Just numbers but ... measuring up

I have been trying not to get too caught up on the numbers on the scale, figuring that as long as I know I am not cheating on my diet and I am being as active as I can manage given constraints that I will be heading in the right direction.  But today, when Paul went to weigh me, I told him I would be keener on him checking my 3 measurements.  My original measurements were Bust: 99, Waist 99 (that's right - problem area) and Hips 107.  I had a 9 week goal to reduce my waist by 10cms on my way to achieving a waist measurement of less than 80 as recommended for women for general good health.  Checkout the Australian Government campaign www.measureup.gov.au

The good news was that in 4 weeks I have reduced my waist measurement by 13cms and my hips by 5cms and my bust by 2cms - which he reasurres me is not my actual boobs but my 'wings' - said while indicating an area on my back - niiiice - NOT.

Of course I had noticed the improvement around my middle, so it was just confirmation.  Interestingly, when I check my measurement against womens size guides like the ones used by Allanah Hill and the fact that I usually wear a size 12, it is a mystery how anything fits me!  Before or now.  But for example, I bought a dress of hers for NYE in size 12.

She says size 12 is 95/76/104 which would make me before this program a size 14 bust, size 16+ waist and size 14 hip.  My dress, with some assistance of some fancy knickers (see left) fit quite nicely I thought.  With my 'now' measurements the only change is that I am a size 10 in the hips ...

But I will admit that I find this new evidence to be very motivating and I am looking forward to dropping the remaining 6cms off my waist by the end of the 9 weeks period.  I am told it can be done by focussing more on my core and on high intensity cardio, which I think is going to have to be carefully balanced to nurture my dodgey feet/knees/back.

Low Carb Lethargy

I have been laying off the blogging as I was tending to do it last thing at night and then finding myself to be really exhausted in the morning.  And what I have found is that it hasn't helped and that I am still exhausted and what should have been obvious earlier is that I am feeling exhausted because I am eating hardly any carbs, while exercising more and still looking after 3 kids etc.

Actually there is plenty of noise on the Internet about it.  I just hadn't looked before.  Distracted as I was my concerns about high protein diets and the effects on your liver and bones :-/.  Actually the stuff I have found on the net talks about 40% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fat.  What I am doing is 34% carbs, 51% protein and 15% fat.  No wonder I am exhausted!  I am going to have to have a word with my PT.

In other news I am still loving my newly found waist and my FitBit tells me that I have taken over 14,000 steps today (10.5kms).

I gave my motivation a kick along by treating my self to a little bit of a spree at Adidas - even buying running shorts - not previously an item that has ever been found in my wardrobe.  (What?  You should see the stuff that is turning up daily from my husband's online shopping for all of the 'stuff' he needs to compete in his 'little' triathlon next weekend.)

Here I sit with my aching feet on a nice warm wheat bag, having already been self-massaged with fabulous Elemis sp@ home muscle ease active Body Oil.  And with my loving DH outa town for the week, actually getting my post written quite early!

Bully for me.

I've got "the bug" and other surprises

For 10+ years now I have been a Mum.  And in all those years, by the time I have got the child/children in bed I have felt I deserved to sit on the lounge and enter a vegetative state in front of the television till bed time. Tonight, in response to realising that I consumed too many carbs this morning, I got the kids in bed and headed out the door with my dog for a walk/run, arriving home 40mins later hot and sweaty and heading straight for the shower.  This is seriously the turning of a corner.  My kids are still exhausting, but they are more independent than ever before and it is time to accept that I can change these post kids habits.  Hence: "I've got the bug."

Another discovery today, was that my charming PT is 20 years younger than me. I had suspected as much, but I really didn't have any interest in having my suspicions confirmed. How did it come out you ask?  A music video came on at the gym while I was on the bike doing a Tabata, and it was Big Audio Dynamite (I saw them live in the late 80's), apparently a band that Paul, was unfamiliar with, but I was certain that he would have heard of The Clash - nope.  He was born after Mick Jones was kicked out of The Clash in 1983. Punk is dead :-(



And in other new discoveries, I heard in my Philosophy group today, about a Christian mystic woman who was writing in the 13 and 1400's.  Julian of Norwich was ahead of her time.  She was very positive by traditional Christian standards and in hindsight quite the feminist and Universalist.  I am looking forward to learning more about her as we continue to study Devotion.

Setting a good 'Active' example for my kids

I spent a big chunk of today watching my boys at their school swimming carnival. My eldest swims in 10 and under and my youngest swam in 8 and under and 9 and under.  Like a lot of Australian families I have prioritised swimming lessons for them since they were about 3. I would have said that the oldest is not particularly talented and the younger shows a bit more potential but hasn't had any experience at racing, so expectations were low. I wouldn't say that either of them possess an overly competitive nature (except with one another).

