Monday Dec 27
Loving this whole public holiday gig! A sleep in until 8.30. Breakfast. A healthy dose of TV. Then it's off to the shops. Our fridge is bare. No healthy food in sight. The shops are packed and both of us are glad that we only have to face the crowds in Woollies.
It's nice to have supplies. I make myself a healthy pizza (Lebanese bread, ricotta cheese, pizza sauce, mushrooms, onions, red capsicum and a bit of minced beef leftover from last night's dinner). YUM! Then, more relaxing in front of the TV.
G is up for another run, but I am feeling pretty sore from yesterday's exertions. I intend to write my blog, make dinner and check out iTunes this afternoon. Tomorrow is soon enough for me to don my workout gear. It will be another 90 minute session. Perhaps the Thursday circuits and 30 mins on the treadmill.
G'nite all!
Sunday Dec 26 Boxing Day
Ah yes. The day of reckoning. The day of Atonement. A sleep in, a healthy breakfast, a bit of a relax in front of the TV and then it's time to pay the piper. The voice of Christmas Past (which sounded remarkably like the deep baritones of Rocky Road) whispered in my ear. Reluctantly I got off the lounge, changed into my workout gear and got ready to pay my dues.
I knew a circuit would not be enough to right yesterdays wrongs, so I started off with a brisk 5 minute & 500m walk on the treadmill. Jumped off to stretch. Then back onto the treadmill. G always does the weight-loss program so I thought I'd give it a try. 3 minutes at speed 3. 3 minutes at speed 6. So far so good. 3 minutes at speed 8. Next thing I know I'm running. No-that's not a typo. I'm not jogging. Not walking quickly. I'm running!! I last for 2 minutes. Then I jump onto the side rails and rest for a minute. The treadmill jumps up to speed 10. Speed 10!! What am I thinking!? I take a deep breath and jump on. I last for 1 minute. Jump off. Rest for 2. Manage 90 secs at speed 8. Rest for a 90 secs and then slow the treadmill down to 6 and walk for the next 5 minutes. Then slow it down to 4.5 and walk for another 3.
Now, it's time for the Tuesday circuit. Agony. I have no idea how I'm going to hold each squat for 5 secs, so rather than rely on myself to count honestly, I grab my iPhone and set the timer. 5 seconds. Man, it takes ages and the first set nearly kills me. However, aside from the killer shoulder weights, it seems to get easier as I go along. For a brief moment, I entertain the thought of holding the last squat of the last set for 10 secs, but, with a nod to J, I stop after 5. I know she would have pushed me those extra 5 seconds and my thoughts flash forward to my upcoming 90 minute training session this Thursday. One look at my Christmas food diary and I know she's not going to let me off easy!
I do my stretches to warm down. I'm drenched. The only cure for this is another bath! The water is hot and I gratefully slide into it, book in hand. The treadmill beats an easy rhythm in the front room as G steps up to pay for her indulgences yesterday.
Dinner. TV and early to bed.
Saturday Dec 25 Christmas!
It's Christmas Day! We're off to spend Christmas with our close friends. Their son is G's godson. Regardless of the weather in Sydney, I know it's destined to be stinking hot out west where they live. So, after my breakfast of yogurt & muesli (might as well start the day out right!!) and a refreshing shower, I hop into some cool, cotton clothes.
We organise the seafood in our cooler bag, the phrase 'off like a bucket of prawns in the sun' scrolling through our minds like a mantra. I carefully place all of the cooler freezy things strategically around the prawns, salmon, steak and pasta salads. For good measure, we grab some ice blocks and slip them in the noticeable holes. Food poisoning is HIGH on my list of things to avoid.
I'd made the decision to relax my eating regime for today. I mean, it's Christmas right? Surely, I can be a bit more lenient with myself- especially if I promise to work it off later. 2 bowls of Doritos, a plate of Jatz crackers and some crinkle crisps/ chips are placed within easy reach on the coffee table. Be strong, I tell myself. And it works. For a while. I finally succumb and have 2 Jatz crackers with a tiny smear of French onion dip and 2 very small handfuls of crinkle chips.
Then it's lunch. Yum! Salmon steak, 2 prawn skewers, 5 prawns dipped in Thousand Island dressing, 1 tbsp of creamy potato salad, 2 tbsp of creamy pasta salad, a large serving of green salad and a dinner roll. Normally, I would have added a piece of T-bone steak, maybe a sausage, at least another bread roll or 2 with butter, and definitely more creamy pasta salad. So, all in all, I think I did not too badly. I drank my PiMag water that I'd brought from home and reluctantly turned down some Sprite. Tough to do on such a hot day!
When dessert came out at 5pm, I didn't fare so well. Rocky Road. Not just any old Rocky Road, Darrell Lea milk chocolate Rocky Road. It was my undoing. 3 pieces and a slight sugar coma later, I was blissed out. Creaming soda with vanilla ice cream? Uh...no thanks! It was easy to turn that down; I'm not much of a 'spider' fan unless it's with Root Beer (which isn't so easy to come by in Australia!) Besides, I didn't want anything to wash the taste of that Rocky Road out of my mouth. My tongue hunted around the crevices in my teeth, seeking out tiny unchewed pieces of nuts or a morsel of chocolate. I could hardly concentrate.
At 8 when people were starting to think about dinner, I wandered into the kitchen. I opened the fridge; I scouted around the bench tops. Nothing caught my fancy. Too much effort to get out the pasta salad or the steak. As much as I wanted a bread roll, I knew that I had already done my dash with the Rocky Road. The smell of Coke permeated the room. Coke. I could polish off a litre easy. Desperate, I asked G if she was planning on having some Coke. She said yes and as soon as it was poured, I allowed myself 3 small sips- just enough to take the edge off. Then, someone suggested cheese and crackers. Uh oh.
10 Jatz crackers: 6 with cheddar cheese & 4 with Camembert, plus 5 tiny pieces of Cabonossi. If that was dinner, I'd had it! Oh, it was hard to stop at just that many! Real cheese. Not lite cottage cheese, not lite tasty cheese, not lite ricotta. Real full fat cheese. Wow. 3 months ago, before J, I could have planted myself in front of that cheese platter and really done some damage! I didn't even touch the soft cheese with chives or the Gouda. Stopped myself after 5 pieces of cabanossi. Let's be real. That's hardly a taste.
I know it will look bad when it's all written down in black and white in my food diary. Sometimes I wish I could write down all the stuff I didn't eat so I could show much self-restraint I actually managed to exhibit. Hmmm. I know I fell off the wagon today, but it was a controlled fall--Hollywood style. I didn't crash and burn and eat without a conscience. Surely that has to be progress?
I finish the night off with a cup of tea, sweetened with white sugar because raw wasn't available. However, unlike G, I'm not feeling overstuffed and unwell. Sleep comes quickly to me, but G is up for another hour waiting for her stomach to feel better.
Well, that's Christmas over and done for another year.
Friday Dec 24 Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve and we're on our way to work. The city is dead. Our normal coffee shop is closed and we're forced into World Square to get our coffee from Gloria Jeans. It's not the same. Mine isn't hot. Perhaps a latte was a bad choice. Should've stuck with a cappuccino. I'm finding today tough. I always get super homesick at Christmas. I thought after being at home with my family in September, that this year would be easier, but it's not. I get a bit teary as I head off to work...so I pop into JB Hi Fi to see if I can pull myself together and perhaps pick up a last minute pressie.
Managed to pull myself together, but there was no last minute pressie to be had. Made my way to work thinking I could slide in under the radar...but as it turns out, our manager is hanging out in my pod chatting with my team. We had a bit of a giggle and my day seems to brighten again.
When one of my workmates heads out for coffee, I hand her $5 and beg her to pick me up another cappuccino! I figure 2 tsp raw sugar in another coffee has GOT to be better than all the sweets and goodies that are being passed around the office! Oh Christmas, when will you stop tormenting me with food that I love that I cannot eat!
Only 2 of us remain after lunch. The phones are dead. Most people are either on their way to family or picking up their last minute presents! No one is keen to talk to us. Suits me fine. Means I can catch up on some of my work. Our manager takes pity on us, and before we know it, the office is empty by 4.07pm. G & I head over to Paddy's Markets. It's the only place I think I might be able to source a new crystal for her chain. No success with that, but we do walk out with a really cool 'tree of life' pendant and some capsicum for tomorrow's prawn skewers.
I'm achy so while G dutifully works out again, I slide into a nice warm bath to get through another 100 pages of my Patricia Cornwell novel. Nice.
Bit of stirfry for dinner, then we take turns wrapping our last minute gifts. I make tea and watch The Myer Music Carols Special while G peels the prawns. I just cannot bring myself to 'peel' prawns. And what a strange word it is to describe the process! First, one has to twist and rip the head off the prawn, being careful to twist it in just the right spot so as not to leave too much of the yellowish brain goo on the body. YUCK. Then, tearing off the hard plastic-like casing and legs; finishing with a tug of the muscle that is connected to the 'poo channel' so that it comes off all in one piece. Even once they're peeled, I find it hard to eat them. Can you tell that I was raised on the prairie? Gimme a steak or turkey any day!
Bed at 11.
Thursday Dec 23
I am SOO exhausted! My first Wednesday without college and I end up in bed way later than a college night!! I really don't understand how it can be 5.20am already. It feels like I just closed my eyes moments ago. How am I gonna muster the energy to get out of bed, let alone make it through an hour of quality time with J? *groan*
If I didn't have a personal trainer to hold me accountable, I think today is one of those days where I would simply hit the snooze button, roll over and sleep in. But, alas, I DO have a personal trainer! So against all odds, I roll out of bed, gather my gear, pack my lunch, grab a banana off the counter and head out to the car. Must be another Christmas Miracle!
Just the 2 of us at training today. By the time I get to the Centre, I'm finally awake. Good thing cuz it's game on! I think A & I have a friendly competition blooming. It's awesome! So, it's the usual warm up, then stretches, then on to the circuits. Today I got through the triceps twice in 15 mins + 20 hip extensions. A one minute break and it's time to swap sides. Biceps twice in 15 mins + 20 bicep curls, 20 shoulder pressses and 20 push ups!! I'm on fire today! Almost 3 times through!! WICKED!
Then stretches to warm down. As usual, J is putting away the gear as we're stretching. By the time she changes the cd and switches off the light, I'm keen for the 3 mins of BLISS! I expect to relax, feel the tension drain out of my muscles and perhaps take a mini-nap. Instead, I feel awake. My thoughts are racing. So much for relaxation! What's happening to me!
It's short-lived though. By the time 9.15am rolls around, I'm desperate for a coffee! The day does not improve. It feels like I'm walking through molasses (hmmm...perhaps treacle is a better analogy for my aussie mates). At any rate, I feel slow, tired and perhaps a bit achy. Think those extra bicep curls have caught up to me. Not only do I have to resist the urge to sleep, I have to flex my will-power and turn down: a Krispy Kreme donut, white chocolate rocky road slice, Lindt chocolates and a candy cane. Can this day be any more challenging?? Wait for it.
The afternoon is drawing to a close and the thought of making our way to the Sydney Fish Markets to pick up seafood for our Christmas lunch with 1.5 million other Sydney-siders is becoming less and less appealing by the second!! I share my reluctance with my workmates and the girls come to my rescue! Of course, we could stop at the Broadway shopping centre, pick up our seafood at the local fresh seafood shop, our steaks at the butcher and the remaining incidentals at Coles! Brilliant!! Especially since I can hardly keep my eyes open!
Our shopping mission was a HUGE success! Ticked everything off our list and we were home by 6.15! Victory.
Time for a little book reading on the lounge while G goes for a run. I've already done my exercise for today. Bit of TV. Then definitely bed. I'm exhausted!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas Craziness
Wednesday Dec 22
Today is going to be challenging. I'm going out for Christmas lunch with my workmates and then G and I are meeting another close friend for dinner in Newtown. How am I going to manage two meals out on the same day!
Lunch is at a nearby Japanese restaurant. I'm not much of a raw fish and ocean veggies kind of girl so I settled on tempura battered mixed veggies & seafood for an entree which I shared with my friend. For a main I chose chicken katsu which is essentially chicken schnitzel with Japanese BBQ sauce and white rice. Might not have been the healthiest choice, but at least it was cooked!!
I passed on a soft drink and on an alcoholic beverage when we changed venues. That was pretty easy. I don't really like alcohol and it's empty calories anyways! Then it was on to JB Hi Fi to pick up a couple of items. Shopping in the city is madness!! I met G at Town Hall station and we caught the train home together.
