| Body Combat |
[Jan. 2nd, 2007|10:54 pm] |
I didn't go for a run yesterday - I fell asleep and only woke up when my phone started ringing. Peter was on the other end and we spoke for almost an hour (global roaming rates so expensive!! but worth it!) and then it was too late to go running. I'm talking ten o'clock at night late and even though I live in a "nice" suburb, there was a series of attacks and rapes on young women who were out running in another "nice" suburb last year. Safety first...
But tonight I did go to my first Body Combat class! I loved it - I can't remember the last time I put that much enthusiasm and energy into exercise and I know that paying for the value pass will be really worth it. Twelve weeks of this and I will be looking just fine for when my man comes home. But even better, I am feeling just fine. In fact, I felt great afterwards and I think that's another reason why it will be important to keep exercising these next three months. Endorphins are good, sitting at home depressed and crying is not good.
I also went for a walk when I woke up this morning and I want to do the same tomorrow as well as weights at the gym if my poor, sore and aching body is up to the challenge. (Don't worry it will be.) Then we're going paintballing on Thursday, should be fun.
I've also been doing good eating...I cut up some spanish (red) onion this afternoon and chopped up watermelon and mixed them together and then had it with dinner after the gym at about eight tonight. It was quite alright tasting, especially the watermelon, and a good way to sneak in some extra vegetables.
Anyhow, bedtime. I hope everyone is doing well. :) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 1st, 2007|04:55 pm] |
2007! I have been looking forward to today because it means that Peter comes home this year. Not next year, this year. It also means that I have three months to lose the rest of this weight so I can look awesome when he gets back. ;)
I can divide my weightloss journey into three distinct stages. At first I wanted to lose weight because I weighed 85 kilos and I was sick of being fat. I was sick of not fitting into clothes and buying size 16 and I was sick of getting photos back and hating how I looked in them.
In the second stage, I'd lost over ten kilos I think but put five of those back on. I needed a new motivator and what better goal then finally joining the army reserve? I couldn't run very far or fast and when I first started the application process, I couldn't do a single pushup. But I applied myself, kept losing weight, and with Peter's unceasing help and encouragement, I found myself in a fit enough state to pass the first fitness test.
And now I'm in the third stage. I weigh about 70 kilos so I have put a little weight back on. On the other hand, I have lost and kept off just over 15 kilos in these past two years. I'm fitter than I have ever been. I fit into clothes and I no longer hate photos. So my motivation now to lose these last five kilos and perhaps a bit more is Peter. And by Peter I mean vanity because I want to look amazing when he comes home. :P
I renewed my gym membership the other day. I ended up choosing a three month total value pass which is the cardio and weights gym, pool and classes. I figure I will get the most use out of classes between now and the end of March - once Peter comes home, I'll probably come straight home from uni each day rather than do classes because he normally finishes work around 4:30. But until then I'm going to go crazy on them.
The Plan for Week 1
Monday: Swim
Tuesday: Body Combat
Wednesday: 20 min run, Walk
Thursday: Walk, Weights
Friday: 2.4KM run, swim
Saturday: Body Balance, Walk
Sunday: Weights, Body Attack
[took out Body Pump from Friday to allow more recovery for my poor sore body!]
So here's to 2007 and the next three months... |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 25th, 2006|09:42 pm] |
Hello! Merry Christmas!
Where have I been these past five weeks? Well on the 16th of November I departed good old Brisbane for Wagga Wagga then Kapooka and Army Recruit training. Yup, I passed my pre-fitness assessment (on both the Tuesday before I left and the first Monday I was there) and worked my little booty off for four weeks. I marched out of Kapooka a month later on the 16th of December as a private in the Australian Army Reserve. Good stuff!
We did f-all PT (physical training) down there. The extent of it was about 3KM of running around an oval during the second week. But somehow my fitness improved anyway - must have been marching around and around and around. On the last full day we did a BFA (Basic Fitness Assessment) and I failed the pushups as I could only manage 14 but I passed situps and the 2.4KM run. I actually knocked a minute off my PB at 12:18 even though I came dead last out of two platoons.
I don't know how much weight I lost as I was too scared to weigh myself before I left but I definitely lost a fair bit. Or I seemed to lose a fair bit of body fat and put on muscle and my boy thought that I was looking good.
Yup, he came home!! He's been home on leave for the past week and he goes back to Timor early on Wednesday morning. We've had the best time together and I feel sad when I think about him going back but we're halfway through now.
