Challenge Accepted

Rewind my life 6 weeks ago and things were very different. I was wrapping my head, once again, around weight loss and ongoing lifestyle changes. My motto was “Everyday Better Choices”.  I somehow got myself into the right headspace, which in my personal opinion is the ONLY thing you need to lose weight. I don’t know where it came from and how it took over the “Evil Food Queen”, but it has so let’s run with it.

My awesome gym EnVie Woonona was running a 36 Day Challenge and a weight loss seminar, in my endeavour to keep my momentum going I opted to participate in the challenge and attended the seminar. Knowledge is power and I came away from the seminar with a new vigour, re-enforcing things I already knew and learning some new key points.

Die fat

These are the things I really truly embraced:

Planning – “Proper Planning Prevents (Piss) Poor Performance” – the extra P word usually gets a run in our house, you may choose to leave that one out.
Meal and snack planning has been a major contributor to my success, it is not for the lazy or unmotivated. I personally found this more challenging than getting my butt to the gym. I have been working out for 7 years WITHOUT consistent weight loss, so exercise is never my problem. Even portions were not a huge problem, but the kitchen scales came out, and almost every morsel that went into my mouth (when possible) was weighed.
My biggest problem has always been snacking, finding healthy snacks to eat when you are on the run. Grocery shopping is hell and cooking is only fun when I want to do it and it’s usually cake. When I stop for fuel regardless of the time of day, filling the car up usually earned me a reward and the evening munchies I could rustle up some horrendous high calorie food with almost nothing in the cupboard (it’s a skill). These were the things I had to change. So my replacement snacks were hummus and carrot sticks, 1 row of rice crackers and a slice of cheese, protein ball/s*, peanut butter  and banana muffins*, vita wheats with light cream cheese and a small tin of salmon, dried fruit and nuts, small bag of lite microwave popcorn (I didn’t even know the small bags existed), apple or strawberries. I know some of these choices are better than others, but compared to what I could have had, it is a complete turnaround.
* These recipes came from the EnVie 36 Day Challenge Booklet

Eliminate – My mission was to get rid of as many things in the house as I could that I would normally “go-to” when I felt the urge to make bad choices. Some people can have a square of chocolate, I am NOT 1 of those people, I am a minimum of a row at a time and could easily consume ½ or whole family block in 1 sitting no problemo. I would sometimes buy a bag of Corn Chips for a nacho dinner, very rarely would they make it to that meal. I also love and Icy cold can of coke and a coke slushy, but they are wasted calories, I will confess I had 2 coke slushy’s in 6 weeks. Alcohol was creeping up to a couple of glasses to a bottle of champagne a few nights a week and often more on the weekend. This has been stopped, now only on special occasions and I have opted to drive to some events so as to only have 1 glass or none at all. This is a big change for me.

Set Goals – Small weekly goals, mini weight goals all leading to the bigger picture. Whilst I haven’t posted my latest goals they are in my head and I will post them this week to be held accountable and measure my success. “Failure is not an option”.

Everyday Better Choices – I enjoy a skim chai latte a couple of times a week and somehow crept up to a Jumbo size, these got a major cutback to a small once or twice a week. Every time I wanted something I shouldn’t have I would think, is this better than I would normally have, ie snacks at the movies, toppings on pizza, homemade pizza vs store bought. I will admit I am enjoying making my own food as I am often disappointed with take-away and café options, it just takes planning (see above).

Mindset – as I mentioned my head is in the game (it is all the game of life), not letting things get to me that would normally derail my mindset and I will confess there have been a few things in this 6 weeks that could have easily done that, I had to deal with my problems and not eat/drink them away. End result is everyone is happier (I think).

Support – I had to ask people for support, don’t be afraid to ask. Hubby had his part to play, if he felt a craving or a desire to have something, I asked that he not share it with me. The words “chocolate” and “McFlurry” were banned from evening conversations. My problem is I am not lazy, I will jump in the car and do a junk-food run at the first mention of “I feel like…….”
Friends on weekends away and dining out have all supported my better choices. Some friends today actually apologised for having easter eggs, cupcakes and biscuits, they shouldn’t have apologise, nor their kids go without because of my food choices. I proudly said “no thanks” because I truly didn’t want any, my fear of not being able to stop at just 1 is always in the back of my mind.
The girls at the gym are a massive support network, all the staff knew I was participating in the challenge and took the time to have a chat about whatever concerns I had about nutrition or exercise. Some of them were even participating in the Challenge themselves so they could discuss recipes and meal planning, it was fantastic.

Today was my final weigh and measure for the challenge and a little bit of “Old Me” came back with thoughts of launching from this fast moving wagon to go on a binge after weigh-in (because I can recover before I have to weigh-in again, please tell me other people think like this). Instead I packed my breakfast and lunch plus snacks for the kids and took it with me to our playdate. A binge is still lingering but with more support from the girls at the gym it is taking a back seat to just carrying on with what I have learnt from the Challenge.

So here are the results:
Start                      Finish                    Loss
Weight                 112.3                     108.3                     4kg
Arm                       40                           39                        1cm
Bust                      121                        118.5                     2.5cm
Waist                    127.5                     124                        3.5cm
Hip                        137                        132.5                    4.5cm
Thigh                     64                          62                         2cm

So 4kg down and 13.5 total cm’s lost, I am pretty happy with the results and the wagon is still rumbling along with me securely aboard.

