My Gasoline Rainbow

Well it's been a few weeks since my last blog and of course the new medication for my underactive thyroid and as per usual some upsets to my routine with weather and family visiting. Last week I didn't do any training at all with Brendan, but still managed to go walking every day including a long 2 hour walk today along the beach which was fantastic considering the weather has kept me inside for the majority of the past week. My last training session with Brendan was Tuesday of last week was one of the hardest so far and in the gym, still focusing on strength training. I definitely enjoy working my legs, and as you can see from the below pic, results are starting to show and i'm rocking i'm killer pins - even if i do say so myself - so it's been really encouraging to finally start to see some results, albeit slow. My biggest challenge, which i'm fully aware of is still my motivation. The irony is, i tell myself i'm dedicated to do this, i bust ...

For those of you that are regular readers of My Gasoline Rainbow, over the past month you may have noticed the missing weekly blogs about my body make over challenge with Brendan Junge from In Motion Health. After 6 weeks of training and healthy eating, I started to get quite concerned as to my slow progress with weight loss, so decided to head to my GP for a check up... After some blood tests, he discovered that my liver wasn't functioning properly due to medications that I was taking and that I had an underactive thyroid - so basicially my body was prohibiting myself from losing weight - great news lol. As a result, I was instructed to reduce my intensity of my "challenge" and take a break to allow my new treatment (liver and thyroid) to take hold which will be about 2-3 months. In the meantime, Brendan has now re-structured my training from focusing on primarily cardio to a weight based plan to help me put on a bit of lean muscle to assist in boost...

  As week 6 started and my frustration levels kicking my motivation levels into overdrive, at the suggestion of my mum (who has just lost 16kg herself - high 5 mumsie), knowing what I'm like told me to draw up a meal plan to coincide with my new alarm system (which is still working really well). Now I've never really been the best cook, although I love food and enjoy cooking, when you're a single person and you live alone as I am and have been for the majority of my adult life - with the exception of a couple of delicious signature dishes - I learnt to live on and enjoy the tastiness of the Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers microwave dinners. So I was determined to make this first menu plan entirely based on food I had to prepare myself otherwise I was never going to learn!! So based on my 5000kj daily intake schedule given to me by my fabulous trainer Brendan I trolled the internet looked for easy meal and snack ideas that were within my realm of cooking ability ...

Week 5 has been and gone with a real focus on my diet. The alarms for my food have been working really well and am now eating 5 times a day as opposed to maybe twice a day like I was before. I was worried the alarms going off would be a little annoying but surprisingly has become more routine than anything else now and gives me a break from work which is always good when you're doing long hours. This week, although there has only been a slight decrease in weight loss I've been feeling incredibly frustrated... I'm a very results driven person and as I've been working very hard especially in the diet area and with the training Brendan has been giving me I was expecting to see massive changes with my weight loss and measurements (knowing my body reacts very quickly to change) and sadly that hasn't happened. However, on Friday night I went out to dinner with a friend and decided to try on my "skinny jeans" that I haven't been able to fit into for years...

It's the end of my first month of training with Brendan Junge from In Motion Health + Fitness and I feel like the penny has dropped. Exercise has never been something that I've enjoyed or really looked forward to which is part of the reason why I've struggled with my weight over the years. I guess I was always "trying too hard", joining gyms and never going, starting diets and never sticking to them.. all because I was doing it for the wrong reasons. Never really LEARNING or UNDERSTANDING what I was doing. Our first session, we did weights which is something I've never really done before. Brendan taught me how to do a Dead Lift,  Front Squat, Clean and Power Press. I felt like Arnie in Pumping Iron!!! (Minus the hundred's of kg of weights of course lol) Our second session consisted of interval sessions of boxing and step ups on a chair bench.  Started off with 10 left, 10 right, boxing, 15 left, 15 right, boxing, then in intervals of 5 up to 25.  ...

Warming up with whirlybirds   Last two training sessions of Week 3 and we got into boxing and a bit of weight training. Again the weather was a bit average so utilized the fabulous stairs I have in my complex - i'm beginning to hate those damn stairs - but i'm sure i'm going to have killer thighs and a great ass lol. Brendan going through the weight exercises with me Overhead extensions Not a bad view So the training has been a much easier adjustment now that I've finished week 3. With the mixing of boxing, walking, stair climbing and weight training the variety I've found really enjoyable without too much pain or discomfort and for the first time EVER I'm actually finding myself enjoying it - SHOCK HORROR!!! However, on the food front.... I'm still struggling to stay within my daily intake. Mainly because I am still having difficulties making time for myself, i.e. making time to go grocery shopping, planning my meals around my wo...