Steak, salad and a small serve of thick cut fries. Divine! Chai tea and water to drink and we passed on dessert. All in all, not too bad. Time passes very quickly when the 3 of us get together and by the time we got home and settled, it was 11.30. Something in the chai tea wasn't agreeing with me, so I stayed up for another 45 mins to see if the feeling would pass.
Tuesday Dec 21
I think it will take more than 1 night to catch up on the sleep I missed. What a hectic weekend-- from sickness to Santa! I was too tired and too busy to exercise, so tonight's session with J will be interesting. Well, I guess I'll know for sure in less than 12 hrs!
Today is 'progress photo day', so I have 3 changes of clothes with me: my work clothes, the original photo clothes and my workout gear. 2 quick changes and a couple of photos later, I find myself running from one side of the Centre to another. That in itself wasn't so bad. Kicking my butt with my heels and then high-stepping it - knees to chest was quite another story! I totally felt like a knob. Oh well, with only J as a witness, I guess I can cope!
The fun begins in the middle white room where the swiss gym balls and weights live. I was doing ok until we got to the third set of squats. My quads were burning. In my head I kept counting down both the reps and the seconds. On my last squat, J says to me, "ok-you're gonna hold that one for 10secs". I think if I had had the energy I would have shot J a look of complete disbelief, but alas, I did not. I barely had the wherewithall to stay upright. In fact, the moment J uttered the number 10, I collapsed on the floor. My legs were JELLY! Needless to say, lowering myself to sit on the ball to do my shoulder weights nearly landed me on the floor again! This exercise gig is some crazy stuff!
It is getting easier though. I do have to admit that. I like feeling like I've accomplished something and believe me, spending an hour with J totally gives me that feeling! I staggered down the stairs and out to the car, thinking only of the warm bath that would welcome me home.
45mins later I emerged. Relaxed. I'm liking this whole relax and read in the bath routine. It's working for me!
Monday Dec 20
Hmmm...the big decision this morning is what to play with FIRST! G is off to work and it just me, S and all of the new toys! We settled on our own rendition of Disney's new soon-to-be-released movie 'Tangled'. It was wonderful to spend time together. I love her so much.
Around lunch time, we dressed her up in her very special Princess Tiana dress that we bought her in Disneyland, put her hair in a bun, put on her tiara and added a touch of make up. Then it was off to Westfields to have her picture taken with Santa. She looked gorgeous! Even Santa thought so!
After lunch (she had McDonald's and I had, well, not McDonald's sigh...) we watched a bit of tv until it was time to take her back home. I'm not so good at this part. And today, neither was she. When I went to hug her good-bye, she clung to me and wouldn't let me go. Moment's like these seem to expand & contract my heart all in the space of an instant.
Then home to spend a quiet night with G.
Sunday Dec 19
Ok. Totally have much more empathy for my parents around Christmas. As a kid I could never figure out why they were so tired Christmas morning. Now I know. Up until 2am trying to put together a present for S. Insanity!! Oh soooo tired when S comes bounding in to wake us up at 6.50am. Seriously, did my eyes even close??
It was worth it though! S had a blast opening all of her presents! It was heaps of fun! G & I opened a few of ours too. I can't wait to curl up over the Christmas break and watch all of Fringe Season 1 and read 'The Brain that Changes Itself'. Delightful!
Our close friend K came around to share Christmas lunch with us. We tucked into our roast chicken, prawns, salads and bread rolls. YUM. The hardest bit is all of the candy. And we didn't even buy that much for S this year. Still, having it around is tricky. At one point, I almost popped one in my mouth out of habit! Then I thought of J and my food diary and filled up my water bottle instead. It didn't have the same impact, but it also didn't make me feel guilty!
We tucked S into bed early and I wasn't too far behind!
Today is going to be challenging. I'm going out for Christmas lunch with my workmates and then G and I are meeting another close friend for dinner in Newtown. How am I going to manage two meals out on the same day!
Lunch is at a nearby Japanese restaurant. I'm not much of a raw fish and ocean veggies kind of girl so I settled on tempura battered mixed veggies & seafood for an entree which I shared with my friend. For a main I chose chicken katsu which is essentially chicken schnitzel with Japanese BBQ sauce and white rice. Might not have been the healthiest choice, but at least it was cooked!!
I passed on a soft drink and on an alcoholic beverage when we changed venues. That was pretty easy. I don't really like alcohol and it's empty calories anyways! Then it was on to JB Hi Fi to pick up a couple of items. Shopping in the city is madness!! I met G at Town Hall station and we caught the train home together.
Steak, salad and a small serve of thick cut fries. Divine! Chai tea and water to drink and we passed on dessert. All in all, not too bad. Time passes very quickly when the 3 of us get together and by the time we got home and settled, it was 11.30. Something in the chai tea wasn't agreeing with me, so I stayed up for another 45 mins to see if the feeling would pass.
Tuesday Dec 21
I think it will take more than 1 night to catch up on the sleep I missed. What a hectic weekend-- from sickness to Santa! I was too tired and too busy to exercise, so tonight's session with J will be interesting. Well, I guess I'll know for sure in less than 12 hrs!
Today is 'progress photo day', so I have 3 changes of clothes with me: my work clothes, the original photo clothes and my workout gear. 2 quick changes and a couple of photos later, I find myself running from one side of the Centre to another. That in itself wasn't so bad. Kicking my butt with my heels and then high-stepping it - knees to chest was quite another story! I totally felt like a knob. Oh well, with only J as a witness, I guess I can cope!
The fun begins in the middle white room where the swiss gym balls and weights live. I was doing ok until we got to the third set of squats. My quads were burning. In my head I kept counting down both the reps and the seconds. On my last squat, J says to me, "ok-you're gonna hold that one for 10secs". I think if I had had the energy I would have shot J a look of complete disbelief, but alas, I did not. I barely had the wherewithall to stay upright. In fact, the moment J uttered the number 10, I collapsed on the floor. My legs were JELLY! Needless to say, lowering myself to sit on the ball to do my shoulder weights nearly landed me on the floor again! This exercise gig is some crazy stuff!
It is getting easier though. I do have to admit that. I like feeling like I've accomplished something and believe me, spending an hour with J totally gives me that feeling! I staggered down the stairs and out to the car, thinking only of the warm bath that would welcome me home.
45mins later I emerged. Relaxed. I'm liking this whole relax and read in the bath routine. It's working for me!
Monday Dec 20
Hmmm...the big decision this morning is what to play with FIRST! G is off to work and it just me, S and all of the new toys! We settled on our own rendition of Disney's new soon-to-be-released movie 'Tangled'. It was wonderful to spend time together. I love her so much.
Around lunch time, we dressed her up in her very special Princess Tiana dress that we bought her in Disneyland, put her hair in a bun, put on her tiara and added a touch of make up. Then it was off to Westfields to have her picture taken with Santa. She looked gorgeous! Even Santa thought so!
After lunch (she had McDonald's and I had, well, not McDonald's sigh...) we watched a bit of tv until it was time to take her back home. I'm not so good at this part. And today, neither was she. When I went to hug her good-bye, she clung to me and wouldn't let me go. Moment's like these seem to expand & contract my heart all in the space of an instant.
Then home to spend a quiet night with G.
Sunday Dec 19
Ok. Totally have much more empathy for my parents around Christmas. As a kid I could never figure out why they were so tired Christmas morning. Now I know. Up until 2am trying to put together a present for S. Insanity!! Oh soooo tired when S comes bounding in to wake us up at 6.50am. Seriously, did my eyes even close??
It was worth it though! S had a blast opening all of her presents! It was heaps of fun! G & I opened a few of ours too. I can't wait to curl up over the Christmas break and watch all of Fringe Season 1 and read 'The Brain that Changes Itself'. Delightful!
Our close friend K came around to share Christmas lunch with us. We tucked into our roast chicken, prawns, salads and bread rolls. YUM. The hardest bit is all of the candy. And we didn't even buy that much for S this year. Still, having it around is tricky. At one point, I almost popped one in my mouth out of habit! Then I thought of J and my food diary and filled up my water bottle instead. It didn't have the same impact, but it also didn't make me feel guilty!
We tucked S into bed early and I wasn't too far behind!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Crazy Days
Saturday Dec 18
A sleep in until 8.20! Definitely an early Christmas present! S is looking much better after sleeping in her own bed. I reckon it's pretty tricky to get a good sleep in hospital. We had breakfast. Then her Grandma and Aunty from Brisbane rang to speak to S to make sure she was ok. She was very happy to hear from them!
Shower time! Got to get ready for the Christmas Picnic Party that S is hosting in her room. All of her stuffed animals have been invited. We even received hand-written invitations. S had a mini-princess make-over. We painted her fingernails and her toenails a soft princess pink! Then it was picnic time! S & G had Nutella on crackers and I had a slice of Burgen fruit bread with some tasty cheese. All of us enjoyed the picnic.
Then it was off to brave the shops to buy all the goodies that we need for our Christmas lunch tomorrow. Roast chicken, pasta salad, berries, mangos, bread rolls, prawns, berry pie and even vanilla ice cream! It's going to be amazing!!
S looked pretty tired after our outing, so we put her to bed for a 2 hour sleep.
Dinner for us. Then dinner for the Reindeer. S sprinkled it on the verge outside our flat so they would have something to snack on while Santa was inside delivering our presents. Then 'Candy Cane Lane' -well that's what we call it in Canada! There are a few streets in our neighbourhood that like to do up their houses with lights and decorations. Every year, we take S down to those streets and we walk through the neighbourhood to see all the lights! There's one house that is amazing! And every year, they hand out lollipops. This year was no exception! S was thrilled! After a couple of songs from Carols in the Domain, it was time for teeth brushing, preparing Santa's snack and then bed.
G & I still have a long night ahead preparing for Santa's arrival. Definitely 0 for 4!
Friday Dec 17
Today is the day. We're meeting in the city at lunch time to pick up S. Then we're off to Meyer to get her picture taken with Santa and ride the train. Well, that was until the phone rang at 6.23am. It's a phone call that no parent wants to get. S is in hospital. Apparently, she vomited all day Thursday, so they took her to the hospital in the early evening. She was very dehydrated and they needed to put her on an IV drip. Fortunately, I was able to speak to S. She sounded tired but ok. I still felt really bad that I couldn't be there with her.
Change of plan. At lunch we headed across the bridge to Hornsby Hospital to visit our little princess. She looked so small in the giant hospital bed. Prognosis was looking good. No vomiting since 7pm Thursday. Kept breakfast & lunch down and was sleeping when we arrived. C was looking pretty wrecked, so we stayed with Sophia and she headed home to have a shower and maybe a short nap. S was finally released at 7pm and we were able to take her home with us.
I assured her that I had emailed Santa at the North Pole and he had agreed to visit on Saturday night instead -just in case she hadn't been able to come home with us. S was very relieved. Straight to bed when we got home. I can't believe how very brave she was. Such a little trooper!
G & I were exhausted too. I crawled into bed at 10.30pm without eating dinner. 0 for 3.
Thursday Dec 16
I am SOO tired, but I know that I have to resist the snooze button, crawl out of bed and get organised for this morning's session with J. Can't face a banana, so I've packed a nectarine & an apricot instead. The apricot was a 'no goer', but the nectarine went down a treat.
Just the 2 of us today. J gives us 15 mins per circuit and she wants us to be able to get through it twice in that time. I'm closest to the tricep circuit, so I do that one first. Made it through TWICE before the time was up--and got through 15 extra hip extensions as well! Rock on!
Then on to the bicep circuit after a 1 min break. Dunno why, but that 1 minute sure seems to go by fast! The weights have been increased on the bicep curl bar, and I'm finding it more of a struggle than I used to. Plus, I think I'm still sore from the killer shoulder weights that J gives me on Tuesdays! I was not to be denied today, and made it through that circuit TWICE before our time was up! Even pushed myself to do 20 more bicep curls! I'm nuts! But the lure of 'arm definition' is irresistible!
Time for stretches and then 3 minutes of BLISS. I never get tired of that bit!
G and I need to get some last minute presents tonight. This weekend is our weekend to celebrate Christmas with S. We head home first so that G can go for a run on the treadmill, while I wrap the goodies from our last shopping trip. Neither of us really wanted to do it, but time-wise, we had no option!
Christmas crowds are not jolly. Mall parking lots are nightmarish. Sigh...but yet, here we are. We should have eaten before we left home, but we had hoped to pick up something at the shopping centre. Didn't quite work out that way. By the time we got home at 10.15, all I could manage was some yogurt. So much for my 4hr rule! A bit more wrapping and bed at 11.35pm. 0 for 2 so far this week.
