I'm not in the headspace to blog very much at present. Work has been crazy (got to love an 18 hour day) and things kind of went to hell in a handbasket in the personal space area due to my ex being... well never mind.
Despite all this I've managed to achieve a small loss each week and am now at my lowest weight since starting the gym over 12 months ago.
I'm going out and seeing a lot of music at present and part of the joy of that experience is that I'm going out and dancing. Not having to spend the gig sitting down as I'm not fit enough to dance or feel unsure of myself looking silly.
I also managed to leg press 215kg this week. Sounds okay but it was after I'd done reps with 120kg, 150kg, 180kg and 205kg first. Am still feeling it a little.
Heading to the gym tonight. Looking forward to it!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Week Six
Boxing, boxing, boxing. Let me tell you nothing is quite like thumping the living bejeezus out of someone's pads or a boxing stand to relieve stress and stress - there's been a lot of it. I'm in the process of wrapping up the legal end of a 9 year relationship and would love to say that it's been a constructive process with help on both sides. More games and hoops to jump through than a side show is what it feels like. I'm really proud of myself for not hitting the pantry but rather the gloves in response. My head has been all over the place and I'm surprised at the amount of exercise I've been able to do despite that. Yay for happy endorphins.
Another big thing for me last week was that I got back on a rowing machine. I hurt myself last year on a rower and didn't look after myself properly, as a result, I ended up with a bit of a shoulder issue which has taken a lot of work to rehab. Thankfully my trainers cared enough to keep pushing me to see someone when I came out with the line of "I've got this twinge in my arm" for *cough* four *cough* months. The challenge this week was to do a 200m row and the sheer pyschological factor of gettting on the machine and beating that fear was huge. Did I go all out and blow the time out of the water? No. However I did get on that machine, successfully complete the challenge and realise that I COULD do this again and it was time to start building it back into my routine. Plus I signed up for extra boxing lessons with a group of friends at lunch time. Before Fernwood I never would have had the confidence to undertake something like that and it was yet another comfort zone I pushed out of. Had a good chat with my trainer and she really encouraged me as well as thanking me for letting her know.
In between gigs this week (the amazing Emilie Autumn and Massive Attack) lodged the divorce this week but the universe rewarded me with being invited to the Massive Attack after party. Armed with the confidence of a good friend, a newly fabulous hair cut and great feedback from the girls in the gym, I felt confident enough to hang out with internation rock stars. What a change! Even six months ago I may have been looking for an out, embarassed and not wanting to be the fat friend. Yes I'm on journey but I'm happy and confident that the work I've been doing shows and I'm feeling great.
Another big thing for me last week was that I got back on a rowing machine. I hurt myself last year on a rower and didn't look after myself properly, as a result, I ended up with a bit of a shoulder issue which has taken a lot of work to rehab. Thankfully my trainers cared enough to keep pushing me to see someone when I came out with the line of "I've got this twinge in my arm" for *cough* four *cough* months. The challenge this week was to do a 200m row and the sheer pyschological factor of gettting on the machine and beating that fear was huge. Did I go all out and blow the time out of the water? No. However I did get on that machine, successfully complete the challenge and realise that I COULD do this again and it was time to start building it back into my routine. Plus I signed up for extra boxing lessons with a group of friends at lunch time. Before Fernwood I never would have had the confidence to undertake something like that and it was yet another comfort zone I pushed out of. Had a good chat with my trainer and she really encouraged me as well as thanking me for letting her know.
In between gigs this week (the amazing Emilie Autumn and Massive Attack) lodged the divorce this week but the universe rewarded me with being invited to the Massive Attack after party. Armed with the confidence of a good friend, a newly fabulous hair cut and great feedback from the girls in the gym, I felt confident enough to hang out with internation rock stars. What a change! Even six months ago I may have been looking for an out, embarassed and not wanting to be the fat friend. Yes I'm on journey but I'm happy and confident that the work I've been doing shows and I'm feeling great.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Week Five
This having a life thing does tend to mean that one can't obsess about the challenge 24/7 which is probably good. Fit in as many workouts during the week as I could around work before heading off to Sydney for a girlfriend's wedding. I talked through some strategies with the Slim girls before heading off and felt comfortable about how to manage things. This was slightly defeated by the small country town I was in not really having any acquaintance with vegetable matter that wasn't deep fried and heavily salted however I limited my portions, drank lots of water and limited my alchohol. Managed not to be the scary diet kill joy - I hate going out with that person and would hate to be that person for my friends even more. Felt really confident, had an amazing new dress and guess what? Since I bought it in the January sales, it was now a little big for me which was the first real indication of a change in my size. There was a moment of swearing when I put it on and it was a bit big (this was of course, the day before I had to leave for the wedding).
In a moment of bravery I'm going to actually upload a picture of me in the outfit I wore to the wedding.
In a moment of bravery I'm going to actually upload a picture of me in the outfit I wore to the wedding.
