Once upon a time ….. I got a Lap Band

This post has been in draft format for quite a while, mainly because I never had the photo’s I wanted to go with it.

So nearly 3 years ago I had a Lap Band or Gastric Band surgically put in to try and aid with weight loss.

What is Lap banding or Gastric Banding? It is a “Keyhole/Laparoscopic” surgical procedure which takes about 30-45 mins, it is fastened around the upper stomach to create a smaller pouch which restricts the amount of food that can be consumed. They also place a port on your abdominals to give access for adjustments. Adjustments are simply done in your Doctors surgery by inserting or removing fluid to restrict or allow less or more food.

Just like this.

Just like this.

How much does “Lap Banding” cost? Well from memory it was about $16,000 full cost per person and about $5000-6000 out of pocket after our Health Fund (Top Cover) paid their part. I think Private Health Funds are becoming more aware of the fact, this type of Surgery is becoming more popular and changing their Cover so that only their Top Policy covers this. FYI at the time Hubby was with NIB and I was with NRMA (now Bupa). If you are considering it, contact your Private Health Insurer or if you don’t have one, then get 1, most from what I have heard require you to have the relevant cover for 12 months before the procedure. There are other surgical options, the sleeve or tube or gastric bypass and the temporary stomach balloon, so best to talk with a Gastric Banding specialist to see which 1, if any, are right for you.

To share my personal experience of Lap Banding, I have mixed emotions.

Top pic at 132kg (my heaviest excluding my pregnancy). Bottom pic at 107kg after a 25kg loss. Bottom photo by http://www.bethtahiriphotography.com.au/

Top pic at 132kg (my heaviest excluding my pregnancy). Bottom pic at 107kg after a 25kg loss. Bottom photo by http://www.bethtahiriphotography.com.au/

On the positive side: I have lost 25kgs and feel great; because of that it has given me the energy I need to exercise more and not put so much stress on my body carrying around all that extra weight; it has shown me I don’t need to sit down to giant meals or 3 courses all the time; I have learnt to share food (despite what my husband may say); I have been able to wear nicer clothes and feel better about how I am looking; I like getting my picture taken, more than I used to; I love that I have much better agility and ability to play with my little dynamite daughter.

On the negative side: “Keyhole” surgery, left 5 scars, 4 small and 1 much larger than I expected (see picture); if you are not careful how and what you eat you can vomit (often), this can also lead to slipping of the band and require further surgical procedure to rectify or have the band removed; over-eating with the band can cause reflux. I have had all of the above happen to me, I over-ate just a little bit ie 1 mouthful, too often, ended up on reflux medication, vomited one too many times and my band has slipped. What I did to fix this was have all fluid removed from the band and the reflux was gone immediately and I am assessing having the corrective surgery. But for the moment I am trying to eat better without having fluid in, it still offers restriction without fluid. The other negative is that you can eat junk food easier than you can eat healthy food, lettuce, apples, steak, dry chicken breast are all more difficult to eat than chocolate, chips/crisps, chicken schnitzel, cheese and crackers. This absolutely differs by the individual, as hubby and I have different things we can eat without trouble. Another negative is I got to 50% of my weight loss and plateaued and have been there for over 2 years, fluctuating by 3-5kgs over that time.

The scar on my left side about 8cm wide. It has gotten better over the years but it is still a big hole.

The scar on my left side about 8cm wide. It has gotten better over the years but it is still a big hole.

My Lap band doctor has said throughout the process that everyone going through the surgery should see a Psychologist, because as much as it is a weight-loss aid it still doesn’t fix the underlying problem that most patients have with food. Personally I think it should be compulsory.

In summary, I would do it again, YES, a 25kg loss is great and I haven’t been fitter in my adult life than I am now. But if you are considering it I would definitely look at some assistance from a Psychologist and/or dietician or other slow weight loss program and give it another go before going under the knife. I had tried a lot of options over the years and there will be an entire post about that at a later date.

The Week that was – back to normal

With hubby back in town it was a chance to get back to some sort of normality.

