1 month down, 10kg gone!

Hi!

I'm typing this from my beautiful new laptop... 💕

Today

It's so lovely and doesn't need to be restarted every 4 minutes like my previous one.  Hence my lack of posting lately!

I just wanted to check in because it's been exactly 1 month today since I "got back on the wagon", (30th October to 30th November), and conveniently also being Weigh In Wednesday, I'm so excited to say that I've so far now lost 10.9kg!   Thank you for all of the encouragement and support on IG, Snap and FB - keeping accountable on social media again is helping me so, so much, and that is in direct thanks to all of you.  So please know that I'm sending a heartfelt "thank you".

A couple of people have asked me how I've done it, so I'll just give a quick recap of how I've 'run' my month.

Well, I took the magic weight loss pill:
 

Take one with water

KIDDING.

In saying that, when I was Googling images to find that picture, I came across this, which is actually quite accurate:

That's actually really cool. Give me a sec while I Instagram that :)

So yes - just to be clear, I've never taken any pills for weight loss.  But that second image is pretty much what I've been doing; except my exercise has been more like

Thai

0.5%.

I've been to boot camp twice this month - both times I didn't complete the session, and both times I couldn't put much effort in (injury wise) and didn't try and put much effort in (motivation wise).  I've done no other exercise.  I've even been parking about a (literal) 2min walk to my office door.  Occasionally I have to walk to another building for meetings, which is about 700m each way, but that's really all of the incidental exercise I've gotten.

Food wise I mentioned I started the month planning to eat 1500 cals a day.  That's still the case, but I've gone over so many days lately (between 1500 and 2000) and it seems to be agreeing with me, so that's awesome!

I'm too tired to do this tonight but I'd like to check MyFitnessPal to see how many I've been having on average over the month.

Either way, I've been relaxed about the cals, for the first time in my life.  I just mean that I haven't beaten myself up even a little bit, if I've gone 'over'.  Hence how "Miss All

Yum

Or Nothing" here has let my cals creep up so much without me thinking I've 'stuffed it all up' and given up.

Over time I'll need to reduce the amount of cals, but for now that's what I'm doing.  Also please keep in mind I'm really huge right now - and while I'm not a medical professional in ANY sense of the imagination, please remember that our weight loss rate and ideal weight loss calorie intake is relative to how much we weigh (as well as a million other things).  Meaning that if I was a lot smaller, I would not be losing so much.

Each Saturday I've let myself have my "Calorie Free Day" where I don't count calories, and can eat whatever I want.  Allowing myself this day has been the only way to stick to something.  I realised this a couple of years ago, when finally, after 18-ish years, I stopped fighting my eating disorder and started working with it.

I've been finding it a bit hard on Sundays, going back to healthier options and calorie counting, but by Monday I'm back in the swing of things.

I've eaten out a few times; not too much though.  I've been out for Thai twice, Chinese/Vietnamese once, sushi once, Melbourne Cup lunch, breakfast out I think once, a friends place for a lunch party, have had a couple of work morning teas (but was strong), had a lunch date and have bought from the work cafeteria a couple of

Yes, I ate the deep fried ice cream

times, but other than that have eaten what I've prepared.

I've also had a major struggle (yes, for those who follow my Snap/IG stories or my YouTube vlogs, this is that "thing" that I extremely annoyingly keep meaning to explain.  And will!)

In a way, "The Struggle That I Extremely Annoyingly Keep Meaning To Explain" has helped me to stay on track; but it's also been one of the most difficult things I've ever had to manage, and it's made this month so difficult.  I promise my next blog will finally explain!

Anyway, I am falling asleep so I will sign off and chat very soon.
Love Kate xo

Social media gone wild

For someone who's been quiet for so long, I'm as surprised as some of you are about how social media crazy I've been getting over the last 2 weeks.  It's only with my weight loss / Coco Girl stuff - unfortunately for now I'm still as hopeless as ever on my own personal social media accounts.  (Sorry friends and family!) :(

But I've relaunched myself right back in with my weight loss story, because that's something

My YouTube channel

huge that's helped me in the past.  Hopefully the gusto of which I'm posting will match the gusto of kg's lost!  We'll have to wait and see - but that, of course, is the goal.  Accountability and sharing my journey among like minded people encourages me along.