Wednesday Dec 15
Oh my core! Those Tuesday sessions with J linger with me for a couple of days and today is no exception. But, no time for lolly-gagging. It's G's birthday today! And, it's Presentation Day! So much to do and so little time! I've got my 'props' bag packed and ready to go. I saved one present for today so that G would have something to open on her actual birthday. It's been a busy morning already, and it's not even 7am!
We had a branch meeting at work to discuss the sale and HR came in to give us an idea of the emotions that we might cycle through. That was probably the most helpful bit of the meeting. Unfortunately, management doesn't have much more information than we do. That will probably filter down to us over time. For now, it's business as usual or BAU.
Then it's off to college to prepare for our Debut! D and I set up the room as best we could with the props that we brought. One of our group members messaged to say they weren't well and couldn't make it to the presentation. And, M arrived a little late care of CityRail. The 3 of us had a quick run through, put out the last few props and decided it was 'now or never'.
It was FANTASTIC!! We had the class in stitches!! M and D were fabulous! It went off without a hitch! I love doing stuff like that and making people laugh. I get a real buzz out of it! The next group did a 'light' presentation too. A good night was had by all, marred only by the 'good-byes'. Some of the class will not be coming back next year.
Home to bed. No chance of bed before 10pm tonight!!
A sleep in until 8.20! Definitely an early Christmas present! S is looking much better after sleeping in her own bed. I reckon it's pretty tricky to get a good sleep in hospital. We had breakfast. Then her Grandma and Aunty from Brisbane rang to speak to S to make sure she was ok. She was very happy to hear from them!
Shower time! Got to get ready for the Christmas Picnic Party that S is hosting in her room. All of her stuffed animals have been invited. We even received hand-written invitations. S had a mini-princess make-over. We painted her fingernails and her toenails a soft princess pink! Then it was picnic time! S & G had Nutella on crackers and I had a slice of Burgen fruit bread with some tasty cheese. All of us enjoyed the picnic.
Then it was off to brave the shops to buy all the goodies that we need for our Christmas lunch tomorrow. Roast chicken, pasta salad, berries, mangos, bread rolls, prawns, berry pie and even vanilla ice cream! It's going to be amazing!!
S looked pretty tired after our outing, so we put her to bed for a 2 hour sleep.
Dinner for us. Then dinner for the Reindeer. S sprinkled it on the verge outside our flat so they would have something to snack on while Santa was inside delivering our presents. Then 'Candy Cane Lane' -well that's what we call it in Canada! There are a few streets in our neighbourhood that like to do up their houses with lights and decorations. Every year, we take S down to those streets and we walk through the neighbourhood to see all the lights! There's one house that is amazing! And every year, they hand out lollipops. This year was no exception! S was thrilled! After a couple of songs from Carols in the Domain, it was time for teeth brushing, preparing Santa's snack and then bed.
G & I still have a long night ahead preparing for Santa's arrival. Definitely 0 for 4!
Friday Dec 17
Today is the day. We're meeting in the city at lunch time to pick up S. Then we're off to Meyer to get her picture taken with Santa and ride the train. Well, that was until the phone rang at 6.23am. It's a phone call that no parent wants to get. S is in hospital. Apparently, she vomited all day Thursday, so they took her to the hospital in the early evening. She was very dehydrated and they needed to put her on an IV drip. Fortunately, I was able to speak to S. She sounded tired but ok. I still felt really bad that I couldn't be there with her.
Change of plan. At lunch we headed across the bridge to Hornsby Hospital to visit our little princess. She looked so small in the giant hospital bed. Prognosis was looking good. No vomiting since 7pm Thursday. Kept breakfast & lunch down and was sleeping when we arrived. C was looking pretty wrecked, so we stayed with Sophia and she headed home to have a shower and maybe a short nap. S was finally released at 7pm and we were able to take her home with us.
I assured her that I had emailed Santa at the North Pole and he had agreed to visit on Saturday night instead -just in case she hadn't been able to come home with us. S was very relieved. Straight to bed when we got home. I can't believe how very brave she was. Such a little trooper!
G & I were exhausted too. I crawled into bed at 10.30pm without eating dinner. 0 for 3.
Thursday Dec 16
I am SOO tired, but I know that I have to resist the snooze button, crawl out of bed and get organised for this morning's session with J. Can't face a banana, so I've packed a nectarine & an apricot instead. The apricot was a 'no goer', but the nectarine went down a treat.
Just the 2 of us today. J gives us 15 mins per circuit and she wants us to be able to get through it twice in that time. I'm closest to the tricep circuit, so I do that one first. Made it through TWICE before the time was up--and got through 15 extra hip extensions as well! Rock on!
Then on to the bicep circuit after a 1 min break. Dunno why, but that 1 minute sure seems to go by fast! The weights have been increased on the bicep curl bar, and I'm finding it more of a struggle than I used to. Plus, I think I'm still sore from the killer shoulder weights that J gives me on Tuesdays! I was not to be denied today, and made it through that circuit TWICE before our time was up! Even pushed myself to do 20 more bicep curls! I'm nuts! But the lure of 'arm definition' is irresistible!
Time for stretches and then 3 minutes of BLISS. I never get tired of that bit!
G and I need to get some last minute presents tonight. This weekend is our weekend to celebrate Christmas with S. We head home first so that G can go for a run on the treadmill, while I wrap the goodies from our last shopping trip. Neither of us really wanted to do it, but time-wise, we had no option!
Christmas crowds are not jolly. Mall parking lots are nightmarish. Sigh...but yet, here we are. We should have eaten before we left home, but we had hoped to pick up something at the shopping centre. Didn't quite work out that way. By the time we got home at 10.15, all I could manage was some yogurt. So much for my 4hr rule! A bit more wrapping and bed at 11.35pm. 0 for 2 so far this week.
Wednesday Dec 15
Oh my core! Those Tuesday sessions with J linger with me for a couple of days and today is no exception. But, no time for lolly-gagging. It's G's birthday today! And, it's Presentation Day! So much to do and so little time! I've got my 'props' bag packed and ready to go. I saved one present for today so that G would have something to open on her actual birthday. It's been a busy morning already, and it's not even 7am!
We had a branch meeting at work to discuss the sale and HR came in to give us an idea of the emotions that we might cycle through. That was probably the most helpful bit of the meeting. Unfortunately, management doesn't have much more information than we do. That will probably filter down to us over time. For now, it's business as usual or BAU.
Then it's off to college to prepare for our Debut! D and I set up the room as best we could with the props that we brought. One of our group members messaged to say they weren't well and couldn't make it to the presentation. And, M arrived a little late care of CityRail. The 3 of us had a quick run through, put out the last few props and decided it was 'now or never'.
It was FANTASTIC!! We had the class in stitches!! M and D were fabulous! It went off without a hitch! I love doing stuff like that and making people laugh. I get a real buzz out of it! The next group did a 'light' presentation too. A good night was had by all, marred only by the 'good-byes'. Some of the class will not be coming back next year.
Home to bed. No chance of bed before 10pm tonight!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Sold
Tuesday Dec 14
11 Days until Xmas. Big announcement at work today. Our company has finally been sold. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I guess I'll have to wait until the 'official announcement' and see how things play out. It's a bit unnerving to hear about it online before we hear about it from our CEO. It's been a long time coming though- over 3 yrs in the making.
I'm secretly looking forward to tonight's workout with J. I say secretly because I'd hate for it to get out that I might be starting to...well, you know...like exercising. Look, on second thought, 'like' might be too strong a word!
I'm glad that I tried the workout at home on Saturday. The more times I do it the better I become at it. Trust J to spice things up a bit and toss in a new exercise, nice and nonchalantly!! She sweet-talked me into it by telling me it would improve the muscle definition in my arms. Sigh...I'm a sucker for definition. Betcha I won't be able to life my arms tomorrow! Ahh well. Guess that's just the price I have to pay to get rid of these 'tuck shop arms'! *grins*
Curled on the couch, tea in hand, watching Oprah on TV. Can't believe she's HERE in SYDNEY!! Too cool!
Well, I'd best get some beauty sleep. Tomorrow is presentation day! Look out cuz our group is gonna rock the house!
Monday Dec 13
Hmmm 12 days until Christmas... Shall I break into song!? Naw, it used to be one of my favourite Christmas carols, but it isn't quite the same without my Dad accompanying me on the piano. Mostly finished my shopping-which is pretty awesome. Usually, I'm a 'last minute' kinda girl. I'm pleased that I'm more organised this year. Besides, by staying out of the shops I'm less tempted by lollies and food courts!!
Really got into the groove of things at work today and I felt like I accomplished a lot. I love days like this!
Off to exercise my emotional body with V. Some of these sessions are trickier than others. Today was one of the tricky ones! It's rather satisfying to identify a pattern that has existed since I can remember. I know once it's brought forward into the light (in both senses of the word) it can be transformed into something that truly serves me -regardless of how uncomfortable I might be feeling during the process!
I'm determined to get to bed before 10 tonight. So, at 9.30 I head to the bathroom to start my ablutions. By 9.50pm, I'm tucked up in bed. It's a WIN!
11 Days until Xmas. Big announcement at work today. Our company has finally been sold. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I guess I'll have to wait until the 'official announcement' and see how things play out. It's a bit unnerving to hear about it online before we hear about it from our CEO. It's been a long time coming though- over 3 yrs in the making.
I'm secretly looking forward to tonight's workout with J. I say secretly because I'd hate for it to get out that I might be starting to...well, you know...like exercising. Look, on second thought, 'like' might be too strong a word!
I'm glad that I tried the workout at home on Saturday. The more times I do it the better I become at it. Trust J to spice things up a bit and toss in a new exercise, nice and nonchalantly!! She sweet-talked me into it by telling me it would improve the muscle definition in my arms. Sigh...I'm a sucker for definition. Betcha I won't be able to life my arms tomorrow! Ahh well. Guess that's just the price I have to pay to get rid of these 'tuck shop arms'! *grins*
Curled on the couch, tea in hand, watching Oprah on TV. Can't believe she's HERE in SYDNEY!! Too cool!
Well, I'd best get some beauty sleep. Tomorrow is presentation day! Look out cuz our group is gonna rock the house!
Monday Dec 13
Hmmm 12 days until Christmas... Shall I break into song!? Naw, it used to be one of my favourite Christmas carols, but it isn't quite the same without my Dad accompanying me on the piano. Mostly finished my shopping-which is pretty awesome. Usually, I'm a 'last minute' kinda girl. I'm pleased that I'm more organised this year. Besides, by staying out of the shops I'm less tempted by lollies and food courts!!
Really got into the groove of things at work today and I felt like I accomplished a lot. I love days like this!
Off to exercise my emotional body with V. Some of these sessions are trickier than others. Today was one of the tricky ones! It's rather satisfying to identify a pattern that has existed since I can remember. I know once it's brought forward into the light (in both senses of the word) it can be transformed into something that truly serves me -regardless of how uncomfortable I might be feeling during the process!
I'm determined to get to bed before 10 tonight. So, at 9.30 I head to the bathroom to start my ablutions. By 9.50pm, I'm tucked up in bed. It's a WIN!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Gingerbread House
Sunday Dec 12th
I ducked out to pick up a few groceries. It's amazing to me how quickly we consume healthy food. I can't seem to keep the fridge stocked! And while I was out, I picked up a package of lollies (my weakness) to use to decorate our gingerbread house. It's a Christmas tradition.
When I got home, we celebrated G's birthday with a card that sings 'Supercalifragilisticexpealodocious' (she's a big fan of Julie Andrews and the card was a hit!) and a couple of pressies. Then it was definitely time to get down to the business of making and decorating our gingerbread house.
I mixed up the icing sugar and we set up the pieces of gingerbread on our white serving platter. We stuck the pieces together with toothpicks until the icing sugar hardened. Very cool! S was brilliant at putting the lollies on the house! G took photos and we compared it to last years masterpiece.
I escaped with a couple of licks of icing sugar mixture and only 2 lollies found their way out of the package and into my tummy. Pretty impressive! Normally, I'd be able to consume a whole bag without faltering. Maybe I'm finally starting to get the hang of this whole 'moderation' thing! Or maybe my body remembers what it's like after a workout. Either way, 2 lollies vs a whole package is fine by me!
And now to get ready for a new week!
I ducked out to pick up a few groceries. It's amazing to me how quickly we consume healthy food. I can't seem to keep the fridge stocked! And while I was out, I picked up a package of lollies (my weakness) to use to decorate our gingerbread house. It's a Christmas tradition.
When I got home, we celebrated G's birthday with a card that sings 'Supercalifragilisticexpealodocious' (she's a big fan of Julie Andrews and the card was a hit!) and a couple of pressies. Then it was definitely time to get down to the business of making and decorating our gingerbread house.
