Week 8 reflection

Mini Milestone week and the week of the Pay it Forward 50 Kilometre walk!

Menu plans

This week's deliciousness was consistently good.  My lasagne obsessed son was over the moon with Nat's lasagne recipe.  Adored it so much it will definitely become a staple in this house. The minestrone soup was great for dinner also, and for the lunches afterwards!
A great snack has been the pear discs, with cottage cheese and raisins.  A few of the kinder kids had NO idea what I was eating for snack...the next day, there were a few different cheeses and fruits in the lunchbox!  GO CLEAN EATING!!!!!

Part of our challenge this week was to devise a recipe for breakfast, main, lunch or dessert.  I tinkered with a few ideas but came up with using gow gee wrappers to make little apple pie-ettes, using grated apple.  Here I've served it with low fat vanilla yoghurt.  And warmingly yummy dessert for only 148 calories!

Exercise plans

The exercise plans this week still continued on specific areas.  I'm noticing I'm stronger in comparison to the last week and still managing to up some of my weights.  Currently I'm squatting with 40 kilos and chest presses with 30 kilos .  Really seeing some changes in my body too!  Here's a pic Troy took of me while on the Assisted chinup machine (30kgs weight)

It is a good reminder that I AM improving! Because the changes are gradual it's easy to think nothing is happening but get a pic taken and be amazed at what's changing!  Looking forward to the next 4 weeks of 'Gettin Ripped!'

Mini milestone challenge: Pay it Forward 50 k walk

Saturday in lieu of the SSS session, I embarked on my 50 kilometre walk challenge.  I was joined by the lovely Vicki as we set off at 7am in the dark from Werribee, along the Federation Trail, ending at Millers Road at the Westgate Bridge....25Km there and 25 back.

It was cold...one would say freezing, a fact not helped by the rain that peppered us on and off.

 But we persevered, making it to the halfway point in 5 hours of non stop walking....this is where Vicki and I parted company and I turned to make the homeward trek myself.
I was prepared for the walk but I was not prepared for how hard it would be mentally, particularly walking the last 25 k on my own. By the 35 k mark I had incredible pain in my hips and calves and due to wet shoes had developed huge blisters on the soles of my feet.  I limped on, updating on Facebook at each checkpoint on the way home, not seeing another soul on the trail.

At 8 hours walking my HRM died......

And still trudged on....for another 2 hours.

My gorgeous husband met me on my last kilometre.  It was raining harder than before, I couldn't feel my hands and had reached the limits of my mental and emotional endurance.  Physically I was in pain and exhausted.  He walked with me, carrying my backpack in the rain while I chanted " Nearly there nearly there" and cried alternatively.  The relief when I crossed the marker point was monumental.  I could not do any more.  But I had done enough.  I had done it......10 hours of nonstop walking, 50 kilometres.

I came home to a hot bath and a roast dinner....did I not say my husband is gorgeous?!  He helped me when my muscles began cramping up randomly through the evening after the walk and even had a celebratory glass of champagne waiting for me. I tell ya he's a keeper....

The nominees paragraphs are with the panel members now and next week I hope to be able to inform the recipient of the Pay It Forward 12WBT sponsorship.  I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has given me support for this....the ones who cheered me on via facebook or phone, the people who donated, Vicki for walking with me, my family for giving me the time to do this and for giving me the time to recover. 

Words words words.

There are million, trillions of them.  Some are everyday words, some are whispered words, some are shout it out loud at the footy words. Some words are heard and some are just listened to.  But what are the words you say to yourself?

When someone asks me how I ran the half marathon, my answer is I just ran.  It wasn't easy but I played mindgames to keep me going. " Sheer bloody mindedness" my parents would call it. Countdowns, mantras in time with my feet, bargains like if I make it to the next kilometre, "that's 15 minutes in a long hot bath." At the 18km mark until 21.1 mark I chanted " I can Do this" over and over and over.  All those words were POSITIVE. Not once did I think " I can't do this it's too far. It hurts, I can just walk"  If I had I would have given up then and there and not finished. 

