NEW LIFE!!!

HEY FRIENDS!
So I havent written a blog in TOO long and here is my reason why! I have been on this CRAZY journey whilst being on the Ashy Bines Clean Eating Diet Plan and as of today I have lost 13kg EXACTLY!!!
Super duper excited about this, it is definitely my greatest achievements to date!
It has been a struggle and those of you who have been on this journey with me know what I'm talking about. It has taken since March to get down to a size that i am happy with, but not only this, I have gained COMPLETE control over my body.
I know 
HOW to eat
WHEN to eat
HOW to train
and most importantly
HOW TO STAY IN CONTROL OF MY BODY

The relationship between being in control of your body and being in control of your emotions is uncanny! You may have read a blog that i have written previously about the EXACT time i realised why i had gained weight and it was ALL about being out of control.

Not only am i feeling amazing in a new body but I am 100 times happier then I have ever been. I still have a long way to go and because i now know  I CAN DO IT..my goals are bigger and better and more extreme then they ever have been..it excites me now though, I'm not scared of it any more!

Through the Ashy Bines plan that I have been doing I was asked to share my story and progress photos for them to use on their new and upcoming plan! I cant say i could have ever imagined being a girl who's photos get used to inspire other girls with their own journeys!!

I FEEL SO BESSED!!

NOT ONLY THIS BUT I HAVE ALSO ENTERED A BODY TRANSFORMATION COMPETITION AND YOU CAN VOTE FOR MY TRANSFORMATION DAILY! 
I would be so incredibly appreciative if you could take the time to click the link below and click vote! You can vote daily up until 22nd October. Thank you so much!!

http://bit.ly/QFgv14

ashy bines transformation!!

so the last time i wrote on here i had just signed up to ashy bines clean eating diet plan and here are my results after 6 weeks!!! totally excited and blown away by learning how much your diet control your weight and your body shape.

i went on the plan with realistic goals and adapted the plan to my lifestyle so i would be able to keep up the changes forever and this is what has really kept me on track. Not feeling deprived or stressed but taking it one day at a time and not expecting instant results!!

I took before photos and progress photos every two weeks rather than going by the scales! This was the best thing ive done because with weight training its not guaranteed that you will loose a lot on the scales but photos dont lie!!

I am now 5 weeks away from my Europe trip and want to spend this next little while getting to my goals!! Im going to need a lot of motivation, encouragement and support though! I have made an INSTAGRAM account dedicated to the next 5 weeks of transforming.

PLEASE FOLLOW ME!!

5weekTransformation

xxxxx

where have you been?

Where have you been? 


some of you are probably asking this question, some of you are probably saying to yourselves 'i knew that she ' be able to keep up with this!' and that's fine because everyone can have their opinion, people are always going to have an opinion but if you'd like to know whats been happening read on!
Where have I been? I'm going top be really honest with you because I've promised honesty from the start, i want this to be a REAL blog!! I've been comfortable. There's that word and we allllll know it. We make changes, we are extremely motivated at the start and then we find ourselves in a place, not so good from when we started, its a place of comfort. The next thing I'm going to tell you i cannot stress the importance of it enough...

BEING COMFORTABLE ISN'T FAILING!!!

Falling into a place of comfort is completely and totally normal on a journey like this! You make severe changes in the beginning and eventually you find yourself continuing with some of the easy lifestyle changes and the others slowly fade away...we've all been there, and now i have too!
Comfort shouldn't take away your motivation...
It should motivate you to pick yourself up again!!
Comfort isn't about failing..
Recognising Comfort is a success!!
Once you have recognised comfort you can over come it! Once you can overcome it you can do anything!!!

This is how i am currently battling my comfortable stage!! I love picture! I am such a visual person and if i dont see something in front of me that i want to strive for, i forget what i am working for and lose all motivation to do it! I love going and looking at other people's success stories, one's that are much more extreme then mine will ever be, it shows me 'if they can then so can I!!"
We all need motivation..lets face it, believing in yourself is a huge step but we are all going to have times when we need reminding that we can do it and we are strong enough. I love being open about this journey..its amazing that when you start talking about it, other people begin to open up to you. I LOVE THIS...i love this because when i need motivation there are people who i can look to to find the motivation and I KNOW that other people will be looking at me for the same reason...how amazing is that!!

Just today I have signed up to receive ASHY BINES CLEAN EATING DIET PLAN
If you haven't heard of this before then you are missing out!! I'll post details below but basically she is a young woman with a killer body who sells her 'secrets' on how she gets and maintains that body...her page is entirely covered with the most breath taking success stories and i can't wait to use her affordable plan to be one of those!!


