Be Afraid Day...

Jan 7

My eyes open and I try to take stock of my body. Sore? Without question. My abs, both upper & lower, are achy. My legs? Very unwilling to take themselves off the bed. Even my arms and shoulders are sore. They say day 2 is often worse and they're right.

Time wins the 'stand-off' and I'm forced to roll out of bed and get ready for work. At least it's casual day, and I can slip into some jeans. Not just any jeans. Jeans I haven't worn in over 2 YEARS! And, they're even a bit loose! Very very cool!

The scales still refuse to show what G and others are noticing. Maybe I should pay more attention to my measurements instead of the digital read out. Still, it frustrates me.

One of the girls at work notices that I'm looking different and she asks if I've lost weight. That felt really, really good. It's nice to be able to say that I have lost weight. And, it's super cool that others are starting to notice.

Home to a nice healthy dinner, TV and my blog.

Night all!

Jan 6 "B Day"

I slept badly last night. It often happens when I know I have to get up early the next day. Add a few disturbing dreams to the mix and it's no wonder I wake up feeling exhausted. Fortunately, I organised my clothes last night before dropping into bed. I pull on my workout gear, zip up my bag and head to the kitchen to prepare my lunch and my pre-workout breakfast. Bananas are hard for me to eat first up so I cut one in half and throw it and a nectarine in the ziplock. I'll eat them on the way.

It's cool this morning and it looks a bit like rain. Traffic is still pretty reasonable. Some people must still be on vacation. Suits me fine. A little aircon, some tunes to get my blood pumping and an easy trip across the Harbour Bridge. Not a bad start to the day.  I wonder if it will just be me or if A will be joining us today.

It looks like it's gonna be me and J. She's got the new circuit worked out for me. We start with the familiar warm up of running back & forth across the Centre. Stretches and then straight into the new stuff. Elbows on the ball, and rolling forward to stretch my lower back. 2 sets of 15. Then, with my lower back on the ball, it's curl ups with a twist to target my obliques. 2 sets of 15. Hip extensions- 2 sets of 15.  Are you noticing a pattern!? Finally, we finish that bit with a new stretch. I steady myself against the wall, bend my knees slightly and then raise up on my toes. It's meant to target a muscle in my foot and ankle. Seems ok, but by the second set of 15, I'm feeling it.

Then the real fun begins. The new circuits are predominantly legs and core. We start with the 'medicine ball dead lift'- essentially a squat to pick up and put down a medicine ball. Yep you guessed it- 15! Followed by sumo squats- standing with legs wider than shoulder width apart with the heels pointing towards each other. How many you ask? 15.

When J shows me the next exercise I give her a look of complete disbelief! She smiles and demonstrates it for me. She lies face down on one Swiss ball with it positioned under her chest. Then, she lifts her feet and places them on the 2nd ball. After steadying herself, she rolls the ball under her feet towards the one she's resting on and then rolls it back. It's like a hamstring curl but instead of lying flat on my back, I'm gonna be suspended between 2 balls on my stomach!! This is insane! My attempt did not go so well. I couldn't get the hang of balancing.

Let's put it all together, she says.

Yeah, let's, I think to myself.

So, here we go: 15 medicine ball lifts, 15 sumo squats, 15 jack-knife rolls, run back and forth and start all over.  The second set of Jack knife swiss ball rolls go better in the balance department, but my legs are killing me.

Time to move this party into the weight room. I get my wish. It's finally time to use V's weight bench! But, instead of lying on my back doing, some wicked chest presses, J's got me lying on my stomach, with only my legs dangling off. Now, using my glutes, I've got to lift my legs level with the rest of my back. Another 2 sets of 15.

I haven't felt this bad during a workout for a long time. New exercises are always challenging, J tells me. And, she's preaching to the converted. I'm definitely a believer.