Monday I headed off to my Trainer for my normal evening session and got myself back on the Indoor Rower. With a few Indoor rowing events happening this year Pioneer Fitness Indoor Rowing Fundraiser on 2 June 2013 and National Indoor Rowing Championships on 14 Sept 2013, it is time to get back on the rower. I actually rode my bike to get there (about 15 mins each way) and then did a 10 minute warm up and then 3x 8 minute rows with a 3 minute rest in between. Considering I haven’t been on the rower for a few months it felt good I rowed to a HR of 150bpm, plus a few sit-ups during the 3 min rest.

Tuesday was our normal swimming lesson for Miss 3 and then managed to make it to Buggy Fit class where we did some running around a grassy oval, 1 fast lap, 1 recovery lap. I challenged myself to run the whole way at my own pace and tried to push myself as well. In between running laps we were doing some horrific exercises, including Turkish get-ups, Tricep dips, Prisoner get-ups and push-ups. All those “Ups” were hard. After several sets of running and exercises on a pretty warm day I was working up a good sweat and really enjoyed a good hard session.

Prisoner Get-Ups - try 20 of these in your workout.

Prisoner Get-Ups – try 20 of these in your workout.

Turkish Get-Ups - Try 20 of these without weights.

Turkish Get-Ups – Try 20 of these without weights.

Wednesday I was too tired for my early morning swim.

Thursday I headed to my gym EnVie and did a cardio session including 20 mins on the treadmill, 4 min warm up, 1 min fast 1 minute slow, by the time I was properly warmed up I was doing my 1 minute fast at 10 and 10.5 kph, pretty happy with that. After I got home I carried on with my renovations punching nails down in the floorboards and filling all the holes, ready for Saturday’s planned sanding day.

Friday I had no time for exercise instead an early morning trip to the Chiropractor before work, finally getting my hips, back, neck and shoulders in alignment.

Saturday in lieu of exercise I opted for an early morning trip to the Hardware store to hire a floor sander and spent the better part of my morning dust covered and on a mission to get the floor in Hubby’s office finished. The afternoon was spent putting 2 coats of urethane on the floor at 3 hour intervals.

The finished floorboards. Next job painting.

The finished floorboards. Next job painting.

Sunday I pottered around the house and finished another 2 coats on the floor, not very active at all. Then in the afternoon I headed out for High Tea with a couple of friends from Mothers Group, very nice nibbles and great conversation.

So as normal as normal can be but with only a 3 good workouts this week I need to get a few more in next week.

What is your goal for this week?

Have a great week everyone.

The Week that was – Recovering, Retail Therapy and Renovations

Monday I had the arduous 5-6 hour Road Trip home from my girls weekend away, getting in the car and hitting the road by 9am. I was supposed to be refreshed but I was still tired with a few late nights and the inability to sleep in, it eventually catches up with you. I was going to attempt to go to the gym but I was a little bit excited to see my girl after 4 days away from her, so I headed to school to pick her up, she was so excited she nearly squeezed my head off and would not let me go, I loved it. 

The scary total of 21 Champagne corks after our girly weekend.

The scary total of 21 Champagne corks after our girly weekend.

Tuesday we had our normal ritual of swimming lessons and I managed to get back in time for the Envie Buggy Fit class and we had a full class of sand running/exercises. It was hell but good, it is always hard to run on sand, I tried to run as much as I could and always headed for the hard sand. It was a really good class and had to keep reminding myself that we pay them for this torture.

Wednesday morning I joined the swimming group for some training in the harbour. I always get there late, so I did 1 lap with the coach of the group and then did a few sprint laps with my trainer as well as some training for Tri swimming where he was pushing me around as I swam, simulating the crowded water. After swimming I had a little faux pas, I dived out of the car (wrapped in towel, straight from swimming) quickly posted a few letters and as they were going down the chute I realised that I had accidentally picked up some paperwork I had to deal with at the office including receipts that I needed for a financial claim and they were gone. Freaking out I had to stand out the front of the Post Office (in my towel) waiting for it to open to find out WTF I could do to get my paperwork back. So after explaining my predicament to the ladies at the PO she said come back after 2pm when the mailman has been, which I did and successfully got my paperwork back again. They had a snicker and asked where my towel was, a little bit embarrassing.

Bestie day was great, having a spot of sushi for lunch.

Bestie day was great, having a spot of sushi for lunch.

