Weight loss and Tough Mudder training update.

February 2013

I know you guys come here for beauty tips and tricks, but I also know that some of you are on the same journey as I am, in terms of struggling with excess weight, obesity, and the health concerns that arise from the condition.
I want to dig a little deeper and share a bit more with you guys today, and maybe I'll update you about once a month with my progress, so that you can share this awesome journey with me.
Those of you who follow me on Instagram (@katylylak) will have seen the almost daily posts about it, and I'm trying to record it as best I can, because I feel like it's important and helps me stay motivated to see where I've been as well as where I'm going.

March 2013

I started out when I signed up for Tough Mudder a month ago at approximately 115kg. I'm 5'6" tall, I'm quite broadly built, and I'm obese. I've been obese for 12 years. When I met my ex-husband in 2001, I was a size 14, and I very quickly gained and ballooned out to a 16-18. Then I had babies. I started my first pregnancy in a size 18 at 110kg, gained 9kg, lost it, didn't lose any extra, then gained a couple more. Six years later, in a size 20, at 112kg, I had a second baby, gained 11kg, lost it all plus 5kg more.
I went through a marriage breakup, had some ups and downs, fair amounts of stress, and always made myself feel better with food.
Over the course of 2 years, I yo-yo'd between 107 and 115kg.

Over the years, I've tried and tried to lose weight. Something always happens to make me fail, I'll feel stressed and start the eating cycle again, I'll get so unbearable after a few days of sugar withdrawal that people encourage me to eat again, my moods, my motivation, all are linked and have seen me fail over and over in the past.

I don't know what's different this time. I suppose, because I'm at a good place in my life, I'm in a loving, happy (but long distance, which is stressful) relationship with a man who supports me 100%, I have a goal that I've laid my pride and my hard-come-by cash down for (the entry fee for Tough Mudder when I signed up was $150), I've got a really, really great team to work with, all really supportive and working towards the same goal. I'm just more motivated, and my willpower is stronger than my urge to do the things that have me falling back into the same habits again. I have this blog, my instagram, and a weight loss and fitness group on another website, all keeping me accountable for my progress.

So far, a month in, I'm seeing the following side effects, good and bad.

I'm sleeping better - I was a really bad insomniac for years. Now with regular exercise and healthier eating habits, I'm sleeping easily and for longer periods of time. a good 8 hour night is the norm for me now.

I'm very tired - My body is going through a lot of changes, which include increased output (exercise) and decreased fuel supplies. For now, that makes me very tired. Dealing with 2 kids in the evening is sometimes quite difficult when I'm running on empty, but as the days go by, it's getting slowly easier.

I'm eating less and feeling fuller - I'm at the point now where a sandwich full of spinach and lettuce and chicken and avocado is almost too much for lunch. I'm having to space my eating out better during the day and eat smaller amounts more often because my stomach is shrinking and can only accommodate small meals.

I spent a month hungry - Getting to that point has been a huge challenge. I was so hungry all the time in the beginning. My sugar withdrawals were extreme, my moods were horrendous, and I just wasn't very pleasant to be around at all.

I'm getting fitter -  A decent 5km walk isn't a hardship now, in fact, I regularly walk 3-5km at a time, and feel fine afterwards. My fitness level is improving so fast, I really though it would take a lot longer before I could jog even a couple of hundred metres, let alone do sprint exercises with my brother and climb up and down over piles of mulch. My strength is improving, too. It will get easier as I drop weight. Much easier to lift 70kg than 115!

I've struggled really badly at points with my fitness, sometimes pushing my body too far - Sometimes, it's really hard. It's still really hard. The intense workouts and training sessions that we do once per week are designed to really challenge our bodies. I just keep repeating to myself "without challenge, there is no change".

I just generally feel better - I breathe easier, my joints don't hurt as much, I'm more motivated in other facets of my life. It's a really good feeling.

I look better - Of course! I don't care what all of those "proud fat girls" say. On a prehistoric, biologically-driven level, we, as animals, are more attracted to healthier-looking specimens. It's just that simple. Healthy = Attractive. I don't need to be thin. I actually want to keep my curviness. I just want to be healthy, and healthy-looking.

People have asked me recently "Hey Katy, you look different already! How are you doing it/what's your secret?"