I mixed up the icing sugar and we set up the pieces of gingerbread on our white serving platter. We stuck the pieces together with toothpicks until the icing sugar hardened. Very cool! S was brilliant at putting the lollies on the house! G took photos and we compared it to last years masterpiece.
I escaped with a couple of licks of icing sugar mixture and only 2 lollies found their way out of the package and into my tummy. Pretty impressive! Normally, I'd be able to consume a whole bag without faltering. Maybe I'm finally starting to get the hang of this whole 'moderation' thing! Or maybe my body remembers what it's like after a workout. Either way, 2 lollies vs a whole package is fine by me!
And now to get ready for a new week!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Indulgence
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!
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!
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.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Connection
Friday Dec 3
About 9.30am, I opened my eyes; the feeling of a dream soft and heavy on my mind. I headed off to the kitchen to make my breakfast. I put a load of laundry on. Then I picked up my laptop and signed into ptEhance to log my food diary. Still, I couldn't shake my dream.
So, I opened another tab, signed into Facebook, and sent my dearest friend whom I'd just dreamt about, an email. The dream was still so clear in my mind that I could see her twinkling eyes and her 'I know you so well' smile. 10 minutes after I sent the email, she appeared on my Facebook chat.
I told her that I'd dreamt of her, and she replied 'so I read'. I smiled. It was so lovely to connect with her. I decided it would be much easier to speak in real time on the phone than to try to chat on Facebook - so I called her. I'm so glad I did.
2 hours flew by. We covered everything from our days together at college, our families, our partners, our kids, books we'd read, and even 'life, the universe and everything'. Sometimes a deep & meaningful conversation is just what the soul needs. And, boy, did mine need it today. Thanks, D.
It was fascinating to get a different perspective of myself by listening to D describe who she thinks I am. Learning about myself through someone else is so powerful. I think of my sessions with V and what it's like to be able to unburden myself of the things I've kept hidden for so long, knowing that I am in a safe place. Amazing. Precious. Actually...words can't describe it.
Connection. I think it's what I seek most in my life, and value most when I find it.
Thursday Dec 2
I didn't sleep in as long today. By 9, I was in the kitchen making breakfast. My goal for today was to relax as much as possible and to pick up some supplies on the grocery front. We were running low on essentials like cottage cheese, tomatoes and Burgen bread. That will never do!
So, around lunch time, I gathered up my environmental bags and made my way to the local shops. I think it's sad that it's so much more expensive to eat healthy whole foods than it is to just eat junk. My heart goes out to those people who just can't afford to buy the good stuff. I feel lucky to be able to fill my trolly with yummy foods that will help me become healthy. If we are what we eat, I don't want to be all that processed stuff again.
After putting the groceries away and making myself a yummy healthy lunch, I curled up on the couch to catch up on the TV shows that I had recorded, but hadn't had the time yet to watch. I settled for the first episode of "Making Australia Happy". It's fascinating to me that here in the West we see 'happiness' as something outside of ourselves, something that needs to searched for or worse, something that we'll find at the mall. There are people in the world that have a fraction of the things that I have- from material possessions to clean drinking water, and yet, they seem to be so much happier. Hmmn...
Then it's off to meet G for an appointment. As the afternoon progresses, I start feeling worse and worse. The whole left side of my head is achy and sore. Not a good sign. So, I convince G to take me back to the Leichhardt medical centre. It's packed. 1.5 hrs later, the doctor confirms my suspicion: ear infection. Sigh, no choice but to take antibiotics.
It's 9.45pm by the time we finally get home. G has had a stressful week at work and needs some time to unwind in front of the TV. Bed by 11pm.
Wednesday Dec 1
I wake up feeling as bad as I had been yesterday. Not ideal. I set my alarm for 7.40am so that I could ring work and speak to someone to let them know that I wasn't coming in today. But, no one answered, so I left a msg on the machine. The next time I opened my eyes it was because the phone was ringing. Someone looking for a donation. I politely declined; I had ready purchased a ticket in the draw a few months earlier. I checked the time on my iPhone- 10.38am. I should probably get up.
As I made my usual breakfast of Jalna yogurt and Carman's Classic Fruit Muesli, I thought of J and smiled. The times on my food diary were going to be all out of whack today. So much for breakfast before 9!
I spent the afternoon relaxing on the lounge and catching up on the laundry. Then, about 4.15pm I headed out to the medical centre in Leichhardt to get checked out and to pick up a Doctor's Certificate for work. Turns out it was just a head cold-much as I'd suspected. No anti-biotics required-which I was relieved about. I'm not really a big one for drugs. He suggested I take tomorrow off work as well to rest up a bit.
G thinks I have my priorities mixed up. Even though I didn't feel well enough to go to work, I couldn't bring myself to miss college. I don't want to fall behind. Plus, we have a group project due soon and I didn't want to let my group members down. I'm so pleased that I went. I love learning!
During the break between classes, I sent J a msg to let her know that I wouldn't be a the group training session tomorrow morning. I feel bad about not going, but I really think that I need to just give my body the rest it needs- at least until I feel better. It is interesting though, to know that I'm not using being unwell as an excuse to give up altogether or to slack off on my eating plan. That makes me feel like I'm making progress. J suggested that I come to the group session Monday. And, instantly, that made me feel better too. I do really want to succeed at this.
By the time I get home and settled into bed, it's 11pm. Another black mark on my list of goals for J. I'm determined this week to get to bed at least twice before 10pm!
About 9.30am, I opened my eyes; the feeling of a dream soft and heavy on my mind. I headed off to the kitchen to make my breakfast. I put a load of laundry on. Then I picked up my laptop and signed into ptEhance to log my food diary. Still, I couldn't shake my dream.
So, I opened another tab, signed into Facebook, and sent my dearest friend whom I'd just dreamt about, an email. The dream was still so clear in my mind that I could see her twinkling eyes and her 'I know you so well' smile. 10 minutes after I sent the email, she appeared on my Facebook chat.
I told her that I'd dreamt of her, and she replied 'so I read'. I smiled. It was so lovely to connect with her. I decided it would be much easier to speak in real time on the phone than to try to chat on Facebook - so I called her. I'm so glad I did.
2 hours flew by. We covered everything from our days together at college, our families, our partners, our kids, books we'd read, and even 'life, the universe and everything'. Sometimes a deep & meaningful conversation is just what the soul needs. And, boy, did mine need it today. Thanks, D.
It was fascinating to get a different perspective of myself by listening to D describe who she thinks I am. Learning about myself through someone else is so powerful. I think of my sessions with V and what it's like to be able to unburden myself of the things I've kept hidden for so long, knowing that I am in a safe place. Amazing. Precious. Actually...words can't describe it.
Connection. I think it's what I seek most in my life, and value most when I find it.
Thursday Dec 2
I didn't sleep in as long today. By 9, I was in the kitchen making breakfast. My goal for today was to relax as much as possible and to pick up some supplies on the grocery front. We were running low on essentials like cottage cheese, tomatoes and Burgen bread. That will never do!
So, around lunch time, I gathered up my environmental bags and made my way to the local shops. I think it's sad that it's so much more expensive to eat healthy whole foods than it is to just eat junk. My heart goes out to those people who just can't afford to buy the good stuff. I feel lucky to be able to fill my trolly with yummy foods that will help me become healthy. If we are what we eat, I don't want to be all that processed stuff again.
After putting the groceries away and making myself a yummy healthy lunch, I curled up on the couch to catch up on the TV shows that I had recorded, but hadn't had the time yet to watch. I settled for the first episode of "Making Australia Happy". It's fascinating to me that here in the West we see 'happiness' as something outside of ourselves, something that needs to searched for or worse, something that we'll find at the mall. There are people in the world that have a fraction of the things that I have- from material possessions to clean drinking water, and yet, they seem to be so much happier. Hmmn...
Then it's off to meet G for an appointment. As the afternoon progresses, I start feeling worse and worse. The whole left side of my head is achy and sore. Not a good sign. So, I convince G to take me back to the Leichhardt medical centre. It's packed. 1.5 hrs later, the doctor confirms my suspicion: ear infection. Sigh, no choice but to take antibiotics.
It's 9.45pm by the time we finally get home. G has had a stressful week at work and needs some time to unwind in front of the TV. Bed by 11pm.
Wednesday Dec 1
I wake up feeling as bad as I had been yesterday. Not ideal. I set my alarm for 7.40am so that I could ring work and speak to someone to let them know that I wasn't coming in today. But, no one answered, so I left a msg on the machine. The next time I opened my eyes it was because the phone was ringing. Someone looking for a donation. I politely declined; I had ready purchased a ticket in the draw a few months earlier. I checked the time on my iPhone- 10.38am. I should probably get up.
As I made my usual breakfast of Jalna yogurt and Carman's Classic Fruit Muesli, I thought of J and smiled. The times on my food diary were going to be all out of whack today. So much for breakfast before 9!
I spent the afternoon relaxing on the lounge and catching up on the laundry. Then, about 4.15pm I headed out to the medical centre in Leichhardt to get checked out and to pick up a Doctor's Certificate for work. Turns out it was just a head cold-much as I'd suspected. No anti-biotics required-which I was relieved about. I'm not really a big one for drugs. He suggested I take tomorrow off work as well to rest up a bit.
G thinks I have my priorities mixed up. Even though I didn't feel well enough to go to work, I couldn't bring myself to miss college. I don't want to fall behind. Plus, we have a group project due soon and I didn't want to let my group members down. I'm so pleased that I went. I love learning!
During the break between classes, I sent J a msg to let her know that I wouldn't be a the group training session tomorrow morning. I feel bad about not going, but I really think that I need to just give my body the rest it needs- at least until I feel better. It is interesting though, to know that I'm not using being unwell as an excuse to give up altogether or to slack off on my eating plan. That makes me feel like I'm making progress. J suggested that I come to the group session Monday. And, instantly, that made me feel better too. I do really want to succeed at this.
By the time I get home and settled into bed, it's 11pm. Another black mark on my list of goals for J. I'm determined this week to get to bed at least twice before 10pm!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Patience
Tuesday Nov 30
Ugh. So grateful that I don't have to get up and exercise this morning. Still sleeping badly. My gym bag is packed and ready to go for tonight's session with J, and although my head is aching and I can't breathe, I cannot bring myself to cancel.
As the day progresses, I feel worse and worse. The sinus pressure is making it difficult to concentrate and I can't be more than 5 feet from a tissue box. Dunno how I'm going to exercise tonight.
Because I'm feeling so awful, J and I talk about my food journal and the goals that she had given me last week. Overall, my food journal is pretty good. I've added more fruit to my diet and I've been better at sticking to the 4 hour rule. Breakfast is now much closer to 9am instead of 11, but I haven't been very successful about getting to bed before 10pm. Pretty sad considering my target was for 2 nights out of 7!!
J then went through the new exercises that would help to strengthen the weak areas highlighted during the overhead squat assessment. It will be good to have a bit of variety, but I know it will take a few weeks to get really proficient at the new ones!
Part of last week's angst came from wanting things to be different quickly-like yesterday!! This week, I think I need to foster patience for both myself and the process. Let's see how adding patience changes my experience of this journey.
Monday Nov 29
Feeling a little 'under the weather' this morning. Had a very rough sleep last night. Instead of getting up when my alarm goes off at 5.25, I reset the alarm for 5.55am and went back to sleep. I felt that an extra 30 mins of sleep would help me make it through the day.
Found it a bit tricky to concentrate at work. I think I may have picked up a cold from S while she was visiting on the weekend. Plus, I suspected that today's counselling session with V would be challenging. Last week had been such a tough week emotionally and I wasn't looking forward to talking about it.
I don't know why I put myself through the 'anticipation anxiety'--especially after all this time. Yes, V doesn't pull any punches and she always holds me accountable and thank goodness for that! I know that exercise and nutrition are an important part of getting fit and healthy, but to me, without someone to put my emotional 'body' through the paces, I think any success I may have had with diet and exercise would be short-lived. This time, I'm in it for the long-haul. And I am oh so thankful to have such amazing people around me to support me on this journey.
Ugh. So grateful that I don't have to get up and exercise this morning. Still sleeping badly. My gym bag is packed and ready to go for tonight's session with J, and although my head is aching and I can't breathe, I cannot bring myself to cancel.
As the day progresses, I feel worse and worse. The sinus pressure is making it difficult to concentrate and I can't be more than 5 feet from a tissue box. Dunno how I'm going to exercise tonight.