PS: I’m at pre-baby weight, woop woop.

Want a 15 day FREE Membership, leave me a comment. Offer ends 30 April 2014.

Want a 15 day FREE Membership, leave me a comment. Offer ends 30 April 2014.

Eating Disorder – I’m not Fat

Eating disorders can come in many forms, anorexia, bulemia, binge eating and many many more. I look back at my history and believe I have a form of eating disorder, I thought it could have been a Reverse Anorexia but that is a known muscle dysmorphia, definitely not what I have.

My (unnamed) problem over the years was more about looking in the mirror and turning on an angle and sucking myself in putting on nice clothes, applying make-up and saying to myself “you are not fat, you look good”.

There is nothing wrong with being happy with how you look but I should have looked a bit closer. I like many other women enjoyed shopping and but I would struggle with finding clothes that fit and looked nice, but I would eventually find them and feel good wearing them. And each time I bought the next size up I would blame the factories for inconsistent sizing. I often got compliments like “you dress really nice for a big girl”. I was also a keen shopper for “gut sucking” granny nickers, shorts and camisole’s and I wore them all the time (and still do).

Reality would hit when I saw a photo of myself from an unflattering angle and then I would almost blame the person who took the photo.

It seems a lot of other people were blamed for my issues.

Don’t get me wrong I knew I was Plus Size and I knew the weight was creeping on (read about it here), I was obviously enjoying life too much and wasn’t ready for change. It wasn’t until I was due to get married that I thought I didn’t want to be a fat bride and embarked on my own NFB (No Fat Bride) campaign with my personal trainer. Whilst I lost a little bit of weight, I could have lost more before the big day and it is a regret I will have to live with.

In recent years the weight loss programs that have sparked my interest are those that promote “Lifestyle Changes” and my motto has been to make better choices every day.

When the next 36 day challenge came up at my gym EnVie Fitness Woonona, I jumped at the chance to get involved. I am in the best headspace that I can remember so I am on a mission. I have learned a lot this week about weight-loss using food and exercise to my advantage so it is time to put that knowledge into practice. The official start date is Monday 10th March but I am not waiting lifestyle changes begin now.

2014_36day_FBWall10March

If anyone is doing The 36 Day Challenge at EnVie Fitness Woonona if you post anything about the challenge on Facebook or Instagram use the hashtag #enviewoonona36daychallenge if you are making any other lifestyle changes use #everydaybetterchoices or use both. I look forward to reading up on how everyone else is going.

It’s not too late to sign up and join in.

The Week that was – Birthday Week

So Monday I was given the day off training as my amazing PT Ian from Pioneer Fitness had completed the Long Course Triathlon which is half Ironman distances, 2k swim, 83k ride and 20k run, crazy or amazing a little bit of both I think, but he did really well. So he deserved a day off which in turn gave me my Monday night training off.

Tuesday I wanted to get to a Buggy Fit class run by EnVie Fitness which involves a lot of running, mostly because my run leg let me down in the Triathlon. After our warm up run we then had to do hill sprints, the goal was to do the 3 times up the hill at a similar speed, which I did each lap at about 2min 30sec, the hard part of this class is that I run past my house every lap of the hill and I just want to quit and go home, but the trainers kick my butt and keep me going. We then headed down to the beach to do sand sprints. I had Miss 3 follow me down as she got bored playing with the other kids and we were doing Nippers type sprints where you start laying down with your chin on your hands and feet facing the way you wanted to run. We started on the hard sand and had to run up hill through the soft sand and did 6 of those, Miss 3 and I made it a game of chasing and she was having fun. We finished the class with some abs and stretching. After grabbing a Skim Chai Latte with some of the girls from the class Miss 3 and I headed out on our tag-along bike set-up and went for a big ride for her little legs. We stopped in to my trainer to hear all about the Long Course Tri, I was in awe hearing all about it. By the time we got home we had been out of the house for about 4 hours with 3 hours of that on and off doing exercise. Both of us were a bit worn out.

Wednesday was “B” Day, the big 4 0, Four Ooooh. I should have planned my day a bit better and given myself the day off work and somehow I had scheduled hubby to be away for work without realising what day it was. Well I accepted my malfunction and planned a girls night, with a great group of girls, a nice BYO Thai restaurant and I had a couple of glasses of champagne to celebrate this day and of course CAKE. Cake for morning tea at work, cake for dessert at dinner, lots of CAKE. To be honest I loved it but was all caked out. I got some great gifts, vouchers for sports stores, pedicure, some cash and gorgeous flowers. I had a great day.

Great group of girls who I am lucky to call my friends.

Great group of girls who I am lucky to call my friends.

Thursday I made my first stop of the day the gym to burn off some of my celebrations and did a weights session, my new program of weights takes about an hour, so to make sure I got variety before Miss 3 got feral bored in the play area I did 2 sets of every exercise, this turned out to be a good decision.

Friday I had a bit of a lazy day, let’s call it an extension of my cake hangover. I did wish that I took my gear to work because by the middle of the day I felt like a run. I didn’t get time to do it after work.