Thursday I had the most awesome girly day with my bestie (it was her 40th Birthday), we had a mani, pedi, lunch and shopping. AWESOME. I managed to spend some of my Birthday Vouchers and cashola, this is the Birthday that keeps on giving. I got myself some new runners from Athlete’s Foot. Leah my “Master Fit Technician” was amazing, analysing my feet on the fancy machine they have in store and asking me all the right questions to establish my shoe requirements.

My friendly and helpful Shoe expert Leah from Athlete's Foot.

My friendly and helpful Shoe expert Leah from Athlete’s Foot.

Bringing out a selection of shoes based on my footprint, pressure points etc. I was debating in the end between 2 different ASICS styles and then after trying each pair on both feet opted for ASICS Gel Kayano 19 in electric purple/white/neon/pink. Dare I say they were the best looking shoes I have seen in a while which never swayed my decision 1 little bit (oops may have told a small lie there). She also upsold me some Experia aero-dynamic fit socks and I upsold myself some neon stretch laces. Anyone who is doing any type of transition sports or is just too lazy to untie and retie shoe laces should get these, I love them. As an added bonus over the years I have spent a particular amount of money in their store and have managed to earn myself 2x $25 vouchers in loyalty points, so pending their fancy socks being great I should score myself 2 more pairs with the vouchers I will get in the mail. I did also manage to get into my Gym in the afternoon and did a very light 40min cardio session, with 10 min on the bike, 10 on the tready and 10 on the crosstrainer and a 5 min warm up and cool down on the bike. It is so hard to take it easy on taper week.

Oh yeah, my new shoes, socks and laces, lets hope they make me move faster.

Oh yeah, my new shoes, socks and laces, lets hope they make me move faster.

Friday started off amazing with my first phone call of the day from the local radio station initially trying to fool me into thinking Manu from MKR (My Kitchen Rules Australia) was calling and then revealing that I had been drawn out as the lucky winner of a $1000 voucher from Domayne kitchen dept. (Domayne sell a huge range of furniture, outdoor furniture, beds, homewares, laptops, bathroom vanities and appliances but my prize was to be spent in the Electrical Dept. with the only exclusions computers). To be entered in the drawer you had to submit a recipe. I submitted a recipe from my blog Prawn Saganaki. Happy Friday, yeehaa.

Saturday was T3 day, my 3rd ever Triathlon. Read about it here. After my Tri I came home to do some renovations, ripped up carpet, lino, and pulled out tons of staples. I think my muscles were more sore from doing the renos than the Triathlon.

Miss 3 playing Pro Hart before the carpet and other layers get removed.

Miss 3 playing Pro Hart before the carpet and other layers get removed.

Sunday back into renovation mode and I had to demolish a very well built, but ugly, old built-in wardrobe which took me about 4 hours plus finishing off pulling staples out of the floor. Dare I say it is amazing what you can do with a claw hammer and a big flat screw driver. More sweat and sore muscles. Oh and a quick mow of the lawn.

I could turn this into a renovating blog at the moment, lots going to be happening over the next few months. Next week stand by for a floor sanding update.

Have a great week everyone.

Tried Tri Again

So here I was about to attempt my 3rd Triathlon – Tri the Gong, being run by Elite Energy and I was again tackling the Enticer distance.

The morning of the event Hubby was flying in from overseas bright and early so his parents were picking him up from the airport and on the way picked up Miss 3 at 5.30am.

For some reason I felt no pressure or anxiety and was really relaxed before this race and got a good nights’ sleep.

I was getting ready and loading in the dark. There was 1 benefit of going alone was it didn’t matter too much where I parked as I just got on my bike and rode to the registration tent. I had trouble at the registration area as I stood in the 40+ line and they couldn’t find my information. I spoke to an official who advised me that you are categorised based on the age you were last Dec, which was 39, yeehaa, so still with the younger gals.

I met up with my friend Colleen near the registration area and we hung together for most of the day. We stood in the transition area to listen to the briefing and then headed down for the start of the swim. Our swim start was delayed 10 minutes due to an excessive amount of bikes on the bike course. The swim was in the harbour a bit of argy bargy for the first bit and some congestion around the buoys but mostly open water. Colleen and I swam almost side by side for the whole swim and she got out about 3 steps in front of me. We certainly didn’t come last, as I turned around coming out of the water there were still a few behind us.