3 x medicine balls, 4 x flights of stairs Up she goes lol Yes, i'm actually having fun :) Today was the beginning of week 3 of my body make over challenge and after a rocky week 2 I was ready to get straight back into it with Brendan from In Motion Health + Fitness. After making some MASSIVE changes to my lifestyle during week 1 including my diet and exercise my body didn't seem to react overly well and left me with some excruciating migraines so the exercise took a bit of a backseat until I was able to get things back under control. Brendan had me walking up and down 4 flights of stairs with 3 different weights of medicine balls.  Up one flight, drop the ball, back down again, up again with another ball, back down again and so on with all three balls and with all 4 flights. Then the same and with squats but with each level add a squat... oh it was fun times lol. I even had my own cheer squad with my cat Neo watching from the top landing at the screen door g...

One of the amazing things about living on the Gold Coast is having the water right across the road, it also means that there is no excuse for having an amazing view when exercising... So on our third session yesterday Brendan and I did interval training along the beautiful broadwater near my house as we talked about how things have been going as we approach the end of my first week with him. It's been a massive change to my lifestyle already, integrating exercise and a new healthy eating plan limiting my kilojoule intake but I can feel the differences already, both positive and negative... I've been sleeping better, I'm eating more food which is great, and eating healthier however, due to the fact I've cut out a lot of sugar I've been getting more headaches which hasn't been much fun but the detoxification is a mild sacrifice in the long run. And I can proudly say that it's not quite been 1 week and I've already lost some weight and I'm still...

Today was my second training session with Brendan from In Motion Health + Fitness  and we went through what my daily energy consumption needs to be to get to my goal weight based on eating a minimum of 5 times a day or up to 7 times a day including 3 and 5 meals and 2 and 4 snacks. He was very thorough giving me a breakdown of calories/kj per meal/snack with a weight loss goal of 1kg per week. So now, time to head off to to the supermarket with my profile in hand - who would of thought i'd be one of "those people" checking the nutritional information! I woke up with quite a severe headache this morning (stress), so after going through the above, we still went for a very brisk walk along the broadwater as part of my training. After being relatively sedentary for so long,I think he appreciates the fact that forcing me to go too hard too soon is not going to do anyone any favours. The walk in the sun did me good and after a shower, my headache had subsided enough for...

http://www.inmotionfitness.com.au/ For those of you that read my blog, you'll be aware of the difficulties I experienced surrounding my first attempt at my body make over challenge. For those of you that are new to My Gasoline Rainbow.... there's no need to go into the details, needless to say that i'm very excited to announce that I now have a new Personal Trainer in the name of Brendan Junge from In Motion Health + Fitness. Brendan - my second chance Brendan contacted me after a mutual friend, also a PT who works for him, mentioned my situation. After a general introduction and an interest in taking on the role of my PT we agreed to meet up. His persistence was impressive, regular contact to check my availability to co-ordinate a time to meet that was convenient with me. However with the chaos of Gold Coast Fashion Week and my broken toe we held off and had our first meeting this Monday just gone. To add even more impression and flexibility Brendan came up to ...

It is with much surprise, sadness and contemplation that I write this blog post... I don't live in a world of fairy floss and unicorns but I have to say that my life is fairly blessed.  I laugh every day, I love my home and my beautiful cat and best mate Neo. I have a wonderful and talented assistant who is just as passionate about my business as I am and makes life so much easier. My family is amazing and I have some wonderful friends. I get to review beauty products, restaurants and bars, interview celebrities and do cool activities like feed tigers and flying trapeze.  I love what I do and I love my life, so at the beginning of the year when I made the decision to lose the excess weight I'd gained as a result of the medication I take due to a health condition I have (and will continue to have to take for the rest of my life) it was a big step. I'd already lost a decent amount on my  own, I'd quit smoking on my own - which is a massive feat in itself, so the nex...

So yesterday I started my first day of my body make over with my new fantastic trainer Daniel Carruthers. Just to give you a little bit background on Daniel, he has a Bachelor of Business in Sports Management so has the "technical" qualifications and on top of that, he is a World Champion Athlete as well as a Level 1 Surf Coach, so I knew I was in totally good hands! Daniel Carruthers - my trainer and owner of Boss Training In the lead up to our start date, Daniel and I met up to discuss my needs and to have a chat about my history, my food habits, my laziness, and general health and well being. I figured if I wasn't completely honest with him about my lifestyle (including my coca cola addiction) there was no way he was going to be able to assist me in getting me to my dream body. The great thing about Daniel, was his compassion and understanding... as a female and with a pre-existing health condition, it gave me peace of mind knowing he was going to really look...