One week down. Only 11 to go. Well, that’s assuming I drop the ball as soon as the 12 Week Body Transformation challenge is over; which I shouldn’t. And hope I don’t.

Old habits die hard though. 

My parents are in town and coming to my place today for a couple of days. My mother is supportive of my attempts to lose weight and has instructed me not to buy any food for them which may tempt me. But as I drove towards the local supermarkets yesterday I realised that I probably needed to steer clear of Woolworths for a while. Through no fault of its own, for me, it is the site of many an undoing. And it’s all because of Macro brand, Gluten Free Organic Cheese Flavoured Corn Chips (a delicious mouthful, I know!). Of course, it may not be all the fault of the chips, willpower could be coming into play there as well…

I suspect that more than half of the older posts on this site refer to my corn chip fetish. They were my ‘treat’ food mainly reserved for weekends. But when buying one 200g bag, I’d feel compelled to buy a second. And both were hoovered in record time, along with some home-made dip just to add a few more hundred calories’ damage.

So yesterday I went to Coles. Safe and temptation-free Coles (though there are these fake GF Twisties and Pringles in the health food aisle now, which are a bit tempting. Not to mention chocolate and the like. No Easter Eggs any more though. Thank bloody God!).

But, as it happens, I feel strong. Surprisingly so. In fact, I probably could have resisted the power the corn chips have over me if I’d set foot in the store whose logo is now a green apple.

And I’m stoked with that. I haven’t faithfully followed Michelle’s program. I’ve planned my own meals and, unfit as I am I’m not quite up to her beginner’s exercise program, so I’ve done my own thing. But at least I’ve done SOMETHING. I might not be burning the calories of my fellow 12WBT participants and I’m not sure I’m currently fit enough to drop 750+ calories in 45 minutes of Body Jam, which I did just a couple of years ago. But I am burning some. And that – surely – is better than nothing.

So, in summing up my big achievements in week 1:

1. alcohol free for a week (more than a week) for the first time in AGES
2. diet coke free for the first time in a decade or two (at least)
3. limited carbohydrate consumption, whereas once I binged on carbs at night
4. no junk food. At all
5. kept within my 1200 calorie limit every day
6. exercised on 6 days: just pilates or exercise bike (3 each) but as I hadn’t done any exercise in a couple of months it is a good achievement.

My week 2 plan isn’t going to change much. I am hoping to SLOWLY start increasing my cardiovascular exercise. I currently pant like a dog when I walk up a sloped driveway or set of stairs, and find 20mins on the exercise bike exhausting; so I can’t get too ambitious. But I can aim a tad higher.

 In fact today I didn’t have time for my pre-work 20 minute interval cycle on the exercise bike so I have just been for a 30 minute lunchtime walk. I got shin splints within 2-3 minutes, but I kept going. (Note to self: Fortitude Valley footpaths are all cement and bloody hard; and there are an inordinate number of smokers about at lunchtime).

So I might (and I say ‘might’) try a boxing boot camp organised by 12WBTers around town this weekend. A big step, but one which will be taken with a supportive group of people who will not laugh when I cannot run and who will (presumably) help me up when I fall over.

Nevertheless, please pray for me….