Princess

Yeah, I'm a princess of the rehab variety!

Training today: Bodyattack (went as full throttle as I could at 5.45am), Run 25 minutes
Lower Body: hip flexor stretches, glute bridges in neutral spine, incline leg press (3 x 15)
Upper Body: serratus anterior activation, pec broomstick stretch, seated row with lower trap focus/neutral t spine, T Spine mobilization with foam roller.

Pleased to say that although the old clavicle is really tender, I'm starting to achieve much better range through my cervical/thoracic vertebrae. Rather than cursing this problem, I'm looking at it as an opportunity to learn more about clavicular function.

I am grateful that I have acquired such a firm foundation of knowledge in this area over the years. I'm know I've saved myself a lot of physio bills.

Today I'm off to work. I've decided that today is "Larabar Monday" - as well as my massive salad, nectarines, yoghurt and rice cakes, I've packed an Apple Cinnamon Larabar which will come in handy when my tummy starts growling at 5pm.

Thank goodness for Larabars!

Training today: Bodyattack (modified so no overhead work), Run 30 minutes, stretching

Today's shoulder update: I'm suspicious the problem is acromio-clavicular degeneration - first line treatment, rest and anti inflammatories - I can now feel a grinding sensation and hoping it's not bone against bone, mate against mate, state against state. Solution? Practitioner Only High Dose Fish Oil, NSAIDS (I'm so lucky to work in a pharmacy where I have access to both)

Today's work update: Horribly busy, did over 400 scripts - and our Consis dispensing machine chose to have a spack-attack just as I had five people waiting for scripts. Thirty minutes later I had the bastard back in operation,, only after a fair bit of cussing ensued (why is it that the staff laugh if I say "fuck"?) and phone calls to the manufacturer.

Today's Nutrition: To say that I have been a Starvin Marvin is the understatement of today. Luckily a Larabar came to my rescue. These little rippers are full of fruit and nuts and just gorgeous as a bit of a treat. Came in very handy as it stopped me turning into a complete cracker(broken machinery and being hungry don't combine too well for me!). Our resident Naturopath has been on holidays in the US and bought me one of each flavour - so next stop is Pecan Pie, followed by Apple, followed by Pistachio. I think I'll enjoy one a week so I can make them last :) Thank you to Shelley for introducing them to me, via Katie :)

Today's Thoughts: This is on my Facebook page and it's a favourite of mine: ""All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us" J Tolkein from "Lord of the Rings - thought of this today - just do what needs to be done and don't stress out about it :)

Good Times

After two very hectic days of pharmacy work, I'm looking forward to getting into the gym this morning and having a good old workout. Not that I neglected my workouts yesterday - got in a 60 minute run/walk (mostly running) and some deadlifts and squats (effort a bit "meow" compared with Shelley but she would be proud of me that I actually did them, lol) and traipsing all over the pharmacy brought my steps for the day to nearly 22 000 - again, I crashed into bed - all that incidental exercise has got to be helping me with my sleep. Interestingly my mood has lifted (exercise, the natural antidepressant) - I have been feeling much better of late, but now I'm feeling really on top of things!

We're going into phase 3 of our sixteen week plan - have some interesting exercises lined up - like speed bench presses off pins - I don't know how we're going to manage with our equipment this morning as we don't have a proper cage at FF but I'm sure we'll come up with something kickbutt and inventive.

Then we're having Vietnamese for lunch and going to see "Julie and Julia" before picking the kids up from school. I have to practise Bodystep this afternoon, but I'm having a lot of fun with it and as dinner is already prepared, it's not going to be particularly stressful.

It's really nice to have such a nice day to look forward to after all my work efforts. Yeehaw!

Having a Senior Moment

Pumped out a great training session with Miss Shelley which involved 5 sets of incline bench presses done cluster style and 5 sets of pull ups done cluster style as well. It hurt like hell, and my shoulder complained. I complain to my physio and she says "Liz, your shoulder is 40 years old now and isn't going to always work perfectly". "Bah!" I think. Then it was onto dumbbell bench presses (I love going flat, Shelley likes her angles - we both got something yesterday) as well as rows and some biceps work. The whole thing took us just over an hour and we didn't stop. The weird thing is that even though I was pretty much hammered after the session, I'm only a tad sore this morning. Aaah, the joys of adaptation!

Then had a birthday party for Miss G at the park with 14 squealing seven year olds. After a few musk sticks too many and playing pass the parcel and all those other good party games, I really didn't feel like dinner, so I skipped it.

