30 April 2010 – Gala dinner and prize giving

What an exciting day, the Gala dinner and prize giving had eventually arrived. Sporting a new hairdo, I arrived at the Westville Country Club excited to find out who the winners were for the Get Fit Challenge 2010. A fantastic dinner was served, and I assure you everybody was looking forward to having a feast. No more cauliflour, broccoli, green beans and fish for dinner. The food was magnificent. Then it was time for the prize giving, feeling a little apprehensive about having my before and after photographs displayed for all to see, we settled to hear the announcements of the winners. Although I am not young and 100% in shape yet, I have faired very well in the challenge and achieved my goal that I had set for myself to reach 85 kgs by the end of the challenge. The overall 1st place winners were announced and just by seeing their before and after photos, very well deserved I must say. Look at those abs, wow! Then the announcement was made for the "Biggest Loser" participants. And believe it or not, my name was called with 2 others. With a total loss of 15.1 kgs in 12 weeks I received a complimentary voucher into the next challenge. Just the prize I wanted. Yoohoo!!!

I DID IT!!!

23 April 2010 – Measurements and weigh-in

Final measurements and weigh-in has eventually arrived. Had a very early morning session of cardio workout with hill and speed training on the treadmill at Virgin Active. Went to work and then in the afternoon arrived at the gym for another last bid to lose point three of a kilogram to make my weightloss a round figure. Repeated another session of hill and speed training on the treadmill. Then rushed off to get ready for the Weight Loss Challenge prize giving at Musgrave Centre. Amazing news! I won the "Biggest Centimetre Lost" title and the "Biggest Loser" title for the competition. I have enough cash prizes to enter the next Challenge. Yippie! Then swung past to the Get Fit Challenge venue for final measurements and weigh-in. I wore my special little number again, revealing all (most of me) to see the exact difference so put shyness aside and had the after photo taken, this time there was much less of me. These photos I assure you will not be seen by anybody except the competition organisers and me. Whoopie, lost a total of 15.1 kgs and 49 cms. Am thrilled to bits, reached my goal that I had set for myself for this competition. Now once again I wait for the next week with baited breath for the announcement of the winners.

22 April 2010 – Last workout session

Well the day has eventually arrived for our last workout with the GetFit Challenge. I was in a Thursday evening slot this time, had a great time completing the circuit with no problem at all. I am leaving this competition with strengthened knees and a much slimmer body. Am absolutely thrilled to bits about the results that I have achieved. Was a little disappointed about my weightloss this week but I have done well for most of the challenge. I still have one more day to burn a little more fat before final weigh-in and measurements. So lets see what results we have tomorrow at the close of the competition.

14 April 2010 – 1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4 . .

Yippie, another session bites the dust, one more week to go. Had another good weight loss this week. Have broken the 10kg mark now. Just imagine, I have lost a whole 10kg bag of potatoes so far. Looks as though all the sweat and burn is paying off. Am working much harder with training twice a day now. Almost 95% strict on the latest eating plan which I only started on Thursday last week. Another bonus! My running/walking reflector belt's special extension I have been using has been removed this evening because the belt fits properly for the first time in years. This evening after my 7 km session with Run Walk for Life I arrived at Virgin Active had a lovely relaxation session in the aqua pool for almost half an hour, feeling revitalised I was rearing to go for the second last challenge session. Am managing to do 95% of the routines with better ease now, knees are definately much stronger this week, still need to concentrate on improving my ab strength, but that will come as I get closer to goal weight. Oh, I'm getting too sexy for my shoes, my husband is gonna want to put a ball & chain on me soon. Watch this space for the big reveal of before and afters!

7 April 2010

Had a fantastic weight loss this week. Challenge session was good, but I had run out of energy to do the ab reps this evening. I'm fine with the weights, I find that I can manage quite comfortably. Goods news, I can now step up on the stage, first time since the challenge has started. My knees have enough strength to lift my body up onto the step, but only just. Two weeks left to go, I am very pleased with my progress so far, but hell it has been hard work.