They both know that I have gotten into swimming in the last couple of years and I let them know when I have been swimming and where and how many laps I have done and more recently my husband has gotten into swimming as he has been in training for a triathlon.  He has become very excited about his progress with swimming and talks about it at home too.

Today they both surprised me.  They were both entered in two events - freestyle and backstroke.  Both of them got through the freestyle heats and into the finals.  And they both swam really well in the backstroke and were very close to getting through to the final.  The younger one ended up placing 3rd in the freestyle final and I couldn't be more proud.  Both of them also seemed to really enjoy the occasion.  And the younger one has said that he got a kick out of racing.

I don't think that it is any accident that they have had this turnaround given the examples that they have had at home in this past few months and it is really satisfying to know that even the bit of extra effort we have been making, may have rubbed off on them.  It's is a large part of why we do it, isn't it?  Not just so we can keep up with our kids, stay alive for our kids, but to have a positive impact on their choices.

What am I going to do when Stone Fruit go out of season?!!

In the nutrition seminar that my gym runs to support the program they implement with their clients, they talk about if you want to eat fruit, eat stone fruit or berries - before 2pm of course. And having observed my husband's experience of the program I could figure out why, so I took to stone fruit with gusto!  I have always liked stone fruit - expecially nectarines, but have not ever really bought that much as I had this idea that they bruise easily, so aren't very portable and they don't stay at their optimum eating freshness for very long.  But I put these ideas aside and I have been hitting the Peaches, Nectarines and Plums pretty hard!

I like to slice up a couple of them and put them on my High Fibre Soy Linseed Porridge in the mornings and nuke them - delicious.  And I find cutting them up helps to avoid any bruises (unfortunate surprises).  I also carry them with me for morning tea, and find that they are very acceptable to take along to my Philosophy class and cut up and offer to the group, and I am reasonably comfortable about eating them in public, in my car or walking along the street.  They are large and juicy and filling.  And yet, previously my favourite fruits I would have said would be Apples - especially Pink Ladies, and Bananas - so convenient in their own packaging - but both of those are not great on this diet.  Actually I took a large Apple out with me this morning and regretted it, when I saw the amount of carbs that that added to my diet for today, which kinda threw me out.  Better choice:  Peaches, Nectarines and Plums!

I went to restock today at my favourite fruit and veg and asked one of the guys stocking the shelves with fresh fruit how much longer they were going to be around and he tells me that they are starting to get rarer already (sub text:  Haven't you noticed the increasing prices!) I ask him what will come into season next that I can substitute and he says Madarins - which I like but definitely not the same way.

Lucky that Strawberries and blueberries are available year long here!  Stay tuned to see how I cope when I can no long find/afford the stone fruit.

So why are Stone Fruit so good for you then?

I found this article which gives five reasons:  http://www.besthealthmag.ca/eat-well/healthy-eating/5-reasons-to-eat-stone-fruit

Which explains it like this:

5 healthy reasons to eat stone fruit

Peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums are great for your health. Here's why a piece of stone fruit makes a healthy and delicious snack

By Margaret Nearing

Tasty stone fruit—so-called because of the stone-like seed inside—make perfect snacks, as they tuck easily into lunch bags or picnic baskets. Here’s what they can do for your health:

Create collagen

A cup (250 mL) of sliced apricots or plums has about one quarter of your daily vitamin C needs. Vitamin C helps the body form collagen—the main protein in connective tissue—in bones, cartilage, muscle and blood vessels. It also helps to increase iron absorption.

Care for your nerves and your muscles

Bored with bananas but want to get enough potassium (key for proper nerve and muscle function)? Two small peaches have slightly more of this essential mineral than a medium banana.

Sharpen eyesight

Apricots are delicious raw, but their carotenoids—antioxidants that give the flesh its vibrant orange colour—become more available to the body when cooked. Beta-carotene, for one, converts to vitamin A to help maintain eyesight, skin membranes and immune function.

Strengthen bones

Two plums contain about one tenth of your daily vitamin K, which helps maintain strong bones. Researchers have found that low levels of vitamin K are associated with an increased incidence of osteoarthritis in hands and knees.

Stay regular

• 10 delicious ways to cook with stone fruit
• 6 healthy fruit smoothie recipes
• Our best healthy peach recipes

Cut up a peach on your cereal and have a nectarine as a snack. But don’t peel them!The skin provides insoluble fibre that helps prevent constipation.

What do Rock Climbing and Ikea have in common?