Thats something I learned in my training, once I think I can't do it....I can't.  So I began talking myself into it.  When I started finding things hard, I'd coax along in my head with words like " You can do it! You ARE doing it"  When things were getting dire it would often be " MOVE YOUR ARSE WOMAN! You know what to do, quit whining and do it!" And I would.

Those words had the power...they were self fulfilling prophecies.

 

So now I changed disciplines and for the past eight weeks, I've been focusing more on weights, rather than running. I was lost setting goals and those niggling voices were coming back. " You can't do that, look at the size of the blokes that do it"  Besides which how do I measure a goal for strength?

Well I have learned over the past 8 weeks that lifting weights is just like running a half marathon.  The body knows what to do, the mind needs convincing.  This struck home while doing chest presses a few weeks ago.  I had done the weight before, it was a challenge but I could do it.  This day though, halfway through, I thought " Nup, I can't it's just too heavy"  INSTANTLY I couldn't do it.  I literally had no strength in my arms to do one more rep and if my husband wasn't there, I'd have been squished.  Flow on effect?  I went into a bad mood because I felt I failed and then the whole session was a grump fest with lots of struggles.

All from 2 little words...." I can't"  close relations to the words " I couldn't"

How many times have you heard yourself say those words?

" I can't run"

" I couldn't do that"

"I can't say no"

" I can't find time to exercise"

" I can't get out"

" I couldn't make it."

Well you know...last year....I couldn't swim. This January I swam 100 metres in the Pink Triathlon.

2 years ago I couldn't run 10 kilometres.  I ran the Sussan Womens 10 K Funrun December 2010, 2011 in under an hour.

Then in April I ran a half marathon.....when I " couldn't run more than 10 km"

In May I couldn't do one chinup.  In June I did three.

Those words don't count anymore.  They're not real.  I've proved for everything I said I can't, I can. And everytime I COULD, my life improved HUGELY.  Not only am I stronger physically through saying I can and DOING it, but I'm stronger emotionally, stronger mentally. 

Get rid of the words that are sucking the life out of you.  Replace them with the words that lift your legs, move your feet, that strengthen your mind.  You CAN do what you put your mind to. You just have to believe and keep believing.  Keep plodding on away at it.  Look at the people doing what you want to do...betcha their minds aren't stuck in the " I can't"s. They DO because they CAN.  And so can you.

So when you get up in the morning or before you go to bed.....tell yourself you CAN do it, picture yourself doing it, then keep trying until you DO it. THEN SHOUT IT OUT!

Week 7 Reflection

A week of memories, sadness and joys and avoiding ironing. :)

Unless you're this guy...then iron all you want!

Menu plans  

This week was the week of the stir fry.  I love a good stirfry, so quick to make, yummy and you can change the flavour so many different ways!  My personal favourite is the Salmon and broccolini stirfry. A surprisingly yummy lunch was satay egg, carrot and cucumber corn thins....I admit I was not overjoyed to try this but mmmm it gets the thumbs up from me.  The Masterchef judges love the bunless burgers....although they skip the whole mushroom bit.

Ate out a couple of times this week too...lunch with a friend on Friday then a trivia night dinner last night.  NOTE TO SELF: You cannot drink a bottle of wine anymore without feeling gross!  Even though you think you still can DON'T! A glass is enough!

I've been drinking lots of herbal teas, both from the competiton prize and the ones I already have.  My favourite is still lemongrass and ginger but a relaxation blend from Tea Tonic is right up there...OMG relax?  I felt like I was just so deliciously heavy and slow and so chilled out I could've dribbled all over the floor and not realised.  A FANTASTIC tea to have just before bed and not out of a thermos while watching your son's footy training in the car. If you want to feel like someone has liquified your bones and reduced you to mush then here's a link:

http://teatonic.com.au/products/relaxation-tea/

Exercise plans

I am loving doing the Lean and Strong program!  Yes, it's hard work, but way harder mentally than physically.  I can truly appreciate all those vacant fierce determined looks of concentration I see on faces at the gym! 

