"Mr Weston, that's remarkable!", said the Doctor.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. There has never been a time when I have left the Doctors feeling so healthy. All the way there I was thinking to myself 'I wonder if my cholesterol has come down? If it hasn't then I'm going to have to make even more changes cause I'm not going to take a tablet, I'll tell him what to do with his bloody tablet!'

My Doctor went on to say, "This is the reason I got into medicine in the first place, it's about prevention. Too many patients come in with their hand out expecting drugs to fix their problem and then they go back to their unhealthy way of life, this is rather refreshing Mr Weston." He had a smile on his face too.


My Cholesterol is now 4.4 - down from 6.4. Liver Function, Kidney Function, Blood Sugar are all normal and my Blood Pressure is perfect. What a huge relief! It's the best news I've had in a long time.
I'm going back to have it all tested again in 3 months. If all the levels stay the same, or, better still, improve, then I'll know I'm on the right track. In June I'm going to be 45. Apparently at 45 Australian males are considered half way through their lives and it's recommended that they have a Half Life Test, a Major Service so to speak. My Doctor says that if I continue on this path that he has no doubt that I'll live to be 90. Stuff that! I'm planning on living to be at least 100.


Current weight ~ 89kgs. A total loss of 10.4kgs.  Woo Hoo!


Wanna know a secret?  It's a bit strange........  now when I look at myself I see fat. Figure that one out! At my biggest (137kgs) I used to look in the mirror and my 'self talk' would say 'yeah, I'm a little over weight, I could lose a couple of kilos, I'm not as big as some guys.' The only person I was kidding was my self. I was a big, fat, unhealthy man in denial!

This is 10 Kgs of Butter (FAT) with a 20 cent coin,
in the last 2.5 years I have lost over 4 times this

89 Kgs
New Summer Wardrobe will
be part of my reward.

125 kgs
Hope this doesn't offend you
as much as it offends me!

Holding 10 kgs of FAT

Next week will be my last Blog for the year. I'm hoping to lose at least another 2 kgs before I go away for my Christmas Holiday. I will report my progress, the final amount we have managed to raise for the Cancer Council of WA and my Thank you to my support team.

Clint.

10.2Kg DOWN ~ 1 WEEK TO GO !

If you'd asked me 4 weeks ago how I was feeling about my challenge you probably would've been able to tell by the look on my face. I was quite honestly thinking that there was no way I was going to achieve my goal, I was so down about the whole thing, feeling a little starved to tell the truth. I now know that I was being very negative. The power of the mind is an amazing thing, my dark 'self talk' was weighing me down. Extreme to say I realise but my negativeness was making me feel like life isn't worth living. How pathetic is that? Those people that are able to go on a weight loss / fitness regime and achieve their goal all by themselves are amazingly strong individuals indeed, I take my hat off to them. I am definitely not one of 'em... Without the help of my Trainers David & Craig I would still be blabbing on about losing weight this time next year. What they have helped me with goes far, far beyond just an exercise routine. The motivation, encouragement, diet advice & positive fun environment they create is another big part of what keeps me going. Don't think for a second that it's easy, it's not, it's bloody hard work, seriously hard work - BUT IT PAYS SERIOUSLY BIG REWARDS! Call me a sadist but I'm starting to love it. And to think that after I'd paid for my first month I was actually going to quit cause I thought it was boring and not for me. Thank goodness that It didn't take me long to realise that the guys were actually getting me to do exercises to develop the right technique, build strength, stability & correct form. Laying solid foundations, so to speak, for the more complex routines that I'm now doing & enjoying so much. It makes sense for them to take their time initially with a new client, they observe and document their flexibility, strengths, weeknesses, core stability, mind set and goals before they custom design a routine. They only have your health, safety and correct development in mind.

Guess what the look on my face today would tell you?    :)

I feel so good I'm jumping out of my skin. I'm down to 89.2kgs. I'm in the 80's and I haven't been here since I was in my twenties. Holy Crap I feel good. David told me to visualise 89 on the digital scale and I did. I could see it so clearly in my mind and now it's come true. There is that 'power of the mind' do'in it's thing again. Freak'in amazing stuff... Now I'm visualising 85 and I can see that clearly too.