Because I'm feeling so awful, J and I talk about my food journal and the goals that she had given me last week. Overall, my food journal is pretty good. I've added more fruit to my diet and I've been better at sticking to the 4 hour rule. Breakfast is now much closer to 9am instead of 11, but I haven't been very successful about getting to bed before 10pm. Pretty sad considering my target was for 2 nights out of 7!!
J then went through the new exercises that would help to strengthen the weak areas highlighted during the overhead squat assessment. It will be good to have a bit of variety, but I know it will take a few weeks to get really proficient at the new ones!
Part of last week's angst came from wanting things to be different quickly-like yesterday!! This week, I think I need to foster patience for both myself and the process. Let's see how adding patience changes my experience of this journey.
Monday Nov 29
Feeling a little 'under the weather' this morning. Had a very rough sleep last night. Instead of getting up when my alarm goes off at 5.25, I reset the alarm for 5.55am and went back to sleep. I felt that an extra 30 mins of sleep would help me make it through the day.
Found it a bit tricky to concentrate at work. I think I may have picked up a cold from S while she was visiting on the weekend. Plus, I suspected that today's counselling session with V would be challenging. Last week had been such a tough week emotionally and I wasn't looking forward to talking about it.
I don't know why I put myself through the 'anticipation anxiety'--especially after all this time. Yes, V doesn't pull any punches and she always holds me accountable and thank goodness for that! I know that exercise and nutrition are an important part of getting fit and healthy, but to me, without someone to put my emotional 'body' through the paces, I think any success I may have had with diet and exercise would be short-lived. This time, I'm in it for the long-haul. And I am oh so thankful to have such amazing people around me to support me on this journey.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The weekend
Sunday Nov 28
Bit of a rough night last night. It's like these tears come from a bottomless well. I wish I knew how to stop the flow. S came in at 6.13am. I was so exhausted I handed her my iPhone and she played some dress up games for 30mins before I could finally drag myself out of bed.
We had breakfast and watched a couple of episodes of Mister Maker. Then it was time to get out our own craft box and have a go! A toilet roll spider with pipe cleaner legs and a sponge & popsicle stick ice cream cone later, it was back to watching TV.
It had been a while since S & I had been to the movies. I remembered getting an email about a 3D premiere of MegaMind. I showed S the trailer and we decided that with the dark clouds building up outside the window, a little quality time in the theatre would be just the thing!
We had lunch at the food court first. S wanted vegetarian rice noodles and a spring roll. We shared the noodles and each had a spring roll. I settled for bottled water (which tasted funny after 5 weeks of drinking PiMag water from my groovy home water filter!!) and S had some apple juice. For a treat, we each had a Chuppa Chup in the theatre. I knew I had a workout ahead of me, but it was lovely to spend a few hours in the theatre giggling with S.
After dropping off S, I set up the lounge room and put on my workout gear. I asked G if she was up for some exercise; she declined. 55 minutes later, I collapsed on the floor, tired, hot and in need of a bath. Which, as it turns out, was exactly what the doctor ordered. I filled up the tub, sprinkled a healthy dose of Raddox and grabbed Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows from the bookshelf. 50 mins later, I emerged, relaxed.
Can't believe the weekend is over already.
Saturday Nov 27
Got to bed late...and S woke me up at 6.43am. I sooo don't have the energy or inclination to exercise this morning. I just want to cuddle with her on the lounge and watch ABC2 Kids TV. Nothing like cartoons to set the tone for a Saturday morning! After breakfast, we decide that today would be the perfect day to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the lounge room. To be fair, it's before the 1st of December, but I know that we won't get a chance to see S again until December 11th and I want to have the tree up for more than just a couple of weeks.
Off to Kmart for some Xmas decorations then home to turn the lounge room into a Winter Wonderland! Kids at Christmas are the best things EVER! I even managed to hang candy canes and chocolate Santa's without being tempted. Maybe a couple of licks of S's lime sorbet cone was enough to see me through.
Bit of a rough night last night. It's like these tears come from a bottomless well. I wish I knew how to stop the flow. S came in at 6.13am. I was so exhausted I handed her my iPhone and she played some dress up games for 30mins before I could finally drag myself out of bed.
We had breakfast and watched a couple of episodes of Mister Maker. Then it was time to get out our own craft box and have a go! A toilet roll spider with pipe cleaner legs and a sponge & popsicle stick ice cream cone later, it was back to watching TV.
It had been a while since S & I had been to the movies. I remembered getting an email about a 3D premiere of MegaMind. I showed S the trailer and we decided that with the dark clouds building up outside the window, a little quality time in the theatre would be just the thing!
We had lunch at the food court first. S wanted vegetarian rice noodles and a spring roll. We shared the noodles and each had a spring roll. I settled for bottled water (which tasted funny after 5 weeks of drinking PiMag water from my groovy home water filter!!) and S had some apple juice. For a treat, we each had a Chuppa Chup in the theatre. I knew I had a workout ahead of me, but it was lovely to spend a few hours in the theatre giggling with S.
After dropping off S, I set up the lounge room and put on my workout gear. I asked G if she was up for some exercise; she declined. 55 minutes later, I collapsed on the floor, tired, hot and in need of a bath. Which, as it turns out, was exactly what the doctor ordered. I filled up the tub, sprinkled a healthy dose of Raddox and grabbed Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows from the bookshelf. 50 mins later, I emerged, relaxed.
Can't believe the weekend is over already.
Saturday Nov 27
Got to bed late...and S woke me up at 6.43am. I sooo don't have the energy or inclination to exercise this morning. I just want to cuddle with her on the lounge and watch ABC2 Kids TV. Nothing like cartoons to set the tone for a Saturday morning! After breakfast, we decide that today would be the perfect day to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the lounge room. To be fair, it's before the 1st of December, but I know that we won't get a chance to see S again until December 11th and I want to have the tree up for more than just a couple of weeks.
Off to Kmart for some Xmas decorations then home to turn the lounge room into a Winter Wonderland! Kids at Christmas are the best things EVER! I even managed to hang candy canes and chocolate Santa's without being tempted. Maybe a couple of licks of S's lime sorbet cone was enough to see me through.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Not a happy camper
Friday Nov 26
I don't know how or why I did it, but I managed to haul myself out of bed when the alarm went off at 5.25am. As I put on my workout gear, I thought about how I was feeling and I asked myself the following questions: how unhappy was I as a 'fat' person? how unhappy am I as an exercising & dieting person? Let's just say that this morning, I reckoned I was happier as a fat person.
Believe me, that's not a motivating thought.
But, I dutifully put myself through the paces. Why? I still don't have the answer.
Didn't cry as much today...but I can still feel the tears and the anger simmering just below the surface.
Thursday Nov 25
Had a really lousy night's sleep--worrying about hearing my alarm and getting up in time for my group PT session with J and still playing the meeting over and over in my head. When my alarm finally does go off...it's like I had only just gotten to sleep.
I dragged myself out of bed. Fortunately, we had packed everything last night to make this morning more manageable. I arrived a little bit early, so I thought I'd beat J to the punch and get my warm up out of the way without an audience. I walked down the stairs, paused for a sec and then ran up. I did this twice. Puffing, I made my way into the Centre, only to hear J say that she had a different warm up planned for today! Just my luck!!
It was like running 'lines' in volley ball practise. K & I stood about 10 feet apart facing each other. We had to toss a ball 4 times, drop the ball, run to the wall, start again, and then repeat until J told us to stop. Yeah, I was positively 'glowing' by the time we finished up. Then, straight into the warm up.
I was impressed with myself today. I finished the tricep circuit twice in LESS than 15 mins! I thought that meant I could have a longer break between the circuits...Don't know what I was thinking! J smiled at me and told me to start the circuit over until the time was up! That will learn me!
Made it 1 and a half times through the bicep circuit before the time ran out. Then, warm down. Then my favourite bit--collapsing in a heap in the dark for a couple of minutes to focus on our breathing! Bliss.
Didn't feel too well afterwards. I felt really light-headed, unfocussed and a bit nauseas. Not ideal. The feeling persisted for the next couple of hours, although the shower at work and breakfast seemed to help a bit. Perhaps the fact that it was day 1 of my period contributed to my general feeling of yuckiness.
Emotionally--still a basket case. Summoned up my courage and spoke to my manager about yesterday's meeting. I held it together and I'm really proud of myself for doing it.
G booked me in for a back, shoulder and leg massage with a little sorbolene cream and some deep heat! Marvelous! I felt really spoiled!
Then we took my measurements. Not the best plan. Secretly, I had been counting on a change in my measurements to prove to me that my effort of the past few weeks was worthwhile and meaningful--especially since I didn't seem to be making much of showing on the scales. To my disgust, not much had changed since Oct. That really threw me into a tail-spin. I've moved from discouragement to despair.
Wednesday Nov 24
Things are getting more and more ugly. I'm finding it harder and harder to cope. I'm either angry or crying or both. I wish someone would just give me something to make me feel better. Part of me longs for pizza shapes, coke or lollies. Anything to take me out of this place.
The meeting at work this afternoon is a shocker...and I find myself sitting in my car outside the college, listening to music and crying. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage to get through the next 4 hrs of classes. Somehow, I did.
Tuesday Nov 23
G and I worked out this morning, knowing that today's appointment with J would have another focus.
Met J after work to go through my food diary and discuss nutrition. Overall, she was impressed with the changes that I had made after our original chat. My areas to focus on this week: getting to bed BEFORE 10pm at least 2 nights this week, eating my afternoon snacks so that it's never longer than 4 hrs between eating, insuring that I eat breakfast BEFORE 9am and lastly, to add more fruit to my diet.
We discussed the possibility of reducing the amount of raw sugar that I've been consuming which is anywhere from 3-5 tsp of raw sugar per day (in my coffee & tea). When she sugggested it, I actually got a little teary. I've been really struggling this week and sometimes, looking forward to a cup of tea with 1 tsp of raw sugar is all that keeps me going. Fortunately, J took pity on me and said we could look at it down the track.
She gave me some suggestions on items that I could add to my diet to give me a little more variety. I think that will make a big difference.
Tonight, when I get home, things deteriorate. I can't figure out what's wrong with me...but I can't seem to stop crying. I just feel so discouraged..like all this effort is for nothing.
Monday Nov 22
I would normally be spending the day with my daughter...but due to having to be at college on the weekend, I had to swap my normal weekend to have her. So, instead of craft, I spent the day sorting out our lines of communication. I purchased a new modem and a new phone. Back in contact with the outside world!!
I was intending to hang out at my local McDonald's to use their free Wi-Fi, but the lure of junk food was too tempting. I wisely stayed at home, and satisfied my cravings with an instant coffee. Besides, I finally had my own internet working again!
I waited for G to come home, we donned our workout gear, and then set about doing the full workout: both circuits twice. We managed to complete it in 61mins! Brilliant!
I don't know how or why I did it, but I managed to haul myself out of bed when the alarm went off at 5.25am. As I put on my workout gear, I thought about how I was feeling and I asked myself the following questions: how unhappy was I as a 'fat' person? how unhappy am I as an exercising & dieting person? Let's just say that this morning, I reckoned I was happier as a fat person.
Believe me, that's not a motivating thought.
But, I dutifully put myself through the paces. Why? I still don't have the answer.
Didn't cry as much today...but I can still feel the tears and the anger simmering just below the surface.
Thursday Nov 25
Had a really lousy night's sleep--worrying about hearing my alarm and getting up in time for my group PT session with J and still playing the meeting over and over in my head. When my alarm finally does go off...it's like I had only just gotten to sleep.
I dragged myself out of bed. Fortunately, we had packed everything last night to make this morning more manageable. I arrived a little bit early, so I thought I'd beat J to the punch and get my warm up out of the way without an audience. I walked down the stairs, paused for a sec and then ran up. I did this twice. Puffing, I made my way into the Centre, only to hear J say that she had a different warm up planned for today! Just my luck!!
It was like running 'lines' in volley ball practise. K & I stood about 10 feet apart facing each other. We had to toss a ball 4 times, drop the ball, run to the wall, start again, and then repeat until J told us to stop. Yeah, I was positively 'glowing' by the time we finished up. Then, straight into the warm up.
I was impressed with myself today. I finished the tricep circuit twice in LESS than 15 mins! I thought that meant I could have a longer break between the circuits...Don't know what I was thinking! J smiled at me and told me to start the circuit over until the time was up! That will learn me!
Made it 1 and a half times through the bicep circuit before the time ran out. Then, warm down. Then my favourite bit--collapsing in a heap in the dark for a couple of minutes to focus on our breathing! Bliss.
Didn't feel too well afterwards. I felt really light-headed, unfocussed and a bit nauseas. Not ideal. The feeling persisted for the next couple of hours, although the shower at work and breakfast seemed to help a bit. Perhaps the fact that it was day 1 of my period contributed to my general feeling of yuckiness.