I jogged and walk to my bike and had a really slow transition, I was a little bit too focused on getting all the sand and grass off my feet and putting on my shoes and socks, meanwhile people were coming and going. This is something I really need to improve on.

The course for the bike leg was 4 laps and my main concern was forgetting how many laps I had done, someone said to me you will remember that hill 4 times and they certainly weren’t wrong. The course was mostly flat with 1 big uphill but then you had the added benefit of 1 big downhill, winding around the beautiful Wollongong lighthouse and to a roundabout at the other end. I did enjoy the course, getting up out of the seat up the hill and putting on the speed going downhill whilst gasping and grasping for water. I overtook a few people on the bike leg and there was 1 section that was quite narrow which always seemed to be where I needed to overtake, with a little bit of caution I managed to get past and not fall off or knock anyone else off their bike. I was having a laugh to myself doing a bit of Sesame Street counting, as each time I would go past the Start/Finish of the bike leg I would count like “The Count”, 1 ha ha ha haaaa, 2 ha ha ha haaa, etc etc and would do that a few times on each lap so I knew where I was up to, small things amuse small minds as they say, but it seemed to work for me. I still had that doubt when coming into the finish line – “did I finish all my laps?”

I hate getting off my bike because it only means 1 thing THE RUN. I kept telling myself, its only 2k, you can run this far. My friend Colleen had said something to me earlier in the week which was “I don’t want to be the skinny person walking” and I must say, seeing people slimmer than me walking during the run leg at my last Triathlon almost gave me permission to walk and I did. This time I was determined to not walk at all. I remembered to grab my security blanket which is my water bottle, that way if I got a dry mouth I would have a swig and be happy and not feel the need to walk to catch my breath. I also didn’t feel the need to walk through the drink station and reward myself with the water and a walk, so I was set. I declined the drink station and kept on running, there were many many times I wanted to walk, especially when I saw all the skinny/ier people doing it. I just kept up my shuffle, I was being overtaken, every 2nd step but I didn’t care. I wanted to pick up the pace a bit but waited til I turned the half way mark and then up a small incline and once I got beyond all of that I went from a shuffle to a jalk (jog/walk as fast as a walk but still jogging – I made it up myself). In my speed terms a jalk is a nano second faster than a shuffle per kilometre. I was super excited to see the finish line and run under the giant inflatable NAB sign and then onto the official finish and even managed to pick up the pace to a Rachael Sprint (not as fast as anyone else’s sprint but faster than a jalk). For the first time in my Tri history as I was coming up to the finish line the announcer called out my name, so with a double fist pump in the air I crossed the line. The satisfaction of running the whole way was awesome, I was out of breath but excited. I had done my best and even if my best was last place, this time I was not concerned.

Crossing the Finish line

Crossing the Finish line

So the results were in, official 2nd last position (secret little cheer about not coming last), and finished in 46:28, now I was thinking that I must have broken some land speed records to improve from Husky Tri by over 12 minutes but then checked the distances and the bike leg was 1k shorter, but given that my average cycle pace is about 3min per kilometre I still made big improvements. I am not sure how accurate the courses for these events either but this race felt better (except for my swim/bike transition).

With my friend Colleen, she inspired me to keep on running.

With my friend Colleen, she inspired me to keep on running.

So for my age/sex category I came 29/30 and overall female 165/184.

Happy happy happy.

 

Gasping for air at the finish but somehow still smiling.

Gasping for air at the finish but somehow still smiling.

Red Wine Pilates

Those who read my blog know that it is mostly serious with a little bit of humour. Well this post is the opposite, it is completely funny and I would love to thank my darling friends and Bridesmoles Kristy and Maryanne for being such good sports at 1am whilst smashed, hammered, slightly intoxicated. Please excuse the poor photography but you don’t really think about that whilst doubled over with laughter. 