Ok, that is a trick question.  On Sunday I went rock climbing with my family and my sister and her partner.  It has been 6 years since my last climbing session and before that probably 10 years earlier, but then I used to climb in a gym every week and go climbing, abseiling and canyoning in National Parks on the weekends.  I didn't know if any of those skills were still with me.  My kids took to the walls with no hesitation.  Quite surprisingly even my 10 year old had no reservations and my 4yo daughter was up and down the walls like a mountain goat!  My 7 yo boy was enjoying the challenge of trying the harder climbs.  My husband on the other hand stuck by his opinion that he is too heavy to climb - despite his obvious muscular power which in my mind should have made it possible.  And me?

While my upper body strength is not what it used to be I still had the skills to let me scramble to the tops of the wall without thinking too much about it.  Yay.  Having trained with Paul, just the day before my lats were screaming by the time I reached the top each time, but they recovered in time for me to do it a few times before retiring to lunch.  Belaying the children took some toll on me as well, so I felt I had achieved some kind of acceptable level of activity for a Sunday.

Was I content with that?  Oh no, I had to go home and put together a large Ikea flat pack for my daughters toy storage.  My husband has an allergy to Ikea, and my interested children only maintained their interest for a few minutes at a time.  By the time I had completed putting it together my hamstrings were on fire.

I must have had a premonition about the state of my body by Monday morning, so off I went this morning to see Margaret of the magic hands, so that I could push through to another training session with Paul.  The upside:  I jumped on the scales this morning and I have lost 5kgs since I embarked on this adventure nearly 3 weeks ago. Woo hoo. Paul is happy with me as he has been cranking up my weights quite a bit during that time as well.  I am feeling more clear headed and together than I have for a long time - what a great investment in my lifestyle.

So the answer to the original questions is that they both happen on Sundays.

Personal Trainers - my thoughts

I have had a few Personal Trainers over the years.

I had one that used to come to my apartment at 6am and collect me and take me downstairs and to the beach across the road (gotta love Sydney) and train me on the sand as the sun was gathering strength for the day.  (This was in a pre wedding panic phase in 1999) Ouch for ankles!  Once I was nearly ruined then she would take me into the gym of our building and finish the workout there.  She would have been 50 and fit as hell, and after a while my husband-to-be joined in too.

Later, after the marriage but before the kids we went through a very fit phase where we woud get up at 5am and head to a gym that hung out over the ocean and work out 3 mornings a week, sometimes with PT's and these positive experiences will stay with me always as having probably been instrumental in me finally falling pregnant with my first child.  In fact my current PT is doing a core exercise with me that I first learnt in these times.

When I joined a new fancy gym that opened just a few years ago, they let you pick your PT from a 'menu' and what I wanted at the time was:

1. A woman
2. Preferably over 30
3. Preferably who had children

I felt that they would be able to understand where I was coming from better, and that I would generally be more comfortable with them.  It actually proved to be quite difficult.  The first one fit the bill but the PT's at this gym turned over quite rapidly and I went through 3 before settling in with Carlita and was just grateful for a 'young woman' that I seemed to be able to talk to OK.  The realtionship never really bore too many results given that I basically only turned up at the Gym for the one PT session a week.  On top of the Gym fees I also found it quite difficult to justify and eventually settled into going to regular classes each week.

Then I had this brain wave to learn to swim (see earlier post re Plantar Fascitiis and Swimming) and asked about some stroke correction lessons at the gym.  Brandon, did not fit my above criteria at all and there was a certain level of discomfit involved in meeting him in the pool (I would try to make sure that I was already in the water when he appeared ...) but it was a great experience and I got the results that I was looking for and information that I will always carry with me in regard of swimming.

The PT's where I am at now are a very tight knit bunch who I know are getting great results with their clients - many of whom I know from my neighbourhood one way or the other.  The difference is the holistic approach to the program - not just the exercise but the food, and feeling accountable and having tools like online food and training diaries to keep you on the straight and narrow.  I decided to go with my husband's trainer for consistencies sake and because I felt that in knowing my husband he at least knew a bit about my home life that might prove useful.  I later learned that he has had quite the journey to arrive at his chosen career having dropped about 30kg's himself, which gives him a lot of credibility with me.  It is a relationship that is still in its infancy but is looking very promising.

Philosophy day

The highlight of today was the chance to meet with my fellow students of philosophy at the beautiful home of our tutor.  The discussion of devotion continued.  We discussed our own devoted behaviour, and the devotion that we see in others.  There are three ways of devotion the calm (satwa), the more active (Rajas) and the destructive type (tamas). Those unusual words are Sanskrit and are the 3 Guna.  It makes you think - which is the whole idea.  The devotion that I bring to the care of my children is sometimes that calm type and often the rajasic type - so work to be done. The takeaway is to watch out for devotion, your own and others and to take time for self - by meditating or finding stillness.

