I have a cunning plan......

All the best and most successful endeavors start with a plan....cunning like Blackadder or otherwise.

I have set the goals....now to develop the plan to achieve it.

To start, I looked at my goals again. Being fitness goals, I also sat down with the gym timetable, organised PT time and my projected work schedule. So the exercising timetable for the next few months will be:

Monday:             5.15 pm CX worx
                           6.50pm  Body Pump class

Tuesday              9.00am  10 K run
                           7.30pm 30 mins PT (strength based)

Wednesday          9.15 Body Combat class
                            10.15 Body Pump

Thursday               9.15 Fatburner circuit
                             5.15  CX worx class

Friday                    9.15 Cross Training
                              7.30 PT (strength based)

Saturday                 9.00 am Body Combat
                              10.00am Body Pump

Sunday    REST DAY!

On those Sundays I have a funrun, I'll have Saturday as Rest Day.

Now this is not a set in concrete plan. Plans must be flexible, especially for those pop up events like meetings, family needs, life.....but it is good to have an idea of what to do when and where.  Makes it harder to think up excuses!

Nutritionally, I have the meal plans to follow and I am constantly educating myself.  I know what foods I can't stop at....( Maltesers anyone?) and when I mindlessly eat (computer snacks for all!) So I can PLAN around those so they are not even a blip on my radar. Not drinking enough water? Make a habit of a glass at every meal and my intake will go up.  See?  I have a cunning plan...... ;)

Finally, the goal of a funrun a month........

January     Tough Mudder                 19 Jan
February   Wyndham Rotary funrun   24 Feb
March        Sri Chinmoy run              24 March OR Conquestathon
April          Run the Rock                  20 April
May           Mothers Day Classic      12 May
June           Saloman Trail running      30 June
July            The Age run Melbourne  20/21st July
August        Saloman Trail Running    25 August   OR  Tough Mudder Qld
September  Saloman Trail running      22 September OR Tough Mudder Melbourne.
October      Melbourne Marathon     13 October   OR Valley Stampede
November   Marysville Marathon     17 November
December    Sussan Womens Funrun  First weekend in December

That's a very rough plan at the moment as events are still being added to the calendar, as well as I haven't made up my mind which ones I want to do.....for example, I REALLY want to do the Conquestathon but it means staying overnight at Mt Beauty, then arranging someone to look after the kids so Troy and I can do it. He has offered to watch the kids so I can do it but....20 kms up a mountain on my own? Would much prefer him with me.

So there it is.  The starter plan. Watch this space......

                            

New Year.....New goals.....New Promise

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, how was Christmas and New Years Eve my friends? We had a glorious time in the sun on cruise to New Caledonia.......how could you not love this?

And how could you not love having 3 courses for Breakfast, lunch and dinner?  Plus pre meal cocktails, apres meal cocktails and several nightcaps?

So yes, on holidays we let go with wild abandon and had a brilliant time.  But now, the body pays.

Interestingly, I only gained 3 kilos which I have lost in just 2 weeks...but my body shape is taking longer to return.  Was it worth it?  I made good food choices, but just ate far too much. Certainly drank far more than I am used to lately but I returned happy, tanned and with a new WOOHOO for life!

So after settling back in to real life, it is time to look at goals.  What do I want to achieve this year?  What do I want to achieve this month? What is going to be my aim and drive?

I revisited my old fitness goals and pleased to say I attained them all.  This weekend is the culmination of goals I had until May 31st....complete Tough Mudder.  Saturday is THE DAY. I cannot wait to tick that one off the list.

But now, what will 2013 bring me?  Or rather what will I bring to 2013?

By Feb 28th :
I will lose a minimum of 2% body fat.
I will run a minimum of 10 k per week
I will complete 5 chinups/pullups at full stretch.

