Try and stop me

Workout today: Push Pull Upper Body x 3 sets + run-walk cycles 30 mins. Really pushed it :) and pulled it for that matter!
DH got approval from his company for the move back home. I am so relieved! It means we can all move together. Now I just have to get my butt into action and do it.

I've decided I'm going to get all business like for April. I want to ramp up the intensity and focus in both training and eating well. Not that I've been dreadful or anything, but I've missed having a goal to focus on. I want to be nice and fit when I return to Brisbane so that my first few weeks of teaching RPM won't kill me :)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I have been having a real battle with my "Inner Gollum" this week - that's my inner voice that sometimes rises to the surface to tell me that it is OK to stuff my face full of sugar and that it doesn't matter anymore because I'm not competing! I have to rein him in and tell him it's not OK and that because I'm not competing it matters even more. Then TOM arrived explaining the feelings I have had over the past few days. I wrote the date on the calendar and made a note in my diary that around PMS time, to purposely eat more to avoid getting the inexplicable cravings. It is amazing how even when we are saying nothing we have this internal dialogue that buzzes at us all the time. A client and good friend of mine calls her inner voice "The Fat Girl" and regularly updates us all on how she sends the b*tch packing! It sounds funny, but I think it's really effective.

Workout today involved Cathe's Terminator - Imax Extreme - the Terminator Workout contains three "eat your Weetbix" workouts - today's was cardio interspersed with interval blasts and plyo jumps. Then I followed up with 30 minutes of swimming - mixed strokes - I have discovered in my old age a talent for breaststroke I never knew I had!

I have really been enjoying the World Swimming Champs this week - Michael Phelps has been nothing short of amazing - as well as Frenchwoman Laure Manadou who "sprints" with a two beat kick. I keep studying them in the water and looking at their body placement and think about how they are so fast and efficient (vs how slow and inefficient I am in comparison).

Now it's back to "Thai Harder"

Feeling much better today. It's amazing how watching "Desperate Housewives" and having a decent kip diminish a bad mood. Today I got up early and went for about an hour walk and listened to an Alwyn Cosgrove podcast which was quite interesting. Basically Alwyn stated you get the biggest financial return from being well educated in your field and having the passion to keep raising the bar higher and higher... it all boils down to the old adage "do what you love and the money will follow".

This morning's harder workout consisted of Imax Extreme which is from Cathe's DVD "The Terminator". I managed to juggle plyo jumps with making sure Miss G (who has a sore throat) was kept happy. As a mother, you are always multi tasking! I am really nice and sore from Push Pull yesterday!

Well, "Fuk mi" again!

Whew, what a couple of days!

I had a First Aid course scheduled on the weekend. I meticulously packed my pink cooler bag only to find out when I had arrived that the course had been cancelled.

Then today I locked myself out of the house and I have been stranded for the last five hours whilst DH retrieved the keys from work. If I was in Brisbane I could have done an excellent stint of window shopping, but here in Woop Woop, the most entertaining thing I could do was walk up and down the 50 m or so of shops which make up the bustling city centre, not. Aggh. I feel peeved at DH because he keeps flip flopping on the job issue and I resent the only day I don't have the kids being taken up with this drama.

I did get to do Push Pull, Upper Body workout (x3 sets) and the two hour Spinerval workout today. I loved it, especially when I sync it up with the music from my IPOD.

Ah well, I'm going to have a nice bowl of pumpkin soup and try and forget about the day. Tomorrow is a new one and thank goodness there are such things as tomorrows for they give us hope.

Just another day of paddling.

Sometimes those days that aren't particularly exciting are the most challenging to any good weight maintainer. Today I have been dealing with feelings of uncertainty now that DH is back ...what next? We think we know what should be happening but putting those plans into action is something else all together. Even though our goal is to move back to Brisvegas we are open to Melbourne or Perth or an overseas posting as well. Plus I have been feeling extremely bored in Woop Woop all day. What does this mean to me in "maintenance" - learning to deal with the feelings rather than stuffing down them down with a visit to the fridge! It's not easy with the fridge in full sight all day, but I deal with it by trying to keep busy and eating a wide variety of foods, especially those that take a long time to chew. Humans have an innate need to chew which is why seeing a protein shake on my menu is rather rare - I'd rather have a good munch than drink down all my calories in one fell swoop.