Saturday still with the urge to run and a super hectic day ahead I crammed in 30 mins on the treadmill and PB’d with an interval run and playing around with my nemesis the INCLINE did the entire workout on 2, except for a brief moment of weakness where I bumped it down to 1.5 for about 10 seconds, I called myself a “pussy” and forced myself to put it back up. I was having a good self-talk day. I even finished the last 2 mins of the workout at speed 9, all together doing 3.28k in 30mins on incline 2.

I was pleased that I squeezed a workout it in, but it did make me late to everything else, so I raced home, showered and took Miss 3 to a birthday party, (more cake), exited there and went home to grab hubby and then we drove Miss 3 to my bro’s for an overnight sleepover. On the way back from there we dropped into see my Bro-in-law at his first Weight lifting competition, very interesting to watch.

Hubby and I were going out to celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary, which we did with a little bit of style and dined at a “hatted” restaurant Caveau in Wollongong. It was a 7 course degustation menu with matching wines, modern French cuisine, very classy, very nice and very expensive.

The first course 'Salad' very fancy and tasty food.

The first course ‘Salad’ very fancy and tasty food.

Sunday I really wanted to do a workout but we had to do the 2 hour round trip to pick up Miss 3 and I mowed the lawns and just didn’t feel the urge after all that to get motivated.

To give myself a nudge to keep up the training I signed up for Tri the Gong Enticer on 9 March, so less than 2 weeks to do it all again.

So all in all I had a fabulous week of celebrations and because of that I saved myself the torture of a weigh-in this week and will do it next week. Look out for a blog name change coming soon, “Fat to Fit and Fabulous AT Forty”.

The week that was – Aquathon Race Wrap

Monday – another fun session at Circus Monoxide for my Bootcamp class, this week we did forward rolls, backward rolls, and cartwheels and recapped on the trapeze and tissue moves that I am completely hopeless at. We also did a sequence of our own choreography incorporating the tumbling moves which was hilarious. We also did heaps of planking, front, sides and back, “ouchy”.

Tuesday – I was a bit sore from the Circus class but managed to get to the gym to do some cardio and also tested myself with a 1k time trial on the Treadmill, I have only ever done a 1k trial before on the road and I know they are a bit different, but I clocked up what I think is a PB of 6min45sec for 1k. Also did some abdominal exercises, doing this circus class has made me much more aware of the need to do ab exercises even if I hate doing it (something I have known all along but tried to ignore).

Wed – morning swim in the harbour (where the Aquathon is being held) I was thankful that my trainer did a lap with me, even though he had already done 2 laps and then a training buddy did my 2nd lap with me, I HATE doing it on my own, it is a bit scary, being that it is a harbour there is always a possibility of boats going in and out and lets not mention those marine life with BIG teeth.

Thursday and Friday I allowed myself rest in anticipation of Saturday’s race.

Sat – so Aquathon day was upon us, I got up early, 6ish, I got myself some breakfast, packed my backpack full of water, a few snacks of oranges and vita wheats. I was having a few dilemas all week as to how to get to the event, parking is terrible and some of the closest could have been up to 2k away. I decided to ride my bike, it is about 12k to where the start line is and I thought if I just take it easy it won’t have too much effect on my energy for the race, which I did.

I found a few of my training buddies easily, well they found me (even better), registered and picked up the timing chip. Chilled out for a while, wandered around to check out the “Speed demons” in the Long Course race coming across the finish line, the event had a lot of international and Australian Olympic level competitors which is fantastic for the event and the region. Before I knew it the kids race was happening which meant time to head to the marshalling area by the water for the start. For those that don’t know an Aquathon is a Swim and Run event, I was doing the short course which was a 400m swim and a 3k run.

The buzzer started and flurry of arms and legs hit the water, it was pretty crazy for the first 50-100m, almost every stroke you were hitting someone’s foot or someone was hitting or kicking you, by the time it spread out a little we had hit the first turning marker and before I knew it the group who started 2 minutes behind us had started to catch the back of the pack, which I was in, and then you were back in the same predicament with people everywhere. I was pacing myself as best I could and felt reasonably strong in the swim, compared to my last Triathlon, still not very fast, but survival is the key in the swim leg.

This is me in all my Lycra glory, must remember to suck it in when waving at the camera.

This is me in all my Lycra glory, must remember to suck it in when waving at the camera.

Then you hit the shore and run up the stairs to the transition area, I had a tip from some experts who said to bring a bucket or tub to fill with fresh water to get the sand off your feet, so with this brilliant idea and my elastic shoe laces I was pretty quick, threw on shoes, shirt and sunnies and took off at my blistering shuffle pace.

I have said it before and I will say it again “I HATE RUNNING”, but running with the crowd along the path, I got cheers from a few people who knew me which was really inspiring. The aim of this part of the game was to run a my own pace and not stop, I usually carry my security blanket which is a small sports bottle of water but I forgot and left it in the transition area and also forgot to have a quick drink to wash my mouth out of the salt water (I swallowed a bit). There was only 1 drink station along the course which was at the half way mark, so I sucked it up and kept plodding along. One of my buddies caught me and ran with me until the half way mark and I told her not to wait for me. I wanted to stop the whole way, but the only time I did stop was to guzzle a few sips from the drink station so about 20-30m of walking at the mid station.

Trying to pick up the pace on the way to the finish line.

Trying to pick up the pace on the way to the finish line.