I've been eating a lot of junk with him being home but once he leaves I'm getting straight back into losing weight, eating well, running and the gym. I need to get up to 21+ pushups asap and I want to improve my CV fitness so I don't feel like I'm going to die during the 2.4 run. My gym membership expires on New Year's Eve so I'm thinking about getting a full membership next year with classes as well as cardio, weights and pool. I didn't go to many classes the first year I had gym membership because I was never free between uni and work but I'm doing Honours this year and I don't babysit anymore so my timetable is a lot more flexible.
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and I'll endeavour to catch up on blogs during the Christmas-New Year's downtime. :) |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 4th, 2006|05:59 pm] |
So I've spent the last two or three weeks doing BAD EATING! The type where you feel full but you go and eat more anyway. Where it's two in the morning and you should go be in bed asleep but you go to the kitchen and eat peanut butter toast and icecream (chasing away any chance of sleep at the same time). Bah.
But I think I'm getting back to normal. I've had more good days than bad these past few and I've started running again. I ran 1.5KM today and I have planned for 1.5KM again on Monday and 2KM on Thursday. That will take my monthly tally up to six kilometres or the equivalent of all of October.
I've been sleeping way too much. I'll easy sleep at least 12 out of every 24 hours. How healthy...le sigh. I wake up and think about Peter and going back to sleep always holds so much more appeal than getting up. For the most part I'm dealing okay but at other times... I just want to be with him again. We're both looking forward to his leave. It's supposed to come around mid-December although knowing the way the army works, that will change. As long as it doesn't change to January!!
Goals:
1. Lose three kilos to weigh 77 67* by 1 December
2. Exercise of some sort every day for an hour even if it's walking
3. No eating after dinner
4. Situps once a week
5. Run 18KM in November
*It's too strange. I can't seem to get in my head that I'm [normally] in the 60s now. I've made mistakes like that on more than one occasion! |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 2nd, 2006|11:38 am] |
Hmm, so in October I ran a total of 5 or 6 kilometres. Good work, not.
I leave for Kapooka in two months which means that sometime on the 14th November or after, I'll have to redo my PFA. How fun. So I went for a run today. I left at 8:45 - even at this hour cars were backed up from the Indro bridge to Graceville! - with the intention of easing back into it with a 1.5KM run. After covering just over a kilometre I stopped because I was feeling all light headed but I'm not sure how much of that was to with the sun and not having drunk much water last night/early this morning. But at least I've started again and that's the main thing. I'll go again on Saturday and make sure I do the whole 1.5KM. Next week I'll go back to 2.4KM and running 1.2KM at a fast pace.
Back in my nice, dark, fan-cooled bedroom, I did some situps. I don't think I've done any situps since the original test so I did some of those this morning. Did 45 no problems, I will start doing them once a week so I can build my way up.
And I'm off to uni this afternoon to replace my student card so that I can a) go back to the gym and b) actually sit the exams that I'm supposedly studying for! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 17th, 2006|09:57 pm] |
Hmm, time for an update methinks. Well I haven't been very good at keeping to my plan except for the pushups. I've been keeping to those. I've realised that it's less than two and a half months before I head off to Kapooka (recruit training for army reserves). Which sounds like a lot but it's not really when you consider how slow I am to progress with my pushups. I haven't done situps in ages but they're always a breeze. Running? I haven't done a proper 2.4KM in a while but I did do a 1.12KM last Thursday in under 6 minutes and even at the end, although I was pushing myself, I didn't kill myself. I'll have a crack at 1.12KM again tomorrow and aim for 5:45.
My food has actually been great these past two weeks. I even saw 78 on the scales - only a kilo above my "official" goal weight. I have succumbed to emotional eating these past two days though. I went out with my mates on Friday night - who are also Peter's friends - and something not-so-great happened. I knew when I told him that he'd be upset and that he'd worry (and yup, I was right on both accounts) and it upset and worried me that he was sitting there in Timor, upset and worried. If that makes sense?
But I have been reading through all my favourite blogs tonight and I'm feeling much more inspired. I am so close now and I have worked so damn hard to get here. I made four promises to Peter before he left. To stay true to him (easy). To not get drunk (complicated reasons behind that but also easy). To finish Kapooka (well...I guess that's why I'm sticking with doing pushups). And to not emotionally eat. And I was doing so well on that, it's not fair to either of us if I throw in the towel now. He's going through a lot worse than me so the least I can do is show him that I support him by being strong.
It's been a funny two weeks. We were told that he'd get leave in December. Not only would he be home for Christmas but I would see him before I left for Kapooka. We were so ecstatic and I quickly worked out I'd only have to get through 10 weeks without seeing him. Then in typical army fashion, he found out that his leave was cancelled and he might be coming home in January. For good. Which has left both of us upset because it's no fault of his that he's coming home earlier (he is one damn good soldier) but because of bureaucratic fuck-ups.
