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?

One year since the beginning

Tomorrow will be mark one year since I started in this journey (properly).

One year ago I decided that I had enough of hiding beneath all the layers of fat.

A beautiful friend who I met through mother's group had been going to Weight Watchers after having her gorgeous son and I had noticed all of her baby weight coming off. I asked her about what she had been doing and decided I would go along to WW with her. It was time to face the scales and see what they said.

104.2kg

WTF! This was bad. I never really saw what was really in the mirror but it was made crystal clear at that moment.

Yes I had a baby 5 months earlier but I had lost the baby weight within 2 weeks of giving birth (I was quite healthy during pregnancy and only gained 8 kilos). What I had to lose now was the chocolate, junk food and couch weight that I had put on whilst on maternity leave. 10kilograms had been gained in 5months! That's shocking! But I suppose that is what eating at all hours, eating high sugar/fat foods just to get that quick energy fix, no exercise due to being so tired and just eating a lot of processed convenience foods will do to your body.

So I began the journey with WeightWatchers and had my good and bad weeks (mainly good) and kept this up until December when I had lost a total of 11kg. The program worked for me. It taught me a lot and I loved that I never ever felt like I was on a diet. It was little changes that bought results on the scale. I think it was also the first year in ages that I didnt gain weight over Christmas. I kept my eating during the festive season under control. It was after Christmas that I quit WW as i jsut felt liek I was wasting money just to go there and only lose a few hundred grams so I stopped going (when I stopped going to WW that things started to go pear shaped again and I gained some weight).

After a massive momentary lapse of concentration,

I  had renewed motivation when talk of going to Fiji came up as some friends are getting married there!

YAY!!!! A holiday!!!

Oh F*%K!!!!! Swimmers!!!!

The thought of wearing swimmers terrified me!!! Most Summer's I would just hide away inside in the air con but this was not an option on this holiday.

Time to get to it again!

I started to really make use of the treadmill sitting in my lounge room, spend less time on the couch and now have a toddler to chase after. At times it has been hard work...really hard work, but I am making progress.

From then until now has been pretty well documented over this blog.

I thought seeming it has been one year on my journey I should include my progress. You have probably seen some of these pictures of my progress on my blog but here are some photos of me in the last year anyway.

October 2009 - 97kg

February 2010 - 97kg (after regaining some of the weight I had lost)

May 2010 - 96kg

June 2010 - 88kg

July 2010 - 85kg

July 2010 - 84kg

August 2010 - 80kg

August 2010 - 80kg

I am feeling so much lighter. I have lost almost 24.2kilograms which is 53.2pounds and I can live life.

I hope that in the next year I can reach my goal of 70kg.

Then bypass it by at least 5kg taking me to 65kg and hold that weight for the duration of the year.

It's coming off!

I was going to wait until Sunday when I weigh in to post about this but decided it needed a post all of it's own.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where suddenly everyone that sees you notices the weight loss that you have actually been working on for a year? It clicks to everyone that this picture they had of you in their minds was of that fat girl (even though they would never say it) and all of a sudden you aren't that person anymore.

That is the week that I have had. I can not begin to tell you how many compliments I have had this week and it's only Friday! And instead of going all shy when receiving them, I have said to small words with a smile..."Thank you".

My other half even said to me today,

"Have you checked yourself out in the mirror lately...

cause you are looking damm fine!"

Yep, I'll take that one!

And you know what, I have been looking in the mirror. I have been checking out my reflection in the doors of the freezer section at the supermarket, as I walk right past the icecream that I used to pick up and eat all in one serving.

Finally I am not ashamed of what I see looking back at me.

Don't get me wrong...I still have a lot more work to do but I can see that changing my lifestyle in small ways over the space of a year, has made big changes.

I am happy.

I can breathe.

It's coming off!

My Jimminy Cricket!

You know that image in your head when you have to make a choice between something good and something bad??