I love knowing that I am past half-way point in the run, it helps with the mind games, but it is still horrible, then with about 500m to go, I was trying to take longer strides and get this damn thing over and done with. I managed to get a bit of a sprint happening with about 100m to go and crossed the line. It was a relief to finish.

The finish line was a welcome site.

The finish line was a welcome site.

Sometimes I wonder to myself why am I doing this and I still don’t really know. My trainer Ian Gibson from Pioneer Fitness was cheering me on across the finish line and was there to greet all his contenders back at our little camp. Once I had jumped back in the water to cool off we arranged to meet down the track for a coffee (or skim chai latte for me). He said something to me that blew me away which was that “I was his hero”, he has trained me at my biggest and now at my fittest and he said he uses me as an example to say you don’t need to be skinny to be fit, I take absolutely no offence to that because he can’t help me in the kitchen, which is where my weight problem lies.

I then returned the compliment to say that, had I never met him I would not be doing all that I am doing, this man is 1 that truly believes in me and my abilities more than I do in myself and is the same with all his clients. He said I could do a triathlon and I did, he thought I could to the Aquathon and I did. He sets me training goals that are achievable and that I often strive to beat. He is 1 in a Million and I hope he reads this to know how much he is appreciated by me and all his clients.

Super Coach, Ian, it's all his fault that I am fit.

Super Coach, Ian, it’s all his fault that I am fit.

After the Aquathon I then had to ride the 12k back home again, I was tempted to call hubby to come and get me but thought it would be good training to get back on the bike. I took it easy on the way home and I really noticed I had not been riding for a while. Madge “the Vag” was feeling it. I also made the mistake of riding with my runners on, but still with my small clip-in pedals so my feet hurt, I should have taken 5 minutes to put regular pedals back on before I left home.

So the results of the Aquathon are in, and my main goal was achieved, I finished, my 2nd secret goal was to not come last, I just scrapped in coming 3rd last:

Aquathon crop low res

Would I do it all again, hell yeah!

The week that Was – Shark Attack

A few things I am happy with this week, including the discovery of my WORD OF THE YEAR, which is “Staunch”. I must remain staunch in eating better, saying no to the bad things or having a small portion and the control to walk away from more. So far, my head is in a good place.

I also started tracking my food again on My Fitness Pal, every day, weekends included.

Monday – I realised that it was the first session of a 4 week course at Circus Bootcamp, yes you saw that correct, Circus Bootcamp. Circus Monoxide are a “half-high” circus offering classes from beginner circus/fitness to experienced Circus performance classes and toddler and kids classes. I purchased a deal off an internet site months ago and before I knew it today was here. The 2 hour class started with introduction of ourselves around the circle, there were 11 of us all together, then we went into some warm up games, followed by Yoga stretching, all of this taking about 30 mins, then it was time to learn some of the apparatus. 1st was the “tissue’s” which are the 2 lengths of fabric used for acrobatics, I always use a P!nk Concert as reference and most people know what I mean. 2nd was the trapeze where we had to learn to hang and swing. 3rd was to get up into the seated position onto the trapeze. By the time we had all had turns and practice on these 3 apparatus, almost another hour had past. We then moved onto some hula hooping and finally stretching and before I knew it the 2 hours had flown by. So my performance was dismal, however, I sweated buckets and I know my HR was increased (will wear my HR monitor next week to check on my calorie burn). My mission of doing something new is accomplished, but with 3 more weeks of classes I have PLENTY of room for improvement.   

Tuesday – A cardio session at the gym including 15 minutes on the Cross trainer and 15 minutes on the treadmill doing interval work 30 seconds walking and 1 minute running at 9 kph, followed by 5 minutes of abs.

Wed – I was invited by a swimming group to have a swim in Wollongong Harbour which is the course that I will be swimming when doing the Aquathon in a few weeks, so I jumped at the chance to train on the course. I completed 1 lap with about 4 other girls in a little pack which was comforting, I am still not fast but felt confident in finishing the 400m distance. Because I got there a little late everyone had finished their 2 laps and I had only done 1 and really wanted to do a second to feel like I had done a good training session. Another girl offered to watch me from the shore, so I headed off by myself, I got about 1/3 of the way and started to panic, not because I couldn’t swim, I had an “OMG swimming in a harbour alone and there could be sharks in here” moment, fucking stupid thought to have when you are swimming (excuse the language), but seriously you can’t control your thoughts and stupidity sometimes. A blessing came in the form of another swimmer zooming past me, then I had a “thank goodness, if there is a shark, he will get eaten first” moment, and all was good in the world. I think I need therapy.

A funny shark montage in honour of my irrational thoughts.

A funny shark montage in honour of my irrational thoughts.

Thursday – I did another cardio session at the gym again with 15 mins on the Cross trainer and after chatting with my PT she suggested I do longer distances with my intervals on the Treadmill, so 1 minute walking and 4 minute runs at 8.5kph for 15 minutes. I did happen to mention I had never done a distance run of any substance on the treadmill so it was proposed to do 3k every time I came in to do Cardio until the Aquathon.

