To amazing results

While quite a few girls from the 12WBT Team Brunei were up in KK over the weekend to run in the Borneo Marathon yesterday (the half and the 10k), four of us met up at the Yacht Club late yesterday afternoon to celebrate the end of this round - or more importantly, all our amazing results!

Everyone has done so great this round, and when we talked about what was the magic ingredient in the program that made it work so well for everybody the conclusion was actually... the Team Brunei!



So yes, the 12WBT program works and the next round starts in four weeks (pre-season today!) if you are interested in trying it - but, make sure you surround yourself with supportive friends, apparently that's the big secret to success!

We've only just begun

It's the end of the 12WBT challenge today. The very last day of twelve weeks of... transformation? (Pre-season for next round starts tomorrow, if anyone is interested. Check out the link above.)

Well, I guess it's time to sum up my experience and see where these 12 weeks has taken me since I started, back in January.

Did I reach my weight goal? Yes, and some! (Have now set new goal, of course!)
Did I become fitter and stronger? Oh yes! Huge improvements, again, at the Fitness Test the other day.
Did I enjoy the SSSs (=Super Saturday Sessions)? Yes for sure. I didn't make it to as many as I wanted though, sickness, visitors and amah on holiday came in between. Planning on keeping the SSSs up with the gang though, until we all go on holiday in July.
Have I reached the right mindset, to sustain this new "lifestyle", for good? Hm... I sure hope so! Time will tell I guess!


(Just before the last Fitness Test on Thursday)

A friend of mine asked the other day what made me succeed this time, when I've failed so many times before in loosing that weight.
I had to think, because to be honest, I actually don't think Michelle Bridges (the creator of the 12WBT program) has all that much to do with it to be honest! :/
I haven't followed her exercise plans at all, since I do so much Zumba it was just no room for much else. I haven't followed her diet plans other than using her recipes for dinners every now and then. I haven't taken her weekly videos and pep-talk much to heart because I didn't really warm to her (I don't like the aggressive style...).
Well, signing up for this and taking on this challenge, this change, was maybe the kick-in-the-butt that I needed. I guess, I just made up my mind this time.

I have to give a lot of credit to the Brunei 12WBT Team though. Having like-minded people around you helps a lot, and the encouragement and support we have all supplied for each other has been invaluable the past months. Everyone has done so incredibly well on this challenge, personal goals have been smashed over and over again and big milestones have been surpassed.
I've been so impressed and inspired by all these girls and I'm very proud of our team!

So, is this "the end" now when the 12WBT is over?
Not at all. This is just the beginning!
The only thing that will end (for me) now, is the weekly emails from 12WBT - everything else will continue just as it is.
I will continue to make healthy and conscious choices when it comes to food, and monitor my calorie intake. I will continue to exercise daily and try to vary myself in my workouts; I will continue to manage my weight weekly to make sure I stay where I want to be and I will set new fitness goals, to become leaner and stronger.

The biggest challenge for me from now on will be to maintain. This time, I'm not letting it all creep back on again!

SCB Run for a reason

This morning I took part in a 10k event, organized here in Brunei! The first one with proper timing chips and everything for the 10k and Half-Marathon runners. It was the Standard Chartered Bank Run For A Reason race.

In hindsight I'm not quite sure why I signed up for this one. I haven't been running for ages, my last proper run was two months ago, and before that... I don't even remember... My last running training was two YEARS ago when I completed the 10k races in Hong Kong and Singapore.
I guess I got sucked into it by the enthusiasm of the other 12WBT girls! Most of the group was out running one distance or another this morning, and all with outstanding results!

My alarm went at 04.45 this morning and I picked my friend Kim up at 05.30. We were in good time for the start of the race which was scheduled to 06.30.
I must say I'm really impressed by the organization of this race, there was big signs everywhere to get yourself in the right direction and every distance started on time, just as planned.
Here are a few blurry iPhone shots that Kim took pre-race:

Head-to-toe warm up:



Kim in a squat!



It was a sea of blue and green at the start, nearly everyone wore the free race shirt. I purposely had chosen my yellow race shirt, to stand out a bit (also I had asked to get the race shirt in a size 44/XL?? I'm not that size, and have never been actually. Not sure what happened there?!) - and I sure did!







And off we went! Still smiling!



I actually did pretty well on the first half of the race. I have this secret dream to run the 10k under an hour (which wont happen until I do some proper running training, intervals, hill sprints etc and actually speed up...), but at 5k today I was only at 27min30ish, and I thought to myself - I got a small chance of making the hour!
But once we got to 8k, I got a stitch, and was out of juice completely. I nearly gave up and started walking but thought I better keep moving, even though it was very slowly... Kim passed me with a huge smile at 9k and sprinted into the finish line, me not so much.

See the pain on my face, just after having finished?



Well, although she did a fab time, Kim didn't look all that either, ha ha...



And - the after photo, not so smiley anymore! :)



Even though I didn't crack the hour (this time, and I'm not sure it'll ever be a next...) I did do a personal best though! A minute plus faster than my last, so not too shabby after all!
(Thank you Yvette for the photos!)

Halfway

We are now in Week 6 of the 12WBT challenge, halfway mark.
How is it going so far..?
Well...

I'm not really following the exercises set out (they are optional anyway), but I'm trying to keep my program as much as I can to what the 12WBT is saying: Cardio (= always Zumba for me with the added extra of hashing, dog walks and the occasional Bukit Shabandar) on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, and then I try to do some weights sessions (=BodyPump) Tuesdays and more weights (=CrossFit) Thursdays.