It also means that it's much closer to sixteen or seventeen weeks until we're together again.
For the first part of him being away I felt so numb; I was frozen inside and the only time I felt something was when we talked together on the phone. But these past few days it's really started to sink in that he's gone and we won't be together for what seems like a Very Long Time. My sleep patterns got screwed up when left and I've started having nightmares which isn't much fun. I thought I missed a call from him today; I was by myself at work, in the office, and for half an hour I didn't stop crying. Then he rang and the missed call wasn't from him anyway...!
So it's been hard and I think it's only set to get harder. I have just under a month's worth of uni assessment and exams coming up but once that's over I'll be kicking my heels until January 4. I have no idea what I'll do to fill the time unless I move into the gym complex at uni. Thanks for the comments and I hope everyone's having a good week. :) |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 7th, 2006|12:28 pm] |
My program for the next four weeks:
| WK 1 |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
| S | PU 1x3
DB BP 3x8 | -- | Incline PU 2x10
Knee PU 1x15 | -- | Incline PU 3x12
BP 3x5 | -- | -- |
| C | -- | 2.5KM walk/jog | -- | 2.5KM jog/run | -- | 50 min cardio | 3KM run |
| O | -- | Stretch | Abs | Swim | -- | Stretch | Abs |
| WK 2 | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| S | PU 1x5
Incline PU 2x10
Decline DB BP 2x5 | -- | Incline PU 2x12
DB BP 3x5 | -- | PU 2x5
Incline PU 2x12 | -- | -- |
| C | -- | 3KM walk/jog | -- | 2.5KM run | -- | 50 min cardio | 3.5KM run |
| O | Swim | -- | Stretch | Abs | Swim | -- | Stretch |
| WK 3 | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| S | PU 1x7
Incline PU 2x10
Decline DB BP 3x5 | -- | Incline PU 2x12
DB Bench Press 4x5 | -- | PU 1x10/1x7/1x5
DB BP 2x8 | -- | -- |
| C | -- | 3.5KM walk/jog | -- | 3.5KM jog/run | -- | 50 min cardio | 4KM run |
| O | Abs | Swim | -- | Stretch | Abs | Swim | -- |
| WK 4 | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday |
| S | PU 1x12/2x7
Incline PU 2x10
Decline DB BP 3x5 | -- | Incline PU 2x12
DB BP 3x5 | -- | PU 1x15 | -- | -- |
| C | -- | 4KM jog | -- | 2.5KM jog | -- | -- | 2.5KM run |
| O | Stretch | Abs | Swim | -- | Stretch | Abs | Swim |
S: Upper body strength (end goal: 15 male pushups)
C: Cardio (end goal: 2.5KM in under 13:25)
O: Other (end goal: 100 situps)
I will probably supplement the program with walking most days. I may also add extra weights during the upper body strength sessions. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 2nd, 2006|05:52 pm] |
My boy left for Timor during the early hours of Saturday morning. I don't think I've ever cried so much in my life as I did that day. After I left the base and went home, I curled up in bed, paralysed. What will I do without my best friend for the next six months? What will I do not being able to wake up each morning to the man that I love? I am so proud of him and his workmates but it hurts so much.
It's funny because so often when he's away on exercises or during the lead up to his departure, I'd just go to town on food. My tummy would be sick from loneliness and I'd feel so empty that I'd just eat and eat. And it always works for awhile, while I'm eating, I really would feel better. Peter really worried about this for me because he knows how hard I've worked to lose this weight and how devastated I'd be if it went back on. He made me promise that I wouldn't emotionally eat while he was away.
I don't know whether it's the promise or what, but I haven't even had the temptation to emotionally eat. My friends came around yesterday to cheer me up with a Grand Final barbeque and I overate but I always do at social barbeques even my man is there. Then today when I was on the phone to a friend I mindlessly munched my way through a third of a chocolate mud cake (oh my god...) and two sausages on bread. But it wasn't emotional...it was more mindless/not being aware of what I was doing.
I've been going for walks and doing pushups and I'm planning on running tomorrow and Friday or Saturday. Not sure when I'll go back to the gym...I haven't been in over three weeks, just doing my own pushups and stuff at home. I picked up a new book "Workouts for Everyone" and see about designing a new workout for me that mixes it up more between home and gym and a formal cardio plan rather than just doing whatever.
Every time I think about six months, that paralysing feeling comes over me again, I fight back tears and I feel nauseous. On the bus home from uni today, I almost had to get off early because I seriously thought that I was going to throw up. But if I keep my mind on one day at a time, then I'm much stronger and feel much more capable. What's six months when you have a whole lifetime together?
