COCO BUTTER: Bye bye freezer stash, hello new Polar

Just a quick recap on how my September Round is going...

Latest before and after

Firstly, thank you for all of your support from my previous post. As I said, it took me so long to get the courage to write it, and then once I'd written it, I actually still waited for about a week and a half before I got the courage to actually publish it. So the feedback that I got from readers was so appreciated. It comforted me by helping me know that my reasons for writing it were worth it, because I know that people could resonate, so thank you for letting me know.

So I'm nearing the end of Week 4. So far I'm still going ok. But yeah: just ok. I haven't been completely strict, and have had the odd extra calorie here, and skipped the odd exercise session there.

But I feel on track, and have had a loss each week, so I think that counts for going 'ok'.

I'd like to ramp it up and be a lot more determined though.

Preparation: at least I tried

Last week I had a lot of temptations, mainly to do with travel, and that was hard. You know what I'm like with food while traveling: it's always a struggle. And last week was no different. I don't know why I haven't mastered it yet!

I was away for 4-5 days of the 7. Two of the days were day trips to Sydney. Being day trips, there was no hotel room service to contend with, so that was a plus. The night before, I packed a plethora of my favourite snacks to keep me in line. I thought each day would be difficult to get out for lunch, so I thought they would keep me going. I also packed two little containers of interesting fruit, one for each day's breakfast, to distract me from wanting the yummy complimentary muffins that I usually can't say no to.

I didn't do too bad...but both days there was catering that I wasn't expecting. It was mainly just wraps, sandwiches and salad, but both days I'd already started filling up on my snacks, so I went over my calories because I was too tempted to stick to just one or the other. (Their catering or my snacks).

We got shirts! #bootcamptrip

The other few days was a boot camp trip up the coast. We go away every so often, for a social weekend, and this was our latest team trip! I wanted to be 'normal' and not be overly restrictive and just relax, and that I did. I didn't overeat as in gorge or go nuts, but I still probably had more calories than planned. There were also a few wines and 1 unplanned tequila shot! It's hard to learn this 'moderation-relax-normal' thing when I'm in the throes of losing weight, yet I still always try.

I also had a special family dinner night and a couple of friends birthday meals out, amidst the travel days. I ended up losing 300g from

Kale and chicken salad

the week, which I actually should be pretty
impressed with, if I look at what I ate as a whole. I originally thought I had lost 1.2kg so I'm sorry if you read my first Instagram post where I posted this number! I was picturing my previous weeks weight when I did my first (incorrect) calculation. It wasn't until I actually entered my weight into 12WBT that I read and realised it was actually only 300g. I felt a bit blonde and quickly edited my post!
So for the first 4 weeks, I've lost 5kg (exactly!) 5kg is awesome, I know. But I know that I could have put more effort in,

and my measurements weren't very impressive at all. But that's just a personal learning I have for myself. Moreso I'm happy I've lost 5kg and was strong enough to pick myself up and keep going at all.
I have big dreams for the next 4 weeks, I just have to apply myself!

The smile of a girl who has a working HRM again

One exciting thing from this week, is that I got myself a new Polar! I am so deeply in love with it. I've complained so much over the last few months that both my Polar and Garmin haven't been working. Long story, but I'm selling what I have so I could get myself a new one. I haven't worn one consistently in a few months and it was getting to the point that not having a working HRM was actually making me sad about training.

I've worn a HRM on and off for 3 years and know that we shouldn't be reliant on them, and all related reasonings, blah blah blah. I've gone through the ups and downs of these feelings already myself and have had periods where I haven't worn one. But I'm at a stage where not having one was actually demotivating me. I'm at a point where I really want to hit some numbers - I want to monitor my heart rate - know when I'm working hard - be able to tick goals off - push myself.

As soon as I got it in my hands, I have been so much more happy and motivated to train. I looked down while running last week and saw this:

After I finished: still smiling

and can't describe how happy it made me. (So much so that I took this photo). I was SO proud my heart rate was at that point, and it motivated me to keep going. So yay -- you will see a lot more white faced watch photos coming up! I didn't even get one of the newer models...I have missed my white Polar so much, that I went back to the same model I originally bought 3 years ago, and am just as in love with it.

Those bits and pieces were moreso Week 3. Week 4 I've gone ok, but I probably haven't been strict enough. I did all of my boot camp sessions except for yesterday, as I'm a bit sick at the moment and stayed home for the day. So unfortunately that meant no training yesterday and no parkrun today. Forced rest time, which is a good thing as I've been battling big time with my over-committed issue this week. I brought one of my little nieces to one boot camp session, I gave her a little set up to keep her entertained (see photo). The entertainment lasted for maybe 10 min. of the session, but it helped me get some of my workout in. She came on little runs with me in between sets, which she loves. I have high hopes of her becoming a runner one day hehe.

I also lost the contents of my freezer during the week, which SUX. (The freezer door was somehow open for 10 hours). Fortunately I hadn't recently done one of my bigger cook-ups, but I still lost plenty of meals all the same - so upsetting. So a cook-up is on the cards very soon!

Bring on Week 5 onwards, where I hope I can be a little more committed and hit some bigger goals.

Love Kate x