One part of your sub conscience is whispering, "Go on eat that chocolate cake, no one is around, you deserve it!" and the other is saying "Do you really want that piece of chocolate cake to be added to your thighs?" (see image to the right)

Well I like to think of all of you as the one's that are telling me the latter, because let's face it, you are.

When I log onto my blog and I see 49 followers, I kind of get a little taken a back and am quite humbled. I know that 49 is not a massive amount when there are many blogs that have hundreds or thosands of followers, but it is a massive amount to me. Each one of you have at some point or another inspired me to make good, healthy choices, to not give up, to remember where I came from and where I am going.

You have shown me the way through letting me follow your blogs, through the inspiring words of truth that you write and the supportive comments that you leave for me.

You are all my Jimminy Cricket's!

That's a lot of Jimminy Crickets sitting on my shoulder!

You remind me that wishes do come true. That if I keep making the right choices then my dream to become a hot mumma is achievable and within my reach. I have seen it with the transformations that you have made and the journeys that you are on. Your support is so valued more than many would know.

Unlocking the most important tool to weightloss.

No, this post is not going to tell you to eat less and exercise more. Yes that is important but there is something that is far more important to get to wherer you want to go. Keep reading if you want to find out what that is.

I have been on the path to becoming a hot mumma since August 2009. Since that time I have lost 20kg (44pounds).

There have been times where I have become distracted on the path to my destination, times when I have been off smelling the roses just a little too much (and managed to add a little bit more junk in the trunk while I was at it), but it was never long until I found my way back to being on that path again and continued to make the load I was carrying even lighter.

So how do I stay on the path???

First of all, it took a lot of searching to find someone to guide me onto the right path. I had a lot of encouragement from lots of different sources but the one person who helped me get on the path to where I am now was me. I was staring myself in the mirror. There were so many clues along the way that it had to be me ie. photos of me I would just delete so I couldnt see myself, occasions I would avoid going to, clothes that I just wouldnt wear.

I was the key to making the decision to lose weight, get healthy and feel fantastic and since I became my biggest supporter, I am finding myself staying on the path more and more. Until you find you, the longer you will stray off the path.

I still ocasionally stop and smell the roses, treat myself, celebrate different things....and that is so important to do....but the most important thing is to remember that there are the most amazing smelling roses at the end of the very end of the path and you wil only get to smell them if you keep on travelling.

So many times I would say to people...

"I eat healthy foods, I exercise and I cant lose weight".

But reading between the lines, what was really happening was I would eat right for a little while, maybe exercise a few times and then not lose much and give up. It was teh giving up and the lack of "I am going to do this" mindset that was preventing me from losing weight. Now I see that very clearly.

So make sure you are your biggest support by unlocking your mind as that is what will make up a success. But I am always here to try and support you as well, just in case you do wonder off the path to smell those roses!

How it's time to go and blog hop. Click on the button bellow that says "Fat to Fit" and check out Diminishing Lucy's blog for the details. It's lots of fun and some great reads in the links attached.

Hoping your week is going well!

Why do mirrors tell lies? (weekly weigh in & progress photo)

Why is it that just when you think that you are looking good when you are looking back at your reflection in the mirror, that you see a photo of yourself from that day and realise that...

the mirror was telling lies!

That, or it is broken. 

Reality brings you crashing right back down and you are left wondering why is it that reality didnt take a bigger chunk off when it decided to bite you in the arse?

That was me today.

I cant even believe I am posting this picture as I hate it so much but I need to face reality.

I put on my jeans this morning and a simple black v necklong sleeve top. I felt good and asked my lovely man to take a photo of me. I was thinking I would see something that I liked (seeming I have lost over 15kg).

Hideous I tell you. I actually feel disappointed in myself.

Thank goodness there are hardly any photos of me at my heaviest as I dont know how I would have coped. 

I know that I have worked hard and come a long way from my heaviest but I still have more hard work ahead of me.

I need to work hard to reach my goals.

