The first step

Last night while I was procrastinating sleep, I decided to join Michelle Bridge's 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge.

A facebook friend had posted about signing up and although I had looked into it before, I finally took that first step and dished out the $200. It's quite a lot of money, but from what I've read from those successful, it seems like a pretty good investment.

Reason for joining:

I joined a gym on May 1st 2012 and had been so motivated and I was working out at least 5 days a week. Lately though, I got ill and have been feeling burnt out. I know I should have rested when I wasn't feeling the best but I pushed through it for a while. I went to QLD for a weekend away last week and since then I have only been to the gym once. Before my break, I was so excited to work out and really looked forward to it. I just haven't been eager to go back.

I have been overweight my whole life. In high school, I remember reaching 115kg. In 2010, at the age of 21, I weighed 126.6kg. I stand at 149cms tall and should not have to carry that much weight. In August 2010, I took the drastic step of getting Lap Band Surgery. My mum was totally against my decision to have surgery. My whole life, she was begging me to try and lose weight and get healthy. I admit that I rebelled every time she even mentioned my weight and I would just stuff myself with food in anger. This was my decision though. I was an adult and I didn't need my parents permission to take control of my own body. From August 2010-April 2011, I lost 40kg. I felt fantastic and mum finally realised how important it was for me to have the surgery. From May-September, I lived and traveled around Europe. I ate and ate, and I drank and drank. But I walked everywhere and ended up losing a little bit of weight. When I came home though, I forgot all about the weight loss. I didn't go straight to the clinic to adjust my lap band, and I kept eating and eating but did not exercise.

I ended up gaining around 10kg from October 2011-April 2012. I could feel myself gaining weight. Clothes got tighter and the number on the scale continued to increase. I didn't have a sense of urgency though. I knew I was off track, and I tried several times to sort things out, however I tried quick fixes and didn't think to work on my mindset. Finally on May 1st, I joined a gym. I hadn't been to a gym in years and was quite apprehensive, however I signed up with my sister so I knew we would push each other to keep it up. For once in my life, I began to love exercise. I was going to classes daily, signed up for Personal Training and worked my ass off! I signed up for an 8 week gym challenge and lost my goal of 6kg.

I know I can do this on my own, however I've finally realised that if I want to reach my goal and maintain a healthy weight, I need to get my head in order as well as my nutrition and exercise. I've heard great things about the 12WBT mindset lessons and am really hoping it's the key to finally taking full control of my weight loss and health.

Stats:

Weight at sign up (17/08/12)- 90.9kg

Goal weight (19/11/12)- 80kg

I'm hoping to write daily posts on how I went that day, the successes and the struggles.
Join me on my journey!