Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thursday-ness (a long post about nothing in particular)

I love Thursdays.  It's my mid-week weekend that I get to spend pretty much however I want.  Usually, during the busy season at work, I'll do exactly that - work.  But not this week. Nuu Ah.

Tried something new this morning (brave, right?).  Deep Water Workout class lead by the lovely Nina.  What a workout it was!  Racing heart rate. Engaged core. Muscle fatigue with no joint soreness.  Ahhhh.  Yes, it may be exercise for oldies, but hey, I am getting on a bit :)  Really loved it and will definitely be back!

By the time I got home and showered I was STARVING, so quickly threw this together;
2 x Corn Thins - soy and linseed 47 cals +
Coles Italian style Tuna  59 cals =
106 calories of YUM!

It's the first time in months and months and months that I've hung washing out on the line.  Exciting, eh?

And followed it up with a little shopping, a little sushi, a little more shopping.

After a nanna nap, brought on by that deep water workout for sure, I challenged our culinary comfort zone and tried something NEW for dinner; Meat pie with mushy peas and a side salad.

It was so good "the man" rated it 9 out of 10 and will happily eat it again.  Geez he's been a trouper with his food experimentation.

So that's the end of my really mediocre yet incredibly awesome day :)

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Weigh In - R3 - Week 1

You'd think that a 900g gain on the back of a 300g gain the previous week would send me visiting stress city for a week long vacation, but not this time scales.  You guys don't fool me for a minute.



Current Weight: 68.3kg
Last week:      67.4kg
Week's loss:   +0.9kg   
So far:        -28.7kg 




A couple of weeks ago I had a doctor enforced exercise ban for the two weeks prior.  I kept up the clean eating, coz that's just how we live now, but in week 11 I had a massive loss of 2.5kg.  Sure I celebrated as it got me down to the 30kg lost point, but I knew that it was mostly a loss of all that muscle I had been building up throughout the round.

Naturally when I started exercising again, the muscle would find it's way home, and I must have left the light on coz I can sure feel their return right about now.  Achy, achy, achy - but in a good way.

So mentally, I'm going back to that 2.5kg loss and subtracting the past fortnight's 1.2kg gain, which still gives me a 1.3kg loss over the last 3 weeks.  Plus my clothes are looser - even my brand new size 10's have room.

This time last round I would have freaked out to see gains like this. I'm just going to keep on doing my thing, which is actually Mish's thing, and trust that my body will balance itself out over time and find it's own healthy weight range.  But please can that be below 70kg???

Monday, August 27, 2012

Fully sick maaaaate

Day one of a new round and it's all woohoo in my head today!  Lurve a new round.  A chance to re-set any crappy habits that may have crept in.  To forgive any slip-ups, and to re-set goals for the coming 3 months.

This morning I woke up still undecided on which exercise program I would follow.  My time trial was good enough for advanced, so the choices were Lean & Fit, Lean & Strong or 10km running.

After a 10 minute internal debate, backing it up for another round of Lean & Fit seemed like a plan.  But... this time I would make sure I did ALL of each session at maximum intensity and a faster pace.

I haven't been running well, or far lately, but...


and the torture doesn't end there...


I wasn't feeling too great after those Ice Skaters & it was welcome to spew-town for me.  Never mind - I got straight back to it and hit that abs circuit out of the park.

Day 1: 674 calories burnt.

Food was great too;

Bran with fruit & yoghurt (with a sprinkle of chia seeds & LSA)

Favo all time meal - Salmon stir fry - a Monday night staple in this house :)


All in all, I'm pretty happy with day 1.  Bring. It. On.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

An act of balance

Some days I feel as though I have completely got my shite together.  You know those days when you're organised, calm, in control, on time?  The days that everything just runs smoothly, no one pisses you off and life is...well...good.

The last couple of days haven't been like this.

I'm tired, hungry, bored yet busy, restless yet lazy.  I'm in a bit of a funk.  And my mood is having flow on effects too.  The scales - God love them - have decided that although I'm exercising most days and eating well (and creating a daily calorie deficit) they would prefer to be a whole kilogram higher than Wednesday's weigh in.  So I'm having a little freak out that my 30kg loss is about to be eroded.  And I'm also wondering in chicken and egg style - what came first?
Is it my mood that's effecting the scales, or the scales that are putting a downer on my state of mind?