After a relaxing post philosophy lunch with my BFF I headed home for a run/walk with my dog.  My strategy was to run down hills and march energetically up hills.  I recorded my fastest km yet using my Nike Running App (example below) which maps your run in a colour coded way that shows when you were running and when you were walking - which is very satisfying.  I fit in a 3km trek in my local environs before my dog started to lose his enthusiasm - helped by the fact that I stepped on his gigantic paw when he ran in front of me in a curve.  But don't be too concerned - he seemed to make a rapid recovery the minute he got into the backyard and layer down in the cool of shade covered sandpit.

I have got over 10,000 steps today (7kms), but if my DH was home instead of being in NZ on business I would have been able to fit in more. My afternoon was hijacked by 3x swimming lesson for the kids.  With the Primary Swim Carnival next week the excitement/anxiety if high.

On the food front, I made a boo boo today.  I was running late and ran out of time to make myself breakfast, but didn't want to get caught out till 12 without having had breakfast ask did the other day. My 'healthy choice' bread had passed its used by date, so I found myself reaching for the kids 'Traditional Wholemeal', throwing a scrape of homous on it and a slice of super low fat cheese.  I only realised when I put it into my App later what a mistake that was.  Having blown the carbs early in the day it threw out my balanced food choices for the rest of the day.   Hear I am at the end of the day with 97% of my carbs but only 70% of my Protein and 60% of my fat.  I could have another hunk of meat, but I am not really hungry.

Tomorrow is another day.

Weigh in No. 2

Like always, I tried too hard to cram too much into my morning.  After School drop off (which I was running late for) I tried hard to nick over to Margaret's (Magic Hands) for a quick massage, before coming back to school to supervise my daughter's chess class.  That was not too successful, although I will not complain as Margaret did release my Hip Flexors, ITB and my TFL and I walked out of there with a good amount of new found wiggle in my walk.

Then a quick change and down to see Paul for my 1hr sesh of weight, cardio and food diary debrief.  I was feeling a bit tense - probably something to do with taking the strategic decision not to eat any carbs for breakfast but merely some fruit.  My cunning strategy may have worked better, had we not been out of coffee beans at home, grrrrr (thanks DH).  

Have you ever noticed how tense you can feel when you are hungry?  I was even trying not to drink too much water.  So crazy!  Anyhow, I lost another kg - so that makes 3 in a little over a 2 weeks - I am half way toward my goal in less than a third of the time we had budgetted for yippee!

I've got to say that my poor PT has not figured out yet what motivates me.  I am a glory hound and I mean it!  If he had carried on and on about how well I had done and how great I was looking (lie if you have to) I would have sailed out of there on a cloud of intense motivation!  Instead he was trying to get me to set some uninspiring goal on a card that at the end of the week might be drawn out for a free session - just doesn't do it for me.  Especially when he indelicately points out that my heart rate gets as high as it does during intense cardio because I am inherently unfit, and therefore need more steady cardio effort rather than the short burst tabata kind of action. THANKS - now that is motivating.  I'm going to show him!  So I walked/ran with the dog to school to pick up the kids and my glorious new FitBit One is showing nearly 15,000 steps for my day (10kms).

Having basically started eating around 1pm and being determined to meet my goals I am now feeling extremely full and not looking forward to going to bed in case my 'Protein Baby' presses on my Artery and I pass out!

Onwards and upwards - I mean downwards!

Willpower is key

Before I started this this fitness kick, I was well  aware that self-control was the issue.  Afterall the problem is 70% food and only 30% exercise. I was angry that even though I knew this it did not make it any easier to exercise any - self control that is.

I read a great book called "We have met the enemy - self control in an Age of Excess" by Daniel Akst.  I enjoyed reading it, it was enlightening and yet I finished it and felt stronger for a little while, before I fell back into old ways.

On signing up to my program, I was angry that I had not been able to kick these few kilograms myself.  Now, I am supposed to have support around me, family friends, trainers.  Pressure that has been brought to bear by me telling everyone that I have set my goal.  But at the end of the day you only have yourself don't you?

That is what I have felt today.  I really had to use my will power to go swim laps.  It would be easier if the lanes were open right after school drop off, but they are not.  I had plenty of things I could have done instead of going but I didn't.  It meant I missed lunch and went from laps to helping my daughter's class cook pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.  My pancake partner was a qualified chef and he made some beautiful batter with the kids using Butter Milk and everything.  I helped the kids pour them into the pan.  I helped them flip them.  I put the their lemon and sugar or maple syrup on them and served them to the kids.  All without taking a bite - and there were plenty left over too.  That's self control.

Now I find that although I have reached all of my Macro Nutrient Targets for the day, I have stayed up too late and I am hungry and it is going to take a lot more self control not to eat anything else before bed.  A big drink of sparkling water and some vitamins [sigh]

Tomorrow is another day, a weigh in day in fact.  The day I see my PT for an hour, the day I see if my first weeks great result can be followed up by another successful week.  I think so.

