You are not alone...

Unfortunately the last 48 hours have not been fun ones for us and thus I havent been around. I wont go into details here, as I dont believe its necessary (thankfully it was not a sad ending) however I need to stress awareness about depression and the fact that there is indeed a wealth of help out there. If you believe you are or know someone who is suffering from depression, anxiety etc, know that your not alone. Please know your better here with us and that depression may seem like a very dark tunnel and you cant see the light, but I promise you, there is indeed a light at the end of it all and you will come out a stronger person for it. Think of yourself as the caterpillar and you are going to turn into that beautiful butterfly, you have just got your wings and you just need to try. 

I know through some of my struggles in the past, BeyondBlue was in its early days but was and is always a brilliant source of information. Please please please, I cannot stress it enough, if you need help, please ask and if you dont like the opinion of one doctor, go to another! We live in a country where help is available on every corner and the government does have mental health care plans available with councilling available at no or reduced cost. If you believe you need that help and your doctor doesnt mention it in, mention it yourself! Its available! There are no excuses in this day and age, you just need to have willpower and that tiny itsy witsy bit of willingness to try. People do care and people do understand. Everyone situation is different but there is always someone who has been similar and can relate. YOUR NOT ALONE. 

If you do want more information, as I mentioned above, BeyondBlue is a fantastic website full of information, tips and numbers.

http://www.beyondblue.org.au

Sleepy angry puffer fish and falafel!

Ive hit a wall. Its big, nasty and wont move and all I want to do is slide down it and use it to sleep against. Im physically, mentally and just totally exhausted and I think I might be coming down with something. I feel flatter than tack. On top of this, I feel like a big angry bloated puffer fish and I am having a serious case of CBF. Even the old fav, JDFI aint cutting the mustard because when I say it to myself, "NOW GET YOUR SORRY BUTT out that door and go for a run", the curbs even look comfy and I could totally just lie down and sleep. The one thing stopping me, the fact I may get arrested for being an odd ball and I play on that fine line of sanity on the best of days!!

So Im being honest, besides moving a hell of a lotta boxes to project reno on my day off yesterday, unpacking my kitchen and breaking a sweat this way, I have not done any exercise yesterday and today, well did you read above? Now normally Id be wiping out my journal and looking at my excuses and how to combat my sorry arse, but seriously I think my body is telling me to take a day or two. My iron levels are bottomed out, iron sups not working or something coz Im also bruising like an apple thats fallen outta the fruit bowl.

I think also because of puffer fish feeling and the fact that yesterday was not my most proudest days eating wise (I STUPIDLY went UNPREPARED to project reno and convenience girl had fun yesterday, lets leave it at that), the scales will probably mock me and knowing what I have/havent done, I wont take a hammer to it. DEAR WEIGHTLOSS GODS, please let it just not have moved up and Ill be happy!

Difference between my mind set a few years ago and now, I know that tomorrow I will bust it out. I will kick some serious JDFI butt and Ill make sure to kill it. Im not off the wagon, Im simply taking a nap on the bumpy ride. LITERALLY!

This morning I made the decision to re-arranged our menu so we are having steak and mushrooms with veg. Gotta get whatever available iron into my blood I think. Damn my family history of iron issues! Hubby Ninja is happy - he gets a man meal - meat and three veg!

So yesterday was my day off and I spent it just doing stuff on my own at project reno and being productive. I wanted a day of just going at my own pace and it was so nice up there. It rainned all day and coz we have a tin roof, it was just glorious....if you dont look at the carpet anways (which btw is coming up this weekend). I managed to pull all the carpet staples up outta the kitchen area and unpack most of the boxes (cutlery etc are still in boxes as the boys have to change the sink over etc. 

Yes thats mostly tupperware!

After unpacking and being all reno-y, I went to the bike store to order MY BIKE! WOHOO!! Its on back order but I should have it by the middle of March! Around the time we plan to be actually in project reno! Sooo excited!

On other news, if your a regular reader (or friend) you know Im slightly obsessed with anything Falafel. Ive been hooked on this wrap I get from Food For Life and may of squeaked with excitement when I saw them on the menu this week. I thought I might give it a go and see if I can make em because surely its not hard. I did a bit of research and found that you can buy at supermarket, you can make from fresh (option out, my food processor at project reno and Im still at concrete jungle) or make with a packet mix. I went to concrete jungles woolies, no luck there on the buy freshish option so went the packet option (gluten and additive free btw) and boy is that a FAIL option there. 

I baked em up in the oven and they looked awesome. Looked being the word. They looked awesome enough to turn into hockey pucks which tasted like spicy dog biscuits although I think my dog may turn her nose at them to! They were soooo bad!!! I giggled (coz Im an idiot), spat it in the bin (coz Im all lady) and vowed I will buy them fresh. 