This morning RPM Hi Performance - good solid whacker of a class, found it tough going and very relieved that all of my participants felt the same way!

Now off to see Harry Potter again with Miss S and her friend (belated birthday present) and then we are having pizza after that.

After my birthday celebrations all week and pizza tonight, no doubt I shall be craving vegetables and fresh fruit and ready to hit some clean eating again.

Good luck to all the competitors for the INBA show tomorrow. I am still in conflict over competing - sometimes I want to and then as the wise Ferny P says "who wants to spend their life eating out of f*ckin Tupperware containers" (this quote should be immortal, don't you think?) At the moment, living lean and loving life is right where I want (and need to be)

You'd better be running!

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” - Herb Caen

I'm back from a week's holiday and I've hit the ground running! So excited to be training again, I've attached one of my "Bionic Woman" shots - trained with Mrs Biologica this morning and I'm still on such a high from a good solid pasting with this new program including 5 sets of bench presses, neutral grip incline DB presses, pronated grip seated rows and posterior trap raises. We also got into some core work and both of us were pleasantly surprised by how easy we found our side bridges (have to remember that all of that heavy sh*t we lift has a strengthening effect on the core!)

I've also really been enjoying my chow - as I blogged previously chicken thighs have been on the menu as well as a yummy prawn stirfry with lots of vegetables and a few nuts sprinkled on top. When I was in Byron I stocked up on fresh seafood (the local seafood place is amazing) and bought fresh Yellowfin tuna, bream, trevally and local prawns. The best part is taking these amazing meals to work - I get several comments on them from the staff and think that there is nothing nicer than this beautiful healthy food I'm eating. Don't get me wrong, I still like the odd bit of Dirty Diana, but a Dirty Diana treat for me now is creamy natural yoghurt with Metabolic Drive and freshly sliced strawberries and the occasional Horley's Carbless Crunch bar.

I'm amazed by my shift in thinking as I used to think of Paleolithic eating as a prison sentence - but I can see how much more clearly I seem to be able to think and how much calmer I feel and know there's definitely advantages in the "eating cleaner" pathway for me.

Hot and Cold

"You're hot and you're cold, you're up and you're down, you're in and you're out"...Katy Perry.

After yesterday's rather chipper post, I woke up with a case of the blahs - I've been thinking about how people go "off the rails" post comp or post goal for want of a better description - you're fired up, you're focused, you nail it and then what? In short, you've 'lost' your motivation - not because you're misguided, silly or lacking in character but simply because you achieved what you set out to do.

I'm seeing how important it is take the time to work out what you really want from life and what the next step is. Sometimes the issue is that we don't "know" what we want, but here I htink there's value in the answer that we more likely than not know what we don't want, so use this as a starting guide.

For example, I know that after I hit my "comp" weight, I became less motivated about my nutrition. I've certainly had a few more "bumps" than I had anticipated - you'd think that with the volumes of experience I have in this matter it would be really easy - well not always! Proper management of the other stuff that's been going on in my life has involved being introspective about my eating. It's as if I've had to say to myself, "just eat well anyway and wait for the motivation to come back". So there have been a few shaky times where I've wanted to overindulge in food, but most of the time I say to myself "in the long run, you'll be pleased you took care of yourself". The same goes for turning up and doing your workout regardless - this morning the last thing I felt like doing was teaching RPM, but I have a small, but very smiley group who are just great to be around - felt so good when I was done that I even had a little treadmill walk and trained my shoulders. Carolyn sent me a great email called "7%" and I'm going to share it with you this morning...


Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone..
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere
.39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.It's estimated 93% won't forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title '7%'.. I'm in the 7%. Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

I'm so glad I'm keeping on keeping on. Now that I'm excited about my nutrition supporting my new found inner tiger at the gym I'm starting to feel better - and now that I've just read that wonderful seven percent post I'm starting to feel more like my old self again.

I reckon writing has gotta be one of the most therapeutic things ever, don't you?

Se a vida e (That's the Way Life Is)

"Come outside and feel the morning sun,
Se a vida e` I love you,
Life is much more simple when you're young.
Come on essa vida e`
That's the way life is, that's the way life is...
Although we see the world through different eyes
We share the same idea of Paradise
So don't search in the stars for signs of love
Look around your life you'll find enough"
(Tennant/Lowe, Pet Shop Boys 1996)

Looks like I'm on an official Pet Shop Boys bender this weekend. They're quirky and I love their off beat lyrics. I like this little reminder to keep things simple and to focus on what is most important!