We finish with a cobra stretch. I lie on the floor on my stomach, lift my chest and squeeze my shoulder blades together. 2 sets of 15. It's harder than it sounds. Stretches to warm down. As I sit on the ball to stretch out my neck muscles, I get a painful head-rush. I can feel each heart beat as it pulses through my brain. J asks if I'm ok. I know if I breath deeply, I'll get through it.

By the time I finish the stretches, my head is back to normal. Then, I collapse in a heap on the floor. J gets the Bliss cd sorted...but it seems to have a mind of it's own. It sticks a bit and it sounds like a DJ remix! Both of us have a giggle and then J changes it. Man, I'm needing this 3 mins of BLISS. Today has been really tough. I was right to think 'B-day' could stand for "Be afraid day'! Oh, where was A when I needed him! He could have saved me from this circuit --well, at least prolonged the inevitable for another few days!

I say good bye to J and make my way slowly down the stairs. My body aches in a whole bunch of new places!

Later in the day, I try sucking my guts in, but I can't. Guess that's the true measure of a good core muscle work out.

My workmates gang up on me- and 2 of them order pad se ew for lunch. I wonder when I'll be able to eat Thai again. Certainly won't be for a while. My birthday deadline is looming!

Home for a long, luxurious bath and a good book. Then TV. Salmon for dinner and early to bed.




Jan 5

I'm not as sore as I thought I'd be after yesterday's full on '60min 4x through the Tuesday circuits' session with J. Actually I am quite impressed with myself for getting through it. 2 months ago, I would have paled at the thought of all of those squats! Today, I can say I DID IT! Too cool!

Typical day at work. My work mate has a thing for vegetarian pad se ew. She sits beside me, and as soon as she unfolds the flaps on the takeaway container the aroma fills our pod. OMG. Thai used to be one of my staples. In fact, from 2005 to 2009 I'd say I prolly had Thai for lunch 98% of the time and pad se ew was one of my 3 favourites. It is SOO hard to look forward to my healthy lite cottage cheese with the smell of her lunch in the air. Sigh...

After work, G and I pop by Woollies to pick up some more supplies. They're out of mangos. Bummer! I've been loving my daily mango. Instead I have to substitute with kiwis, bananas and nectarines. Thought I'd branch out a bit so I popped a package of tofu into the trolly. Might be nice to shake things up a bit. J mentioned quinoa as a pasta substitute, but I think I'll save that for next time!

Another dinner of scrambled eggs and sauteed vegetables. YUM. A bit of TV and it's time to hit the blog. Gotta catch up on the last few days. It takes me longer than I think. I don't make it to bed until 10.45pm.

New Year's Eve & the first few days of 2011

Tuesday  Jan 4

Back at work. Always tough after a great weekend with S. I've got my work out bag packed for tonight's session with J. Should be interesting.

Work. Today was tough. Difficult customers. No motivation. Time seemed to drag on, until about 3pm when it started to speed up. My workout was approaching faster than I wanted it to. As I walked down to the car, I thought about how easy it would be to just head home. Not that long ago, I would have. Hang in there. My destiny awaits.

As usual, we go through my food diary. J cringes when she gets to the bit about McDonalds. We talk about my failure to reduce the sugar that I'm adding to my hot drinks. I explain that sometimes knowing I have that bit of sweetness to look forward to keeps me from eating worse things, like chocolate, lollies or pizza shapes. Sigh. I know it's not ideal, but it seems like the lesser of the 2 evils. At least I'm in control of how much sugar I consume in my hot drinks. I mention that weekends with my daughter make it tricky to exercise so we try to include some physical activity to make up for it. I still haven't mastered the 'eating every 4 hours' rule, so I ask J if maybe I should try eating every 2 hrs: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack etc to try to 'trick' myself into meeting that 4 hour gap. She thinks it's worth a try as long as I'm careful with portion sizes. 

My homework for this week: adding probiotics to my diet, reducing non-vegetable carbs at night, eating only 1/2 of a home made pizza for dinner, exercising regularly, getting to bed before 10pm more regularly and reducing the sugar in my hot drinks. Maybe I should make myself a chart and give myself gold stars when I achieve my targets!! LOL 

On to the work out. J advises me that she wants to do what we did last Thursday in 90 minutes and speed it up so I complete it in 60 minutes! Far out! We start with the normal warm up -and I use the word 'normal' loosely! I still feel like a git when I'm doing it! 