So being a ninja on a mish'on (<--see what I did there!! haha) I went to the city Woolies, no luck so thought, you know what Ill see if Food For Life has them, coz oh my LORNA theirs are heaven and I know they arent full of crap! BINGO! They sell them for $1 each. I restrained from buying the lot, I bought 10 and came home and froze them. Guess what Im having for lunch tomorrow :)

Also, look what I now have (shock horror its not Lorna!):

Now Im praying for winter so I can rock my yoga pants and pink top! Love it all! Thank you to the awesome sa crew 12wbt ninjas who have helped me track down my Mish loot! I dont live near a Big W, so they came to my rescue!

Hope your all doing well! Whats new with you?

Snooze ya later...zzzzzz

Supreme SSS on the Dancefloor!

So the weekend has definitely been a busy one and today didnt got to plan thanks to Mother Natures thermostat however we did manage to finally find a new bed frame to go with our new mattress (king size - wohoo!) so it wasnt a waste of a day thats for sure. I still have tomorrow off as well to do a few things at Project Reno, but at least its meant to be cooler!

Saturday was filled with a private ceremony wedding in the morning followed by a hunt for the bed. Seriously did not realise how hard it would be to find something that was of good quality, in a KING size. Found plenty of queens size beds we liked but only to than be told, no sorry that doesnt come in King! Seriously, I kid you not! I was shocked! It was like the King size bed was going to be that proverbial needle in a haystack! We did however find an awesome chair on spesh at Freedom, so we picked that baby up and loaded her into the ute. We still not 100% sure we will put it, but it was to gorgeous to leave at the shop!

The grey one the chick is sitting on is the colour we got!

Last night saw the SA 12wbt crew having our get together to mark the end of round 4 and boy, did we have a ball tearing up the dancefloor and sing our hearts out. So if you werent with us, you could probably hear us singing across Adelaide!

As normal, when us ladies (and gents) get together, there is a never a dull moment to be had. I came home with very sore feet (drove car home without shoes!) but an absolute buzz of happiness as well as a constant ring in my ears. The music was classics and on more than one occasion  PT Ninja and I would grab each other and run to the dancefloor. One particular cracker was when Hanson and Mmmbop! came on. Yes we are simply that awesome! Anyone who saw us, may of thought we had a few under our belt, but no, we were sober...thats just us normally!

The group of us fine looking ladies (and gents)

I think getting our group shot was quite difficult for the photo takers! We were all to busy wanting to get back out and dance. I do believe a Spice Girls song was on, so this upped the anty of wanting to shake our booties. (Supreme SSS anyone?)

As always when we get together, where there is a floor, there is a plank off and to mix it up a bit, some pushups were done, dips on chairs and some stretches... 

Plank off!

Push ups!

STTRRETTTCCHHH!!

It was an absolutely brilliant night and for those who couldnt make it, seriously next time, dont miss it! Its definitely a fantastic opportunity to meet everyone!

Today, as I mentioned above, didnt go to plan thanks to the heat. We were meant to b ripping up some 1980s carpet (eww) in Project Reno, but with the heat we decided to continue our bed hunt and to also go get some rugs from Ikea. We did finally find a bed at Classic Timber Furniture which was brilliant and the rugs were in stock at Ikea! SCORE!

All in all its been an awesome weekend! What did you get up to?

Booyeah! Its FRIDAY!!!

We made it! Its Friday!! Wohoo! Get excited and do a dance... I know I am, even if I look like a crazy fool.

Fridays at work are  "wear what you want" to work days. I open up my cupboard, harps start and I enter heaven. Yep I think its a Lorna kinda day! Im wearing my red lorna sporty type tee. I look awesome :P Modest to! I just noticed they also have discount again off sale stock...oh poor bank account, but heaven is calling! Addiction - I has it! Could be worse addictions to be had right?!

Our trip to big w was postponed til tonight before we go to a friends for dinner. I have seen everyone get some awesome stuff and my list just continues to grow! I really want the DVDs, the book and the puffy vest! Fingers crossed that the Big W we are going to has it all! Ill show you tomorrow what gets purchased!!!

Yesterday was really just another day - work, eat, exercise and sleep. I did however get to have lunch with Playground Ninja. As always we talked the roof off the cafe but she did make a comment which is totally true. That comment being that its always awesome to have lunch with people who are doing the program or have the same mindset because you dont have the risk of getting something which could possibly blow out your calorie count. Totally spot on I reckon! Unfortunately, unlike other states, Adelaide is a little slow on the uptake when it comes to healthy places to eat lunch/dinner etc and thus you try as best to ensure your not blowing out. Yesterday our lunch was at Food for Life which has wicked salads, wraps and sandwiches which are not heavy in calories but high in nutrition! They are also a health food shop to! My favourite thing to have from lunch from there at the moment is the Falafal wrap or Beetroot Salad! Sooo good! Seriously think Im gonna turn into a Falafal of late because I simply love em!