A few differences this week but the main one being, I began to keep my workout diary. A GREAT tool, I can keep track of my weights and reps and I've been highlighting 'PBs'...when I up my weights or do more reps.  Love seeing those colours!  So I managed to up my weights on the shoulder press, assisted chinups and rear deltoid raises and up the reps on my arch nemesis the hamstring curl machine and mac raises.

Another benefit to keeping the diary is, when I am searching for any reason at all to avoid ironing, I can calculate all sorts of things!  So for this week:

Hours workout: 9 hours

Calories burned: 3759 or an average of 626.5 a workout.

Calories consumed: 8192 or an average of 1365 a day

So taking into account that my BMR ( basic calories burned every day if I did nothing but beat my heart and breathe pretty much) is 1214 a day, if we subtract that for the 6 days plus workouts, I'm in calorie deficit by 2851 calories.  And that equals weight/body fat loss or knowing I can relax a little when I go out!

Not bad considering I'm not ravenously hungry all the time...eating clean has WAY more food for your belly than junk food does!

SSS and surprise challenge

WOH!  This weeks SSS has been done earlier in the round and it nearly killed me.... interval sprints mixed up with 100 burpees, jump squats, plyometric lunges, etc, and topped off with 100 crunches and a few planks, just for fun. Last time I was a puddle of sweat gasping for air by the second round. But this time, I managed it easier and in a faster time than last time I did this. While my breathing got heavy and sweat still literally dripped off me (great pore cleanser LOL) I could FEEL how much stronger I felt doing it, and there was no gasping like a fish out of water.  It was great to actually see that my fitness levels have INCREASED as well as my strength! It's motivating to know it's working, so I recommend testing yourself every 4-6 weeks....just to see how far you've come along.

Thank you to everyone who watched my mindset lesson!  It won a prize from the Michelle Bridges 12WBT....I am SOOO looking forward to buying a new sports bra with my Triumph voucher!

And a MASSIVE thank you to all those who have donated on the Pay It Forward page!  I am only $10 off goal and this time next week, I will have completed the 50K walk.  I have a few nominations but I welcome more for our panel to choose from so don't be shy...nominate yourself or a friend or relative!  Details are on the Pay It Forward page :)

I also want to thank you all who have read my recent blogpost on 'What will people think? '.  I have had so many positive comments and read your stories I have been motivated, inspired,  brought to tears and to laughter and am just blown away by all you fabulous people who took the time out of your day to let me know what you thought.  Thank you....for everything.  For taking my heavy heart and the words I wrote crying and turning it into something strong.

And finally...I have your 'To Do' list right here....

LET'S BE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What will people think?

Have you ever found yourself thinking this?

" I can't wear that, what will people think?

" I don't want to run because people will laugh."

" I can't do that in front of my friend/family, they'll think I'm an idiot!"

or the classic.....

I catch my self thinking that ALL THE TIME!  In my head, it seems everyone is just watching me for a chance to point the finger and laugh, or to mutter behind their hands...discussing how much of a fool I am.  This type of self conscious mind has stopped me from doing so much, pictures with my kids, things I want to do or achieve, even wearing a miniskirt ( mutton dressed as lamb anyone?)

But you know what?  You have only one shot at this life.  One go. Only once will you have this day, at this age then it's gone forever. Let me share with you what brought this home to me.

I had the most beautiful friend called Bek.  She was just the sort of person that made you feel at ease straight away, always smiley, positive, just a perfect beautiful soul.  

Then breast cancer came and it took her away.  But not before she gave it the hardest fight of its vicious life and right up until the end, she fought and fought hard.  She never EVER surrendered. She sucked every piece out of life that she could and she LIVED every second, and not once did I see her lose that calm, the positivity, that smile. While I was worried about asking questions that might be considered rude or that might make her feel bad, she took great pains to put everyone at ease about what was happening and what treatment was like.