FACEBOOK: ashy bine bikini body challenge
URL: www.cleaneatingdietplan.com

go check it out and i will keep you all posted with how this motivational tool pays off on my journey!!

this is my life

Well it's been 8 weeks now and what a journey it has been ! Not just a journey of weight loss and being healthy, but a journey of discovery and learning to be aware of your body and how it works! I strongly believe that other people can teach you, train you and help to transform your body but it all has to begin with you and your desire and willingness to change your life style. 
Im a huge believer in personal trainers, meal plans and education but everyone is different and every body's lifestyle is different. It is unrealistic for some people to be able to train every day, prepare every meal and stick to a strong diet, you have to do what works for you!!

• It's definitely true that all your motivation will be there at the start for the first few weeks and slowly start to die down as the time goes on.
• Your results in the beginning will be drastic and then you can become too comfortable with the little bits of change
• my food diary began to lack consistency
• my exercise died down because my attitude began to be "I'm eating well, i dont need to exercise"

MY DESIRE IS STILL THERE THOUGH!

• I dont want to be skinny
• i want to be strong
• my goals are realistic
• i know it will take time

On that note, i dont want my results to happen over night!!! If theres one major thing that these past two months have taught me, its that results DO happen and they DO take time, but by taking time...you'll be able to 

DEVELOP A LIFESTYLE that ENABLES YOU TO KEEP YOUR RESULTS

SO FAR:

so far there has been a 6kg weight loss, i have easily managed to keep this weight off over the last 2 months because of my changes to my diet that have been realistic and consistent. Dont make changes you cant keep forever! I'm so happy with these results!

WHAT IVE GOT TO GO:

By SUMMER which is 7 months away....i dont have a weight loss goal...my goal...

STRONG, FIT, HEALTHY, HAPPY!!

3 steps forward, 1 step back..

3 steps forward, 1 step back

there comes a time with any journey...where you hit a spot where you look back on the past (for me the past two weeks) and wonder when things started going down hill. I cant put a time frame on when this happened to me but i have found it is VERY easy to slip back into old unhealthy habits.. looking back on the past two weeks ive been SLACK!

I DONT SEE THIS AS FAILURE THOUGH..FAILURE WOULD BE RECOGNISING THE DRAWBACK AND NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT

i have recognised that becoming weak in an area of your life can snowball very subtly, but very quickly!...
When i say drawback i am not talking putting o lost weight, or indulging in a block of chocolate..
im talking..easter is not an easy thing when it comes to temptation..
a little bit too much chocolate here and there
a little too much comfort food on those cold days
not quite enough of the good stuff..

now COME ON CHELS!!..GET YOR BUTT BACK INTO GEAR AND SUCCEED!!

it IS a slow process and it is SUPPOSED to be a slow process, that's how you create a LIFESTYLE and HABITS..not fads..thats how you keep the weight off and your life where you want it to be.

IVE NOTICED: the past two weeks when my diet hasn't been as clean as it had been, im unhappy..junk food doesn't make me happy, fresh healthy food does!

Feeding the sugar cravings is not worth the sick feeling that you walk away with 

:)

getting control

it's time to open up your eyes to the life that you've always wanted..


Five weeks later and its incredible the realisations you come to when you're achieving something for yourself, proving a point to yourself and being stronger than you ever thought you could be. For me this has been about taking control of my health and my shape..but this applies to everyone.


I have spent a long, long time obsessing over the size that I was..it isn't until i look back now though and realise that all that stress, worry and anxiety about what I looked like, was for no reason at all. I had no reason to be unhappy about this! I look back now on old photos and even photos of just a year ago and I don't see what i was so stressed about. Don't get me wrong i know i'm no 6ft tall supermodel, but i was still someone who was fit and healthy...what was the problem then?

I WAS SO INCREDIBLY OUT OF CONTROL

I felt these emotions because i was out of control of my emotions, I felt overweight because i had no control over what i was eating, i felt unhappy because I always thought i was failing..when really i was just out of control.
I am now at a place where I am so happy, I feel like there are a million less worries in my life! I'm not stressed about my days or my future. I'm not anxious about assignments or relationships and im not OBSESSING about what i look like!

INSIDE MY EMOTIONAL SUCCESS

1. I realised where my problems were and why i was unhappy

I didn't have structure in my diet and i wasn't knowledge about what i was eating. This left me feeling like i was eating a lot worse than i was and sometimes I felt i was eating a lot better than i was..(no wonder i was confused!)