This weekend plans to be another busy one. I have dinner at a friends tonight (im taking a salad with orange in it, nom nom nom), a wedding tomorrow morning (private ceremony), dinner tomorrow night with all the round 4 ninjas and Sunday will consist of project reno, ripping up smelly carpet and a clean up whilst the boys rip a wall downstairs out! Ahh Im sure there will be more treasures to be found! Will keep you posted on those events. 

I hope you have a rocking Friday, dont forget to stretch tonight!! 

Whats your plans for the weekend?

Never a dull moment...

There are days when I simply have no words....bahaha who the hell am I kidding!?  There are always words but maybe not interesting ones people want to hear. If you havent worked out by now that Im not normal, maybe you need to start from the beginning of my blog. Im pretty sure there are odd random bits in there that will leave you scratching your head!! (Or calling me a d-head like Stair Ninja does!)

Case in point, last night I went to woolies to buy laundry liquid. Hubby Ninja has this running joke that Im a hopeless shopper (he isnt really far from the mark). I say Im going in for milk and get side tracked and come out with other things. I think there has only been one or two times Ive actually gone in and come home with what I intended to go out for originally. Its why online food shopping is better for me. Last night I went mainly for laundry liquid (unfortunately the washing aint gonna do itself!), pickles than popped into my head (I honestly was fresh out and these babies are like solid gold to me), than I wanted some yogurt coz I ran out and than I remembered we needed loo roll. 

Now any normal person would go into the supermarket and work out what is a good price for the quality etc. Me, no, I look for what has the cutest picture on the packaging. Yes Im an advertisers dream. Thank god Cottonelle was on special this week, because the puppy on the packet seems to win me over. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!!

See how adorable is he!!! awww!

Hubby Ninja has also promised to take me to a Big W tonight so I can go have a gander at all the new Mish One Active stuff! I may be a tad excited! There are plans of what I wanna get but can see this being like a Lorna trip...

Moving on...

This morning, I found out a number of super exciting things! The color run has finally got a day, time etc in Adelaide (anyone following it would know this has been a LONG TIME coming) and I am totally signing up today! Who doesnt love to run and get color thrown at them! Sign me up now! Take my money!!! If you wanna join, go to http://thecolorrun.com/australia/

The other one which Im stupidly excited about is the Warrior Dash! This looks super fun, crawl and run through mud and have an absolute ball with people, whilst doing it. Now I think this falls on the same weekend as the Finale in Melbourne but as Im fresh off a plane from Thailand, unfortunately Im unable to make this finale (ROUND 2 FOR ADELAIDE!!) sorry had to throw that in there :P. For more info check out http://www.warriordash.com.au/index.php

Lastly, I am definately re-doing the Mothers Day Classic. I have done this with my auntie in previous years and we are doing it again this year! It has an awesome atmosphere and is truly a fantastic event and I totally recommend it! I think this year my auntie is doing the larger leg however Ill be sticking to the 5km thanks to my friend Bursitis! For more info on this one, go to http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/

So all in all, looks like May is gonna be a busy month of events!! Gotta love that! Let me know if you join any of them! Be awesome to see some new faces! Ya never know, if you in Adelaide, Im sure we have crossed paths at some stage! 

Tell me, what events are you excited about!?

Ninja Loot...

MORNING NINJAS!!! How are we on this cooler day in February!!?? How did everyones WWW go!? 

I jumped on my friend/enemy, the scales, this morning and had a loss of 400g! Ill take it! With the week Ive had due to Project Reno, I was a bit worried Id see no movement. Foods been good but exercise has been more incidental than planned (moving boxes, racking roadbase etc). I feel good though within myself considering the stress of everything and feeling pumped for another week!

Yesterday for lunch I caught up with Stair Ninja. Love this woman to pieces! She never fails to put a smile on my dial and the poor love was sick. Even though she had made sure I had had a rockstar birthday weekend in Brisbane, she brought in another birthday present (how spoilt am I!!!).

Ninja Loot for Uni!!

I had to contain my excitement in the cafe to not cause to much of a scene! How awesome is it! I am and was super stoked with it!! Its so cool!

Dinner last night was another WWTD salad creation. Introducing Orange, Chicken and Haloumi Salad:

This gorgeous and very tasty salad was 380cals, 33g carbs, 34g protein and 13g fat. It was a definite winner! Basically the base of the salad was mixed lettuce, cucumber and avo. NOM NOM NOM.

