That delicious ache*

On Friday morning, I felt that almost forgotten sensation in my thighs. That slightly achy feeling brought on by exercise - in this case our walk the night before, which included climbing the considerable number of steps from the bottom of Boulcott St to the top of The Terrace.

Ah yes, that's one of the reasons I love exercise - you can actually feel the progress.

Tomorrow I think I'll feel it even more, after today's gym workout.

It really feels great to be exercising again - and that feeling is one of the best motivations I can find.

*No, not THAT delicious ache! Stop being filthy.

Talked to my boy!

I had a lovely chat to Jake on the phone last night. He sent me a text about 2am (!!!), so I called him then.

The amazing thing is, this is the first time I've talked to him since a couple of days after he got there at the end of April. I don't know why I've never rung him - I think to start with I was trying to give him space and he was travelling, so I just fell into the email habit.

The pub he's working in is near Twickenham - something he discovered when he got lost while out running and found the stadium. And he's starting to make plans to go to varsity in Christchurch next year to do a commerce degree. At least the South Island is closer than England!

I'll certainly be ringing him more often now.

Eating was good again yesterday. Didn't go for a walk, but hadn't planned to every day this week anyway.

Line in the sand

Right, so now I have my starting point. On the scales in my apartment I am 81kg - can't do the decimals like I used to with my other scales, so I'll just have to work with round numbers from now on.

81kg means I have 9kg to lose to reach my goal. I would like to do that before the end of 2007.

Ate well yesterday and went for a walk after work - walking is good at the moment because Craig joins me, which makes it a special part of the day.

I no longer have my flash digital scales, because basically all I have taken from the house is my clothes. I have since picked up a few other things (important stuff like my good knife and some of my beautiful glass), but the rest is still there. It's no problem - just don't have room for all that stuff in a furnished apartment. Mark is quite happy for it to still be there. It's mostly all been moved into Jake's bedroom now, so that's become a bit of a storeroom.

The situation with the house (and therefore our settlement) is very complicated. It goes something like this:
Moved into house January 2005, but didn't pay for it because it wasn't finished and didn't have Code Compliance Certificate.
Paid rent to developer for about a year while we waited for him to complete it
IRD put developer into liquidation for non-payment of tax in February 2006. We stopped paying rent.
Developer's finance company took over responsibility of completing house (and the 6 others in the complex) so they could get their money back.
Finance company put developer into receivership February 2007. We expected them to then finish the houses and go to mortgagee sale so they could get the capital gain for themselves, instead of selling to us at the original contracted price.
July 2007 - finance company went into receivership themselves. That's right folks - our house is owned by Bridgecorp. Bloody hell, could it get any harder?

What we expect to happen is that eventually the receivers will sell the places and we'll lose the house and our deposit. In the meantime, Mark is living there rent-free.

I guess it will all get worked out eventually.

The rise and rise of Smaller Sue

Boy has my life changed a lot – not just in the last couple of months, but in the last couple of years!

*insert wavy flashback image here*

On my 40th birthday, I weighed over 130kg. For quite some time before that, I had been moving toward the decision to lose weight. I believe that making this decision slowly made me more committed to it. It wasn’t a rash decision and therefore also wasn’t easily brushed aside once made.

In late March 2005, I started with Weight Watchers. I did the At Home programme, as I know that meetings are not my style. I weighed 132.5kg on my flash new home scales. I was wearing NZ clothes size 24/26 and my BMI was 43. Walking 2km around the block with the dog was an enormous effort for me.

By February 2006 I had lost 46kg and had just completed a triathlon. My size 16 jeans were too big for me.

The following year was just one long plateau really. I briefly touched 76kg on the scales, but spent most of the time in the high 70s and low 80s. But at least I was very fit and healthy. And wearing size 14 jeans!

At the end of April 2007 I was about 78kg. My only child (Jake) had just left home to travel and work in Europe. I had come to the realisation that my partner of 15 years and I had no future together and I had moved out of our house.

And the change didn't end there. There has been more good change, like getting together with Craig. And some not so good change, like barely going to the gym for two months and letting my eating and drinking get very, well, relaxed.

*wavy flashback image brings us back to the present*

So, it’s time for even more change. Or maybe that should be un-change? I need to take back control of my lifestyle. The main points are:
Good portion control
Snacks to be fruit and vegetables only
Reduce alcohol intake
Reduce treats
Get back to regular exercise

Tomorrow, I will weigh myself for the first time since 1 May. I’m guessing the number will sit around 83kg. I will go back to weighing myself every week.

This week, I will follow the NoCount eating plan again. I will not drink alcohol during the week – Friday and Saturday only. And no sweet things at all. I will go for three 45 minute walks and go to the gym once.

I know that I have achieved an awful lot so far. But I really do want to get to 72kg. And I really do want fitness to be part of the rest of my life.

I am a happy woman, and I know I can be even happier.

It's me!

Hi everyone. I hope you've all been having a lovely time while I've been missing. Actually, I have kept a bit of an eye on you, but haven't posted or commented at all.

As some of you know - I am very happy and deeply in love. His name is Craig. We've been friends for a long time. And now that has developed into something much more. It's wonderful!

Yes, I did (very) briefly worry that this might all be too fast. But I will not let this chance at happiness slip away.

But why haven't I been blogging? Mostly because I haven't felt the need to. I have someone close to me who is interested in what I have to say, and I don't want to spend time on a computer when I could be spending it with him.

Blogging has been very important to me over the last two years, and the support I've received has been immeasurable. But just now my needs and focus have changed.

What has all this change done to my eating and exercising? To be honest, that's all gone to the pack! No, I'm not an out-of-control slob, stuffing my face and sitting around doing nothing. But my exercise is practically non-existent, and eating is, well, pretty average really.

I haven't been near the scales for nearly two months, but my jeans tell me I've probably put on a few kilos. I guess I'm hovering somewhere in the low 80s.

I'm not completely freaked out by that, but I do know it has to stop. In the last week or so I've started to reduce the number of treats and the amount of alcohol, and we've been going for walks along the waterfront in the evening when we can - the Kiwis among you will know the weather has really been too awful much of the time.

By the end of July I want to have a new routine established - one where exercise is part of my daily routine, but doesn't consume my life and isn't used as an excuse to not be at home. Eating will have to settle into a new pattern and I will need to be vigilant about portion sizes and sneaky treats.

I've been through so much change in my life in the last few months, I think this will really show whether I have really managed to change my lifestyle for good.


Jake update:
Jake is working in a pub in London. They did a bit of travel - Valencia and Paris included - and then he was flat broke. So he's got a job with bed and food provided and still gets a decent amount of cash as well. Apparently he's made friends with the cook, so in exchange for a few beers he gets extra-size staff meals - typical Jake! His mate that he left NZ with has come home. He enjoyed the travel, but decided he didn't want to work there. I have to admit being very jealous that his mother gets to give her boy a hug!

This girl never fakes it!

No, you bunch of suspicious (but kind and well-meaning) old bags, I'm not just putting on a brave face! My life really is going great.

It's just over a month since Mark and I separated, but I've realised I was much further down that track than I had admitted to myself. And because it was me who made the ultimate decision, it was all pretty much settled in my head before it happened.

Yes, it was really hard and I was devastated at the time. But I have quickly picked myself up and moved on.

The question has been asked (by lots of people) - how much did my weight-loss have to do with this other major change in my life?

That's a hard one to answer. I certainly didn't wake up one day and go "I'm not fat anymore, think I'll leave my man!".

I do think that making such a major change in my life over the last two years has made me recognise I have the strength to change things I am not happy with. That I don't have to settle for things that don't give me what I want.

It's not that I was desperately unhappy with Mark. I describe it more as 'absence of happiness'. And that's not what I want from my life.

Nor did I give up at the first sign of trouble. Relationships really have to be worked at, but you also have to be able to recognise when something is no longer worth the work.

So, that part of my life is over. And I'm moving on. And I'm happy.

Don't worry

Thanks for your concern, I'm absolutely fine.

• Living in a furnished 2 bedroom apartment right in town
• Hardly ever drive my car because I can walk everywhere
• Joined a new gym that absolutely suits my extreme geek-ness - you log in and it tracks all your exercise and lots of other fancy stuff
• Jake has been in Valencia and Paris and is now trying to find work in England to shore up the state of his finances
• Lots of good things happening in my life
• Blogging is low on the priorities at the moment

See ya later!

Photo time!

For all those tedious reasons you've now read about, I hadn't got around to posting photos of Jake's departure.


The day before he left was ANZAC Day, so I had a whole day off to help him rush around and get things organised. His lovely Wellington auntie took this photo that day:

The next morning the boys left Wellington airport at 8.30. A crowd of friends turned out to say goodbye, which was lovely and also helped distract me. Here Jake is with his mate Jacob - the one he's travelling with. And yes, Jake is still slightly drunk from going out the night before. His hangover hit somewhere between Auckland and Kuala Lumpur.

