Update.

This blog has been on my mind. I have thought about it quite often over the past few days. My lack of updating (and my general all round laziness this week). I think my downfall was the whole weigh in. I would do it, lose the paper I write thins down on, not take pictures then just think “meh” about the whole thing. I think I am going to rewrite the rules for myself. It is my weight loss so I can go about it as I please.

New Blog Rules:

Each Sunday I will report my measurements. Despite having scales I do not weigh myself. I don’t like weighing myself. Even if the numbers are going down. I find having them go down makes me complacent. I lose my drive to exercise and to eat healthy.

I will update with a bikini picture on the first day of each month. I do not like getting into the bikini. And it is cold. So I shall suffer it once a month and that is all.

I won’t weigh myself. See above for the reason why. However when I am happy with how I look I will weigh myself, just out of curiosity.

So there you have it. I shall attempt to stick by the rules. One other major factor of the blog is going on the back burning is just a matter of timing. I started working full time. I get up at ten to six in the morning to exercise. Then rush to work. When I get home from work I try and go out for a jog. After I get home and eat I am dead, I usually go to bed about nine at night. It is getting better as my body slowly gets used to it but it is so hard.

I have decided being on a “diet” will be an ultimate downfall for me. My lack of control about food has always been an issue. I don’t overeat anymore. But I still like good foods!! So I treat myself to small things on occasion. Mind you I might make a once weekly treat so I need to choose wisely! And staying away from the cookie jar at work is proving to be a challenge. One I have failed on many days. Cookies and milk is one of my favourite things. Yum!

So I am going to try and make more of an effort to update the blog. I have decided to write about other things happening in my life, not just about diet and exercise. My personal theory is if I start writing about it hopefully I will start trying to make my life more interesting. Take the ballroom dancing lessons, get lessons in French! Go out and about and experience Sydney for what it is. A big and busy city that hardly sleeps! I am a small girl in this big big town but one ay as well take advantage of it. Expand my world. Go to an art gallery. Eat something different. People watching here is most interesting too.

I need to be more independent. I hardly know anyone here but I won’t let that stop me anymore! I have my faithful cat Jack for company and companionship. He is one of the most amusing creatures I have had the pleasures of coming across. And he is as cute as a button! That and when I talk to him he looks at me and seems like he is listening. Yes that’s right folks, at 22 I am a crazy old cat lady ;)

So I shall leave on this note! Hopefully I’ll write again soon…

Update!!

Tomorrow night I shall update with my weigh in. I have yet to take pictures and will have to get one of the boys to take some of me in the morning!

Quick Update.

I must keep exercising. Even if it is so cold my fingers might drop off. This whole getting up at 6am to exercise is killing me. I am so tired all the time. I hope after a week I get used to it so I can update some more.

Going to sleep now! I have another date with dawn tomorrow. Night. xox

I want...

I want to be the type of girl a person immediately thinks "she is hot"

Weigh In -- FAIL! :'(

Dear Diary,
I must admit, after this weeks weigh in, I gave up. I immediately though "fuck this" and gave up. This is not something I am proud of. I have been avoiding updating this very blog because I gave up. The whole point of this very blog is to stop me doing that! I have already been reminded by Jasmin to post my measurements and weight and pictures. And they are sitting here ready to be done. I suppose I am a little, no A LOT, disappointed with myself and how little progress I have seemed to make after so much hard work. It means I need to work on what I eat and push myself further for longer.

So I fell off the bandwagon. I succumbed to Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I was slack and didn’t go for that walk. I of course made up excuses. It is raining. I have a cold (I actually do really have a cold, horrible thing) etc and etc. I am very good at justifying why I am not doing something.

I have decided I need more to keep me doing this. I am going to print off my fat pictures and stick them up somewhere that I will see them everyday. I will make a list of what I can and cannot eat and stick it on the fridge. I will (try) and stop making excuses allowing me to be lazy. Stay where I am. Not get healthy.

And thus, without further ado, this fortnights weigh-in:

Weight: 85.2kgs

Measurements:

Bust: 104
Waist: 95.5
Hips: 108
Thigh: 67
Upper Arm: 32.5

No real change really…/sigh

Thinspiration 80's Style!

Presenting...