Friday – day of rest

Saturday – I headed into the Gym with the aim to do a quick warm up and then my weights program but the 3k challenge was eating at me and I wanted to see if I could do it. So here is how my 3k went down: 
0-0.25k @ 5.5kph walk
0.25-1k @ 7.8kph (this felt like my w/up)
1.0-2.5k @ 8.0kph
2.5-2.9k @ 8.5kph
2.9-3.0k @ 9kph
So, in conclusion, my 3k time was 23.49min which apart from being a PB distance on the Treadmill, it was a record for me for a 3k in general. It is hard to compare outdoor running to treadmill but I am pleased about picking up the pace. In hindsight I should have stopped after 500m or 1k warm-up and stretched and started again and I think my time would have been even better, oh well there is always next time. I finished off my session with upper body weights and abs session. I was so happy and jumping out of my skin after his work out I felt great.

Sunday – no official workout but spent a few hours of the day at the local Show with Miss 3 and what a fun time we had. We went on the dodgems, the giant wavy slide 7 times (I secretly loved it too), the big bouncy slide, the harness trampoline bungee thing, side-show alley and a pony ride. We relaxed and enjoyed a donut whilst watching the horses in the arena (could not find a skim chai latte anywhere). For me there was lots of walking and walking carrying Miss 3 when she got whingey, plus 7 rounds up the stairs to the slide. It was fun, not many people there and not too hot. We got chauffer driven by hubby as he had to go to work for a little bit. A fun way to end the week.

Giant slide, we both loved it.
Giant slide, we both loved it.

 

Bungee Trampoline, she was a bit scared at first but once she got going wanted to go "Super High".

Bungee Trampoline, she was a bit scared at first but once she got going wanted to go “Super High”.

The Year that Was 2012

To look back upon a year it is often hard to remember what you did, how you felt and just how far you have come, especially when you have mothers brain (yep blame the poor child for my lack of memory). Thankfully in this era of gadgets, social media and mobile apps it can help to trigger my memory.

The year started with some very vague ‘gonna lose weight and get fit’ resolutions, just like every other year.

January my trainer starting me on running in our regular weekly session – hell but I wanted to try.

When February came around and I had my 39th Birthday I think a bit of impending OMG I’m 40 next year hit me and I wanted to achieve more than just lose weight and get fit, I needed some goals. So apart from wanting to be able to run, I wanted to be able to do a Triathlon like my trainer had been bugging me about.

I was not in a great state mentally, my relationship with my husband was not all rosy, it was not all bad either (probably difficult to be perfect when you are comparing it to my daily half hour of Bold and the Beautiful). I had not been diagnosed or medicated for anything but I was a little bit sad a lot of the time which was very unlike me. I had seen a counsellor a few times which helped, basically I talked (a lot) and she listened and gave me some non-judgemental guidance on how to turn negative thoughts around. It’s not something that is easy to tell people, but it should not be taboo to talk to a professional, without which I would say was a potential trip to the loony bin. We seek out professionals them out in all other aspects of our life so why not our mental health.

Exercise also became an outlet as did my reconnection with music once I figured out my gadgetry. I went from running/exercising with my Android phone for GPS/distance, Ipod for music and Heart Rate monitor and managed to get it down to HR monitor and phone with music/GPS on it.

Some people will say why all the gadgets, I am a numbers person, I need to know my numbers which is why I have enjoyed my Indoor Rowing for the past 6 years, it is all numbers in front of you and you can constantly adjust to improve your time/speed/distance. So I wanted the same from my running and cycling. We have all this modern technology so why not use it.

I know that exercise has all the medical benefits of improving your heart, lungs blah blah blah, but I was also enjoying the improved mental state. I am pleased to say that this year and my exercise has improved my ‘head’ and I am back to my happy self (most of the time).

So continuing on with my training and goal of doing a Triathlon, I won’t bore you with all the details of how I got to be able to run you can read about that in my Couch to 5k post but it was a big achievement to do and if I can do it anyone can, you may do it slower or faster than me but just keep trying.

As the year cracked on so did my desire and panic about doing the Triathlon, I had bought myself a new bike, I went from a super cruiser heavy weight to an ultra-light racing bike with the skinny wheels and those hanging down handles (yes very technical I know but upon researching bikes I realise it was like learning a whole other language, I don’t have time for that). I loved the new bike, once I got used to it and again plugged into my music would enjoy going for a ride. I have not really ‘trained’ for the bike, I just get on and ride, I assumed that all other training I am doing would improve my cycling as well.

The 1 thing I left til last was my swimming; it is such pain to swim, shower, wash (long) hair, style hair, get ready for work not in the comfort of your own bathroom and if I didn’t get it done in the mornings then I wouldn’t do it. Not to mention I found it boooring, no music to keep me company. I started back swimming in June 2012 and only did 1-2 swims each month, my goal was to just get through the swim leg of the triathlon alive, awesome goal setting. So I would dive in the pool, swim 300m and then go, ok I’m alive, do a few more laps for ‘training’ purposes and call it done. I am pleased to say I can now do 500m no problems (not fast) and a training session usually consists of 1500m before I get bored, I have been swimming in Ocean pools, indoor heated and outdoor heated Olympic pools and 1 time in a harbour. My next challenge is to do some Open Water swimming to train for any Triathlons that may not be in the luxury of a Harbour and certainly very very few are in the “Princess” comfort of an Olympic pool.

So to look at my milestones this year:

Running – I could not run more than about 200m without stopping to walk and have now done numerous 5k training and even a 6k training run. Even managed to do some treadmill running which I vowed I would never do.

