welcome my little family. The extra push behind my workouts.

This is where i finally introduce you to my reasons for living and wanting to improve myself.
As most of you know being a mum is the most incredible feeling on this planet.
It doesn't matter what kind of day i have , seeing my kids all happily tucked up in bed with those sweet little faces fills me with joy and pride.

This post will be a brief hello to my family, not all of my family mind you cause wow that would take forever. This will be my kids and my parents to keep it brief.

Wanting to improve myself in health , weight and fitness was encouraged by many things. Hearing my daughter say that kids called me fat, and then her trying to appease me while shes wobbling my belly with her hands. My youngest son saying he hopes I'm still alive when hes a dad ( that was a tear jerking conversation).
Seeing my second eldest daughter struggling with obesity all her life and struggling to get her to help herself when her fave excuse was, "well mum eats it".
Wanting to make my parents proud and not have them worry that i might keel over and they will have to look after the 5 kids lol I'm kidding I'm kidding. i just know that they worry about me even when they don't say for me to lose weight. The fact my mum busts her ass with me in workouts every day is testament that shes willing to support me through this no matter what it takes.The health benefits that i pray are there, less vertigo , if not have my vertigo be gone forever. Be able to run and play without feeling so arthritic. My last motivation  but not my final as I'm sure along the way i will find many other reasons to be doing the 12wbt program, my last is my boyfriend, he deserves a rocking body pressed up against him, one that doesn't keep undulating after a playful ass slap.

OK lets get these introductions in place. My boyfriend has already got a post all about him , which can be found with a few scrolls of my blog:)
i will start with my parents.  My dad Colin, and my mum Lisa. They have been together since i was 7 ( hes my step dad, but the only dad i ever knew )

This is me as a kid with my dad. he is a very gentle man and is always respectful to the feelings of others. he worked hard for his family and taught me so many things that have helped me be a better woman today.  My dad is the most patient father, he was also always proud of me no matter what i did. even with this program hes proud and full of encouragement.  He always told me i was beautiful and everything i did , even if it was a crappy drawing, it was always the best ever to my dad. They don't make them like him anymore. I love my dad.

I am starting to think that my dad may be to blame for me being photographed wearing the daggiest clothes and what is with my hair ?

I know this though that my dad will be proud of me no matter what the outcome is. 
He also has a quiet sense of humour. it sneaks up on you when you least expect it. 

My dad also had a fondness for moustaches :) woohoo dad,  oh , the above pic is me in the green swimmers, my mum and my dad. look at my smile aren't i just the cutest?

 

 He the best dad ever. Good job picking him mum. 

That brings me to my mum Lisa, she is a bloody character that one :)  Mum and i are as thick as thieves and always have been. We have done every adventure we could, from comedy shows to operating karaoke together, to dressing as and elf and fairy to raise money for charity. We have sweat it out at the gym together and survived a beach boot camp. Mum has always been a give a try kind of woman. Talk about funny, mum and i without fail always find something to laugh at. shes generous and kind, and always encouraged me to do what i needed to do. Even if it wasn't what she hoped me to do she didn't judge me by my decisions or my mistakes.  Good work mum :) 

Mum made the mistake of falling asleep before me :)

Both my parents have a great sense of humour :)

me on the left mum in the green elf suit

me hiding my double chin lol at my 30th birthday

  

mum and i with Ewan, on his 1st birthday

She is a well travelled mum, oh my i don't want to know whats under his lap lap thingy

 My mum has the prettiest blue eyes ever. 

  here is mum and Kahlyssa and Tatjahna , mum was a very naughty elf 

 I'm so proud to have my mum with me on this journey. i would be lost without her.

Time to introduce my babies. starting from oldest to youngest. 
Kahlyssa is my eldest, oh boy . This  cheeky girl has given me a run for my money . Always full of energy and pent up frustration.  i have had many trials a tribulations with her but she has the wickedest humour and has never stopped loving her mum. My journey with 12wbt has been eagerly watched by her.
She may be almost 20 but she will always be my baby girl and almost losing her in a car accident in December was  terrifying. Seeing your child in a coma isn't something parents should need to see. It still haunts me to see her so helpless. She is fine now,  she got quite a few injuries  that how now healed mostly. 


