Hints on what has helped with my round 1 (MB round 4, 2012)

This was a part letter I wrote to someone on Facebook as part of a response about any hints I had for my weight loss. This is partly what I wrote:

I can honestly say that I did not do it alone. Over the years I have been addicted to many different things: alcohol, pot, ciggies, & food is no different. Since I rekindled my relationship with Jesus, 2.5 years ago, my life has radically changed for the better. I have recognised the hold that drinking has had on me over the years & I make sure that I am very strict with my consumption of it now. Also, I would never do pot again as the hold it has on me is ridiculous and is highly addictive to me so I stay clear of it & anyone that does it. Much the same way we remove ourselves from negative people in our life.

 Food and exercise is no different. I have always struggled with these things for as long as I can remember. Each year my weight kept going up, I accepted it and just purchased larger sizes. I was never particularly happy about it, but I did not know what to do either. I was really stuck. I have learnt (and am still learning) when I put my trust in God, things gradually change. They don't become easier, just different. He ultimately has power over all things. A great example of this is that he can speak and things happen. In a sense things do become easier as the thought processes behind is left to God (a part of handing it over to him and accepting that he will deal with it.)

We were created in God's image. With that being said if I were created in God's image then he must think I am pretty special. If he thinks I am pretty special, why don't I think the same? Why am I so negative about how fat I am? In the same instance, why have I allowed myself to give in to my cravings (especially sugar cravings; I love chocolate and sweet dishes with a passion) and follow a negative road? Am I just letting the enemy laugh at God? Do I really want that? I do not want to give Satan any thought of having any part of me as part of him. Does that make sense so far? I live my life for Christ, as much as my sinful heart can do and I really wanted to take this next step with my addiction over negative behaviours with food and exercise and go, "YOU know what? Stuff you Satan! You have no power over me. Jesus has all the power when he defeated death. Because I have chosen Jesus, I no longer choose your way of doing things." I think the hard bit for me was to accept this fact and move on, and so the next step is to pray intentionally. I asked that he remove the negativity that I had over my body and help me to love it again the way that he intended. I asked him for help to do this and that I had to have his help as I could not do it on my own. Now, I think you would agree, that we are both strong women and that is hard to admit that we are weak. (We are weak really when we compare ourselves to God and his perfection – we could never measure up to that.) I had to once again admit that this area had become unmanageable for me and that I needed God’s help. 

One day, I was coming home from somewhere and I just had this urge to find a gym in my area. I used to go to Anytime Fitness (where I go now) years ago and after a hard time getting out of the contract and having poor child care (my son was quite a handful in childcare and they couldn’t handle it, so I rarely got to work out at the gym), I was determined never to go back. Well, it worked out that the gym had changed a lot over the years and the gym classes were great (the owner was still the same). After comparing prices with other gyms and looking at extra fees for classes, I decided to rejoin as it was the closest gym and would have been manageable for me to attend as well as being open 24/7 my excuses were already shortened as I could go anytime. I was also encouraged as they had a good deal on at the time and I avoided any further fees. So from that day on, my son and I attended. About one week later, a friend was talking about the Michelle Bridges program and I decided to check it out. It looked good and I asked for help from God to help pay for it as my budget is terribly tight. That week my grandfather gave all his grand kids some money so I was able to do the program (it costs $200 upfront or $20 per week for 12 weeks.) I decided to turn around my thought process and make it about my health rather than about weight loss and the extra expense it would cost me with gym fees and the MB program. Prior to exercising every day I used to sit at the computer a lot. I used to get a lot of pain in my lower back and neck as well as my feet. I was checked at one time a couple of years ago and it was determined I had insulin resistance. She gave me some pills which I refused to take as I knew that it could be controlled by diet but really ignored that I had a problem for the next year until I started getting funny chest pains every now and again. My feet started to ache more and my belly just grew and grew. I remembered looking down at myself one day while sitting on the loo naked before my shower and just being quite disgusted with the way I had become. I just felt like God was trying to tell me something. I ‘felt’ that if I did not do something soon that I would die. Not kidding. I suspected a heart attack as I did so much sitting and even though I hardly ever ate fatty foods, I just did not feel that well. I puffed going up to the letterbox which was about 10 steps up the driveway and I generally just puffed doing short stints of exercise. 

To date I have lost 12kg and nearly 30cm off my body measurements. I have dropped from a size 18-20 (my 18’s were becoming incredibly tight) and now I am a 16-18 (with my 18’s being uncomfortable loose, although some 18s are quite comfy). I have noticed the most weight loss is in my boobs (it always seems to be the first place) and my tummy shape. My face also has lost some of its plumpness. My legs are quite toned now (they always tone up well; I love my legs – God gave me good legs). I can honestly say that it has been a joint venture of God, healthy eating 7 days, and exercising 5-6 days per week. Some days I do double days. For instance my week looks like this at the moment:

Monday – Tone - Pump class 9:30am gym
Tuesday – stretch – body balance class 10:30am; and then cardio at night with zumba 6:30pm
Wed – usually have a day off, depending. I try to go and do tone if I can but I don’t do it if I am really sore, which I usually am on Wednesdays.
Thurs – double cardio – zumba – 9:30am and 6:30pm (or I have the choice of yoga instead at 10:30, but I love zumba so much as it burns about 500cals & is enormously fun & makes me feel happy.)
Fri – gym machines for tone or a mixture of cardio/running and toning.
Sat – meant to be a gym day, but if I do some housework at home I go for it hard and then I kill 2 birds with one stone. I sometimes will go after church Saturday night, if I have nothing else on (about 8:30pm.) I did a really good clean of the balcony today scrubbed the tiles & and danced in between doing zumba moves and I worked up quite a sweat doing this. I sometimes even go for a walk on the beach if lovely weather, after church as I love doing this too.
Sun – rest day (mostly unless I feel like I have extra energy and I have the time to fit it in or if I have had 2 days off already that week.)

So it is meant to be: tone, cardio, tone, cardio, stretch, mission workout on Saturday. But I just work it around to suit the gym classes and my busy life. I can honestly say that the program is THE BEST program that I have come across and you can eat everything and nothing is restricted. God gave us abundant food to enjoy not to cull out of our diet because we think it is bad for us (some things are modified of course!)

Another suggestion is the get My fitness pal app on your iphone. Not sure if it costs anything (can’t remember) but it is well worth it as you can scan things and see how many calories it contains. Sometimes when I want to buy a bottle of wine I will take my phone and scan bottles of wine to see what has the lowest cals, although I have found I just stay clear of alcohol if I want the greatest loss. You can also look up things on it. I also purchased a polar fitness heart rate monitor (but I am missing part of it now, suspected lost in transit somewhere :(...   ) I really liked this as you can see how many calories you are burning. It also encourages you to not eat ‘that sweet’ as it has 100 cals when you know that 100 cals may equal 20 minutes on the cross trainer going full on (which is very hard work). Finally there is a great Facebook group called CC 12WBT (Central Coast 12 weeks body transformation) which has been incredibly supportive and wonderful and I have made quite a few friends and have seen some pretty amazing weight loss examples. I believe there is a group at Norah Head which meet for fitness too, if that is kind of in your area. The program can be done at home, outdoors or at the gym doing classes or gym machines. I love it. Hopefully this essay has helped you somewhat.