Anyway back to feelings - they often determine our response to events that impact on us. I am learning that it is regulating these feelings and keeping my emotions in check that keeps me on the straight and narrow. Not that I avoid feeling things, I just try and keep it all in perspective.

I went for an hour long walk this morning and had a low intensity day. Tomorrow I am going to attempt a two (yes, you heard right!) hour aerobic base building session on the bike. I'm looking forward to this, plus a nice long stretch afterwards.

He's back!

DH is back home safe and sound. I can't believe it has been a month since we last saw each other. Poor fella is having a sleep right now as his body is telling him it's time to go to bed (South Africa is eight hours behind the Eastern States of Australia) - it is lovely to see him again.

Workout this morning was Cathe's Cardio Fusion "Mix and Max" Premix which clocked in at 80 mins. I don't know if it's the workout or DH being home, but I have been absolutely starving today. I've wolfed down two slices of bread in addition to my usuals - weird in that I'm really not all that keen on bread. Maybe it's avoidance eating because what I think I am craving is chocolate. Luckily there is some Mr Cadbury's in the fridge to help me out!

Feeling the Cathe love!

I'm officially on a Cathe bender at the moment. Today I pulled out "Kick, Punch and Crunch" and really enjoyed it, after getting off to a slow start. I had only done this one once before a few years back and couldn't remember any part of it, so it was like having a brand new DVD all over again. I followed this up with a 25 min swim (1200m) and "New Rules of Lifting" Break In Workout A.

I received my "Chicken or Chocolate" TShirt from Lia today and also in my parcel was the National Titles DVDs and (the best part!) a "Koko Black" hot chocolate at home pack. If I have the choice of "chicken or chocolate" when I have a Koko Black option, guess what wins? I didn't want to post pics of my mug two days in a row, but will be modelling the T-shirt later this week!
I was also lucky enough to have a great chat to Lia on the phone today as well.

I have officially decided that I am not going to compete this year. Really I am having fun with all sorts of other stuff right now and as I mentioned earlier, feel that I'm headed more down the coaching and preparation path anyway. Plus it is great to be fit and healthy just for the heck of it ;) I haven't actually spent much time in "maintenance mode" and learning to keep good balance and perspective has been my challenge so far in 2007. I'm getting there though!

They're leaving the building!

Yup that's the 1.5 kg I keep playing with post holidays. I've finally decided that I've had enough and it's now war :) Really I am thankful that with no gym or running to speak of it's not more. Enough said!

I've tried to 'outdo' sweaty Rae post cardio, but as you can see from the picture above, I don't even come close to the shade of pink Miss Rae is! However if this picture makes you spill your coffee down your front in horror, then it's probably done it's job! I took this after doing RPM 30 in the Bolthole. My HR got up to 163 during Tracks 5 and 7 and I am noticing that it is really starting to drop during my 'recoveries', so the emphasis on cardio has definitely paid dividends fitness wise. I then went to the ROR and did Alwyn Cosgrove's New Rules of Lifting, Break In Program B (phew, that's a mouthful). "Break In" took 15-20 minutes - gotta love a strength training program like that! It was pretty solid work though.

OK, off to prep lunch and do the chores :)

I am so proud of myself

I am so proud of myself because I have worked out (and almost prepped!) an entire week of meals and workouts. Anyone who knows me well tends to also know that I fly by the seat of my pants with this sort of thing and it actually makes me feel uncomfortable. I feel really good about organizing the week ahead and I'm hoping that it cuts down on that dreaded anxiety of "what the hell is for dinner?" I was feeling despondent last night that I wasn't organized enough and I made a small list to get through today. I'm pleased to say that I've nearly achieved all of it! I guess the secret is in not writing a huge list and being pleased with small accomplishments.