It's not a secret. I posted on my facebook timeline this morning exactly what my plan is. To get down to a healthy size, with increased fitness and strength, and without resorting to surgery, there is only ONE effective way to do this. Eat healthy and exercise. Break your bad habits. Change your entire lifestyle. You HAVE to change your life before your body will change to fit it. MAKE the time to exercise. If I can find the time without special gyms or equipment, without anyone sponsoring me, without anything other than the 2 legs I was born with and my fat ass waddling down the road, on my own with 2 small kids, YOU CAN DO IT TOO! For a really long time I thought I was failing because I didn't have time to exercise, or I couldn't go out to walk with the kids, or that nobody would help me. That was my biggest mistake. You don't need anyone to help you. You just do it all by yourself, and it happens. It really does,

Ok... off my soap box now.

Just a little one, on the first day I had the app.

Two apps I've found invaluable have been sports tracker (for timing and measuring my sessions. It uses GPS to track your movements and gives you a detailed description of your workout when you're done), and My Fitness Pal, which keeps track of what you're eating, and how that ties in with what you need to be putting into your body. It even tracks you vitamin and mineral intake and lets you know if you're low. It even has a barcode scanner and over 2,000,000 different foods and drinks in its database. I generally just scan everything as I put it into a meal, or manually enter things that don't have packaging. It knows all of the nutrient values.

So that's about it for now. Hopefully I haven't bored you too much. I'll be back in April with another update, and hopefiully some very different-looking pictures.

Lust Have It March 2013! Spoiler alert: It's massive in value!

This morning, I received my Lust have It box in the mail, and I knew that they were making some changes in preparation for their increase in price from $14.95/mth to $19.95/mth...but I tend not to take these things too seriously when they say "Yeah, we're going to give you 100 bucks' worth of stuff for 20 bucks".

Oh boy, was I surprised!

First, when I add all of this up, and don't include the sample-sized products, the value here is  $136!!!

Then, the sample sized products are really generous. The face mask is enough for a really decent mask, or two if you're a bit more savvy with it. The hair treatment is easily enough for 5 goes on my fine, shoulder-length hair.
Let's have a look at the products, shall we?

First, we have Bio Elixia Body Shaper Cellulite Contour Creme. RRP $59, 150ml FULL SIZED PRODUCT
I'm always a bit dubious about these kinds of products, so at the very least, I have a really nice, high end body moisturiser that smells great and just might help out with my bumpy thighs and tummy. I'm very pleased with this.

Gosh eyeshadow - light brown

Next up is Gosh Cosmetics Mono Eye shadow RRP $16, FULL SIZED PRODUCT
I got this one in colour "light brown" and it's a really gorgeous nude colour with a slight shimmer. It will definitely be a regularly used product in my house, as I do so love to wear nude colours.

Then there's The Natural Source Camouflage Colour Crayons RRP $9.95 each (I got 2!) FULL SIZED PRODUCT
I got a nail polish last month from this company, and I really liked it (except the way it smelled), so I was pleased to see colour products here again from the same company. I got 2 green colours, a lime and a more army-ish camo-type colour, so they'll be really awesome for any green-ish makeup looks I'm doing. They would have come in really handy for St. Patrick's Day yesterday! Very pleased with the creamy consistency.

Next, I got 2 sample sized products, Goldwell Dual Senses Rich Repair hair treatment (RRP $20.99 for the 200ml bottle) This is a really decent sized sample. Like I said, it'll do my hair probably 5 times, so I'll be able to really get a sense of how it works with my hair and skin and get a decent review out for you guys.

Last of all, there's Advance Natural Calming and Soothing Mask ($39.50 for the 50ml product)
This is a gorgeous face mask. I seem to be amassing a huge collection of mask products at the moment, so I might need to have some girls over for a bit of a pamper session! It has chamomile and chickweed to calm the skin, which is great for me, because every time I come home from a big workout session, my poor skin is all angry and red and sweaty. This will be a lovely treat.

On that, I've found that treating my body from the outside can often feel as good as filling myself with sugar and fat. A lovely face mask, a nice relaxing bath, all go a long way to rewarding myself for a job well done, and although I know there's a long way to go, I'm staying really motivated with these little things.

Now, there's some extra value in the box.

A $15 voucher for The Iconic.(min. spend $59)
A 25% off voucher for Bio Elixia (So, if you bought the same product again, you can save $15 there.)
A free first month voucher for Dollar Shave Club (If you choose the executive razor, you can save $10)

Oh, and a lollipop! It was very quickly claimed by Max, but I didn't mind, since I'm not having sweet things anyway.

All in all, an amazing box! Check it out for yourself at www.lusthaveit.com.au


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I think I might have a problem....lip product excess!

 I posted a little while ago, a post about "goo hoarding". This week, I took a look in my lip products box (I have my makeup organized into 5 litre tubs, by product type), and it struck me that I may have a hoarding problem.
The picture above is the inside of my lip products box. Not even organized, just all thrown in there.