I've also noticed that JFDI (just freaking do it) isn't cutting it this week.  I'm busy and under a fair amount of pressure - both time and persuasive argument type - at work, but have rarely left my desk before 7pm this week.  When I get home, I'll happily cook the healthy dinner from my meal plan, but then having to clean up the kitchen as well is really. starting. to. piss. me. off.  And until now it hasn't.  So much so that Thursday night, the old boy went off to his guitar lesson and offered to bring home dinner.  We used to live on takeaway - seriously, probably 4 nights a week if not more.  And as much as I wanted to say, "no, we don't eat like that any more", I just had nothing.  No JFDI.  Just KFC.  Which unfortunately doesn't stand for Kicking Fat to the Curb.  I gotta say, it was disgusting.  Tasteless.  Fatty.  Soggy.  But I still downed a small chips and sweet chilli twister.  Blah!

So many of the girls in our local 12wbt crew have described similar lapses in mojo, but until now I hadn't experienced one for myself.  I guess I was arrogant enough to think that after living this life for 9 months, every bad habit of my past was exactly that, in the past.

But I have a plan to restore the balancing act.  I'm going to cut myself some slack for the next two days.  No pressure to exercise.  No stressing about food. Just get through this last weekend of work madness, have a cleansing day of light diet and a long walk on Monday, and hopefully, by being kind to myself instead of beating myself up, I'll find that mojo and his friends move back in for the Spring.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Weigh in - R2 - Week 12

That's it!  Round 2 is over.  And it feels weird.

Somewhere in the midst of this round (a round is a 12 week long body transformation program) it stopped being a program that had a beginning and an end, and just became the way we live now.

Round 3, which I've  also signed up for, rolls straight into this one, rather than the four weeks delay while the "pre-season" tasks are revealed.  This is just fine and dandy with me, coz they're now ingrained habits, but there is one pre-season task that I MUST re-visit and that's goal setting.  But me thinks that's an entire post of it's own!

Anyhoo...



Current Weight: 67.4kg
Last week:      67.1kg
Week's loss:   +0.3kg   
So far:        -29.6kg


As you can see I got incredibly close to my 67kg target.  In fact, at one stage in the week I was smack on the mark, but as usually happens, Wednesday is not known for being my skinniest day of the week, and I've had a slight increase.

Has my round been a success?  I certainly think so, but I'll let you judge for yourself...

I didn't just lose another 5.2kg after I was already in the healthy weight range.  I also lost centimetres in places I didn't expect, and gained a heck of a lot of fitness. At 44, I'm definitely in the best shape AND health of my adult life...





...and am without doubt the HAPPIEST I have EVER been :)

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Reflecting on round 2


So close to the end of my second round of 12wbt - it's literally flown by.  And here we are at the final blogger challenge for the round.

Before I start - a HUGE thank you to Jayne for hosting the challenge and stepping above and beyond her comfort zone while helping others to do the same. xx


1. How are you feeling about the 12WBT program now that you have almost completed it?
This was my second consecutive round, and I feel that I got just as much out of it as the first time around.  I feel on top of the world.  A completely different person.

2. Looking back on what you wrote in week 1, did you achieve all that you were hoping to?


I achieved every. single. goal. I set out to achieve this round.  Even the ones I didn't think I had a hope in hell of reaching.  Weight, fitness, work balance.  Tick, tick, tick.






3. Did you find that blogging was beneficial to your 12WBT journey? Will you continue to blog once this round is over?


Absolutely on both counts. This is my second blog.  The last one was a journal following our new home build, and I met some terrific people through that experience.  Blogging about 12wbt has also been great, but for different reasons.  My last blog had a fairly decent readership and of those, many were experienced bloggers who understand the "etiquette" for want of a better word.  I found it harder to engage readers with this blog, so this round I've been writing for me and no-one else. That's kind of liberating in an unexpected way.