On other news, one of our newest ninja's created us a new video for Mish! I watched it this morning and was totally amazed and had the biggest goofiest smile on my face whilst sitting at my desk eating my baked beans breakfast on Rye (sorry fellow work colleagues!! haha). She has done an absolutely fantastic job and a huge kudos for her amazing efforts! Check it out in my side bar ---->

HOW AWESOME WAS IT!! 

So today looks to be the same old type routine, work, eat, workout, bed! What are your plans for today?

Check ya laters peeps!

WWTD Salad

Well yesterday was an interesting day. Besides the DOMS that took up residence in my butt (thanks Lofty!), my foot decided that a cramping/stabbing pain was the best option and I was left limping around the office and home all day which than rendered me a whinging ninja and wondering if I chopped my foot off, would that stop the pain. It would definitely make me think of something else anyways!! The pain today has since dissipated, but its definitely still angry. Lorna knows why or how this has happened, the only thing I can put it down to was I drank so much water on Sunday (as I felt like I was constantly dehydrated) that I flushed all the good stuff outta my body! Eh see how we go! Needless to say, my exercise was nonexistent. Slight fail but instead of beating myself with the noodle, I plan tonight to bust it out!

Last nights tea was a new salad creation. At the moment, when I create a new salad, my new mantra is "What would Tatum do" or WWTD. This ninja has been shire inspiration to me in every facet of my journey but when I was getting bored with my salads (Ive also just thrown the typical cucumber, tomato, lettuce combo together) I raised the question to her as to what she does to keep it interesting. Ive now learnt a few things and I dont think Ive had the same salad twice (except maybe an orange with chicken one, OH MY LORNA does this rock my socks!).

Last nights salad was Peach, Chicken and Walnut with lettuce, cucumber and avo. It was absolutely DEVINE! Check it out:

 358cals - Carbs 25g Protein 29g Fat 16g

If anyone was in Adelaide yesterday, you would know that someone has been playing funny buggers with Mother Natures thermostat again! It was hideously HOT! Im definitely not a summer person, I love the freezing cold but one thing I did reflect on yesterday was that since the beginning of my weight loss journey 2 years ago, losing close to 18kg, Im actually no where near as uncomfortable in it as I use to be. I walked (or should I say hobble in the vain hope the cramp would go away) in the heat yesterday just out of the city so Hubby Ninja could pick me up (because Adelaide CBD is a nuthouse and traffic nightmare due to all the buses) and I actually felt okay. Back not long ago, Id do this walk and grissle to myself the entire time. That miserable cow has definitely found somewhere else to linger because her voice was not inside my head yesterday. I was actually able to enjoy my surroundings and appreciating the park areas in Adelaide. Sometimes its the simple things that make you smile and its nice to stop and reflect on this.

So tell me, what have you been up to?

PS - If you enjoy reading my blog Id like to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment or share my blog around! I love to meet new people and hear their journeys!

Proud to be South Aussie!

So this weekend has been a very very busy one, I havent actually had a chance to really be near a pc til last night (which than turned into me using the tablet, as it seems there may be some gremlins in my laptop!!) So blogging clearly hasnt happened and keeping in touch with the net world has all been through my phone! Ahh but never fear, Im back and hopefully this week, Ill get on more of a flow happening again!

Last week, also being week 1 of round 1, was an interesting one. Ive been busy working but after work, moving boxes from storage to project reno. Oh what a mess that place is. We are finding stuff thats been left around since the 1980s! Seriously!! It also had us find some suspicious board in the shed and house, which freaked us out to thinking it maybe asbestos. We got a heap of the sucker tested and results came back on Friday afternoon to be just cement board! Phew! 

Ohh food wise has been pretty good. The heat makes me crave salads and as Im having fun with my salads, and mixing it up, I did create this awesome salad, was awesomely tasty! Pomegranate for the win!

Nom nom nom

Oh and here is my inspirational board for the week 1 challenge! I have two. One on Pinterest and one at work!

http://pinterest.com/sensaininja/12wbt-inspiration-board/

Friday lunch time saw me meeting with PT Ninja to get our Fitness tests complete! When I looked back on my round 4 results, I actually did surprisingly well. My results for Round 1 are as follows:

1km run = 5mins 44 sec (round 4 = 6min 17sec)
Push ups = 0 toes 34 knees (Round 4 = 32)
Plank (the new ab strength) = 1min 30sec (this wasnt in round 4 but I was always just beginner in normal ab strength test!)
Wall sit = 1min 32 sec (Round 4 = 1min 22sec)
Sit and Reach = +16 (Round 4 = +12)

Pretty happy with those results! How did you go?

Saturday was been pretty much spent at Project Reno, lifting boxes, moving 5 tonne of road base (the driveway was bottomed out and causing a few issues getting in and out the house in the cars), pulling carpet nails out of the kitchen floor (the awesome green carpet is GONE in the kitchen!!) and your general tidy up.  Still so much to do however but time is a plenty and there is no rush!

