Drum roll please...
In 8 weeks on KSFL I have lost a total of 16lbs and 21". And given I'm a full disclosure kind of gal and 21" doesn't mean a lot unless you understand what exactly is being measured, this is how that inch loss breaks down:
Chest: 3.5"
Waist: 6"
Hips: 4.5"
Thighs: 2" from each
Upper Arms: 1.5" from each
And how does that look? Take a peek:
Let me just bring that into sharper focus for you. This is what 8 weeks on KSFL can do:
Not only have a dropped more than a dress size (and several bra sizes, but let's not go there) I am also fitter than I have been in years. I can run around after the kids as much as I want to. I can do heavy work in the garden with ease. I no longer hesitate for a second when asked if I'd like to go for a long walk, play chase, or dance the night away. I can honestly say that I am a different woman.
I know I still have a way to go. There are rolls on these photos that I'd like to see gone. There's a load of clothes another dress size down in the wardrobe that I fully intend to get into again and believe it or not according to my BMI I am still clinically obese. I only have two pounds to lose to leave that behind but it's a line I very much want to cross. It has to be said though that anyone - even me with my skewed personal perceptions of my own body - looking at these photos from this morning wouldn't see an obese person. Not skinny, sure, but obese? With a flat tummy? Come on! It just goes to show what a flawed measurement BMI really is. It makes me wish that I'd been monitoring my body composition throughout this process because I've had several weeks where the weight loss has been painfully slow, if there's been a loss at all. I've known that it's been because I've been building muscle and I've even been able to see that, but checking my body fat percentages along the way might have given me more of a boost when I needed it.
So, where from here? I started my KSFL journey with the thought that I would do it for 12 weeks. There were photos out there of others who had completely transformed their bodies in that time and I was willing to give it that. Sure enough, I'm signed up for another 4 weeks and we'll see where I get to then, but there's more to it now than just counting down the weeks.
When I signed up and was told that really, these were changes for life I have to admit I was a little skeptical; not that these couldn't be permanent life changes for some people but that they would be for me. It was such a radical shift from what I was used to and from the diets I'd tried before. I just couldn't see how a permanent change would be practical. It took a while to settle into it but after a few weeks it was getting easier and then before I knew it, it had become quite normal. Now it's not only normal, it's infinitely preferable. Now I have actually experienced what it's like to have that chocolate binge on a clean system: glorious in the moment, slightly sickly soon afterwards and then significantly mood altering and craving inducing over the next 48 hours, I can hear what my body is telling me. I'm pretty confident that chocolate binges will always be something that I indulge in every now and again, but doing so knowing what I'm doing, why I'm doing it and taking responsibility for the consequences just feels so much more honest and healthy.
I can now appreciate that no matter how well informed I was about nutrition beforehand it was almost impossible to make the right choices because I was being so strongly influenced by my hormones and my addictions to certain foods. I have never classed myself as an addiction-prone person. I've never been a smoker or a heavy drinker, though I have smoked on ocassion and drunk socially. I've never craved either or felt like I wasn't in control of my desires for such things. But sugar? Boy oh boy was I a sugar addict! I still am, because it's the one thing I do still yearn for quite regularly. When I do have it, the cravings come back stronger and I could oh, so easily lose myself in the sweetie aisle, never to return. But now I know what's going on. That's been the real shift for me, not just learning about the most up-to-date ideas about healthy eating but learning about myself, my own body, and my own mind. There's an honesty to my diet and lifestyle choices that I haven't had before, and I like it. I'm now coming to terms with the fact that I might just be a long-term convert.
So, why haven't I been writing here so much? Well, because life has taken over again. I'm busy running my business, raising my kids, spending time with my partner, volunteering and socialising - and working out! I don't need to keep coming up with new meal ideas because I already have plenty and I'm easily able to make things up on the spot knowing that I'll only be using KSFL-friendly ingredients - because that's all I want. There's no working things out any more, no trying to find ways to emulate non-KSFL dishes because there's no need to. I'm happy with what I put on my plate and if it doesn't look quite like what someoone else might put on theirs then I don't give two hoots.
The way I exercise has evolved too. Doing half hour workouts every night wasn't really sustainable even though we were enjoying it and given our busy lives, sometimes the ten minute ones were tricky to fit in as well. For the last few weeks I've done a half hour - or longer - workout 3 or 4 times a week. Two of those are usually in classes with Rachel (KSFL and bootcamp - though I think I might give her circuit class a go sometime soon too), the others are at home. This feels sustainable and my fitness levels are still improving so I'd say it's working well enough for me. It also means I feel less guilty when we have a crazy weekend full of guests and don't get to work out for two days on the trot.
So it's happened. That thing that was talked about at the start. KSFL has become my lifestyle, not in some huge conversion, sing it from the rooftops kind of way, but it just landed, knocked on the front door, came into my house and stayed. Look what a huge difference it's made! It's welcome here. Very welcome indeed.
