The week that was – getting moving

I have neglected to do a proper weekly wrap for a few weeks, I can attribute this to the fact I have dropped the ball a bit with my training and had not a great deal to report, so I got my head back in the game and managed to get myself moving this week and keep going.

Monday – I returned to my Indoor Rowing PT session and although not feeling entirely motivated I managed to do a workout that inflicted some pain on ye ole muscles the following day.

Tuesday – I tossed up between going on an expedition to IKEA and doing a session at the gym. I needed things from IKEA for our home renovations and being that it is an hour trip each way and about 3 hours to venture around the store it truly was an expedition with Miss 3.5 in tow. So the end result is I ditched a gym session and went shopping.

Sometimes IKEA is the winner.

Sometimes IKEA is the winner.

 

Wednesday – I really wanted to do a workout to make up for yesterday’s shopping trip but work got in the way, I should have no excuses but life does get in the way.

Thursday – Anzac Day I had a call from some friends to say they were at our local Café, so I rounded up the family on the bikes and we headed down and had a drink and a play at the park, then we headed off for a bike ride. Miss 3 was very whingy and I only managed to get about 3k before the whinging drove me mad and I turned around, so a 6k ride was all we did.

Friday – I had a late start at work so headed to the gym to tackle my new weights session, so I did a 10 minute warm up on the Crosstrainer and then managed to do 3 sets of 10 of my new program and even bumped 1 of my weights up.

Saturday – I could feel the pain from yesterday’s weights but I did make an effort to get to a 7am boxing class. I found a good boxing buddy of similar level and fitness which makes a big difference to the class.

Sunday – back to home renovations and moving boxes and boxes of stuff and furniture to rip up carpet in 2 rooms, we managed to get 1 room done entirely and remove all the nails and tacks. We have to get the other room done this week as the floors are being sanded next weekend.

So with 3 good sessions with my gym and PT and lots of incidental exercise I feel like I have got back on track.

My goal for this week is to keep this up and add in that extra session instead of shopping.

Middle Eastern Platter

This platter is so easy considering most of the stuff you buy and serve so I can’t take a lot of credit for the flavours.

Lamb Koftas, tabouli, home made Hummus, Lebanese bread

Lamb Koftas, tabouli, home made Hummus, Lebanese bread

Platter consists of:
4 Lamb Kofta’s – my butcher makes these but you can buy them from a supermarket too
Hummus – homemade, see directions below
Tabouli – without dressing, I picked mine up from local fruit or BBQ chicken shop or supermarket.
1 piece of Lebanese bread
Juice from ½ a lemon for tabouli dressing
Serves 2

Grill koftas in frying pan until cooked through, when they are close to cooked place Lebanese bread over the top of them until it heats through, this soaks up a little bit of the fat coming off the koftas and makes the bread taste devine.

Drizzle lemon over tabouli before serving.
Serve ¼ of the hummus recipe below.
Cut Lebanese bread into strips.
Place everything on a plate or platter.
I use the strips of bread to make tiny little wraps with a chunk of kofta and topped with tabouli and hummus.

ENJOY!

How to make Hummus
Now I am blessed with a Thermomix which I use to make mine but you could use a blender or stick blender to make it too. This recipe is a variation from the Thermomix cookbook.

400g tin of chickpeas drained (save some of the liquid)
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbls (50g) Tahini
Juice of 1 Lemon (40-50g)
½ tsp (25g) Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Chop garlic, place chickpeas in blending device, add tahini, lemon juice and olive oil and blend for 1 minute, if the mix looks too thick add some of the saved liquid (1 tbls) from the chickpeas and blend again for 10 seconds, add extra if necessary and repeat, add salt to taste.
Serves 4

Nutritional info per Serve of the Platter*
Calories 529
Carbs 49
Fat 28
Protein 18
Sugar 3
Sodium 497
*Nutritional information is only as accurate as My Fitness Pal.