4. Did your exercise go according to plan or did you have to change it around compared with what you wrote in Week 1?


I DID have to change my exercise up a fair bit as the round progressed.  I carried a few minor, yet limiting injuries this round, so I had to find other ways to break a sweat. And I definitely didn't expect to fall so deeply in love with running.  It's not an obsession, just a joyful release on those days when it feels good.  Unfortunately there are also days when it's just a damn hard slog.  But they make you appreciate the good days all the more.

5. How did your greatest strength help you this round? Was it as you thought it would?


My inner competitor came out to play BIG TIME during this round.  When I say inner, I mean self-competition, rather than against others.  Failing just hasn't been an option, and I feel I've become a lot stronger mentally as a result.

6. Did the fears that you outlined in Week 1 come to pass? How/how not?


My biggest fear was injury. And (as I touched on above) although the injuries I did have were relatively minor, I just took them in my stride and continued on as best I could.  There's still that nagging fear of re-injuring my back or knee, but after such extensive rehab following both surgeries, it's only natural, and probably a good thing that I do hold an element of fear.

7. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned from this program?


WOW!  Tough question.  I've learnt so many things.  Probably the power of choice.  That everything I do is a choice.  I either can or I can not.  And the line between the two is up to me.

8. In question 9 of the Week 1 challenge question, you wrote about your downfall. How did you go with this challenge over the last 11 weeks?


I don't remember what my biggest downfall was - probably snacking at night.  I've ditched that habit, and that container of lollies (my biggest weakness) that sits at the bottom of the pantry hasn't even had the lid flipped open - by me - for about 5 weeks. This was partly willpower and partly reading the book "sweet poison".

9. What is your biggest achievement since the start of the program? What are you the most proud of?


There have been so many this round;

  • Running at 16kph on the treadmill
  • Competing in my first 5km race - and not walking at any point
  • Reaching goal weight, then re-setting my goal, and reaching that too.
  • Buying size 10 clothes
  • Becoming more confident in my professional life.

10. Will you be coming back for another round of the 12WBT?


I've already signed up!
Not sure what I'llget out of a third round, but I'll never know unless I give it a go.  And when I reach the point of reflection at the end of a round and feel that I've learnt all there is to learn, well then I'll know that I'm done!


Thursday, August 16, 2012

A recovering food addict

Hi, I'm Raelene, and I'm a food addict.



Yet if I was an addict of another kind in recovery there would be so much more support.  (Not that this post is in any way intended to judge those that ARE addicts of ANY kind!).

As food addicts, we are constantly bombarded with temptation.

If you manage to avoid the "bad" aisles in a supermarket, there will be plenty more brightly packaged, super addictive, and completely yummy items as you get to the checkout.

You go out for a coffee and there's always a display case filled with cakes, slices, and other goodies that we associate with guilt when we eat.  If you're with other people who wish to partake but you don't, do they accept your decision and leave it alone, or do they tell you that one won't hurt you?

Most work meetings or catered events consist of sandwiches on white bread and a platter of slices or muffins.  What are you to do?  Refuse and go hungry, or break with the standards that you're trying to set for yourself?

So just imagine these three situations in a different context - that of an alcoholic;
(and you could interchange this for any type of addiction)

You go to the supermarket, the alcohol is separate.  But what if it was on offer at the point of sale?

The coffee scenario - what if we changed it up slightly and you were out at a bar with friends.  If they knew you were recovering, would they offer you a drink anyway?  And would they even ask you to meet them at a bar in the first place?

And in the work situation, well I guess it's a little like Friday night drinks.  Although no-one turns their noses up at you if you refuse a beer.  And there's always a non-alcoholic option (at least in my experience).  Plus, you can just not go, which isn't an option with catered meetings.


I guess the point I'm trying to make in a very long-winded way is that for those of us on a weight-loss journey, it's bloody hard out there.  And although I'm at "goal weight" whatever the heck that means, it doesn't lessen the temptation, and I certainly don't consider myself "cured".  The thing that I'm addicted to is shoved in my face several times a day (not literally - I would keep my mouth closed if someone was shoving crappy food in my direction - most of the time at least) and there's absolutely nothing I can do to avoid it.  It's everywhere.

