Saturday Dec 11
I know I have to work off last night's indulgence, so G got up and went for a run, and I steeled myself to try the new 'Tuesday' circuit. It didn't seem to take as long as it had when J and I did it. My quads are still unhappy with the 5 second hold, but I got through them.
Breakfast, shower, gift-wrapping and then off to the Forum to meet up with some amazing people for lunch. Finally, Sydney has blessed us with a beautiful sunny summer's day. Rocket salad and 3 pieces of pizza later, I was stuffed. 2 days of bad eating. Well, not so much bad, as indulgent. I found it easy to choose a cappuccino over an ice cream. And it wasn't even difficult to watch everyone else devouring their cones. Last night was enough of a treat for me.
We had a wonderful time!! It's always so lovely to catch up with people who are good company and great fun.
Home to relax, drink some water and prepare for the arrival of S. I'm so excited to see her this weekend! I love her to bits!! We're going to make a gingerbread house tomorrow and she's decided that she will leave a piece of it for Santa instead of leaving him a cookie. Too cute!
Friday Dec 10
Date night tonight and I can't wait!! Dinner out and then Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Brilliant. It's an early birthday celebration for G. I've got a steak in my sights. Haven't had a good piece of red meat in ages!! Can't wait!
I fully intended to enjoy dinner tonight, so I had a smaller lunch. And man, was it worth it! 300g of rib eye steak, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies and pepper sauce. OMG. YUM!! Water to drink. Don't want to go too overboard.... then I saw the dessert menu. We decided on mixed berry crepes to share. It was heaven. Vanilla ice cream, mixed berries and drizzled with Barvarian chocolate. After so long, it tasted amazing. But I was really pleased that we shared it. Honestly? I'm not sure I could eat a dessert that big by myself anymore. To me, that is also progress.
Another late night and it was wonderful.
Thursday Dec 9
5.20am and it's that time again. Into my workout gear, packed my corporate clothes, lunch in my backpack and it's off to Sacred Centre for my normal group PT session. I tried to eat a banana on my way, and I made it through 3/4 of it. I'm counting on it to make a difference. Today we were joined by another, bringing our number to 4.
I made it through both circuits today! Guess my body remembers the past 5 wks without too much trouble! I'm relieved. I'd hate to think 1 week off would take me back to where I started. And, GO BANANA!! It made a huge difference! I didn't feel nauseas or lightheaded! Banana is a win! Thanks J!
My muscles are still a bit sore, but there is something satisfying in that feeling -like I've done a good job.
Tonight we're off to Westfields to get our Christmas shopping sorted. Surprisingly, it's not as busy as I expected it would be. G wants a new pair of running shoes for her birthday, so we stopped by Athlete's Foot to get her fitted. Now she's excited about running again. I'm pretty sure it will take more than new shoes to get ME excited about running!!!
Wednesday Dec 8
Well, I'd hate to see what my body would have felt like if I hadn't spent some quality time with Raddox last night! I'm still pretty sore especially in my arms and shoulders. Not looking forward to hoisting my backpack over my shoulders this morning. 2 kgs of water + lunch + my school books. Sigh...
College was great! We watched a couple of groups do their presentations. Very cool. Bit serious, but I guess it IS an ethics course!! Made me wonder if ours was a bit on the light side, but my other group members reckon that keeping it light will make a nice contrast.
It's generally difficult to fall asleep as soon as I get home. So, by the time I got to bed, settled in, read our daily horoscope and turned on our night time listening music, it was at least 11.30pm. Now only 5 nights to make it to bed before 10!
Tuesday Dec 7
Workout bag-check. Lunch-check. Sore muscles-check. Hi-ho, Hi-ho it's off to work I go. It's beginning to feel a bit like groundhog's day.
I'm hoping J doesn't work me too hard tonight. I still can't seem to shake my ear infection and I have a lingering cough. I changed into my workout gear at work, which was a little uncomfortable. Sweats, runners and a workout shirt is quite different to the suit and corporate stuff I normally wear!
We spent some time going over my food diary. J is still pretty happy with what I'm eating. I still haven't mastered the 'eating every 4 hrs rule' (yesterday was particularly bad) and getting to bed before 10. So, they're both back on the list for this week's goals.
For a warm up, J suggested I run to the wall and back a few times, but since there were chairs set up in the middle of the room, I thought it might be more fun to run around them. J started off with 4 and was counting as I ran past. By the 3 lap, she's like- go for 5! Sneaky!
J decided it was time to take my measurements and weigh me on the scales at the centre. Then we moved into the small white weight room. I wasn't sure what she had in store, but I knew she had developed a new routine based on what was highlighted in the overhead squat assessment. Normal stretches. So far so good. Then it was on to the new circuit.