Workout wise, I'm going to do the "Break In" program of the "New Rules of Lifting". I am hoping that the Room of Requirement will be open as the building is for sale and I'm hoping to be able to use it this week. If not, I am sure that I can substitute my exercises around and find a happy medium. I'm going to rest Bodymax 2 this week and try some other Cathe's again.

No exercise today as Miss G is still a bit under the weather. I'm looking forward to tomorrow though!

Flipping the Universe

"You make plans and God laughs"........

This is a theme that seems to have resonated through our married life, yet DH and I are talking about trying to establish a rough long term plan. That being, how we are charting our course in life and where we want to go, do and be in the next few years. I am beginning to become painfully aware of planning a solid financial future and if we want to be able to do things later on we need to look at where we are going now. I know, spoken like a true "j" , but I really like to have some sort of rough plan happening whether it be in my fitness life or in my home life etc etc. I am lucky that the storms DH and I have weathered lately have brought us closer together - we tend to thrash things out until they can be thrashed no more.

With the planning aspect exercise wise, I generally have a long term goal that is more global in nature and usually go week by week towards it. Miss G is still unwell, so I have had 2 unplanned rest days in a row, which means I am raring to go now. I'm thinking of two very solid strength training sessions, 3 tough cardio sessions and 3 moderate cardio sessions.

Anyway, rather than stare at a blank piece of paper with "plans" written on it, I'd better go make some of them a reality.

Fitting it in!

This morning I did most of Cathe's Cardio Fusion DVD before Miss G's swimming lesson. Miss G has been "out of sorts" all day. We invited her little friend around for a play - Miss G was rather excited, but she showed that she was truly not 100% when she organized toys for her little mate and jumped into bed and fell asleep. So I had to pop her little friend home whilst she was asleep. Luckily she only lives about 4 doors away from us and I was able to drop her off and come back home relatively quickly. I am just relieved that she didn't wake up!

Sometimes it is hard to juggle in time for fitness with motherhood, but staying relatively fit makes me a much happier mother, so it is worth the effort. I am definitely fitter, faster and stronger since I had both children - I don't know why this is, but maybe that we just have to have this desire to put in our best and then some or whether there is a physiological component to it as well. I am definitely more body aware, but that is probably due to my wacky hip joints - I'm always trying to push the fine line, but know where my limits are with my joints.

What I ate today (just for fun)

Breakfast: oats, skim milk, whey protein (I like cookies and cream flavour!)
Snack/post workout: 1 baked potato, yoghurt, berries, protein powder (in shake or mixed with yoghurt)
Lunch: grilled chicken breast with many veggies on baby spinach with raspberry vinegar and pecans, orange slices
Snack: cottage cheese and vegetables on rice cake, 2 cups pumpkin soup (homemade :) ), 2 teaspoons peanut butter.
Dinner: kangaroo chilli with beans, 1/2 potato, 2 cups broccoli, 1 cup carrots, fish oil
Snack: cottage cheese and veggies on rice cakes, 1 cup of tea

Depending on the workout/hunger level I can add in another meal if I feel like it! It is amazing how much food you can pack away on the Leanness Lifestyle. A good friend of mine from Bris, Anne, who came to the Nationals with me, likens our culinary adventures to "hoovering", especially when we are both hungry :)

Girl Got it Done!

Workout this morning: Spinervals Core Conditioning and "afterburn" style circuit focusing on chest and shoulders in the Room of Requirement. After deciding to part company with the X, I am going to spend four weeks or so on volume training and trying to condition my joints/tendons a little more before moving on to some heavier lifting. I'd really like to pack some more muscle on the upper body. I really enjoyed my circuit this morning moving from upper body moves to lower body cardio during the rest periods. I never normally train like this and it was a bit of fun.

I cannot believe that hubs will be home next week. The time has flown!