Why does no one on tv diet or do they?

I love Big Bang Theory, but I have never seen Penny diet, although she does apparently jog.  Actually, she eats a lot of takeaway and her efforts to cook at home are not nutrient rich.

I love Game of Thrones, but Cersei, and Mother of Dragons don't seem to watch what they eat. Raw horses heart, though I imagine is high in protein.










I love Boardwalk Empire but Margaret nor Billie, are ever spotted dieting. Actually eating doesn't feature hardly at all in the show.  Although drinking certainly does.

Actually I have just thought of an exception was in Mad Men when Betty is dieting - actually that was quite unpleasant to watch.








On the man front, Owen (the guy in the middle) in Men of a Certain Age, is concerned about his weight - especially when his child videos him bingeing at night.






Anyway, week 2 of the diet is just about over and it is satisfying to be losing weight and feeling fitter, but I can see that this could be a bit dull after a bit.  I hope I figure out a way to stay motivated.  I think it is harder when my husband is away as he was last weekend and for a good chunk of this week.

My PT Paul, is also a bit tricky to nail down to appointments and so by the time I see him this week it will have been 6 days, which I don't think is optimum.  I am supposed to fit in two sessions a week , so this week my 1st is on Wednesday and the 2nd is on Saturday.  Not ideal given that I have my Friday work out as well with Therese, and that my plan was to do a boxing class at the gym on Saturday.  I must remember to bring this up.  I wish we could lock in some regular sessions during the week :-(

11 Things I've learnt from this diet so far . . .

1. Things that have fat, and whether it is good or bad fat is easier to avoid.  Egg yolk, almonds, avocado,

2. Things that are high in protein without the downside of fat or carbs - lean meat - Only!

3. Avoid salt because it causes bloating

4. Read nutrition panels and look for not only low fat, but for low carbs and high protein

5. Eating out is hard.  You need to really remember to ask for dressing on the side, hold the potatoes etc.

6. Even good friends who understand the diet will still struggle not to tempt you out of your program.

7.  Losing weight too fast is undoubtably not necessarily a good thing, but it is very motivating to see quick results and have others observe it.

8. Drink heaps of water - which is easy to forget if you don't have a bottle by you all the time.

9.  You need to eat fruit - preferably in the morning, if you want your digestive system to continue to function.  Peaches are better than nectarines.

10.  When I have tried to avoid evening carbs previously - usually in support of my husband - I always found that I was hungry shortly after.  Now I know that you just have to eat MORE meat.

11.  Small Protein Bars can be a good replacement for biscuits or chocolate - and goes nicely with a cup of tea.

Frantic Friday

Yesterday was nuts - but what's new?

After drop off I had my 'Fitness Friday' session with Therese and 6 other Mum's from school and that Therese knows how to drive a person HARD.  Once we were good and warmed up (read:  pretty exhausted) We did a 20m Beep Test (Multi-stage Fitness Test) which is used to estimate a person's VO₂max (maximum oxygen uptake).  All I know is that it is a killer.  If you want to know more - check with PT Google.  Thankfully we were really just getting a baseline and at the end of the school term we will do another one and I will have improved out of sight! That is the plan anyway.  We finished the 1 hour session by doing Boxing Tabata - which I didn't find as hard as doing it on the Elliptical Trainer with Paul, but my left shoulder really knows about it.

I left the girls to head home and have 'meal' no. 2 of the day, on the way realising that I had arranged to play Par 3 Golf, with 5 of my other girlfriends - who I will refer to as the 'Camping Crew' girls (on account of us having plans to go camping with our families in March together)  Well, they will be camping and my family will be Glamping, which is close enough.

So off to Golf with just the 3 required clubs (putter, 9 iron and 5 iron), which I now know, could have been a putter, a Pitching Wedge and a 8 iron).  I lost two balls and only really revelled in one of my shots - although my putting wasn't too bad, given how rusty I am.  Fun was had by all, and when it got too hot we made a short cut across the course and headed to Lunch.


Lunch was one of those challenging diet experiences where what should have been a healthy salad arrived with too much dressing, too many olives and feta and not enough lean chicken - so consequently I didn't eat much of it and made my excuses and dashed to by daughter's swimming lesson where I have volunteered to help the the girls dressed afterwards.  Man did I smell 'NOT FRESH'.  While I had changed in between work out and golf - I did not have time to shower ...