Loren Lee Curtis!

Loren Newton-John!

Loren Fonda!

And The Very Plastic Loren Barbie!!

Resistance Training.

I find that the more I read about exercise, and the different ways of going about it, the more I learn! You will be surprised how much knowledge other people have of exercise and training as well from their own personal experience.

I am currently looking into resistance training. This helps build up your bodies muscle tone. Now I didn’t think of my muscles, I thought exercise was all about the cardio my thoughts were actually incorrect! Resistance training helps fight the flab as the muscles you are building up use your bodies fat stores. Now apparently if you build up your muscle tone to a certain extent those muscles could burn fat during your sleep!

There seems to be many different types of resistance exercise you can do. I have been shown exercises where all you need is a bench! Push ups, sit ups, chin ups, dips, squats and lunges all help. Now with this kind of exercise don’t expect to be able to do 50 squats your very first try! You need to build it up, gradually increasing the amount (or weight depending on what you are doing) to the point you would like to reach. However weights are often used and you can use the rubber bands as well.

Now I was talking to Anna about this who said that you will find that as soon as you start working on your muscle tone you will find that it helps burn the fat in all areas of your body! She would know as this is what happened to her personally when she very first began training. It certainly sounds like it would help speed up the whole process of losing weight.

I am going to start of doing more resistance training. I think a starting point of 5 of each where you don’t really require any equipment will be sufficient enough. I am thinking that with this kind of training you also need to be careful as you could probably easily over do it and will not be able to move the next day! I hope to buy some light weights to train with once I get the funds to do so. I think I could also benefit from having the weights that you wear around your wrists whilst walking.

I found the following article quite an interesting read:

http://www.medicinenet.com/weight_lifting/article.htm

It also links to a lot of other articles which would be interesting to take a look at!

Rain Rain And Exercise.

What to do when it is raining and pouring outside? I have on my exercise clothing. I think I shall try and go out for a quick walk today(if the weather allows), as I have had A LOT of bread today. [SEE: hot cross bun, French toast and cheese on toast]. Not very good for my diet at all. I have managed to avoid fast food for the most part, now I need to work on not eating as much bread or cereal products. I read something interesting last night:

“Carry a palm-size notebook everywhere you go for one week. Write down every single morsel that enters your lips -- even water. Studies have found that people who maintain food diaries wind up eating about 15 percent less food than those who don't.”

15% Less! I am thinking I must try this. It is always a battle not to eat anything I want whenever I want to.

Thinspiration:

This is me 4 years ago. This is a picture of me at my ideal weight. I tried this dress on and I cannot even get it over my ass. This picture is where I want to be by the end of this journey.

Exercise

So far my exercise has consisted of:

-40 Minute walk to a park w/ hills and walking up and down them.

-40 minute walk to King street, up and down it two times, and the long way home.

-60 minute walk on the soft sand at Coogee beach.

-30 Minute walk through the suburbs.

-2-3 Hour walk along the coast from Coogee to Bondi beach (and back again).

-60 minute walk along Maroubra beach rotating between wet sand and the dry sand.

Eat Less!

The Easter Weekend. Surrounded by delicious looking chocolate eggs and bunnies covered in bright wrapping paper. Abundant amounts of endless food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Freshly made hot cross buns from the bakery down the street. All holidays are as much about the food you eat as well as the significance of the actual day. And how hard is it for us that are attempting to lose weight.

I managed to avoid it for the most part. I ate sensibly. I ate the salads and chicken and only had three small chocolates. Then when I got home I ate two pieces of Joey’s pizza. I have never felt so sick in my life. It has been a good two weeks since I have eaten fast food and last night I was reminded that I should stay well away from it.

To make up for it today I went for a three-hour walk along the coast. We walked up to the famous Bondi Beach. It was beautiful. All along the coastline was beautiful. It was the perfect day for a walk, the sky was full of clouds keeping the direct sunlight off of us, and it was not too hot. The beaches were all separated by rocks jutting out to the sea. The path itself goes up and down hills, with lots of stairs in between! A very good work out, Stairs and I do not agree at the moment so I may need to work on that.

And to think I have the rest of the weekend to go until hot cross buns are not baked any more. Oh this shall be hard!!

