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!
Friday, November 26, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)