Today's been a bit of a topsy turvy one - I got on the scales and didn't have to do a Shelley - no "wrong way dickhead", weight was exactly the same. However my tummy was pretty grouchy about the onslaught of the wheat and has been letting me know about it for the last 12 hours or so. I was quite surprised that there was no spike, maybe tomorrow, hee hee. I prepped all my gear and CDs to take to RPM only to get to the gym and find my CD cases were empty - I'd organized the cases but not the CDs! Luckily I was able to adlib with another release that was lying at the bottom of my bag - though it was only seven tracks instead of nine, so I had to repeat two - I jokingly called them "mental toughness" tracks.

Then I went and trained my back and shoulders which went well, shoulders a bit grumpy (to match my belly) and went to shower - shock horror, had forgotten to pack my undies yet again - it was off to Lorna Jane to buy a new pair of undies - fittingly I got a pair that say "never say never!" on the front which gave me a bit of a giggle.

Finally it was off to the supermarket to buy things for breakfast tomorrow (my sister turns 30 and we're having a brunch) and lamb for a Massaman Sweet Potato and Lamb Curry which is going to sister in law's tomorrow night. Got the curry stuff sorted but forgot the orange juice!

Now the curry is made and festering I've had a chance to sit down and catch up on blogs. It is funny how your taste in blogs changes over time, with your goals and own growth. I remember when I started blogging in 2006, there was a 'core group' of us Aussie Figure Competitors - it's been fun to actually meet all of these people and add new bloggers to the list along the way - I highly recommend blogging as it's a great way of making new friends and meeting likeminded people. I would love to keep expanding my reading list so if anyone wants to share, please leave a comment!

Green Day

We have an Open Weekend at Fitness First this coming Saturday and Sunday and our theme is "St Patrick's Day" - so as I do not own any green workout wear, it was time to pop over to Lorna Jane and buy something that would fit the bill - so I ended up with the green workout top you see on the left as well as a matching green headband. I did eye off the matching blue capri pants with the green and white trim, thinking they would look nice in Bodystep but decided that the top would do nicely. I also bought a long sleeved shirt and a T Shirt so all in all I think I did pretty well.

Today's workouts were along the lines of Workout W or "Where I could fit it in" between clients. I started off with RPM at 6am this morning and channelled positive energy to Carolyn who is down in Brisvegas and was doing the 6am CBD class - then it was off to train a client for an hour, then fit in some weights and some rehab stuff. Got stuck into a few tight spots with my muscle mate, did lots of pec minor stretching as well ( that hurts!), before doing a chest workout - I lifted at about 75% of max effort - my philosophy is that anything that activates a muscle is better than nothing and I'm more concerned about crappy movement than competing in the long term. Workout consisted of push ups (I love push ups), bench press (pain free..wahoo!) and incline flyes - these I still have to be pretty careful with but I am improving. THis all took about 40 minutes and then I had another client who has been having rotator cuff problems - did a little trigger point massage, stretching and pulling work and she was moving properly within the hour.
This is what I find incredible - how you can make such a difference to someone's movement patterns within one training session.

The only regret I have today was eating my oats before RPM - whilst digestively I was fine, the post workout snack I had wasn't large enough and in hindsight I should have flipped them around - I've upped my oat intake big time, though I doubt I will ever hit Shelley's fantastic oat intake quota :) Hence I was pretty hungry by the time I got home but feeling so much better after an omelette and fresh fruit.

Scale is moving in the right direction and this week I'm seeing some nice changes in the old bod.

Just love showing off my clients!

Here is the gorgeous Selina looking gorgeous and fit with a great pair of RPM legs going on - check out that right quad! We've been working together for quite a few months and transforming from endurance runner (which I may add, she's pretty darn good at) to bringing back the strength training and watching those muscles pop out everywhere....wahoo! I love photos, especially when they're of everyday people doing extraordinary things.

Ripped out a good running session this morning - did the "Tredder Shredder" run that many clients would have received this week. That is one sick little puppy by the 10th interval! I also got in a really good back and shoulder workout, the highlight of the day being that I used 4kg for lateral raises - it was only a few weeks ago that I was lamenting to Shelley that I could barely lift the piss-ant 1kg dumbbells. I also did some decline push ups off the step with a plate on my back - 3 sets of 10. I am strong, hear me roar!!! This may not be the case tomorrow after I do my final 6-12-25 leg workout - I've been following Lisa in her 6-12-25 journey and as I mentioned previously we're staking out a piece of floor at Fitness First to call our own near the squat rack! The thought of actually doing this workout makes me feel sick, but in order to change anything, you do actually need to have some "fear" inside you before you start your training session. If you're feeling completely comfortable, time to up the ante somewhat!