Sunday was the day of all days and I mark it down in my journey as one I will never forget. Playground Ninja organized a mass Lofty event to help us gain Mish's attention and boy oh boy, was it ever a success! We had well over 65 people attend, even though the weather was 37 degrees! We had so many determine people that my heart sung with so much pride! The SA Crew have some seriously amazing people who all deserve a massive pat on their back for their achievements but also the way we all came together as a group. 

My aim was not a PB (this will be done another time) but was to help encourage and motivate some first timers up the hill. I meet so many new faces and Im so super proud to learn about everyone's journeys! At 615am, I picked up a new ninja from Bridgewater. She also had never walked Lofty but with me picking her up, she said it stopped the self talk of her convincing herself out of it! We meet some other ninjas up the top of lofty and descended down the mountain to our group. At the bottom, photos were taken! LOOK AT OUR GROUP! AMAZING!!

 

I had one lady with me who had just had a knee operation 7 WEEKS AGO!!! She was like a pocket rocket! You would never of thought this woman had had surgery thats for sure! Inspiration double +. We took it easy with another first timer and made it to the top in 1hr 20mins. 

At the top we got to sign our name on our huge banner! Seeing all the names made me so proud to be a South Aussie. We even had complete strangers coming up asking us about it all and also asking if they to could take photos of our banner!!

With Playground Ninja's permission, that afternoon, I tweeted our efforts to Mish and the 12wbt team. We got a response and we finally have her attention!! Operation lets get Finale in Adelaide is in full swing! We can do this!!

Mish'n accomplished

Massive kudos and shout out to all those who attended and accomplished such an amazing mountain. SA Crew is the way it is because of you and your determination and drive! Proud to be part of such an awesome team.

Even bigger Kudos and shout out to Playground Ninja for her fantastic organizing and poster making skills. You, my friend, rock my socks and I feel completely privileged to be your friend and watch you on this amazing journey!

So tell me, how was your weekend?

Playground ninja and me!

Firey Ninja welcoming the sunrise!

Clear view on an awesome day!

My Commitment for Round 1

So Im sitting here working through my pre-season tasks. Its the first opportunity I have had since getting back from Brisbane - So here we go!!!

My commitment for Round 1 and the future are:

By the end of round 1, I WILL be at my goal weight of 70kg or below

I will wear a bikini in Thailand at the end of April

I will eat clean and continue being active

I will do everything in my power to get Adelaide the attention it deserves from the 12wbt crew and Mish!! ADELAIDE FOR ROUND 2 FINALE!!!

I will listen to all the mindset videos this round (something I didnt do this last round - naughty naughty)

I will not get hung up on people trying to bring me down, their loss if they dont want to be part of my journey. 

I will not let any jealous people bring me down.

I will not second guess my opinions based on others opinions about me. 

I will pay it forward and help motivate others

I REFUSE and will not become one of those people who forget others around me

I will remain humble, level headed and pass on all my knowledge to those seeking help or advice

I will not control others and will encourage them to express themselves as freedom of speech is paramount.

I will continue to be a Ninja as I believe it is empowering and will name new ninjas to help encourage and empower others.

I will be bold, I will be brave and above all, I will be myself!

and above all 

I will DREAM BELIEVE ACHIEVE!

So tell me, What is your commitment!?

Love this quote - I have it on my diary!

How I live without guilt and Valentines Day!

Ahhh today is Valentines day. As Hubby Ninja and I refer to it as, Happy American Heart Day. We are the last of the true romantics clearly! I already told him yesterday to not even think of buying me roses (to me they are cliche) and said we will just do a quick lunch, no fancy stuff and not to purchase a card, Hallmark have enough money! 

One thing however I wouldn't turn down however, is chocolate. Its definately my weakness (along side my Lorna addiction!) but I have learnt that its a sometimes food (good old cookie monster saying there) and that eating it everyday will only make my arse get bigger. If only there was a chocolate invented that shrunk your arse, Id be all over it!!

Which leads to me to my post regarding how I live my life. I have always been of the belied that the word "diet" is a swear word and that one should not deprive themselves of anything. In saying this however, I do not mean you should eat the chocolate or obsession everyday (wait up, I must get off the Lorna site daily, maybe this can be one of my goals!!) but moderation is definitely the key. When someone goes into any sort "diet", they go into this all or nothing mentality...They deprive themselves of all of life's little pleasures (and I dont just refer to food here either) however when they crave it so bad that no strength of a willpower muscle will hold them back, they get hold of that thing they crave and devulge to an extreme. Which then gives them the guilts for eating it and than we go back to the old mindset of, "oh well Ive fallin off the wagon, may as well continue this way!" Im guilty of this in the past, I could never seem to get a balance. I was the "Ill start again on Monday" chick. 