Monday, March 8, 2010
WEEK 4
What did I learn this week? I need to improve my balance if my results in the weekly challenge were anything to go by. It was actually really funny, Lu and I tried one leg - 10 secs and then I fell over and then the other, 5 secs follwed by falling over. I will argue in my defence that it was after a fairly intense PT session. We're going to incorporate more balance work into my program and I have resolved to go back to doing my old physio balance exercises (I have a looooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg history of ankle injuries which stuffs the nerves ability to understand how they are meant to be balancing, they need retraining). Am really loving PT - with Lu my primary trainer and working with Jen, Kiah and Michelle intermittently. 2 PT sessions a week are great for keeping me focussed, allowing me to get the best results from my training and really helps me manage stress.
All my hard work seems to be paying off - measurements this week and I've lost a consistent 3-5cm of each measurement. People are starting to comment on it which is nice, you can't see it yourself really and I wear a lot of stretch so am not really noticing it in my clothes yet. I have so much more energy, energy to go walking around the lake with my girl friends, to go out and then still hit the gym. I'm feeling confident about making my food choices - my friends are really supportive and we seem to have a nice dynamic occuring of all of us getting a little more focussed on our health. We've just swapped a regular schnitzel night for the much healthier option of burritos and the sight of us all discussing the nutritional panel to work out what was the best option for each of us from the menu was really quite amusing. It has to be a realistic change - what works with your life, what doesn't. Denial of everything will only lead to bingeing and then beating yourself up about bad choices so why start the circle in the first place. Think I'm getting a much better hang of this as an idea
All my hard work seems to be paying off - measurements this week and I've lost a consistent 3-5cm of each measurement. People are starting to comment on it which is nice, you can't see it yourself really and I wear a lot of stretch so am not really noticing it in my clothes yet. I have so much more energy, energy to go walking around the lake with my girl friends, to go out and then still hit the gym. I'm feeling confident about making my food choices - my friends are really supportive and we seem to have a nice dynamic occuring of all of us getting a little more focussed on our health. We've just swapped a regular schnitzel night for the much healthier option of burritos and the sight of us all discussing the nutritional panel to work out what was the best option for each of us from the menu was really quite amusing. It has to be a realistic change - what works with your life, what doesn't. Denial of everything will only lead to bingeing and then beating yourself up about bad choices so why start the circle in the first place. Think I'm getting a much better hang of this as an idea
Monday, March 1, 2010
WEEK 3
Well I had fabulous intentions of blogging everyday and then real life happened. This is both a blessing and a curse so I'm moving to weekly updates and given how busy I am, these may stay as draft notes until I finish the challenge.
Week 3 was a good week, feeling strong and really focussing on my goals but needing to find a balance. I think I'm approaching the challenge a lot more realistically this year. I had soundwave at the end of Week 2 and that just blew away my goals of daily blogging. However - I planned for it. I took snacks, drank water, danced myself silly, made good food choices when on the road trip with the girls and as a result - 600g loss this week. Very excited. The exercise is starting to flow, I'm feeling my body get stronger, more flexible. Bike ride challenge this week was good, I loved feeling my legs just push through and eat up the kilometres. Am a bit nervous but am starting to look forward to measurements. Corinbank this weekend was a decided challenge - a 3 day festival up in the Corin Forest. However, focussing on the postive - so much walking and so little use of the ventolin, coped with the stress effectively and didn't decide to blow my food choices just because I gave myself an out. I danced - so much dancing to one of my favourite artists - Dallas Frasca who sang her guts outs (I of course joined in) with the great song "Strong Man". Favourite line "it's takes a strong man to deal with a woman like me". Hell yeah it does. I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about the Fernwood environment, by being a celebration of women, it encourages us to celebrate ourselves, our lumps, our bumps, our strengths, our endurance, our joy in life. The girls at Canberra City are a brilliant support network and are always there for a little pick me up or quick chat.
Week 3 was a good week, feeling strong and really focussing on my goals but needing to find a balance. I think I'm approaching the challenge a lot more realistically this year. I had soundwave at the end of Week 2 and that just blew away my goals of daily blogging. However - I planned for it. I took snacks, drank water, danced myself silly, made good food choices when on the road trip with the girls and as a result - 600g loss this week. Very excited. The exercise is starting to flow, I'm feeling my body get stronger, more flexible. Bike ride challenge this week was good, I loved feeling my legs just push through and eat up the kilometres. Am a bit nervous but am starting to look forward to measurements. Corinbank this weekend was a decided challenge - a 3 day festival up in the Corin Forest. However, focussing on the postive - so much walking and so little use of the ventolin, coped with the stress effectively and didn't decide to blow my food choices just because I gave myself an out. I danced - so much dancing to one of my favourite artists - Dallas Frasca who sang her guts outs (I of course joined in) with the great song "Strong Man". Favourite line "it's takes a strong man to deal with a woman like me". Hell yeah it does. I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about the Fernwood environment, by being a celebration of women, it encourages us to celebrate ourselves, our lumps, our bumps, our strengths, our endurance, our joy in life. The girls at Canberra City are a brilliant support network and are always there for a little pick me up or quick chat.
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