The Week that was – boring, boring, boring

So for the last few weeks I haven’t done my weekly wrap, I think it stems from being bored with my workouts and bored with writing about being boring. I have been a bit lazy, busy and pre-occupied and my workouts have suffered.

I have ditched my Monday night Indoor Rowing and PT session for the last 2 weeks (not feeling well). My gym EnVie sent me my very first SMS and email this week saying I hadn’t been to see them in a week and it was almost to the minute, I had been in the previous Wed morning and by Wed lunchtime the nagging had commenced. Needless to say I was in there Wed afternoon.

I think also not having an immediate goal to work towards, (triathlon or other event) makes me lack some motivation. There are plenty of things on my radar, fun runs, family cycling event but the other thing I need to consider is the cost, these events all range from $25 to $100 so on top of all my training costs each month it is hard to justify the spend and then I get excited and want to do a couple a month, something I can’t sustain. I know most of them are to raise money for very worthy charities but it is still out of pocket expenses that must be considered.

So I am going to try to step it up this week and attend all my normal sessions and make the weekly read next week a lot less boring.

So who likes reading my weekly updates or what would you like to read more about?

Gaining Weight – The Horror Story

For the last 22 years (all of my adult life) there have been many many many attempts at losing weight. Multiple times for some things.

So I am a hoarder, especially when it comes to weight loss programs, I have drawers and cupboards full of programs. I found a few of my Weight Watchers weigh-in cards and this is where the Horror Story begins:

And here I thought I was fat.

And here I thought I was fat.

Feb-Jun 1995 (age 22)
Starting weight 87.5kg
Finish 83.1kg
Total Loss 4.4kg

Aug-Oct 1999
Starting Weight 109.2kg
Finish 106.8kg
Total Loss 2.4kg

Apr-Jul 2004
Starting Weight 108.7kg
Finish 106kg
Total Loss 2.7kg

Jun-Aug 2005
Starting Weight 129.3kg
Finish 128.1kg
Total Loss 1.2kg

1994 - One of my major horse riding acheivments competing at Sydney Royal Easter Show.

1994 – One of my major horse riding acheivments competing at Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Wow putting this down on paper has been really scary, the thought that in 10 years I put on 45kgs is horrifying considering my attempts were all to lose weight not gain it. I can see how if you average it out 4.5kg per year can just creep on and you just go up 1 size in clothes and voila 10 years later you are hitting size 24-26 and 45kg heavier.

Some other things I have tried over the years have been; Tony Ferguson (shakes), Hypnotherapy, Online weight loss, a variety of other shake programs, Dietician, The Biggest Loser Club, the Cabbage Soup diet, Calorie counting, low carb, no-carb, Light ‘n’ Easy and Sure Slim. These are just the memorable one’s, memorable because all of them were epic fails. I will admit now that it was never the plan or program that I was on that was a failure, it was all me. I could never stick to anything for any decent length of time or I would be the Weekday Angel and Weekend Devil. Basically all of my adult life I have been on 1 diet or another. Monday “Begin Again Girl”, that’s me.  

I was every Gym’s dream member, signing up so many times and then not attending, I have bought fitness equipment off late night Infomercials that later got sold in a garage sale or didn’t sell and therefore the Ab Sculpter is still under my stairs 15 years later.

At my blossoming best.

At my blossoming best.

I had an epiphany (just now) as to what key factor happened in 1995 to start the uphill weight climb, in 1995 I sold my beloved horse, I had ridden horses since I was about 9 and competed at a fairly decent level. So going cold turkey on the only exercise I had every really known I would say played a big part in my weight gain.  

Not to mention I had my driver’s licence and fast food outlets were booming and popping up conveniently (with a small detour) on my way home from work.

So all these years later I may have just discovered where my Horror Story began, do you know what triggered your weight gain and how successful have your weight loss plans been?

Here I am the fat funny person.

Here I am at my heaviest (excluding pregnancy) still the fat funny person.