Kahlyssa and i always had a hard time getting a  serious pic 

  we managed it this time 

  she doesnt realise how gorgeous she is 

  lol  but shes a great photographer

  this was her first bath , she was a cutie head.

  who would think this innocence would become a teen terror lol

 Next is Tatjahna , she is now 14. She can be such a sweet girl but i need to remind you that shes a teenager.. "run for your yife" as Dakotah used to say

Tatjahna is  a food lover too and i worry about her health, nothing i did , even removing all :"bad" foods from the house mattered as she would then just eat copious amounts of other foods. I'm praying she sees what I'm doing and she wishes to make a difference to herself, because counselling, dietitians, doctors , none have helped. When shes not trying to act like Godzilla she is a loving girl. 
As shes gotten older she has shied away from the camera. 

 Such a beautiful girl i only hope she realises this and treats her body with more respect with regards to food. I have noticed  her keeping a food diary too and trying to be aware of foods and keeping a little more active. i will hope my influence will help her too.

 She also has the sweetest chocolate coloured eyes with the longest lashes ever ... mmmmm chocolate
My biggest issue with her these days is trying to keep her at school, but that's a different story.

Next in line is my pigeon pair, twins Ewan and Dakotah. These guys were supposed to be tiny, i mean they are twins, this will be an easier birth  cause they are so tiny right? nope ,  they were a month premmy , Ewan was 8 pound 3 and dakotah was 6 pound 11. 
I remember complaining that Ewan's birth should have made it easier to push her out but not a chance  lol.

Dakotah , with a turtle found crossing the road after the floods here in 2010/2011. i can still imagine mum now pulling over and rescuing it, while trying to be brave lol ( we took it back to the river)

 This picture below is Ewan on crazy hair day  with his funky faux hawke

  Ewan's front teeth missing, :)

Dakotah proudly showing off the dress i made for her, she still drags it out and wears it two years later, gotta love that :)

Even as a babe she was a smiling face kid :)

 The twins  are total opposites,  and Dakotah is very bossy , even with me, well she tries to be anyway.

They grew up with singing around them 

  and humour around them :)

 It has been a wonderful thing watching them grow. 

 Dakotah is always the boss of them, and the following video , shows a little of that. She used to love watching mum and i at dance class and was super excited to have her own little pretend tap shoes 

I love this video :)  , . Last but not least we have young  Connor,  He is the baby of the family and  because Kahlyssa watched him being born she has spoiled him, hes just a sweet little mummy's little boy and i wish my last child would stay young forever lol. Connor can be a larrikan, but then again it was genetically bound to happen 

  He is Kahlyssa's fave subject for photos 

crazy hair day, he must have confused with crazy face day :)

  the things he will  do for a laugh lol

 With my dad as a baby , 

 Such sweet innocence 

 All together my kids and parents are what keeps me going ,

 Of course Damian helps big time, Who else would i test my HRM with?
If all this isn't motivation , nothing else  will :)

thanks for reading today and welcome to my Family :)

I have hobbies :)

I have always been a creative person, being an only child has a way of making you creative i think. No one to play with , i had to make my own enjoyments.
 One was food, the other was crafts. From a very young age we travelled every year to Victoria for three months, this may have been the start of me using food for comfort. I remember we were awake so so so early to get travelling for the 2 day trip. Mum would always make sure we had a breakfast stop a couple of hours down the road. I usually got straight back to sleep when i got into the car to travel, waking up mainly at each food stop, sleep , food , sleep , food. That is how we made our trips. Because of car sickness i had to eat often to keep me from feeling sick. 