The flip side of that statement is, of course, if you love someone enough to want to spend a whole lifetime with them, then six months without them seems like an eternity. But reconcentrating my efforts on losing the last of this weight and continuing in my fitness endeavours will give me something to think about. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 28th, 2006|09:36 pm] |
Long time, no write. I spent my week at Heron Island where I went running, got an awesome shorts tan from being in the sun doing fieldworkall day, and ate porridge for breakfast every morning.
I came home on Saturday but I have been spending lots of time with my boy since then. He and the rest of the soldiers in his company are leaving for a six-month deployment in East Timor on Saturday morning. At 3:15 am on Saturday morning. Less than thirty hours to go...
So I probably won't be posting much for the next week or two. Just thought I'd let everyone know what's going on. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 12th, 2006|01:42 pm] |
Prompted by JayKay's post, I finally got around to doing the letter that M gave me so many months ago! I had the letter L.
La vie simple:: I rarely go shopping, I don't often go out on town. I don't want a high-flying career (although I do want a job that I'm passionate about and that can help me to make a difference in my small way). I live a simple life when compared to the standards of modern society because few things make me happier than being outdoors and being with the people I love: friends, family, my two puppies, and Peter.
Lachlan: The baby of our family turned eight this year. As the youngest of seven children his upbringing has been unconventional to say the least. Spoilt half the time, left to fend for himself the other half, he is the light and love of all our lives. He's also the most likely to get sick. The poor baby has been hospitalised twice in the past two years: once for HSP, once for pneumonia. He struggles to put on weight and is often pale but you could never tell from his smile and laugh that life has given a few hard turns.
Landrover: As part of my army training, I will learn how to drive Landrovers! I'll also learn how to drive Mogs and Macs: we're talking seriously huge here. Part of the appeal of applying as a driver was being paid to learn how to drive Landrovers, which means I'll be able to competently go 4WD-ing in my civvie life.
Late: I hate being late but it seems that I always am! Peter's even worse than me which can be frustrating at times. I'll be ready to leave and he'll be starting to think about his shower. I also used to live by the tenet "late to bed, late to rise" but these days I'm in bed by 11 pm at the latest, and out of bed by six. Part of being an army girlfriend but I enjoy it for my own sake now. I love walking early in the morning. At eleven each morning, I love knowing that I've been awake for hours and making the most of my day.
Leste, Timor: This tiny country has played a fairly significant role in my family. The eldest of my brothers spent two or three weeks there in 2004 as part of a school program. He was 15 at the time. He and fellow classmates (ten of them altogether perhaps) spent time living with village families and attending the village school. Our local parish school (where the three youngest brothers attend) and our church are heavily involved in charity work for East Timor; my parents also support several programs there. The second-eldest of the boys (five all up!) was supposed to go there this year for the same school program. Instead my Peter will be serving there for six months. He leaves in eighteen days.
Light: Starlight, sunlight, moonlight. Dawn and dusk. Early morning light and the soft light of a late afternoon. The strong clear light of midday or the starlight of midnight.
Lino: Don't try doing pushups on these! Lino makes your palms slippery and slippery palms definitely don't mix with pushups!
Lite: I almost never, ever eat low-fat food yet I have still managed to lose sixteen kilos since January 05. The secret? It's not a secret, we hear the message every day: moderation. The secret is learning how to actually live by this concept! (And I still struggle with it now. But it's worth it.)
Love: I am so lucky to love my family and to be loved by them. To love my friends and to be loved by them back. Most of all, I am so lucky to have my Peter. Loving him has made me a better person and makes my life so much brighter and more fulfilling. His love is not just a gift but it's part of me. He is my best friend and I am going to miss him so much when he goes.
Lucky Country: I love being Australia, I love living in Australia. Even more, I love being from Brisbane, I love living in Brisbane. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 10th, 2006|04:19 pm] |
Eeek, I have been not doing great lately. Let's see. The week before last I put a kilo back on. Last week I lost .9 to bring me to 69.5KG. I had one or two days of good eating afterwards but I've blown it since then which rolled over to a weekend junkfood fest when some mates and I headed up the coast to the caravan.
I've had precious little time for exercise with a heap of uni assessment due last week. Also, Pete's car broke down so I have been driving him into work and picking him up each day which adds up to about two hours of driving each day (normally I don't drive at all). So that's one reason for why exercise has been short. The other? I managed to catch my first cold all year once winter was over and spring had started! So I haven't been running or doing weights as I had no desire to drown in my own snot while I was bench pressing! I have been doing pushups chez moi and they're definitely getting better.