Her Send Off is still etched in my mind today, it was my turning point.

On the screen above us all came a series of photos, lots of photos.  Photos in hospital, out of hospital, smiling, thinking, sleeping, every day sort of photos.  Photos with hair and without, photos of looking healthy and when she didn't. Photos of every facet of her life. It was powerful. Bek got her motorbike license while undergoing treatment....she didn't stop to think " Oh, I wonder what people would think, if I should do this or not?" She just did it.

On the plane on the way home, I realised, if I died right now.......that screen would be pretty empty.  Too many times I've hid behind the camera because I thought I was too ugly, too fat, too SELF CONSCIOUS to be in a photo. Too many missed years of pictures with my children.  That led me on to thinking, what about life?  What about all the things I wanted to do but never have?  What about things I've never considered doing before?  Because what would people think????

Go and take a look in the mirror, who do you see there?  Is it 'other people'?  Or just you?  Why are you living your life according to 'other people's wishes?  Are you not JUST as important if not more than them? Who is living this life?  Who has the responsibility for it?

I made a choice then that changed my life.  Bek changed my life, I miss her but I will never forget her or be able to thank her for what she has done for me, and for my family, no matter how desperately I want to.  

My life. No unnecessary regrets. No more waiting for other opinions, or worrying so much about what people think.  Stuff them, are they me?  Do they have to make the decisions that affect my life? Do they have to take responsibility for my actions? And if I make a mistake?  At least it was mine to make.

I determined then that I would live my life as hard as I could.

What I choose to do may not be to everyone's liking but it is to mine.  And I found, after making this decision, I began to like myself better.  I'm not such a bad person after all!  

Now this is not to say I don't still have moments. Just this morning at gym, dressing in the dark, half asleep, I discovered at the end of my workout I had been merrily running on the treadmill and lifting weights with my pants on inside out!  No hiding it, it was out there for all to see and I had done this for an hour before I noticed.  Now when I did, I immediately wanted to crawl into a hole and die a red faced death and skip the last 2 ab exercises.  Because  "OMG what has everyone been thinking!!!!!!"

Then it struck me.

a. Noone else has noticed or thought to tell me so it can't have mattered too much to them.

b. Why skip exercises now when I've done a whole hour with all the tags hanging out?

c. WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK?  IT'S ONLY 6 AM FOR GODS SAKES!

 Finally....Bon Jovi's words of wisdom......

.

 So whose life will you live?  Yours or someone else's?

 

 

Week 6 Reflection

WELCOME TO HALFWAY!

We've reached the halfway mark of the change to the rest of my life.  And I have climbed that wall from last week and I can see at least as far as the next week now. :)

Menu plans

This week's menu items were a little hit and miss with the Junior judges.  A thumbs down to the chickpea soup and massive MASSIVE thumbs up to the Not-So-Naughty nachos.  Another one that hit the target was the balsamic and basil strawberries dessert....mmmmmmm.

Troy and I deviated a little on Thursday, we went out to the Takumi Japanese restaurant in Bourke St, Melbourne.  Chosen for it's serving sizes and fresh, delicious produce, we were both able to stay within our treat meal guidelines. Loved the wafer thin wagyu beef sashimi and the red bean icecream was GREAT!!!!!! If you are in Melbourne, definitely give this place a look see.

I recieved my blog writers prize from Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body transformation this week!  Much thanks to Tea Tonic and Dermaviduals. I've been having a ball drinking all different sorts of teas....LOVE the White tea with rose petals and the Warm and Spicy tea so far!

 

Exercise plans

This week's plans were similar to last weeks.  I noticed I'm getting better at the bicep curls which puts a smile on my face! I was very brave and did the Hammys and shoulders workout by myself, while Troy was coaching football.  Without having someone there I felt really self conscious but I just got in and did what I had to do.  I upped the weights on the machines and managed it.  I've been reluctant to raise the weights before as we normally workout first thing in the morning and I don't want to make either of us late for work because I'm going slower.  But that attitude isn't helping my workouts and realistically, I WON'T make us late for work, it's just another little anxiety mind game.