Swimming – I used to swim 50m and stop every single lap for a rest, can now swim 500m non-stop, probably more if I tried and can do 1500m in a training session.

Bike – New bike, much faster and easier to go longer distance, my cleats and I are having a love hate relationship. I don’t train for the bike, just get on and ride. Biggest ride was only 24k from memory, I just lack the time to do more. Mostly my bike ‘Juliet’ and I are happy together.

Indoor Rowing – Held onto my State Championship title in the 500m and 4 minute distances and at last glance I still held my World Rankings of 22nd and 4th respectively (the Rowing year has not finished yet). See more about that here.

Weight Loss – I dare not go there but I will, I have to. So according to my weight tracking app and cross referenced with my own spreadsheet, it would appear that I started the year 2012 at around 110.5kgs, I dropped down to about 105-106 at my lowest throughout the year but finished it off after the Christmas binge at 109.8, however I am please to report that the Christmas Kilo’s are coming off almost as fast as they went on and I am really trying to eat well.

Goals – when I actually put my Goals out in Blogland in August 2012 I had already started working towards them, but never fully believing that they will all happen and like anything need to be tweaked.
No.1 was the work, life, workout and family balancing act. I am hoping I have done that Ok (I won’t profess to being mother or wife of the year), perhaps I should ask Miss 3 and hubby to comment on this.
No.2 was the Pink Triathlon, read about it here, but in short I DID IT!!.
No.3 was the National Indoor Rowing Championships, my training was not optimum for this event, too much focus on the Tri but I had a good crack at it, read about it here.
No.4 was the Mud Run a 7+ klm trail run with mud and other obstacles, heaps of fun, I finished it, read about it here.

Full length photo taken in Dec 2012

Full length photo taken in Dec 2012

I am pleased to say that apart from my weight loss goal I have achieved all my others, through many ups and downs that life throws at you and battling my own emotions and insecurities.

I must say I have never had as many compliments as I have had this year regarding my appearance and I appreciate every single 1 of them. I know with all my training I am changing body shape, however it is sometimes hard to receive a “you look great, how much weight have you lost” compliment when you have lost only a miniscule amount or nothing. Weight loss is something I hope to seriously tackle this year (yes I’m saying it again like I have for the last 20 years).

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and followers and I hope 2013 is your best year yet. Set some goals, you never know what might happen.

The Week that Was – short and sweet

So to follow on from a fairly good week of exercise last week and with the interruption of Christmas and Boxing Day eat-a-thons, here is my week in short.

Monday – did a little swim in the lake, practicing open water techniques, for which I have no idea, in the afternoon I got back on my bike with cleats and had a much more confident 17k cycle.

Tuesday – Christmas Day – eat drink and be Merry

Wednesday – Boxing Day – eat drink and be more Merry

Thursday – rolled out of bed whinging about how bloated I felt, then when I stopped feeling bloated I ate some more.

Friday – back on the exercise wagon, short cycle to Ocean pool to meet up with a training buddy and my Personal trainer, 400m swim, 3k run (with hills), 400m swim, skim chai latte and short cycle home. Felt great to get such an awesome workout in before work.

Saturday – no exercise.

Sunday – 3x 500m in the ocean pool, came home and ate some more.

Can anyone see a pattern here? Although I managed a few good workouts, I am pretty sure they were voided by the eating. Evil chocolates are taunting me. I am hoping that with the New Year I will click back into being good. I am on the downhill countdown to the BIG 4 0 with about 6 weeks to go and although I am confident I am fitter and will complete my fitness goals (slowly but surely) I really want to see double digits on the scales – 99kgs here I come.

TheThe Week that Was – Finally kicking it up a notch

So finally I got off to a great start this week.

Monday, I did a morning swim, 1500m including drills. Afternoon I did a mixed cardio and strength session with my PT.

Tuesday a hectic morning/day, took Miss 3 to her swimming lesson and then headed to post office and gym, so picture an armful of different bags, parcels, her swimming bag, my gym stuff and her snack bag and my handbag, (I looked like a pack horse when I left the house). Did a good 30 minute cardio including 15 mins interval running on the treadmill which up until 2 weeks ago I vowed I would never do. With a bit of persistence from my trainer at the Gym she said just do 5 minutes, which I have now built up to 15 minutes and I have to eat my words because I am enjoying it.
I headed home for a quick shower and then drove an hour to visit my nephew for his 13th birthday and took him and his bro (9) and sis (14) along with Miss 3 out for McDonalds and then to the park for a play. I love that these kids are so energetic and a little bit competitive. I was telling them about the Mud Run and convincing them to do at least the kids run next year and they wanted me to time them doing obstacles around the playground, over the logs, across the monkey bars, up the ramp, down the slippery dip and running around the swings and up an over picnic chairs. It was a stinking hot day and we were the only group at the playground, they had so much fun and Miss 3 was following them around like a mad girl. The funny thing was every time they went to go down the slide they got a static electric shock off the metal, I told them to toughen up. Then they did running races with Miss 3 and pretended to fall over so she could win. Such a fun day, I wish I saw them more.