31 March 2010

My usual Wednesday session was cancelled today so went at 9 am this morning. They held the challenge in the squash courts. Seemed to lack energy today, and not much enthusiasm coming from me. Probably over training a little. I have started entering road races and race walked the Mineshaft 15 kms on Sunday, very undulating I must say. I jogged my first unbroken 8 kms last night, slow but steady. But with 4 weeks left to go must keep going. There is special talk tonight on diet for the remainder of the challenge, should be quite interesting. Still have a long way to go but am already feeling like a million dollars.

24 March 2010

Best session so far, next to the beach session of course. I am finding that I have enough strength in my arms and core to hold up my bodyweight while doing the routines. Had a good weightloss this week 1.8 kgs. Back on track, but trained harder and longer. Did 2 x 10 kms run/racewalks this week. Am rather impressed with my new found abilities, but I have also discovered a couple of new muscles in my back that have been in hibernation for long time. Eish!

17 March 2010

Seven week now into the GetFit Challenge. Had a busy day running around shopping. Rested for an hour then went to RWFL. Felt a little flat energy-wise and did an easy 8 km power walk. Thought it was better not to do any running to conserve my energy for the GetFit session. Arrived at Virgin Active and cooled off in the aqua pool for 30 minutes to revitalise myself before the Challenge session. Enjoyed the session because of a different routine, not much ab work today, more weights. Good thing I've been training. I find that I can do the weights much better than abs. Knees are creaking under the strain a little today, not comfortable at all. Also had a weight gain this week. Liz, focus!

13 March 2010 – measurements (6 weeks)

Went for measurements today with great expectations. Hoping to have lost at least 60 cms. What! My total centimetre loss was only 16 cms. Could not understand why so few centimetres compared to the Weightloss Challenge, then I realised that different measurement techniques are used. Felt a little happier to find out that I had brought my body fat percentage back on the chart, bringing me down to 35%, we are not exactly sure what my percentage originally was because the figures on the chart only goes up to 40%, I was way over that, probably about 42 to 45%. Total weightloss 5.7 kg in 6 weeks, could have been better but taking my age into consideration, well... I haven't done too badly. Now that I am on holiday for a month I can focus for the next couple of weeks, starting off with my first 10 km road race completed today. So watch this space, here comes Liz...

6 March 2010

Attended another beach session today at 8 a.m. Weather was fantastic, there was a film crew and about 90% of the team were wearing their Get Fit Challenge T-shirts. Looked quite impressive even if I must say so myself. Well done guys! We caused quite a lot of interest with the public. I wasn't late this time so had the full benefit of the work out. Put more effort into todays program and am finding that I now have more strength in my core muscles to do the exercises better. One of the exercises had a little challenge or competition so to speak, almost like musical chairs but instead of sitting down on a chair you had to lie on the mat flat on your stomach and then make a dash for a marker. The challengers that did not manage to get a marker was out and so on. Great stuff! I am working harder today so that I can have a better weight loss this week. After session I went for a race/power walk for half an hour. Well, with exercise done for the day I am looking forward to just chilling and relaxing until tomorrow.

And the winner was . . .

5 March 2010

Today we had the Get Fit Challenge session on the beach at Ushaka at 6 a.m. sharp. Nice crowd turned up and weather was good to us. Found it difficult to run on the beach sand. Did not realise how tiring it could be. Did lots of lunges, situps, crunches, pushups and running. Then ran up and down 3 steps and more pushups. My knees were creaking under the strain for this session. Found that lunges are becoming very difficult to do. Uncomfortable with every step. Thoroughly enjoyed the session and a bonus was that the Moya cloakroom facilities were open so we could clean-up before going to work. Looking forward to another session tomorrow morning.