Then 4 times through the Tuesday circuits of: squat & hold, bar bell lift, shoulder weights whilst sitting on the Swiss ball, and then running to the other side of the Centre and back. Then, straight into the scarecrow, the zombie and the sword play! Followed by 2 sets of hamstring curls (aka hamstring hell),  core exercises and then into the stretches to warm down. Unbelievable!! I managed to fit in everything but the transverse core muscle exercises! WOW!! 

J congratulates me on a job well done. Then, with a twinkle in her eye she tells me that she will have a new circuit sorted for me for Thursday. She calls it a 'B' day- one that I'll be able to alternate the Tuesday routine with.  In this case, the Tuesday routine would technically be 'A' day. But knowing J as I do, in my mind, I'm calling it 'Be Afraid day'! *grins*

A quick shower, dinner, TV and bed! G thoughtfully rubs some Deep Heat into my left shoulder and bicep so I won't be too sore for tomorrow. Ahhhhh. Nothing like crawling into freshly washed sheets after a long day.

Monday  Jan 3

Overcast and rainy today. Looks like S will get the 'home day' that she loves so much. Bit of colouring, bit of TV watching,  bit of craft and, of course, we had to fit in a few games of Barbie Island Princess on the computer. 

I'm feeling a bit tired and worn out. It's been an eventful weekend! I still struggle with eating the right foods. It's so easy to reach out and pop something 'bad' into my mouth. Sometimes, the cravings are so over-whelming and it takes all of my self-control to not succumb. Part of my brain still thinks that eating sugar will make me feel better emotionally. I wish I could find a way to change this. 

By the time I get back from dropping S off, I'm feeling glum and restless. I know I should exercise, but I just can't bring myself to do it. G and I catch up on some recorded programs and head off to bed.

Sunday  Jan 2

S pops in about 7.15 to wake us up. The weather doesn't look too bad, so we decide to pack a picnic breakfast and head off to the beach. A perfect way to ring in day 2 of the New Year! Armed with eggs, bacon, onions, fruit and a thermos of coffee we're on our way.

The key to finding parking at any Sydney beach is to arrive early. We do. And, there waiting for us, is a picnic table close to the BBQs- almost as if we booked it in advance! S is hungry. G starts up the BBQ and a few minutes later, we're munching on breakfast with a million dollar view. Perfect!

I'm a water baby, and when S decides she's ready to head down to the beach, I'm keen to follow. She's slim and tiny which means she gets cold very quickly. We decide to make a sandcastle first then go for a swim.  I can feel the difference that the exercise is making- especially the killer squat and hold. I don't like getting covered in sand, so I squat to fill the bucket with sand and to shape the sandcastle. Very pleased with myself!

The water is nice, but the breeze is a bit cool. S & I only last for about 15 minutes. Off to meet G who is relaxing in the park, so we can dry off and get warm. Home time. S settles in for a 2 hour nap and the 2 of us relax in front of the TV. 

We have another special event planned for tonight. We have tickets to a sneak preview showing of Disney's new movie Tangled. S is BESIDE herself! G gives her a princess manicure. We put her into her Tangled dress and head out to the theatre. Because it's a special event, they have a kid's colouring station set up and a face-painter! S is rapt! We take 2 Tangled growth charts so that she can take one home to share with her baby sister.

The movie itself is FANTASTIC!! Disney's done it again. We laughed. We (ok, S & I cried). Awesome! Highly recommend it!

Home to bed. Another wonderful day.

Saturday  Jan 1 New Year's Day

Welcome to 2011!! The day dawns hot and sunny- a true tribute to a new year and a new decade!