It was only the other day that i was remembering these travels and the comforting, snuggled feeling i had when i was feeling a little car sick, then mum would buy a yummy lunch  and i would snuggle up in the back seat ,  warm and cozy and lovingly eat my food. it was euphoric to have good food when i was younger. 
I continued this ritual even after we stopped travelling , Food always made me feel good. Safe and comfortable. 
I was often bored as a kid due to the lack of playmates till i was alot older. i would often steal food when i was growing up. My mum never denied me anything , but to me food was a solution. If i was bored, sad, happy, lonely, even while i was doing things , food wasn't far away, and even as an adult my greatest joy was to rug up in bed or on the couch and eat chips, or ice cream.,not every day but often enough to be a problem,

I was not a sporty kid at all, running was not my strength. i was content to read a book, or do some tapestry , or drawing, crochet, sewing, anything i could try i gave it my best. Being creative served me well over the years. 

4 years ago mum was talking about folk art and i told her how amazing i thought the art looked and i had wished i was able to paint. It seemed to be the only thing i had not figured out. That was soon to change. We had a few lessons  from a dear friend who did the most amazing works of art, these lessons resulted in a watery scene on a place mat. We were impressed with out novice work. i tried other things and felt good about how my painting was going. I did some zebras, a beach scene , a plane for my son. They started to no longer feel like a challenge to  me. Could i do better?  This was to be the thought that brought forth talents unknown to me until my first try. I was about to try my first portrait. I had no idea at this stage what the heck i was to do. All i knew was a few tips on painting a flower and here i was going to give faces a try. Who would be my guinea pig? My kids of course lol. 
Mum had not tried portraits either and she was on holiday so we couldn't try together. i decided to try my painting and send her pics of it as i went along. Her amazement at my work so far spurred me on and i got it finished, my first ever portrait. took me over 44 hours work. It still has pride of place  right beside me in my office.Being over a meter tall makes it an eye catching peace. 

The more i painted the more i figured out new ways to achieve the looks i wanted and i never gave up . It seemed as soon as i sat down and got in the zone i could get my paintings done in about 6 hours , sometimes a little more if they were tricky. 
I was and still am self conscious about my work, but also amazed at myself too. If that's even possible. 
The worst thing was each time i painted i was also shoving food in my face. The worst offender being chips. i could easily eat a large party sized pack  while painting. 
This was not helping my size in any way. Then my vertigo and anxiety took my painting off me for about a year and a half. i rarely picked up a paint brush. Even now its been a couple of months. I have some fresh ideas though , and with my weight loss , and resulting confidence boost and probably more oxygen, i can feel my creative juices flowing. Either that or i just peed a little.
I will no longer feed my face whilst I'm painting. The only thing between my teeth will be my paintbrush ( i do this sometimes when i change brushes over repeatedly.) 

So its time to share my creations. i look forward to hearing what you think. 
I am making sure that i get myself painting more this year. I think i will give a few celebrities a go, starting with Ellen who will be here in March, I'm hoping to have a Mish portait done by end of round so keep an eye out for that too. 

My whole point with all this jabber is my admission  that food was my bestie  and now with weight loss and gained confidence i shall be whipping a paint brush around again soon. very soon.

Below is my very first portrait. is just over a meter tall. and is of my 5 kids and the two dogs we had at the time. From top left is Kahlyssa, Tatjahna, second row, left , Ewan, and his twins sister Dakotah, 
Then below her is Connor, The very bottom is left, Remus, and little Tango. I use Acrylics.

The next two are old friends of mine , i thought i would try  male faces.

 Then a gift to my phillipino friend for her birthday 

An action shot, i wanted to try clothing painting 

The love of my life below, I made this for him for Christmas, while we were still just Best Friends 

I dabbled in equine 

My first time at doing the back grounds of a painting. this is my doctor, mum (who is also a painter ) and i both painted him from the same reference photo to see how we differ in technique. 

 This gentleman below is an artist in Italy named Leonardo .. he wanted to paint me one day so i said yes ( he uses oils) we got talking about art and how i was just beginning so he challenged me to do a painting of him. 

Bored one day i made a lion for my cousin, who is most proud of my skills 

 This beautiful Woman is my mum , and one of my fave paintings. This was back before she embraced her lovely white hair that she shows today. 