Emotionally--still a basket case. Summoned up my courage and spoke to my manager about yesterday's meeting. I held it together and I'm really proud of myself for doing it.
G booked me in for a back, shoulder and leg massage with a little sorbolene cream and some deep heat! Marvelous! I felt really spoiled!
Then we took my measurements. Not the best plan. Secretly, I had been counting on a change in my measurements to prove to me that my effort of the past few weeks was worthwhile and meaningful--especially since I didn't seem to be making much of showing on the scales. To my disgust, not much had changed since Oct. That really threw me into a tail-spin. I've moved from discouragement to despair.
Wednesday Nov 24
Things are getting more and more ugly. I'm finding it harder and harder to cope. I'm either angry or crying or both. I wish someone would just give me something to make me feel better. Part of me longs for pizza shapes, coke or lollies. Anything to take me out of this place.
The meeting at work this afternoon is a shocker...and I find myself sitting in my car outside the college, listening to music and crying. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage to get through the next 4 hrs of classes. Somehow, I did.
Tuesday Nov 23
G and I worked out this morning, knowing that today's appointment with J would have another focus.
Met J after work to go through my food diary and discuss nutrition. Overall, she was impressed with the changes that I had made after our original chat. My areas to focus on this week: getting to bed BEFORE 10pm at least 2 nights this week, eating my afternoon snacks so that it's never longer than 4 hrs between eating, insuring that I eat breakfast BEFORE 9am and lastly, to add more fruit to my diet.
We discussed the possibility of reducing the amount of raw sugar that I've been consuming which is anywhere from 3-5 tsp of raw sugar per day (in my coffee & tea). When she sugggested it, I actually got a little teary. I've been really struggling this week and sometimes, looking forward to a cup of tea with 1 tsp of raw sugar is all that keeps me going. Fortunately, J took pity on me and said we could look at it down the track.
She gave me some suggestions on items that I could add to my diet to give me a little more variety. I think that will make a big difference.
Tonight, when I get home, things deteriorate. I can't figure out what's wrong with me...but I can't seem to stop crying. I just feel so discouraged..like all this effort is for nothing.
Monday Nov 22
I would normally be spending the day with my daughter...but due to having to be at college on the weekend, I had to swap my normal weekend to have her. So, instead of craft, I spent the day sorting out our lines of communication. I purchased a new modem and a new phone. Back in contact with the outside world!!
I was intending to hang out at my local McDonald's to use their free Wi-Fi, but the lure of junk food was too tempting. I wisely stayed at home, and satisfied my cravings with an instant coffee. Besides, I finally had my own internet working again!
I waited for G to come home, we donned our workout gear, and then set about doing the full workout: both circuits twice. We managed to complete it in 61mins! Brilliant!
Monday, November 22, 2010
bit of a catch up
It's been a whole week since I've updated this blog. Crazy. Let's see....
Tuesday Nov 16
Today was supposed to end with a 1hr session with J-chatting about nutrition, but due to a case of crossed wires, it turned out that I ended up at home with G. We did the tricep circuit and a round of the new 'blue page' neck and back stretches.
Then we settled in for the Packed to the Rafters season finale.
Wednesday Nov 17
Crawled out of bed, slipped into our workout gear and headed for the lounge room to do our bicep circuit. G isn't much of a morning exerciser and is finding it tough to get into a morning rhythm. Me? Well, I'm not much of a morning ANYTHING--especially not at 5.25am!
I'm struggling this week. Every day, I expect it to get just a little bit easier- but it doesn't. Each morning, my arms burn just as much as they did the day before. I'm feeling sad and discouraged so when G finishes her last lot of squats and heads off to the shower, I wrap my arms around my gym ball and cry for a minute or 2. Somehow, it makes me feel a tiny bit better.
It's a college night tonight. My backpack weighs a tonne- ok, more like 10kgs! 2 bottles of water, my laptop, my college books and my lunch. Life seemed lighter before I started on this journey!!
By the time I get home from college and wind down mentally, it's 11.15pm! No wonder I'm so tired.
Thursday Nov 18
No rest for the wicked! I didn't sleep very well last night...worrying about my alarm going off and being on time for my 2nd group session with J. Fortunately, G helped me get organised last night. My work out back is packed (and I'm even wearing runners instead of my black work shoes- I admit, it's a much better look!).
I arrived a couple of minutes early, had a chat with J and then she says, "ok-to warm up, I'd like you to walk down the stairs and then run or walk quickly up them." I groaned inwardly. This was not going to be good. I did as she asked, made it to the top without incident, only for her to say: "Just one more time." The second time was not so successful. About 5 stairs from the top, my runner got caught or I just ran out of gumption, and I had to put my hand down to steady myself. How embarrassing!!
Shortly after that, my fellow participant arrived - just the 2 of us this morning. I spent the first few minutes gasping as inconspicuously as possible whilst stretching. Not an easy feat. Guess my cardio needs some definite focus.
I started on the bicep side of the room. I almost made it through the circuit twice in 15mins. Not too shabby. Then a 1 minute break and across to the tricep stations. I think I only made it through that circuit once--but J also allows less time for the 2nd circuit. We did our warm down and then relaxed on the yoga mats in the darkness for a minute. Bliss.
Miracle of miracles, I was able to walk down the stairs without wincing at every step (last time I did this, I couldn't walk down stairs for 4 days without groaning and grimacing!). I have to grudgingly admit, that my workouts at home with G must be doing something.
Since I'd already done my workout for the day and I had some time to kill before G got home from donating blood in the city, I headed to K-Mart to do a little retail therapy. I scored some workout gear bargains and even picked up a running shirt for G. I picked up a hand pump to top up the gym ball (after using the ones at the Centre this morning, I realised that ours could use a little more air). I even picked up a groovy little gym towel (hopefully I can use this to keep my sweat from dripping onto the yoga mat!) I managed to resist purchasing a 'step' to do my morning exercises--but just barely!
Early to bed. Exhausted after this week's exertions. In fact, the days are starting to blur together and I can hardly remember what day it is, let alone what circuit I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe sleep is just the thing I need to get my equilibrium back.
Night all!
Friday Nov 19
Sleep seemed to help- at least I don't feel like the walking dead today. Tricep circuit done. Time to head off to work.
Tonight we met up with a good friend of G's for dinner at Darling Harbour. I tried to eat light stuff in preparation for tonight's festivities. We decided on Asian/Malaysian--much safer than Italian! I was careful to choose mostly healthy options. I had 2 pots of Jasmine tea instead of alcohol or soft drinks. I had 1/2 cup of rice and maybe 1 1/3 cups of noodles. At any rate, the 3 of us were unable to finish the 2 mains that we'd purchased. Then our friend suggested the Lindt Cafe for dessert.
I have heard so much about the Lindt Cafe. It sounded divine! However, standing in the cafe, I didn't feel tempted by any of the chocolate. Weird. The plan was to have hot chocolate, but when it came time to order, I weighed up how my stomach was feeling after dinner (not too crash hot) and how it might feel if I added warm milk and chocolate to it. In the end, I settled on honey-sweetened iced tea with lemon and a sip of G's hot chocolate.
It was 1.30 by the time we arrived home. Knowing I had college in the morning, I dropped into bed.
Saturday Nov 20
I pried my eyes open at 8am and realised there was no why I'd be able to manage any exercise this morning. Instead, I settled for an instant coffee and my usual breakfast of Jalna yogurt and Carman's Classic fruit muesli. Yum.
Just before I headed off to college, we discovered that our modem had finally gone to join the big download in the sky. Not impressed.
College was great. Weekend intensives can often be pretty full on, but today was relaxed and lovely. I wasn't organised enough to bring my own lunch, but Nature Care College has a lovely cafe that sells healthy food. I decided to have cauliflower and sweet potatoe au gratin (basically cauliflower with white cheesy sauce) and roast pumpkin and rocket salad. I managed to get the au gratin down and the rocket, but I had to leave most of the roast pumpkin--I was just too full to fit it in.
Since I hadn't exercised in the morning, I figured I'd better get stuck into it when I got home from college. Still feeling tired, but I managed to finish the bicep circuits. For dinner, G prepared a delicious broiled salmon with lemon juice and a green salad. Beautiful! Early to bed for me again tonight!
Sunday Nov 21
Today was much the same as yesterday. Jalna yogurt, Carman's Classic Fruit Muesli and an instant coffee for breakfast. Tossed a couple of carrots into my backpack. Feeling a bit off the nuts these days. G and I seemed to have developed an allergic reaction to something that we've been eating. I reckon it's either the nuts or perhaps the sulphates in the dried apricots, so I'm going to cut down on them and see if the reaction improves.
College was great. We covered Carl Jung and Joseph Campell. VERY VERY Cool!
It was a lot harder to get through the tricep circuits tonight. Normally it's the easier one (for me) but I really struggled today. Oh well, at least I completed them. Now for a relaxing night of TV.
Tuesday Nov 16
Today was supposed to end with a 1hr session with J-chatting about nutrition, but due to a case of crossed wires, it turned out that I ended up at home with G. We did the tricep circuit and a round of the new 'blue page' neck and back stretches.
Then we settled in for the Packed to the Rafters season finale.
Wednesday Nov 17
Crawled out of bed, slipped into our workout gear and headed for the lounge room to do our bicep circuit. G isn't much of a morning exerciser and is finding it tough to get into a morning rhythm. Me? Well, I'm not much of a morning ANYTHING--especially not at 5.25am!
I'm struggling this week. Every day, I expect it to get just a little bit easier- but it doesn't. Each morning, my arms burn just as much as they did the day before. I'm feeling sad and discouraged so when G finishes her last lot of squats and heads off to the shower, I wrap my arms around my gym ball and cry for a minute or 2. Somehow, it makes me feel a tiny bit better.
It's a college night tonight. My backpack weighs a tonne- ok, more like 10kgs! 2 bottles of water, my laptop, my college books and my lunch. Life seemed lighter before I started on this journey!!
By the time I get home from college and wind down mentally, it's 11.15pm! No wonder I'm so tired.
Thursday Nov 18
No rest for the wicked! I didn't sleep very well last night...worrying about my alarm going off and being on time for my 2nd group session with J. Fortunately, G helped me get organised last night. My work out back is packed (and I'm even wearing runners instead of my black work shoes- I admit, it's a much better look!).
I arrived a couple of minutes early, had a chat with J and then she says, "ok-to warm up, I'd like you to walk down the stairs and then run or walk quickly up them." I groaned inwardly. This was not going to be good. I did as she asked, made it to the top without incident, only for her to say: "Just one more time." The second time was not so successful. About 5 stairs from the top, my runner got caught or I just ran out of gumption, and I had to put my hand down to steady myself. How embarrassing!!
Shortly after that, my fellow participant arrived - just the 2 of us this morning. I spent the first few minutes gasping as inconspicuously as possible whilst stretching. Not an easy feat. Guess my cardio needs some definite focus.
I started on the bicep side of the room. I almost made it through the circuit twice in 15mins. Not too shabby. Then a 1 minute break and across to the tricep stations. I think I only made it through that circuit once--but J also allows less time for the 2nd circuit. We did our warm down and then relaxed on the yoga mats in the darkness for a minute. Bliss.
Miracle of miracles, I was able to walk down the stairs without wincing at every step (last time I did this, I couldn't walk down stairs for 4 days without groaning and grimacing!). I have to grudgingly admit, that my workouts at home with G must be doing something.
Since I'd already done my workout for the day and I had some time to kill before G got home from donating blood in the city, I headed to K-Mart to do a little retail therapy. I scored some workout gear bargains and even picked up a running shirt for G. I picked up a hand pump to top up the gym ball (after using the ones at the Centre this morning, I realised that ours could use a little more air). I even picked up a groovy little gym towel (hopefully I can use this to keep my sweat from dripping onto the yoga mat!) I managed to resist purchasing a 'step' to do my morning exercises--but just barely!
Early to bed. Exhausted after this week's exertions. In fact, the days are starting to blur together and I can hardly remember what day it is, let alone what circuit I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe sleep is just the thing I need to get my equilibrium back.
Night all!
Friday Nov 19
Sleep seemed to help- at least I don't feel like the walking dead today. Tricep circuit done. Time to head off to work.
Tonight we met up with a good friend of G's for dinner at Darling Harbour. I tried to eat light stuff in preparation for tonight's festivities. We decided on Asian/Malaysian--much safer than Italian! I was careful to choose mostly healthy options. I had 2 pots of Jasmine tea instead of alcohol or soft drinks. I had 1/2 cup of rice and maybe 1 1/3 cups of noodles. At any rate, the 3 of us were unable to finish the 2 mains that we'd purchased. Then our friend suggested the Lindt Cafe for dessert.