By June 30th:
I will run a minimum of 20 k per week
I will improve my 5k time of 26.29 mins
I will reduce body fat by at least another 2%

By September 30th:
I will run a minimum of 30 k per week
I will complete 10 chinups/pullups at full stretch
I will maintain body fat percentage or improve it.

By December 31st:
I will have completed a funrun every month this year.

Now this is by no means a complete list but a start. I'll put a copy in my goals section.

Are these attainable?  Absolutely. I know what I need to do in nutrition, I know the work I need to put in, I know the mindset I need to develop. I have the tools, and the knowledge. But the drive? Only I can find the drive to continue.

After my holidays I wandered back into wishful thinking.....

Sigh.

But wishful thinking doesn't get you there, action does. Wishing something was different is a waste of time, unless it is connected with purposeful action, persistence and consistency. Everyone wants that quick fix, "fix me now and make it easy." But it won't and it's not. A permanent healthy lifestyle comes from a consistent change in habits....in eating habits, drinking habits and activity habits. It takes work, and there are times you just want to give up. There are times you fall into a heap and it just seems all pointless and too hard.



But you know, you have a Super Power.

You are the only one...THE ONLY ONE, who can change your life, your thoughts, yourself. YOU. Noone can make you change, noone can do the work for you, noone can transform and create a new you....you are the mastermind and creator of You.  So what are you going to build in yourself? What do you want to be like? What do you need to do to get there? When are you going to start and finish by?

So this is my promise for 2013:

I wish I'd......

I wish I'd told her how she brightened up those around her.  I wish I'd taken the time to tell her that her positivity was such motivation.

I wish.

On the weekend, one of the personal trainers at my gym, Melissa Parry was killed in a horrific car crash. Hit by a driver going 150k down the wrong side of the freeway killed her instantly, along with 3 others in the car plus the driver of the wrong way car.

She was 23 years old.  Healthy, strong, motivated, an enthusiastic shining light full of energy and life. Not ill, not old, no reason to be taken so young, apart from the actions of another.

I wish I had the chance to tell her what I thought about her when I could.

Live with no regrets.  If you are unhappy with your life, it's up to you to change it. noone else will. Don't wait until it's too late. If there are goals you want to achieve, things you want to do, go for it. Tomorrow may be too late.

If you love someone.....tell them.  Tell them now.  If they inspire you, encourage you, help you....tell them.  If you admire them or hold them in high regard, tell them.  If they brighten your day, or make you smile, if they motivate you or touch you in some way....tell them now.  Because you might not get the chance and the joy and pleasure you can give them by letting them know is gone forever.

Don't assume they know.  People are not mind readers. People don't just 'know'. So tell them.

I wish I had.

The following memorial was taken from the Facebook page of In Balance Fitness facebook page.
" Life is a song- sing it. Life is a game- play it.  Life is a challenge- meet it.  Life is a dream- realize it.

Signs of a good workout

So, you've just completed a workout at gym, at home, in the park......venue of choice. How do you know you've given it your all?  I've made up a list of 10 signs of a hard workout, using my own experience.

1. Your legs can feel like concrete and jelly, all at the same time. They can also feel numb but sore.  I know, I know, doesn't make sense but that's just the way it is.

2.Your skin could double as a salt lick for cattle.

3. Your face is redder than Rhonda's in Bali.

Without the panda eyes ;)

4. Your mouth turns into a vacuum for oxygen.

5. The next day, you wake feeling like you are 80 years old.  It hurts to move an eyelid and you feel as if you are in a body cast.

6. You can identify muscles you never knew you had by the way they hurt after a good session.

7. You want to vomit.  Enough said.  Why is that?

8. Your towel is as wet as if you've been swimming and not working out in air conditioning.....

9. Your HRM exploded.

10. You feel FANTASTIC and SPARKING with energy afterwards!!!!!

So how do you feel after a workout?

Taking it for granted...

I've been MIA for a while, but it was for a good cause...after wearing glasses since I was 13 years old, I am now spectacle-free.....

Yep, I took the plunge and had laser eye surgery.

