Well Kassey done so well and is now home 18 kilos lighter, she also going to crew our retreat which is awesome! She looks great!

I however have neglected myself and so it's time for me to step up and get back in conrol, It's Phyllis time

i will be back writing each week as it's been two years since my 33 kilo loss and the weight is creeping back on much to my horror but not surprise, when you don't exercise and you become mindless instead of mindful, this happens

Phyllis is off on a fabulous cruise with her family, so I have been off jetsetting around the South Island. I have just stayed at one of the fellow challenger Debbie's place just outside of Greymouth, and what a treat that was! Beautiful home, stunning views and her family made me feel right at home. We went and did some swimming at the local pools, I went for a lovely walk by myself soaking up the sun and really appreciating the time I have been able to spend with all the amazing people I have met along the way. I am now at Rosita's chatting up a storm about my journey thus far. There have been many highs and great memories I will take with me and I look forward to the next 2 weeks working my butt of to reach my 20kg goal!

So it has been awhile since I last blogged, since then I have returned home for 11 days for Christmas and New Years. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be, food wise I was fine I stuck to the 112 day challenge cook book and stuck to the correct portion sizes, in saying that I only deviated once on my last night spent at home, I had one of those little favourites chocolates. Exercising is another story for the first few days I kept up my routine really well and then I slowly started slacking off and my priorities got all messed up, I ended up doing the bare minimum which caused my weight loss in that 11 days to be only 1.5kgs, it could have been so much more which was proven by losing 1.1kgs in one day. This was great and it was because the exercise was increased and I am back into that solid routine. I am definitely looking forward to the next  10kg milestone!

To date I have lost 8.6 kilos! I have dropped a dress size and went shopping yesterday for something nice to wear home, I am feeling 100% amazing at the moment. I feel this week has gone really well considering Phyllis went to Rotorua for the half iron man, it was a true test for myself to keep up all the hard work we have been doing, and I didn't slack of once on the exercise nor did I overeat or eat anything I was not meant to, for me this was a great affirmation that Christmas and NYE is not going to be a struggle for me because I love seeing the change and I am now truely enjoying the exercise.

Speaking of exercise I am seeing a physio for my ankle (injury from september) and she is helping me alot with re-learning how to walk on it and things like that, part of me is frustrated becuase I thought I would be running now but I accept that these things happen and it is more important for it to heal than for me to push it and make it worse.

Well I have rambled on enough, my goal for the 11 days I am away is 4.3kgs! I want to be 95kgs when I get back to Phyllis's so anybody up for some hiking or biking etc.. add me on facebook and we will tee something up!

Merry Xmas all x

Mixed emotions about today! We were supposed to walk from home to Sumner and back again (roughly 15km) I thought I was mentally prepared, I had a great nights sleep and I was excited to be able to say I can walk 15km. As we got further and further I could feel myself slowing down and my leg was aching, in the end I had to stop and only did probably about 10km of the walk, this would have been amazing a week ago but now I need to push myself further. I am not sure if it was my leg that really stopped me or that mental barrier that we need to ignore/break down. When we got home Phyllis said to me that my brain will be telling me three things,

1.      1.  Disappointment about not finished

2.       2. What will Phyllis think, will she be disappointed?

3.      3.  I can’t do it.

So all day I have been telling myself that I can do it and Phyllis assured me that we will try it again and again until I can. So let’s make this week a week where we push ourselves beyond our limits because we may surprise ourselves!

Ahhh a day of cooking, we decided that we need to pre cook and prepare some meals for when we are on the go, because lets face it some days don’t go to plan and we cant afford to skip meals! We made ourselves two lunches and two dinners from the 112 days challenge cook book, it was great for me to get a feel for what I can prepare and freeze for the week.

Week one of thirteen is done and dusted. Weigh in this morning and I have lost a nice 2.1kgs, this is great if I can keep that up consistently till I leave its 27kgs. Amazing feeling very good about everything although I am in shock it has only been 7 days, with the retreat in the middle I feel like I have been on the programme for a month. 112 day challenge starts soon and I feel like I am well on track. Lots to look forward to now!

This morning I had a wee sleep in till 7, and what a nice treat that was. I am utterly shattered from the retreat so struggling to get myself back into the mental routine, so I am feeling a little flat today however out the door at 8:30 (3 hours later than usual) for our morning walk, luckily it was overcast so it was nice and cold.

Feeling a little overwhelmed with how busy my week is going to be but I am sure it will be Monday again before I know it! Phyllis and I discussed how once you leave the retreat you feel like its easy and that you can do it, we discussed how this was a false sense of reality and that after being on such a high at the retreat its normal to be feeling so flat. I wonder if anyone else had this problem?

The retreat in Hamner Springs, wow what can I say? Amazing people, memories and food that about sums it up!

But seriously if you need a serious kick in the right direction then you need to go on one of the retreats! They are amazing I did things I wasn’t even sure I could do and I managed to surprise myself along the way. Damian and Phyllis were amazing they have such a way with people and they make you feel so comfortable with asking them anything and that is in my opinion what makes the retreat so enjoyable.

We did circuit training with Boris, climbed Conical Hill, got dropped outside of Hamner and had to walk back and enjoyed a lovely progressive dinner and thermal hot pools just to name a few highlights! I am officially exhausted and exhilarated if this is possible to feel all at once! Amazing amazing amazing can not wait to catch up with all the lovely people I met in Hamner!