One more week to go and that's the completion of this challenge. I've decided that I'm going to keep this blog active so I can report my ongoing progress. Writing this every week has actually helped. I read back a little today and it made me feel good to see where I came from ~ now I can see where I'm going just that little bit clearer... Love life and it'll love you back...

85kg here I come...

Clint.

I Can Do Anything!

SEPTEMBER 2010

Wed   1    99.4kg   
Wed   8    98          1.4kg loss
Wed  15   96.9       1.1
Wed  22   95.3       1.6
Wed  29   95.3       Nil

OCTOBER 2010

Wed   6    95.2kg   100gm
Wed   13  94.4       800gm
Wed   20  95.4       1kg GAIN
Wed   27  94.6       800gm

NOVEMBER 2010

Wed   3    93.6kg   1kg
Wed   10  92.5       1.1
Wed   17  90.6       1.9

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE:  8.8kgs

1.2kgs and two more weigh-ins to go.

There were tears of happiness this week, the hard work is definitely paying off. I can fit into my new jeans and do them up, but not comfortably. I must be 89.4 by Wed Dec 1 2010 to achieve my goal and I am damm well gonna do it! HOWEVER, I have now set my sights on being 85kgs by Christmas. I had a bit of a fright this week in the realisation that this challenge is coming to an end and I thought 'shit, what's going to hold me accountable now.' My scare was that when I finish I may just relax a little and the weight will creep back on - NOT GONNA HAPPEN BABY.....!

I'm going to allow myself a reward at the end of this, bathe in the glory for a second, so to speak, and then reset my goals.

I haven't been this weight since I was in my 20's and I can definitely confirm that 'nothing tastes as good as what skinny feels.'

Clint.

HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!

I can't believe it, I'm 92.5kgs. What a feeling! I'm so close now to being under 90kgs that I can almost taste it. Don't worry, you'll know when I get there cause you'll hear me hooting from where ever you are... A loss of 1.1kgs this week and a total thus far of 6.9kgs. That's an average of 690gms each week since the beginning of this Spring Challenge. 3 more weigh-ins to go and 3.1kgs to lose to achieve my goal so that means I now need to lose just over a kilo a week. TIME TO STEP UP I'D SAY !!

On another note, that also means that it's only 3 weeks to Summer - YAY, I love Summer!

This week I have felt a lot more relaxed with my program, the negative voices I mentioned last week have gone. Even though I still have the same daily pressures my mind set has changed. I'm being gentle with myself and feeling lighter and happier.

CANCER COUNCIL DONATION UPDATE - To date I have 35 Sponsors with donations totalling $750. As you know Cafe Mulberries is matching ALL funds raised so that means we have $1500 to hand over to the Cancer Council but I'm sure we can still do better. Thank you so much to all my loyal customers and beautiful friends for your support and kind words of encouragement. It is without doubt helping to keep me focused.

Clint.

The Road Block Has Cleared!

This is hard! Really, really, bloody hard work! Lately I have been a little negative, bashing myself up, feeling hungry, feeling pressured and thinking to myself that "I'm not gonna achieve this"

THANK GOD FOR LIFESTYLE IMPROVERS! - the guys have patiently listened to all my issues and systematically defused each one. Giving me diet advice, supporting me with extra Body Shock Training, coaching me through the pain barriers and helping me realise again just how important this is to 'me' - keeping me focused and charged. I go to Training 3 times a week and for the last 2 weeks Craig has picked me up from work and driven me to Jacobs Ladder for Body Shock Training in his own time. IN HIS OWN TIME! WOW! If one of the guys don't pop into the Cafe (we're not far from them) to have a coffee and check on my progress then I usually get a daily call or sms with some words of encouragement. I have joined several gyms in my time but none have ever given me the support that Lifestyle Improvers  do. Their service is incomparable.

CURRENT WEIGHT - 93.6kgs. A loss of 800gms and a total weight loss of 5.8kgs. It's not easy but, as they say, if it was then everybody would be doing it. I feel really good.

4 more weigh-ins to go. 4 more kilos to lose. Wednesday December 1st will see the completion of this challenge but not the finish of my weight loss or fitness goal. I will get to my ideal weight, apparently around 82kgs, but I can never see my life now without Training. I am by no means turning into a gym junkie or fanatic and never will. All I know is how good Training makes me feel and how much more life I have because of it. I strongly urge everyone to make fitness their friend, so get off your arse and invest in yourself!