 First up, here they are, all organized and neat so that you can see what I have.

This first picture is lip care products (lip balms, etc), lip pencils, and plumping products, as well as a couple of sample sized Benefit tints.

Next up are my lipsticks. I don't have a lot of them, because I'm not really a lipstick kinda gal. If I had to choose a favourite, I'd go with the Modelco matte red one (second from left in the bottom row) because it's gorgeous and everything-proof!








Last of all, my lipglosses. So many of them that I need two pictures to show you!

As you can see, I really love my pink shades. For special occasions, I like a plum, and for everyday, I prefer nude-type shades.

My current favourites are the Benefit "life on the A list" salmon-y colour, and my new Yes to Carrots C-me-shine nude colour, as well as the Illamasqua one in Belladonna.

 In this last picture are my MAC glosses. Some are the real deal, some are knock-offs. I honestly can't tell the difference in the actual product itself.

Also there are some other brands here, the Max Factor sparkly one is super cute, the Bloom one is a lovely shade, and the Silk Oil of Morocco one is fantastic, and I love the colour, but it's more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss, and it wears off strangely, leaving a line of very light pink on your inner lip which just looks weird. It does smell amazing, though.

So...what do you think? Am I a hoarder? Is it time to do a cull of some of these products?None of them are particularly old, I just have so many of them, and i can't seem to stop acquiring more and more!

March bellabox!

The months are rolling around fast this year! Already we're in March and the first lot of sample boxes has been released.

This month's offering from bellabox is another so-so one. The products are nice enough, and there are a couple of full sized colour products there, so we really got our money's worth this month again, but there's nothing I'm really super excited about.

Of course, the first thing I did with the box is run home to video the unboxing, so here's that little piece of early morning awesome:

Review; Lancome Hypnose Star mascara

In the February Lust Have It box, I received a cute little sample of Lancome Hypnose Star mascara.I am quite the mascara connoisseur, so I was excited to try out a high end product like this and see if it lived up to the hype.

It totally does. In a few different ways!

First of all, it's a glossy, blacker-than-black colour. Just one coat of this makes my lashes pop and my eyes are defined absolutely.


Then there's the added benefit of not needing to tightline. I hate tightlining! It's uncomfortable, awkward, and risky, and the effect is not worth the hassle, to be honest. However, if you can get the same effect with no extra effort, it does make enough of a difference to bother with it.

The shape of the brush is what lets you get right in under the lashes to the upper waterline, and it coats the skin there right on the lashline as you pull the mascara through your lashes.

It lengthens and separates the lashes beautifully, and if you want a bit of extra volume like i do, you can always use a lash primer or fibre coat first, then apply this over the top. In my pictures, I've used a maybelline XXL pro lash primer (from the 2 step mascara that I usually use), then just one coat of the Lancome product over the top.

Now, in terms of where to get it and how much "high end" costs, it varies unbelievably between Australia and the USA. Here in Australia, you need to get it from the Lancome counter at Myer store, and it's going to set you back $52.

If you're in the USA, you're lucky, because at Sephora, you can pick this baby up for $28! I'm going to make do with my sample for the next few months and pick up a couple of full sized ones when I go to Texas in August.

Definitely a product to try out if you have the urge to splurge on a nice product. If you can find a sample somewhere, even better! I don't like to spend huge dollars on mascara, because technically we're supposed to ditch them every 3 months. It makes me wish that they came in smaller and more affordable product sizes. the sample that I got in my LHI box is just about a perfect 3 month supply for me, wearing makeup 4-5 times per week.

Check it out, though, it's a fantastic product!

LonVitalite; the future in facials.

Last week, I reviewed a hand mask from LonVitalite, and I loved it (and their 24k face mask, which I had tried previously) so much that I went to their website and bought their whole range of face masks.

Since then, I've used a few of them, and reordered their entire range of face, eye and hand products.

The best part about it is that the entire range, at full regular price, cost me $20 (plus $10 shipping, which I didn't have to pay, as a part of their facebook promotion)!

I wanted to show you guys their whole range, as part of my "make time for you" pamper series, so here it is, straight from their product description pages to you:

24K ACTIVE GOLD YULAN OIL FACE MASK

• Provides immediate intense cooling and soothing relief.
• Highly moisturising and nourishing; smoothing out wrinkles, and hydrating the skin.
• The extremely active ingredients promote micro circulation in the face as well as skin regeneration.
• Removes lines and supplies water and nutrients for the skin cells leaving the skin more evenly pigmented and soft.
• Can relieve symptoms of allergies such as puffy eyes, inflammation and irritation.