2. I took a few baby steps to start gaining some control

The first thing i did was make a food diary. Recording everything I ate made me more aware of my bad and good eating habits and when in the say i needed to be more careful

3. I took action where i was falling

I realised my bad 'snacking' was happening between lunch and dinner so i replaced the snacks with more fruit and made conscious decissions of what i ate at those 'hard times'

I STILL DO THIS EVERY WEEK!
Once i was improving on my first issue i worked on another one!
- drink more water
- exercise 4-5 times weekly
- smaller portions
- RECORD RESULTS


I wish i could explain to you the feeling that comes with feeling IN CONTROL of your body. If you have a lack of control in your life (in any area) it takes a toll on your entire life. Examine what's making you stressed, anxious or unhappy and take baby steps to fix it :)

where am i now?

WHERE AM I 3.5 WEEKS ON!!!!

so it has now been 3 and a half weeks and heres my complete honesty to all you readers. I feel the need to be honest because you have all taken to time to be reading this blog

HERE IT IS!!!

Things are good!! But three weeks on its really time to up my game..this has been my 3 weeks

1. a consistant breakfast, lunch and dinner
2. fruit for snacks
3. no skipping meals
4. not too much naughty snacking
5. frequent exercise

MORE CHANGES TO FOCUS ON TO SEE MORE RESULTS

1. smaller portions

2. more water

3. more intense exercise

Don't get me wrong i have seen results and i am GLAD that they are happening slowly because i really have found a healthy lifestyle that i can maintain but deep down inside of me i KNOW i can be doing more! i now KNOW i am a lot stronger than i think. I KNOW that my self control has done a big 360 turn and i KNOW i've got more to lose and can do it!!

TALK ABOUT MEASUREMENT

THESE ARE AMAZING!!!

in 3 weeks i have lost 4 kilos and im happy with that BUT we all know how much weight goes up and down but here is something that won't lie to you...measurements!!! i have lost of 35cm and thats what makes the hard work pay off!!

I feel i am at a bit of a plateau so time to up the game even more and see some more results..lets kick this in the but!!!

LIFESTYLE CHANGES

"I'LL LOOK LIKE THAT ONE DAY"

GUESS WHAT? A BLOCK OF CHOCOLATE WON'T GET YOU THERE

EATING HEALTHY FOR A WEEK WONT GET YOU THERE

ONE MORE APPLE A DAT WON'T GET YOU THERE

AND GIVING IN WON'T GET YOU THERE!

A lot of you will agree with me when i tell you that I've always known these things but kind of hoped, in my heart of hearts..that i would be the exception to these rules...20 years on, it still hasn't worked..

ONLY one and a half weeks into this journey small changes have happened..my clothes hang that little bit nicer, the love handles dont hang over quite as much and I'm down a hole in my belt 

BUT

I have now realised that this is not something I (or anyone else) can put a time limit on..if you want to change your body, your weight or your health there changes have to be for LIFE!

Don't be ridiculous
> I'm not going to eat chocolate for two months 
WHY? so then it will be not as bad to indulge in after the two months??
> I'm never going to eat bad food again
LIES LIES LIES
> I'm going to exercise every day from now on..
Guess what? no you wont...

HERE ARE SOME OF MY LIFESTYLE CHANGES IN JUST 1.5 WEEKS

- I can no longer eat half as much as i used to

- I can now tell what my body needs instead of wants

- I will exercise at least 3 times per week

- I will always drink at least 3L of water daily

- I will continue to portion meals and its ok to not eat everything on the plate

- junk food is ok!!!..rarely and in small doses!

MAKE YOUR LIFE STYLE CHANGES TODAY..CHANGES FOR LIFE

A NEW LIFE

THANK GOODNESS FOR THE WEEKENDS

there are SO man pros to the weekend but this weekend i found one very major CON

A LOT MORE HAPPENS ON WEEKNDS

a lot more that revolves around food.

- lets go to the movies
- lets go out for lunch
- we have a party
- 'finger food provided'

all i can say though, is that a week of CLEAN EATING can really change your life..i was not even tempted this weekend with all of the above problems. I proved to myself that you can socialise and you dont have to miss out just because you're on a health kick!..or changing your life...

this weekend i have taught myself a lot about balance.
my body is rejecting bad foods and craving the good stuff..its amazing!
i notice a change in the mirror now, not just on the inside! They are small changes that probably only i can see, but theyre there!
i now know that the hardest part is over and i'm never going back to how i used to eat!


I love that i can only eat half a meal and then I physically cant eat anymore
I love that i have trained myself to eat slower
I love that I can detect what my body needs and not what my mouth wants
I love that i have proven to myself that i can do this

REMEMBER: if you start tomorrow, in one week you could have these changes and this new love for yourself too!