Using the word Diet is setting yourself up to fail. Diets are short lived. They come and go like the wind and are not sustainable in the long term. You need to think of your journey as a LIFE STYLE change and learn to incorporate lifes pleasures so you dont binge eat or do reckless things that can destroy all your hard work. I personally live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time, I eat clean, exercise and do all the right things by and for my body and I allow myself 20% of the time to enjoy lifes pleasures (eg a glass of red, some chocolate etc) WITHOUT GUILT. This way, I dont binge and I enjoy it and I dont become the "Ill start again Monday" chick!

In Brisbane, our group went to a San Churro (anyone not heard of this gem, its temptation city, no lie) for coffee after dinner and some after dinner delights. I had a choc sundae and I seriously made sure that when I ate that sucker, I enjoyed EVERY.SINGLE.MOUTHFUL! I did not regret it because I had been good all week with food and water, I had walked everywhere that day and I was doing so to enjoy something I will never be able to enjoy again (San Churro aint in Adelaide!). I wont lie to you, I did pay for it in the morning, my stomach did not like me, I think during Mish's workout, I wanted to bring it and breakfast back up, but I would not allow myself to feel that guilt. It did however remind me how far I have come on my journey, before 12wbt and through it. I now know the difference between feeling absolutely fantastic and feeling absolutely like crap because of how I have fueled my body. 

 Sweeten thy Soul...Fatten thy arse!! MODERATION IS KEY!

So if your Valentine or secret admirer sends you chocolates today, make sure you enjoy at least a small piece. However remember to actually enjoy it, dont scoff it. Enjoy the taste and feel of it and I promise you, you will be satisfied by simply enjoying lifes little pleasure with restraint!

Happy Valentines Day Ninjas! 

DONT PANIC!!! Im Alive!!!

Before you all freak out and think I have gone missing and start putting my face on milk cartons (which would be kinda cool, maybe I should go quiet....bahahaha who the hell am I kidding!!??) I am ALIVE and WELL (besides the massive burn mark on my neck, more on that later) just extremely busy that Im struggling to find time to scratch my own arse....

Its been go-go-go since getting back from Brisbane. I signed up for Round 1 at the airport (wohoo) but still am in the process of trying to do preseason tasks, my fitness test (to be done Friday with PT Army Ninja), photo will be done tonight. The only thing I have done is my weight (ekk 76kg - Thanks Brisbane for that sucker of a kilo, it was worth it though!!) and my measurements have been done. 

With regards to the Brisbane trip, that story is coming...I promise! We had a BALL!! I had a BALL!! Short sheets and scatters and all! It was brilliant. I bought Lorna...lots of Lorna...

Why so busy? We got the keys for Project Reno on Monday. I got back from Brisbane on Sunday night quite late and back to work Tuesday with every night so far being spent at Project Reno. Lets just say, there is a LOT of work to be done but its quite livable. The only thing I did ask Hubby Ninja and Lorax Ninja to do, was remove this hideous fridge cupboard in the kitchen, as it was blocking the view to the lounge area.

 Enter the brady bunch theme song....

Please take note of how the kitchen is currently. I left the boys alone at it for a few hours and it looks NOTHING like this now... We go back tonight for them to hopefully finish it, or at least get the bones back together. The reason for the move around...well  because they are men and they can...but it wasnt functional. I dunno how people liked kitchens way back in the day, but it doesnt flow...unless you like to flow into cupboards and I do this well enough without needing cupboards in the way (I walk into door frames! I swear they move!). Once its finish, Ill post a piccy!

Other than this and work, I really havent had time to do much else. Its all a bit hectic at the moment but hopefully after we move this weekend, things will start to ease up and I can get back into the flow of things, plan etc. Right now Im living on the fly. I cant say I enjoy this ADHOC stuff either but I keep reminding myself that its only temporary!!

Oh heres my neck btw - did this lovely burn Saturday night with my conical wand when doing my hair for finale...note to self, just pay someone to do my hair for me!

 This sucker got me my 100th D-Head comment!

Yes it hurts and yes I feel like a moron! whats new! Its not something I can hide either. Its a good size burn! 

I hope you are all well and enjoying week 1 (if your new to this round, dont worry, that headache will pass I promise, its not worth caving for!!). 

Tell me, whats your accomplishment this week so far!? What are you proud of? (Im proud you signed up and joined us!)

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Im ready. My bags are packed, my hair and nails are did, my tan is not so chicco brown now (thank lorna), I have two dresses and dont have to resort to blinging up a garbage bag and Im ready. Now to get through one more day of work without going postal and Ill be on my way to Brisbane, the state which has the best bananas, mangos and pineapple. Nom Nom Nom!

