Swooping birds

Imagine a week where you were so exhausted that come Friday evening you fall asleep on the lounge at 6:00pm? That was me the other night! My trip to Melbourne was great. I didn’t eat particularly bad stuff as such (except for dessert one night) but I did eat a lot. It was easy to eat regular meals as they kept them coming. I went for a walk one afternoon but to be honest I was kind of scared and kept looking over my shoulder. Canberra is definitely the best option for a girl like me. :)

I haven’t been to the gym in a few days and to be honest I am really looking forward to returning. Going for walks etc is nice but it just isn’t the same. I hope they remember me when I go back this week! Speaking of walks I took our two dogs for a walk this afternoon. It is blowing an absolute gale in my suburb today so it was quite a challenge. We have a big dog and a little one so it can be a little frustrating at times. Both are on a leash of course but the big one goes ahead and every now and then runs back to us and gets caught up in the legs of the little one and vice versa. The little one is a very shy and timid dog so getting him out and about is really good for him. Anyway so I was walking them and the wind was blowing and this damn magpie started to swoop the big dog. So the little one tries to chase the bird. Oh my lordy. We just happened to be on the footpath of a very busy road and we probably looked ridiculous. I just wanted to go home. Lol…

I have been sitting on my butt trying to finish an economics report for uni. I sent all 21 pages of it off this morning. Then in an unprecedented move I got stuck in and cleaned my study. I spend a lot of time in here and sometimes it does get a little untidy. I do have to work in a clean environment at home which is funny cause at work my desk is always a mess. Anyway I was throwing things out left right and centre including some of Pooks’ motorbike magazines. Well they were in my room!

We are going out tonight for the footy grand final. The glorious Billy Slater is playing. After finishing my assignment I kind of feel like having an alcoholic drink so I have two to take with me. I don’t really drink a lot but it will be nice to have one this evening. Apparently I am driving so it wouldn’t matter if I did want more because I can’t.

Anyway things here are all good. As I said I haven’t been to the gym in a few days BUT I am really looking forward to returning this week.

Happy Long Weekend!

Proper Coffee

Wow what a busy time! This week will be a true test as I am out of the office for pretty much all of it and will be interstate and all of my meals are being provided and I have no idea what has been ordered. One thing I have a problem with at conferences is the coffee. I love it! You know the “proper stuff”..

I wont be at the gym until Thursday at the earliest so will really have to watch myself.

Can you believe that the October long weekend is almost here? I am looking forward to it very much!

Anyway I have to go and pack my bags but just wanted to check in to let you all know that I am still here. :)

One more thing to tick off

Who would have thought hey? 8 months ago I hated walking down the street to visit friends and always found the closest car park wherever I went BUT now I can say that I have done the Canberratimes Fun Walk. There were thousands of entrants of all different shapes and sizes. People of all different ages, Mums with prams and grandparents with their grandkids. It was great. I did found it tough for about the 2nd and 3rd km. It was hot and the sun had a lot of kick in it! I eagerly looked forward to the halfway mark for a drink. At the start of the walk I was surprised by the pace everyone was going as I thought that it would just be a dawdle but you had to keep up or get trampled. Around Parliament House everyone people started to drift apart and so did I. I started walking at my own pace as I knew that I would make it that way. At one stage I did have an urge to run but it didn’t last… ha ha! 5km doesn't sound far but standing in Commonwealth Park looking back seemed so long.

Seeing the finish line was a welcoming site as I could feel my arms and legs burning from the sun.. It was great to cross the finish line. I certainly come first (by about 1000 people probably) but was just so pleased that I had made it. My friend high fived me as we went through. Kind of testament to us both as this time last year we would have been sitting around drinking champagne and eating chips with dip.

All in all it was a great day and as I said I was just so stoked that I did it. Didn’t go to the gym today as I wanted to give my legs a rest but will be back there in the morning.

Peanut Butter hips

In the past I have never really eaten at work morning teas – you know don’t let anyone see the fat girl eat…. But today I did. I had this peanut butter and chocolate cup thing and I may as well taken it and slapped it straight to my hips. Man it was good. I wonder if it was worth it? Time will tell.

Anyway this week it was all about being back at the gym. To be honest I found some of it hard. Not as hard as 7 months ago but a new kind of hard. Kind of like I have done this before but the break has made it harder. Never mind. I have plenty more days to make it easy again. Still making a few mistakes with my diet. There were a couple of days when I was in meetings etc so wasn’t able to sit there and chomp on an apple etc but hopefully the light meals at night helped.

Tomorrow is the big day! The Canberra times Fun Run. I have told my friends that if I am going to slow then to just go ahead of me but I have given them clear instructions that I want to finish first. Ha ha!

Easy as A, B C??????????????????

If any of you are reading this and would like a bit of a challenge then I suggest you put down your mouse and lie on the floor as you would if you were doing stomach crunches. Instead of bending your legs stretch them out together without letting them hit the floor. Squeeze your stomach muscles, your butt muscles (they are in there somewhere) and proceed to write the alphabet tracing the outline of the letters with your legs. If you are unable to get down on the floor perhaps you could try doing this exercise sitting on a chair holding on to the side of it so you are able to lift your legs off the ground!

Try to get through the alphabet as far as you can and repeat this exercise twice. Then while still lying on the floor ask a family member to stand at the end of you and move around a ball (or a cushion off the lounge) and follow them with your outstretched hands while doing crunches. Do this twice also…

Then in a couple days time sneeze and see how much it hurts! That is what I did on Monday as part of my program and today I really felt it when I sneezed!