THIS I JUST THE BEGINNING, BUT IT IS ALREADY A POSITIVE BEGINNING WHICH HAS CREATED A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY!

RESIST TEMPTATIONS

THE DREADED TEMPTATIONS...


The weekend is finally here and like most Friday nights, this means a nice chilled out night with my man after a busy week..why not go to the movies!! We ALL know that feeling when you walk into a cinema and the first of your 5 senses that starts working is your sense of smell..

There it is YOU SMELL THAT POPCORN..

all of a sudden it doesnt matter what movie you're seeing, how much money you have to spend or who you are with..the popcorn will draw you in every time!!
You allllllll know what Im talking about yeh?
Well this is my piece of advice for tonight

TOUGHEN UP!!!!

I am living proof that you CAN go to the movies and not be sucked into the smells, the food that has made your hips that bit bigger and hidden your muscle under flab....it's about time we all (including myself) used a bit off will power, a bit of inner strength and stop CAVING into the temptations that got us where we are in the first place!! hard word tonight i know....

Aside from this positive note or not eating popcorn at the movies, i have ANOTHER positive note yay!!!...This positive note is so simple....6 days on, and i almost have nothing to write about! This is becoming a lifestyle to me already and it's one where
I NO LONGER
- find it hard
- get hungry
- eat as much as i used to
- crave sugars and bad foods
- want to go back to the way i used to eat

if you're out there reading this and trying to lose weight i want you to take this on board.

THE BEGINNING IS HARD...

THEN ITS EASY!!!!

SOO MUCH SWEAT!! 
And all from my tiny little hideout, otherwise known as my bedroom..for any of you who have seen my bedroom, you will know it is pretty small..some how i have managed to crap in a double bed, a guitar, a ukelele, a keyboard, an extra cupboard, a surfboard and a fish :) An there is about a 1.5m x 1m space on my floor...
TODAY i got home from work and knew i wanted to do a big workout, but that would involve going home, getting my gym or swimming gear, going to the gym, working out, coming home and showering etc etc...some of you right now know exactly what im talking about..and that's enough to just NOT GO!!

NOT ANYMORE SLACKERS!!!

i have never felt this sore, this sick and this good after a workout, and it only took 20-30 minutes...

AND I DID IT RIGHT IN MY BEDROOM

i didnt even wear shoes!

here it is

save it, do it, love it!

PERFECT HONEST TRUTH TIME:

I'm doing it!...it is going well too and easy! i can really tell how much this whole journey is mind over matter. I've failed so many times but because my mind is in a great place, so is my determination and commitment!

Already my body is craving the good foods im eating every day VEGIES, FRUIT, NUTS, SALAD

and the best bit of all is i KNOW that my body is loving these changes because I am not getting hungry anymore and I can only eat about half as much at dinner time :)

I give myself credit for this because at breakfast and lunch time i have been cutting meal sizes in half for the first 3 days i was constantly hungry but not anymore!!!! WOOOHOOOO

I must say im feeling pretty good so far, cant wait to see some visible results!!

GET RID OF YOUR SCALES

Pretty cool scales hey? ..not quite as cool as mine thouugh because the night before the bin man came last week, i ran out and threw them in there..do i regret it? honestly that action was one of the best things i have ever done!!!
If you're anything like me, the reason you have failed in the past is because of the number that appears on these evil electronic devices!! You think you are doing so well and you want to see your progression so you do the dreaded task of standing on scales only to realise you have been filled with disappointment, regret and thoughts of failure!..People know that the smallet things can change your weight..water, food, clothes, sleep, tiredness, stress, the list goes on!!
The feelings left with regularly weighing yourself give you very little motivation to keep going on your path, whether its a day after starting your diet, or a week..it brings you down...SO WHY DO IT!?

HERES MY ADVICE

1. get a tape measure

2. get down to your underwear

3. get a close friend to measure and record you (use this same friend every week or fortnight because they'll do it the same)

4. do this at the same time, once a week

5. watch the centmeters drop off!!!!

DAY 4!! Really getting into ths now!! After a massive swim last night and run today you really can recognise how the two work together..our bodies were desgned for this! Most of us are gong against our bodies desires and we wonder why we carry weight!
4 days on I'm sticking with my 3,3,3 (see second blog)
4 days on and i havent been bloated
4 days on im ALREADY being told i look lke ive lost weight
and most importantly
4 days on and I've gone from a girl who didn;t think she could lose weight because i was scared of failure, to a girl who knows she can do this

Imagine what you could do if you remained strong for four days :)

PopTarts..read to find out more.