Now, the past few days I have been feeling really over the weight-loss thing. Partly because I've being sick, partly because something major in my life is about to change (more on that before). I have stopped caring and been reckless with my eating and lacking the will to get out and Friday night I flight up to Gladstone then on Saturday I take the catamaran over to Heron Island (Greatexercise. But today I logged onto all my favourite blogs and read Mary's latest entry and I felt that will come back inside me. I want to lose weight! I want to feel healthy, I want to feel strong, I want to feel energised and not full of crap food.
I have some obstacles ahead of me to get back to feeling this way though. My uni runs a research course every year on Heron Island looking at coral reef processes and how to best manage them. It's a closed course meaning that you are accepted into it on the basis of your background experience and GPA. I'm on it this year which is a great honour not to mention a fantastic study opportunity.
The trip runs from this coming Saturday to the following one. I fly up to Gladstone on Friday night and fly back home on the Sunday morning after it finishes. So for all that time I'll have very little control over what I eat. I have some in Gladstone as I'll be eating out but I can at least choose Subway or something. On Heron Island, caterers prepare all the food. Going by past uni trips in the geography department, healthy and low-fat won't be prioritised on the menu! but I can make the best choices possible, watch my portion sizes, and keep up the exercise.
The trip will be fairly physically active as we'll be collecting field data a lot of the time. We'll have a small amount of free time for swimming and snorkelling. I've also made a deal with one of my friends to get up early each day and go either running or power-walking. I will do pushups and situps every day along with tricep dips, braces, and squats. Anyone know any good body-weight resistance exercises for the upper body?
Another major obstacle faces me in these next few weeks. Most of you know that my Peter is in the army and that he often goes away on one and two week long trips. Well, the past few ones have been preparing him and the boys he works with for East Timor. We've known for quite a while now that he'd probably be heading off and the other day the deployment was confirmed. He leaves on September 30th and he will be over there for 6 months.
Yes, my trip to Heron Island falls right in the middle of his remaining three weeks here. It conincides with his leave so he will try to come up for some of my trip there but of course I'll be doing uni stuff most of the time.
Anyway, I haven't been feeling sorry for myself (although I've been crying almost every day) but I have been feeling a bit reckless in regards to food and exercise. But I'm not going to let that get in the way. I've made my boy two promises. The first, to not comfort eat. The second, to finish Kapooka.
And by God, am I going to keep those promises!
Today: Pushups(2x10); Situps (2x50); 20 minute walk
Monday: Pushups (2x10); Weights session; 2.5KM run (treadmill)
Tuesday: 90 minute walk
Wednesday: Pushups (2x10); Situps (2x50); 1.5KM run (with Peter), swim
Thursday: Pushups (2x10); Weights session; 30 minutes cycling
Friday: Walk home from uni; Situps (2x50)
Saturday: Pushups (2x10); 20 minute run (with Mel) |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 31st, 2006|04:11 pm] |
Eeek...I'm silly sometimes.
I went for my weekly 2.5KM treadmill run. I aimed to get the 2.4KM done in just under 14 minutes and I ended up doing it in 13:25!! I never meant to run it that fast and the only reason I did was because I miscalculated how much time I had left, hence the silliness.
I'm happy knowing that I can run it that fast, I think I now have to concentrate on doing that outside.
I was supposed to do weights afterwards but I think I went into sugar shock so I sat down and ate some fruit and a sandwich instead. Then came up to the computer lab, gossed with a uni friend for way too long, and now I really can't be bothered. I'll go tomorrow instead.
My pushups are slowly but surely getting better. I'm ususally hitting around seven, eight, and nine now. I'm not sure how good the last few are in terms of getting down close enough to the ground but I think my arms are positioned correctly. I hope. I have a chance at joining my unit in an eight-day course (although with uni I'd only be going for two or three days) so I should hopefully be able to get someone to check it out for me then.
So fitness stuff is all going well, and I've been a lot better on the food front this week! (Last week was a mini-nightmare)
And best of all, my Peter should be coming home from his latest trip tomorrow! :D |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 26th, 2006|09:09 am] |
Bah bah bah. I completely went off the rails last night. I went up to the main house to make a sandwich for Peter and since they were having a party, I tucked into their party food. I had tastes of this and that (bbq chicken, cheese, dips, chips) and two doughnuts. I started on my third but came to my senses and threw the second half of it out.
Then a few hours later I was up there doing some laundry and I started in again! Not on doughnuts this time but more crackers, chocolate bullets, an anzac biscuit, and chips. Then I came back down to my flat and opened up the end of the Dorito chips (that we've had for two weeks in the cupboard) and had that with sour cream. Then two (thankfully small) baked potatoes with lashings (unthankfully) of sour cream, guacamole, taco sauce, and cheese.
Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid.