Zone 1 Swiss Ball Wall Squat- hold for 5 secs = screaming quads
Kneeling Barbell Bent Over Row- kneeling and raising the barbell from my hips to my chest
Swiss Ball Single Leg Dumbbell Lateral Raises- sounds innocent, but my shoulders-especially my left one, were certainly feeling it!
Swiss Ball Knee Flexion- I lovingly call this one 'hamstring hell'
I have to repeat the above exercises 3 times (for now) and each set has 12 reps. I'm sure the number of repetitions or the number of circuits will change over time! By the 3rd time through, I was in agony. My arms felt like lead. It's amazing to me how much of a sweat I can work up doing exercises that don't involve running or cardio.
I decided to ask J if there was anything she could suggest that might make me feel better after our group workout sessions, cuz I didn't feel bad after today's session. She suggested that I drink more water during the workout, and to eat a piece of fruit -like a banana on my way to the Centre. My dinners are relatively small so having something to eat might just tide me over until breakfast. I'm not a banana fan at the best of times, but I could see logic in what J was saying.
Home to Raddox, Harry Potter and a 2 hr soak. Hopefully, this will take some of the soreness out of my arms so that I don't wake up aching tomorrow!! I know I've got to type up the script for our group project, so ended up getting to bed later than I intended! Only 6 nights left to try to get to bed before 10!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Temptation
Monday Dec 6
5.20am. It's my rostered day off, yet here I am, sliding out of bed and into my workout gear. J suggested that I come to Monday's group PT session since I wasn't feeling well enough to make our normal group PT session on Thursday. I was pleased when she suggested it, but then exercising always sounds good in theory!! Truth be told, it's a beautiful time of the day.
This time, I was wised up to the 'running up the stairs' business and I only jogged up once! All 3 of us turned up today. We did the new warm up of throwing the ball to each other and then running to the wall and back. After repeating that 4 times, we started on our stretches and then headed to the mats. J introduced me to a new personal favourite (not!!). Lying on my back, I had to hold the gym ball between my knees and then raise my knees to my chest and then lower the ball (without letting it touch the ground) almost like a reverse crunch. I knew that exercise would linger for days. My thigh and groin muscles were screeching by the end of that.
Then into the circuits. Triceps twice. Then onto the bicep. Since J changed the weights on the bicep curl, I'm feeling it a lot more. Getting through 20 the first time was tricky enough, but by round 2, I was really struggling. Plus, I'm feeling lousy. I'm light headed & a bit nauseas- just like last time. I thoroughly enjoyed our 3 minutes of bliss at the end. There's something wonderful about lying on a yoga mat, with soft music playing, lights out, breathing in the energy of the Centre.
Faltered a bit on the first step, but I wasn't as sore as I thought I might be after a week of no exercise. Had to sit in the car for about 10mins waiting for my light-headedness to pass. I can't understand why I'm feeling so lousy. Exercise is supposed to be good for me -increased blood to my brain, better circulation. Weird.
Drove home without incident, put on some laundry, made my breakfast and took it outside to the table with my copy of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. 2 hours and a few hundred pages later, I reckoned it might be time to be a bit more productive. I hung some laundry on the line, put another load in the washer and checked my shopping list. It would be a good opportunity to get some Xmas and Birthday shopping in for G.
Retail therapy is great. I wandered through Big W for a couple of hours, scored some excellent pressies, and I even checked out the workout gear. Think I might have to invest in some more of that now that I'm working out more.
The hardest bit was the lolly aisle. My weakness. I was there to pick up stocking stuffers. It would have been so easy to slip something into my basket, eat it quickly and destroy the evidence before G got home. It's not worth it though. It only hurts me in the end. So, with much deliberation, I picked up only 2 items- one for S & one for G. It probably didn't help that I didn't eat lunch before I left for the shops. I was quite 'chuffed' (that's Australian slang for 'impresssed') with myself.
Sunday Dec 5
Drove today-free parking! Class was a little more serious today. We had an assessment on our focusing and the last bit of our written assessment. Then, we constructed a class Mandala. Jane divided a large circle into 15 sections like pieces of a pie, and we each decorated our own slice. I brought pictures of Canada. Some people drew and others pasted on photographs. I wasn't sure how it was going to look as a finished product, but it came together nicely! Very cool! Then we hung it up on the wall in our normal classroom.
We have a group project due for our Wednesday night ethics class, so I stayed back with 2 of my classmates. An hour and lots of giggles later, we had it organised. This is going to be lots of fun!