I have a long way to go perfecting technique but im also just happy to keep going the way i am and i refuse to have lessons ... That determination will see me survive 12wbt :)

First weigh in was a bust

On Wednesday was my first official weigh in with 12wbt, i was looking forward to how much weight i surely lost due to the intensity of the workouts.
I got up Wednesday morning and i went for my wee, got nekkid , avoided my reflection in the mirror, bent down to get the scales lined up and thanked the heavens no one could  see me at that moment.
Then i realised that i could possible use the loo again. it seemed i needed to but unfortunately my bowels had a different plan. oh well weigh in time.
I stood on the scales nice and tall, then  thought well its not going to make a difference how i stand  so i just slouched again. (Michelle would hate that). I got my feet evenly spaced apart and looked down. WHAT?????
gained 200 grams. nawwww drat.  i worked my patooty off, new food, major exercise and i gained.
Here's my theory, my lazy assed body , upon feeling the pain  of my workouts went into panic mode, running around screaming , "Hold the weight , hold the weight, gather your kids and your wives, "
I was understandably bummed and after the weigh in.
This weeks food changes has made my body a little helter skelter ( my head too i think , or others would say it always was )
So i have not been very regular in the toileting department. The day after weight in i had been to the toilet twice and i thought i had better do a weight in out of curiosity. voila, i was down 700 grams ,  naughty naughty body. So if i keep being a good girl my next weigh in should be a good one. as of my last official pre-poop Wednesday weigh in i was 98.2.  not a bad job since i started at 103. :)  that's just the beginning.  Tomorrow is super session Saturday and I'm slightly terrified . but i will take it as it comes. If it gets too hard i may have to break it up through the day.

Today was core and flexibility , sadly it was a no go , i got alot of it done but with my back  and neck problems the floor work made me very sick and dizzy, totally disorientated. I need a new plan for Friday's core and flexibility , then i remembered that i got a DVD with the gym ball my boyfriend bought me. i threw it in the player and it had a core and flexibility sections that mum and i will be trying in place of Mish's ones.


Time for me to relax before i go get kids from school. i will  be blogging my first super Saturday session with lots of pics. assuming i haven't died , and that i can still  use my arms.

Day 3 of 12wbt

why,???? why is it that we will eventually become addicted to these workouts and want to feel the burn, what the hell is wrong with us?? i am in day 3 and i couldn't even have my daughter sit on my lap last night my muscles hurt so bad.  i couldn't imagine anyone loving the feeling of a possible heart attack.

I know this is what i need,  and trust me as i am sweating and hurting my head is yelling at me " if you didn't do this to your self you wouldn't be having to work so damned hard, oh now look at you all red and puffy, whatchu gunna do? you gunna cry , huh you gunna cry?"
I roll my eyes and try to ignore the hateful taunts inside my head, after i mentally flip her a bird. Then i continue with my routine. We are not in Kansas anymore Toto.

Today was hard to do. My body was already screaming at me , begging me to stop.  i was not stopping. my vertigo kept trying to throw me off my step as i was doing step ups but i kept at it. Even as i type now i feel like I'm sitting on a boat and trying to type as the waves gently undulate my  laptop in front of me.
i hate this part. i absolutely hate you vertigo!!!!!

Today's workout almost broke me. I remember telling mum " i would be crying right now if  i wasn't so exhausted." I didnt want to keep going, Did i want to keep going?
 There is a  lot of soul searching when you are trying to change so many things about your life. weight loss isn't just about losing kg's. It's a whole person change. mind body and soul. You go through so many emotions, excited, fear, disappointment, envy, regret, pain, depression, anxiety,  and many more. You Grieve things you used to do or have ( junk foods, not exercising not having to think about everything you eat and do)
then you have to train your brain to think  that you want this new life forever that you wont go back to the old habits.  sometimes when you feel so tired you just want to  not move all day. "leave me alone  , i shall lay here till cobwebs form, you shall feed me later  if you like"

i think its so much better to have my mum here exercising with me, not complaining at all, she just reads what we have to do and gives it her best. I guess she thinks I'm whining enough for two of us lol

oh and by the way, somehow we actually did Thursdays workout on Tuesday so we will do Tuesdays workout on Thursday . I don't know how we managed that, i blame the man in the next block who was mowing.