Yep that’s right! Yesterday was the start of my newly written program (by Latoya) the loveliest trainer I have ever met ( I am only being nice in case she reads this)… When we discussed what to put in my new program I specifically said that I wanted a variety and wanted to be constantly moving. The idea of lying there lifting a bunch of heavy weights and then waiting did not appeal to me and makes me lose interest. Basically I want and need to be constantly entertained… Anyway my program is quite fun (if exercise can be that)! I have done two days of it now and my body is starting to hurt all over again. This is because a) I haven’t exercised “properly” in a while and b) because I am doing some exercises that I have not done before.

I continued with my physio yesterday and only wish that I could find all of my receipts for my private health insurance. Looks like it will be another clean out the car day again on Saturday.

Work is flat out, uni is crazy, getting up at 4:30am is just like the old days but if I didn’t have a million things going on at once I would go crazy!

Let me know how your Alphabet tracing goes. I hope it hurts – in the nicest possible way of course.

Oh no! Seems I did have a good time

So the results are in! I ashamedly put on 3kgs. I told you guys I was having a good time. Somehow I managed to lose some size around my hips. Not sure on the exact measurements. Lost some muscle in my arms. My neck remained the same. Who needs a skinny neck anyway!

Gosh so my goal of 12kgs in the next 10 weeks might be altered as I need to also lose the 3kgs I put on. I am going to aim for an all up loss of 8 AND to maintain an intense level of exercise.

I told Quinten and as he said "It could have been worse"..... So true... BUT I did the math and if I put on 3kgs every ten weeks my weight will have increased by 15kgs in a year.. No wonder your weight creeps up on you and then Bang! you are overweight...

So nervous right now!

I am so nervous right now. Tomorrow is my assessment for my next membership at the gym! There will be a weigh in and a bit of a measure and we will chat about what I want to achieve in the next 10 weeks. A guy at work bet me that I couldn’t lose 12kgs in 10 weeks so my friends that is my goal. Pooks has been put on notice that the fun and games have stopped and it will be back to watching every single thing I eat and drink. I don’t mean watching the bad food go into my mouth but watching the fat and calorie count.. ha ha!

Latoya is doing my assessment. I thought that I would go with a girl. No one else has done an assessment so I am a bit nervous. Also a bit nervous to see the “damage” that the last few weeks have caused.

I read with interest today that a few of the contestants from the Biggest Loser have put a heap of their weight back in. I trust the source as it is a good friend of mine. Delivers the news every week.. WHO magazine in fact. I chose to believe that it is all true. I feel sad for them but hopefully they will get back on track..

Anyway I have to go and watch the rest of the footy but I will definitely let you all know how I go!

Just some little pictures for you

I am loving my new mobile phone right now. Just some pics for you from the coast the other week and a dish I cooked today to show my healthy eating. I served it on baby spinach. I don't cook the baby spinach anymore because I don't like it soggy. Weird I know but whatever floats your boat. :) I put it into three portions so have some for lunch tomorrow as well.

A kick up the butt to put me in the right direction

Gosh reading my previous entry I was a bit down wasn’t I? I noticed that I said that I didn’t need support but I don’t think that I meant it the way it sounded so I apologise if I offended anyone. I think that I was searching for a way to motivate myself and by telling myself that I could do it was supposed to be reassuring. What I really needed though was a kick in the butt and I got one.

After I got this I made a conscious decision to go back to Flames to complete my membership, go to the markets and stock up on fresh food and meat and to really think about what I wanted to do next. My membership with Flames was due to end in a few days and I was umminggg and ahhhing about what to do. In my mind I was strong enough to do it by myself and to train myself. I mean I had lost almost 20kgs and I was getting fit and strong.. But was I ready to go at alone? Well quite clearly I wasn’t and recognised this with 4 days to go on my membership with Flames. Sure I had been swimming in the mornings and I had been walking the dogs etc but I wasn’t really putting as much effort into it as I probably could have. It was becoming too easy to sleep in until 6:30am every morning and even though it was really nice it probably wasn’t the best thing for me.

As they promise in their ad’s Flames had been calling me to see why I hadn’t been training and when I told them that I had been trying to do it by myself they were supportive and made sure I was staying on track as best as I could. The condition of my skin is just one indicator that it wasn’t going as well as planned as blemishes were starting to appear, my hair wasn’t as shiny and I was getting constant headaches from not eating correctly and skipping some meals – too busy too cook you see… WELL my kick in the butt came from someone that I wont name but they reminded me that I do have a very real need to keep going and that I need to get off my arse and to continue training and if I fall I just have to get up and keep going. All of the things basically that I knew myself…

So with this enlightening event I spoke with someone in my family that reads this blog. I explained that perhaps I am not strong enough yet to do it by myself and that perhaps Flames is the best place for me at the moment. Considering that I still have shit tins of weight to lose I really think that it is.

This Saturday will be my assessment and the start of my next 10 week membership. My boss at work has been giving me motherly lectures about needing to prioritise all aspects of my life so with this in mind I will once again make the next 10 weeks a priority. Incorporating work and uni as well, kind of. :)

Speaking of uni I am on study leave today and have an exam to do so with that I best go and study.

I will say though that the journey never really ends does it? It is a constant battle and even though those dodgy “take a pill and wake as Elle McPherson” ads look inviting it isn’t realistic.

Note: I should point out that when I did go back to the gym I lifted some weights. Half the amount of what I reached during the challenge and yes I was crying like a baby from the pain two days after. You lose your fitness and strength so quickly!