Tecrin gets fit: one year in

Okay, so it's one year and a bit. Whoops!

One year ago, on the 17th of June 2012, I made a Big Decision. I had made a few before in the previous year: I made the Big Decision to quit my job at the bookshop, I made the Big Decision to start freelancing as a translator, and on the 17th of June 2012, I made another Big Decision. I don't even quite know what brought it on, but what I do know is that on the evening of that day in June, I had had enough of what I was doing with my life and needed a big change that I had complete and utter control over, unlike my work Decisions: I decided to get fit!

Don't mind my grumpface. It was cold!

In 2010, I was probably at the very height of my weight. I don't know how much I weighed at this point, but I remember at one point having the scales tip over 115 kg. They may have even gone up past that! And I looked the part, too. Very unhappy with myself, in June 2011, I signed up at the local gym, got a summer subscription and spent at least two days at the gym each week. That may not sound like a lot, but it was definitely a step up from the zero exercise I was getting at that point. I got a simple workout routine assigned to me by a trainer, and slowly went from pushing myself out the door to actually looking forward to working out. It wasn't often that I felt like that, mind, but it happened from time to time.

Awful picture is awful. Jeesh, Stef, who taught you how to dress, monkeys?!

A year had past, and despite working out at least twice a week and trying my hardest at the gym, I couldn't see a lick of difference. This is me in June 2012, days after I made the Big Decision, at my official starting weight of 112,5 kg. I upped my gym time to 3 times a week, and started to really pay attention to what I was eating. As it turned out (and as I already knew but didn't have the willpower to change) I was eating a bucketload of crap. Unhealthy, fat, sugary muck, mostly. Days could go by without me eating a single piece of fruit or vegetable. I drank almost nothing but sugary drinks, juices, lemonades, sodas. I cut out all these sugary drinks, and switched to water entirely. I changed to eating actual breakfast, instead of eating biscuits and drinking coffee.

After about 2 months in, I could slowly start to see some changes in my face. That felt amazing!

After about a month, I learned enough about healthy food to start eating better properly. I started counting calories on an app on my phone to better keep track of the unhealthy food choices I was making, started incorporating healthy dinners, better lunches than instant soup and crackers or sandwiches layered with cheese and ham, or peanut butter, or Nutella. I learned to not finish off every last bite in the pan, that it was okay to throw away or freeze the food we hadn't eaten during dinner. Tim slowly warmed up to the idea of eating healthier and better, too!

As time ticked on, I became more and more of a gym rat: I spent at least 2 hours, 3 times a week at the gym, I started running (and ended up in physical therapy because I'm a dolt with weird muscles), I started to incorporate more weights into my workouts. At the end of 2012, I was down well over 15 kg! I could go shopping with my mother and actually fit into stuff in the regular section! No more shopping trips that ended in tears and despair! I even fit into jeans from a shop I used to love! The body image issues I talked about in my opening post a year ago still reared their heads every now and then, when I couldn't see any progress or had a shitty day and ate everything in sight. But I was slowly learning to come to terms with it!

It was 2013... And look at that! A shape, that can be described as more than just 'blob'!

In February of 2013, I got my first gym routine that was based heavily on heavy weights. It was amazing! Such an eye opening moment to realise that I loved lifting weights so much! I even started bench presses, that made me feel even more bad-ass. After working up to the weights room though, I wanted more. With help from my trainer at the gym, I weaned off the cardio to a basic warming up and cooling down, and as of May 2013, I got a real, heavy weights routine, with deadlifts, bench presses, barbell squats, kettlebell swings, barbell rows and clean and presses. I think I can safely say that I have become fairly addicted to working out and getting stronger! I recently even joined in a gym-wide timed circuit challenge and wasn't happy with my first time, so I did the circuit a second time and beat my old time by almost a full minute! The rush of personal victories that can only come from your own strength and ability is amazing, and I love it every time I put an extra plate up on the barbell or pick up a bigger dumbell.

I found support in the ranks of the members of Fitocracy when I needed it, it turning rapidly into my favourite online hangout, paired with a great group of ladies in a Ravelry group I'm a member of (Cheerclub! Fistbump!). I also found support in my family members and of course Tim. I even managed to drag my mother to the gym with me and got her to pick up some heavier weights a few times. She loves it!

Approximately 1 year difference! The sign is my trainer's way of being ironic. Burpees. How I hate them. Ugh!

After one year, I think I can say with honesty that I am damned proud of myself for the progress I have made so far. Am I done? Are you kidding? I just got started! I am going to keep working to better myself, learn more about nutrition, healthy living, get stronger, get healthier, and work like a machine to turn myself into the best version of me there can be. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

When life gives you mud, make... mud pies?

No, no recipe in this post. I know, bummer, right? I went for a nice long walk with my parents, brother and his girlfriend, and my sister last Sunday in the woods. It was a rare, sunny day in what has been an absolutely dreadful month of May, so the forest floor was muddy and the tracks hard to walk on at times, but we managed.

You could tell that we've had a crappy spring season so far: trees were just beginning to blossom or grow their leaves, barely any flowers anywhere, tons of dead leaves on the ground... But the greens were vibrant and alive, and when the sun was shining it was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature was nice, and we were under cover of the trees so we barely noticed the winds. Perfect weather for a wander through the woods. Plus, all the rain from the past week made the pine trees smell amazing!

Sometimes, we'd come across weird stuff, like this single bright orange-leafed tree in a sea of green. With the sun shining through, it almost looks like a flock of butterflies!