And a last shot with his mum before he went off to discover the world (I wonder if anyone thought to warn the world before he went?).

As far as I know, they're in Spain at the moment - that's what his very brief email on Tuesday said. Don't ask me where in Spain, all I got was a country, no details.

Looking forward

Not looking forward to anything specific, just looking forward instead of back.

Thanks you all for the support. Your comments, texts, emails and calls have meant the world to me.

During the weekend I sent Jake an email to tell him what had happened. It wasn't the ideal way to tell him, but calling him is difficult for lots of reasons.

I had an email back this morning - typically short but all I needed was to hear from him. As I expected, his main concern is that I am okay and things aren't too hard. He's in Spain at the moment - that just seems so exciting to me!

The rental market in Wellington (particularly for city apartments) is a bit nuts - lots of people looking. The first couple I looked at I walked straight back out of. There was nothing wrong with them, I just wasn't coping with the situation and didn't want to fall apart in front of strangers. I'm past that now and will be able to approach it more calmly.

The duathlon on Sunday was great. I didn't feel like doing the whole thing, so I walked with Felicity and didn't bother with the bike. Felicity was amazing - she overtook lots of people on the bike and kept a huge smile on her face the whole time. It was lovely to see her again and catch up with a few other bloggers too.

I have been managing to exercise every day - yesterday was an hour of walking with 15 minutes of running thrown in. Because I'm living in the city my incidental exercise is higher too. I walk to work (just leave my car at work all the time), down to the supermarket for supplies, across town to look at apartments, that sort of thing. Eating is mostly okay too - helped by the completely empty pantry!

And last night I had the best night's sleep since all this happened, so things really are on the up.

I know I will still have moments of feeling very down, but I am in a positive frame of mind most of the time.

And I'm a very resilient woman!

Time to tell all

I know you're not a stupid bunch, so many of you will have picked up that my life hasn't been all roses of late.

Yes, Jake leaving has been hard for me, but the other thing that's happened is that Mark and I have separated.

It actually happened the day after Jake left, but things had been building towards that decision for some time.

I have held off blogging about it until I had told my parents. Those few of you who do already know - thank you for your support, it means the world to me.

You can imagine the last week or so has been pretty rough for me. Something that helps get me through is that I am quite clear I have made the right decision. That makes the other stuff easier to handle, as I am not sitting around trying to decide if I've done the right thing.

I have moved out of the house and am living in a temporary apartment while I try to find somewhere to live. I'm looking forward to having my own space and just having some time to get my head together.

At least I have not boarded the emotional eating wagon. I haven't stuck to my training plan this week, but I have done something every day - usually a 30 minute run.

So, life is tough at the moment, but I have every hope that it will all start to get better soon.

I'm not a good example!

Okay, so I have done basically no exercise for the last two weeks, although I was very active for the first two weeks of the month.

And my eating hasn't exactly been exemplary. Although, again, I did well at the start of the month.

And for all this half-arsed effort? My monthly weigh-in shows - a 100 gram loss!

Completely, utterly, fine by me.

I guess what this does say is: my incidental exercise is higher than it used to be, and, even when I'm not strictly tracking my food, I naturally have much better eating habits. So smug!

But I do need to get myself organised and into a routine again.

Action plan for the rest of this week (Monday and Tuesday having already been rest days!) goes:
Wednesday: 45 minute walk
Thursday: 20 minute cross trainer, upper body and core workout
Friday: 30 minute run
Saturday: 45 minute cardio blast and full body workout
Sunday: supposed to be doing the duathlon, but I'll make that call when I see how much my fitness has suffered

It's all good

Sorry, I know you all must think I've dropped into the depths of despair with Jake's departure, but I just haven't got around to blogging.

The departure wasn't as bad as I expected - the lead-up was much worse! Once we got busy with packing, washing, shopping, etc, I was pretty much fine.

Lots of his mates came to the airport to see him off on Thursday morning. And now that he's gone, well, I just keep thinking what an exciting time they're having.

Jake rang on Saturday from London and we've had an email as well. The flight was hellish - not helped by his hangover! They were overawed by London on their first day, but got their bearings by doing an all-day bus tour the next day. Jake reckons it was like visiting the Monopoly board.

I went to watch his old rugby team play their first game of the season on Saturday. And, of course, while I was there I got roped into managing a team - the 2nd XV this time. I just couldn't bear to see the coach struggling to organise it all himself. And I do like to stay in touch with the boys. So that will help fill my weekends!

My exercise has been rubbish for nearly two weeks, but eating has been okay. I'll weigh in tomorrow on the first of the month, (expecting a gain) and then hit the routines again.

Auckland tomorrow - life is never quiet!

This time tomorrow...

Yes, Jake leaves tomorrow morning.

As the time draws near I am finding this increasingly hard to face with good humour. So far my meltdowns have been in private, but the airport tomorrow is going to be incredibly difficult.

We haven't seen much of Jake in the last week or so, as he rushes about fitting in all the social things he wants to do before he goes. I suspect there is also an element of keeping busy so he doesn't have to think about leaving.

Last week we gave his poenamo so he could carry his homeland and family with him.

His bag isn't packed, his washing isn't done, his room isn't tidied. No doubt his loving Mum will help him get all the essential things done this afternoon and then finish the rest after he goes.

And somehow I will find the strength to let him get on that plane.

Quickly

Hi, y'all!

Flat out, back soon, not much news anyway.

Chris - not ignoring your lovely compliment, just thinking on my nominees.

Eating good, exercise average, life good too.

Likes to get his gear off!

No, the painting didn't go down any further than the top of his jeans. If it did, believe me, he would have been showing you the whole thing!

This boy has no body issues at all. In fact, one of nick names is Ridgey (we all know how much Matthew Ridge likes to get his gear off in public!).

Remember, this is the boy who posed for this:

And he's the boy who turned up at his girlfriend's school on Valentines Day, wearing a cowboy hat and a sequined thong.

And he's the boy who walked into McD's in his boxers to order his meal - because someone else would pay for it if he did.

The list goes on...no body issues at all!

It's an jungle out there

Last night (Saturday) I heard Jake come home in the small hours of the morning. The fact that I heard him come home made me suspect he'd packed away a fair bit of booze at whatever party he'd been to - if he's sober he usually manages to not wake me.

After listening to him rattle up and down the stairs a couple of times, I called out to see if he was okay. He came into our room, turned on the light and looked like this:

What a classic. He and his mate Casey were going to an dress-up party - animal theme - so Casey's father painted them to look like this. Apparently there was a guy at the party wearing a tiger suit - he took it off when these two guys arrived!

Spent the afternoon with Lucinda today. I dragged her along to a water polo game - Jake's old team made (and then won) the national secondary school finals today. Then we just hung out at my place until I fed her a homemade roast dinner and dropped her home.

And so the weekend is over and another hectic week begins. I do feel rather like I need a holiday.

Edit after Mandy's comment: the father is a mural painter and cartoonist, and did lots of backdrop work for Lord of the Rings.

Yay for the weekend!

The last few days have been very hectic, so exercise has fallen by the wayside, but my eating has been fine. I'll be able to make up for much of the missed exercise over the weekend - starting with a nice long walk around the shops today; feel the need for some new winter clothes!

The house has been full of teenagers this week. Jake's not working anymore and quite a few of his friends are on varsity holidays, so there have been many marathon X-box sessions and some all-night cricket watching. The wheelie bin is full of beer bottles and pizza boxes!

It's not just Jake I'm going to miss - I'll miss having my house full of young people having a good time.

Last night we were firmly reminded that rugby is a winter game - it was about 8 degrees at the stadium. Good win by my beloved Canes though.

Escaped a Black Friday without any major incidents - and not being in Auckland I didn't have to follow the office tradition of black Sambuca shots!

Slightly stuffed

Things I have learned today: I cannot run 5km at 7.30 at night. It is just too late. Especially on a day when I've got up before 5am, flown to Auckland and spent much of the time training a new staff member.

So I gave up after 5 minutes running and just walked for half an hour. Hard. Still worked up quite a sweat.

Haven't had a great day with eating - succumbed to a chocolate hit this afternoon. And a Burger Fuel burger tonight (threw away the top half of the bun, though). I'm not too worried about it - it's not like it's a daily lapse.

11 April summary
Breakfast: muesli, yoghurt and bran
Lunch: salmon, potato and egg salad
Dinner: burger with bacon and avocado
Snacks: juice blend from Tank, trim flat white, 60 grams bittersweet chocolate
Exercise: 30 minutes on the treadmill

Slightly confused

Anybody else struggling to work out what day it is? I'm bad enough most weeks, because I so often travel on different days, but chuck in a week the starts on a Tuesday and I'm screwed!

Oh well, so long as I remember to turn up for my flight in the morning...

The other struggle I had today was convincing my legs to work properly - especially my quads. And my hamstrings. And my calves. That's okay though, I punished them for their reluctance with another gym session tonight.

