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Perseverance

by Chavah Kinloch on January 25, 2012

This pretty much sums up my life right now.

Time and effort is all it will take. I WILL do it.

I wasn’t going to say anything on here but after thinking about it for a week I figure..why not just say it? Why is it so hard?This is why I have a blog after all. I’ve only told two people in real life, my husband and a friend the day it happened. Even saying it to my friend was hard.

I have officially lost 40kg’s (88lbs). In fact I’m closer to 41kgs lost than 40 now, so watch this space. The journey is far from over.

It’s hard to believe really. I’ve pretty much lost a Kourtney Kardashian or a Mila Kunis (apparently they weigh 43kg’s):

The thing is, even though to say it out loud sounds kind of impressive, in real life I’ve been struggling to see the difference. Like really struggling. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments I’ll walk past something and see my reflection and catch myself off guard and think “What in the hell? Is that me? Where’s the rest of me? What happened to the massive roll there that was there?” It’s just hard to get my brain caught up with reality.  I’m my own biggest critic.

After talking with my husband about it last night he said something that made a lot of sense to me. I don’t care about the number because it’s not what motivates me. I’ve spent the last year working my butt off and not focusing on a relationship with my scales so I’ve learned to love other results instead.  I need to physically see change happening and when I look front on, it’s hard for me to see that. From that conversation came these photos:

Please don’t judge me by my excess fat, loose skin and full belly. Despite all those things (which I’m working on) I’m proud because look closely…

Those shadowy dents you see there? That is muscle. It bulges and it’s solid. You can’t see it too well in the photos but through touch the most obvious muscle is my triceps. It feels like a  thick line running through my arm when I run my hand over it. I have never had this before but I love it.

This photo below is my favourite photo to date of a woman with trapezius muscles. In fact I have this labelled in my folder as ‘Traps for days’. Jessica Biel in general has amazing definition.

I know, I know, I’m probably going to have a lot of people with words like butch, manly, too much, eww, gross etc but this is the direction I’m choosing to go and I’ve never felt more feminine.

These photos my husband took for me to look at make me a hundred times happier than any number the scale doesn’t say anymore. These photos show how much effort I put in on any given day to make a positive change in my life. Thank you Andrew for helping me wrap my head around how I want to measure my progress.

I’m building a good foundation and I’ve got some very clear set goals – and so far since making them, I have been kicking their butt. I’m on track!

I don’t know what my body will look like by the time I’m done, I have a vision that I hope to make a reality but I’ve never been the athletic type so this will be completely new to me. I don’t know what to expect. What I do know is that the end result will represent the hard work, dedication and perseverance I am putting in to achieve it. Stretch marks, saggy skin and all, I love and appreciate my body.

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Update on a DIY Project for Boston’s Room

by Chavah Kinloch on September 21, 2010

Last night I got back to work on the chair for Boston’s room.

Did I happen to mention that I’ve never actually upholstered a chair before? I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt! I’m not finished with it yet. I have to add the finishing touches to cover up my tracks but I’m feeling confident that I can actually pull this off. Exciting times!

The yellow is so incredibly bright, the only way I’ll be able to get a shot with it’s true colour is to drag it outside when the sun is shining. The above photo has been enhanced but it’s still not there. So lets hope, that come the time I finish this chair, the sun will be shining and I can finally show you just how powerful the colour is.

I confessed the other day that my sewing skills are almost non-existent, so obviously I’m attempting to reupholster this magnificent little beauty without touching a sewing machine. This next stage may need me to try to sew a straight line but that’s as far a I’m taking it!

I figure that it’s best I attempt to create my own little yellow chair instead of going bankrupt trying to purchase the likes of this:

Oswald armchair with hakon yellow velvet. RRP of £1495 which equals $3212.90 NZ.

If I had the money spare to buy such luxuries, I would. I do appreciate designers. They are, after all, artists. Like the average stay at home Mum though, their gorgeous products are a little (read: a lot) outside of my budget.

If I had the ability to choose exactly what I wanted to buy; nothing spared, no worrying about money; my home would be a  mix of both high and low end items. I’ve never been a label snob, I like what I like, it doesn’t matter if it costs $1 or $1000. Handmade items are a favourite because of the love that goes into creating them while an expensive designer item has always guaranteed me quality.

Where do you sit on the scale? Are you a bargain hunter or designer diehard?

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One Week Later – Weigh In Day

by Chavah Kinloch on September 8, 2010

It’s been a week since 21 Days of Accountability finished… and what a week it’s been! My life is still slightly out of order as I help my husband recover from surgery. It’s Wednesday now though, so that means it’s weigh in day.