While I'm resetting myself up with losing weight, I'm trying to pick up all of the things that have helped me in the past and that I feel will work now.  I've dropped so many little things I used to do, because although they used to work wonders, I don't feel them anymore.  But social media isn't one of them!

If you've been following me on Snapchat, you'll know that I've been getting into my Snapchat Stories.  One reason I used to hate Snapchat was that I didn't understand why people would want to share photos and videos that you can't keep?  This concept was lost with me.  My nickname is Katie Kodak, because I love photos.  So sharing photos that delete after 24 hours...?  The mere thought made me ill.

That was, until I realised, that you can indeed save your photos and videos!  So now I love it!

This week I also worked out how to upload my Snap stories to my Instagram stories.  I had a couple of requests and while I'm going nuts with social media, I reasoned why not try another part of a platform I already love?

My YouTube playlists

Last night I also gave my YouTube channel a dust off, as I'm keen to add more to that.  I remember watching vlogs of people losing weight when I started my journey, and man they inspired me. So whilst my Snap/Insta stories aren't exactly vlogs (although I do talk a fair bit!), I thought these stories could be my vlogs, and I can keep them on my channel as a record.  I set up playlists on my channel, so you can easily find them.  The playlist is called "Coco Girl's Weekly Weight Loss Stories".

I did second guess my decision though, when after 4 minutes of uploading Week 1's video (which is 10 minutes long), I got trolled:

Seriously - I hadn't even finished publishing it (it had uploaded and I was just adding tags) - and this came through.  All I'm going to say is that I do not understand some psyche's - and I hope people like this get the help that they need.

So I'll see how I go with the YouTube stories thing - I'm not sure whether it's sustainable or if anyone would even be interested in watching them, but I'll give it a go for a while.

Confused?  I am!  So, apart from this blog, here's a breakdown of my current social media.  (I don't know how to make the logos smaller, sorry!) :)

INSTAGRAM

Username: cocogirlbutter

I use this the most, sharing photos like usual, but now also upload my Snapchat stories to my Instagram stories.

SNAPCHAT

Username: cocogirlbutter

I've just started using this regularly, usually posting daily stories.  My Snapcode is to the left.

FACEBOOK

Page name: cocogirlbutter

When I publish photos on Instagram, I automatically push/share the photos across to Facebook.  Personally I'm not a big Facebook user at the moment, so I rarely go on here, but try to pop on and reply to comments.

TWITTER

Username: cocogirlbutter

Like with Facebook, I push most of my Instagram photos automatically across to Twitter.  I rarely go on here, but try to pop on and reply to comments.

TUMBLR

Username: cocogirlbutter


And again, like with Facebook and Twitter, I push most of my Instagram photos automatically across to Tumblr.

YOUTUBE

Channel: cocogirlbutter

I've had this channel for a few years (check out my old playlists), but for now am going to see how I go with uploading my Snap stories each week.  I've uploaded Week 1 so far, and will get to Week 2 in the next couple of days.



So, that's about it!

It looks like a lot, but through the powers of being able to share across platforms, I really only have to post on two of these - and they share to the rest.  Accountability is one thing, but efficiency is another!

Chat soon xo

5kg mark ticked!

Hi!

Weigh in Wednesday today: I'm down 2kg. So 5.6kg in total so far. Very happy with that!

I haven't done any exercise other than my half assed attempt at boot camp last Friday. Excuses excuses but still: I just don't feel fit enough to do much, I've lost an incredible amount of flexibility and everything just hurts. I limp around the place and I just feel like this frump.

I found out on Friday a reason for some of my aches and pains though: heel spurs and Plantar Fasciitis! It makes so much sense now as to why for a while now, my feet have been in agony. The spurs came up on an X-ray I had in July. The guy doing my X-rays told me that my heels looked terrible but no-one explained in what way, and I didn't ask, because at the time we were worrying more about a broken ankle and knee issues from my fall at work. 

I finally mentioned the fact that I can't walk when I first stand up, and I'm in so much pain
that I actually call out (sort of moan in pain) (only when I'm alone haha!); my GP looked up the report and there we had it! Thanks so much to everyone who's offered suggestions and advice, I appreciate it so much.