Noooooo....  not laser guns, all safe. Stand down.

It is a very quick process for all I had to be there for hours.  After a final test for my eyes, I was given some Ativan to take which put me to sleep.  I was woken for the procedure, given anaesthetic eye drops and a clamp was attached to my eye.  Look at the green light and within 20 seconds all done. Same with the other eye.

I was on the medication for 4 days after the surgery, and antibiotic eye drops 4 times a day, plus lubricating drops and Vitamin c.  I slept a lot due to the medication.  I had 'bandaid' clear contact lenses applied to assist in protecting and healing for those 4 days and had to sleep in plastic shields which made me look like a very unsexy wasp.  But I could SEE!


It is incredibly liberating being able to see. For those of you with good vision, you might not realise this. Sight is something we take for granted.  But let me put it to you this way, as 10 things I've noticed with no glasses.

1.  I can shave my legs in the shower and SEE what I am doing.
2. I don't have to have my nose touching the mirror to be able to put on makeup.
3. I don't have to carry a case with my prescription sunnies in, nor do I have to change glasses everytime I go from indoors to outdoors and vice versa
4. I can go swimming at the pool and be able to see my kids at all times!
5. I don't have little indents on the sides of my nose from my glasses
6. I can run without them fogging up on a cold or wet day
7.  I can watch TV in bed.
8. I don't have to clean my eyeballs so I can see
9.I can have a good "pash on" without having to take them off ;)
10. I don't have to worry abut my eyes being knocked off with some extreme dancing.

My eyes are good.  I'm off the antibiotic drops and on to steroid drops 4 times a day and regular checkups for the next few months and then done. It is amazing.

Every time I look at something it feels amazing. Knowing I can do so much more without as much inconvenience is amazing. Mind you, I've been off any exercise for about 2 1/2 weeks which is driving me INSANE and I cannot wait until I can be up and at it at the Sussan Womens Funrun this Sunday. I've had to watch my nutrition levels to keep on par and have done successfully, even still losing a little bit more weight. And for someone who is go go go all the time, I've had to learn patience....

A bloody hard virtue but one nevertheless.Although I don't see why " Hurry Up, coming through" can't be a virtue too LOL

The compliments have been many. Working in a kindergarten meant the children were totally thrown by me without glasses and a lot of questions about what shop can I buy new eyes from. Massive street cred from the boys when the word laser was used. Parents have said I look younger, so different. (Hmmm not sure how to take that one....)

So, finally, with my new eyes, here's my to do list for this week...

The true meaning of transformation

trans·for·ma·tion/ˌtransfərˈmāSHən/

Noun:

A thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance. A metamorphosis during the life cycle of an animal.

As we fly down the last week of round 3 2012 of this fabulous program, it is a good time to reflect on what has changed.  And, some wise people have encouraged me to look at what I have achieved, look at the differences in myself, rather than what I think I lack, which puts me in a spiral.  Perfectionistic attitude anyone?

So I did. I dug out my diaries and notes and looked.  I didn't have to look hard.

 I did my first round in 2011, about this time.

That's me.  A sad fat blob. I was miserable.  I had the weight of the world on me, I thought nothing will ever change.  I was too scared to do anything new and often scared to do anything on my own.  Couldn't even go to the pool with my kids because I was too scared to get in the water, and didn't know how to swim. Inside, I felt I was always in the wrong, that people were talking about me, like I had few friends and the ones I did have were just doing it to be nice. Often a favourite fantasy was to live in a house surrounded by dense forest that noone could get through and in there I would live, hidden away, not having to deal with anything.  I spent my time walking with my head down, looking at the floor.  My diary entries I read were like from a starnger and they broke my heart. The poetry I wrote all through my teen and adult life until then makes me cry for that person.

Untitled.  

Written September 1999

When you look at her face

All is calm, serene.

The face shows Happy.