below i will add pics of todays efforts. there  are some exercises that i have do modify for now due to  me needing to build some strength to get them done . mum and i do some of the bench exercises against my table instead, it takes the impact down more so i don't strain my back. as i get stronger i will try these properly but judging by the way they feel they are still doing good for me.

This pic is our mountain climbers, i have to do it this way till I'm stronger.

Mum and i doing skaters, this usually results in some giggles

modified burpees for now, we have to step them out .

the very end.... mum was doing her hip stretchers and yet again, tinkerbell decided her hips needed flexing too

disclaimer- no animals were harmed in the taking of this photo, and mum is in fact alive and well, she just looks rather knackered after our workout.

So i fought another dragoon today and won. tomorrow i shall slay another.

Just a quickie today thanks

As my mum would say "holy snapping duck shit" . what a way to get into the 12wbt program,
(my first Michelle wants to see some sweat workout) I  wasn't always so terribly unfit and I'm really looking forward to things getting a little easier to do, like when my stomach and boobs don't restrict each other when i try to do a reverse crunch. 

Today was our first cardio workout in nigh on 9 years.  Way back when mum and i used to frequent the gym together and do every class we could get our hands on. 
Today  we championed ourselves , even after years of not doing anything physically demanding ,we gave it 100 percent and then a few extra we didn't know we had.  it might have taken us a little while to get through the program because we had to watch demo vids often, but it wont be long and we will know the exercises off by heart and will be able to just get it done.

i have to remind myself  to have my gym ball re inflated, or just possibly get another one. There was a slight incident with it today that resulted in a little bit of wee coming out. oh yes I'm admitting that, in fact i don't think mum was far off it either.  you see what happened was this. picture this Sicily 1923,  or just picture it on a shiny white tiled floor in my house. we had to do some crunches and i knew with mine and mums backs that the gym ball was excellent support for doing crunches.  I said to mum that i would grab her the ball and she could do them first and that i was  also going to show her how she could do reverse crunches on it too as i had done them at the gym. 
I proceeded to  get myself lined up. sitting on the ball and thinking  that the ball was a little bit flat but still usable, i then rolled my self across the ball , to make it  nestle my lower back while i reach for my arm hold behind me, this would be the beginning of my reverse crunch. me on back on ball, arms holding  hand hold behind my head. well this was how it was meant to be, instead , i slid down ball thinking it a little  more wobbly than i remember, i deftly grabbed my hand hold and voila, this is how you do a reverse crunch on a ball, *cue circus music........ i lift my legs and then the wibbly wobbles started, i had lost control of my ball, i was flailing and rocking , about to be thrown by the rabid beast. it was bucking me and throwing me around like a rag doll.  My mother seeing my predicament then reach over , repeating over and over "oh dear"  and trying to rescue my flailing limbs as i was cast aside like a used toy. i ended  with the ball under my side , my legs crossed and wedged between the now jambed ball and a chair. unable to even right myself do to the hysterical laughter. the dog was trying to jump on me, i was trying not to pee my pants any more than i already had :) and mum seeing i was going to be OK, raced off to the toilet. i had lost all my strength after already doing 45 minutes of cardio, so laughing was NOT helping me  to get up off the floor and ball.

we decided it was easier to do these exercises on my bed as the mattress was more supporting of my back. 

 we made it through the workout and talked about our next weeks worth .  
I am hoping that my body can cope with this without the vertigo giving me trouble, i will have my daughter rub my back and shoulders to make sure they are not tight and hopefully i will be able to walk easily tomorrow and have no troubles. Even if i do i will be continuing, and pushing myself  forward, even if that means I'm flat on my back the rest of the day. it will eventually get easier, my body will get used to it. won't it?

below is a picture of us after  our workout, 

loving the shades of red :) mum and i ended up wearing almost the same thing , blue sleevless tops and black shorts lol,  it wasnt planned either . we rock!!