10 April summary
Breakfast: wholegrain rolled oats with apple juice and blueberries
Lunch: grilled eggplant salad with feta and sunflower seeds
Dinner: spag bol with plenty of mushrooms
Snacks: more blueberries, two crackers with fig and olive salsa (no, I didn't bloody make it myself), banana, cherry tomatoes, three trim flat whites, a glass of bubbly
Exercise: 10 minute warm-up on the cross-trainer, tricep pulldowns, chest press, shoulder press, chest flyes, hamstring extensions, Swiss ball squats, leg press, inner thigh machine, outer thigh machine, prone bridges, oblique bridges, back crunches, medicine ball exchanges, 1o minute run on the treadmill, 7 minute cool down on the treadmill. And stretch.

(More than) slightly stoked

Today I ran five km for the first time ever (without stopping).

Woodiddlyhoo!

And not on the treadmill, on the road. I drove to the gym, then went for a run around Evans Bay before my workout.

The 5km took me 31 minutes - not that fast, but actually better than I thought I would do. Once again I would like to thank the Wellington City Council for installing these little doohickeys around the waterfront - there's one every 500m for 6.5km.

After that I did a full body workout - gotta admit the leg stuff was getting pretty hard after that run.

Been another gorgeous day here - can't remember the last time we had such a lovely long weekend. It did mean I didn't get as much work done as planned, but tomorrow is another day...

There's still lots of chocolate lying about the house in post-Easter temptation style - but I'm not tempted. Okay, actually I am, but I'm resisting. Successfully.

9 April summary

Breakfast: poached eggs on crumpets

Lunch: chicken and brown rice with pasta sauce

Dinner: steak, potatoes, mushrooms and leeks

Snacks: 2 apples, banana, 3 vita wheats with vegemite and cottage cheese, pineapple

Exercise: 5km run with 5 minute walk before and after, lat pulldowns, seated row, tricep extensions, chest flyes, bicep curls, travelling lunges, leg press, hamstring extensions, Swiss ball squats, Swiss ball frogs, crunches, held crunches, oblique crunches, ten minutes on the cross-trainer and streeeeeeetch

Slightly sick!

Ate my whole 200 gram chocolate bunny! Just can't pack away the choccy like I used to! It was yummy though...

It was a simply stunning day here in Wellington. A bit of drizzle when I went for my run at 7.30, but that soon cleared away and we had a lovely blue-sky day.

So, I couldn't bear to go to the gym this afternoon - had a lovely walk on Lyall Bay beach instead. Then cups of tea on the balcony with the Wellington sister, followed by cups of tea on the balcony with dear friend Ruth.

I have completed my whole exercise plan for the week. I also stuck to my eating plan - except for the creme egg slip yesterday!

Because this week I only did cardio exercise (plenty of it!), next week I will focus more on resistance training. That, and the last week of the C25K training programme.

8 April summary
Breakfast: 2 crumpets with cottage cheese and banana
Lunch: chicken cooked with tomato
Dinner: roast chicken and corn on the cob
Snacks: 2 coffees, an apple and the planned and simply enormous chocolate bunny
Exercise: C25k week 8 and a 45 minute beach walk

Slightly smug

It's Sunday morning and I've already done all my exercise for the week - not necessarily all on the planned days, but done all the same. Might have to throw in an extra hour at the gym this afternoon.

Enjoying my four day weekend - will need to work tomorrow, but having three days off is a treat for me anyway.

Jake's visa for the UK arrived yesterday, so there's nothing holding him back now.

7 April summary
Breakfast: crumpet with vegemite and cottage cheese
Lunch: pumpernickel bagel with hummus
Dinner: baked pasta dish with tomato based sauce, 2 eggs and cottage cheese
Snacks: 2 apples, one trim flat white and one long black, a Cadbury Creme Egg - damn your gooey sweetness, blueberries
Exercise: 60 minutes of kick boxing - couldn't be bothered dragging my arse to aqua

Slightly mystifying

This time last year, I was a couple of days out from doing a duathlon. I had decided that running was a stupid idea and I would never do it again after this event.

This morning, I got up and went for a 4km run. And enjoyed it.

What's up with that?

I can't quite remember when running went from something I didn't like doing, but did because it burns more fat than walking, to an enjoyable activity!

Although I didn't enjoy it when I went to the gym last night. I did a day trip to Auckland yesterday and fell asleep on the plane on the way back. When I got on the treadmill I had that awful disoriented feeling one gets after a nap and just couldn't hit a decent rhythm. So I did a one hour cardio blast instead, with my treadmill work being walking with the incline set at increasingly high levels.

But this morning's run? Lovely!

6 April summary
Breakfast: rolled oats, apple juice and raspberries
Lunch: cheese on toast
Dinner: steamed wontons with chilli dipping sauce
Snacks: apple, nashi, some bagel crisps, 4 tomatoes
Exercise: C25k week 8

Didn't have my promised hot cross buns today - had them at morning tea yesterday.

Coffee is my food

At least that's what the barista at our local cafe reckons.

It's not that bad! I really do eat! It's just that it's often coffee that keeps me going during the day. And I am back up to at least three of them a day (which is fine so long as I'm getting plenty of exercise to work it off).

And, okay, it is 6.05am and I am sitting in the Koru Club waiting for yet another flight to Auckland and I am having my second macchiatto of the day.

Okay, so I'm a caffiend.

4 April summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and strawberries
Lunch: Thai chicken salad
Dinner: steak and salad
Snacks: four trim flat whites, bean sprouts, apple, nashi pear
Exercise: 30 minutes on the treadmill - 20 minutes of that running, with 2 x 5 minute HIITs included, 30 minutes on the bike - 90 second alternations between level 6 and level 9 at 100rpm (sweaty)

Moving right along

Okay, no more wallowing about Jake going away - no point in being sad before it even happens!

Bumped into Lucinda in the street today - I think she now believes me about what a small town Wellington really is!

My schedule is still pretty insane. Starting work before 6 each day to keep on top of things, so most of my exercise is taking place in the evenings - and running between meetings, of course. After aqua this evening, it was still so mild (with a beautiful big harvest moon) that I couldn't resist taking the dog for a run. It was lovely! He's snoring his head off on his bed now.

3 April summary
Breakfast: bran and yoghurt
Lunch: pasta with veges and chorizo
Dinner: chicken, tomato, chili and coriander with (more) pasta
Snacks: three (!!!!!) trim flat whites, blueberries, apple
Exercise: deep water aqua AND 30 minute run

Just in case I've forgotten to tell you...

Jake leaves on his OE on 26 April.

Yikes! He really can't be old enough to be doing this. Where did my little boy go?

Week one round up

Pretty good first week on the 12 week action plan. Did all my planned workouts except one and almost stuck to the no sugar points - undermined by a particularly yummy carrot cake. No alcohol though. Feeling pretty smug. This week's plan is on the sidebar now - I'm allowing myself Easter treats. So far, I've managed to give away every piece of chocolate I've been given.

It was lovely to meet Lucinda yesterday. She's taking a big step - says it all feels very surreal - but she sure is meeting the challenge head on. She's a lovely, positive woman. I took her up Mt Victoria when I picked her up, to hopefully help set her compass so she has some idea of the layout of Wellington.

2 April summary
Breakfast: half an English muffin and some fruit (all that was worth eating at the charity breakfast I went to - Eric Rush was a very funny speaker, though)
Lunch: an OSM - not something I try to make a habit of, but great when you just have no time to stop
Dinner: stir fry with chicken, prawns, mushrooms and brown rice
Snacks: two trim flat whites, apple juice, mango, grapes
Exercise: C25K week 8

Weigh in and hairy bits!

1st of the month, so I weighed myself this morning. 400 gram loss this month - but I'm quite pleased with that as things were pretty out of control until about a week ago.

Okay, Chris, which hairy bits?

Well, I had my usual brow shape, but for the first time ever I had a Brazilian!

I've never had so much as a bikini wax before, not being of a particularly hairy nature, but I've been building up the courage to do this for a couple of months.

Yes, it did hurt, but not as much as I expected. And now it feels great! Not sure I'm so keen on how it looks, though. Perhaps I'll get used to that.

It was nice to go to the stadium last night and actually seen the Hurricanes win. Of course the game was as boring as bat shit, but I can put up with that for a win.

31 March summary
Breakfast: cheese and Vegemite on toast
Lunch: a few crackers, fruit salad with yoghurt
Dinner: chicken and coleslaw
Snacks: two trim flat whites, two apples, bean sprouts, apple juice
Exercise: total of 40 minutes on the treadmill, travelling lunges, leg press, Swiss ball squats, hamstring extensions, Swiss ball frogs, tricep extensions, chest flyes, push-ups on the barre, shoulder presses, back crunches, those evil medicine ball exchanges and side-to-sides for my abs!

Cruising through my Saturday

Sitting in a downtown cafe, drinking coffee and eating a fruit salad, before I go to the beauty therapist and have her tidy up a few of the hairy bits which have got a bit scruffy!