But the eyes are the window

To the soul,

Eyes she keeps hidden

For fear someone discovers

how truly deep the fear goes.

Noone knows

How close she is

to ridding the world of her presence.

Why would anyone notice?

The children barely know she is alive....

Her employment would merely

be annoyed,

" Another staff member down"

Her lover?

Could merely move on 

Without her weight dragging him down.

Would it really make a difference

If she were dead?

Would it really matter if she remained alive?

We will never know.

For she lacks the courage

to Live

Or die.

But then, on a whim, or a last ditch chance, I joined 12 WBT.

This really should be called something other than BODY transformation.  For me it was truly a whole life changing experience. I followed the plans to the letter....which gave me a feeling of control.  And the numbers began to go down.  I found exercise made me feel GREAT and became something to look forward to.  It gave me a purpose and I could feel it in my body and mind that I was getting stronger. Yes my body changed....but somewhere along the way, my whole way of thinking, my way of seeing life and myself changed completely.

I faced many of my fears..... for example, a friend offered to teach me how to swim. Those lessons were hard, so hard.  So many false starts!  Even now to put my head in the water I struggle with my fears but....I DID IT. I learned to swim, not gracefully or fast but enough to enter a tri-pink triathlon.  That still to this day is one of my greatest memories....swimming in a triathlon.

I ran in funruns and found I was getting faster and faster. People were commenting on how good I looked, I began to grow more confident in myself and dared to think I WAS good enough.

End of Round 2 2012

 I WAS succeeding. I WAS wanted!  I looked up from the ground when I walked.  I tried new things and set goals.  Even my ridiculous thinking had changed...I had a morbid fear of using the phone to call people in case they were busy and I interrupted them, I avoided it at all costs. Now I can call and not feel like hyperventilating.

My self talk went from hateful vicious words to positive.  When I got tired running, I could hear Mish's voice in my head egging me on supportively.  Eventually I noticed the voice in my head sounded less like Mish and more like mine.  It was my voice shouting " Just one more Km, Just one more Km" when I ran my first half marathon in 2 hours 19 mins.  But it was Mish that created the environment for it.

The cream on the pie was being up on stage as a finalist in round 2 2012.

Now this round I have struggled. The old thinkings came back and crippled me, although nowhere near to the extent my whole life as I remember had been.

  I felt like I failed because I wasn't a winner, and didn't recognise ( although I certainly felt it) being a finalist was the hugest and most magnificent honour I could have imagined.  I didn't take pleasure in what I could do in the gym. I didn't believe it when people said I inspired them. All I could see was what I could not do or be.  The ridiculousness of this hit when I said to my ever patient, very loving and supportive husband that I was useless because I can only deadlift and squat 60 kgs.  What the????? A year ago I couldn't deadlift a bag of sugar!  And now I'm doing more than 10 kgs over my bodyweight?  Mental slap to the head.

But a year ago, I would not have been able to change that thinking. The tools and the sense of achievement in setting goals, even small ones through the program, have step by step transformed my muddy blackened mind into something as hard and as shiny as diamonds. The discipline behind JFDI and taming the inner labrador, exercising that willpower muscle also caused me to be more disciplined in my thinking....attacking the negative and replacing with positive thoughts. Taking the death wish that seemed to be my answer to everything and giving me a hunger and a yearning for life and everything in it.  For the first time in years I can smile and really FEEL it inside.

Now I know someone people, if they have managed to read this far, have already rolled their eyes. Some might think I'm still being pathetic.  But I can honestly say now....I DON'T CARE. This is me. This was me.

It could have been you.

So I want to take this opportunity to say thank you, although those words are nowhere near enough what I feel.  Thankyou to Michelle Bridges for creating this program, for the mindset lessons, for showing that even she isn't perfect and for setting up the forum.  Thank you to the people on the forums for their support, their friendship, their advice and their willingness to share the things that they go through.  Thank you for your strength. Thank you for the feeling of belonging.