Another thing I have changed to help me in the next 6 weeks to really develop the weight lifting habit is buying myself a workout diary.  This book has a page for my workouts, how much I slept, what I ate and when, what supplements I've taken, what cardio I have done etc etc.  It has already been useful as a motivating tool (all those clean white pages to be filled up with my writing!) and as a reminder as to what weights I used last time and how many reps I did, so I can aim to improve and see the improvements.  I got my diary from Rebel Sport ($24.95)

 Surprise Challenge

First of all I want to say Thank you to those who have supported me in my Pay It Forward 50 K walk.  I am now only A few dollars off my target!  Please take the time to check out my sponsors names and those who have said they'll walk with me on the Pay It Forward page .  If you know them....GIVE THEM A MASSIVE HUG for being so AWESOME!

This week's surprise challenge had me thinking.  We had to design a Mindset lesson to help others.  It had to be 3 minutes long, interesting and informative.  I had set myself the goal of meeting each of these challenges and I had no idea where to start.  Then I thought about what I had written last week, about hitting the wall. So, before I could lose my nerve I thought out some points, wrote them down, read them over and then promptly forgot everything I tried to memorise when I turned the camera on!  So, for those of you who haven't seen it, here is me trying to desperately remember what I had meant to say, while I was speaking.  Thank you to everyone who has seen it and left me such GREAT feedback!  And just as good, Michelle Bridges put a link to it in her weekly letter to us all.  I feel a little silly but I was so happy, I had a few happy tears that it was enough for anyone to like it!

I am a little pleased with myself, that I overcame my nerves and my ability to stumble over all my words when it counts and meet this challenge.  I'm still not 100% comfortable in front of any camera but hey, you only live once.

Finally...for all of you out there.......

AND YES, I'M TALKING TO YOU!

What gets your motor running?

I'm talking playlists here!   For those who use music during a workout, what gets you in your groove?  Are the songs motivational? Fast?  Happy?  ANGRY?  Fun?

For me, to get motivated my playlist is a mix of fast and happy music...music that makes me feel good.  So I thought I'd share with you my top 20 of what gets me smiling while running 10 k on the treadmill or by the river.

1. Blame it on the Boogie - The Jacksons.
2.Little Red Rooster- The Rolling Stones
3.She Said- Plan B ( LOVE the film clip!)

4. Always On My mind- Pet Shop Boys
5. Grenade - Bruno Mars
6. Like A stone- Audioslave
7. Whip it - Devo
8. Sing- My Chemical Romance
9. Joker and the Thief- Wolfmother
10.Party Rock Anthem  LMFAO

11.What are you waiting for? - Gwen Stefani
12.Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
13.Wonderwoman theme music - Charles Fox and Norman Gimble
14.Bamboleo - Gypsy kings
15 Black Betty - Spiderbait
16.Forget you - Cee Lo Green...when this plays I always see this clip in my head...AMAZING!

WARNING!  THIS IS THE ORIGINAL LYRICS! Where it's NOT Forget you but rather F...you. It is audible so turn the sound down if you need!

17. Sunshine of your love - Santana
18. Feeling Good - Michael Buble
19. We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be cool and Dcup
20. Lay your hands on me - Bon Jovi




So whats on your playlist?  What has you busting moves just like these dudes?  ( Great treadie technique...in suits and all!LOL)

Week 5 Reflection

Or the week that hit the wall....BIG time.

Menu Plans 

MMMM  good meals this week!  The favourite this week was Rae's meatballs....so good in fact we had it twice!!!  Kids adored it, easy to make and the whole house smells GOOD!  Cooked my first rhubarb this week too for one of the desserts....so I'm not only learning how to eat properly but how to cook new things!  And while it LOOKS a little unappetising, it sure tasted DELICIOUS!  Another 2 thumbs up from the Junior Masterchef judging panel...and they mark HARD.

