On My Way!!!!

I can clearly remember, as a teenager, the words of the worst band to ever come out of Scotland, the Proclaimers, “I’m on my way from misery to happiness today, Uh Huh, uh Huh.”  Well after the weekend’s events in Sydney and catching up with some old 12wbt friends and meeting some new ones, watching how well some people have done and how far we have all come, I have come home with a lot of energy and been reinvigorated to ensure that I smash out this next round.  I might also add that having to stand there and watch those lucky 20 people be on stage left me feeling a little lost and wishing it was me up there again, but you know what, I didn’t deserve it this round and they all did.  If I want to be back up there I better pull out my finger and do the work.

So, why am I suddenly quoting the Proclaimers?  Well their lyric is exactly where I find myself.  Not that I was miserable, that is something that has certainly not been the case the last 24 weeks, but I am determined that at the end of the next 12 weeks I will be more than happy with what I have done since today.  I have made a commitment to myself and to my wife as well as to some of my training buddies that I am going to smash this next round.  I will step it up and I am even doing the 10K running program.  Now I have every confidence I can get that ticked off half way through the round, it is all about learning to run properly and improving my speed.  I also want to smash the weight this time and see if I can get to goal weight.  This will mean dropping around 25kgs this round.  Yes this is a huge ask, but doing my sums I need at least that to get on stage.  So if I am good enough to get there I will be at goal.  Either way I am a winner.

This weekend was huge.  It was an early start for us and we flew in to Sydney for some crappy weather, which was not enticing.  We were fortunate enough that a friend we had not seen for ages was also in Sydney, so we caught up for lunch (burger and schooner at a pub in the Rocks), so I hope Michelle doesn’t read this post.  After that we went off and did the Bridge Climb.  What an amazing experience.  To say I have stood on the top of one of the most iconic structures in the world is unbelievable.  We were up there for 3 hours and whilst it was windy, thankfully it did not rain.  Mother Nature held that off just until we finished then she opened up on the twilight groups.

Saturday morning saw us all heading to Queens Park for a workout with 1000 other 12WBTer’s and gave us the opportunity to meet some new people we had only spoken to on the forums and facebook groups.  I finally got to meet Carol, Lynn and Casey from Warrnambool and surrounding areas that I have been following via twitter and their blogs.  All three are lovely ladies and it was great to meet them.  After the workout we all got our photos taken in our groups with the Guru and I was also fortunate enough to meet Lise Simpson (one of the trainers and 12WBT support crew) whom has followed me through the last 2 rounds.  It is so nice being in a place where people of all ages, shapes and sizes are all wanting the same thing and happy to be there.  I also got to meet a lovely lady whom most know as Lima Fox.  Leanne was one of the first people I spoke to when I signed up and she has been so supportive following my journey. Just a pity she isn’t doing this next round, but we will keep in touch.

Next was the big night.  Off we went all dolled up (well Julie not me) for the party.  It was a fantastic night, which gave me the opportunity to meet more people that I have only spoken to (Angela Wallace, Leanne Molloy) who are both legends on the forums.  There were a couple of people in the top 20 that we were keen to cheer on and even better when both Casey and Sarah won awards.  What a great night.

Sadly the next day meant a sore head of sorts and a full day without a hotel room to rest it, but what better way to fix it than to go to Manly beach and have fish and chips!!!  After that we had a quick visit to a pub then the airport and promises to each other that this was our round.  I am going to go hard, I have my goals and I am hoping that I can drag those around me along and they can also drag me along with them as I know they will be working just as hard.  Our Saturday morning sessions have just been stepped up a notch I think and could become interesting.

Watch out for the skinny man after Christmas.

Another Round Down.....

24 weeks have passed since I started with the Guru and started transforming both my outer self as well as my inner self.  I have learnt so much along this path that sometimes I forget how far I have actually come and only look at the recent results.  As I have documented in numerous blogs, yes I know stuck record comes to mind, that I have not been as prolific with the weight loss this round and the numbers have not been as high and even that I have hit a wall mentally, I have been able to look back this week and take stock of what I have actually achieved.  This message hit home for me only this morning when I was talking to a couple of senior managers and one of them blurted out, “Oh my god, you are half the man you used to be.”  Now I have seen this guy in passing a number of times over the last few months, but I suppose he has never really stopped and looked at me.  Not sure why, I am a pretty hot specimen now, even for straight guys!!!!!

The simple fact that he had noticed this shows me that whilst I only lost (I know I shouldn’t use that word) 9.3kgs this round, I have lost a total of 33.8kgs in 24 weeks.  That is an amazing amount of weight to lose and as this manager put it, try getting up and carrying 2 bags of cement with you each time you go to get a coffee or to a meeting.  When he said it like that I thought holy cow, that is heavy and I now feel amazing for not carrying that weight.

Add to this, my measurements were also down on last round, but I still managed to lose 25cms in total all over my body.  Add that to last rounds 86.5 centimetres and I have now lost 1.115 metres off my body.  I was a size 46 in jeans when I started my first round, I now fit into a 38 (just) but this was something I thought would never happen.  I was just happy to get into a size 40 now I am looking at 36-34 when I get to my goal.  I have gone from XXXL in shirts to looking at XL at biggest.  This is just incredible.  Yes my weight loss slowed this round, I was not as accountable and the intensity was not there, but even with all the little blips along the way I still managed to lose weight.  In the past I would have given up and packed it back on.  Not anymore, the new Greg is determined that one stumble will not cause me to fall over.  I will be back up and at it with a vengeance.  I have been extremely lucky that Julie is doing this with me and whilst we have both had issues at times we have been extremely supportive of each other.  We are determined that round 4 will be a big one.  We have also been very lucky that we have made some very good friends in the Western Warriors group that now train with us on Saturday mornings and I have found a couple of run buddies that are my pace.  Well 1 of them has been injured, but we are waiting for her to get back into it so we can have some good Saturday morning trots.

Overall, I am happy to reflect back and look at where I have come from, which was an obese and unhappy man 24 weeks ago, where I am now still a little obese (technically) but I feel like there is a skinny guy kicking and screaming and fighting his way out.  He is almost there and I anticipate that after Christmas he will have found his way out.  That is the same time I expect to have broken through the 100kgs barrier, which will mean I will be back under the three figures for the first time since 1992 and for me that was the start of my 20 years of living in the dark.

I have this weekend in Sydney to celebrate at the finale and then come Monday it is all head down and bum up, except when I am running. That might be a little difficult, but I have grands plans for the next 12 months and that only happens with a fit, healthy and lean ME.