All we can do is take it one day, one meal, one win, however small at a time :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Weigh in - R2 - Week 11

Sooooo close;

  • close to the end of this, my second round
  • close to the magic 30kg lost mark (100g to go)
  • close to the end of my busy verging-on-insane time at work
  • close to Spring





Current Weight: 67.1kg
Last week:      67.9kg
Week's loss:    -0.8kg   
So far:        -29.9kg


I've started a little challenge with my team at work.  We've called it "woggin @ work".  As in a bit of walking a bit of jogging =  wogging.

The idea is that everyone sets themselves a 4 week fitness goal.  They post proof every time they make progress towards that goal on a closed facebook group, and if, by the end of the challenge they have met their goal, then it's reward time.

My team have decided a mobile masseur at work would be the go - and I agree that it sounds a bit dreamy!  Really, I just wanted a guilt-free way of getting out of the office, but if my peeps get something from it too, well that's an extra bonus!

We started this week;
Monday  13/8 = 6.14km in 57:41
Tuesday  14/8 = 5.17km in 45:30
Wednesday  15/8 = 8.76km in 1:05:38*

* I'm putting a disclaimer on today's time.  I took a call near the end and couldn't stop the timer on my iphone app while I was talking.  Damn people messing with my stats...lol!!!

In other news... I need to go shopping pretty badly.  I seriously have NOTHING to wear that fits.  Here's a pair of size 18 shorts that were pretty snug on me at the start of last summer;

Bella (the white fluffy) is thinking "WTF are you doing Mum?"

I've even been entertaining the idea of pulling the sewing machine out of retirement to whip up a couple of summer dresses.  This could go horribly wrong on many different levels.

Wow.  I can't believe I used to fill those shorts out.  Never, never, never again!


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Olympic-sized lessons

Like just about everyone else at the moment, I'm a professional armchair sportsman.  Or woman if you're a feminist.  Or person if you're PC.

More a team sports kinda girl, I've not paid a lot of attention to the athletics, but I've been missing out.  It's got the lot.



I've just watched an athlete from the Bahamas stumble out of the blocks and break the start in the 200m semi-final.  Instant disqualification.  After, what, 10 plus years of training, he's out.  Just like that.  A split second of imbalance, or brain freeze and his Olympic dream is over.  Not that he ever had a chance of winning.  Bolt seems to have it sewn up already.  So what motivates these guys? What keeps them training, knowing that while Bolt remains fit he's unbeatable?  Especially the older guys who are lining up in their last Olympics.  What keeps their heads in the game?

A little earlier, a young Aussie girl, Zoe Buckman, was running in the 1500m semi-final.  Zoe finished 10th with a time of 4:05:03. She ran a PB by 200th of a second, yet she was a full 5 seconds behind the winner of her final.  She was never going to win the event, yet still she's trained and trained for years.  She discovered her time while she was being interviewed, and her whole face lit up with the knowledge that she'd just ran faster than ever before. At the age of 20, is that enough to push her to keep on working at it?

The semi-final straight before that, also the 1500m, had another Aussie running by the name of Kalia McKnight.  Her semi-final was much slower than the one that followed.  So much so, that Zoe's time was 0:00:08 faster than the winner. Kalia came dead last in her semi with a time of 4:08:44, and when interviewed, was devastated to have run so poorly and apologetic to all the people back home who had supported her.  She said she had no excuses - her legs just felt heavy.   Those of us who've done a little bit of running know that some days are like that, but it was interesting to see a professional athlete on the world's biggest stage also feeling the same.

So after my little afternoon of armchair athletics, which by the way has completely exhausted me, I've come to the conclusion that it really is ALL about what's between your ears.  And that even when you're competing against the rest of the world, in reality, you're only competing with yourself.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Weigh in - R2 - Week 10

Lordy, lordy, lordy, I CANNOT believe what the scales came up with this morning.  Like...completely blown away...




