What Kate Did Next

So!  Following on from my War and Peace length epilogue post that I wrote last night of where I have been at, here is Part 2!

Here is what I have been doing and what I have set up for myself to get me to my goal weight.

Yes - the main mission is Operation Goal Weight - totally!  But...19th March 2014 / 40kg-ish is a little big to think of at the moment, so I broke the goal down into 7 parts.  As soon as I wrote them down, I felt a rush.  One small goal at a time.  Now I was talking! :)

I have set goals for Week 12 of Round 3 and 4, the ends of my next 3 boot camp rounds, Christmas Day, my birthday, and the day I fly out to Sydney for finale.  I'm aiming for each one at a time so I don't get overwhelmed.  On a higher level, I'm actually mainly aiming for the first 3 at once - encompassing them into one main focus: Goal #3 is my finale goal.  After finale, the next major milestone goal will be Christmas Day and so on.  But first up, is finale.  Finale is such a huge motivator for me - I adore finale weekends and get so motivated and inspired by the previous and for the next round each time I go.  So I'm putting all of my effort into my first big goal: "Operation Finale."  I'm working towards a goal for the morning I fly out.  So if you see me hashtag "of" or "operationfinale" on Instagram, this is what I mean.  I've been documenting my journey on Instagram heaps.

Anyway - so yes.  With Operation No More Standstill decided upon, Operation Goal Weight in my sights and Operation Finale as my current main focus, I sat down and looked at the best way to kick my own ass.

Essentially, all I am doing is going back to basics.  We all know there's no magic potion or code word or secret pill that gets us what we want.  The only way is bloody hard work.  But there's no reason that hard work can't also be fun and enjoyable!  So....I got my 8 year old on and made a sticker goal chart!  I made one for my training right back at the start of this journey

My sticker chart!

and I loved it.  So I went to Big W and the $2 shop and went a little bit nuts with pink cardboard and stickers, and sat down a week or so ago and got all creative.

I am in love with my sticker star chart!  I just listed the basic things I have to do.  I have these Daily goals:

• Nutrition
• Training
• Water
• Sleep

I call them my 'magic 4'.  If I achieve my nutrition/training/water/sleep goal for the day, I get a star sticker.  I also have Weekly goals - just a few general things that are important for me.  If I get a whole weeks worth of stars for one thing, I get a "Good

Stickers motivate me!

work!" or "A+" type sticker.  Ha!  I know how silly it sounds, don't you worry.  But don't knock it until you try it.  It's amazing.  I reason that if a few stickers are going to help get me back on track then they are worth the $2 it cost to bought them, and the embarrassment it costs to publicly admit that I have a sticker chart on the back of my bedroom door ;)

I have gone back to planning and prepping my meals for the week ahead.  The pencil cases

Monday's food all ready

have made a reappearance!  I can not tell you what a difference this is making.  Last week was a bit hit and miss, but this week I was determined to get it all prepared.  I spent 4 hours in the kitchen on Sunday night - cooking, dividing food into little bags and putting things into each daily pencil case.  I'm not going to lie, it wasn't fun.  I was interstate for the weekend for a family birthday and my only 4 hours I had at home were spent in the kitchen - no other housework was touched and I was a bit stressed.

But I can't tell you how much I have since appreciated the work I put in.  5 times a day, actually!  Each meal time I thank Sunday Kate for putting in the effort.  My food is all ready to go.  And it's not 'ready to go' takeaway stuff either.  It's nutritious and within my calorie limit.  It's just doing what Mish has always said.  I just don't consistently do this which is why it's big enough for me to mention :)  And I'm gonna keep on with it!  Tomorrow I'll be working out my meal plan for next

Cupcake Quiche cookup!

week and then preparing that food on the weekend.  I'm focusing really strongly on planning meals that I love.  I've spoken about this before, you've gotta choose food you love, otherwise you're never going to stick to it.  So this week I sat down and customised my meal plan to only include my favourite meals.  $ is always an issue so I tried to limit it to 3 different breakfasts, 3 lunches and 3 dinners.  It's cheaper to make bulk of one thing.  So I chose my top 3 favourite breakfasts etc.  It's making the world of difference.  I'm excited about my food each day and I know that I'm limiting any possibility of being tempted to deviate to bad stuff.  While prepping I've also done a small cook up and made extra meals to freeze as back ups.


One big thing is I'm aiming to get at least 7 hours sleep a night.  So far I think I have been awarded just 2 sleep stickers out of a possible 7, but I'm getting there.  It's a big change for me as I usually have 4-5.  On good nights I have 6 and on bad nights I have 3.  So 7 is pretty

A day's worth of food.  So colourful!

ambitious!  But I know how important sleep is for weight loss so I'm trying really hard.

Apart from the usual training and water essentials, that's really all I'm doing.  I hope last nights post didn't make it sound like I had a long list of amazing new ideas to help me get to goal.  Because really, all I am doing is going back to basics.  I figure if I can get the 'magic 4' and my Weekly stuff downpat, then I will succeed.  The sticker chart is just a visual way to keep me on track, and to motivate me to do each thing each day.  

As I mentioned I went up and down and found myself back up at 111kg.  I got back into it and faltered and last Wednesday got my sticker chart happening and was 109kg.  Today I was 105.7kg.  Those few simple things that I've focused on this week have paid off.  To quote Mish, this is not rocket science.  I think it's a matter of knowing what you want, knowing how to get it, then just doing it.  And that's all I'm doing.  I'm talking about it heaps and

This weeks weigh in

am surrounding myself with people and things that will help me.  I have countdown apps on my iPhone, extra stuff on my inspiration wall: anything extra that will help me - it all counts.

I feel so determined and as a result am completely focused.  I don't doubt that I will probably stuff up at some point.  I absolutely will.  But I am a pretty determined and stubborn person and if I want my goal weight, I will get it.  I've been standing still for too long and I'm over that.  Like my goals that I chatted about in the last post - I may not be getting there mega quickly or by a perfect date like my birthday, but the important thing is that I will get there.  But I'm not going to get there without bloody hard work.  If you want something bad enough then you have to make it happen.  I want my goal weight so I am simply making it happen.

:)