We have all done it right??....Time to get back to reality!

You reach a goal, you relax, you have a few extra wines, some extra nibbles, you stop exercising and before you know it you are way off track!

It was time for me to weigh in tonight and face reality after not getting on the scales for 3 weeks.

I am now 81kg! I think I have put most of that on since I got home to be honest but I need to make some changes, own that weight gain of 4.5kg (how someone gains 4.5kg in 3 weeks I will never know!!!)

Got big plans a head and new goals to set. Will keep you updated!

If you thought Fiji was big...wait until you hear this!!!!!!

I am back!

Okay I have been back for a week an totally neglected to tell you my news. It's not that I havent wanted to. I have been busting to get on here and blog but between getting back into the swing of things at work, looking after an active 18mth old and catching up on the piles of washing I have failed to blog.

I promise to make up for it now with news from my trip to Fiji.

Are you ready for it?

I certainly wasn't. Well I was. But it still caught me off guard.

I'm engaged!!!!

How spectacular is that!!!

And I know what you are thinking about that cake....

I only had a few mouthfuls I swear!

I have so much more to tell you and promise to tell you all about our trip, the temptations, the endulgences

(can anyone say champagne buffet breakfast each day),

which dress I wore to the wedding, the proposal, the weigh in, the future plans, goals and lots, lots more but for now I will leave you with a couple of photos from the trip.

I promise to blog again soon and will work on catching up on everyone's blog happenings over the weekend.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Leaving on a jet plane, dont know when I'll be back again!

Does anyone remember that song? I remember hearing it on the movie Armageddon when Ben Affleck and his buddies were leaving to go to outerspace to save the world. Its never left my head!

I will be back though and promise to share some holiday snaps and memories with you.

When we first booked this trip (at least 4 mths ago) I didnt think I would get to where I am now.
Dont get me wrong, I aimed high but in the back of my head, I thought it was impossible. I had always failed in the past, so what would make this time any different??

That thought stayed in my mind maybe for a total of 10seconds, before I wiped it away and started using my mind as a weightloss tool. One of the keys to my success.

Your support and inspiration along the way has been incredible. I never thought I would have this many followers but to think that I can be an inspiration to others just means to world to me.

So, I saved my weigh in for today.

I didnt weigh in last Sunday and I wanted a big push towards my last chance/last week training before the holiday. Geez, anyone would think that it was me getting married the way I have been  preparing for this but no, I assure you its not! 9 years together and an 18mth old makes me feel like an old married couple anyway!

I trained mighty hard this week. Gillian Micahels would be proud!

There is this fab new show on in Australia called The X Factor. Its like Idol but heaps better. Think it has been in the UK but not the US yet.  I have been going hard on the treadmill with the tv cranked listening to some awsome tunes (and some dodgy ones as well) and before I know it, I have done 7.5km of interval training in one hour! I can easily do 2 sets of 20 pushups with perfect form and still struggle through the 3rd set and crunch out 100 situps on the fitball.

So where does that leave me with my weight??

76.5kg!

It has taken over a year but I have now lost 27.6kg!!

I have lost 13cm from my chest, 22cm from my hips and 36.5cm from my waist in the last year!

Here is the before and now photo comparison

 And close up

I feel fabulous, have confidence, I enjoy shopping for me and finally have clothes that are super cute, I look youger, I am healthy, I am in a much better mood all the time, I am succeeding at my job, my relationship is a million times better and I am a hell of a lot more fun!

So I am off now, to pack some more, before leaving very early tomorrow morning.

 

I will be thinking of you all as I search for some low calorie cocktails (is there such a thing) and read my book whilst relaxing under a gorgeous palm tree on a tiny island in the South Pacific!

Love to you all,

Which one? Help! PLEASE! Wedding Outfit!

Do I have a post for you tonight!!
I have been so busy getting prepared for our Fiji holiday (that is now 9 days away)!

There are so many things to do but here are a few important ones that I have marked off my list this week:

1. Get passports DONE (they came today WOOHOO!)!
2. Get some smokin' hot hair to compliment my new shape DONE!!!!
3. Buy some new $20 sunglasses seeming my other $20 ones are in pieces (handbag, sat on, oops). DONE!