Just a heads up for the next few weeks. Project Reno is empty as of Sunday. Monday we visit it and workout what needs to be done ASAP and what can wait, than the moving begins. Lorna have mercy. So if I am a little quiet in the first few weeks of round 1, please dont be to alarmed (unless you hear of some crazy woman going postal on her husband in Adelaide, thats me so i may need to be bailed out of somewhere...). I will try and update where I can but my posts may become not as many. I also may not have internet at Project Reno which could mean, shock horror, Ill have to actually talk to Hubby Ninja :P There is love I promise!

Also this weekend, I may be a tad quiet, but trust me you will probably be able to hear me from Brisbane if you listen close enough.  I have my tablet pc (NOT AN IPAD!) whilst in Brisbane, that does however prove to be difficult to type posts on but I will endevour to give you a full run down on Tuesday when I return to work!

As I stated in our SA 12WBT Facebook page - 

Today I plan to be awesome, I mean I am Awesome all time time but today Im gonna be REAL AWESOME!! Hope you are all have an awesome day!

We are friends again...

So this morning I prayed before I stepped on the scales. Anyone following me knows, that the scales and I over this last 12 weeks have had a love hate relationship. Its been firey at times. They nearly have been thrown a number of times. I may of done a little dance this morning when I saw this:

I am finally under 75kg. HAPPY DANCE! Now Ive said that, Ive probably jinxed myself however its been 12 weeks in the making that number. Ive been on that lovely rollercoaster this whole round. I started at 76kg, Id get down to 75.6kg, Id go back up to 76.2kg, down to 75.8kg, back up to 76.6kg, down to 75.8kg and the pattern continued like this for the whole 12 weeks. I have however lost cms in this time, not large numbers but the scales always has me beating myself up! Its only in the last 2 or so weeks that Im starting to see it go down again. Since having my DEXA, I have been able to get my head back into some sort of understanding, grounding etc and have read heaps of stuff to try and get a BALANCE with my macro nutrients and what I need to do to get this fat off my arse (and guts)

I have know for some time that I have insulin resistance and in my last lot of blood tests, my cortisol levels have been higher which means the fat on my guts and arse are typically sticking like glue, which clearly means its been not playing nice. This last lot of blood test showed my insulin resistance is still in full flight even though Im coming down in weight and Im fitter than I have ever been. Dr said he will monitor it however could be why Im struggling a tad. This kinda concerns me as well seeing as Insulin Resistance is a precursor for type 2 diabetes and Im clearly smaller than I was say 12 months ago. Its odd balls but my doctor is aware and he is one I trust!

On a side note, operation get beautiful for brissie was in full flight yesterday. I went to get a spray tan...I came home looking like a chicco baby lolly....Its been rather hilarious. The comments were on a roll.

Firstly hubby ninja thought I had been in the oven to long.

Secondly, my father came home with a new bluetooth contraption and hubby ninja was trying to get it to work. Conversation went like this:

Hubby Ninja: Call "XYZ"
Bluetooth: Calling Weather
Dad: "that would be right, she looks like she has been in the sun to long"

PMSL

I honestly cant say right now Im happy with my legs because they seem a little patchy but i think its fixable! All in all however, after Ive washed it off, Im pretty happy with it. 

Not long now ladies! WOHOO!!

Killing caterpillars...

Before you all freak out, I didnt go out into the garden and go all rampage on some innocent caterpillars. Remember, I still live in the concrete jungle when the best plant you will see is a weed...growing bravely from between the concrete pavers...You think Im joking...Sadly Im not... Its worse...

Anyways back to the original story.

We are drawing closer to a huge party on Saturday night. Its okay peeps, I know about this huge party being held in honour of my birthday...I realise there will be loads of people I dont know but hey I love you all for thinking of me! haha!

I fly out of RADelaide on Thursday night with Ms Mother Hen Ninja but between now and than, Im getting myself all ready for the glammed up 12wbt finale (aka my birthday party! :P). There are nails to be done, tanning to be done and some waxing to be done BEFORE the tanning...ekk!  As a woman, it is never an easy task to ensure we look awesome. The serious amount of preening and fluffing we go through for a big event, its crazy, however we all wanna look the hottest we ever have and we go all out! The only thing I personally can say I dont enjoy or look forward to is the waxing. If you like waxing, I assume you have 50 shades of Grey under ya pillow...Kudos to you seriously, me personally, Im a WIMP. With all capital letters!! I hate all sorts of pain. Hitting my not so funny bone makes me want to cry. See. WIMP!

The plan originally was to get a professional to do it prior to my tan tomorrow night, but as many can attest, time seems to have a funny knack of disappearing when your at work, trying busily to get through the mountains of paper work on your desk. 

So tonight I thought, you know what, Im just gonna do it myself, it cant be that hard or bad surely...right?! right!?