I will keep you posted on my body coping with all this too 

Week 1 of 12wbt is finally here

It's with a big sigh that i start this blog. I'm not sure if its a sigh of relief or worry or just cause I'm so blah( premenstrual).
Today is the day we have all been waiting for, we finally get our menus, shopping lists and workouts.
I have been curious as a cat  but being careful of the killing bit so not too curious. 
Firstly my day started out in less than ordinary ways. Kids not cooperating, dog  going missing( turns out she was hiding from all the noise *rolls eyes "i wish") 
There was certainly alot of mutiny,  kids fighting, things and dogs missing , kids crying cause dogs missing. I was ready to roll up in a ball and suck my thumb , day over,  i have had enough. Teenager didn't want to go to school, thinks she ready to leave school and live off air i assume, not on my watch missy.  Her punishment for saying such rot? She got to take my before pictures for me . Oh yes I'm evil!!! 
Now before pictures are not an easy thing for me to pose for. I mean damn, my kids have seen me naked before, (poor babies) and i haven't really cared , but do you think i could pose for a fatty boombah pic of me in my undies and bra so i could see what damage i had to repair, welllllll this wasn't fun. I was rather embarrassed as the little ones were wandering around the house and the only place to get a plain background was in the hallway in front of the toilet door. 
I gave Tatjahna my phone,  raced over to the door, stripped of my outer clothing in a not too  easy manner as i still kept my shoes on. I think it made me feel less naked if i had my feet covered.I was madly praying that Damian didn't pop in to say G'Day otherwise i would be busted. I haven't let him see me naked or in my underwear. 

Tatjahna lines the pic up, then i realise , what the hell do i do with my face?????/
Do i smile? no wait that will make it look like I'm proud of how i look. if i scowl it will just look silly, i try to keep a neutral face but look more like the incredible hulk just as hes about to turn. *sigh 
She then says, " you don't look that bad mum", "turn sideways and get one like that too" 
ugh , OK OK , i turn sideways , she takes the pic. I dress faster than  a  pair of lovers almost discovered by their boss. 

I get all set to upload a pic when i see the newspaper still on the table "shit" 
"Tatjahna we to do it again"
This time i undress, much to the amusement of my smaller kids, i get the newspaper ready and Dakotah, (8) walks past looks me up and down and says" oh mum what happened to your stomach?" Gee thanks kid. 
I rather hastily blab out something along the lines of " you are what happened to this stomach, you kids and bad food and that's what will happen if you kids don't eat right and blabh blah "  Kids get bored and move onto getting ready for school.
Phew, back to pic taking, i resume my previous position , this time with a paper in my hand.  
Get dressed again and get ready to upload the pic.( first having to crop out the background which includes my 6 year old son brushing his teeth while staring really close to the mirror. 

i upload pic onto my computer ready for its eventual loading into cyberspace. I have a brief look at it and can only feel disgust.. I'm more excited to see what the menu has in store for me and my exercise plan. They are not showing yet so i get myself set to do measurements. No tape measure.!!!!

I will need to buy one.  ( not often this happens, as I'm a seamstress by hobby and rarely have i not got a tape measure. ) 

I take the twins to school( it takes some convincing to get them into the car) ( rather loud convincing i think as the people in the bus stop across the road were looking at me rather aghast) oops
 the kids are crying and calling out to the dog, I'm trying to get my teen into the car after her  5th failed attempt to get me to leave her home. 

I reassure the kids that Tinkerbell will be fine and i will find her as soon as i drop them off at school.
I drop the twins off and then have to head home for Connors school bag that has been forgotten in the fray. 
We head back, still no dog,  get his bag and go back to the same school i dropped the twins at. Next i take Tatjahna, more arguing, more drama, i drop her off with a short sharp barking session as mothers sometimes do when faced with defiant teens and i  drive off like my life depends on it. Well my sanity did. 