Character image used from www.iruntodrink.com

Character image used from www.iruntodrink.com

“I am rich because of the wonderful friends in my life, actually I’m loaded.” – Rachael Griffin

The Week that was – Let the Celebrations Continue

Monday I had an early morning trip to the Airport, hubby off to Singapore for work. So knowing I wasn’t going to get a morning workout in, I packed my runners to have a go, during or after work. Because hubby was away I cancelled my evening PT session as I didn’t have a babysitter. My mission for the day was to get all my work done and get out the door on time and do a quick run before I picked up Miss 3 from Daycare. I swear some days I try to cram waaaay too much into my day. So I dressed ready for a run and left work and then looking at the clock and I had to be at a friend’s house for dinner (who I haven’t seen in ages), to catch up with her another friend, I realised I was not going to fit everything in.  Obviously the run/workout is what suffered.

Tuesday after Miss 3’s swimming lesson, we were running late to make it to the Tuesday outdoor class and went into the gym for a Cardio session. To be honest I didn’t really know what cardio I was going to do and upon arrival I noticed there was a weekly cardio challenge up on the blackboard and it was 26 minutes of intense workout. I did a 10 minute warm-up on the cross trainer whilst I debated if I was going to do it, and I did. So here is how it went:

Goal                                                                      Actual
10 min spin bike Level 10 @ 100rpm                  Achieved that and completed exactly 5k
5 min treadmill as fast as possible                      Ran 0.68k at 8.5kph on 1.5 incline
5 min spin bike Level 10 @100rpm                     Achieved that and completed 2.5k
2.5 min treadmill as fast as possible                   Ran 0.34k at 8.5-9kph on 0.5 incline
2.5 min spin bike Level 10 @ 100rpm                 Achieved that and completed 1.3k
1 min treadmill as fast as possible                      Ran 0.15k at 10-10.5kph on incline 0.5

So all in all I was happy with my result and I thought the bike to run intervals would be really good Tri training. I am looking forward to the next weekly challenge. I was a little disappointed to see when I went back to gym later in the week they had put the rpm down to 80 (a bit soft if you ask me).

Wed I was going to go swim in the Harbour with the swimming group but received a message to say the water was too dirty, so I headed to the local pool to begrudgingly pay my $4.30 for a swim, as it turned out it was free, unknown to me if the heated pool temp is below 26 degrees then you don’t have to pay, so at 25.5 I was pretty happy. I must confess for most of my 45 minute session I was bored. I started singing the bored song I made up: Bored bored bored bored I’m so bored. Some suggestions I have had since are I may need to review my program and spice it up a bit, something to ponder, since I was not really working to a program at all (tips please, what is a program).

Thursday I went back to the gym to tackle my weights program, I got through 3 sets of most of my exercises before Miss 3 got bored, I even bumped a few of my weights up.

Ahh I claimed the "old man chair" and relaxed with a red wine and a mag.

Ahh I claimed the “old man chair” and relaxed with a red wine and a mag.

Friday I was heading off for a girls weekend so I dropped missy off at Daycare and headed up to Sydney to get a lift, luckily because I had only managed 4 hours of sleep before I was awoken at 5am by some of our workers needing something out of hubby’s truck, oh joy. I would have not been able to drive myself to our destination which is about 5 hours from home I was soooo tired. I had all good intentions to have a run when I arrived before cracking open the champagne but the entire trip the rain was like a monsoon, relentless all day. So again, no run.Saturday the rain was still relentless, so I opted for a 40 minute swim (instead of a run) and then had a spa bath whilst sipping on a glass of champagne. Total relaxation.

Hot Tub yeah baby.

Hot Tub yeah baby.

Sunday – we headed into town for more supplies it appeared we had almost cleared the house out of champagne and needed some more supplies for dinner. After treating myself to a milkshake and 2 donuts for lunch, very nutritious, we arrived back to our luxurious accommodation and my friend Kristy said she would come for a run with me. The rain had finally clearly, not sunshine, but overcast. We headed out on the country roads for a good 45 minute run, it was an unintentional hill run, I really had not researched the local terrain and there was some epic swearing from both of us as we struggled to reach the top of hill after hill. In hindsight I had a realisation that my water intake for the day was about 5 sips and I had the dry horrors and contemplated licking the water out of puddles to hydrate myself, a shocking feeling. But I finished, just.

with my beautiful Bridesmole Kristy. We did it, went for a run and in our 17 years of knowing each other an many many girls weekends away we have never done exercise.

with my beautiful Bridesmole Kristy. We did it, went for a run and in our 17 years of knowing each other an many many girls weekends away we have never done exercise.