The start of my day wasn't quite so leisurely - half an hour on the treadmill, of which 25 minutes was running, followed by a full body resistance workout. Then another quick 10 minutes on the treadmill to shift the lactic acid before some lovely long stretches. 1 hour and 45 minutes all up.

I've been shuffling my exercise around to suit my schedule, but should still end the week pretty close to my targets. Eating has been great, except for yesterday. There's something about the traditional Friday morning tea in the Auckland office that I find hard to resist...

A couple of short weeks coming up - either side of Easter - and next week I only need to do a day trip to Auckland. I'll have close to 2 weeks of being at home very night - what a treat!

And speaking of treats - tomorrow I am meeting Lucinda at the airport, as she starts her great New Zealand adventure!

New pic of me

Here's a new pic of me - although it makes my hair look completely the wrong colour!

Bee-arch!

I did a deep water aqua class last night. The first one I've done in a very long time (pre-injury). I've never had this instructor before. I hate her. I love her.

She worked us so damn hard. Every inch of my body hurts. During the class I even got cramp in my shins! How the hell do you do that? I know you can choose the level you work at in aqua - I choose to work hard. A decision I may have regretted slightly when I discovered how hard it was to convince my quads to let me sit down this morning.

So, I was dog-tired when I got home last night and still haven't got round to taking up the new trousers I bought Mark two weeks ago. Bloody slack tart!

27 March summary
Breakfast: yoghurt and bran
Lunch: a very average Caesar salad - not buying there again
Dinner: stir fried chicken with corn, capsicum, spinach and lots of chilli
Snacks: apple juice, a trim flat white, an apple
Exercise: torture in the form of deep water aqua

Why weigh monthly?

Because so much happens monthly! Month end for our billings, the 478 various monthly reports I have to write (477 of which probably never get read), the automatic payments to the bloody mongrel power company...oh, yes, and my cycle! My weight fluctuates a fair bit during the month, no matter how good I'm being with food and exercise, so I'm going to stop it from messing with my head by only weighing once a month.

So, less worship of the scale-god and more thinking about how I feel.

Went for my run on the streets today - always harder than the treadmill. Especially when you're being towed down the road by Moose-the-extremely-stupid-dog. I have to develop this odd, lopsided, one-armed running style. And save my breath so I can growl 'No, Moose, not lunch' whenever we see a cat. Still, he does love a run!

26 March summary
Breakfast: yoghurt and bran
Lunch: immensely yummy bagel with roast vegetables and tomato pesto in it
Dinner: pasta with tuna, tomato and spinach
Snacks: blueberries, two trim flat whites, two apples, some beans and some lovely fresh dates
Exercise: fifteen minute warm-up on the treadmill and a full lower-body workout in the morning. In the evening - 45 minutes out with Moose, of which 25 minutes I ran

A break, but not broken

Hi everyone!

Lots of stuff going on, so I've had a bit of a break - from blogging, from exercise and from most of my life, really. Eating - well you can guess.

Things are pretty much okay, just some things I have to work through. And, no, I'm not going to share any more than that. It's mostly work stuff, anyway.

What I will do is NOT let it affect all areas of my life anymore. Letting my routines slip just makes me feel worse, not better.

Time for an action plan! Time for a 12 week action plan! Because this year I am going to reach my goal of 72 kilos, goddammit.

General plan for the first four weeks below, each week the details will be on my sidebar.
Week 1 (26 March) - Couch 2 5k week 7, 3 x weight sessions, 2 x 1 hour cardio blasts, 1 x exercise class. NoCount eating, no sugar points (including alcohol)
Week 2 (2 April) - Couch 2 5k week 8, 2 x 1 hour cardio blasts, 2 x exercise classes. NoCount eating, no alcohol, 2 x hot cross buns on Good Friday, 200g chocolate on Easter Sunday
Week 3 (9 April) - Couch 2 5k week 9, 5 x weight sessions. NoCount eating, 3 x alcohol but no other sugar points
Week 4 (16 April) - 2 x half hour runs, 2 x 1 hour cardio blasts, 2 x half hour bike rides, 2 x weight sessions

In other changes - I'm only going to weigh on the first of each month and half changed my stats for the year to reflect that.

No shit, Sherlock!

I was eating my nice salad for lunch today - grilled chicken, blue vein cheese, walnuts, baby spinach, spicy lemon dressing. One of the guys in the office wandered by and said 'I bet you used to eat more than that for lunch before you lost all that weight'.

Really? Ya think?

Brrrrrrr!

Summer finished with a THUMP yesterday - although hopefully we will switch to autumn soon, rather than the fully fledged winter blast we got yesterday.

Couch to 5k is going really well - this week (week 7) I have 3 x 25 minute runs to do, and have finished two of them without too much of a struggle. I'm not running fast, but I am running.

Eating? Well, not so good, but not so bad either. Holding steady weight-wise, and will give it another good nudge in the next few weeks.

I've had a nice few days at home, but the schedule goes a bit nuts again for the next week. Off to Auckland Thursday morning, then Friday night I'm driving to Taupo, before heading to Havelock North to see a girlfriend on Saturday, then home on Sunday. Home for two nights, then back to Auckland for Tuesday and Wednesday. AND next week, Mark is in New Plymouth for three days then Taupo for three days for a company conference.

I feel some severe cuddle-deprivation coming on! Still, it keeps the relationship fresh...

Photo catch up

Some photos I promised a few weeks back. I still haven't managed to take a decent shot of my new (brown) hair.

This one is my lovely Jake at his grandparents' house in Kerikeri. Behind him is the sculpture we all gave them for the 50th wedding anniversary. Jake and his uncles smuggled it over the fence in the middle of the night - and got caught by the cop who lives next door.

Coopers Beach in the Far North, on a lovely summer Saturday. Told you it was crowded.

Jake with my Mum and Dad, at a pa site overlooking Mangonui Harbour.

The tasty delights from the Mangonui fish and chip shop. They really are the best fish and chips in the world. I kid you not. That day the fish was blue nose - it had been caught that morning.

It's back (the 70s, that is)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Especially from the Adelaide sister, from whom I got a text at 1.30am on Sunday - pointing out that it was still my birthday over there! LOL!

I had a great birthday weekend. Mark and I had a lovely dinner at Logan Brown on Friday night - it's just always good there. Mark got to see the gorgeous Prada sunglasses he got me for my birthday, too.

Saturday I did my 3rd workout for week 5 of C25K - a full 20 minute run. I really enjoyed it. This programme is working well for me - my cardio fitness is improving and my knee feels great (so long as I stay away from too much lateral movement).

I had a HUGE exercise week last week - two sessions most days, so planning on a lighter week for a bit of recovery.

And this morning's weigh in, after a three weeks break - an nice even 79 kilos.

Ants in my (pretty) pants

I get to go home tomorrow, so I'm having trouble sitting still because I'm SOOOOOOO looking forward to it!

Not helped by not doing exercise this morning - needed to get a nice early start at work, so I'll do my workout tonight instead.

I did manage to race into a lingerie shop today and come out with THREE news bra and undies sets. Underwear buying is definitely one of my new-found pleasures...

When I get home Friday night Mark and I are going out for a nice dinner - because the next night is my birthday and he will be away racing.

I plan to do sweet-eff-all this weekend; just enjoy being at home. Well, for a little while - I'm back up here for three days next week!

Ow!

The hardest thing about running this morning? Moving my arms!

I have neglected my upper body workouts a bit in the last couple of weeks, so gave it a good bash yesterday. Especially the Swiss ball chest flyes.

So this morning when I ran my legs were fine and breathing was okay - but, boy, did my pecs hurt! Much better by the end of it, though.

Last night I did 20 minutes on the cross trainer at the hotel ('cause I'd only done 10 minutes at the gym in the morning). Afterward I went back to my room to stretch, still wearing my ipod. A couple of great songs came on and I danced around like a mad thing. And then realised the guys in the apartment across the road were having a BBQ on their balcony. I did get a round of applause though! One of the songs was Steriogram's Walkie Talkie Man - the song ipod actually used in one of their ads.

Just two more sleeps and I can go home.

I haven't been posting my food lately, but here's what I had yesterday, which is a fairly typical week day at the moment:
Breakfast: bran, blueberries and yoghurt
Lunch: smoked chicken and mushroom risotto (left over from the night before, with yummy smoked garlic from the Kerikeri market and rocket)
Dinner: pasta with low-fat feta, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, snow peas and fresh basil, with lots of fresh-ground black pepper
Other: a trim flat white, 2 glasses of pinot gris, 2 plums and a punnet of Cape gooseberries (eating them always reminds me of my Gran)

Are you coming with me?

I've decided to do another duathlon - the Real Women's one on 6 May. This is actually the same one as I did at Easter last year, just under a different name. It's a good thing to aim for as I get back into my running. And I'd like to have a go at beating last year's time (59 minutes 12 seconds). And I know the whole course is flat, so I'll only have Wellington wind to contend with.

So, Wellington bloggers and those nearby - are you coming with me?