So off I went and I got myself this sucker from Woolies (probably a mistake but I have used it once before, many blue moons ago)...

and followed the instructions. I figured I had a better chance of keeping my real eyebrows if I did this. I also bought this one because no heating was required, the last thing I needed was second degree burns on my face for Saturday night. Not a hot look (well my skin would be!)

Seriously, as I said above, Im a wimp. For five minutes, I seriously had to psych myself up to rip the strip off my face. Its so much easier getting someone else to inflict the pain. However I had Mother Hen Ninja telling me to suck it up and HTFU Princess (she is right, she always is!) and I did it! With a few tears in my eyes, I got rid of those sucker caterpillar eyebrows and Im back looking like a human! I got to a point however where I was no longer brave with the wax and I used the tweezers with what I had left! Have I mentioned I dont like pain. 

Plucking eyebrows is sheer torture. I reckon it ranks up there with water torture! Oh lorna, have mercy, I was glad when I was done. I figured if it looked off, Mother Hen Ninja will fix me up with the tweezers in Brissie. Love this woman! Always making sure I dont look like a right idiot (the poor woman seriously has her work cut out for her!!)

Here is one of the finished products - not to bad I thought for a non-professional!

Wohoo I still have eyebrows!

Would I do it again?? Hell to the no, I am paying a professional to do it but i guess if I get desperate again, I always have it here. 

Do you wax your own eyebrows or get a professional to do it?

Down by the ocean...

Up early this morning...Crazy I know, its a Sunday I hear you yell. My body was doing exactly the same, screaming "What the hell ya thinking women!?"" Wheres my bloody coffee?" (sorry bod your gonna have to wait til after). The reason I was up early was coz today was the day I was running 5km with some very special ninjas. 

Up I got, bright and early, even giving the birds a shock , shaved my legs and arms (I wanted nothing holding me back :P) and I got ready to rock the beach. I was decked out in Lorna (of course) and my 12wbt SA Crew Shirt. In the ute we got and headed to Semaphore. Hubby Ninja and Dog Ninja also came along as well to cheer us on. The morning was already stunning! Thank you mother nature, coz last time I attempted this run, IT WAS BUCKETING down. I dont do runs in the rain. Im a bit of a princess like that (I dont camp either in case you were wondering, no hot showers or toilets - Im completely out)

Any who, I met up with the wonderful and gorgeous Phantom Ninja (who was the one who convinced me to do this with her!) and Playground Ninja at the clock. Here is a photo of us looking awesome before the run:

How hot do we look!? 

Off we went at 830am and I have to say, it was definately one of the best runs Ive had in a long time. I ran pretty much ran the whole 5km (except for a drink walk and a short stroll coz my hip was a little sore) and made it to the end in 34mins 36secs! Not to shabby, I thought considering my hip has been angry all week. I maintained a HR of 176bpm most of the way but I felt good and not out of breath!

On the actual run, I saw some new faces, got tap'd on the shoulder by Puffy Tail Dog Ninja who recognised me from our Facebook fun (this never fails to really put a smile on my dial!), saw the gorgeous smiling Duds Guru Ninja who was marshalling (and got a high five!) and meet <3 Channing Ninja for the first time (even though I talk to her all the time online). At the finish line, I saw many other familiar faces of our crew (some of who did the 10k) and some others who I have never met but can finally put names to real faces! 

Our crew did so well and Im so super proud of them all! GO SA CREW!!

Another thing that really made me smile today was the kids who were officially running (numbers and all). This is nothing short of amazing to see! 

I also had a bunch of new songs on my shuffle thing today and I ensured to include a new to me song which I have dubbed our new SA Crew Anthem (unofficially of course!). The song is called A Great Big World (I have the glee version however but this is the original group below. If you want to hear glees version, youtube A great big world - glee). Have a read of the lyrics below, Im sure you will agree this is a winner for our crew (my now mission is to get the crew to learn the lyrics! haha)

Another year you made a promise

another chance to turn it all around

and do not save this for tomorow

embrace the past and you can live for now

and I will give the world to you

Speak louder that the words before you

and give them meaning no one else has found

The role we play is so important

we are the voices of the underground

and I would give the world to you

Say everything you’ve always wanted,

be not afraid of who you really are,

cause in the end we have each other,

and thats at least one thing worth living for,

and I would give the world to you

A million suns that shine upon me

A million eyes you are the brightest blue

Lets tear the walls down that divide us

and build a statue strong enough for two,

I pass it back to you

and I will wait for you,

cause I would give the world

and I would give the world

and I would give the world to you

This is the new year

A new begining

You made a promise

You are the brightest

We are the voices

This is the new year

We are the voices

This is the new year

All in all, today has been awesome!

What did you get up to on this gorgeous Sunday??

PS - Some photos of us after the race :) Still looking awesome!