We slowly made our way uphill to the half-way mark and could see how much rain had fallen in the past few days: there were mud tracks like this one all along one side of the path, where the water had made its way downhill.

And then there were parts of the woods that looked like, well, this. Car tracks where the mud was still soppy and where you could easily sink down past your ankles if you weren't careful. We decided to not go that way. Nobody brought their bathing suit.

There we go, the top of the hill! This is the Austerlitz Pyramid, a monument built by the soldiers of Napoleon in 1804. Why build a monumental pyramid in the middle of a forest, you ask? Because the French general Auguste de Marmont, who had amassed an army on this site so they could fight back any invasion armies the British would send, was afraid his men might get bored. Yep. That's history, people. It's not all about epic battles and heroism. Most of it consisted of waiting, eating, sleeping and fighting off boredom.

Oh, hello, little sis. I wasn't the only one dragging a camera around. My partner in crime here and I were constantly lagging behind the others because we were taking pictures. On our way down the hill, I left my camera in my bag and enjoyed the scenery with my own eyes and not hidden behind a lens, but we still had to wait on occasion for this shutterbug to catch up. I guess it runs in the family!

Blog Week Day 5: And now for something completely different

Day 5 is usually my favourite day of Blog Week because I just love how creative people can get with as open a prompt as 'Do something outside your comfort zone'. Last year, I went with a talking ball of yarn, but this year I'm going with something truly different. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who has a post like this one today...

And because today's post is special, it's being posted a tad later in the day than my other posts because, if everything goes well (fingers and toes crossed), as of 11 am today...

Tim and I will be married!

Naturally, I don't have any actual wedding pictures to share yet so you'll have to make do with tiny Tim and mini Me in our wedding getup and tiny glasses! 

Loving, kissing, dancing, holding hands!

I hope you'll excuse me from being absent today, since I'll obviously be a bit busy, eating delicious cake and sandwiches and drinking delicious tea, and making memories with my family!

(obligatory selfie is obligatory)

Regular programming will resume tomorrow!

Drive-by-post: Hard at work

I'm still here! We're slowly but surely creeping up on W-day, otherwise known as 'the day that Stef will be wearing a dress and heels all day, good thing there's going to be a dude there with a camera', otherwise known as our wedding day! Even though we're sticking to our small, no-fuss little wedding, there's still a lot to take into account and it's taking up a lot of our time. Who knew that would happen?! (no seriously, you could have told us, sheesh)

In my spare time and during breaks at work, I'm busy as a bee planning all my posts for Blog Week. How are your preparations coming along? Are you scheduling posts? Or are you going to post each day and let the inspiration of the day guide you? I did that last year. It's great fun, although it can be somewhat exhausting. 

I haven't done a single crafty thing all month so far, apart from a bit of dabbling for my Blog Week-posts, nor have I spent time in the kitchen apart from making our daily meals. I did finally haul myself back to the gym for an actual session and I'm exceptionally sore now, so whooo for that, and I'm doing the Fitocracy Spark challenge (though I've slacked off a bit, my original idea was to do it every day). I need to train, though, have to wear heels all day, my calves will thank me for it.

Hopefully I'll be able to do some actual blog-worthy stuff in the next week or so. Something food-related, possibly. I want to bake delicious things so bad, if only I had the time for it!

Well, if I don't catch you here for another post beforehand, I'll see you during the Blog Week!

Happy new year!

That's it! That was the end of 2012! What a year it has been. For me, it was a year of discovering myself, of discovering what it is I want to do with my life, of taking chances, of making changes and sticking to them. It was the first year in my life since I was 3 years old where I was not enrolled in some form of education, and this was both frightening and enlightening. 2012 was the year I tried, and failed, to be a freelance translator. And while I know that the short period that I worked in the field may not sound like a lot to some and that it sounds like I just gave up, to me, it was plenty of time to figure out that it was not what I wanted in life. One of the best decisions I made in this past year was to stop trying out as a freelancer and dive head-first into my new job in IT. I have enjoyed every single step of the (sometimes steep) learning curve that working in IT has been for me, and I look forward to keep working here and learning more!

On a personal level, though the two levels are intrinsically intertwined, this past year was about learning to love myself again, and starting a new and weird and fun and exciting journey of losing weight, getting fit, learning about healthy living and food. So far, it has been a weird and emotional journey, and it has been successful in more ways than one, but it's one I will hopefully reap the benefits of in 2013, and in many years afterwards. In numbers, I have lost 17 kg and while this may not be an awful lot considering it took me 6 months, I would say I'm off to a good start!

One of my high-lights of the year, though, was getting engaged. I know we're not making a big deal out of it, and we'll keep the wedding small, intimate and casual, but still. It's the next step in our relationship, and one that simply feels right. 



Though I don't particularly care for new year's resolutions, I've made a small list of them anyway. Just for fun.
- I want to spend more time knitting and crocheting, taking on more exciting and challenging projects.
- I want to eat healthier, and find more easy and healthy recipes I can include in our day-to-day cooking.
- I want to keep up going to the gym at least twice a week and want to do at least some sort of exercise every day. My goal is to log points on Fitocracy every day!
- I want to work on improving my photography, focusing on product and food photography. My goal is to have every recipe or tutorial I post on this blog up on Craftgawker, Foodgawker, Tastespotting or similar gathering websites.
- I want to spend more quality time with my loved ones.
- I want to save enough money to be able to pay off at least half my student loan. This should be doable!

In closing, I hope 2013 will be an excellent year for you and your loved ones! May it be at least twice as awesome as 2012!