This weekend has been so good to do a lot of nothing, catch up with 5 great friends including 2 of my Bridesmaids Bridesmoles and a lot of laughs, chatting, board games and hiding in a corner to read or watch some Movies. Drinking a little lot, eat a little lot in moderation kind of and more birthday cake. Successfully avoiding a hangover so far and getting in a bit of exercise.

* Side-note – we so far have a collection of 21 champagne corks and as I write this I am consuming tequila/margaritas for my last night away before I go back to reality.

Texas Hold-em champion, the Birthday Girl, yeah baby.

Texas Hold-em champion, the Birthday Girl, yeah baby.

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”.

BirthdayTri – the gift that keeps on giving

Getting ready to start the swim. That's me in the RED cap 157 from the back left.

Getting ready to start the swim. That’s me in the RED cap 157 from the back left.

What crazy 39 year old decides to do a Triathlon for their 40th Birthday? Yep that’s me.

A year ago I tentatively marked the calendar with an event, Husky Triathlon. It was very very tentative booking, but what caught my eye was that it was 4 days before my 40th Birthday and I had a crazy idea that maybe in some alternate universe I may just be able to do this.

You may or may not know from my previous post about my 1st triathlon, that a year ago I was in no shape to tackle any of the Tri elements on their own let alone doing all 3, (I may have managed the cycle). So doing a “proper” triathlon was a freaky thought. I say “proper” triathlon because 1st one I did was Triathlon Pink which was a women only fun event fundraising for Breast Cancer, plenty of people in fancy dress and a more relaxed atmosphere.

The Husky event was from the Elite Energy series with a variety of different distances ranging from the Long Course (half Ironman distances) to the Enticer which I was having a go at. The Enticer distances are 300m ocean/bay swim, 8k cycle and a 2k run.

When I arrived I headed off to register and collect my timing chip and numbers and was pleased to see they gave you a free swim cap. I preferred to swim in my own yellow cap, so grabbed what I needed out of the pack and handed the rest to my mum to mind (good ole mum’s handbag still being used even at my age). I went to the bike area with my dad and racked my bike and set up all my gear and then wandered back to all my supporters (mum, dad, hubby, Miss 3 and Aunty Mar Mar) to give them a kiss before I headed off to the start.

Mid swim, rounding the last turn.

Mid swim, rounding the last turn.

I ran into some friends at the briefing area and got chatting and noticed they all had their matching caps that came in the pack and I said I was going to wear my own, they then informed me that I had to wear the “coloured” cap that I was given in order to start at the right time. At this point I had no idea where my family were, I needed what was in mum’s handbag desperately. I found myself an Event Marshall and explained my situation and he confirmed I needed my swim cap to start, so I kindly asked if I could borrow his mobile phone and I called dear ole Dad to bring it over to me. So he sweet talked other Marshall’s to be allowed through restricted areas, hurdling barricades to get to me quicker with the red cap. Success! I got it just in time and missed the race brief but at least I was able to start.

So everyone competing in the Enticer headed down to the beach for the swim start and they had groups starting at about 5 minute intervals corresponding with their cap colour (pretty important to have the right colour cap now that I think about it). The gun went off and I went out fast and then settled down a bit and I was remembering my pep talk from Miss 3, “big arms and lots of kicking” and from Hubby “if you get crowded in, use the People’s elbow”, I do tend to use mostly arms so the pep talk came in handy to remind me to kick. The swim was hard but I felt good, my arms were tired at the end. As I was coming into shore I overtook a lady wearing flippers and as I ran up the stairs to my bike I looked back at the water and there were still a lot of red caps, so I must have done ok.

I took it easy heading back to the bike, it was up hill and stairs and I heard my trainer yell out to take it easy so my decision was right.

I took my cleats off my bike before the event because I didn’t think there was enough advantage for an 8k ride to warrant using cleats and a 2nd change of shoes, so I put my socks and joggers straight on, sunnies and helmet and off I went. I wanted to go hard on the bike and try and get as much advantage as I could, but my legs felt like concrete stumps, the ride seemed to take forever until I got to the turning point and by then my legs had limbered up a little bit. By the time I headed back down the main street of Husky I was going hard and overtook a few people, rounded the last turn and I heard my family cheering me on and it spurred me on to finish hard.