Scrambled eggs and connections

This morning I did Cathe's Bodymax 2 premix called "Scrambled Eggs" which was mainly cardio with some extra leg drills thrown in. It certainly didn't disappoint - my HR stats were very impressive - 714 kcal burnt, max HR 161, average 143. I don't tend to take much notice of the stats but they are very fun to read post workout! I am planning another visit to the Room of Requirement tomorrow after I do some Yoga and RPM/Spinervals. I'm thinking of taking out the Spinervals Core Conditioning tape for a nice (!) change.

Now where was I in regards to connections? Yes, I have an ITB that is playing up which is probably related to my SIJ problems. I gave it a stretch on my foam roller this morning. Yipes, that bit! I'm actually looking forward to doing some Yoga tomorrow morning.

I'm going to make some more kangaroo lasagna tonight and I am going to give kangaroo chili con carne a test run. The girls love chili and so do I. This should work out to be uber lean and will go down a treat with a small side of rice and some steamed veggies. I was lucky that the veggie truck had hit the local store today and I bought up big :)

I learnt that yesterday's temps reached 42 degrees C. No wonder I have been feeling so hot :)

I'm on my way from misery to happiness today..

I'm about to reveal my worst kept secret - I am officially going home! I know I have alluded to this in previous postings, but I now have a concrete aim to be back home by the Easter holidays, whether DH is ready or not. We are both happy with this decision - we both reckon that life is too short to be totally miserable, which is what I have been wrestling with, especially since December. I have been having one hell of a tussle with the "Black Dog" these past few months, which really impacted on my decision to come back. Through trying to remain positive and staying committed to healthy exercise/eating think that I am now starting to gain enough strength to send him packing with his tail between his legs.

I did RPM 29 this morning - I had forgotten what a good release this one is and then I went down to the Room of Requirement and punched out a back and bicep workout. I am starting to tire of the X, though I'm not giving it away completely. It was a nice change to get out of the house actually. It is blistering hot here today - 37 degrees at 8am! Yuck!

Best be off to pay a few bills. Gosh life can be an expensive business!

All about children?

In case you have ever wondered what my wonderful genetics have produced, check out Miss G's portrait as seen through the eyes of Miss S.. Hips may be an issue later on for this chick!

I went and had morning tea this morning with two lovely ladies who have small children (smaller than mine). One was worried about sending her child to kindy and that she wanted her at home a little longer. I find these conversations distinctly uncomfortable as I have always been "bring on Kindy as fast as possible!" So I smiled politely, whilst thinking, "are you mad?" This conversation always seems to happen when said child is confident and bright as a button and obviously ready for some more interaction. In fact, I find most conversation about babies, toddlers and children decidedly dull and I was relieved to make my exit.

I am finding that as my daughters are getting older they are getting more interesting and are really complex little people with distinctly different personalities and very loving in their own ways. The other day Miss S was applying some sunscreen to my back. I told her that she had magic hands and should think of becoming a physio when she grows up. Last night she informed me that she thought I was right and could she practice being a "physio" on me. I laid out on the floor like a sprawled out spider and both girls played "physios" on me for an hour! Did I mention that I love my girls :) ?

This morning I cracked open RPM 34 again - nice workout! I was a drenched ball of sweat by the end of it and I will get a swim in when the girls have lessons this afternoon. Some days I get really discouraged by the lack of time and facilities to train, but I know that when I'm back home at Fitness First, a broken down treadmill every now and again won't perturb me in the least.

No time for down time!

Today I was back in the saddle with P90X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. This is no easy workout and involves plyo clap push ups and one armed push ups (mine are really wimpy still!) I followed it up with Cathe's Cardio Fusion and a 20 minute swim. I loved Cardio Fusion and it really got my heart rate up there this morning!

Eating has been great today and I'm going to give the pecan crusted salmon another run tonight. Salmon is hard to come by in Woop Woop and I bought 300g frozen, enough for two meals. Seeing DH is away, I have it all to myself. I'm trying to decide whether to have my regular weekly splurge icecream tonight whilst I watch "Lost". Apparently this episode is meant to be fairly good tonight. I watched "Heroes" last night - it's pretty bent but I like it :)

Speaking of DH, he has phoned quite regularly which is really nice. His course sounds interesting - all about people management, career development and the like. Off to be a winner and cook dinner (sorry that was weak :) )

Encouragement for Kek

Here is my dinner from tonight (yes, it's already been eaten!) Pecan crusted salmon, Berardi style.