Week 11...the end is in sight :(

Only one more week before my time with 12 WBT is over.  Only one more week before I stretch my little muscles and fly by myself.  I look forward to the challenge.

Menu plans.

Again, good food, good preparation and happy family.  We even had a BBQ and used the char grilled steak with avocado and corn salsa to serve to our guests, with great success.  Fantastic to be able to physically show others how good the food is!

Love the chicken rice paper rolls for lunches....a little fiddly to make but once you get the rhythm it's all good.  Kids love them too and makes their lunch boxes just a little more posh HA!  The spaghetti and meatballs was a good dinner as well.

We ended up having visitors stay for a while with us and ate out.  I was able to put into place what I had learned about choosing foods, sauce on the side, portion sizing etc and stay on track.  It DID mean I wasn't able to try the kangaroo with quinoa and capsicum salad but I'm planning on doing that next week.  I never thought I would LOVE eating kangaroo so much!

  Sorry Skip...

Exercise Plans.

Due to different things that overwhelmed this week, I've missed my running training time this week :(  and really missed it.  Running has become something I enjoy so much, for all I struggle to breathe with it!  I was able to smash my personal best for 5 km in the Lara funrun last week....from 30 mins down to 26 minutes!!!!!  I was flying!!! Not as much as my kids....who ran 1.6 km in the kid dash.  Mr 11 yr old came 4th with a time just over 3 minutes (Cue shocked face here) and Miss 8 managed a very respectable 6 minute run. I met up with other 12WBTers and fellow gym ladies and the morning passed with sweat, puffing and endorphins.

In terms of weights I'm still chugging along.  I'm struggling with one thing though...the newbies in the gym who use equipment then leave it lying around so you don't know if it's still in use or not!  So had to compromise on some of my weights, not being able to use what I would have liked.
  Mentally I struggled this week too.  I feel like a failure, very down and slipping back into the " look at the ground I'm worthless" mentality. I know this is a problem for me and something I need to strengthen but I'm lost how to go about it. Very wary of counsellors/psychologists after 2 very bad experiences plus, I feel I am the problem, I should get myself out.....I just need to know how.  But until then I will soldier on, it's no excuse to give up.  Feelings are transient and who knows?  I feel like this now, but in a week or two I could be back to chirpy after a rest or a stern self talking to. My new mantra is NEVER GIVE UP, taking over from JFDI.

Personal bests for this week....
Reverse flys  10kg
Incline dumbbell bicep curls  8 kgs

The final DEXA scan

This week was the due date for my comparison dexa scan.  I was a little nervous and then the results came in. Little to no change.  To say I was crushed is an understatement.  Rarely have I ever felt so low, it was all I could do not to burst into tears at the thought of so much hard work, until I had nothing left in the tank, all the DOMS, all the healthy eating, all the work and mental work I had done to stay on track....all for nothing.  I sat on the train on the way home and thought it would be easier if I was in front of the train rather than on it.

Some excellent advice and brilliant support from the Lean and Strong Facebook forum helped set me fairly straight on what I can do in the future. And that the results are not as bad as I see, just not to my expectations. To be honest, I am still devastated. But I won't give up....how can it improve if I do? The results of the scan are as follows....
After 77 days
Bone 2.168    now 2.172  up 0.004 ( so yay no osteoporosis)

Lean  36.923  now 37.549 up 0.626

Fat     10.654 down 10.578  down 0.076

Body fat percentage  21.42%  now 21.03%

This places my fat free mass in the acceptable range  and my fat mass in the lean range.  Technically I need to lose 300 gms of fat to be in the athlete range which will be my goal.  As it turns out I increased my calories on advice, adding protein rich snacks but what that did was even out what I burned and what I ate.  As close to a balance as I could get it apparently, considering I wasn't quite sure what I should be doing! So onward and upward.  I may not be in the next round but every 12 weeks I'll be measuring and making sure things stay on track. So my last words to you this week are a timely reminder to myself.