Ran the first day of week five of the Couch to 5K this morning. This week the three days have a different workout - 3 x 5min run on day one, 2 x 8min run on day two and 1 x 20min run for the third workout. I'm feeling strong, so hopefully I won't self-talk myself out of being able to do that 20 minute one!

Only four more sleeps until I get to go home.

The Far North

Jake and I are in Kerikeri, spending the weekend with my Mum and Dad.

I always feel so good when I come back to Northland - it just feels like home. Of course being so warm helps.

Today we drove to Cooper's Beach for a swim, then went to Mangonui for the best fish and chips in the world. It's true, they are. I have photos of the lovely beach, but my download cable is in Auckland, so you'll have to wait.

Sometimes I can be so stupid

I know you find that nearly impossible to believe - but it's true!

First of all there was Monday. I was tired and snappy and generally feeling overwrought. I put that down to the big weekend.

Monday night - I whined about being lonely on my blog.

Tuesday morning. This was a classic. I tripped on the treadmill and face-planted the console. Now I'm not a particularly graceful exerciser and co-ordination isn't my strong point, but I've never actually FALLEN OVER on a piece of equipment before. It's kinda difficult to pretend that's part of your routine. And then pretend you're fine, when all you want to do is sit on the floor and sob with humiliation.

But that's not the stupid part.

Mid-morning Tuesday I got my period. Oh. Yeah. Right. That would explain it - tired, grumpy, clumsy, unreasonably emotional. D'oh!

It's not like it doesn't happen every month. You'd think I'd have it worked out by now.

Hello, my lovelies!

Thanks for the subtle hint (by text) today Helena - it certainly is time for a post.

The Taupo relay was another great success. A few of my personal highlights:
Me yelling down the phone at 5am on Saturday 'What do you mean, you've lost the pregnant client?'.
Ditto when they couldn't find the Managing Director after his transition.
Fed, watered, wined and beered 43 people.
Less sleep for me than last year - two 10-minute naps on Friday night, five hours on Saturday night. The drive back to Auckland on Sunday was something of a struggle!
In excess of $2500 raised for Paralympics (which our company then matched 2 for 1).
The fact we take our clients away for the weekend, make them share rooms with people they've never met (people who often work for opposition companies), drag them out of bed in the middle of the night, make them run or walk for miles on roads which are either deserted or crowded with main road traffic, abuse them if they're too slow - and they love it so much they're already signing up for next year!

So, anyway, back to my Auckland stint.

This week is mostly about working and working out. I'm repeating Week 4 of C25K this week, as I didn't feel up to Week 5.

Lovely hot weather here - hope no-one can see into my apartment tonight as I sit here in my tee shirt and undies!

Eating - rubbish over the weekend, pretty much fine since.

Feeling a bit lonely though.

Who, me? Invisible?

Can you guess this week is really busy? No posts from me, I haven't visited your blogs - how rude!

Everything's fine, just not much spare time available.

I've found a different gym to go to in Newmarket, which opens at 5.30am so it fits my schedule better. Week 4 of C25K is going really well - as is my exercise generally.

I didn't remember to weigh myself at the gym on Monday, so I've decided to go the whole three weeks without weighing. My eating has been mostly fine.

Ciao for now, will update after the big weekend in Taupo. Hope you're all okay, I'll have lots of reading to do to catch up on all your news.

Packing

I'm off to Auckland today for my three week stint, so I'm packing everything into a suitcase that looks like a small apartment building.

And I do mean everything! Apart from the obvious - just about every piece of summer clothing I own, six pairs of shoes (down from the original eleven), exercise gear, skincare, cosmetics, hair product, etc - I'm also taking: my yoghurt maker, plastic containers to pack breakfasts and lunches for work, the companion speakers for my ipod so I have decent tunes in my apartment, plenty of books, and so on and on and on.

Apart from packing for my trip, I'm also packing stuff that needs to go to Taupo next weekend so I can look after the 45 people in our teams for The Great Lake Relay. I know everyone thinks I'm obsessive about this, but after years of tournaments I've got this down to a pretty fine art. I'm packing: giant fish bins - everything gets carried up there in them, and then you fill them full of ice to hold the drinks, coffee plungers, a gazebo, stockpot because motels never have anything big enough, my aromatherapy oils for doing rubdowns, my good knives because (again) the motel ones are always shit, my apron so I can look like Susie Homemaker, blah, blah, blah!

All that stuff will get brought to Taupo by someone else, thank goodness!

In one way I'm really looking forward to the three weeks away. The workload will call for some long days, but I feel a quiet determination to be very disciplined about my exercise and eating. It is a good opportunity to set up an environment with very few temptations.

Most especially, I'm looking forward to spending a weekend in Kerikeri with my parents (and Jake of course).

I weighed in a day early today, for a nice 800 gram loss. I'll use the gym scales to take comparative weights each week so I can track my weight.

AND I'm going to try my first time back at boxing tomorrow! Yeehaw!

Catch y'all soon.

CKK - baby, could you please email me so I can be your friend?

Just to prove my geekhood

I love this joke:

Today is Einstein's birthday. He would have been 107.
Few people remember that the Nobel Prize winner married his cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, after his first marriage dissolved in 1919.
He stated that he was attracted to Elsa because she was well endowed, and postulated that, if you are attracted to women with large breasts, the attraction is even stronger when there is a DNA connection.
This came to be known as Einstein's Theory of Relative Titty.

Go on, admit it, it's funny!

Goddamn mad day in Auckland today, barely time to breathe.

8 February summary
Breakfast: bran, flavoured full fat yoghurt (restricted choice in the Koru Club)
Lunch: sushi
Dinner: chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and green salad
Other: three slices of Gruyere with my glass of red wine
Exercise: nope

How old is too old?

At what age is your son too old for you to take him into the women's changing room at the pools (where my gym is)?

A couple of times a week, about the time I'm dressed and ready to leave the gym for work, a woman comes in with her young son. I'm struggling to place his age, but it's probably somewhere around six. Surely he could wait on the seat outside in the foyer while she gets changed? Because this kid is ALL EYES when he's in that changing room.

Either she's risking turning him into a perve, or she's going to scar him for life!

I'm all for people being open about their bodies, but the other people in that room haven't been given a choice in the matter.

And, yes, I have mentioned it to the pool staff, who have said they'll keep an eye out and have a word.

Later edit - of COURSE they have family change rooms. Right, now I'm quite happy to say something to her myself.

7 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: beef and roast vege salad
Dinner: BBQ pork with brown rice and red cabbage salad
Others: three trim flat whites, pear, apricot, capsicum, a glass of red
Exercise: C25K week three and core body workout

Dopey tart

I did the first workout of week two of the C25K this morning. It seemed like significantly more running than week one. When I got to work and checked the spreadsheet, I realised I'd jumped straight to week three! Right, so that explains it then.

Nice girl, not very bright! Oh well, I'll just keep going with week three, now that I've already started.

And of course this morning's weigh-in saw me jump back up to over 81kg. Can't say I didn't earn it. Bloody 70s will never make a comeback.

Hooray for a day off tomorrow and a great weather forecast - think I'll stick in some extra exercise.

5 February summary
Breakfast: bran, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: marinated fish and watercress salad
Dinner: steak and roast veges
Other: bean sprouts, strawberries, two trim flat whites and a lake of herbal tea
Exercise: C35K week three, upper body workout - lat pull downs, chest flyes, triceps extensions, bicep curls, shoulder raises (front and side)

Sunny Sunday

Yet again the glorious weather has put me in a fine mood. Helped by the fact that we work tomorrow and then have Tuesday off for Waitangi Day. I've spent the day on personal maintenance - legs, eyebrows, etc and feel ready to face another week.

Jake has finally managed to drag his arse home after an extreme weekend of drinking and partying at the Sevens. He reckons he's never pulled so many girls as when he was wearing his cow outfit - some things a mother really doesn't need to know!

Just a day trip to Auckland for me to cope with this week, but then I'll be up there for three weeks as we're short on staff for a while.

4 February summary - now before you read this and think how well I'm doing - I think this is my only good food day all week!
Breakfast: yoghurt and rolled oats
Lunch: lamb salad
Dinner: chicken sandwich
Snacks: mini kiwifruit, blueberries, Jarrah
Exercise: 60 minute walk
Dinner: chicken sandwich

Full on weekend

As always, the Sevens tournament just ROCKED!

Went to the corporate box for the Friday session. It's not as much fun as sitting in the crowd - I love being surrounded by that maximum party atmosphere, with all the costumes and general fun.

The new star costume this year (unfortunately) was the Borat swimsuit - you know, the lime green banana hammock with shoulder straps? Just nasty!

As always, I'm amazed by how many men just love to cross dress. There were swags of male nuns, milkmaids, Marilyns, Dorothys, ballet dancers, you name it.

At least when I saw Jake's naked chest on the big screen he still had some of his cow costume on!

