minute-commute song, so I listen to it twice a day, minimum. And a hell of a lot of stuff that makes up Body Combat and Body Pump set lists, because I'm doing about three or four classes a week online.

Planning:
A trip to Dymocks tomorrow after work. WHEEEEEEEE, BOOKS!! Also planning a trip to Canberra during the July school holidays. Because, you know, the middle of winter is totally the best time to go to Canberra...

Thinking about:
How I should really be going to bed, but I really want to finish this episode of Criminal Minds. The fact that tomorrow's Friday. Little Miss A's birthday party on Saturday. How I really wish the vlog that's been uploading since 9pm would hurry up and finish so that I can go to bed when Criminal Minds ends.

Looking forward to:
Sleeping in on Saturday morning OMG IT WILL BE AMAZING. My little brother coming home for a visit at the end of the month. Orange Is the New Black season 3, although God knows when I'll have time to watch it. Going to Canberra, even though it's forever away.

Reading:
ALL THE THINGS, just for a change. I'm nearly done with Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and it's pretty damned fabulous. And this weekend, I'm planning on diving into the first volume of Matt Fraction's Hawkeye, which a friend very sweetly sent me for my birthday.

Making me happy:
The fact that I've lost over 6kg on the 12WBT. That it's casual clothes day at school tomorrow so I get to wear jeans to work. That there's a Lego game of Jurassic Park coming out. The forthcoming Jurassic World movie. The new display that I put up at work today. And my nightly hot chocolate. Sure, it's not as healthy as Greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of honey. But it's way too cold for yoghurt at the moment, so hot chocolate it is!

What's new with you guys?

K xx

Mysterious absences and what causes them

You may have noticed, friends, that I haven't been around these here parts as much as usual in the past few weeks.

The reasons behind this are threefold:

1. 12WBT
Sometimes I feel like exercising and cooking and exercising some more takes up all my time, and by the end of the day? I kind of just want to collapse in a heap and not use my brain.

2. VEDA
Yeah, I don't even know how this happened. I uploaded a video on April 1st, and then a bunch of my friends were all "WE'RE DOING VEDA!!" and I figured that I'd unintentionally started doing VEDA anyway, so I may as well keep going. Of course, given that I'm also on the Snark Squad channel every week for Segue Magic, this means I'm currently posting EIGHT videos a week. Hahahahaha ohgod. It's a lot of videos. And between shooting and editing and watching other people's videos? Yeah, it eats into what little time is left once I finish all that exercising and cooking nonsense.

(But, like, if you want to see me wibbling about books even more than usual, you should probably check out my VEDA videos...)

3. I GOT A FREAKING JOB!!!!!!!!!!
That's right, friends. I found the Holy Grail - a full time job in my field. Okay, so it's only a 12 month contract, but STILL. I start tomorrow morning, and I'm kiiiiiiiiiiiind of terrified because it's been forever since I've had to be a responsible adult on a full time basis. But it'll be FINE. In a terrifying but-I-already-don't-have-time-to-blog kind of a way.

And hey - I have an insanely long commute to get to work, so maybe if I can reach a point where my brain in capable of constructing sentences at like 7.30am, I'll write blog posts on my phone instead! Maybe. We'll see.

I'll get back into the swing of adulthood eventually, so this definitely isn't goodbye. Hell, VEDA will be over in another week and a bit, which will give me at least an extra hour a day to play with. But if I'm not around for a little while? That's why.

What's new with you guys?

K xx

Five days down...

I'm five days into the 12 Week Body Transformation, and so far? I'm kind of surprised about how easy it's been.

Which isn't to say that working out for an hour every day has been easy. I've sweated like a pig, and during today's yoga video, I spent a lot of time going "What in the how the hell did she just do oh dear God my shoulder hurts what do you mean I should breathe deeply I can't breathe at all because my damned boobs are in the way".

And sticking to the approved menu hasn't been easy. I haven't had chocolate since Sunday. I WENT THROUGH PMS WITHOUT CHOCOLATE, YOU GUYS. And I miss cheese. Like, so much. I think I'd murder someone for a toasted cheese sandwich right about now.

That said, the food has - for the most part - been really tasty and surprisingly filling given that it's calorie controlled. There've only been two recipes all week that I wouldn't bother to make again, which is a pretty damned good indication of things, right?

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Mar 18, 2015 at 3:24pm PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Mar 16, 2015 at 7:51pm PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Mar 17, 2015 at 3:52pm PDT

A photo posted by Melbourne on my mind (@melbsonmymind) on Mar 19, 2015 at 1:39am PDT

I even survived attending the book launch for Every Move - where Ellie Marney signed all three of my books and I totally forgot to take photos - without stuffing my face with cheese and crackers. Or drinking a litre of orange juice just because I could.

Tomorrow is my first Super Saturday, where I'm supposed to burn 1000+ calories, and I'm a LITTLE bit terrified. Because that is a crapton of calories, yo. BUT. Tomorrow night, I get to have a treat meal. A TREAT MEAL!!!! I may even lash out and use some of my 700 calorie treat meal on chocolate. Because obviously.

79 days to go...

K xx