Wednesday after work I headed out to Wollongong Harbour where the local Tri club was doing a training session for the upcoming Aquathon, a swim/run event. So the full training was a 500m swim and 5k run. I asked hubby if he would like to come and bring Miss 3 to the playground nearby and take her for Fish and Chips.
The swim was in the harbour but there was a wicked wind blowing and there was a pretty good swell. I can’t remember the last time I SWAM (properly) in anything other than a pool, so this was a struggle. I managed to do about 350m, I probably could have done the whole thing but I was conscious of my family waiting for me and that I would be the last 1 in the water if I didn’t cut my 2nd lap short, something that was not appealing to me right on dusk. Then I headed out for the run, I could see Miss 3 was really whingy and tired so I made the decision to cut this short as well and probably did about 3k, again I struggled, a few little hills really got me and I tried to go a bit faster than normal so got puffed and had to do a few walks throughout the run. But it is all training so glad I did it.

Thursday I headed to the gym for a weights and abs session and then took Miss 3 to the local pool for a swim and catch-up with some of my Mothers Group friends. Myself and another mother did some swapping babysitting and she headed off to do some laps and then I did the same, such a great way to train when 2 people have like-minded goals. I just did a quick 500m.

Friday I allowed myself a day of rest.

Sat and Sunday, no workouts but a massive amount of cleaning and incidental moving, getting the house ready for Christmas. In honour of my family descending up on us on Boxing Day I wrote a poem in appreciation of those who host Christmas each year especially my mum and MIL, both amazing ladies.

Twas the weekend before Christmas
and all through the house
nobody was relaxing….
We were cleaning the house

The cooking and baking
created a mess
So we clean again?
Again, I said “Yes”

We normally go
to somebody’s house
And this year they say
We’ll come, it’ll be grouse

I clean out the shed
For somewhere to dine
Our house is too small
The shed will be fine

Plotting and planning
How many to seat
To make it look pretty
I’m gonna be beat

The toilets are scrubbed
I’ve added blu-loo
And we’ve cleaned the spiders
Off the furniture too.

“Don’t do that
stop making mess
Mummy get cranky
And have a big stress”

So thanks to our mums
Who do it each year
To keep us all fed
And we say “Were Here”

To finish off my Weekly Wrap I managed to get Miss 3 to visit Santa and convince my friend Cindy to bring her son Brae for our 2nd annual Christmas snap with Santa, it’s not getting any better, but it’s still funny, hopefully next year……..

Is it sad when the mum's are having more fun than the kids?

Is it sad when the mum’s are having more fun than the kids?

Fun fun fun on the Mud Run

When I started this Blog I set myself some goals and 1 of them was to complete the Mud Run. Now at the time it all seemed like a whole lot of “as if that is really gonna happen”. Just over a month ago the alarm went off in my Outlook Calendar to tell me that it was time to registered to get the slightly cheaper rate, nothing like saving $5-10 to stop you from “NEVER EVER” doing it.

I must say that this last month went Super fast and the last week, like a rocket. Before I knew it today was the day. Now it was a bit of a weird day because normally with an event you are out the door early ready for a 9am start. Today was different because our start time was 2pm, so fluffing around the (air-conditioned) house waiting to leave was a weird feeling and I may have been in La La Land and not really comprehending what was ahead of me.

So I rounded up the troops, picked up a few gal pals and hit the road. We ended up with a team of 8 and were called Southern Commercial “Mud” Divers due to a bit of sponsorship from my wonderful employer who is also my MIL and FIL.  They provided our fantastic singlets for the event.

The team showing off our Shirts.

We arrived in the 40 degree heat (Celsius) at the Mud Run venue and headed straight to the registration tents and grabbed our number bib, pitched ourselves a sun shade and I tried to chill out and relax before our time slot.

It was not long before it was time to head down to the starting line. With a 2pm starting time they were letting groups go at 5 minute intervals, we were out of the blocks at 2.05pm.

The mob ready for the 2pm start time.

Of course you have barrels of energy at the starting line and we powered off over the first obstacle which was hay bale steps and then up and over a brick wall. Then it just seemed like an endless mirage of hills with not a drink station in sight. I think the first run/walk and hurdling over a few obstacles to the first drink station was the hardest, it was sooo hot and dry. I am not going to sugar coat this for you it was hard and hot and I must say I walked ¾ of the course. I was the slowest in our team and really felt like I was holding everyone back.

The team ready to start the event.

I’m going to head off on a tangent at this point and give you some background info on what has happened this week. Monday morning I woke up and my world was spinning, literally. My head had not even come off the pillow and I felt dizzy. When I tried to walk I was bouncing off the walls like a pinball in a pinball machine. I have had this problem before and it was diagnosed as low blood pressure and mild ear infection (among other things). Before I lifted my head off the pillow I got on the phone to my Medical Centre to hook up an appointment ASAP. So the doc checked me over and my ears and blood pressure were fine, she sent me for blood and urine tests and after some other testing suggested that it could be Vertigo. She also said that my neck and head were very tense and that I should see an Osteopath, usually when I feel this tight I see a Chiropractor, she said Chiro was not a good idea. Long story short, I managed to get myself a late appointment on Monday to see Osteo and by Wed I was starting to feel slightly better, Thursday I got my blood results and nothing was out of the ordinary, I also managed a cardio workout and by Friday I almost felt normal.

So back to Mud Run I was a little reluctant to push myself tooooo hard and took it easier than I might have, if I hadn’t had the medical issues of earlier in the week.

