My 8 Week Summer Journey: Loosing the Last 2 Kilograms and then Falling Pregnant
By Ange
As a coach and director of a women’s focused community, nothing gives me more meaning and purpose in life than helping women feel proud  (and even in love) of their bodies and realise what they are truely capable of.Â
Inevitably this is sometimes linked to weight  loss.
Having gone through several ‘cutting phases’ (and many more unsuccessful attempts in my early 20’s) there are a few keys to making a goal a reality. Over the last year I have taken part in 2 of our renowned 8 week challenges, which helped me loose the last few kilograms of body fat I deliciously and importantly stored while growing Sky. On both occasions I documented my process and journey over the full 8 weeks with a short weekly report.Â
And I am so glad that I did. These short videos are a powerful reminder of the importance of being self-driven, staying accountable and focusing on what you can change.Â
In this post I will be highlighting my video’s from our recent 2021 Summer Challenge but be sure to head back to my 2020Â Spring Challenge Journal for my previous vlog series.Â
If you are watching these videos for the first time or are taking part in one of our challenges, I want you to also recognise that there are speed humps and challenges in EVERYONE’S journey. Weight loss is not easy. If takes a lot of commitment and time. It you want your results to be sustainable, it is important that you are looking for lifestyle change over fads.
Week 1: Goals and Set Up
Firstly I want to start with a reminder that ‘knowing your why’ is the most important part of getting started. Your goals must matter to you. Honestly just even by committing to do these videos made it easier to carry out my personal why, which is to inspire other women make their well-being, health and fitness a priority. It took me 13 month to loose around 10kg but even I recognise that I am in a unique position with the skills, habits, career and knowledge that all advocate for my success. This may not be the case for someone who works a desk job or who does not have access to their own gym.Â
In this challenge my goal was to loose the ‘last 2 kilograms’. A healthy and sustainable weight loss recommendation is 1/2 a kilogram per week. But even over this 13 month period I attacked my weight loss in phases and then gave my body time on my calories to feel more replenished and restored.Â
Week 1: Don’t Be Erraticd
If you have ever tried to loose weight and failed, remember that being self-driven and determined is a learned skill. I realised something sometime ago… I was always making the same mistakes and self-sabotaging behaviour. There comes a point where you need to stop and get clear on the little, very important things and actually commit to changing them.
By far, this has everything to do with habit change! And this week I discuss the small daily habits that will help me shift the unwanted weight.
Week 2: Why Meal Plans Suck
This week I chat about finding a system that works for you. There is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods, but it does pay to take responsibility for the way you eat on a weekly basis. This is why we love our A4 fridge meal planner magnet. Just filling this planner out week to week goes a long way to helping you get organised.Â
I also go over a criteria your can use to help you plan out foods to include in your week.Â
Week 3: Keep Your Promises
This week is all about keeping your promises and having the a growth mindset!
Small promises are votes for the discipline you need to take action. This is a great video to watch if you need a little kick up the b**m.Â
Week 4: Gratitude and Understanding InBody
Week 4 is the half way mark of the challenge and good time to reflect on your progress. You should start to notice a difference in the changes you have made over the month.Â
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Now is not the time to give up. I also give the analogy of weight loss like a jigsaw puzzle. I also chat about how the InBody scan works and some variable that effect your total body water and therefore your results.Â
Week 5: Diet Breaks
In this week I chat through some science behind an energy deceit and taking a week off at maintenance. This is a great one to listen to if you regularly track your calories.Â
Week 6: Self Care
Whoops… this week I learnt that I was pregnant! And while trying to conceive was definitely not a mistake, I had not anticipated that it would happen so quickly. I was only around 4 weeks, so too early to openly discuss it via my weekly report but the topic of ‘self care’ seemed appropriate either way.Â
For anyone who has been reading my content for a while, I openly discuss that it took 2-3 years of trying before falling pregnant with Sky. Fortunately, I was only early days pregnant and still feeling well with in myself to take part in our ‘Train the Trainer” event. But it did mean I backed off my deficit, my training and my weight loss goals.  One of the first signals I received was crazy, sore muscles after workouts that I would typically breeze through. My back also flared up after heavy deadlift which was a signal I needed to reduce my overall intensity and volume of my sessions as I was clearly not tolerating the workloads.Â
Week 8: End of Challenge
Ahhh the end of the challenge. This video is a great reflection on whole journey and a lesson the time it takes to change habits.Â
This challenge I managed to commit to my daily habits and can proudly say I:
- gained 500g of muscle
- lost 2% of body fat
- committed to reading everyday!
P.S Quite clearly baby brain had already set in as I am quite clearly wearing another coaches 23W jacket!
Our founder
Ange Drake is an personal trainer, women’s empowerment coach and fitness blogger in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. She is the director of one of the few womens’ only strength training gyms in Melbourne, 23W. Ange helps women to learn how to use strength based training, nutritional strategies and a positive mindset to transform their bodies, relationship with food and mind.
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