I'm steering clear of New Year's resolutions this year. I figure the lifestyle change that I started back in Oct 2010 is huge enough for me. And, if I can stick to this, 2011 is gonna be the best year YET! Imagine starting a new decade slim, trim and healthy? Too good to be true- well, it used to be. Now I'm well on the way!

After breakfast, we decide to head down to the park to test out S's new Barbie bicycle. She's a little hesitant at first, but once she realises that she can do it, her excitement builds! We make it all the way around the park without any major incidents. After a couple of kerb crashes, S gets the hang of pushing back and down to activate the back brakes! 

The sun is hot and the wind is warm and dry. I figure we should head to the local McDonalds to a) get into some air-conditioning cuz  this born and bred Canadian is suffering & b) to celebrate S's efforts with a cold drink or an ice cream. I am desperate for a medium quarter pounder meal with a frozen Coke, but I settle for a salad with no dressing and a McSnack wrap. I didn't realise the McSnack wrap was essentially a mini Big Mac- a oval-shaped meat patty, with Big Mac sauce & lettuce tucked into a wrap. Had I known, I might have made a different choice. I added 6 of S's fries and a few sips of her frozen raspberry Fanta to round out my meal. 

It's tricky to execute a structured exercise routine when we have S. Because we only get to see each other for 3 days every fortnight, we much prefer to hang out together while she's awake.  I know I'll pay for this time off next week when I meet up with J on Tuesday night, but for now, it's worth it.

To make up for this, we decide to play our new Nintendo Wii game 'Just Dance 2'. It's wicked fun! The 3 of us totally get into it, and before you know it, we're all hot and sweaty again! *grins* Time to settle down and watch a movie. I make some popcorn (no butter / no salt) and we all curl up on our queensize bed to watch Happily N'ever After 2. I last maybe 35 mins before I drift off to dreamland.

Then dinner, bath, and off to bed for our little one. And, we're not too far behind!

Friday  Dec 31 New Year's Eve

Ok, I was expecting to be sore today, but man, trying to do up my bra behind my back is next to impossible! Talk about working new muscle groups- far out!! 

I only have to make it through a half day today-thank goodness! We start the day with another Gloria Jeans coffee and then it's off to work we go! It was much quieter this morning. People must have been more concerned with getting prepared for tonight's festivities. Suits me just fine.

I spend a bit of time going over my application for our new Emerging Leaders program. I'm not holding my breath for an interview, but I'm keen to show that I'm interested in furthering my career. I reckon any initiative in our current environment has got to be a good thing. It takes me longer than I expect and I don't make it out of office until 1.15pm. Not happy. It's going to cut into my grocery shopping time and I'm expecting it to be 'ugly' in the supermarket with everyone getting their last minute New Year's Eve nibblies. Sigh...I wish I was one of them. But, instead, I'm on a mission for fruit and other healthy foods.

I pick up what I need and head off to the usual meeting place to pick up S. She is spending the weekend with us and I'm excited to see her. I wonder what Santa brought to her other house? She's just as excited to see me as I am to see her. We talk about her Christmas presents on the way back to my place.

Dinner is home-made pizza. I use Lebanese bread as the base and add 1 tbsp of pizza sauce & 1 tbsp of lite ricotta cheese. Then we add the toppings that we like and pop it in the oven. YUM! It satisfies my craving for Dominos pizza on a thin & crispy base. I really want NYE snacks and I figure having a pizza makes me feel a bit more 'normal'. We watch a bit of TV until it's time to head to the local park. We have a good view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and we get there in time for the 9pm Family Fireworks. AMAZING! S sits on G's shoulders and has the best seat in the house. The only thing missing was the appearance of Tinker Bell at the finale, but maybe that kind of magic only happens in Disneyland.

Then it's home for a hot drink- tea for us and Milo for S. We tuck her into bed and settle in to wait for the midnight fireworks. Sydney's NYE display is phenomenal! I've never seen anything like it! And every year, it takes my breath away. Amazing. I stayed up past 1am to finish last week's blog, then it's off to dreamland for me. Sleeping in is a rare commodity when S is around.