Thinspiration!

Presenting...LOREN-JOLIE!!






I want, I Want, I WANT...to be able to wear this:



See:(http://americanapparel.net/)

Diet and Exercise.

Moving to Sydney and getting lost whilst going on your walk does certainly help get that hour-a-day in!

As Jasmin has pointed out we didn’t do our weigh ins. And I must admit I have not been a very good blogger. I used be awesome at updating, but these days, well I get distracted by other things. I promise that from now on I will try better!

[EDIT] Jasmin did do her weigh in! Well done! I however just discovered I don't even own a set of scales. Need to add them to the shopping list!

Okay so we didn’t do our weigh in because I moved from Perth to Sydney. Now that doesn’t sound like much of an “excuse” however Jasmin and I first drove to Adelaide. That meant 3 days of sitting in the car, and an additional day sitting at the airport/in the plane for me. As for Jasmin, well she had to drive all the way back to Perth! Mind you I think we did rather well in avoiding the roadhouse food on the most part, however we did eat a lot of processed food. So yes, I know I have made no progress what-so-ever. I am quite sure Jasmin is in the same boat.

Good news however, since I have gotten to Sydney I have not eaten any fast food. Nor have I had a particular desire to eat it. When I had the option I decided I would like Japanese – a much healthier choice. I have also been making the effort of eating home cooked meals. More fruit and vegetables. I just need to add some more salad to my diet – I am passing by the fruit and veg shop today so I may buy a few salad things. I have cut down my coke consumption, I only drink that every few days (usually when I am out and about). However I have started drinking a lot more coffee. I am starting to limit my consumption though. At the moment I am not letting myself drink it after three in the afternoon. Soon I might try and limit to two a day, and then one. I do need to drink more water. I find the taste of water not too appealing, however I have read about squeezing fresh lemon or lime juice in there helps with the taste, so I might have to try that.

Now as for the exercise. That has been a bit of a bust. I have only just started exercising. The hard thing about it is keep exercising. I found a park near me that has the hills from hell. So I might need to trek up those at least 4 times a week. I am going to walk for a week and then I am going to try this whole “running” thing. That should be interesting.

Diet Plan

My friend has lost 13kgs in a month or so sticking to the below diet. I may try this once I get to Sydney!

Breakfast

1 slice dry toast (can have with grilled tomatoes or 2 tsp cream cheese) OR grapefruit and 1 boiled egg OR 1/2 cup Granola cerial with fat free milk. (Can have poached egg instead, occasionally scrambled)


Lunch

Fresh fruit (any amount, no bananas!) OR pita wrap with lean meat (tomatoes, lettuice, onion etc) (1 tsp low fat mayo optional)


Dinner

Grilled chicken/steak/fish/lamb chops (any amount) with salad OR 2 hard boiled eggs with salad/vegetables

* If adding 1 cup rice/pasta to meal no more than ~ 150g meat.


Dessert

Fat free yogurt. (Only 2-3 times a week maximum. Check to ensure yogurt is actually low carb)


Note – Herbs & Spices are your friend. Garlic/chilli very good. Can add to meat for variety.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Loren. I am a 22 year old female who currently weighs in at 84 kgs. That is currently 15kgs heavier than I want to be. I am creating this blog, along with my best friend Jasmin, to help me get back to get back in shape.

I plan to do this through healthy eating and exercise – two things that have been lacking in my life for quite a while. I plan to document my weight and measurements, and hopefully over time show improvement.

I think creating a blog is a commitment to myself to actually make these changes in my life. I am the type of person that has started many things with good intentions and never finish them. I want to finish this. I want to be able to run around and not get puffed out. I want to be able to wear that backless dress without having to worry about “back-fat”. I want to banish my muffin top! Fight away my jiggly tummy! I want to look and feel healthy and strong!

Each fortnight I will check in with weight and measurements, accompanied by pictures, to show my improvement. And there will be improvement. The below are my current measurements (all in cms) and weight:

Bust: 105
Waist: 94.5
Hips: 108
Thigh: 68.5
Upper Arm: 33

Weight: 84 kgs

The pictures I post of myself are meant to show you what I look like. No nice angles. No held in tummy. This is me as I am today.