The highlight of my Frantic Friday, was definitely heading out with yet a different GF (makes me sound popular doesn't it?  But that's just weird ...) to see Lincoln at the movies.  We had a lovely seared Yellow Fin Tuna dinner before hand - see photo - I did not eat the Salsa Verde and I had told them to hold the Chat Potatoes.  I arranged this a while ago when I realised that my Husband was going to be away and I hate sitting at home alone while he is out having fun.  Great film, fabulous Daniel Day-Lewis (will definitely get the Oscar over our Hugh :-() , wonderful script, great cast, fascinating time in history, AND really really long!  (photo of Theatre below) In bed at midnight - a super late night for me - hence doing my Friday blog post on a Saturday - sorry.

My Thursday Running Sheet

6.30am Wake up, feeling tired and in denial about needing to get up, should meditate but ...
7.00am Finally get up and join the throng of children in my kitchen
8.00am Kids in the car and off to school and catch up with some mums at the gate
8.40am Pick up a coffee with my friend and fellow Philosophy student Alex
9.10am Arrive at my Philosophy class (my island).  We discussed 'Devotion' - nice, included a story from the Upanishads about a man with two wives - one who thinks that wealth is 'stuff' and one who know it is so much more. Obviously in more poetic and meaningful terms.
11.30am Head home to get changed for the gym and check on my tree lopper - yes the tree from post no. 1 nearly 2 weeks ago.  The tree-lopper managed to freak me out before I left by casually asking "How much is your dog worth? $900?"

12.30pm Arrive at the gym for my 30 min Weights and 30min Cardio session (wondering the whole time if my dog will still be there when I get home).  The weights are getting heavier and the Cardio is getting more agonising.
2.00pm Arrive home, tree lopper gone, but dog still there (phewww).  Collect all the swimming gear for lessons for all three children. Do a bit housework.
3.00pm Collect the kids from school and dash to the swimming centre (without my purse).
3.30pm Both boys in the pool and the other one off playing or nagging me for snacks.
4.00pm Daughter in the pool, boys dried dressed and sitting with me at a table to do their homework
4.45pm Daughter out of the pool dried and dressed, everything packed up and stowed in the car.
5.00pm Home and checking the mail and then assisting my elderly neighbour across the road with her pool maintenance.

6.00pm Cook dinner for the kids, then for me - eat it, clean up the kitchen, put a load of washing on.  Good news - I have figured out how to meet my Macro Nutrient goals every day.
7.00pm Husband home with his new car.  Jump in and take it around the block. Talk about OTT.
7.30pm Kids in bed - courtesy of the husband, who will depart in the morning for a weekend with his friends (leaving me with the new car :-0)

8.00pm Plant my butt on the lounge to watch some mindless television in between bouts of laundry action.  Get a FitBit notification that I have reached my 10,000 step goal
9.00pm Pick up my iPad to write my Blog

There you have it - a semi typical day in my life.   I need to remember to wake Mstr 7 at 6.30am so he can go to his first Senior Chess Class (so proud) and then go over Mstr 10's spelling list with him.  Not looking forward to a weekend without my DH.  Still don't know how I am supposed to get all three kids to their Saturday morning activities, without him!

The magic touch

I have a fabulous massage therapist.  I only found her about 6 months ago.  My Chiropractor referred me to her.  I have known my chiropractor for about 15years and he is very skilled and has never given me a bum steer. He used to be the chiro for the Australian Swim Team and he probably knows me better than most of the members of my family.  Anyway, he was right on the money with Margaret.  She is all kinds of qualified, with degrees and diplomas in all kinds of sport, massage and personal training and related subjects.

When I say to people that I've had a massage, I am sure they picture an aromatherapy experience and me coming out feeling blissfully relaxed and like I could just go straight to sleep (after I wash the oil slick off me).  Actually Margaret is not one bit like that.  She is much more like a really expert motor mechanic, working on an engine that she knows really well and wants to tune to within an inch of its life to get the best performance out of it.

She got to know my issues quite well initially, and now I walk in and she asks me what hurts and then she usually goes no where near the offending area at first, but works with the muscle group that are related to that spot.  If my feet are giving me hell (see Troublesome feet below) she does my calves and ITB.  If my neck is sore she massages my MTJ (jaw).

What I love about her is that she is so hard working.  She is ambitious for her business and herself.  She teaches, she does corporate work, she goes to markets, she networks, she volunteers at charity events and she is a single mature mum of 2 kids.  Other professionals, like George, and physiotherapists, and personal trainers love to work with her and are always trying to get her involved in their business.