I take a deep breathe and head for the shops for my batteries and my measuring tape. 
Oddly enough these two items are right beside each other in the aisle. 
choosing batteries sometimes makes me feel like I'm being naughty,  I don't know why but every time I'm caught standing and staring at batteries it feels like i have been caught in a chemist buying condoms. 
"mmmhmm , shes buying batteries huh. i see, oh and look , a tape measure,  oh definitely something ain't right girlfriend"
I hastily pay for my purchase after i manage to shake of the elderly gentlemen that wanted to   have a  chin wag about his D size batteries and the floods, so i patiently chat with him then wish him a good day and  scoot out of there. 

OK now i have what i need to measure myself and to  get my wii fit board up and running again so i can have a play. 

I watch Mish's video on the correct ways to measure and get to it.. 
Arms, 4 fingers above the elbow crease, OK got it . I cannot deftly grab the tape the way she does with one hand, instead I'm like a dog chasing its tail as i keeping trying to grab the other end with one hand and still keep the  same hand holding the end down. I finally  figure it out and record the numbers, so far so good. 
Next? Chest, straight across the nipples she says. hmmmm , I'm thinking she wants this with a bra on cause right now my nipples look like they have had a nasty disagreement and are not talking to each other , in fact they cannot even stand looking at each other so they are facing opposite ways and trying to race each other to my belly button. Bra on and measurements done finally. 

Now we move to the waist.. use belly button as a guide 
* puts hand up" but miss what if your belly button doesn't actually sit where they are supposed to sit,?" i mean its on my stomach but my used to be belly button , that is  now cavernous  hole,  is sadly dropped a lot lower so I'm going to have to measure where i should actually be if that's OK ?
My other issue here is , do i take the measurements from the tape  and then add the extra couple of centimetres of fat folds that are trying to envelope the tape measure right now? There seems to be a groove that the tape has nestled in around my waist but I'm going to assume that's the place to be.

The widest part of the hips is  tricky too, do i go over my tummy flap that hangs a bit down and is in the way of a perfect hip measurement? Or do i tuck the tape measure up under it and go for a true measurement? 
I will do my best to miss the tummy bit and try for hips , but i make note of how i did it so i can do the same measurements next time. 
Then last but not least its my thighs, i didn't have too much trouble here , found the biggest part and measured it on both legs. cant wait to see those numbers get smaller. 

So here is where i am at, as of the 7Th oh February 2013,  10am
Arm left 34cm
Arm right 36cm
Chest 120cm 
waist 107cm 
Hips 130cm 
Thigh right 69cm
Thigh left 70cm 

That's a wholllle lot of woman right there i must say. 
I check and see that the menu etc are available and with a quick perusal i save then to  my usb so i can print them on the way to get kids and i can put them in my special 12wbt folder . 

I grab my permanent marker, and add some affirmations from my fellow 12wbters onto my fridge , 

I have to reassure the kids that only i am allowed to write on my fridge, that they can read it and that is all .
when i want to i can wipe it all off with metho(i hope)

i am now getting the things ready for my week ahead, cleaning will be done, wiifit board ready,   my energy levels will need a kick in the ass though, i didn't workout yesterday  due to extreme tiredness, a pathetic excuse but i was so exhausted i fell asleep sitting in my chair while watching some inspirational clips from Ellen.  My mum will be my trainer and exercise buddy so i have told her , Sunday is your last day woman, then its hard workers are us. 

I will still keep filling everyone in on my journey, especially how i am coping with all the exercise and my vertigo, the past few days  have been terrible for dizziness and agitation so i am hoping it simmers down soon. 
Its time for me to have a hot mug of Activite then I'm going to get my wiifit happening. 

Hope the other 12wbters are enjoying their recipes etc, my only problems, i hate olives, icky poo yuk, 
I also cannot stand avocado so i need to figure out what i can have instead of it, 
 bon appetite and good luck with your workouts.