I don't understand why I do this. Peter, bless his soul, has real trouble understanding as well. "Just don't do it" he says. I wish it was that easy! But I've put it behind me and I'm going to concentrate on simple and wholesome foods for the rest of the week (except for dinner out at Thai that we've had planned for ages now) with lots of walking and exercise. I really, really, really don't want to put weight on again when I weigh in (heh, I think in part it's due to the 12 week challenge! I don't want to have to submit a weight gain! I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing but a reminder to myself not to let it turn into unhealthy bingeing/starving patterns).
I have a run planned on Monday morning with a girl from uni. She's actually a Japanese exchange student who's in one of my group projects: I have three different ones this semester! Eek! I have given my calves a good rest from running although they seemed to get really tight after a fastish walk on the treadmill the other day.
My Peter leaves for another trip tomorrow. We're not exactly sure how long he is gone for. He has heard everything from coming home on Friday to Sunday to the Tuesday or Wednesday of the week after. So it'll be hit and miss in that respect but I'm aiming to make it non-hit and miss with my weight loss and exercise because I am so close now! |
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[Aug. 22nd, 2006|09:01 am] |
Dear me...
I jumped onto the scales this morning for my weekly weigh-in and saw a number that I doubt has been around since, oh, 1998 or 1999. Yup, I lost .9 of a kilo, bringing my weight to 69.4. Incredible! :D
My eating was not spectacular this week however. I find that unless I have my three main meals and my afternoon tea, I will get way too hungry and start eating crap. What's more, those meals need to be sitting down at a table and actually be defined meal times or I'll start picking through the pantry, the fridge, my family's dinner, etc... I know, I know. One of those basic things that you know from day dot, right? But for me, realising this has brought a whole new area of this journey into the light. Realising this, properly realising this, will help stop me from going into my bingeing modes (which are thankfully far and few between these days) and help me maintain my weight once I lose these last 2.4 kilos. Or possibly help me lose some more.
My exercise was great though. A 1.5KM run, a 2.4KM run, two weights sessions, a swim, some cardio work, lots of pushups, a set of 60 situps, and lots and lots and lots of walking. I think yesterday alone I walked around 15 kilometres. One of the best things to get my walking kilometres up, I find, is walking home from uni. It's about 7 kilometres (just over 4 miles) and takes me an hour and ten. It's often the best hour and ten minutes of my day!
Each time I walk the route (well there's about three different ones that I take), I notice something new. That I can see ranges from the coast in the distant horizon, or the way the smoke from a bushfire makes the sunset fiery. Or I notice birds calling to each other on a busy road, rowers on the river, the way that cockatoos swoop around the bridge in the morning. If I've had a long day at uni and it's early evening by the time I head over the bridge and along the last kilometre home, I might notice the way a possum scurries along a fence and then jumps up onto a tree branch and how the moon can be silvery or pale white or golden. I notice so much more of the in-between and the walk turns from being an excuse to exercise into me-time.
Similarly, I love walking in the morning. I love the way I can smell fresh bread even though the railway line and a busy street separates me from the bakery. I love watching the kids who are riding to school on their bikes or walking with their mums. I love watching the commuters make their way to the station, the way that train after train races past, and how a swarm of cyclists might suddenly fly past. I love looking at people's houses and gardens and the big Queenslanders and dream about having one of my own. I love the cool fresh air, the smell of jasmine, and the warm sun on my shoulders.
I went to the doctor the other day to have a perscription renewed and she asked me if I had lost a lot of weight. Then we had a chat about losing weight, different methods, and the difficulties she finds in dealing with her patients inability to commit to a weight loss, and the difficulties that the patients probably find in actually losing it. I'm glad she noticed because I don't see her all that often and I've only known her for two years. I normally see another woman GP at the same clinic as well. Talk about a great GP!
I had some more things to talk about - going to the beach on the weekend and having a break from weights but I'll leave that for another post. Hope you're all having a great week! |
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[Aug. 16th, 2006|04:50 pm] |
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I went to the gym to do weights today and found myself in the cardio room first. I ran 2.4KM in 14:04 - I'm pretty happy with that! |
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[Aug. 15th, 2006|06:56 am] |
*dances*
(70.3 today; 1.4 lost)
Hopefully next week I will finally see that 69 on the scales. It has been years and years and years since I've been that light. I'm talking about going back to grade eight and nine here (as a best guess). After that I am aiming for 67, my goal weight. Then I will just weigh myself every fortnight or month and concentrate on good nutrition and fitness and if more weight comes off, it will and if it doesn't, then it won't. Once I reach that healthy weight range I want my body to choose a weight that it's comfortable at rather than artificially impose one on it and struggle to reach and maintain it, if that makes sense.