My goal for the Mud Run was to finish, have fun and have a go at each obstacle.

I lost count of how many obstacles were on the course but some of the memorable one’s were; the first water/mud pit where my friend Colleen jumped in with a giant splash; the big pipes called Birds Nest which had wasp and other critters nested all over them.

My friend “Claustraphobia” and I could not start nor complete an obstacle which was a water filled trench with black plastic over the top where you could not see daylight at the other end, my issues with this was if it was a black tunnel with no water I may have considered, but the combination of water and enclosed space was not on my fun list. The only other obstacle I did not attempt was a balance beam which was barely 2 inches wide and if you fell off it was into a dry pit which looked like a 6ft drop. I didn’t think it was a good idea after having dizzy spells earlier in the week.

Some of my accomplishments were the cargo net, wobbly as hell, higher than I thought but once I was on the downward side I was relieved and satisfied that I completed it. My favourite was the Commando crawl through a watery mud pit which had low flying bunting hanging over it, second fave was the giant Slip ‘n’ slide, there are some benefits to being heavier, you get way more speed on the slide and I managed a graceful or disgraceful tuck ‘n’ roll at the end as I was still travelling at a great speed when the slide ended. I also enjoyed the giant inflated pillows near the end, bouncing over and the horrible last obstacle that was a wooden ramp with a rope to pull yourself up and over. My upper arm strength was just not good enough to get me over it, so after splattering and sliding back down the ramp I walked around. I didn’t want to bruise and batter myself on the last obstacle.

So all in all, out of the 20 or so obstackes, I didn’t attempt 2 and was unable to complete 1. Everyone on the team had fun, I was the slowest of our team but didn’t care too much because of the week I had and the heat I wanted to finish, not collapse. I consider this type of event a “Fun Run” and loved getting down and dirty in the mud. I will be booking into doing something similar again soon.

PS: I hope to get some action shots on here when the Event Photographer’s release them.

I finished, still smiling but a little bit tired.

Here we are crossing the finish line. This picture certify’s that it actually happened.

The Week that Was – New plan of Attack

So this week I started a new program planed out by my Exercise Physiologist Rob Botocchio , it works on a 4 week cycle, 3 weeks hard, 4th week have an extra day or 2 of rest.

So this week went reasonably well with a few highlights.

Monday morning, I headed to the ocean pool for a swim in my wetsuit, I managed 200m and was feeling woozy with the added buoyancy. Managed to do 500m in total and was feeling really sick so got out and walked home. Upon discussion with hubby I mentioned using a weight belt to which he said, don’t use the wetsuit and “HARDEN UP”. Something to consider, if I must, lol.

Monday evening I did a workout with my PT, a bit of a light jog and some core strengthening exercises, nothing too hard, just a bit of a wind down after the NSW Indoor Rowing Champs on Sat.

Tuesday I managed to get to the Buggy Fit class run by my gym, this is an outdoor class where you can take your kids, they have a trainer to look after them and we get to run around. So the class this week involved a lot of interval running, starting with a warm up, then sand running, sprints, hill running and 1k time trial. I will be making the effort to get to this 1 more often.

Wednesday I had a day of rest which should have been a workout day.

Thursday I got into the Gym did a 10 minute warm-up on the Spin Bike and then 30 minute weight session, I would have stayed longer but Miss 3 was with me and had just about reached her limit in the kids play area.

Friday morning I met with Rob for him to assess my running technique and do a bit of a time trial. So after a 1 k walk/jog warm-up he set the clock and GPS for a 3k time trial. The outcome was all positive, apparently I have a pretty good running style which I need to maintain even when I get tired, and I did a 3k in 24:16 which equates to about 8min per Kilometre pace, my usual pace is around 8.45-9.05 per kilometre so a great PB, time to up the pace on my “shufflin”.

Saturday I left the house at 9.30am and didn’t get home until 8.30pm, a very busy day a brief catch up with some old Paintball buddies and then spent the rest of the day hanging out with some great friends. By the time I got home Miss 3 was crashed in the car and went straight to bed and I was pretty knackered and not far behind her. Not enough hours in the day for a workout.

Sunday in an attempt to make up for yesterday I headed out for a bike ride with a swim in the middle. I headed north which was has more hills and did a 9k cycle and a 500m swim in the ocean pool (without wetsuit). It was the first time I have ridden my bike since I stacked it, more about that here. Since telling people about my fall everyone has a laugh and says “oh you will probably fall off another 6 or 7 times before you really get the hang of IT”. “IT” being cleats and clip-in pedals. “IT” then gave me a huge dose of claustrophobia and anxiety when I was riding with a hint of paranoia. I felt like everyone or everything was going to jump out in front of me and make me crash. I was very slow, over-compensating by unclipping waaaay too early to avoid falling off. I am hoping that with each stack-free ride I will get back the confidence and lose some of my anxiety.

On the food front, my weekdays were pretty good with a little splurge on the weekend, but not over the top. I have cut down the sugar in my cups of Tea. Originally I used to have 2 sugars, and for about the last 4 weeks I was down to 1.5 sugars and this week I cut down to as much sugar as I can fit on 1 Teaspoon, I hope to level this out soon.

So here’s to next week stepping up and completing all my workouts and making smart food choices.