She is my secret weapon on my fight for fitness. It takes a village :-)

But I stayed strong

Yesterday's post was somewhat prophetic on the sleep front.  I went to bed very tired and then I woke a few minutes before my husband's alarm went off at 4.45am (he was going to his swimming squad), so I listened to him get up, get dressed, make himself a coffee and head out the door.  Then I couldn't get back to sleep, with the day ahead's details running through my head. I was still awake at 6.15 when my little girl had to have her blanket put back on. But shortly after I must have falling back to sleep, only to have to get up and get the children ready for school at 7.  So wrecked, and impatiently getting my disorganised children ready for school, I turned into late 'shouty mum'.  And the magic lasted all day long :-(

I can however feel good about making it to the swim centre and doing 40 laps in the same time it took me to do 30 last week.  It was not quite the meditative experience as last week, as I was sharing the pool with some school groups.  They left just the one lane for us and the kids had the other 3.

Anyway the 'staying strong' relates to the thought that I had at around 5.30pm that a glass of wine may have helped my mood.  I was not actually tempted but just thought about it for the first time since starting this kick.  Anyway, as I cooked my super delicious dinner (see photo) and even more so when I finished eating it, the thought passed.

Tomorrow is another day, and with a bit of luck I will get a better nights sleep and tomorrow the children will all be angels.  Angels who will be able to find their school shoes and remember to go to T-Ball Try-Outs after school!

I'm thinking a long walk/run with my dog will be in order.  I need to take a photo at school and supervise a chess class, but besides that the day is mine between 9 and 2.30 at least :-)

Oh, and the neighbours insurance assessor came today and he is going to have the tree taken care of - yeah!  Then will come the drama of the fence replacment ... you can't wait to hear about it!

And I'm off and racing!

I had my PT session this morning with Paul (who has decided against an alias).  Despite my lamb dinner, my struggle to not exceed my daily fat goal (41 grams), a litre of water, some apple and a coffee, right before weigh-in, I lost nearly 2kgs. That is one third of my 9 week goal.  I am not expecting to lose that much every week, but I think I can do at least a kilogram a week. I hope I am not being over confident.  Besides being weighed I completed my weights and cardio session - woo hoo.  I go back again on Thursday. My husband says he thinks my bum looks smaller aleady - I think it is just the Lululemon working :-)

I am feeling better!  In discussion with my girl friends, we agreed that it was primarily because I was focusing on me! I certainly have not been focusing on the housework :-(

Today I have had no trouble meeting my macro nutrient goals (carbs, protein, fat) and tomorrow I am planning to swim. I am meeting my neighbours insurance assessor for them at 11.  Mine haven't even contacted me to make an appointment - referring to the large tree lying in my yard instead of standing in my neighbours, from post 1.

I think I need to focus on my sleep quality too.  I am definitely going to bed too late each night, and with 3 kids, 2 of whom still wake me up with nightmares sometimes and a dog who lets me know if he does not have a sufficiently cosy kennel, I often get woken at night.  See photo of dogs new bed bought today.  Add that to needing to get up to pee because I drink so much water all day long and I am wrecked.  I am waiting for my new FitBit One to arrive in the mail and when it does I will monitor sleep as well as steps (so far today over 13,000). They say that the hours slept before midnight are the ones that really count - and I don't get many of them ...

I wore a Nike T-Shirt today that read: 24/7 EVERY DAMN DAY!  My husband bought if for me on a trip to the States, and at bed-time my daughter was practicing her new found familiarity with letters and numbers by telling me what each character was, and then I had to explain how Damn is a bad word, but not a bad bad word, but not one that children should use.  Oooops (but I love that T-Shirt).

Sorry, totally rambling tonight - must be the lack of sleep ...

Sunday, day of rest ...

I have 2 boys 10 and 7 and  a girl who is 4.  Both of my boys have been taking tennis lessons since they were quite young.  Mr 7, it is fair to say, displays more talent and passion for the sport, while Mr 10 enjoys playing but ...  Anyway, today was their first round robin competition.  Their coach had encouraged me to register Mr 7 in singles and Mr 10 only as a doubles partner with his brother.  Watching them play together was agonising and then something came over me and an alter ego took over my body and I found myself shouting to Mr 10 that I would pay him a dollar for every time his ball went over the net. That's right - you read right. I did that. In hindsight not my best parenting moment.  Mr 7 followed up of course with the question "and me too!" To which I replied that he could have a dollar for every first serve he got in. I did get a bit of attention for such a move.

Anyway, I thought that sharing that with you would make you feel like a better parent :-).  Of course later in the afternoon I was making Play Dough with my kids (see photo), as I had volunteered to do so for my daughters teacher - so I am forgiven aren't I.  Not enough? Then I cooked a nutritious meal from scratch that had heaps of hidden veggies in it.  I lovingly washed my daughters long curly hair and combed it out and then read her a book before bed.  Anyway, I've forgiven myself, and decided that it was funny and that my boys were not scarred.  And if they were they will probably tell me sometime in their teenage years.