One of Troy's favourite breakfasts was on this week too...the apple and cinnamon coucous. DELICIOUS and very quick to prepare.  Since we go to gym at 5.30, get home after working out and showering there at about 7 and have to be out the door by 8, we need quick and satisfying breakfasts...and this fits the bill.

Exercise plans 

This week was a DOOZY!  Can I just say, the final blasts had me almost in tears...that pyramid set of bicep curls with no break...starting at 10 kilos and ending up in stages to 25 kilos and back down again had me almost begging Troy to take the barbell away.  And that was the first brick in the wall.

Remember last week's reflection I said my mind gets in the way?  Well it's a NASTY piece of work and had me nearly in tears after every workout, except Wednesdays cardio and toning.  I needed that run so badly, I pelted at 11-12km speed for 20 minutes to just work off some of the negativity.  And while I ran, not a bad thought in sight.  There was no " give up" or " You're kidding you can't do that" just me, the ipod and my favourite songs...not even good running songs, just songs that make me smile.  I felt strong again and happy, like I used to.

That got me through the rest of the week and it is glaringly apparent that my mind is my worst enemy....and needs the greatest discipline.  While I pushed through every set and every rep with as much as I could muster, this week's workout had me dreading them for the first time for a long long time. 

The SSS challenge was all massive pyramid sets...lat pulldown, leg press, chest press and those bicep curls.  I psyched myself up and got through the lat pulldowns well and smashed the leg press pyramid.  I got to the 4 step of the chest press and bang! " Why the hell are you doing this anyway?  Who are you trying to impress?" ran through my head and I just lost all the strength in my arms and wanted to give up then and there.  Troy egged me on though and I was determined if I was going down, I'd go down with a damn good fight and (not so surprisingly) finished the set as  strongly as I could.  And how did the bicep curls go?  WAY easier than the first time!  So confidence is coming back :)  And you know what to do when you hit a wall?  You climb the damn thing! ;)

Surprise challenge

This week we had to develop a snack recipe, 150 calories or less with no more than 5 ingredients. I thought about what I'd love to eat, had to tweak and try, calculate and then tested it out on the Junior Masterchef judges and their friends....SUCCESS!  So here it is....Kipwil's herby warmed olives.  This is 1 serve.

3 large Coles Whole green Olives (52 gms) 

5 Coles Kalamata Olives (30 gms) 

sprig rosemary 

5 gms pine nuts 

1/2 teaspoon Olive oil. 

Toast the pinenuts in a dry pan until lightly toasted. Combine olives, rosemary and olive oil in an oven proof dish or baking tray. Heat in a 200 degree oven until olives are softer and warm, slightly wrinkly, about 5-10 mins. Toss with pine nuts and serve warm.

Finally....a big week for us....my husband's birthday, first week of school holidays and my son's 50th game of footy.  Been keeping on track with nutrition and haven't missed a workout, so very proud I can do this!  Next week is my daughters 8th birthday and another week of holidays.....wish me luck!  Instead of leaving you with my usual message of Awesomeness, I just want to leave you with my awesome son's footy banner and run up to it......AWESOME achievement for a player in Under 11s!!!

AND WE WON THE GAME!!!!!!!

Eau'd to Water

And why is that I wonder?  

We all know we are made up of mostly water...( which always makes me think of human shaped skin bags full of water...ew, gross!) and that we need to drink water to survive.  We all know about the 8 glasses or the latest, the number of glasses that go with your body weight.  IE.  At my weight, I need 1.5 litres of water a day (including that which I get from food) which is about 6 glasses a day.

We all know water is important.

Do we all know water, plain water is calorie free?  WOOHOO!  And that if you drink up, you can keep hunger pangs at bay until you experience true hunger? DOUBLE WOOHOO!

BUT!

(But?  BUT?  Why a but?)