3RD day...seems like nothing but to be honest, for me its a HUGE milestone!!
For those of you who have been through a weight loss battle you would know that
it only takes 1 or 2 days to convince yourself that you are going to fail...
it only takes 1 or 2 days to lose sight of your dreams...
it only takes 1 to 2 days to break a good streak of eating well...
the 3rd day going strong is the real beginning of an amazing journey..

if you fight for 3 days this is what I've found
- i can actually do this
- my dreams are actually in sight
- my will power to say no to bad foods is getting stronger
- change is already starting!!


 although all of these things are amazing, its not all rainbows! i think the last time i had poptarts i was maybe 8 or 9..and all i wanted today was poptarts!!..its amazing what your mind can do if you allow it to wonder in weak directions! Heres a bit of a tip for you all

YOU NEED TO KEEP YOUR MIND FOCUSED AND STRONG!

life is changing, it already has! It is amazing how good you can feel when you have goals and you belive in yourself that you are capable of doing it!!! Small changes will happen by day 3, bigger changes will continue to happen the stronger you remain!

change in hard mentally and physically

"YOU WILL NEVER BE HUNGRY"


LIES!! 
Over the past 6 months I have cleaned up my diet a lot, no where near where it should have been but i went by the whole 80/20 diet..you know, 20% crap food and 80% good food BUT not being in control of how much i ate, how big portion sizes should be, how many 'healthy' snacks to have.
I've now learned when i should eat, what i should eat at cetrain times, what i need in small doses, what i should stay away from...we all know it right!
these past two days of strictly eating sensibly and by the book and this is what i've discovered

- ITS HARD WORK
- fruit makes me hungrier
- you want what you know you cant have
- eating healthy is easy, eating strictly isn't
- change is hard!!! Mentally and Physically

BUT the positive to all of these challenges is IM FEELING BETTER! Goodbye bloatedness, lack of energy and simply feeling like crap...what 'they' say, whoever they is...3 serves of vegies, 3 pieces of fruit and 3 Litres of water daily...
so here is the challenge!!

3. 3. 3

VEGIES FRUIT WATER

For any of you who have tried losing weight and given up, seen no results and have convinced yourself you just cant do it...make these changes as of tomorrow and you'll be well on your way..like me!!

a NEW you begins with a REAL you

This is where it all begins..
Realising over the past 2 years that life isnt all rainbows and butterflys and the fairy tales you read about in books...I know right, how good would it be if all our lives were those 20 page picture story books where there's a begining, middle and they all lived happily ever after and you're left with that warm fuzzy feeling inside because nothing bad will ever ever ever happen to those people in their perfect story book world..wake up, life isn't like that. For some of you reading this you're like 'wow i know what she means, like last week sarah and ryan broke up because sarah was talking to ryans best friend and ryan was seen crying in the bathrooms because he thought she was the one OMG' ........and the rest of you, like me, you know it because you've been there...and the plain and simple reality of it is that life is hard, it can seem unfair, it hurts and although you know 'other people have it worse off' it still sucks.
SURPRISINGLY though, this blog isnt about the heart aches of life trials and tribulations, its about me coming out the other end with a new kind of understanding and lease on something that through my highs school years, through the death of my dad, has always eaten me alive...its the deadly topic of

LOSING WEIGHT!!!!!!!!

there you go, I've said it! After 8 years, long years, years most of us wish to forget...the years of hormone changes, hips growing, acknowledging what you look like, understanding what clothing sizes are, pimples..etc etc etc...WEIGHT has never been something that ive been able to lock in the closet..all you blessed little bodies are thinking right now 'eat well and exercise!' right?...wrong..after a year of, i guess you could call it picking up the pieces and finding myself, i now see that the reason and effectiveness of weight gain and weight loss all begins with yourself, no one else. 'You've got nothing to worry about, your beautiful, at least your fit, you're so toned though?" I've heard them all and i still dont believe them.
The words DEPRESSION FRUSTRATION FAILURE come to mind when i think of my weight loss journey because i have never, up until now, realized that i hadn't dealt with this issue properly. I had convinced myself i had TRIED and it DIDNT WORK...then one day i decided not to be scared of actually trying and failing and be honest with myself which is what brings me to this blog.

the truth is, i had tried...for about 3 days at a time.. then i would convince myself it wasnt going to work...old habits came straight back...
I would get angry and upset because 'i work so hard and nothing changes'...but when i decided to be honest wth myself...i wasnt working hard enough.
LIES LIES AND LIES!! 
all because i was scared of my own failure before i even failed............

NOT THIS TIME!!!! THIS IS REAL, RAW AND REJUVENATING.

come on this daily journey with me as i face my worst nightmare, myself...and walk through life as a healthier, lighter, better me :)