And here are some photos of the smokin' hot hair and the new shades!

So that is all fabulous

but....

I need your help in deciding which outfit I should wear to the wedding that we are going to while we are over there.

I originally had this dress which I had taken in from a size 16 to a size 12 (Australian).

Here is a picture of me in it tonight with my hair and makeup done

And here is another dress that is new that I bought in a shop that I never used to be able to find anything that would be my size. Now I am in a size 12 (Australian)!!!!

Arrrhhh!

Decisions!

I hate making them so I am throwing this one to all of my gorgeous blogging friends who have been so incredibly supportive to get me to where I am am today and into these gorgeous dresses!

So which one do you think I should wear?

Countdown! - 3 weeks to go!

So holiday is around the corner which means all systems need to be go for me to make the most out of the time left to exercise and eat well before I jump on a plane.

A few things that need to happen this week:

Exercise
4 x 5km interval training on treadmill (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri)
100 x situps each day
40 x pushups each day
50 x walking lunges with weights in the backyard each day
Chase after and dance with my little cheeky monkey
2 x family walks at the park (6km each time)

Food
Biggest loser Shakes for breakfast
Green tea throughout the day
No carbs after 5pm
Eat dinner by 7pm and not later
Drink plenty of water.

 Let's see how I go with that!

Going to be a busy bee this week!

Back to the future!

Without my little blogging world community I am not sure where I would be. Actually I am pretty sure my hand would still be in that bag of chips! Thank you to every one of my supporters. I have noticed a few new followers as well and I am goign to try and catch up and visit your blogs as I know all of you will be able to inspire me as I follow your journeys.

I have taken some massive risks lately. risks I wouldnt ordinarily take. It's funny that  in days gone by I would not have shown anyone photos of me and now I feel so good showing people how far I have come. The support, encouragement and inspiration that you have given me in my Swimsuit post and easing my fears about it and then picking me up when I had lost my way, encouraging and inspiring me to get back on track have been invaluable.

Well I am back on track. I weighed in this morning and am back to 79.5kg so that means last weeks half kilogram gain is now a 1kg loss and I am back on the path to achieving my goals and it is great to now be heading in the right direction. I cant believe that your help has helped me to tur myself around and get a loss with 4 days of hard work. Not only that Ihave broken through the 80's (just) so now I am a 70's girl! It has been a long time!

I have been so busy lately but need to keep reminding myself that I need and deserve my time as well. I feel like I am time poor (hence catching up on all of yout blogs at 1am on a Saturday night and then being so tired this morning but things just seem to be so busy!

Today marks only 3 weeks to go until our holiday to Fiji. Putting the dress in to be altered this week. Cant wait to show you what it looks like.

Right now though I have added a couple of photos from this weekend of my gorgeous girl and I!

 

Courage

The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.

This post takes GREAT courage (although jsut between you and me...I have no idea what vicissitudes means).

And I feel like the cat that is walking in front of all those dogs right now. This little cat sure does have some courage.

Did I mention I love dogs?

Yesterday I told you that I bought some new swimmers for my holiday and promised that I would put some pictures up of me in them so I could see what you thought.

So after a long day I took some photos. I have to say the vibrant blue colour doesnt seem to come out as well in the photos as it is in reality but it is definitely like the colour shown in the flower here.

While I was looking at the photos, I realised how white my legs were. They don't get out very much ever and it is Winter so they are like two white ghosts. Some tanning (spray, bottle, sun) will hopefully fix that.

Anyway here they are.

(Ali secretly crawls off and hides)

Still have a bit of work to do to turn the gluteus maximus into a gluteus minimus!

And it can also be made strapless.

My other half likes this option LOL!

I also tried on a bikini that I bought 3.5 years ago and only wore half a dozen times.

The picture on the left was when I tried it on 1month ago. The picture on the right is from today.

I can really see a difference here.

Not enough to make me wear it as my mummy tummy with stretchmarks on it is still there.