The last turn on the bike leg, I look happy..... happy to be getting off my bike.

The last turn on the bike leg, I look happy….. happy to be getting off my bike.

I threw my bike back on the rack and headed off for the run, my leg muscles were burning, I had really lacked the transition training leading up to this event and I was feeling it now. I wonder if I went too hard on the bike or if I would have felt like this anyway, it is hard to know. I ran (so slowly) as much as I could but it did walk a bit, I think my mind let me down in the run, I need music to keep my mind off the pain and next time I will be packing my Ipod. Once I rounded the half way mark my mind joined the event and I managed to run more on the home stretch and even had a sprint to the finish line. I was exhausted and a bit wobbly.

So my personal goals apart from finishing this race was to not come last and to complete the race in under 1 hour, the official times and placings are on the web and I came 3rd last in my age group 35-39 year old females and I scraped in with a time of 58:01, yay.

Finally about to cross the finish line, the run felt like the longest 2k.

Finally about to cross the finish line, the run felt like the longest 2k.

My one regret was having Gatorade a few hours before I started and I sipped the last of it on my bike leg, By the time I hit the running leg, my tummy felt like it had a rock in it, not a good idea, next time will be water all the way.

After getting congratulated by my family I headed back to collect my bike and they were not letting anyone in yet as there was still a cyclist out on the course, it was announced that it was a 79 year old lady who was competing in her first triathlon, so inspiring and she got the loudest cheer as she got off her bike.

My biggest supporters.... love these 2 with all my heart.

My biggest supporters…. love these 2 with all my heart.

We were staying in a house nearby and the plan was to have a little birthday gathering. When I arrived back some friends of mine had decorated the house with Fit Fab Forty picture collages and it looked amazing. My brother also arrived with his 3 kids and my family and friends prepared a fantastic seafood feast with some salads and after guzzling some water, having a shower I had a well-deserved glass of champagne, in a specially selected glass.

It was a lovely relaxing meal, great company and I received some of the best presents. I had a fantastic birthday weekend, I am one lucky girl.

The Right Stuff – Sports Bra Extraordinaire

When I was verging on my heaviest I was playing competitive Paintball (there will be a whole story on that another time). The position I played didn’t involve a whole lot of running, but I wanted to be able to, so I embarked on the search for a Plus Size Sports Bra.

Finding a bra in my size (24DD) to begin with was a challenge in itself and I spent a lot of money on crap sports bras just because they came in my size. A miracle happened one day when I was watching Oprah (a rare thing for me to watch TV in the middle of the day) and she mentioned the Enell Bra. I knew I had to find out more, if Oprah wears them then I too should be sporting one myself.

Front view. This is not me nor my image, I borrowed it from www.enell.com

Front view.
This is not me nor my image, I borrowed it from www.enell.com

I madly googled and found out more, measured myself figured out my size and found a stockist in Australia and boom bam, cha ching I ordered one from online store Bella Forma. Once it arrived I was soooooo happy, this Bra had the most amazing support, nothing moved. They come in sizes that suit big cup sizes or big body sizes (I would say up to about a Australian size 28-30 or 52DD in bra sizes). You really need to check out the website to believe the way this Bra is designed and operates. It comes with a brief instruction leaflet as to how to put it on.

Back view. Image from www.enell.com

I have been a convert and preacher about the Enell Bra since that first day. Unlike the many other bra’s out there (sports or otherwise) the original Bra I purchased has lasted me over 7 years (still looks amazing) and only this week I put it in the “too big” pile and it still has many more miles left in it. A few years after buying the first I purchased one in a size smaller because I had lost a little bit of weight. During my love-in with Enell I was shown another brand of sports bra which I purchased only to be disappointed. Had I found this bra prior to the Enell I may have thought it was pretty good compared to the previous junk I had been wearing.

Since embarking on my Lapband Surgery and my current fitness regime I have lost more weight, and the need to buy a bra in a smaller size was imminent, Enell was my only consideration.