A few of us went out afterward - not really to drink, but just to people-watch in the bars. The guys are all a bit older than me, and they just love to act like my big brothers. A couple of strangers started talking to me - I thought they were being friendly, not trying to chat me up. But all of a sudden I'm surrounded by my friends acting as if they were my bodyguards!

So after all that - including more than two bottles of red wine for me - I had a much quieter day on Saturday.

I'm not going to summarise, because it was all too much food and alcohol. I did ride my bike the 12 kilometres into town to pick up my car on Saturday though.

Coffee and other questions...

What is a trim flat white?
Okay, Nancy, a few people have asked me this before. It's a very NZ kind of coffee.

Trim = low fat (or skinny to the Aussies) milk
Flat white = a strong coffee with not much foam on top. Think small cup, two shots of espresso, lightly foamed steamed milk.
In full-blown Starbucks-speak, it would be a 'tall, double-shot, nonfat, light foam latte'. Trim flat white is sooooo much easier to say!
The main point of it - it's strong, good coffee, not just dirty milk.

What is the Couch to 5K?
This one for you Chris. It's basically a nine week training programme for beginner runners, to get you from not really running at all to being able to run five kilometres. It's interval running, alternating walking and jogging, three workouts a week, increasing the amount of jogging each week. You can find it here although there are lots of different versions. I've done a metric version of it (can't get my head around miles), so if you email me I'll send you the spreadsheet.

If you're already running but would like to run harder - or just really burn some fat - try a HIIT programme. That's High Intensity Interval Training and Mar1a has a great explanation of how it works. Essentially this is a run/run faster interval programme. I was doing this programme when I got my knee injury (but it wasn't the running that caused it!) and intend to go back to it after the C25K.

So, did I run this morning?
You bloody bet I did! First workout of the C25K, so I did 8 x 1 minute jogs at 8.5km/h - not exactly fast, but that will come. I'm doing it on the treadmill, as that's the most knee-friendly environment. And it didn't hurt while I was running. And now it's over 12 hours later and it still doesn't hurt. Things are looking up...

1 February summary
Breakfast: rolled oats, apple juice, mango and pineapple
Lunch: oooops - One Red Dog. But managed to not go overboard - 3 pieces of flat bread and pasta with cherry tomatoes, bacon and chili
Dinner: home made margherita pizza
Snacks: two trim flat whites, 2 peaches, 3 vita wheat
Extras: my friend JD with Coke Zero
Exercise: 25 minutes on the treadmill and a core workout

And a bit more for today

Had a great walk after work, but hell was it windy. Made even my short hair stand straight up on end.

Special big hug and kiss to Emily and Jonny. Looking forward to the arrival of your little one in August.

Taggers - there have been a few of you. Thanks for thinking of me, but I don't usually get around to doing those things, so don't feel insulted.

31 January summary
Breakfast: toast and cottage cheese
Lunch: sushi and soy beans
Dinner: chicken cooked in lemon, garlic, soy and ginger, with brown rice, mushrooms and spinach
Snacks: two peaches, two nectarines, three trim flat whites, capsicum
Extras: bourbon and zero, Jarrah
Exercise: walked for over an hour - and the extra wind resistance must help

Inconsistent

Okay, so I'm not cut out for this daily posting malarkey. It worked through most of January, when I was either not working or clearly not working very hard.

Reality has now bitten.

Two trips to Auckland last week, one this week and one next week. Followed by THREE FULL WEEKS in Auckland. With maybe a couple of day trips to Wellington (something arse-about-face there). Sandwiched in between all that - the rest of my life. Like the weekend in Taupo for The Great Lake Relay. A weekend in Kerikeri with Jake so he can see his grandparents before going overseas. The Sevens this weekend. My fast-approaching 42nd birthday. Lots of exercise. Avoiding thinking about Jake going overseas for probably two years. At some stage I might even get to spend some time with Mark.

So, here is my new commitment about my blogging. I will post. When I can.

Tomorrow is the first day of February ('Well, duh!' I hear you cry). That means I am going to try running again, for the first time in over three months. I've decided to start off with the Couch to 5K. Fingers crossed...

I love Eric

The Eric Clapton concert was great. I always love the Mission concerts as the outdoor setting and the whole vibe is so fantastic. And I particularly loved that he played more of his bluesy stuff than his pop stuff. My only small grumble would be that the sound system wasn't quite up to snuff for those of us on the hill.

I weighed in with a very undeserved 100 gram loss this morning. I guess there's something special in the wine you drink with really good friends, so it doesn't always go straight to the scales.

Jake managed to have a great time while we were away for the weekend too, but they did a fine job of cleaning up the house so no harm done.

I have a hectic week looming, but the Wellington Sevens are this Friday and Saturday, so more fun and frivolity to look forward to.

THANK YOU to all of you who've donated to our Paralympics campaign. I've tried to comment on all your blogs, but apologies if I've missed you. Everyone is very impressed at me getting donations from Aussie and Scotland and other far-flung places!

Catch you later.

Catching up with myself

The busy-ness of this week has rather taken me by surprise. One of my guys is off on parental leave and I've just realised how much work he gets through! And I thought I was the only machine around here...

Mark and I had both taken the day off tomorrow (Friday) so we could drive to Hawkes Bay for the Eric Clapton concert on Saturday night. But now I have to do a day trip to Auckland, so I'll fly back to Napier and Mark will pick me up from there. All very well, but the plane from Auckland to Napier is a 50-seater - and you may have noticed how much I hate flying. Hopefully I can get to the airport a bit early and throw down a few large gins before I have to board!

25 January summary
Breakfast: rolled oats with apple juice and grapes
Lunch: ham and roast vege salad
Dinner: steamed dimsim and gyoza
Snacks: three trim flat whites, some mini capsicum, beansprouts
Extras: tequila and grapefruit juice
Exercise: 20 minutes cross trainer, core workout

Today, I promise...

Okay, I really will get back into my daily posts today. I need to, because that daily reality check really helps keep me on track and honest.

Managed to scrape in with a 200 gram loss for last week - phew, at least it wasn't a gain! I think I'll just have to use the selective memory technique and pretend the long weekend of eating and sitting on my butt didn't happen...

I'll be back later with my proper post including the food and exercise summary for the day.

At least this time I took photos

Had lunch with a few Wellington girls today. And I actually took some photos this time! Well, actually, I took two! Another poor effort, but here they are.

A not very flattering one of the Rachel and Rachel (Karen's little cutie) and one of Helena that I really like.

Back to food posts tomorrow (once I get to Auckland)

Shameless plug - can you help us?

Feel free to roll your eyes and move straight on from this post, but you know I'm not one to ask for something unless I believe strongly in it.

Some of you may remember that the people I work with and some of our clients took part in the Great Lake Relay last year. It's a great event - 18 legs either waking or running the 160km around Lake Taupo.

This year we have 2 teams going (yes, I have nearly 50 people to cook for!), and we're doing some fundraising as well. Because it's a sporty sort of thing we're doing, we are raising money for Paralympics NZ.

Some of their athlete are going to join us in the relay - actually I think they'll show the rest of us up.

So, now it's time for the shameless plug - if you would like to donate to this great cause, here's our fundraising site.

Thanks for reading, ordinary post to come soon.

What a difference a day makes!

Isn't it great how a lovely day of sun can cheer everyone up? Had a nice day at work, great walk with the dog and went down to the beach at sunset - a double treat of watching the sun set over the sea on a beautiful evening and seeing the comet.

Apparently we might get a repeat of the weather tomorrow - that would make a two-day summer for the capital!

Thought I could skip work and just send an email to the boss - 'Summer is here so I'm not'.

PLUS we have a long weekend coming up, with Monday being Wellington Anniversary Day.

18 January summary
Breakfast: poached eggs on toast with a side of grilled tomatoes
Lunch: vege frittata and salad
Dinner: pasta with ham, spinach and chives
Snacks: two trim flat whites, grapefruit, capsicum, blueberries
Extras: a couple of bourbons
Exercise: 45 minute walk

Lighting tricks

Where do they get those special lights at the hairdresser? You know, the ones that make you look ten years older and highlight every little mark on your face. The ones that also make the concealer you used so carefully turn into highlighter?

17 January summary
Breakfast: baked beans on wholegrain toast
Lunch: leftover lemon chicken and potatoes from last night
Dinner: lamb rissoles with minty salad
Snacks: two trim flat whites, capsicum, carrot, yoghurt dip, strawberries, two bananas and a glass of white wine
Exercise: 15 minutes cross trainer, my push-ups on the bar, lower body workout - leg presses, Swiss ball squats (with hand weights), hamstring extensions, Swiss ball frogs, the outer thigh machine and the inner thigh machine

Snack changes

At work, I used to keep a selection of fruit and veges in a bowl on my desk - usually a few days worth. This meant I used to pretty much graze on them throughout the day - more reinforcement of bad eating patterns.

So now I pack my snacks each day. That way I limit my intake and the number of pieces of fruit I take. To make the veges more interesting, I take a little pottle of low-fat yoghurt with some black pepper and coriander in it to use as a dip.