My secret:  I hate drinking it.  If I'm really thirsty I can chug it down but as far as sipping it, or CHOOSING to drink it...hmmmm.....results are not good.  I like flavour and water just has none.  I'd rather a lemongrass and ginger tea or ANYTHING but water.  I had to find a way to help myself along and I found it here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yoga-Aid-Challenge-Brisbane/165854990162280

If you look on this page, you'll see glorious jars filled with water.....and fruit or herbs to flavour it.

DELICIOUS!  Of course, now it's not calorie free but the calories would be minimal.

So I tried it myself with lemon balm. I left the lemonbalm in the water overnight in the fridge.

SUCCESS!  DELICIOUS!  I REFILLED MY GLASS!

Next I want to try some apple, mandarin or maybe strawberries or even any one of the few different varieties of mint I have!

If you struggle with water as I do, experiment.  See what will work for you. Would love to hear about your 'recipes'!

Which brings me to my " Eau'd to Water"

Wet and wonderful on a hot day

And ever so easy to find.

Together with fruits, herbs and spices

Elegantly I imbibe.

Revive in me a love for you, " Eau Water"

6 Impossible things

As I approach the middle 4 weeks of the 12WBT challenge, I found myself with a case of the blahs.  I didn't feel good enough, because I started comparing myself with others and what they were achieving.  But HEY!  I'm not them, I'm me!  And I'm pretty darn sure that someone is looking at what I have achieved and thought " I wish I could do that."  

We're all at different places along the way.  Some things seem impossibly hard until you travel a bit further along and find out they aren't as big and scary or impossible as they once were.

So here's my list of Impossible Things cut down to size...just this year!

 1. Complete a triathlon.   Now THIS was impossible even right up to December last year..  I didn't know how to swim!  My friend Mel taught me the basics and I practised doing laps (with my head above the water LOL) until I was confident.  I then entered triathlon Pink....and FINISHED!  And I DIDN'T DROWN!!  I then had to practise riding a bike.....when I didn't own one!  So late last year I purchased my Blue streak of speed and  brushed off those VERY rusty cycling skills.

2. Running a half marathon.  Impossible.  Who on earth would have EVER expected me to run 21.1 kms?  The whole way?  And to do it in under 2 1/2 hours? And still be walking afterwards???!!! Certainly not me. It wasn't gracefully done, or prettily achieved but I DID IT!

3. Chin ups.  SO Impossible.  Couldn't even get one out in May and come June I pop out 3.  Massive surprise to myself ..... and look still doing it sideways LOL Damn this newfangled technology!

4.  Wall sit for 3 minutes!  Impossible.  How on earth could ANYONE do it for longer than a few seconds, let alone a minute!  The burn is incredible. I had never met anyone before this year who could do it for longer than a minute.  Then I met Rachael who managed 4 mins in her first fitness test which got me thinking " Let's have a go.".  And no I did not believe it was possible right up until I saw the stopwatch. 

5. Stop eating chocolate/drinking wine instead of inhaling the whole lot.  I can go without chocolate every day!  I can go without a bottle of wine every Friday night! I can SAY NO! Food is no longer a reward or a craving that takes over my life. 

6.  I got MUSCLES!  Impossible.  Who'd have thought I'd be able to lift weights and GET muscles, let alone see them! And this is after only 4 weeks!!!!! As a kid I always had stick arms.  As an adult they went from stick to just hanging there.  But now, now these babies are USEFUL, STRONG and alllll mine!

And look at that, it's only halfway through the year.....what impossible things have you conquered?

Week 4 reflection

A third of the way through, and the first chance to look at some results with measurements and a fitness test update.

Menu Plans

Another week of DELICIOUS meals although hands down favourite would be the healthy banana bread for breakfast.  Easy to make and delicious, and definitely something you could make for a work morning tea or take to a friends place to share.  Another goodie was the lamb koftas, so flavoursome with all the spices! My favourite lunch was in again, chicken rice paper rolls, I could eat those all day.  One that was a bit hit and miss was the broccoli soup.  Easy to make and tasty but hard to look at a bit if green puts you off and it took a little convincing to get the kids to try it, although once they did they polished the plate!