This week's loss just goes to show that I can have five (yes, five...) slices of cake at a barbeque and still lose weight as long as I eat sensibly for the rest of the week and keep up my exercise. Although, I don't think I will have that much cake next time. I had the first four slices after lunch...and I felt soooo sick (unsurprisingly). We had chocolate mud cake, white chocolate mud cake, and caramel cheese cake. The only saving grace in my eyes is that when my tummy really did feel sick, I gave the two leftover halves to Peter so I guess I am learning because once upon a time, I would have forced them in anyway.
The barbeque was sooo nice though. We had it on Sunday, about ten or eleven of us, then went off to the footy (NRL to see the Broncos). Peter makes the yummiest rissoles this side of the country, one of our mates works at Mrs Crockett's kitchen so we had caesar and potato salad, and one of our friends (half-Filipino) makes the yummiest Asian salad that I've ever had. And I make a mean guacamole. Too bad the Broncos lost!
I have not had a problem with my Achilles in god knows how long but I woke up this morning only able to limp because it was hurting that bad. I think it's because I went on the elliptical at the gym yesterday for the first time in well over a year. I don't know why I did that but it was a bad idea and in the future I will stick to the bikes, the treadmill, and the rower if I'm going to cardio it up in the gym.
I'm supposed to be doing weights today but my day is really tight for time. I could get there if I drove but I've been making a real effort these days to drive as little as possible (ie the only driving I've done since Wednesday last week is driving Peter to work or picking him up). So I have decided that I will just go tomorrow but that works out because the next day will be Saturday. I was planning on going to the Ekka on Friday and since I have uni from 8-10, once again it would have been tight for time. Now I will go tomorrow, Saturday, and then on Monday and be back to my normal timetable.
Anyway, I'm off to hang out the washing and go for a walk before I need to get ready for work. :)
Edit to add: I went for my walk and ended up running the last 1.5KM home. It took me about 10-11 minutes I think (was 7:07 when I started and just clicked over to 7:18 when I finished). That's pretty slow but better than not running at all. And my tendon felt just fine. |
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[Aug. 10th, 2006|10:24 pm] |
I did a 2.4KM run on the treadmill at the gym on Wednesday. I ran it in 14:22. To pass my BFA - Basic Fitness Assessment, the next level of fitness testing that I'll have to do with the Reserves - I need to be able to run the distance in 13:30. So less than a minute to knock off my time! I was definitely working through the second half/last third of the run but I still had a fair bit left in me when I finished so I'm quite pleased. I should definitely be achieving that sort of level by January. Of course it's easier to run on a treadmill than outdoors and it's hell easier to run inside a gym than on a summer day in non-coastal areas of NSW...
I also need to be able to do 70 situps (can do that now) and 21 pushups (eeek, this remains a problem area!).
I had my first night of Reserves last Tuesday and it was heaps of fun. I'm so glad I went ahead and joined. I have said it before and I'll say it again: deciding to join the Reserves was the best thing I ever could have decided to for weight loss and fitness. I finished the night inspired and determined to go for a run the next day; I can't remember the last time I wanted to go for a run as opposed to feeling that I should! I was even given a uniform and boots on Tuesday so I might get around to taking a photo next week and posting that. I wore my boots around the house for a bit last night to start breaking them in. The right one seems to be fitting just a tad too snugly and putting pressure right on my Achille's tendon - my danger spot! I will see how they feel once they're worn in and if they're still putting the pressure on that area then I'll swap my second boot because I don't want to end up with tendonitis during the basic training stage (four weeks during January).
Also, weighed in at 71.6 on Tuesday, my official start weight for Paulene's challenge. I have been getting a lot of exercise in and eating really well so hopefully my weight will start going down again. My family bulk buys fruit and vegies (since 11 of us live here if you include me and my boy) and I was helping to unpack our weekly order this morning. There were bags of fresh snow peas, bright juicy looking carrots, red and green capsicums, mushrooms and all sorts of things and I found myself craving a big veggie and chicken stirfry with hokkien noodes. Me, craving vegies! It's times like this that I know I really have undergone a lifestyle change and not just "gone on a diet".
Hope everyone is having a great week. Oh, and before I forget:
Random Thing Four:
Like many other bloggers, I love reading and I love books. As a kid I used to adore Joanna Campbell's "Thoroughbred" series with Ashleigh and her horse, Wonder. I also love Elnior Brent-Dyer's "Chalet School" series. These are out of prinht so I have to find them all second-hand. I could probably E-bay and get them all in one hit but it's a much nicer feeling when I come across an unread one in a used bookstore or at the markets.