So, instead of grazing, I have morning and afternoon tea, and nothing else.

This week, I've been overcoming my eating urges when I get home from work by having a piece of fruit as soon as I get home - the sugar from that seems to do the trick.

Here I am, almost two years into this and still learning.

16 January summary
Breakfast: oats, apple juice and blueberries
Lunch: turkey salad and a banana
Dinner: Greek lemon chicken and potatoes and some honeydew melon
Snacks: two trim flat whites, yoghurt dip, mini capsicum, tomatoes, strawberries
Exercise: 15 minutes cross trainer, core workout - lat pulldowns, back crunches, oblique bridges (planks), prone bridges and these funny crunch things I do: lie on your back with your legs in the air and knees bent at 90 degrees so your lower legs are parallel to the ground. Lift a medicine ball from the floor behind your head and put it on your upper shins. Lie back down, then crunch up again and take the medicine ball from your legs back to behind your head. That's one rep. Does that make any sense and does anyone have a name for them?

Sue on fire!

Watch out world - here comes Sue...

I feel great. I don't know if it's from any physical effects from my mini de-tox; more likely the two days of strict control have made some things click for me.

Here are my high points and observations from today (and, yes, most of them ARE bleeding obvious!).

This is all under my control - and motivation has to come from me (always supported by my lovely blog friends, of course).

I will exercise to feel good, be healthy and hep control my weight, in that order - not to burn off the crap food I ate yesterday. Because I am going to stop eating crap food.

Stuffing around with what I eat is pointless (no pun intended WW followers) - because it just means it will be so much longer until I reach goal.

Treats are good - but they have to be treats, not mindless stuffing of food in my mouth.

Visualisation works. To start with I'm visualising how it will feel to be a 70s girl again next week. Then it will be visualising how 72 kilos will feel.

I am an intelligent, talented person (but not modest). I just need to remember to use my skills.


By the way - 1.4kg loss when I weighed this morning.

15 January summary
Breakfast: rolled oats softened in apple juice, grapes
Lunch: brown rice and turkey salad, a banana
Dinner: grilled salmon fillet with roast corn and mango salsa (yes, this was divine and, yes, I did make it myself)
Snacks: two trim flat whites, peach, carrot sticks, celery and mini capsicum
Exercise: 15 minutes on the arse-breaking cross trainer (4 minutes backwards) and an upper body workout - tricep extensions, bicep curls, shoulder presses, chest flyes and push-ups done men's styles but on a bar at waist height

Learning the lessons again

Haven't felt so great today - a bit lethargic and headachey - but I'm putting it down to caffeine withdrawal.

What I am feeling great about is rediscovering how fabulous healthy eating makes me feel - and how good I feel about controlling my food intake and making healthy choices.

This weekend has certainly served its main purpose - I have a new focus on how I eat. This includes making veges the main focus of my meals, not the protein. It also will make me think more about all the little extras I slip into my day.

But I won't be giving up coffee!

14 January summary
Breakfast: rolled oats with apple juice and a banana
Snack: celery
Lunch: brown rice with bean sprouts and orange slices, a banana
Snack: vege juice - carrots, beetroot, apple, ginger and chili
Dinner: brown rice with cucumber, tomato, coriander and chili
Snack: rockmelon, grapes and strawberries

Cruising along

Well, what a healthy old day I've had! Feeling good and having a nice quiet time too.

The day has gone like this:
7.30: hot water with lemon juice
8.00: off to the gym for a one hour full body workout
9.30: rolled oats with grated apple
11.30: vege juice - beetroot, carrot, celery, ginger and chili. I've got a juice extractor which make a great job, but I couldn't bear to throw out all that healthy fibre that's left after the extracting. I stirred a few spoonsful back into the juice before I drank it!
1.30: brown rice salad with lots of finely chopped raw veges - spring onion, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, baby spinach, baby capsicum and green beans. Dressed with the juice and grated rind of a lemon and lots of black pepper.
4.00: fruit smoothie - banana, peach, blueberries, strawberries and apple juice
6.30: another rice salad, with some variation in the veges and dressed with orange juice and chili
9.00: some rock melon and blackberries

How's that? I feel great and haven't freaked out too much without caffeine. A few hunger pangs as without protein the meals don't keep me full as long as I'm used to.

In between times I've done my eyebrows, put through four loads of washing, gone to feed my sister's cat and done a major de-tox on my ipod. The boys used it for their roadtrip over New Year and I needed to get rid of all the gangsta - and I don't think I need EVERY Red Hot Chili Peppers song ever recorded.

I've also mooched around a fair bit and watched a couple of movies.

The great brown rice hunt

Have been carrying on an hilarious text conversation with Chris this evening as she hunts through the Palmy supermarkets for brown rice - she ended up going to three before she found it. We've decided there aren't many hippies up there. Just think of the supermarket aisles as exercise...

Not that I've had much more fun with groceries. Went to the supermarket to get all my healthy stuff for the weekend and got through the checkout before I realised I'd left my wallet at home! Got them to park my trolley and went home for my money.

12 January summary
Breakfast: WW cereal and yoghurt
Lunch: chili chicken, blue cheese and walnut salad
Dinner: smoked salmon pasta
Snacks: green beans, tomatoes, two trim flat whites
AND - a Memphis Meltdown Big Bikkie - I've been wanting to try one for ages and finally gave in. At least it's out of my system now.
Exercise: rest day

The plan goes something like this...

I've planned myself a bit of a weekend.

Inspired partly by Mary, and by some other research I've done, it will be a sort of de-tox weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday I will eat only fresh, raw fruit and vegetables, bulked out a little by some other things.

Each day's eating plan will go something like this:
7am: hot water and lemon juice
9am: half cup of rolled oats, softened overnight in apple juice, with an grated apple added just before serving
11am: fresh made vegetable juice - like carrot, beetroot, ginger and chili
1pm: salad made with half cup of brown rice and lots of fresh veges
3pm: fruit smoothie - banana, berries, that sort of thing. No dairy or soy, just fruit
5pm: roughly the same as 1pm
7pm: fruit salad of melons and berries

Apart from that - just water.

The idea is two days of nothing but natural, healthy food. The two days itself should be good for me, and I'm hoping it will break some of the eating patterns I've fallen into of late.

In between the eating and drinking times, I want to do some de-tox on other parts of my life - clean out my wardrobe and drawers, give myself a pedicure, that kind of stuff. I'll still exercise, but the weekend will be all about making myself feel good.

I have warned the boys they have to fend for themselves. Mark is racing Saturday anyway, and Jake will just slouch at other people's places most of the weekend.

My main concern - going two days without coffee!

11 January summary
Breakfast: bircher muesli with apple juice and blueberries
Lunch: smoked chicken salad
Dinner: crayfish laksa (OMG, so yummy!)
Snacks: apricots, peaches, bean sprouts, two Ryvita, grapes
Treats: two glasses of wine
Exercise: 10 minute each on the treadmill, the bike and the cross trainer

A good eating day, but I think I'm snacking on too much fruit. Need to try and switch some of that to veges.

Mucky day

The weather was mucky and so was my food. I'm finding it really hard to stop the 'walk in the door from work and start grazing on junk' urges. It is and always has been my absolute danger time.

Working on a plan to break this cycle, though. Will share later...

10 January summary
Breakfast: yoghurt with blueberries, mango and pineapple
Lunch: leftover chicken pasta, a peach
Dinner: some crackers with pumpkin dip, yoghurt with strawberries
Snacks: two trim flat whites, peach, bean sprouts, 3 apricots, 5 tomatoes
Treats: glass of wine, some chippies and some Milo cereal and two Krispie biscuits (!)
Exercise: 20 minutes bike, 20 minutes lower body workout

Out of condition

I'm really feeling the effects of this long term injury (and, to be honest, the Christmas over-indulgence) on my fitness.

I was smugly thinking the aquajogging and walking were taking care of things. WRONG! As I start introducing more strenuous (although fairly light by my previous standards) cardio into my workouts, I realise how much fitness I have lost.

I did 15 minutes on the cross trainer this morning, on Level 6 at 60rpm. My heart rate hit 156 and it was just plain hard work. Six months ago I was doing 30 minutes on Level 8 at 80rpm.

I'm actually not worried about this, for two reasons. Firstly, having to build up my fitness again means I won't be pushing my knee too hard. Also, I'm enjoying the challenge of the work involved and it helps me stay in focus on my eating too.

9 January summary
Breakfast: rolled oats with raspberries and orange juice (bunged together and left to soak overnight)
Lunch: chicken (yes, again!) with coleslaw and bean sprouts
Dinner: you guessed it, chicken, mushrooms and pasta
Snacks: 2 bananas, 2 trim flt whites, some green beans, a peach, a martini
Exercise: 15 minutes on the cross trainer, 20 minute core body workout

It's so quiet

The office is such a quiet place to be: no stereos, no TV, no kids, no sisters talking flat out, no motorbikes being tested in the garage...

Still not happy about the shoes, though!