3 March 2010

Fifth week: Had a good run/walk this afternoon. Walked 1.5 kms on field with Noleen and then jogged on the road for 6.2 kms. Went to Virgin Active and cooled off in the aqua pool, swam a couple of laps and then joined the fifth sessin for the Challenge. Weighed in at 95.8 kgs. Another kilo bites the dust. Did a variation of abs, crunches and weights in most of the sets. Started to battle to get up from the floor on a couple of occasions. Seems as though back to back exercise program is a little harsher than I thought it would be, but have decided not to try and change class for another slot and to continue as I have been. I'll be on annual leave from next week and will be able to do RWFL in the morning and will have plenty of time to recover nicely for the evening session of the challenge. On Friday and Saturday the training will be on the at Ushaka in front of Moya. Looking forward to the stint on the beach. Should be fun.

24 February 2010

Fourth week today. Started off at Run Walk for Life this afternoon, feeling very motivated so jogged for most the hour session, probably jogged about 4 kms and power walked 2 km. Felt a little tired and toes were cramping from the new running shoes when I arrived at Virgin Active so cooled off in the pool for 20 mins before the Challenge. Group members absentee rate high this week. Weighed in at 96.85 kgs. As pleased as punch. Battled a little with training this week, feeling that I lacked the energy compared to last week. Was too tired to worry about all the jiggling little bits or studying my reflection, but did notice that I am a little slimmer now. Training consisted of lots of crunches and abs today. But feeling very motivated because of the weight loss anyway. Other group members seemed impressed with my weight loss this week. "I'm doing this!" Success at the end of the tunnel at last.

17 February 2010

Third week of the GetFit Challenge. Was raining today so Run Walk for Life was cancelled. Went to Virgin Active at 6 pm and completed 20 mins race walking on the treadmill and 10 mins rowing, back to the treadmill for 15 mins. Then the challenge group started. Weighed in at 98.85. Really enjoyed the session this week as I found that I am not battling to do the sets so much any more. Still very disgusted at my size in the mirror but reasoned with myself, "This is why you are here, to get back into shape". I 'm doing this for me and there is no room to feel skaam. I can do this! Yeah!

10 February 2010

Second week of challenge. Weighed in at 100.1 kg, lost 1 kg this week. Entire group only had a loss of 4.6 kgs. Trainer sweet talked us into focusing on our eating habits and with better results next week. Exercise program this week was tougher, was amaized at how many little bits were wobbling and jiggling in all directions. Man oh man, and all the mirrors, you can actually see the bits wobbling. What a sight! Much more incentive to get this weight off once and for all. I can do this!

3 February 2010

First day of the workout for the challenge. Weighed in at 101.1 kgs, gained half a kilo. Must be because I actually had clothes on this time. I was the largest female in the group. Just had finished a Run Walk for Life 6 km session of combined race walking, power walking and jogging for 60 minutes. Feeling tired and sore but managed to complete the entire circuit, not sitting out once, but only just. Was very impressed with myself for managing to keep up with most of the group members. I can do this!

29 January 2010

Today is the day for my assessment with the GetFit Challenge 2010. In the latest e-mail I received we were told not to forget our bekini for our before photos. Well, I almost backed out there and then. No way was I going to bear all even in a 2 piece. Then on second thoughts, I am doing this for me and decided to see what I could find in my closet tucked away somewhere. I found a pair of short, and I mean short cycle shorts and a crop top that would just cover my bra and off to registration I went. One week after I had started the Weightloss Challenge in Berea I now weighed in at 100.5 kgs bearing all in my crop top and cycle shorts. I'm sure that the personal trainer and photographer who were in attendance must have taken a double step backwards at the sight of me bearing all. "I'm in this challenge for me", I thought to myself feeling no skaam at all. At this stage I couldn't have cared less what anybody thought about what they saw. This is me, as you get it, all of me. I can do this challenge and am hoping to come out of it a little bit less of me. "I can do this!" is my motto now and my encouragement.