150g salmon

10g pecan nuts crushed and pressed on top of salmon and seared on grill.

Serve with veggies of your choice

I'm hoping that my first foray into Berardi cooking means that Kek will post a pic of her protein poo-balls!

Life..as usual!

Not much doing today. Subbed Body Combat 29 for Kenpo X -I think Les Mills have gone a little soft on us with the later Combat releases. I need more endorphins!

Still playing "Chase the Ant" with the vacuum cleaner. After feeling very chuffed that I had cleaned the house from stem to stern and made it very ant unfriendly, I was dismayed to see a black stream of them this morning, ala the Urukai in the second Lord of the Rings movie as they made their way to Helm's Deep.

Things are moving very slowly here without DH. I'm about ready to tear my hair out!

Maxing it out!

Today I woke up feeling less of a fat bloated bovine and decided it was time to get back on the "X". So, it was Legs and Back this morning, with a real focus on technique. I didn't achieve as many pull ups as I did in Week 3, but I'm not too worried about that - quality over quantity in this case wins every time.

I am having fun playing with my new HR monitor and decided to test it out doing a 60minute cardio premix of Bodymax 2. Let me say there is "doing Cathe" and "really doing Cathe". Shall we say that the HR monitor was a really great way of getting me to work that much harder. The thought of devoting an hour to exercise and not getting my heart rate up there is horrifying to me, so I really caned it! I was cactus by the end of it. For those who are not familiar with Cathe, imagine Bodystep x 2 - the intensity doesn't drop in this one, but rather increases right to the end where you finish yourself off with air plyo jacks and 180 degree power squats! My heart rate stats looked like this: average HR 143, Max HR (during workout) 164bpm 493kcal torched!

I woke up to rain this morning, which is rare for Woop Woop and was hoping that would make a dent in my ant problem. No luck there unfortunately. I am having fun running around and chasing them with my vacuum cleaner - hey it could be a new sport!

Bored.com?

http://www.bored.com/drawthings/save.php?id=668713

To see my beautiful handwriting, click the link...

According to my tree drawing I am not too flash in the personality stakes. ...

http://www.bored.com/drawthings/save.php?id=668721

I think I need to go have my weekly fix of Desperate Housewives....

Fat Bloated Cow Syndrome

Love this pic, I'm a Fat Bloated Cow who has "Lost" the plot! Yes indeedy, TOM is giving me a thorough drubbing! At least I'm not a PMSing Fat Bloated Cow - you gotta look on the bright side, right? I hope you can see the pic, I've tried publishing this three times with no luck.

I've just come back from a weekend at the beach with the girls. It was a good way to pass the weekend, rather than having to climb the walls with boredom in Woop Woop. However I think the location is where most mining families tend to go to get away from it all because I spent the entire weekend running into people I've been trying to get away from! It's nothing personal, it's just my INFJ tendency to want some privacy to recharge the old batteries. Speaking of MBTI types, I checked out the link in the comments area of Jodie's journal - about the INFJ type and somehow managed to find myself reading about INFJ vs INFP. It was really illuminating because I've often wondered if I am an INFP, but the more I read on the more obvious it is that I am definitely an INFJ type. I'd like to delve into this more at some stage because I believe it could really help me with my future projects.

We are having a second round of summer weather here. It was over 30degrees C before 8am this morning and the Woop Woop ants are out in full force. I have spent the morning mopping the floor and trying to work out why all of a sudden, ants want to invade my house. Despite not feeling like a workout, I pulled out RPM 32 and gave myself a thorough pasting and I feel much better already!

Feeling Seedy

I'm having a day of feeling "under the weather". I cannot put it down to anything except my slight change in food intake. I struggled through Back and Biceps this morning and have been a cranky, pmsing cow all day... arrgh.

I can see a post of this nature aint going to earn me many hits..hee,he.