I had planned to get a massage for my sore body today, but gave up on that dream after spending my day till 2pm at the tennis. And then I received an invite from a couple of my fabulous girlfriends (Hello girls) to go for a walk. When I say a walk, we actually walked 6kms in an hour, including a very steep hill and even in the rain!

I can also testify that the snickers tag line "You are not YOU when you are hungry!" is indeed true - although that does not mean that I can eat a snickers on this diet.  But I did get to the point where I was determined to make myself a delicious dinner of Lamb in Ginger (see photo), but it took some time and anyone who got in my way was very swiftly dealt with.

I have another hour long PT session tomorrow morning, which I think will include my first weigh-in, which I am naturally apprehensive about, so stay tuned.  Having said that if I can talk him into not doing it till the following day just after lunch, so that it will be exactly 7 days from my initial weight recording I WILL.  But it's just a number right?

Goal Post

I guess I should include my fitness goals on this blog at last. I have set a 9 week goal with my Personal Trainer to lose 6 kgs. I want to specifically bring my waist measurement down to below 80 cms I actually think I can probably do more and really I would like to lose another couple of kgs - basically trying to get back to my pre baby no.1 position.

Having had 3 kids in my mid to late 30's, some things just never went back into shape. In fact for those who are familiar with pregnancy, I had 5.5 fingers of muscle separation after my 3rd baby and I have managed to bring that back to 2, but it is still enough to bother me and affect my core strength, and with poor core strength, my back has really suffered.

I am a naturally active person.  I love running about with my kids and I am not afraid of incidental exercise.  I like to walk instead of drive.  I like to play tennis with my boys and I like to garden and walk my dog. With my kids currently aged between 10 and 4 I can not afford to slow down, and of course I want to set a good example for them.  Oh, and my husband is on a health kick too - so it is good timing.  He has seen great results over the last few months on the same program, but not as fabulous as my Best Friend.

She is my real inspiration.  I joke with her, by saying that I can't be her friend anymore if I don't follow her lead.  She is my favourite buddy for shopping, and we take a trip each year to Melbourne in June, and I want to be reaching for the same size as her!  Is that wrong?  It can't be, because after 4 days on the program I am feeling fantastic (although a bit sore and hungry).

This program is teaching me about food, and I wouldn't have said that I was deficient in that area. I must remember to tell my PT that because I saw him smirk at our first meeting when I told him that I had a pretty good handle on nutrition.  Check out what I had for lunch today! Actually the Avocado was a bit much after a Bacon and Mushroom Omelette for breakfast, but you get the idea!

Today I went for a run with my dog OMG.  It has been years since I considered actually jogging as an activity I would engage in for fitness sake. I was a runner as a teenager and I used to be able to do 5kms in 18mins. Anyway,  I just hope my body (and my dog - action shot below) can keep up with my enthusiasm .

Working out the workouts

Most people - actually everyone who knew what I planned today, thought I was crazy.

After school drop off one of the other mum's hosts a training session at her place. Today was my first time, so I didn't know what to expect.  There were 7 of us at varying levels of fitness and fair to say I was making just about everyone else look good.  The trainer was serious and may have thought that the long list of body aches and pains etc that I came up with on my form, were a bunch of hoo ha.  We were running up short inclines, skipping and doing a circuit of semi-torturous exercise, but after the first 15mins of discomfort I actually started to warm up and by the end of the hour I felt really good.

After spoiling myself with a Soy Flat White from my local cafe where I was lucky enough to bump into two fab friends (hello Girls!), I headed down to my second work out appointment, and accidentally arrived half an hour early, so my PT suggested I do some cardio to fill in the time (yay, great idea- I was feeling fresh as a daisy! NOT).  Then for the next hour I was up for a weight training session followed by some more cardio.

The cardio included Tabata Training.  Check it out at www.tabatatraining.org  It is a very specific type of interval training which can be done on a variety of machines or activities.  My choice was the Cross-Trainer.  Briefly, it is a 4 minute workout where you go as hard as you can for 20seconds and then slow down for 10 seconds.  There are 8 intervals of the high intensity exercise.  On the Cross Trainer, every time I went hard, my torturer increased the incline on the machine.  After the 5th one he says can you say 'She sells sea shells by the sea shore' ? and I could - rather smoothly. Mistake.  He put it up really really high.  Lesson learnt!  Anyway, it is supposed to give your metabolism a kick that can last up to 24hours - so it will all be worth it when I can't walk on Sunday.

Oh, and I don't intend to do this kind of back to back work outs ever again!

And tomorrow I am declaring as a chicken breast free zone (see photo of the offending item poached with tomatoes). The mountain of protein I have to eat on this diet is killing me!  In addition after 3 days of making this MY time, my laundry workload is out of control, so tomorrow will also be LAUNDRY time!

And how did my little girl's first week of school go? Well to quote her: "School is definitely awesome !"