Since being unwell, I haven't felt much like exercise, so I've been very careful to stick to my eating plan. It's tricky. Sometimes 'comfort food' is just the thing when you feel sick!
It's lovely to be at home with G, watching tv and just hanging out. It's been a full on week.
Saturday Dec 4
Had a wonderful night with friends last night! Lots of laughs, great company and a wonderful home-cooked meal. Perfect! But, it's time for me to get out of bed and get organised. It's the second weekend of my college intensive. It was lovely to be chauffered to college today.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my college classes-especially the transpersonal aspect. We learned 'focusing' and touched on art therapy and symbolism. Pretty amazing day!
Broiled salmon with a salad of tomato, cucumber & lite cottage cheese. Then time for some TV.
5.20am. It's my rostered day off, yet here I am, sliding out of bed and into my workout gear. J suggested that I come to Monday's group PT session since I wasn't feeling well enough to make our normal group PT session on Thursday. I was pleased when she suggested it, but then exercising always sounds good in theory!! Truth be told, it's a beautiful time of the day.
This time, I was wised up to the 'running up the stairs' business and I only jogged up once! All 3 of us turned up today. We did the new warm up of throwing the ball to each other and then running to the wall and back. After repeating that 4 times, we started on our stretches and then headed to the mats. J introduced me to a new personal favourite (not!!). Lying on my back, I had to hold the gym ball between my knees and then raise my knees to my chest and then lower the ball (without letting it touch the ground) almost like a reverse crunch. I knew that exercise would linger for days. My thigh and groin muscles were screeching by the end of that.
Then into the circuits. Triceps twice. Then onto the bicep. Since J changed the weights on the bicep curl, I'm feeling it a lot more. Getting through 20 the first time was tricky enough, but by round 2, I was really struggling. Plus, I'm feeling lousy. I'm light headed & a bit nauseas- just like last time. I thoroughly enjoyed our 3 minutes of bliss at the end. There's something wonderful about lying on a yoga mat, with soft music playing, lights out, breathing in the energy of the Centre.
Faltered a bit on the first step, but I wasn't as sore as I thought I might be after a week of no exercise. Had to sit in the car for about 10mins waiting for my light-headedness to pass. I can't understand why I'm feeling so lousy. Exercise is supposed to be good for me -increased blood to my brain, better circulation. Weird.
Drove home without incident, put on some laundry, made my breakfast and took it outside to the table with my copy of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. 2 hours and a few hundred pages later, I reckoned it might be time to be a bit more productive. I hung some laundry on the line, put another load in the washer and checked my shopping list. It would be a good opportunity to get some Xmas and Birthday shopping in for G.
Retail therapy is great. I wandered through Big W for a couple of hours, scored some excellent pressies, and I even checked out the workout gear. Think I might have to invest in some more of that now that I'm working out more.
The hardest bit was the lolly aisle. My weakness. I was there to pick up stocking stuffers. It would have been so easy to slip something into my basket, eat it quickly and destroy the evidence before G got home. It's not worth it though. It only hurts me in the end. So, with much deliberation, I picked up only 2 items- one for S & one for G. It probably didn't help that I didn't eat lunch before I left for the shops. I was quite 'chuffed' (that's Australian slang for 'impresssed') with myself.
Sunday Dec 5
Drove today-free parking! Class was a little more serious today. We had an assessment on our focusing and the last bit of our written assessment. Then, we constructed a class Mandala. Jane divided a large circle into 15 sections like pieces of a pie, and we each decorated our own slice. I brought pictures of Canada. Some people drew and others pasted on photographs. I wasn't sure how it was going to look as a finished product, but it came together nicely! Very cool! Then we hung it up on the wall in our normal classroom.
We have a group project due for our Wednesday night ethics class, so I stayed back with 2 of my classmates. An hour and lots of giggles later, we had it organised. This is going to be lots of fun!
Since being unwell, I haven't felt much like exercise, so I've been very careful to stick to my eating plan. It's tricky. Sometimes 'comfort food' is just the thing when you feel sick!
It's lovely to be at home with G, watching tv and just hanging out. It's been a full on week.
Saturday Dec 4
Had a wonderful night with friends last night! Lots of laughs, great company and a wonderful home-cooked meal. Perfect! But, it's time for me to get out of bed and get organised. It's the second weekend of my college intensive. It was lovely to be chauffered to college today.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my college classes-especially the transpersonal aspect. We learned 'focusing' and touched on art therapy and symbolism. Pretty amazing day!
Broiled salmon with a salad of tomato, cucumber & lite cottage cheese. Then time for some TV.
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