So that's my reason / excuse for doing next to no exercise. The pain is so valid but I'm sure I could do something very small - but I also just have no drive at the moment.

I'm not beating myself up about it though; I'm just so proud I've stuck to my food for 11 days so far. That's my big thing. I haven't deviated and eaten crap (anyone watching my Snap/Insta stories tonight will be pleased to know that the chips are safely back in the
cupboard, unopened). :)

Inside my freezer at the moment. I haven't had prepped meals in there for so long. (Don't mind the apple crumble, it's been there for ages, it wasn't a recent purchase! And there's an entire tub of ice cream behind it, too). :)

I got some blood test results back yesterday as well and found out that I'm really low in iron. My report said something about Anaemia - my doc said that my iron levels are as low as an Anaemic, but my full blood count is awesome so I don't actually have Anaemia. She offered me hospitalised transfused iron via a drip (!) but said there's a risk that the iron could leak and make permanent brown marks on my skin, like a very ugly tattoo! What the? Or I could take iron tablets. Lol- I'll be doing the latter.

Anyway this is just a super quick (truly this time!) check in for me, I'll be back very soon to talk all things social media, my latest cook up (including perfecting my smoothie! No more kale or brown mush!), and my current crazy thing that I've been too embarrassed to talk about... and you think I've shared crazy on my blog before. :)

Lotsa love,
Kate

No more kale

Just checking in *quickly* (the astericks serve as a declaimer for my comprehension of the word "quickly") :)  But I'll see how I go.

So it's been 3 days of being back in the game, and it's going pretty well.

The end result

I've been sharing the basics of each day on my Snapchat story - thank you for your support on there already xo

Day 1 of my Snap story was mainly about my food prepping, so I had a valid reason not to film myself - because the focus was genuinely on the food...

Day 2 (yesterday) I surprised myself with filming myself speaking.  I have zero confidence right now, so I thought it would take a while to get me confident enough to be in front of the (video) camera again.  I also have a huge ass cold sore in the middle above my top lip.  Not nice.

I decided there was only so many inventive foregrounds I could do voice overs too, so I got over it (with the comfort of a filter), and turned that camera around.

Anyway - so the food prep...

Enough said.

Urgh.  I forgot how much I hate doing it.  And because it's been months since I last did it, it all felt a bit new and I really had to concentrate.  And I didn't even really actually "cook"!  I baked veges and blended smoothies, but other than that it was all about chopping and portioning.  It's not like I made some restaurant quality stir-fry or rice and veges combo!

It was shit enough just doing total basic prepping.  I ordered my groceries to be delivered between 3pm and 6pm, hoping they'd be earlier in the time window than later, but they came just after 5pm.  Which, of course, is what was promised, but it just meant a late prep.  I think I was in the kitchen from 5:45pm till 9pm, including cleaning up.  (I told you I was out of practise!)

I was also really tired from broken sleep the night before, so I was already grumpy and yawning.  I'd hate to have seen me actually cooking something!

I'm sure food prep is like riding a bike; next week it'll feel even easier and within a few weeks I'll have it down pat. 

I kept it simple and just prepared the same meals for breaky, lunch and dinner.  When it's food I love, having the same thing every day doesn't bother me.  And I love this food :)

_______________________________

WHAT I PREPPED:

Breakfast

Concoction A

Lately I haven't been feeling like breaky - which is so strange for me.  I've always had breakfast: as a kid, growing up, and especially the last 4 years of this weight loss game, it's just part of my day.  I don't know what's going on with my sudden change in not wanting it, so I decided to start having smoothies instead.

I love smoothies but never let myself have them, because I hate drinking my calories away.  If I have a smoothie, I want food that I can chew as well, so it's never been something I've regularly done.  So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to enjoy smoothies!

I've made some incredible smoothies in the past, mainly based on milk / yoghurt / protein powder, with fruit.  But I've been watching too many social media fitspo's drink their green smoothies, and I thought I should try and do that.

Do what?  I don't really know - and if you could see the real life colour and consistency of my smoothie's, you'll see evidence of that fact.  I didn't really think it through...I ordered my groceries in a rush and I think I just envisaged part what I used to make / part hipster green smoothie, and that it would taste delicious and look like the green smoothies all around me.