The Power Within

Tonight I am planning on watching one of my favourite TV shows, "Heroes" - the gist of the show being about ordinary individuals who possess extraordinary "abilities" eg being able to fly, withstand fire etc etc. I must admit, I'm a real junkie for this type of concept and just love the goofiness of the whole thing - but I find myself getting little nuggets out off all sorts of things on various TV shows which aren't related to social commentary at all.

On last week's episode, one of the characters, Hiro Nakamura, said "a hero follows his true purpose" and like the "dirtbag" quote I mentioned a week or so ago, this really hit home with me. Within ourselves, we can CHOOSE to be extraordinary, we can RISE above the mediocre and we can FLY. It is all in how we choose to live - with intent, purpose and thankfulness for all the good things we already DO have.

This resonated with me because right now I am beginning to FLY on all accounts with my training and nutrition right now- I am progressing nicely on both fronts - shoulder pain is diminishing with every session and I've nearly finished a two week Paleo eating protocol which has seen me lose a bit of bloat and sit me just above my happy weight. I don't usually eat in a Paleo fashion, but intuition was telling me that I'd been a little too dirty of late and that I needed to work on this aspect of my eating. I'm gradually reintroducing a few of the foods I love and have missed, starting with the fantastic Vietnamese dinner I am going to have with Shelley, Katie, Nicole, Shannon and Steph (and anyone else I may have missed). So, I'm planning on wandering down under the 60kg mark in the next week or two and focusing on getting my training sessions in.

Today I did no training except for 5 minutes of bicep work with Miss M (I was training her and trying not to grimace!), but I did have a nice cup of tea, Mrs Nesbitt style :)

Potential Payback!

It turns out that my sore knee is possibly a quad tear, so I've been relegated to being a big bad dial faker tomorrow when I'm teaching RPM. I am pretty sure that I've perhaps overused my quads adding some massive load in my classes so time to dial it back and let it heal. My physio (who I've added as a friend on Facebook as I see her more than I see some of my mates!) tells me it's common to injure something else when recovering from something more major eg my shoulder/abdominoplasty. I had scheduled an hour plus for my training this morning and it consisted of a cruisy 20 minute walk and lots of shoulder rehab type stuff - best news is that today I did lat pull downs without any pain and I demonstrated a bench press today with the Olympic bar - a bit yucky, but I didn't have that "I'm going to go through the roof" type of pain.

Today I got to train Shelley and as usual I spent my time delighting in the the torture I was inflicting upon her and grumbling about my injuries in between sets. I made the comment that maybe I should come to her for a training session when I was healed and the first thing I saw on her face was a sly grin and her imagining how much she was going to punish me. Yeeeouch! Then I got to thinking about all of the programs I send to my clients and wondering how much they'd enjoy telling me what to do. It sounds like "Rule of 3's" and "Whose That Nutter on the Treadmill?" have top billing followed by a gruelling session of squats and deadlifts....

I'm getting more and more excited about the INBA and ANB Comps - this Saturday is of course the ANB and I have Tara competing in that one. I'm probably just as excited as she is so we're going to be quite the combination on Saturday. I also get to holler with Doris down the front! I also will have the pleasure of Irene in RPM on Saturday so it's all systems go up here.

Then I will be in Melbourne on the following weekend to help out clients in the ANB show down there and I can't wait. I will be hanging around for a few days afterwards and if anyone wants a training session please feel free to contact me via the store email contact or in Lindy's forum.

Balance!

I must say that this last week has been a baptism of fire for me in the art of adaptation - balancing work and downtime has been much harder than I had ever anticipated and I'm only a week into the live one on one training!

Firstly there has been the early morning starts - most days I need to be at the gym before 6am to prepare for the day ahead - this, mixed with late nights watching the Olympics (my excuse being that it only comes around four times a year) has not been conducive to me feeling good, so I have learned the hard way and fallen into bed at 8pm the last few nights, sleeping through until 8.30am on our Public Holiday. My RPM class on Wednesday suffered and I've got uncharacteristic DOMs today - lesson learned - it's all about me - make sure you get enough sleep!

Secondly there has been the demonstration of exercises for me at what I call about 10% of my normal capacity - demonstrating any core stuff has been dicey and any sort of pushing movement is very difficult due to my shoulder - on the whole, the shoulder is much better but I'm still thinking another cortisone may be required - otherwise off to the orthopod.