I have heard so much about the Lindt Cafe. It sounded divine! However, standing in the cafe, I didn't feel tempted by any of the chocolate. Weird. The plan was to have hot chocolate, but when it came time to order, I weighed up how my stomach was feeling after dinner (not too crash hot) and how it might feel if I added warm milk and chocolate to it. In the end, I settled on honey-sweetened iced tea with lemon and a sip of G's hot chocolate.
It was 1.30 by the time we arrived home. Knowing I had college in the morning, I dropped into bed.
Saturday Nov 20
I pried my eyes open at 8am and realised there was no why I'd be able to manage any exercise this morning. Instead, I settled for an instant coffee and my usual breakfast of Jalna yogurt and Carman's Classic fruit muesli. Yum.
Just before I headed off to college, we discovered that our modem had finally gone to join the big download in the sky. Not impressed.
College was great. Weekend intensives can often be pretty full on, but today was relaxed and lovely. I wasn't organised enough to bring my own lunch, but Nature Care College has a lovely cafe that sells healthy food. I decided to have cauliflower and sweet potatoe au gratin (basically cauliflower with white cheesy sauce) and roast pumpkin and rocket salad. I managed to get the au gratin down and the rocket, but I had to leave most of the roast pumpkin--I was just too full to fit it in.
Since I hadn't exercised in the morning, I figured I'd better get stuck into it when I got home from college. Still feeling tired, but I managed to finish the bicep circuits. For dinner, G prepared a delicious broiled salmon with lemon juice and a green salad. Beautiful! Early to bed for me again tonight!
Sunday Nov 21
Today was much the same as yesterday. Jalna yogurt, Carman's Classic Fruit Muesli and an instant coffee for breakfast. Tossed a couple of carrots into my backpack. Feeling a bit off the nuts these days. G and I seemed to have developed an allergic reaction to something that we've been eating. I reckon it's either the nuts or perhaps the sulphates in the dried apricots, so I'm going to cut down on them and see if the reaction improves.
College was great. We covered Carl Jung and Joseph Campell. VERY VERY Cool!
It was a lot harder to get through the tricep circuits tonight. Normally it's the easier one (for me) but I really struggled today. Oh well, at least I completed them. Now for a relaxing night of TV.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Overhead Squat Assessment
Hmmm...found it hard to get out of bed this morning. Still recovering from the weekend's festivities and lack of sleep. Sunday was very humid which made sleeping last night very tricky. Hot and then cold. Perhaps that's another reason I'm feeling so tired today.
I don't know if my metabolism is starting to get the hang of things or if today was just an unusual day. I actually managed to eat: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner! Amazing!! You would think that an over-weight person eats large portions at regular intervals. That might be true of some, but not me. I'm finding it very challenging to eat every 3-4 hrs.
Since we didn't get around to it on Friday, V suggested that we do the overhead squat assessment tonight. I think if I had known what it meant, I might have been a bit more prepared-and a bit more anxious. Essentially it involves raising my hands above my heads and doing squats until my muscles fatigue. Not my idea of a good time! Picture this: me in a long-sleeved button up work shirt, work pants rolled up above my knees, tacky socks and more humidity than a prairie girl can handle. Not ideal!
On the plus side, an overhead squat assessment is extremely good at pointing out where things are going wrong. It will give V & J a much better idea of how to tailor the workout to suit my individual needs.
Tonight, G and I did the bicep circuit, followed by a new series of stretches that V organised for me. OMG. I'm sure they will become faster and easier as I get more practised at them, but man, they sure took a long time tonight! Now I need to find an extra 40 mins in the morning in order to tack the stretches onto the end of my circuit routine. I think sleep is going to have to take a backseat for a while...sigh.
Well, on that note, I should prolly drag these tired bones to bed.
I don't know if my metabolism is starting to get the hang of things or if today was just an unusual day. I actually managed to eat: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner! Amazing!! You would think that an over-weight person eats large portions at regular intervals. That might be true of some, but not me. I'm finding it very challenging to eat every 3-4 hrs.
Since we didn't get around to it on Friday, V suggested that we do the overhead squat assessment tonight. I think if I had known what it meant, I might have been a bit more prepared-and a bit more anxious. Essentially it involves raising my hands above my heads and doing squats until my muscles fatigue. Not my idea of a good time! Picture this: me in a long-sleeved button up work shirt, work pants rolled up above my knees, tacky socks and more humidity than a prairie girl can handle. Not ideal!
On the plus side, an overhead squat assessment is extremely good at pointing out where things are going wrong. It will give V & J a much better idea of how to tailor the workout to suit my individual needs.
Tonight, G and I did the bicep circuit, followed by a new series of stretches that V organised for me. OMG. I'm sure they will become faster and easier as I get more practised at them, but man, they sure took a long time tonight! Now I need to find an extra 40 mins in the morning in order to tack the stretches onto the end of my circuit routine. I think sleep is going to have to take a backseat for a while...sigh.
Well, on that note, I should prolly drag these tired bones to bed.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
My Weekend off
Been a few days since I've touched base. Thursday was a really hard day for me. Thank god I've got an awesome support team, otherwise, I think it could have ended badly: a bottle of coke, a chocolate bar and perhaps some pizza shapes. With their help and my perseverance, disaster was averted. It did take it's toll, however.
Friday I was consumed by anxiety; it was the day of my first personal training session with V. Dunno why I was so worried. True to form, she picked up on my emotional state and spent some time helping me work through what I was feeling. Then she showed me some new exercises to take the strain off my right knee. Don't make the assumption that they're easy-cuz they're not! But, at least they don't hurt as much!
Saturday was my 'day off'- diet-wise! G went for a run and I did my bicep circuit. Then, we met a close friend for brunch and I allowed myself the luxury of 2 pieces of thick cut white toast (no butter). WOW! The day of treating myself continued. We went out to celebrate another friends birthday. Although I'm not much of a drinker, I had 1 glass of sparkling white wine and 1 glass of vodka with lemon, lime & bitters. When I mentioned to V that I might be going out and that it was possible that I might have a drink or 2, she told me increase my protein intake on Sunday, work out and avoid carbs like breads, starches, rice, etc and increase my intake of veggies. Sounded easy enough. I watched what I ate at dinner, had my 2 drinks over the course of 6hrs and enjoyed a guilt-free night on the town! Fabulous!
This journey really is about learning how to do things in moderation. I like that. It takes the pressure off.
Friday I was consumed by anxiety; it was the day of my first personal training session with V. Dunno why I was so worried. True to form, she picked up on my emotional state and spent some time helping me work through what I was feeling. Then she showed me some new exercises to take the strain off my right knee. Don't make the assumption that they're easy-cuz they're not! But, at least they don't hurt as much!
Saturday was my 'day off'- diet-wise! G went for a run and I did my bicep circuit. Then, we met a close friend for brunch and I allowed myself the luxury of 2 pieces of thick cut white toast (no butter). WOW! The day of treating myself continued. We went out to celebrate another friends birthday. Although I'm not much of a drinker, I had 1 glass of sparkling white wine and 1 glass of vodka with lemon, lime & bitters. When I mentioned to V that I might be going out and that it was possible that I might have a drink or 2, she told me increase my protein intake on Sunday, work out and avoid carbs like breads, starches, rice, etc and increase my intake of veggies. Sounded easy enough. I watched what I ate at dinner, had my 2 drinks over the course of 6hrs and enjoyed a guilt-free night on the town! Fabulous!
This journey really is about learning how to do things in moderation. I like that. It takes the pressure off.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Gym ball
Once the tuna nausea passed yesterday, I was able to take stock of the rest of me.
- Right Knee: aching, coping with squats, very unhappy with lunges
- Arms and shoulders: heavy and a bit sore
Everything else? Well, the rest of me appears to be doing not too badly. Feeling a bit sore in a few random places, but overall, I am surviving the workouts. Who knew? The big test will be my first PT session with V on Friday. I’ve got college tonight, so I’m counting today as a rest day for my muscles. G and I agreed to get up early again tomorrow and resume our single circuit training. I think we’ll do the tricep circuit (no lunges!!) but mostly because doing the ‘stepping section’ of the bicep circuit presents a bit of a noise issue and we are trying to be considerate of our neighbours!
The decision to pass on the tuna today was a great option! I replaced it with a curried egg sandwich. But, it is interesting to note that after lunch yesterday, I was full for hours. Today-not so much. Admittedly, I ate at 1.30 instead of 3pm, but by 5pm my tummy was rumbling. Good thing I had the foresight to pack a Carman’s Apricot and Almond muesli bar. Sorted!
I meant to mention last week that I made the decision to purchase a ‘Mediball Pro Plus 65cm’ (a gym ball) so that I could do my exercises more effectively at home. J mentioned that they were available on the Sacred Centre website www.sacredcentre.com.au and to just click on the ‘shopping cart’ section, so I hopped online to take a look. I settled on a gray ball and placed my order Tuesday morning. To my utter amazement, the package was waiting for me when I arrived home from work on Wednesday! If you’re in the market for a gym ball, I highly recommend checking these guys out—AOK Health.
Well, it’s time to pull out the textbooks and exercise my ‘gray matter’! Over and out.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
All Tuna'd Out
Feeling a bit discouraged today. Still following my eating plan. Even ate breakfast BEFORE noon! For me, that's a win. In fact, I'm loving my breakfast--Jalna yogurt and Carman's Muesli. Wish all my meals were that yummy! Had a tuna sandwich today for lunch...and man I really had to struggle to get it down. I'm not a big fish fan at the best of times, so tuna for lunch for the past week is about all I can manage! I'm gonna have to get creative about lunches-otherwise, the local KFC will sing the siren song that runs this ship aground upon a coral reef.... a coral reef of soft drink, hot chips, gravy and chicken. Sigh...how do I steer a course through these perilous waters?
Brings me back to where I started. Discouraged. Jumped on the Wii Fit last night after my 'tricept' circuit. Prolly not the best move. It started by telling me it had been 177 days since I last used it. Nice. Then, I went thru the tests. My Wii Fit age: 24. So far so good. Then-my Wii Fit weight: 1 kg lighter than I was in February. February!! For the love of Gawd!! I'd been eating KFC, Thai, lollies, glorious white bread (with butter!), drinking iced tea, Coke, etc. I'd even been home to Canada where the soft drinks are bottomless and the lollies are linked to my fondest childhood memories. How is it possible that I can only weigh 1 kg LESS after 3 weeks of watching what I eat and 2 wks of exercise? It doesn't seem fair.
I guess the what I am most grateful for is my support team. They give me the motivation to keep going, even when I think that packing it all in and heading to KFC is the easiest option. I've got a wonderfully supportive partner, some amazing friends at work and, of course, my Sacred Centre team. V -you rock!
G & I did both circuits tonight. Gruelling. And the tuna sandwich was NOT helping my cause. Both J & V promised that I wouldn't have to exercise til I puked, but I must admit, it was a close call tonight. Determination and having an exercise buddy got me through. Maybe that's all it takes?
Time to take this aching knee to bed. Nite all!
Brings me back to where I started. Discouraged. Jumped on the Wii Fit last night after my 'tricept' circuit. Prolly not the best move. It started by telling me it had been 177 days since I last used it. Nice. Then, I went thru the tests. My Wii Fit age: 24. So far so good. Then-my Wii Fit weight: 1 kg lighter than I was in February. February!! For the love of Gawd!! I'd been eating KFC, Thai, lollies, glorious white bread (with butter!), drinking iced tea, Coke, etc. I'd even been home to Canada where the soft drinks are bottomless and the lollies are linked to my fondest childhood memories. How is it possible that I can only weigh 1 kg LESS after 3 weeks of watching what I eat and 2 wks of exercise? It doesn't seem fair.
I guess the what I am most grateful for is my support team. They give me the motivation to keep going, even when I think that packing it all in and heading to KFC is the easiest option. I've got a wonderfully supportive partner, some amazing friends at work and, of course, my Sacred Centre team. V -you rock!
G & I did both circuits tonight. Gruelling. And the tuna sandwich was NOT helping my cause. Both J & V promised that I wouldn't have to exercise til I puked, but I must admit, it was a close call tonight. Determination and having an exercise buddy got me through. Maybe that's all it takes?
Time to take this aching knee to bed. Nite all!
Monday, November 8, 2010
ahhh the weekend
Saturday Nov 6th
Can't believe we stuck to the routine on a Saturday! About 7.30, S came in and woke us up. G jumped (dunno how THAT was possible after all of our exercising) out of bed, into some work out gear and the 3 of us trooped out to the lounge room to get into the first circuit! It went a bit slower cuz we needed to show 4yr old S how to do the activities, but we all had a giggle while we did it.
