12 Week Challenge: What is it and why am I doing it?

One of my 52 in 52's for this year was to join the 12 week challenge at the gym. I go to the Goodlife Health Centre in Maroochydore, and I'd been seeing signs about it since we signed up last year. They finally opened for registrations for the February challenge, and for my birthday, Mario signed me up. Enrolling one's girlfriend in a weight loss challenge is probably not the most romantic-sounding present, but in his defence, he knew it was something I really wanted.

To be clear, I know that most PT's will groan over 12 week challenges. They believe that it promotes a short-term “quick fix” and then people will just go back to their unhealthy ways after the challenge. In my view, I think anything that can encourage someone to start looking at diet & exercise as a means to lose weight is not a bad thing. They're not encouraging plastic surgery and the shake diet after all! Plus once you start to see the changes, it can become addictive and you'll want to keep pushing to keep the numbers on the scales going down.

I know that I have demonstrated I can be consistent with exercise. I enjoy getting out there and doing something energetic. I like the feeling of finishing a race, and doing something I never dreamed possible.

My problem lays solely in food.

I'm the living proof that appearance is 80% nutrition, otherwise I'd be freaking sexy right now.

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Health update: not going as planned

The autoimmune protocol diet is over, and I'm due to write a final post with my thoughts on it soon. But, spoiler alert, I didn't get the results I hoped for. I originally did the diet because of the list of symptoms I had, including:   Fatigue (even to the point that leaving the house … Read more

A morning spent waiting at the hospital

Today was my annual check up at the hospital, where I get an ultrasound on my breasts. In a fortnight I will meet with the doctor to go over the results. The reason for this rigmarole is that a few years ago I was unlucky enough to find some breast lumps. My family has a … Read more

Keeping up my fitness motivation

As I have grown to know who I am as a person in the last few years, I have discovered the various quirks that I have: I love to do activity of some kind, but I also can become lazy very quickly. I love lists…like REALLY love them (I'm writing one now even) I'm a … Read more

Losing my wisdom….teeth

Just over a week ago I found myself at the Future Music music festival, eating the best chicken wrap I had ever experienced at a music festival. It was fresh, full of salad and other healthy tidbits like beans, and was delicious. However I now think it may be the culprit for what I would … Read more