Because these Bras retail at $99 (still worth every penny), I hit good ‘ole google again to see if I could find them cheaper somewhere. I managed to find an Ebay store that sold brand new but Factory seconds of the Enell bra for around $38 each, the reason they are factory seconds is there are either some snags on the outer fabric OR the band that goes around your rib cage was manufactured 1 inch smaller than that size should be (read the description of each to see what the problem is). I don’t know about you but I have no problem with a little bit of snagging on a bra that nobody will see. So my 2 new bras arrived last week and I’m again loving really good boobie support and the flaws are very minimal, crazy really. The only disadvantage buying via Ebay is you may be limited by colour choice and they may not have your size straight away but be patient more sizes pop up every few weeks.

Newer purple colour Enell. Image from Australian Stockist http://www.bellaforma.com.au

Newer purple colour Enell.
Image from Australian Stockist http://www.bellaforma.com.au

Or if you want the funkiest colours and your size straight away, find your nearest stockist off the Enell website.

I’m sure you will all do you own research but I have never regretted buying my Enell Sport bra.

* I was not paid nor given any product to write this post, it is purely my own experience, research and opinion.

The Week That Was – as normal as normal can be

Monday – would have been my first week back this year to my normal Monday night session which mainly focuses on Indoor Rowing, however hubby was running a little late back from a course he has been doing and it would have been a tight squeeze to get there on time, I opted instead to have some quality time at home, something that hasn’t happened a lot lately.

Tuesday – headed off to my gym EnVie to do a cardio session and wanted to start getting some incline on the tready. So with some guidance from my new program I was doing to do a 30 minute interval. With the incline between 1 and 2, I did 5 min warm up, 2 mins running, and 1 minute walking, initially I found the incline quite difficult and had to reduce my speed, after a few intervals it started to get easier, so I upped my speed, then a few intervals later I realised that the incline was not working, hence why it was getting easier, I had a little chuckle to myself. Anyway I still did the 30 mins and completed 3.2k.

Wednesday – I was wracking my brain to remember what I did and then I remembered; my poor little munchkin was sent home sick from Daycare with a vomiting bug. When I went to pick her up she was asleep quarantined to the far end of the room and I picked her up and she was very cuddly. As I was taking her out of school she started vomiting again. Once I got her home she had 2 more upchucks and after the last 1, she said, I’m hungry and she was miraculously better. They say it goes as quick as it comes and luckily for her and all of us that was the case. I didn’t even contemplate abandoning the family for exercise; I wanted to make sure she was ok and to be readily available for cuddles.

Thursday – another session at EnVie and I did a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill and then I had another go at a 1k time trial, my last attempt just over 2 weeks ago was 6min45 I managed to beat it and did a 6min38, gotta love a mid-week PB. I finished off with some of my new weights program but only managed about 30 minutes before someone got a bit whingy in the unsupervised kiddy area. I snuck in a few abs including planks before I left.

Friday – I got out of the house a bit late in the morning and after Daycare drop-off went to the Continental Pool (where naked old ladies have a chat with you in the change room – read about it here) and did a quick 20 minute swim. I wanted to get in and do 300m straight off (same as the upcoming Triathlon) and then I did another 300m and tried to speed up a bit every 2nd 50m, not a big workout but I was contemplating not going at all.

Saturday – I had a busy day out and about no time for exercise

Loving the Tag-along bike, only her 2nd ride and she is getting the hang of it.

Loving the Tag-along bike, only her 2nd ride and she is getting the hang of it.

Sunday – Miss 3 and I got up and went for a bike ride with her new Tag-along behind my bike, we had breaky at a Café and then had a big play at a park and then some more riding before heading home, when we got back we headed down the beach for cool off. A lovely morning. Later in the afternoon when hubby got home from a weekend of Paintball, I headed out to go for a swim (too windy for another ride), drove to a nice ocean pool only to find it was empty and being cleaned, then I drove to another pool and it was really dirty and so windy that the car was getting blown around in the carpark, I know there is a saying “if you wait for the perfect conditions you will never get anything done” but it just didn’t look appealing, I felt a bit guilty for not just diving in, I might have another attempt in the morning.

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And so this now begins what all those in the know call “taper week” leading up to my triathlon next Saturday. Now I don’t have a real clue about tapering and I think for my distances it’s not extremely important. My understanding is don’t overdo it this week with hard exercise sessions and especially not eat too much food, slow and steady workouts and my personal thought (from all I have read) is no workout after Wed, which means 2 full days of rest before the event.