Monday 31 December 2012

Festive Season was fun now back to it

New Years Day a time for some serious reflection and wondering about what you are going to do differently to see some positive changes in your life. Taking stock has left me feeling that although the road of 2012 was bumpy it was a good year. I am wondering how to tackle my wishes and desires for this brand new year and as Commitment is my key I need to commit to a few things.  I have many roles to play and I need to be the best version of myself.  This will only come when I make a few commitments.  So here are some I have come up with just as I have been sitting here.  I would imagine more will come but this is it for now.

My commitments
1. Drink Green Tea everyday
2. Stop before I react
3. Commit to not drinking booze
4. Be 6 kilos lighter really soon
5. Sort out all the family finance stuff
6. Organise the bathroom renovations
7. Go to some new and interesting places
8. Run another half marathon
9. Be the best prep teacher I know I can be
10. Focus on helping Oskar improve his literacy skills
11. Help Lani with her health
12. Read to the kids
13. Be grateful
14. Be organised and tidy
15. Play with my family
16. Practise Yoga frequently
17. Meditate
18. Draw
19. Love more
20. Be nice to myself

So I am going to go and drink some green tea now, before I go and play some Singstar with the kids and go for a run.  Go me.

Happy New Year Everybody xo

Wednesday 19 December 2012

I am excellent

So I am excellent, that is all there is to it.  I have been striving for excellence and I really get it right most of the time.  Why have I spent so much wasted energy focused on those rare moments when I get it less than excellent?  Lets say 90% of the time I am doing my best to eat right, exercise, be the best mum I can be, complete tasks, work hard in my job, be friendly, be kind, be focused, be organised and be helpful.  I see these things as excellence and a lot of the time I am getting it right.  So 10% of the time I don't act so excellent, I am far from appalling so what then is the alternative, a less than excellent woman.  I am not striving for perfection here, that is in the hands of the gods but I will choose excellence most of the time. In all my excellence as I sit here listening to Strauss Alpine Symphony and imagining myself hiking in the Alps, here is a poem...
I am doing it,
Doing it I am!
Yes it is glorious!
Yes it is glam.
I am doing it, doing it I am.

Sometimes I lose my way and forget about this fact.  Today I am reminding myself and in doing so perhaps I am also reminding you dear readers.  How excellent are you choosing to be today?  You might need reminding, you always have a choice.

Friday 14 December 2012

Do a "UEY" back when you veer off the road to weightloss

Its 11am on Saturday and I am only just out of bed.  I do not remember the last time I had this luxury.  I had an enjoyable evening last night celebrating my graduation and let my hair down and over indulged in too much wine and food.  I am feeling okay this morning but I know how many extra calories I consumed and I am a little disappointed in myself.  Now this is crunch time for me.  Do I continue driving on the bumping road I veered onto or do a UEY and get back on the good road.    Well of course the latter is the preferred option.  Don't you just love metaphors.  So I am getting out there on my running track and I am making the good choices for me today.

 I have had two pieces of toast with PB and I am ready to get out a run for 20 minutes before getting home and performing the 12 days of Christmas workout.  I have been slack with my weights this week so today has to be done. I know I will be stoked when it is done but oh man it will be an effort, it is 28 degrees out there.  If I am going to lose weight, things have to change, slacker Kate needs to toughen up.  I have become complacent and that just will not do for me.   I am really going to FOCUS on the goal. I will be 68kg by the end of this program.  My mini focus is I will get under 70kg and see 69 point something in the next month.  Come on Kate, you can do this.

I am doing a "UEY for YOUEY, Kate :)

Monday 10 December 2012

Tiredness + Slackness = unfocused actions

I think it is really good to take stock of a day, I rarely do it but tonight I am cos my gut pain is so bad I don't want to move and I can just sit around cos Brett is away.

Okay, I will start with the ticks in the good things boxes today.
þWent for a 1 hour.45min fast hike burnt 650 calories.
þAte a great breakfast of cruchola, natural yoghurt and two pineapple things
þWent shopping and learnt  a lot about Xboxes (bit excited about the Kinnect possibilities, dancing here I come).
þSaw my doctor who was so impressed with my progress this year she almost cried.
þBoth my children did very well on their report cards.
þLast week of school and B is away so less pressure for evening rituals

So now when I get to the part where I do the x boxes (ha ha, that is funnier than you think) I am not going to feel so bad about the fact that my lunch and dinner was mindless and less than ideal.
ýdidn't eat well from 2:45 - 6:30 - PB and honey sandwich in a rush, Ham cut off the bone 55g, two rows of rice bikkies and 5 free cheese slices, two snakes, a big glass of wine and I am full and will have to force the vegies down, but if I eat that coleslaw mix that would be a tick.
ýwas rung by the school cos Oskar damaged another kids property
ýLani has serious allergies that are messing with her sleep and may be causing her to overeat due to overtiredness...