C1 WHITENING, MOISTURISING & PIGMENT TAMING FACE MASK

• Moisturising and nourishing, smoothes out wrinkles, and replenishes skin with moisture.
• Vitamin C aids in inhibiting the production of melanin effectively brightening the skin.
• Can reduce skin damage caused by exposure UVA and UVB.
• Grume essence extracted from seaweed.
• Heat relieving and toxin expelling – strengthening blood circulation.
• Boosts skin metabolism allowing for intensely hydrated skin.

C2 COLLAGEN PROTEIN WRINKLE REMOVING & MOISTURISING FACE MASK

• Accelerates skin metabolism, reinforces skin growth, tames and smoothes out fine lines, and enhances skin moisturising function.
• Recovers balance between skin oil and moisture, increases expanding between cell tissues, quickly increasing moisture content up to 12%.
• 100% natural collagen protein provides skin structure with new energy, sooths and replenishes the skin with nutritional ingredients.
• Improves skin pigmentation with a soothing effect on acne and pimples.
• Contains Hyaluronic Acid which cushions and lubricates the cells leaving the skin feeling hydrated.

C3 COLLAGEN FIRMING & WRINKLE REMOVING RED WINE FACE MASK

• Supply Collagen, mildly seal water in the skin, improve skin luster, fade wrinkles, promote the regeneration of damaged cells.
• Collagen helps soften the epidermis to improve luster and assist hydration.
• Provides calm soothing relief to the skin from over exposure to the sun reduces inflammation from sun burn.
• With 300% water absorption, the nutrients instantly penetrate, repairing the skin tissue, removing fine lines and fading deep wrinkles.
• Improve oxygen in skin, promoting blood circulation, fade dull and yellowish tone, firm the skin and make it supple and taut.

C4 COCONUT MILK HYDRATING & NOURISHING FACE MASK

• Penetrates into the deep layers of the skin to strengthen the underlying layers.
• Coconut oil is well known for its highly effective moisturising properties, supporting the natural chemical balance of the skin.
• Helps to relieve and prevent dryness and flaking of skin, sagging of skin and age spots.
• Helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines by helping to keep connective tissues strong and supple.
• Assists with acne, helping to dissolve obstructions to the skin.

24K ACTIVE GOLD FULL EYE MASK

• Intense cooling and soothing relief to the skin from over exposure to the sun.
• Contains pure whitening essence milk, Vitamin B3, mulberry extract and grape leaf essence.
• Boosts the blood circulation for the eyes removing dark circles, bags under the eyes and rapidly abating swelling or tiredness around the eyes.
• Highly moisturising and nourishing; smoothing out wrinkles, and hydrating the skin.

C8 COLLAGEN CRYSTAL EYE MASK

• Eliminates dark circles and fine lines that appear under the eyes as a result of age.
• Promotes an evenly toned luminosity to the delicate skin that surrounds the eye.
• Instant firming effect smoothing out fine line and wrinkles, rejuvenating the eyes for a youthful and bright appearance.
• Containing Hyaluronic Acid which cushions and lubricates the cells leaving the skin feeling hydrated.
• Vitamin C aids in reducing skin damage caused by free radicals.

C9 CRYSTAL MOISTURISING HAND MASK

• Provides soothing relief to the skin from over exposure to the sun.
• Helps to revive rough hands with natural soothing chamomile extract.
• Highly nourishing; the mask smooths out wrinkles and replenishes the hands with moisture.
• Aids in reversing damage to the skin from external environmental factors and promotes skin metabolism.

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  C10 CRYSTAL MOISTURISING & WHITENING HAND MASK

  • Assists in eliminating age spots and the appearance of fine lines on the hands.
  • Effective anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties from Aloe Vera working to improve the skins pigmentation.
  • Provides soothing relief to the skin from over exposure to the sun.
  • Instant firming effect, leaving the hands feeling softer and more hydrated.

  You can shop online for these (Australia and New Zealand only, unfortunately) at www.lonvitalite.com and make sure you stay up to date with their latest promotions and news at http://www.facebook.com/pages/LonVitalite

February favourites!

I know, I know, we're almost halfway through March, but my week off has pushed my schedule around a little bit.

Anyway, I finally got around to filming my February Favourites video, and here it is! You'll have to excuse my post-workout hair and sweaty forehead, it's been almost 3 weeks since we had a day under 30C, and it's so humid here. With my little daylight bulb up, it was really super warm in my room.

So here it is, my February favourites!