Today was posing a challenge. We'd been invited to a 40th Birthday Party and we had to come dressed in our best 70's gear. I thought the outfit was going to be the hard bit. Yet, in the back of my mind, loomed the thought of nibblies, lollies, and cake. How was I going to resist the urge to eat all of my favourite things?
To take the edge off, I ate a snack (almonds, macadamia nuts, and dried apricots) in the car on the way there. Turns out it was a good plan! Fortunately for me, there weren't any chips, dip or munchies like I had expected. Not sure I could have resisted them...especially munchies of the lolly variety!
Dinner consisted of relatively healthy options: roast chicken, 2 diff green salads, boiled eggs, vegetarian lasagne, a cheese pastry, fried rice and dinner rolls. I limited myself to a couple of pieces of roast chicken, a good helping of salad (without dressing), 1/2 cup of fried rice...and that's where my resolve faltered. Beautiful white bread rolls, crunchy on the outside, soft and amazing on the inside. It was like looking at 2 plastic bags full of chocolate. I took a deep breath and reached inside the bag and withdrew a perfect kaiser bun. I glanced longingly at the butter, but walked away without succumbing!
Then I noticed a 1/2 eaten bun on S's plate with just a tantalising smear of butter. It was too much. With a guilty thought of my food diary, I slowly downed the roll, savouring every bite. Divine. I chased it with a litre of bottled water that I brought from home. And I happily passed on the birthday cake, the pavlova and the lamingtons. All in all, not too bad.
Sunday Nov 7th
As my 4yr old is fond of saying, today is a 'home day'. We lounged around, played, did some grocery shopping and then sat down and watched Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Good family movie!
Not too sore today. Managed to stick to my food plan.
Not much to say!
Monday Nov 8th,
Craft today with my little one! Yippee! We had a great time! I love having her around. It means lots of laughter, hugs and fun.
When G arrived home, it was time to break into action. We donned our exercise gear and got into the tricept circuit. I find this circuit much easier on my knees. Squats and ski jumps don't bother me quite as much as squats, lunges and steps!
I emailed V on Saturday to see if the sequence of the exercises mattered much. G & I are exercising in our lounge room and space is limited. So if there's not enough room for both of us to be doing the same station, we often mix up the order a bit to make it work. V wrote back and advised that circuits are designed to work muscle groups in synergy, and/or large to smaller muscle groups, etc.
So, I'll have to confirm the order that I'm supposed to be doing the stations in to make sure I'm maximising my work out.
G and I did the full workout (both circuits) last Tuesday night. Then alternated the circuits for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today --the way that V suggested when we spoke the other day. So far so good. I am a bit afraid of doing the full work out again tomorrow-including both circuits. I'm hoping I'll have built up my endurance by then and it won't be so bad! Well, here's hoping!
Can't believe we stuck to the routine on a Saturday! About 7.30, S came in and woke us up. G jumped (dunno how THAT was possible after all of our exercising) out of bed, into some work out gear and the 3 of us trooped out to the lounge room to get into the first circuit! It went a bit slower cuz we needed to show 4yr old S how to do the activities, but we all had a giggle while we did it.
Today was posing a challenge. We'd been invited to a 40th Birthday Party and we had to come dressed in our best 70's gear. I thought the outfit was going to be the hard bit. Yet, in the back of my mind, loomed the thought of nibblies, lollies, and cake. How was I going to resist the urge to eat all of my favourite things?
To take the edge off, I ate a snack (almonds, macadamia nuts, and dried apricots) in the car on the way there. Turns out it was a good plan! Fortunately for me, there weren't any chips, dip or munchies like I had expected. Not sure I could have resisted them...especially munchies of the lolly variety!
Dinner consisted of relatively healthy options: roast chicken, 2 diff green salads, boiled eggs, vegetarian lasagne, a cheese pastry, fried rice and dinner rolls. I limited myself to a couple of pieces of roast chicken, a good helping of salad (without dressing), 1/2 cup of fried rice...and that's where my resolve faltered. Beautiful white bread rolls, crunchy on the outside, soft and amazing on the inside. It was like looking at 2 plastic bags full of chocolate. I took a deep breath and reached inside the bag and withdrew a perfect kaiser bun. I glanced longingly at the butter, but walked away without succumbing!
Then I noticed a 1/2 eaten bun on S's plate with just a tantalising smear of butter. It was too much. With a guilty thought of my food diary, I slowly downed the roll, savouring every bite. Divine. I chased it with a litre of bottled water that I brought from home. And I happily passed on the birthday cake, the pavlova and the lamingtons. All in all, not too bad.
Sunday Nov 7th
As my 4yr old is fond of saying, today is a 'home day'. We lounged around, played, did some grocery shopping and then sat down and watched Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. Good family movie!
Not too sore today. Managed to stick to my food plan.
Not much to say!
Monday Nov 8th,
Craft today with my little one! Yippee! We had a great time! I love having her around. It means lots of laughter, hugs and fun.
When G arrived home, it was time to break into action. We donned our exercise gear and got into the tricept circuit. I find this circuit much easier on my knees. Squats and ski jumps don't bother me quite as much as squats, lunges and steps!
I emailed V on Saturday to see if the sequence of the exercises mattered much. G & I are exercising in our lounge room and space is limited. So if there's not enough room for both of us to be doing the same station, we often mix up the order a bit to make it work. V wrote back and advised that circuits are designed to work muscle groups in synergy, and/or large to smaller muscle groups, etc.
So, I'll have to confirm the order that I'm supposed to be doing the stations in to make sure I'm maximising my work out.
G and I did the full workout (both circuits) last Tuesday night. Then alternated the circuits for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and today --the way that V suggested when we spoke the other day. So far so good. I am a bit afraid of doing the full work out again tomorrow-including both circuits. I'm hoping I'll have built up my endurance by then and it won't be so bad! Well, here's hoping!
Friday, November 5, 2010
So much food...so little time
It was much harder to crawl out of bed this morning. Might have been because I was up late writing my first blog or because I was still sore from yesterday's morning session and I knew what lay ahead! It was prolly a bit of both! G got up with me and helped me set up the stations. I must admit, having an exercise buddy does make it easier.
Well, today's challenge centres around eating. I had expected to feel hungry when I started this program--but that hasn't been the case. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm finding it tough to regulate my eating times and to eat as often as I need to. By the time I get to work, get my desk organised and feel ready to eat breakfast, it's already almost 10 o'clock. Not ideal. Snack time falls around 11.45. Then I don't feel like eating my lunch and so at about 1.30 or so, I crack open my afternoon snack. Definitely full now, but I know I have to eat lunch. So, 3pm rolls around and I make my way into the kitchen to make my sandwich. By the time I get that down, dinner is the last thing my stomach is interested in.
But, the weirdest thing happened to me tonight. My stomach felt full and uncomfortable. I'm sure it was still working it's way through my 3pm sandwich. Yet, as I was preparing dinner for S, the smell of the 2minute noodles was almost irresistable!! It was like another force was trying to guide the spoon into my mouth. I'm not even that big a fan of 2 min noodles!! It took all of my will power, but you'll be pleased to note that I successfully fought off the urge to eat the noodles-even the leftover ones! Victory!
Definitely something to bring to my sessions with V.
Well, it's time to take these aching muscles to bed. G'nite all!
Well, today's challenge centres around eating. I had expected to feel hungry when I started this program--but that hasn't been the case. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm finding it tough to regulate my eating times and to eat as often as I need to. By the time I get to work, get my desk organised and feel ready to eat breakfast, it's already almost 10 o'clock. Not ideal. Snack time falls around 11.45. Then I don't feel like eating my lunch and so at about 1.30 or so, I crack open my afternoon snack. Definitely full now, but I know I have to eat lunch. So, 3pm rolls around and I make my way into the kitchen to make my sandwich. By the time I get that down, dinner is the last thing my stomach is interested in.
But, the weirdest thing happened to me tonight. My stomach felt full and uncomfortable. I'm sure it was still working it's way through my 3pm sandwich. Yet, as I was preparing dinner for S, the smell of the 2minute noodles was almost irresistable!! It was like another force was trying to guide the spoon into my mouth. I'm not even that big a fan of 2 min noodles!! It took all of my will power, but you'll be pleased to note that I successfully fought off the urge to eat the noodles-even the leftover ones! Victory!
Definitely something to bring to my sessions with V.
Well, it's time to take these aching muscles to bed. G'nite all!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The 'Defining Moment'
Monday Oct 18th: The ‘Defining Moment’
Have you ever looked back on a moment in time, with the perspective of a couple of days, and realised that the ‘off the cuff’ comment you made was actually a ‘defining moment’? Well, that happened to me a couple of weeks back.
I mentioned to my counsellor V that I thought I was ready to focus on my weight & my physical health. I should have known by the glint in her eye that my life was about to change, but at the time I took no notice.
Later that same evening (Monday Oct 18th to be precise!), I checked my phone for msgs and there was one from V telling me about the group PT sessions that they run at the Centre Monday & Thursday mornings and asking if I was interested. It was a no-brainer. Nope. I’m not a morning person. Too easy.
I was hanging out on the lounge innocently watching Monday night TV with G when the next text msg came through asking if I was serious about my goal of losing 25 kgs by my next birthday. Before I knew it V had presented me with an offer that I would be a fool to refuse. 5 minutes later, I had agreed to: a morning group session AND a ‘1 on 1’ personal training session per week both run by J, Sacred Centre’s resident Personal Trainer.
When I told my friends at work what had transpired the previous evening, they were very excited for me. In fact, 2 of them agreed to help me eat healthy at work! Thus, Team Jeannine: Keen To Be Lean, was born!
Suddenly, it was like the Universe was conspiring for my Success! I’ve never felt like that before. Amazing!!
…It’s just over 2 wks since that fateful night and my life has definitely changed. I now keep a food journal that both V & J have access to. Unlike other attempts to log what I eat, I have made a promise to myself that I will just record whatever passes these lips, without judging, editing or omitting anything. Tricky, challenging and awfully confronting; but I believe that honesty, especially with myself, is the key to this whole thing.
Tuesday Oct 26th ‘Meeting J’
With visions of treadmills and scenes from ‘The Biggest Loser’ running wild in my head, I climbed the flight of stairs to Sacred Centre to meet J for the first time with a sense of trepidation. Completely unwarranted, as it turned out! J is lovely. Easy to chat to—not even the least bit scary.
We sat down, went over my 4 week goals, discussed a my food journal and talked about what I could expect from the Thursday morning group sessions. J took a ‘before’ photo. And that was that. First PT session-done & dusted.
Thursday Oct 28th ‘Circuit’
Hauling my body outta bed this morning at the extra early hour of 5.30am to make it to my first group session was challenging. I stumbled out of the flat wearing black dress shoes with white socks and my ¾ length gray sweat pants. Minor fashion faux pas—easily fixed!
We started the morning with core muscle exercises. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the room had been divided in half & lined up alongside the yoga mats were separate stations-6 stations to be exact. We were given 15 mins to complete the first circuit 2 times, followed by a 1 min rest break, then on to the next circuit.
What did I learn from this session? Well, in a nutshell, I learned that I am not a fan of lunges or squats and as it turns out, neither are my knees or my quads!! I managed to hold it together until it came time to face the stairs! Yep, you guessed it- jelly legs!!
Now, I expected to be a little stiff and sore; it comes with the territory. But, what I didn’t plan on, was how long it took me to recover!! It took until Monday for me to walk normally with out limping or grimacing! I suppose it didn’t help that I spent most of the weekend climbing stairs!
Monday November 1 ‘Counselling’
The battle of the bulge cannot be won by diet and exercise alone. I am very grateful to have someone that I can talk to about what it’s like to be me.
Tuesday November 2 ‘Taking the Circuits on the Road’
V and I agreed that I would do the normal workout at home for this week, and G offered to do it with me. I’m so lucky to have such a supportive partner. We set up the circuit stations as best we could in the lounge room and we did it together. It took longer than we expected so we agreed that we would just do the first circuit Thursday morning.
Thursday November 4th
Up at 5.30. Work out gear on. A bit of a warm up, then straight into it! Done & dusted by 6am. My arms are aching! Man, I’m sure feeling it today!! In addition to the normal muscle fatigue and a knee that sounds like a bowl of rice bubbles when you first pour the milk on it, I seem to have developed a cramp in the arch of my left foot. Ahhh just call me the ‘walking wounded’.
Dunno how I’ll go tomorrow morning when I have to get up and face the next circuit.
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