Fit & Fab - The Start of My Transformation

Before I got pregnant I was pretty fit considering how much I ate and how much I partied. I had my job to thank for that. Living in a country town doesn't leave you with many options for employment and makes the dream of having a glamorous career almost impossible. Instead of becoming bound to the city, I chose to stay and work in the shearing sheds. I'm not sure what attracted me more to the job - the opportunity to travel, to meet and work with so many people, the physicality of the job or the 'work hard, play hard' lifestyle. In all honesty, it was probably a mixture of everything.

Unfortunately, due to it's physical nature, I couldn't keep working past the seven month mark of my pregnancy. Very quickly I went from being a fit pregnant girl to a fat pregnant girl who lost motivation and retreated to the couch with a block of Cadbury chocolate on a daily basis. I'm not proud of that. I managed to pile on a little over 20kg and most of that happened after I stopped working. I couldn't blame Andy for that. I was lazy and used food to comfort my fears of becoming a Mum.

Since giving birth to Andy, I've committed to becoming fit and healthy. Obviously, I haven't been able to do a lot of exercise within the first six weeks other than walking. However I have managed to give my diet a complete overhaul. I've chosen to eat cleaner by minimising the amount of processed foods I eat. 'Clean' foods are those with very little or no processing. Basically it's just your classic hunter-gatherer diet of meat, fruits and vegetables. If you can grow it or kill it, you can eat it!

I will admit that I don't eat 100% clean and I'm not committing to that either. I still enjoy some sauces and pasta occasionally. But I've managed to eliminate bread and dairy products, which was surprisingly easy for me. Removing dairy was a choice I made based on how consuming it made me feel. I felt bloated and would break out within a day of eating cheese or too much milk. I don't believe in completely restricting yourself. Ever heard of cheat meals? There's nothing wrong with them. One unhealthy meal won't make you fat, nor will one healthy meal make you skinny. To me, it's about balance. Being mostly healthy and indulging on occasions.

 

Within four weeks I had lost 11.2kg - that's just by eating healthy with no purposeful exercise. The photo above shows the physical difference between five days after birth and four weeks after birth. I still have a long way to go. It's been just over six weeks and I've currently lost 15.6kg. 

I've just started introducing exercise this week. I'm sore but I feel amazing. I'm committing to this journey without the assistance of a personal trainer, however, I highly recommend the Nike+ Running and Nike Training Club iPhone apps. They're free and keep me super motivated. Nike Running uses the location services on your phone to track your run. It shows time, distance and pace. It also has a Coaching section where you can set yourself a goal and the app will get you there with daily training tasks. Nike Training has great circuit workouts conducted by celebrity athletes. The two apps can also integrate with each other and you can challenge your friends online.

So, to keep me extra motivated, I'm going to continue to post my journey on this blog. I may even post some recipes! My weight loss goal is 65kg but as long as I'm fit and healthy, it's just a number on the scale to me. I want to be fit. I want to be able to run 8km without walking. I want to be able to do 30 push ups without stopping. 250 squats consecutively. Once I reach these goals, I'll make more. I'm going to strive to be better everyday, even if there's a few mistakes along the way.

Start weight: 90.6kg

Current weight: 74.8kg

Goal weight: 65kg