I really cant wait to not be scared to have photos taken of me and to feel assured in myself that I look good.

To top it off, I only lost 500grams this week. I should be happy but I am not, maybe I would if I hadn't seen the photo but I can't hide from reality.

Here's to a better week everyone.

The Honest Truth

For half of my life, I had always felt like I was bigger than everyone else.

When I was in primary school, I played netball, reps (in centre, WA positions) and was so physically fit but I always felt like I had bigger legs than the other girls. I look back at the photos now and realise I wasn't. I have no idea what size I was a kid but no bigger than the other kids.

In high school, same thing, except I stopped playing netball, but still kept up tennis. I guess looking back I was a healthy size 12.

After high school I went to uni and was working a casual job in a cafe. I didn't drive back then and used to walk to train stations, bus stops, to the shops, etc alot. I got down to a size 10 jeans which was incredible for me. I use to be able to wear midrif tops and low cut jeans and really had the stomach to carry it off. However I never really thought I was skinny. But really I was.

Then I got my license and moved out of home at the age of 18.5yrs. I put on a lot of weight, went back up to a size 14. Looking back a lot of it was the freedom to go and get maccas and take out whenever, drinking lots with friends and just not living a healthy lifestyle. It clicked to me when I was working at a gym and my 3/4 length size 14 cotton sleeve was so tight around my arms that it didnt make sense that I was selling people memberships to a gym when I was clearly not the picture of health.

I was 20, I started hitting the spin classes (sometimes twice a day) and basically starved myself on eating 1 piece of frozen fish a day... hmm and that was healthy I got down to a size 10 again. Guys started staring at me again in approval. I looked hot for my 21st (well i thought I did LOL) and I wont lie, I was really happy. I had the confidence to strut around in sexy lingere or shorts (havent seen those days in a while)!!!!

Then I moved in with DP, aged 22.5yrs. I progressively put on weight. Over 4 yrs I put on 25kg. Over those years, I went on many diets, they would work and then I would stop and put on the weight I lost plus more. My grandparents, parents DP and DP's family all commented on what was going on with my weight. I would always get defensive and say I am happy, leave me alone.

This is where my body image was totally warped to the other extreme.

I no longer thought that I was bigger than other people, in fact i would always see people who were bigger than me and think "well I am not as big as them". I know now that I was. If not bigger. But it was like I was seeing a warped image of me in the mirror and that I was not fat. After all these years, my body image had taken a massive turn (but not for the better).

I then split from DP for a short time. I lost about 10Kgs without trying. Guys thought I was hot again (I was still probably a size 14, but a small one with very healthy curves in the right places).

I got back together with DP, put on about 5kg and after 6 months I fell pregnant. Ate anything I wanted (but didnt go overboard). During pregnancy I put on a total of 8kg. I liked my pregnant body, apart from the stretchmarks! After I had Miss Twinkle Toes, I lost 5.5kg instantly and was in my pre-pregnancy jeans within a week of having Miss TT.

That didnt last.

I then was at home all the time with a newborn and I would just eat and eat. I put on more weight over the following 6 months than I did over the 9 months of pregnancy. I was the biggest I have ever been. A size 18. Double chin, back fat, tummy fat, leg fat, cankles, you name it, I had fat there! It was at this point I knew I was fat!!

I then started going to WW with a gorgeous girl from mothers group in October last year. I had lost 10.5Kg with adding walking in 3 times a week and watching what I eat, but not really cutting anything out, just the amount.

Then Christmas came, I put on 900g, then I just lost the plot in January and put on another 900g. I stopped going to WW after Christmas as I could no longer afford it.

Anyway I am back on the wagon now after a lot of inspiration from other ladies that are doing the weight loss thing for them and seeing how well the Biggest Loser people did this year.

So please follow me on my journey.


I really hope that I can finally do this for me and no one else. And maybe.... just maybe I can be an inspiration for someone else.
Ali xo