Hi to one and all, sorry about the delay in blogging but with all this new found energy I have been so busy I got side tracked.
Well what can I say Sunday was a great day but then again a little sad as well, its funny when something is finished and you look back and think if only I had done this, the outcome would have been a little better or if I had put in more effort I could have got there faster. If only I had another chance I could do better but now with what I have learned from this challenge I have the rest of my life to improve on my efforts so I have many people to thank for that. The new year new you challenge has hi lighted so many of my weaknesses and my strengths not only physically and I would have to say that it does make you realise how far you can push yourself when you are asked so politely to do so.
I am very happy with my results having lost 11.4kg in the eight weeks, but happier with my overall fitness levels. I can truthfully say that I never would have achieved this outcome on my own without body4u. It makes you realise that you are capable of so much and is certainly the catalyst to do more with my life.
But as I said before I have a lot of people to thank for the results that I have achieved firstly Natalie as she did put up with a lot of complaining to start with and supported me with my food and many other things along the way. Then there is Amanda who has been very good to me in a harsh sort of way but the hard work and extra time that she put in was very much appreciated. Darren and Richard for firstly a bit of male company and nothing like having a good photographer ever present. Now Angie "miss not so scary" who's twisted mind thought up all those challenges along the way, thank you for making it interesting and fun, I hope that you enjoyed the banter as much as I did and will miss our pleasant Sunday morning get together. To the rest of the team at body4u thanks for all the friendly and professional support through out the challenge. I would recommend this challenge to anyone who is looking to improve their overall health and lifestyle.

Friday night and just finished at the gym and yes read Angie's blog.
Well what can I say but I lied about the height thing sorry.
So in return and seeing its the last Sunday for the challenge, and how dedicated you are to your clients I am certain when I ring you at 5.30am next Sunday morning you will happily come out and play:-)
Now Bring it on.
Will have to write one more blog after Sunday.
C u then.

Thursday and feeling tired today must not have drunk enough water yesterday. My PT with Amanda this morning seemed rather hard but I recovered OK.
Tonight I have fit key and then on the home run to Sunday.
I am starting to think now as this challenge is coming to an end that the bigger challenge is to sustain what I have achieved if not improve on it.

Yahoo it's Wednesday and feeling great (except for my left calf and sore back) and full of energy. Yesterday I went for a one and a half hour walk in the morning and I feel heaps better after a massage last night.
This mornings boot camp was good a little different, which as they say variety is the spice of life.
Wearing my old jeans to work today so that means I have dropped two pant sizes plus they are not tight even better.
No touch football tonight so will try to do a run instead.
Enjoy the day.

Hey Tuesday already how time flies when your fit and feeling good.
Had my PT with Amanda last night and feeling alright but my legs were a little sore still and luckily Amanda did not pick on them to much after the session I stayed and done a few weights to help and make up for Saturday,
Then later that night I played touch, but by then my legs were starting to get sore again.
This morning I went for a 1 hr 30min walk and this helped stretch them out and feel quite good at the moment.
Looking forward to boot camp in the morning.

Ah Monday and how good is this week going to be (once my legs stop hurting) almost a little sad that it was not a longer challenge but so far I am happy with the results.
On the weekend I had some pressing social engagements that stunted my training capabilities a little, but to my surprise my trainers were there to support me, talk about going above the call of duty, it was also good to see that they too were doing some research into how different substances can alter your training results, well done to all that participated.
Due to the research that I had done on Friday night I decided to rest for the day as I knew that Sunday would be a big morning and I was not disappointed.
Yes a beautiful day three of us all at the gym waiting eagerly to begin but where was Angie? Me being the kind and motivating person I am, I send her a quick text to check and sure enough Angie is soon with us beaming with enthusiasm.
I must say the walk run to Manly was a good work out, though I would have liked to run up Sleath Street a couple of more times just to loosen up a little first but then again I did not want to make us any later than we already were as I was not certain of the time schedule.
It is amazing how many hills there are between Cleveland and Manly when you are not in a car I must admit all was going well until a cramp in my calf, but to Angie's credit she was prepared with a pain killer and off we go again. All in all a good outing, was a little tired from the heat and the huge head winds that we faced but apart from that finished very refreshed and enthusiastic awaiting a well deserved breakfast and coffee.
This morning at John's circuit class I definitely knew I had been on a run but as I said this is the last week and I am feeling good and hopefully train harder this week than any before and try to drop some more weight before the final weigh in. It is a good feeling to actually be in the physical condition to achieve this so all I can say is bring it on.

Hi, Thursday and starting to feel good again thanks to a massage I think, even though I am feeling tired during the day I have really noticed my fitness and energy levels increasing. Certain exercises that used to really hurt I am now thinking aren't that bad and my recovery time is getting quicker. Both boot camp yesterday and this morning at Amanda's PT even though it was hard I still felt pretty good soon after, so either I am getting fitter or....... no lets just leave it at that otherwise I will get myself in big trouble.
Glad to see I can be of benefit with your ab workout Angie, that's the type of giving person I am:-)
Looking forward to the weekend to see what fun activities we are doing only two to go now.
Off to fit key tonight and then the usual spin class in the morning, have a wedding tomorrow so that's another test in it's self, will not being going to the Friday night losers club so will have to do a back up session on either Saturday or Sunday to make up for it unless the Sunday morning workout is really tough, but I doubt that :-)
Enjoy the day.