Weighed in with an 800 gram loss this morning - a modest return for a modest effort. I'm feeling more in focus this week - it's easier with the return to a daytime routine.

8 January summary
Breakfast: rolled oats, yoghurt and blueberries
Lunch: chicken salad
Dinner: more chicken, with coleslaw and some turkish bread
Snacks: punnet of strawberries, banana, 3 coffees, some green beans and a couple of crackers
Treats: 8 raw almonds, a candy cane
Exercise: 10 minutes exercise bike, 20 minutes upper body workout, 10 minutes treadmill (I'm hanging out to run on the treadmill instead of walking, but I'll be a good girl and wait till the end of January so I don't hurt my knee)

Back to work tomorrow...

As usual, the worst thing about going back to work is - WEARING SHOES! I'm a real barefoot Kiwi girl, and squeezing these wide feet back into work shoes is no fun.

Apart from that, not too worried about going back to work. Mark and I are planning a couple of holidays later this year - one to Dunedin to spend some time with his immediate family and some of my extended family in April, and one to Phillip Island in September to watch some motorbike racing for Mark's 50th. Of course, that will require a few days in Melbourne...

I've planned a fairly light exercise week in case I find work too tiring! Have dropped the aquajogging for this week, as it is in danger of being overused.

The new workout on Sunday is one you can do at the beach. I'll ride over to Seatoun, then there are some interesting moves like triceps dips on a park bench, crab walks and picnic table push-ups.

Speaking of push-ups - my new aim is to learn how to do men's push-ups (I think this is a skill Kathryn mastered last year). Jake's been trying to work out why I can't do them, but he can't speak for laughing at my pathetic attempts. It's either my shoulder strength or my triceps. So I'm going to start with doing them against higher objects (like picnic tables) and work my way down.

7 January summary
Breakfast: cottage cheese and jam on soy/linseed toast
Lunch: none of your goddamn business
Dinner: chicken salad
Snacks: three (!) trim flat whites, peach, banana, juice bar drink (beetroot, carrot, apple, celery and ginger)
Treats: a sauvignon blanc which doesn't really rate a mention
Exercise: 45 minute aquajog

Ummm....

Can't think of anything interesting to say. Catch you tomorrow.

6 January summary
Breakfast: poached eggs on toast
Lunch: homemade chicken pizza
Dinner: steak, salad and fresh-baked bread
Snacks: about a bucket-full of cherries, a trim flat white, banana, strawberries
Treats: glass of Pinot Gris
Exercise: one hour full-body workout, 45 minute aquajog (yep, pretty tired)

Pollyanna time!

C'mon everyone, it's ages since we played the Glad Game.

We're all feeling a bit down on ourselves for putting on a bit of weight over the festive season. But we've got so much to be proud of/happy about. So let's be corny...

Five great things about being Smaller Sue

1. Sexy underwear
2. Catching sight of myself in a shop window doesn't give me the shits anymore
3. I get to tighten the belt on airplanes
4. My arse doesn't cover the whole seat of my chair
5. I can see the groovy pink polish on my toenails

5 January summary
Breakfast: porridge
Lunch: ficelle with roast chicken and green salad
Dinner: Singapore noodles (homemade, no-fat version)
Snacks: yoghurt with pineapple and mango, banana, tomatoes
Treat: glass of Moet
Exercise: rest day

By request...

...a recipe from me - fits with the WW NoCount plan.

Roast potato and corn salad

Cut 6-8 potatoes (I leave the skin on and use red-skinned ones for colour) into bite size chunks. Put them on an oven tray with 2 cups of whole kernel corn (frozen is fine). Give them a quick spray with oil and bake in a 200 Celsius oven for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally - a bit charred is right for the corn.

Make the dressing from 1 cup of low fat yogurt, the juice and grated zest of one lemon, freshly ground salt and pepper, two finely sliced spring onions and half a cup of roughly chopped parsley. Add half a teaspoon of chili flakes if you like a bit of zing.

Stir the cooled vegetables into the dressing. Cover and pop in the fridge for at least an hour so the flavour develops.

4 January summary
Breakfast: baked beans on toast
Lunch: steamed seafood gyoza and some yogurt with blueberries
Dinner: chicken cooked on the rotisserie on my BBQ, stuffed with thyme and a whole lemon, with potato and salad
Snacks: banana, blackberries, peach, mini capsicum
Treats: my favourite bird (Wild Turkey) with Coke Zero
Exercise: 20 minute upper body workout, 30 minute aquajog

Brutal honesty is back!

It's scary how easy it is to become complacent about what I eat. Last night I wrote down my last two days, sorted out what truly fit under the NoCount plan and then counted up the points for the rest.

All those flat whites, glasses of wine, bits of this and that - added up to 30.5 points. Under NoCount I'm allowed 21 points of extras per week - so I blew that and a half in two days! Thank goodness for the bonus points from exercise.

I think I know exactly how I'm eating, but slowly more and more extras creep in without me counting them. The coffees are an obvious one - I have two trim flat whites everyday - half a point each.

Another thing I have to watch is sneaking extras into things I make. Like my fabulous roast potato and corn salad - I have been making the dressing with mayo, when I know full well it tastes just as good made with low-fat yogurt (of which I always have plenty, because I make my own). A salad that should fit under my plan suddenly has 2 or 3 extra points.

I don't want to be completely obsessive about counting, but the occasional reality check is useful to keep things under control.

So, brutal honesty is back for the month of January - track and count it all!

3 January summary
Breakfast: bircher muesli
Lunch: tuna pasta, yogurt with a fresh peach
Dinner: pork fillet with dry roasted vegetables and salad
Snacks: two plums, 5 mini capsicum
Treats: two trim flat whites, a small glass of white wine
Exercise: 20 minute core workout, 30 minute aquajog

Summer (!) and sales

Just in case you think I’m moaning too much about our lack of summer – this morning when I was driving to the pools at 8am, it was 10C. That’s 10 degrees Celsius, people – winter temperatures.

And this morning I had a text from the boss: ‘Summer is going to happen this Thursday until lunchtime. Enjoy’.

But I’m enjoying my time off anyway. It’s nice to just potter about the house doing a few things here and there. Plenty of good movies to watch. And I’ve given the sales a bit of a bash, too.

2 January summary
Breakfast: two pieces of toast with extra light Philly and jam, a Jarrah
Lunch: ham salad sandwich and a peach
Dinner: seared lamb rump with roast potato and corn salad, a yoghurt
Snacks: two trim flat whites, handful of cherry tomatoes, salad of capsicum, mushroom and cucumber, two plums
Treats: two glasses of the most divine 2004 Woodthorpe Te Mata Cabernet/Merlot (okay, I may need to cut back a bit on the wine)
Slips: itty bitty candy cane
Exercise: 45 minute aquajog with sister and niece. New things tried today – the tyre-stepping move (love this one for the legs) and 25m with no flotation belt. You have to work really hard or you sink.

Moet and movies

First day of 2007 is done and dusted.

Went to the gym for the first time in weeks. Did 20 minutes on the bike and a lower body workout. Only had the bike on level 6 and went at 100rpm - still on doctor's orders to take it easy - but still found it quite hard. How quickly we lose that hard-earned fitness! Also taking it gently on the squats and leg presses, hoping to rehab my knee without risking further damage.

Had a lovely brunch with just a few of the family today - the Wellington sister with her oldest daughter and her partner, and their gorgeous 2 year old daughter. Yes, that does make me a great-aunt! I managed to stay away from the croissants at brunch, but wasn't so good later in the day.

Mark and I finally went to see Casino Royale tonight - damn fine movie. And a damn fine butt on that man.

Haven't heard from the boy since he got to Gisborne on Thursday. Presume that means he's having a great time.

January 1 summary:
Brunch - scrambled eggs on toast with one rasher of bacon. Two glasses of Moet. Only the best, sweetie. Oh, and three of the yummy cheese puffs I make. Oh dear.
Dinner - bacon and egg croissant.
Snacks - two peaches, three plums.
Treats - three snakes.
Exercise - 20 minutes on the bike, lower body workout
Not a great day food-wise, but better than most in the last two weeks.

It's fresh, it's new!

Introducing the brand new, straight from the pack - 2007!

Happy New Year, everybody. I hope you enjoyed whatever festivities you had last night - and aren't feeling the effects too strongly this morning.

I have had a completely overindulgent two weeks - more food, alcohol and treats than you can shake a stick at. Unless you're particularly adept at the art of stick-shaking.

No flash new year resolutions for me. It's just time to get back to eating and exercising properly. Back to daily posts to track my progress. Back to looking after myself properly.

I have managed to keep up with some exercise. The aquajogging lanes have been graced with a variety of my sisters and nieces each morning. In fact, they were more frequent attendees than me - I took a couple of days off when my hideous cold got too much for me.

The weight news is - back up to 82.9kg. So I have almost 11kg to lose to reach goal.

Time to get on with it then.

Just to test my self-control - my first meal of 2007 will be the champagne breakfast I've invited everyone over for!