Many thanks to all my sponsors and to those who have donated and not wanted to leave me their details, your support is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Clint.

Shock Horror!

It's taken me a few extra days to write this cause I've done the unthinkable - - - PUT ON WEIGHT, and I was hoping that if I left it a few days I may be able to cover it up a little by loosing it again and writing about it later. But, as promised at the start, I am keeping it real so here I am to 'fess up.' I weighed in as usual last Wednesday and to my dismay I had put on a kilo. Current weight 95.4kgs - (sigh) Now I feel like I'm 2 weeks behind and the pressure is on.

How did this happen? I went away for a few days down south to catch up with family and I ate and drank too much. At the risk of sounding like a real lush I probably drank more than I ate and now I'm paying the price. We went out for a family dinner and I had Lemon Meringue Pie. You know the ones that sit tall and look awesome in those cafe display cabinets, they always look better than they taste, always, and I know this. I actually know this and I still had it. I also went out to Breakfast twice and, although I didn't have any carbs, it was still more than I'd usually eat. Add to this that I missed out on one days Training and was basically inactive most of the time I was there and it's pretty easy to work out where I stuffed it all up.

As I write this I'm still 1kg up and it's two days till my next weigh-in.

David & Craig have been so supportive helping me bring it all into perspective and getting my balance back. This week I'm getting an additional Training session in with Craig (here comes that "Body Shock") We're off to do Jacobs Ladder tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. Craig runs up and down it several times every week and I haven't even walked up it once yet so this is going to be interesting (for the want of another word....)

I haven't been sleeping that well the last few days, I keep waking in the middle of the night and find it near impossible to get back to sleep. By the time I do it seems like the alarm goes off. Weight management is not all about nutrition and Training, apparently sleep, down time and rest are all vitally important. David is teaching me the importance of all of this but I still have so much to learn. Lifestyle Improvers are the full package, I honestly can't thank them enough.

So with that in mind I'm off to bed.

Clint

6 Weeks Through ~ 5 Kilos Lost ~ 7 Weeks To Go!

800gms - not as much as I was hoping for but when you weigh out that much butter for a recipe, and I do regularly, it's a whole lot of fat and I'm bloody glad that I'm not carrying it around. Current weight 94.4kgs.

Some people I know have told me that they have tried to post a comment on my Blog and, for some reason, they haven't been able to. I'm sorry but I have no idea why it's not working. If you have also tried with no luck then I apologise. I am waiting on an answer back from eBlogger, apparently many Blog users are experiencing this problem.

I'm half way to my current goal and my focus is stronger than ever. In the past I'd always been able to 'eat for eating sake' , my stomach had no memory. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've actually never known the true feeling of hunger, if something was yummy and available I'd pop it into my mouth and gobble it down without a second thought no matter what the time of day. I must have thought it but food was not my friend. What kind of food you ask? Well, being a Chef, some would probably say I'm a bit 'up myself' when it comes to food and perhaps their right. I guess it comes from being around quality ingredients most of my life.You would never find me in a Fast Food Chain, any of them ~ HJ's, Maccas, KFC - I'd look down my nose in disgust at the suggestion of giving any of it gut room. I never have soft drink either, just the thought of sweet fizzy drinks makes my teeth hurt. Life is just too short to eat shit! However, having said that, really good quality Fish & Chips, that's another story. I got fat eating too much good food, really good food - just far too much of it. Caralamised Pork Belly, Garlic Barbecued Seafood, Roasts, Creamy Potato Bake, Chocolate and Homemade Cheesecake...Mmmmmm..! I even made those around me fat, my partner, my friends, family and my dogs. I'd entertain several times a week and cook so much food that my guests would have take home packs. I also couldn't bare to throw anything away, I will not tolerate waste so everything had to be eaten. When you cook for up to 200 people a day it's hard to come home and cook for two. Eat, Eat, Eat - it's the way I loved everyone. Gosh! It must have cost me a fortune to make my health suffer so much.

Now that I'm seeing results again I'm on a roll and back in the 'weight loss zone' , don't even try to tempt me!


Clint.