Hi everyone! This weeks post is a little bit all over the place. It has been a huge week, and I couldn’t
decide on one topic to write about.
So I decided to write about everything! Well…a few awesome things that I did and or realised this
week.
So, here I am, another round of 12WBT
down! Those twelve weeks flew fast!
At the end of round three 2013 (September) I hit my goal weight, then for the
following twelve weeks I started to get bored with my workouts. I was in a bit of a gym rut and went
threw what I called at the time, my “screw the gym tantrum”. During this time I went back to
swimming and went for walks and runs.
Even this started to get boring and I thought I was doomed to boring
cardio workouts forever and thought, well, no wonder people completely fall off
the wagon and give up going to the gym!
Oh so wrong I was!
So, I set myself a new challenge, which was
to tone and shape. Shit…this would
mean competing with all the buff males for the free weights. Ok, I can cope with that; maybe…I just
want a strong set of arms and a flat stomach, ok that means I’m going to have
to start lifting some weights…I can deal with that. The weights area of the gym has always been very
intimidating to me. I managed to
recruit a few gym buddies and 12 weekers this round so I’ve had plenty of mates
to train with. Training with mates
definitely makes working out a lot easier and turns it into something
social. How and why? Firstly, you are more likely to turn up
to the training session because hey, you’re not going to stand your training
buddy up…right?! Secondly, you
push each other. Yep, a little bit
of competition and someone to yell at you to keep you going can mean the difference
between an average workout and taking the roof off it! Third, as a female in the weights area,
especially in my gym, you can look like a fish out of water…with a buddy,
you’re not alone!! Yep a good training buddy is worth their weight in gold as
far as I’m concerned!
So we started to hit the weights, it took a
bit of coordinating, slips and trips, trials and error but we all got there in
the end! I’m learning to walk
around the gym with my head held high, and not to let anyone intimidate me; I’m
definitely getting better at this.
We soon figured out that at a certain time each night, there is a free
room to use…SCORE! So many times this
room has been used to set up grueling circuits, other times it has been a quiet
place to stretch or dare I say it…chat!
Oh and play…throwing fit balls at each other? Yep! That happens, it’s fun! This round has been so much fun and I
owe that to my gym buddies, you know who you are. February hasn’t been my best round nutritionally and until I
compared week twelve to week one, I did not think I’d made any progress.
I think it’s safe to say that I have
definitely made progress! I am
continuing to lose fat and gain muscle, which is my aim.
It was back to Uni this week, which means six
solid days of work a week and minimal sleep and down time. So on the Sunday, I prepared myself for
the coming week and cooked up a storm!
The fridge and freezer were restocked to make eating well easier on such
a hectic schedule. So this cook up
included a delicious chocolate cake for my brother’s birthday. I will openly admit that I did not
think that it would be remotely edible.
I mean…really, healthy chocolate cake? Three letters, Y.U.M!
It was delicious, so if you are in need of a chocolate cake recipe give
it a go and let me know what you think! (Just remember that healthy does not
mean low in calories so enjoy in moderation!)
Liz’s
Healthy Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients: ¼ cup cacao powder, ¼ cup almond meal, 2
teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, pinch of salt, 4 eggs,
¼ cup honey, 1 tablespoon natural vanilla essence, ¼ cup melted coconut oil.
Method:
Preheat oven to 160 C. Combine the cacao, almond meal, baking
powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the
eggs, honey, vanilla essence and oil.
Mix well until smooth and combined. Pour into a lined cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until
cooked through. Allow to cool.
To make the ganache, place a small block of
70% dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl, over top of a saucepan of boiling
water. Allow to melt. Add a good dollop of low fat Greek
yoghurt and mix well.
Top the cake with the ganache and fresh
berries of your choice and enjoy!
It was such a nice surprise on Friday to come
home after a LONG day to my 30+crew merchandise. It brought such a smile to my face! I have a new favourite hoodie and am
proud to be rocking it! This is
definitely an article of clothing I feel like I have earned the right to
wear! For those of you who don’t
know what 30+ is, it is a group of 12 weekers with thirty or more kilos to
lose. We support each other along
our journeys.
Other things that happened this week…I bought
more active wear…yes yes I have a problem I know! But why is this significant? IT IS PINK!! I have never been an overly girly girl and pink…well
I was brought up on blue. As a
young girl my bedroom wall were blue, I wore a lot of red, white, blue,
yellow…basically any colour except pink.
As I got older I associated pink with being very feminine, which was not
how I ever felt being so large. I
never felt attractive enough to wear pink. Long story short, I am starting break that stigma. I am starting to learn to wear
pink. I deserve it now and feel
like I can rock it and own it whilst feeling comfortable in my own skin! So…here is a nice (sweaty) pic of me in
my first pink top!
So this basically scratches the surface of my
week. But these have been the highlights. I realised this week just how far I
have come in the last twelve, even though I didn’t think I had. It just goes to show the importance of
documenting your journey and mapping your progress. When you can look back at old photos, you realise just how
much change you are capable of, it can also help to motivate you. I now know that I am capable of so much more than I gave myself credit for. This in itself is a huge idea to get my
head around. And for today I will
leave it here.
Liz Xox
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