Exercise Plans

This was the last week of ' Hard and Heavy' eight program, we now move on to specificity for the next 4 weeks.  I feel stronger and managed all the weights to 12 reps, so will now attempt heavier so I can only do 8 reps and build up to 12. I find my mind gets in the way, I get scared I'll hurt myself or I won't be able to do it before I even really start it.  I noticed this during chest press.  I have lifted 25 kg in chest press (8 reps) before it when it went to 10, I fell apart.  Couldn't even do one the first time I attempted the more reps!  Which is ridiculous because I KNEW I could already do 8.  So with my ever patient husband hovering to rescue me if I needed it I forced myself to do it a second time.....and really shut out my mind and just concentrated on breath and counting.  And I did it!  My biggest downfall is my thinking. Now I'm aware of it, I can work on it.

 There was a mini milestone challenge  this week too...it was FUN!  And it really is a take anywhere exercise plan.....thinking of possibly taking it on cruise with us at Christmas time this year to work off some of those cocktails!  It was based on a deck of playing cards, with each suit representing a different exercise to the value of the card(  8 Diamonds means 8 squat jumps or push ups etc) and the royal cards being 10 burpees.  Ultimately 160 burpees!

It was a hard and fast workout, and fun, although Troy really needs to work on his shuffling skills as we hit 100 burpees in the first half of the pack!  I think for us to do it, we need to go through the pack twice.  I was introduced to mac push ups in this milestone challenge too.  Love them, hard work and works both tricep and chest at once on opposite sides of the body.

Challenge

The SSS was the mini milestone challenge and the weekly challenge was to design a workout. I based mine on body weight, as in how much you weigh is how many reps you do.  It's a hard workout, and you take a rest as needed but you don't move on until all reps are finished for that exercise.

Kipwil's Feel Your Weight Workout

Description: A workout designed to work your whole body for an SSS. Whatever your current weight is will be the amount of reps for each exercise, eg, I weigh 49 kilos so I did 49 reps of each exercise. Take breaks as you need. There are 2 rounds in the circuit before Abs and stretches. This workout requires dumbells and a chin up bar.

Type: Strength

Level: Advanced Lean and Strong

Warm Up: 5 Minutes on rowing machine. 1 min slow, 1 min fast
20 burpees

Circuit: Complete all round 1 exercises before going on to round 2. Use dumbells between 4-10 kg for each exercise, changing weight as needed but CHALLENGE yourself.

Round 1.
Chest: Chest press on bench
Shoulders: Rear deltoid raises
Back: Pullover on fitball
Biceps: Bicep curls
Triceps: French press
Glutes: Hip raises ( no dumbell)
Quads: Static lunges
Calves: Single leg standing calf raise (change legs halfway through)

Round 2:

Chest: Dumbell flys
Shoulders: Mac raises
Back: Dumbell rows
Biceps: Hammer curls
Triceps: Kickbacks
Glutes: Clams ( no dumbell)
Quads: Step ups. Change legs half way through.
Calves: Single leg standing calf raise change legs halfway through

Final Blast: Jumping chinups,as many as you can, goal to do at least half your body weight in reps.

Abs x body weight reps: Crunch pulses
Single leg extensions
Reverse crunches

Stretch: Shoulder stretch
Chest stretch
Child's pose
Tricep stretch ( do with calf stretch)
Calf Stretch
Quad stretch
Lower back stretch
Hip opener
Hamstring stretch

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to everyone out there reading my blog, I was awarded a prize for being on of the Top 10 Bloggers for the Michelle Bridges 12 WBT.   Cue happy dance here....

Plus, check out my results page!  Have dropped in measurements and body fat pinch test and improved on my fitness test! 

Finally, my thought for the week........they are watching you.