When I started this challenge I knew I was in for a total life upheaval and was expecting myself to feel absolutely miserable for a very

When I started this challenge I knew I was in for a total life upheaval and was expecting myself to feel absolutely miserable for a very slow 12 weeks. I’ve never been one to enjoy exercise and have always struggled to keep to any form of good nutrition. The thing that has surprised me the past 5 weeks is how much I’ve enjoyed this change and how fast it’s going! I’ve even being using the F word a lot – When people have asked me how I’m finding it, I’ve been describing this challenge as fun (ooh.. you thought I meant the other F word there, didn’t you?! Cheeky!). The crazy thing is that I’m not just saying it’s fun to make polite conversation, I’m genuinely enjoying it! Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would enjoy this as much as I am. It’s definitely very challenging and there are days where it feels incredibly difficult. Some days I really struggle with trying to push myself harder in the training and dealing with cravings for foods that aren’t a part of my nutrition plan. On days like these it’s really hard to keep my mind focused and self control over my cravings. I haven’t found any easy way of controlling this, all I can do is push through it and try and keep my mind focused on my goal.

This week has been the start of a new nutrition plan for me and I’ve been enjoying the new meals so much. I’ve found that this week has gone so much faster since changing up the meals and flavours. It’s funny how excited you can get when you’re given some new flavours after not having them for four weeks! I’m finding that I’m looking forward to my meals a lot more now and appreciate them a lot more!

It’s funny, as I’m getting closer to the half way point in this challenge I realise how fast the weeks are flying by and I feel a little bit sad at the thought of it being over. Part of me is a little bit nervous about what will happen after the challenge finishes, it’s a whole new way of living and I want to do it right. I’m looking forward to having more time to spend with my family (my poor husband has been so supportive and patient through this, we’ve been ships in the night lately and he’s been helping me so much with housework and cleaning up my post-food prep mess) but I want to make sure that I’m still training as much as I can and looking after my nutrition after the 12 weeks are over. The other part of me wants to hold onto the remaining weeks as long as I can because I’m having so much fun I don’t want it to finish!

This week I got pushed further and got to try something that I never expected I would be able to do. I did some clean and presses in the HIIT training which was the most amazing feeling. I struggled at first with my technique – part of me was staring at the barbell thinking ‘You want me to do WHAT?!’ – and my arms were a little shaky, but once I got that barbell over my head and pushed it up I was absolutely blown away that I was capable of doing that! The next exercise I had it on the back of my neck and was squatting with it which was really challenging (and I needed help getting the bar off me) but it felt really great to be trying something new and different.

I’m starting to notice the change in my body, it feels like my shape is slowly starting to change and I feel like I’m getting my figure back bit by bit. I feel so much more flexible and agile (compared to what I was like – I’m still clumsy and wobbly most of the time!) and I’ve noticed that my clothes aren’t as tight as they were a few weeks ago. It’s little differences like this that really motivates me to keep going and makes all the hard work worth it!

Things I have learnt this week:

• I can set five alarms and still sleep in

• Sleeping in and missing a group training session means that Jason will get revenge and push you harder and faster on your own in a make up session.* It’s incredibly satisfying to see your hard work paying off and feels like a little reward at the end of a long week.

  Kylie x