Thirdly there is the actual getting back into the groove of teaching clients face to face - sometimes I feel that I communicate much better via the pen, so it's taken a bit of practice to start feeling more at home with the one on one option.

Fourthly there is that feeling of neglecting my own training - I've been pretty particular about getting my own stuff in and I'm hoping that Louise (physio) gives me more clearance for some strength training to balance out the 4 RPMs and two runs I am doing right now. Cardio queen indeedy :)

I've been really embracing a recovery protocol post RPM and yesterday enjoyed sauna, steam and Monsoon shower. I feel so much better when I take the time just to chill out by myself. I believe they call it "restoration for introverts".

Monday

Phewy, can't believe I'm posting tonight - made it through today after my 5.00am start - guess I am going to have to get used to that sooner or later. Got into FF Lutwyche and punched out a run and some elliptical/shoulder rehab work before going to the induction.

What I learned today - I'm a bit of a "cruiser" (no Shannon, not a "turner" if you're reading this). I produce my best results when I don't try too hard. Start thinking about everything and in my case it all falls to pieces.

Feeling a bit anxious about my shoulder and got a bit stroppy with one of the other PTs who wanted to try and "write me a program" in one of the practical sessions today - with the recovery from surgery and my shoulder combined, I'm really everybody's PT nightmare.

treadmill slayer

Yeah, that's me, now slaying the treadmill at 6.0km/hr! I'm really pleased as it was only two short weeks ago I was struggling to do 4.5km/hr! After my stint on the treadmill I went into the RPM room and did Tracks One and Two. Needless to say I probably sounded like a seal with a snorkel after that little effort. Wow, have I lost fitness...BUT..I know what I need to do to get it back.

Tomorrow I will be participating in my first full RPM class. I will just do what I can manage and take it easy for the rest of the class - each workout is one step closer back to my previous level of fitness.

I saw the physio today and the shoulder is improving in leaps and bounds. I am due to start pilates in a few weeks and I may also get in the pool if I have time.

I have also made the decision to do some face to face training and nutrition work (I am also stitching up my PN licence) and will be based at Fitness First at Indooroopilly. It provides me with a "base" to work from and I'm looking forward to freeing other people from food jail.

Day 3 Back to Base and they call it "Swell Hell"

Today's training: 25 minute walk outdoors. Today I felt like I could walk a bit faster and I enjoyed being outside in the fresh air.
Eating:
Oats, Whey, tomato juice, skim
Stuffed Mushrooms x 2
Turkey,cranberry, tomato melt on Burgen bread
Stuffed Mushroom, half cup Special K (felt like something crunchy)
Risotto with chicken breast, mushrooms and steamed greens
Apple with smudge of cottage cheese.

Despite the exercise, I've been on a real downer today - the cause - what they refer to on plastic surgery forums as "Swell Hell" has set in. My poor old belly is very very swollen today. Apparently this can happen when one begins to exercise, though I don't really count going for a 25 minute amble, barely breaking a sweat, exercise. I certainly hope that lots of mushrooms help!

I am happy to announce however that I purchased my very first T Shirt bra in a 12 C. I remember trying on one in a 10 A and being embarrassed that I couldn't fill the darn thing as I think they give boobs a nice shape. I may think I look massive, but the mirror distorts the true image of your body. Taking a photo is way more honest - made sure I have the spin bike in the background for good measure.

Fitness related - what a hottie!

After my little rant, I'm really thrilled to be able to post some pictures of Miss Shelley who is competing in the INBA Brisbane titles next Saturday.

I first knew Shelley when I was living in Singleton (which was 2001-2004) - we used to cross paths at the local pharmacy, but little did I know that one day we would meet up in Brisbane through Miss Kerryn. Amazing stuff!

Shelley has done more than transform her body over the last year - she's moved to Brisbane, become a personal trainer herself and done her RPM certification (you only need to look at her legs to know that she's heavily involved with RPM). She's completely revamped her nutrition (thank you Precision Nutrition!) and worked hard with her training , especially as she's got a bit of ectomorph in her- she's put up with me asking her if she caned her training for the past six months.

Oh, and she's also put up with me moaning and bitching about being a swollen cane toad....

I'm really proud of her for a job well done - those muscles are looking luscious!

So give it up for Miss Shelley - you're looking hot girl!

patience,grasshopper!