This is what I ended up throwing together:

It wasn't terrible, but definitely not what I had magically dreamt up in my mind.  I think the

main issue was kale....it was actually my first time trying it, and yeah...it doesn't seem to blend too well, and it also doesn't seem to agree with my taste buds...or teeth!

#nomorekale

The spinach and kale combo packs I bought ended up being 80% kale, 20% spinach...so it was very much kale overload.  I think I'll stick to my beloved spinach next time, and try not to think that I'm a hipster...because I most certainly am not.

#nothipster

Eating drinking the brown-green green sludge smoothie the last two mornings have been a little bit of a mission, and I was only able to finish 2/3 of it both days.  So a bit more work is needed in the smoothie department!

I blended the smoothie's for Monday - Wednesday, and then portioned and froze the ingredients out for 3 more later this week, and I'll blend them up on Wednesday night.



Lunch

Lunch

Lunch is my amazingly yummy usual of avocado on toast, with crumbled feta, lemon juice and pink Himalayan rock salt.  I don't think I'll ever get bored of it.

I just had to portion everything with this - no cooking required on food prep day.




Dinner

Dinner

Dinner is my other recent favourite: self crumbed white fish, carrot and sweet potato chips, spinach and feta salad.   

I've been obsessed with making my own sweet potato chips for ages, but because I
wanted All Of The Sweet Potato, I worked out a way to slightly decrease it carb and calorie wise, so that I could have even bigger portions.  I cook up carrot into chips at the same time.  Once they're cooked they're such a similar orange colour that I literally can't tell the difference.  And because I mix them up, the carrot just gets lost in the sweet potato.  I usually do 2 parts carrot to 1 part sweet potato. :)


Snacks

My snacks are really uninventive this week: mainly just rice crackers and yoghurt.

_______________________________

So that's what I prepped on Sunday!  I have 3 meals I'm eating out (one breakfast, one lunch and one dinner), but I prepped everything else until this Sunday night.  I made enough of the dinners to last me through most of next week, too.

Carrot and sweet potato chips

It wasn't perfect but it's calorie controlled food that I love, and it's a start.  Anything will beat the bingeing crap that I've been inhaling for not only months, but on and off for 2.5 years.

The first few days have gone okay - I've stuck to the food other than forgetting that I had rehearsals straight after work on Monday (so couldn't cook dinner until 10pm, which I wouldn't usually bother with (and didn't); and then forgetting today was Melbourne Cup and that I'd RSVP'd to a work lunch. 

Neither were big deals so food has been going fine.

Exercise, on the other hand.

Sunday's are my usual Rest Day, so Day 1 was Rest Day which was conveniently awesome!

Yesterday though was the first day I planned to move my body.  As I said, I've made no plans, other than having a rough goal to do some form of exercise or moving my body for 20min. a day, 6 days a week.

Smoothie portions to freeze

As I was about to go and get changed to go for a walk, I realised I left half of my heart rate monitor at home.  I did pause, wondering if that was a reasonable excuse, but slapped myself and decided to go ahead without measuring it... :)

But literally at that moment, I realised how bad my knee had gotten during the day.  I wore (small, wide) heels yesterday which I never do, and I think that aggravated my already damaged knee.

It was coincidental timing, for me to realise how bad it was *just* as I was about to exercise, but genuine.

I limped to my car and I looked outside and it had just started raining.

Three things - message received.  So no exercise was done and I spent rehearsal with my knee up, reading my lines from a chair.

Today my knee was a lot better, but I wasn't sure what to do.  In the end I decided not to do anything today either.  The decision was probably 50% "I genuinely need to rest my knee and I think one more day will help"; and 50% "I don't want to exercise, so that other 50% sounds like a good reason not to." 

Unless my knee is really bad tomorrow, I'm planning on walking for 20min.  Watch this space.

Anyway this post is now a ridiculous length for a "quick" update, and it's now 1am, so I should click 'Publish' and go to bed!

I'm going to weigh in in the morning as even though it's only been a few days, I'm so used to weighing in on Wednesday's, so this first weigh in will just be a short week.

Chat soon,
love Kate xo

The best part of meal prep: when it's all done and you have a clean kitchen