Random Thing Five:
For seven months Peter and I slept on a double mattress on the floor. It's only the past month or so that we finally got around to buying a bedframe for it! |
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[Aug. 6th, 2006|10:15 pm] |
Today went well! I headed to the gym this morning to do weights (just my upper body stuff, I skipped on the abs) and it went really well. I came home and made a yummy smoothie out of strawberries, a banana, a tablespoon of milo, and milk. It was sooo delicious and creamy.
Peter and I have been making great use out of the blender at the moment actually. He had a cold coming on so to boost up his Vitamin C intake I blended two (peeled) oranges then added some crushed ice and blended it some more. Exactly like a frappe! So we made another one for him this morning, and have bought a bag of oranges to make some more during the week. Some passionfruit as well and at home we have strawberries, kiwifruits, bananas (ohhhhh how I miss thee!) as well as pears and lots of tinned fruit varieties. I love my fruit and eat it every day but Peter never eats it so I'm quite pleased we've stumbled across this idea: at least he'll be getting his two servings of fruit every day!
I was at the footy all afternoon and by the time I made my way back home, there was just enough time to do the washing up and make our pizzas for tea before heading over to a mate's house for board games. Eek, what to do? I won't have a chance for my walk! But this guy lives literally down the street from uni and the gym so I dropped Peter off and headed to the gym for an hour. 30 minutes cycling, 5 minutes rowing, and 30 minutes (3.5KM) walking. Awesome stuff and I felt so good afterwards. I'd been in a sort of shitty mood before but it was washed away and I felt energised and happy. It reminded me of a year and a half ago when I'd spend an hour at the gym most nights doing cardio work and how great I felt at that time of my life...it reminded me how good I feel when I exercise and made me excited to start this twelve week challenge and get right into it!
For the twelve week challenge I want to lose approximatly five kilos to weigh 67. Peter is going to do a twelve week challenge with me but he wants to put five kilos of weight on!
The other cool thing that I have lined up is tango lessons! Peter and I have been keen for awhile now and two of our friends want to do it with us. My uni has a beginner's course on Thursday nights and we should hopefully be doing that. Yay. :D
Everyone seems to be doing the random things posts at the moment. I write almost exclusively about fitness, weight-loss, the gym and nutrition stuff in this blog because I have a long-established LJ for my regular stuff. (http://froggiemurr.livejournal.com but most posts are locked so you have to be an LJ member and listed as my friend to read stuff) - this works well for me because it gives me a space to reflect exclusively on this part of my life; having said that, I often talk about running or the gym in my normal LJ. Just not in as much detail. So I decided that I will add some random things to my posts so that my health/weight-loss friends can know more about me. So here goes for this post...
Number One
My friends and I are the biggest board game players. Almost every week it seems that we end up at someone's place to drink and play Cranium, Pictionary, Pictionary Mania, Battle of the Sexes (well only twice as it's a crap game!), Don't Panic, Scrabble, Uno, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, and of course cards. But I hate board games as a rule!
Number Two
I am not sure if I ever mentioned it in here but I am the eldest of seven children. My youngest brother has just turned eight, I turn 21 in three months time. My grandmother also lives with us and we often have exchange students so life can be crazy in my house! My sister and I (and Peter) live in a granny flat attached to our house that has the home office where my parents work on top.
Number Three
I am in my third year of an Arts degree and I major in French and Geography. The French because I lived in the francophone part of Belgium for a year as an exchange student and I didn't want to lose my language ability. The Geography because I love it and want to become a town planner with a strong environmental focus. Next year I may or may not do an Honours year. After that, a Masters in Urban and Town Planning. I get to do lots of cool things at uni including field trips to Stradbroke Island, the Gold Coast hinterland, the Gold Coast beaches, and this semester...a trip to Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef) for a week to work on a coral reef management study!
And finally hi Deno you stalker boy :P |
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[Aug. 5th, 2006|05:30 pm] |
Okay, it's time to get serious. I am so close and I don't want to mess up now. I don't want to put this weight back on. I don't want to eat until I feel sick. I don't want to keep going on these eating sprees for days at a time. I like being fit, I like having clear skin, I like having lots of enery, I like being in a good mood. If I keep eating well and exercising than I can keep having these things. If I slip back into my old habits, then I won't.
I'm going to follow the example of a few others and do a little checklist:
( Food and exercise for this week )
I might whip out my little paper journal and start writing stuff down again. Write down what I eat. And starting thinking about every bite I eat. Am I hungry? No? Then don't eat it and think about what I do want instead. Yes? Then, is this what I really want to eat right now? Yes? Then have it and enjoy it. No? Then choose something that I really want to eat.
I know that I can do this. |
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