Hi all sorry about the lack of posts lately got a little side tracked a bit like Angie on the weekend but ended up in the same place.
Well I suppose everybody has read the other blogs so you really need my version of Sunday mornings events. It all started out a beautiful day, lovely scenic drive down to that beautiful spot in the hinterland it brought back many fond memories. I now know that they want to do this hill climb in a specific time so off we start and Angie was lagging already so a quick hurry up from me and she was up to speed. Luckily Angie brought her heart rate monitor as her heart rate went straight up, it was about then I thought I had better not talk to her as not to break her concentration that's the sort of caring person I am, it had nothing to do with my inability to talk due to lack of oxygen. It was all going well until I heard this little voice say "OK lets jog now" so off we go picking up the pace until Angie said stop I wanted to keep going but then I thought of Angie and didn't want to push it to much. The highlight was when Angie stopped to make a marker on the track and I remembered Darren's words from the last hike "we don't stop they just have to catch up" and I thought well that's what she will have to do, it was so much fun at the time I felt like the devil made me do it :-)
But my moment of glory was over quickly and Angie was beside me again at least it was not far from the top and I must say I have never been so happy to see a log before. A quick break and a few more glamorous photos and we were off again down the hill over the creek and far away before it was time to turn around and head back for breakfast. All in all I was quite happy with my performance, its would have been better if I did not go out the night before, but there is always next time (apparently).
Now Monday morning and feeling a little stiff went to Johns circuit class, but as the day progressed and so did the pain in my butt, my muscles were really starting to tighten up. But at least I made it to my PT with Amanda, I then find out that Angie did not make it to the gym that afternoon. I am sorry Angie I did not mean to push you that hard :-) I made the mistake of telling Amanda about the pain in my butt as she then put me straight on the climber followed by lunges with weights, I thought just how wonderful is this, to myself of course.
Off for a massage today only one week left after this so looking forward to the end results.

Thursday and feeling pretty good, a nice hard session with Amanda this morning so that sort of makes up a little for my rest day and still have a fit key class tonight.
But that is not my main concern as have a bucks party on Friday night and there could be a small temptation to weaken a little.
The main focus for me is that I have now set a goal for myself, so in order to reach that I will definitely have to work harder and make certain sacrifices along the way, as it is the end result that is important.
Really looking forward to the weekend might even bring my camera this time so I can post some photos of my own, sort of a different perspective...... through the eyes of the student you might say.
Have a great day.

Hi, it's Wednesday today sorry but had a lay day yesterday that being a lay in and not get out of bed early day so did not exercise at all. It's the first day in five weeks I have not done some sort of exercise felt sort of strange almost felt guilty for not doing something.
But I did work extra hard this morning at boot camp this morning and will try to fit in a extra session some where before the weekend to make up for it.

Hi, Monday morning and haven't blogged since Thursday so will update you on the main highlights of the weekend. Friday morning and Richards spin class was as hard as usual and totally full even to the point where Richard had to give his bike up and just supervise.
That night off to the Friday night losers club at the gym to do a few weights and who do I meet there, Annette, good to see the commitment of so few (being us two) doing so much.
Saturday morning and still feeling sluggish from the day before, which is a bit different for me usually its the night before that gets me but not anymore :-)
Anyway a nice boot camp work out with Richard then off to move house and play with furniture for the rest of the day, which is probably not the most intelligent thing I have ever done considering I kept thinking of what was in store for tomorrow.
Sunday morning and the first thing I have to say is thanks to Darren and Richard for setting up the course and sourcing all the gear, big mother tyres etc. you shouldn't have gone to so much trouble and I really wished you hadn't gone to all that trouble afterwards.
I think we have Angie a little worried now as she brought her bodyguards (her children)with her to keep the language down and also protect her from accidental slip ups from the water carriers.
The weigh in after was very surprising as I lost another 1.5kg, so all these fun activities must be doing something and I must admit my jeans are starting to get looser.
Well its only three weeks left now and its time to put in a big effort to the finish, so you may have to bring that bucket with you next weekend if you want to keep up Angie as no hubby to support you this time, so it should be an interesting time:-)
Was late to John's circuit class this morning so not off to a good start to the week so there is heaps of room for improvement yet.
Enjoy the day.

Mm mm Thursday afternoon looking forward to going to fit key tonight nearly as much as spending time with Angie on the weekend after reading her comment.
I had a solid work out this morning with Amanda (I can see you smiling now) and my arms are still feeling it so I suppose that's good.
I am not weighing myself during the week anymore as I need something to look forward to on the weekends apart from the obvious self inflicting exercise.
Anyway must go.

Wednesday, hump day as we say, that being the middle of the week and its all downhill from here. (I hope)
I only did a one and a half hour walk yesterday morning as I treat Tuesday as a bit of a rest day which I think I still need after the weekend and was still a little tired this morning.
Not that you would have noticed with my fine effort (in my mind)at boot camp this morning even though I did find it a little tougher than normal, I put that down to the humid temperature.
Getting into a routine with my food now and finding its not such a big deal to eat at the right times and to prepare something healthy with low fat.(would still like a drink though)
I am finding that I am slowly eating more, that is I will have a carrot with a protein shake in the afternoon instead of just a protein shake also a lot more salad with dinner, but at least its all healthy foods.
Enjoy the day.

Monday morning:
Lucky Winner is not how I would describe myself at the moment how about sore unfortunate winner, all I can say is my shoulders hurt, no its worst than that they are still burning and my legs hurt and I feel stuffed.
This is all from the result of going for a walk in the park????
If you do not know what I am talking about have a read of Angie's blog then you will know what I am complaining about, but I did think it could have been a lot worst and neither of us have vomited yet and considering I have a week to recover before the next one I can only say..... Bring it on!!!!
Hey, at least I am a little lighter now, and who knows by the end of this competition Angie may have to increase her training a little to keep up :-)
I must admit though doing John's circuit class this morning was difficult I think I was just going through the motions as most of my body still had no feeling.
Still have PT session to get through this afternoon so that will be interesting.
Another weekend down and still alcohol free, I am sure this is a good thing.