This week I managed to drop 1.2kg. Another week, another kilo gone. I’m happy! I wasn’t sure how I’d go seeing as things really have been hectic here. Nowhere near as hectic as what Christchurch people are currently going through though, I’m sure. The earthquakes they’ve been having  since Saturday morning are still going and making things worse for people. My heart goes out to them.

I lost 5cm off my body this week, making it an even 100cm gone from my body. Isn’t it crazy how the body works! It just did exactly what I wrote about in – Day15 -Take Measurements post. Drastic changes in measurements last week when I only lost 100grams and barely any movement this week when I dropped over a kg.

This week I had a moment. I have a pair of jeans I bought right before I got pregnant with Boston. For the past, well, who even knows how long I’ve been trying to put them on… it’s been a while but my news is; I buttoned them up this week! It’s not enough for me to go out and wear them in public but just a few days ago I couldn’t even get the the two sides near each other. Hopefully in a little while they fit perfectly again. Buttoning them is a huge feat for me. I’ve been searching for jeans since the beginning of the year and not found a pair for my body. Fitting into my nearly new (four sizes smaller!) ones again will take away all that pent up anger over not being able to find a great pair.

This is another really good tool in weight loss. Using clothes to monitor progress and getting a little thrill when you reach a new milestone (seeing as the goal is still so far away).

I’ve also noticed that I’m starting to look a little different. More like me. That’s always a good thing.

My life should be returning to normal soon enough, until then I might be a little bit quiet. In the meantime I’ve heard of a lot of you out there taking up the 21 Day challenge and that makes me really happy! Keep up the great work everyone. xx

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21 Days of Accountability – Day 14

by Chavah Kinloch on August 25, 2010

It’s weigh in day.

Week two, done and dusted. I’ve been on track for 14 days now. There’s only one week left to push through for this challenge. I know it’s helped me, in so many ways. New, good habits are definitely taking over my life.

Wanting to exercise has been easy. I’m working out everyday and really enjoying myself. I’m finding that I would happily go to the gym 7 days a week, if only my gym opened the right hours. I’m working out in other ways when it’s shut.

As for food, I ate an apricot yoghurt the other day and it tasted extremely sweet to me, so it’s easy for me to tell that my tastes are changing.

Like I said, each week you’ll be seeing my ticker. It tracks my progress. This week I dropped 1.8kg and another 22cms, taking my totals to:


and 64cm off my body lost. (Not that I EVER want to find them again.)

I’m almost at that stage of my cycle where I inevitably gain weight to survive a week. Not looking forward to that.. but I’ll be trying really hard to use natural solutions to help battle the bloating and exhaustion. Yeah, I did just tell everyone my cycle. It’s an issue us women face though, no point in pretending it doesn’t happen.

Andrew and the kids are being super awesome. They’re such a good support! Andrew’s body has changed heaps already, I’m slightly jealous but very happy for him, he’s looking really good. Lucky me hehe. He say’s I look different too but it’s hard for me to see the difference. I feel different at least :)

Is anyone still around? How are you doing?

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21 Days of Accountability – Day 7

by Chavah Kinloch on August 18, 2010

O. M. G.

Last night I slept! I got enough sleep to wake up in the morning…HAPPY. Happy!! Boston did wake up but only once and it took all of 30 seconds to sort out. Thank you 4am epiphany. My world is beautiful again.

Now, onto today’s theme!

Let me introduce you to something:


This, my dear friends is what you call a ticker. Some of you will have seen them and used them before and to others this will be new.

My ticker will bet getting put up every week. If I can get it small enough to fit in my sidebar it’ll probably sit there too.

It’s there to show you my progress and how much I’ve lost the past week/s. It’s to help keep me focused and motivated. A reminder of how far I’ve come and how far I still have to go. It doesn’t take me to my dream weight, just one I could be happy with. I’ll adjust it after I reach this first goal.

Today is day 7 of accountability, therefore it was weigh in day. The past six day’s efforts have seen me drop 1.3kg and a total of 42cm off my body. The biggest differences coming from my ab’s, waist & thighs at a respective 11cm, 11.5cm and 9cm each. Yes people, there is that much fat on me.

Not a bad effort for one week though if you ask me!

Andrew kicked 2.5kg to the curb this week too. Yay :D If only women dropped fat at the same rate as men. Oh well, this way it’s healthy. One week at a time… I hope time passes quickly.

If you’re coming along this journey with me and would like your own ticker, your challenge today is to make one. My favourite spot to use is The Ticker Factory. It’s super simple and has lots of options to choose from. Let me know if you put it up so I can stop by to support you too. I believe it also has a facebook option now, so you can post it there.

Good luck everyone! It’s happening. :D

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Recent Works

I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with colours and textures at the moment. I recently sold some paintings on Trade Me which I haven’t attempted to do in a while, not because I didn’t sell, because trust me, there was no problem there but because of the way some people in the art community [...]