Today I went back to the surgeon and had my last drain removed. Another step in the right direction! My next directive is to stand up straight! Yes, that is my next "training goal" - things in the recovery world are slow and I have to be patient to say the least. My next visit to the surgeon is in a month's time and I was told that if all things were looking good then I would be cleared to do 15 minutes cardio, such as a light walk. Initially, I was feeling a little horrified, then had to remind myself that I cannot stand up straight now and that by the time I get there, 15 minutes of cardio will be quite the accomplishment.

I think I may be a little less swollen than yesterday and may be able to get a better look at things when I have a shower (yes!) tonight. I really have to remind myself at every turn to be patient with this - I must be starting to feel better, even thinking of moving around!

Usually I don't mention my family much in this blog but I have had such amazing support from DH whilst I've been recovering, all meals cooked, washing and ironing done, girls taken to and from school plus looking after me and helping me shower, getting me in and out of bed and putting my tracky daks on for me and generally treating me like a princess. I really want to do something special to say thank you to him, any ideas?

Facts not Feelings

Today has been one of those days where I've needed to stick to facts and avoid feelings. It may sound a bit peculiar coming from someone like me that really values the power of intuition, however being 100% reliant on your feelings isn't such a brilliant idea.

For example, if I had listened to my feelings and not looked at the facts, I would have:

- blown off my workout because I'm feeling lazy and hey I'm maintaining so it doesn't matter..

- eaten some Anzac biscuits with morning tea today because they were there and looked yummy...

- eaten a big bowlful of icecream because I'm really 'craving' it and hey I'm 'maintaining now' so it shouldn't matter...

The facts are that:

- I've eaten very well today, plenty of veggies, lean protein, water and a decent amount of calories - it's even more important to eat well because you're maintaining.

- I've done my training because it's important to me to feel good as well as look half decent

- there's no physiological reason why I need the extra empty calories today, no PMS or TOM or extra heavy training.

- that maintenance requires effort, as does paddling upstream and losing weight....

-AND most importantly that my long term goals are so much more important than short term gratification.

I do have a little goal that is important to me - I want to be 59.0kg on my second consult date and today I am 59.9kg. In my photos I am 63kg - there was about 3kg of TOM bloat hanging around. If I want to achieve this goal, I must paddle a little harder - not be stupid, but paddle nevertheless.

Training: 1/2 Kenpo X Plus (nowhere near as good as the first one), Spinervals 30 min technique clinic.

Think I'm getting the camera thing down

Here's a pic of Miss G and Miss S on first day of school, with Yours Truly in the middle. Now I've got my camera I'll be doing a bit more picture taking which I'm rather looking forward to.

I am pleased to say that I slayed the dragon that is leg training this morning. I didn't use much weight, but I didn't need to go that heavy to achieve complete and utter fatigue.

Workout went like this:
20 minute run: 8 minute warm up and 12 hard 50/50 intervals
Specific warm up and preparation, mobilization exercises.
Front Squats
Romanian Deadlift
Bulgarian Split Squats - my nemesis, though today I really felt like I made more "connection" through my glutes. Used a plate rather than dumbbells and made a big difference
Single Leg Back Extension with glute focus.
20 minute steady state run/stretch

Done and dusted!
Weight today: 60.5kg .

My little one is a baby no more!

Yesterday marked a milestone in our family. My baby, Miss G, started school today. I must admit I felt very strange as I saw her skittering (she doesn't walk quietly, she skitters) along in her uniform, complete with yellow bucket hat into the classroom. I felt strange that I had reached the end of an era - both girls off to school.

After drop off I went to Fitness First and did Upper Body Training and went for a run on the treadmill, as well as doing some bike work. Ran into Miss Alicia - her first day on the job as a PT - I think she'll enjoy rubbing shoulders with our crew here at Indro. This morning's workout involved RPM - I could not believe that 6 out of the 9 tracks John used this morning were tracks I had worked into my class this Saturday. There's a weird synchronicity there! It was a good workout and I rather enjoyed riding and experimenting with even more resistance than usual.

Then morning tea with Miss A and back home to do all the fun things like the washing and ironing.

I bought a new digital camera and am working out slowly how to upload photos with it. Today I'm putting in a photo of Cathe Friedrich who is working on her new series, STS (Shock Training System). I love the use of Gliding Discs/paper plates with lunges! There will be 37 DVDs which are incorporated into a full six month strength training program. I'm unsure of final cost at this stage but I think the series will be awesome for those who train at home. It goes without saying that any Aussies who are interested should get in touch so I can finalize orders.