 Okay so that's me. Not sure how long I will leave these pics up. I think I have embarrassed myself enough and I have not even pressed publish post yet!

4 weeks to go!

I went shopping and bought...

Some swimmers for my holiday to Fiji !!

(which is in 4weeks and 3 days!)

I didn't go out to intentionally buy a swimming costume today. I was just up at the shops and thought I would see if there was much about. It is harder then what you think to buy a swimming costume (especially when it is the middle of Winter here) and there was not much to choose from but there was a colour that really stood out to me..

I went with

 this colour and I think it will compliment my skin really nicely and look great in amongst the vibrant blues of the sky and the waters surrounding me.

I was going to go for black but decided that black may be a little dull for a island holiday.

I chose a one piece over a two piece as I wanted the option of being able to hide my tummy if I wasn't feeling confident. I have a two piece that I may consider taking with me as well.

Might pop some photos of me in it for a sneak preview in the next couple of days. I know that you all will tell me honestly what you think of it.

Not feeling like making the effort to get into them right now to show you a photo but promise to do one soon

I won't rip the tags off until I get the approval.

:-)

Sunday Song!

Today was weigh in day (even though I have had a feew sneaky peaks through the week)!

The song that became Sunday and had me dancing after getting up at 10:30am

(Love it when kids sleep in)

was.....

Rock DJ

by Robbie Williams

Warning: this music video is quite controversial and you shouldn't watch if you have a weak stomach so think carefully before clicking on Robbie's body!

So the reason for a bit of Rock DJ was because I am down another Kilogram which brings me to 83kg. This song always makes me dance and is a "happy' song for me!

I can't even begin to tell you how many compliments I have received over the last week. Returning to work after 2 weeks holidays made a lot of people notice some changes. I think when you dont see someone everyday you really can tell. My other half has been giving me lots of encouragement and praise for my efforts and is really proud of me and most importantly I am proud of myself.

I have 6 weeks until my island holiday. Did I tell you we are attending a wedding whilst we are there for some very good family friends? I will get the dress that I intend to wear altered 2weeks before we go as it is an Australian size 16 and now I think I would need a size 12! I am still a size 14 but because the dress is quite flowy I could comfortably get away with a 12.

My weight goal for my holiday is to lose another 6kilograms. 6 in 6! I think it is doable and not an unrealistic goal.

It will still require hard work so my plan is:
Biggest Loser shakes for breakfast
Carrots/capsicum/celery and other raw veges wih either hommus or salsa as a snack
Lunch will be my main meal
Small dinner
If hungry at night I will have green tea.

Exercise this week will include:
5 sessions of at least 5km of interval training each session on the treadmill
100 situps and 50pushups each day.

You may notice I am not around toomuch at the beginning of the week for the next few weeks. Work is hectic (I work the first half of the week as I am part time) and recently got a promotion which is code for a shitload more work so I am rather busy up until Thurs/Friday.

Hope that everyone else is going well. Looking forward to checking out everyone's progress towards teh end of the week.

7 weeks to overcome my biggest fear.

Terrified.

Stressed.

Basically shiting myself that in 7 weeks (omg) 7 weeks, I am going to be on a plane to Fiji.

No, I am not afraid of the plane ride over there, rather the thought of parading along the beach or pool side that scares the living daylights out of me.

Time for a confession.

I have not been swimming in a public area for over 3 years. Sydney has some of the best beaches in the world yet I avoid the beach as I just never thought that I fitted in with the typical beach beauties.

So why in the world did we choose to go to a tropical island resort for a holiday?!

I think deep down I had to accept the challenge of getting into a swimsuit again. Really I have no choice now. I have a daughter who loves the water and its not really much fun sitting on the waters edge all covered up avoiding questions from passer byers like, "Aren't you hot in that?" and tying really hard to not show the perspiration on your forehead as you reply "No, it's not that hot" (whilst secretly melting underneath your layers).

So over the next few weeks I am going to start looking for a swimsuit that hides my worst bits and flatters my best bits. Just have to work out what my best bits are to flatter!

In the mean time, exercise, eat well and think well and checking out this site to see what might suit my shape the best.

Trying not to be scared!!