Current Weight: 67.9kg
Last week:      70.4kg
Week's loss:    -2.5kg   
So far:        -29.1kg 


There are a couple of things I've changed this week;

Exercise: I'm coming to the end of my 2 week doctor enforced ban on working out.

Nutrition: I've increased my calories to around 1350 per day.  Have completely deleted sugar, which includes staying off those dreaded lollies, and have swapped my coffee for herbal tea.

Mindset: We've booked a holiday, for September, which is really soon, so I feel as though there's light at the end of this long, cold, winter of 6.5 days work per week. Hello frequent flyer points.  And hello Palm Cove Queensland. (would have loved Fiji, but we have a rather large and expensive event to pay for early next year!)  And when we return my working week reverts to 4 days.  Just as the weather starts to clean up its act.  Right through until the start of March.

Happy days :)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

prop-backing-help-assistance-aid-rest


sup·port/səˈpôrt/

Verb:
Bear all or part of the weight of; hold up.
Noun:
A thing that bears the weight of something or keeps it upright: "the best support for a camera is a tripod".
Synonyms:
verb.  sustain - maintain - uphold - bear - back - favour
noun.  prop - backing - help - assistance - aid - rest




This week's blogger challenge is all about support, and acknowledging those who have played a leading role in your transformation...

1. What would you tell yourself at the start of the program in support of yourself?
Raelene, I'm proud of you for signing up to this challenge and recognising that things HAVE to change. Leave the fear of injury behind, and continue to work on getting your body strong again.  In fact, leave the fear of EVERYTHING behind.  Embrace the challenges that will come your way and the changes you will make.  Enjoy each and every lesson.  And don't forget to laugh along the way :)

2. What would you tell those around you that may not have been that supportive?
Just like support takes many different forms, so too does not being supportive.  I've really struggled with some people's reactions.  A couple of people have been downright nasty.  And whilst I understand that it's their issue, it still hurts like hell at the time.  You have to be brave to firstly acknowledge the need to change, and then even braver to follow it through.  You also have to be wise enough to work out who has your back and who doesn't.  To those who fall in the second category - no hard feelings.  You're right.  I'm not the same person I was in so many ways.  And thank God for that.  There's no judgement coming back your way though.  It's your choice to like me or not.  Just as it's my choice to look after my body.

There's also the indirect type of non-support.  And I get that not everyone is comfortable having a conversation with the scary boss lady about her ever shrinking frame.  But there are MANY people I work with who have not said a single word to me about dropping 28kg. The reactions of others have taught me SOOOO much about how NOT to behave in - well just about every situation.

3. Who would you like to thank for being there for you and helping you on your 12WBT journey so far?
My man, future husband and love of my life - the things you've done to help me lose the weight. And the acceptance you've shown towards changing OUR lifestyle too!  Embracing a healthier way of eating hasn't been easy for you, but I think you've only sooked twice in the last 9 months.  And fair call on that veggie dish - it was a shocker!  Thanks for being my culinary guinea pig, my cheersquad, my voice of reason, and in fact, the main reason I started this in the first place. Thanks for doing the washing on a Saturday morning when I'm out getting my sweat on with the girls.  And thanks for sharing me with the girls too!

And the girls - the CC12C (Casey-Cardinia Crew) who have, quite simply, changed my life.  Nicole, Lisa, Liv, Katrina, and my almost twin sister Judy, plus the many girls who pop onto FB for the occasional comment.  There will never be words to adequately express how I feel about each of you. xx

Plus my two favourite 12wbt bloggers, Miss Janie & Miss Jayne.  The former for her ever cheerful comments, just to make me know at least someone out there in the interweb reads my crap.  the latter for hosting this round's blogger challenge.  It's been fantastic to have an avenue for personal writing again, rather than churning out the vanilla media of my job.



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Weigh in - R2 - Week 9




Current Weight: 70.4kg
Last week:      69.8kg
Week's loss:   +0.6kg
So far:       -26.6kg


My body has decided that I've lost enough weight.  I tend to agree!  Time to bump up the daily intake and have a play with maintaining this level of weight / fitness / toning.

Still feel pretty ordinary, but it's nothing that a week in FIJI won't fix :)