I guess my biggest challenge is and will continue to be, to vary myself and challenge my body. It's getting used to working out exactly the same week after week, so I'm looking for new things to try.
The CrossFit is new for me, and it's really good. I also like the Super Saturday Sessions, since we tend to do lots of different things, and things I would never ever do on my own. I enjoy getting together and spurring each other on, get a bit of a pep talk on the Saturday mornings from my fellow 12WBTers!

Food wise, I'm in control yes, but I'm not as restrictive as I should be. I do keep to the calories set out - most days... I eat the same breakfast every day (porridge), I wing the lunches but cook every dinner from the program.

I am loosing centimeters and I am loosing kilos.
From the beginning of the program five weeks ago, I'm down 3.5kg (and from the beginning of the year, which is from when I started eating healthily, I'm down a total of 7.6kg) - so the "transformation" is slow, but happening!
It sure has been a very long time since I tucked any shirt into any kind of trousers! :)



Of course I'm happy that I'm getting results, and I know I will reach my goal weight, soon. BUT I'm still hearing that little voice in my head saying "Then what?!", "How will you keep it off?!". I haven't reached that point yet, where I'm actually convinced I will keep it off... I have lost before, and put it back on again! I need it to be different this time.
I'm still hoping that the mindset lessons of the program will get me into the right state of mind somehow in the weeks that we have left on the challenge. Six more weeks, it'll happen.

Tyre torture

Well, to be honest, it's probably not quite torture if you are participating willingly.., but it sure felt like hard work this morning when we had to lift tyres over our heads and squat, and do lunges..!

This morning we were back at Omar's house for some boxing as today's Super Saturday Session. Together with the boxing we also did cardio, amongst other things - with tyres. Hard work, but different, and fun!



And this is how you look like after having been in close contact with those tyres..!

Dinner Kung Fu Panda style

Last night our 12WBT menu had us eating 'Beef Noodle Soup'. Kids are not all that keen on soup normally but I sold it to them by reminding them that it's Kung Fu Panda's favourite dish!
They actually tried it without to much convincing needed, and ate most of it (bar the herbs) too! Yay!

Move over Rocky!

Yesterday it was time for a special Super Saturday Session. One of the girls had organized a friend of hers, an ex-boxer called Omar, to take us through two hours of boxercise training.



It was so much fun, really good exercise but man, my arms are hurting today!





I thoroughly enjoyed this session though, and I choose to believe I did extra well with the punching exercises because I had done it before... ha ha!





I really enjoy these Super Saturday Sessions! It's nice training together in a group, yesterday there was 10 of us. It's nice training outside early in the morning and believe it or not - it's nice getting up and getting going even on a "day off", starting my day with exercise makes me feel so good for the rest of the day.

My first SSS

I've taken up a new challenge.

In four weeks time I'm starting the TWELVE-WEEK-BODY-TRANSFORMATION challenge, run by the Australian "Biggest Loser" coach Michelle Bridges. (Well, actually, it kind of starts already tomorrow, with the four week long pre-season which apparently is just as important!)

Four of my friends did the last season of this 12WBT last year, and even though they got amazing results from it (they lost respectively around 10kg, 13kg, 14kg and 9kg (actually this girl have lost 24kg (!) in a year, that was just the last 9!!)) - I'm the first to admit I was not convinced about the program and how it is designed:
1. You are supposed to exercise six times a week, burn around 500 calories each time.
2. You are also supposed to make one of those sessions a super session where you burn double the normal amount of calories!
3. Also you are supposed to reduce your food intake to only 1200 calories (she sends you a shopping list and menu for each week) - and I just couldn't get that equation to add up. Eat 1200 and burn 1000..? Then there is no fuel in your body??

Anyway. The more I spoke with these girls I realized the program wasn't just about what you eat and how you exercise; they had found something in this program that I've been looking for for a long time - the will to be consistent.
I've lost big amounts of weight before and I've got into different exercise routines before. But, I've never been consistent and never managed to stay at one weight, it's gone up and down - it's me and Oprah, ha ha! :)
I realized I wanted to try this program to obtain those tools to get into the right mindset, for the rest of my life. It's not about motivation, it's about consistency, about doing.
I too want to get to that stage where I don't think about it but just do it. I too want to become consistent in my life, with the right habits.

So that's when I signed up.

Yesterday we did our first Super Saturday Session.
The Team Brunei have met all through the last season, every Saturday morning, and taken turns in designing workouts that would burn those 1000 cal.
Since last season Team Brunei has now grown, and we are about 16 ladies who have signed up for this season! Not everyone will come to every SSS, some work and some just prefer to do the program more on their own - but I know for me, I'll enjoy the diversity of the workouts. It'll be great getting to know new friends and having company and support, catching up with each other once a week and... I'll probably thrive on the slight competitive edge of it! ;)

This time it was a different kind of SSS though, since it was time for a Fitness Test. That's something she gets you to do every four weeks, to measure your fitness level. Whereas the scales will show us how much weight we are loosing, this test is to set a benchmark that will be used to see how much fitter and stronger we will become.
There was eight of us meeting up yesterday at 7am, to do this test. The first part was a cardio test, a 1km time trial around the track. Run, run as fast as you can!
Here is my fellow team mates after we were done:



The other parts were an upper-body strength test, how many push-ups in a minute; a lower-body strength test, how long you could do a wall sit; an abdominal/core test, the five level sit-up and finally a flexibility test where you stretch to reach your toes.
I didn't do too shabby, I already knew my flexibility is near to zero and that I suck at doing push-ups - I was a bit disappointed with my wall-sit but very happy with my 1km time trial and my abs. Although, of course, there is room for improvement!

So, there might be a few posts every now and then about this 12WBT journey of mine. Hopefully a journey that will turn into a steady, relentless, never ending journey!