Just a day in the life Less than ordinary.

I will spend more time thinking about the good stuff cos even though some of today was a but sucky on the whole I am still winning.



Friday 7 December 2012

Blogging instead of cleaning!

I am going to start off saying I am doing well with the No Wining.  I felt like I was aligned with something yesterday cos look what Michelle wrote on her facebook page...
"Melissa asked how many burpees a glass of wine is worth, sooo I put my team to the test... A glass of wine is about 120 calories, so I got three of my Support Crew members to use a heart rate monitor to count the number of burpees it took to burn 120 calories. They ranged from 150 to 261 burpees... What do you think? Is a glass of wine worth at least 150 burpees?"

Anyone else feeling a little slow and sluggish today?  I am buggered!  I have so much house cleaning to do and I have spent the past hour playing the on computer, forums and reading/writing blogs.  Who would have thought that 12wbt could be such a time waster?  Well lets not call it time wasting as I am sure I am getting something from it, but probably not as much as the pleasure of a clean and orderly house.  I really love connecting with people and find the whole writing thing so therapeutic.  However I have yet to do my workout and have semi decided I am too buggered to do it and need to save myself up for my long run tomorrow.  I ran yesterday like I had bricks in my shoes.  I was so sniff.  Sometimes I wonder what I am getting wrong to have that sort of feeling but I know it could be so many things.
1.  Not enough of the right kind of foods (bit limited in carbs yesterday)
2. Medication getting the better of me
3. A long demanding day taking the puff out of me (except some long days I get home feeling great, then go out running and come home feeling amazing)
4. A huge one is DEHYDRATION - I wish I had a way to check my level cos I am sure if I had been a bit more vigilant with water drinking yesterday that may have helped.
5. Overly sore from previous days workouts.
6.  Tiredness

Who knows but I know dragging my butt out yesterday afternoon was sooooooo hard and the run was hilariously difficult.  My poor energetic buddy was shocked as it is rare to see me in that state and she was held back by my clunking shuffling movements.  Ah well.  I want to feel better tomorrow.  Maybe what Ill do is work hard, get the house clean and then do Body Balance this afternoon as a compromise.  Yes no Super Saturday but I have done some Super workouts this week so that is okay. Decision made.  Now I better get to it.  Better get to it. Chop Chop!

Wednesday 5 December 2012

To wine or not to wine!

At the end of the day the only person I have to live with is myself.  I was enjoying wandering around saying, "Yay  I am so cool I have gone two weeks without wine", but who am I kidding?  Am I really needing to flaunt my achievements like that,does it really help.  What happens when the next day your asked how are you going with the not drinking thing and you say. Ah I had a relapse and fell victim to the yummy wine Brett bought home.   Then, two days later, I fell vicitm to the 39 degree day and fighty children and poured myself a huge glass and gulped it down.  Ah, the noise is dulled once again.  I am so vulnerable around PMT time.  Wine makes it feel so much better and is it really that bad?  I heard someone say, it isn't really about the wine drinking for you it is all about the crap you give yourself because you drink the wine.  Ah well tonight is a new night, I am so tempted cos I have had a hard day, I have heaps to do and it energizes me, my head hurts, my throat feels better after it, the kids are fighting and it doesn't bother me so much with wine in the body.  I have so many reasons why going down to the cellar to chill a bottle would be great but one good reason not to tonight.  That is I am going to nurture the fruit of my spirit and when I wake tomorrow I know I will be a better person for it.  All is okay, relapses happen and teach you lessons.  It is okay.  You are doing great.  Whether its completely free or still having a few, it is so much better than the bottle plus you were needing and all is well.  Just remember one more thing.  It is such a waste of calories and your body is showing you that it is loving the wine free time.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

My vision collage - Where I am going,


This is my motivation poster that supports me on my journey.  I see vegies and healthy food because I need to eat more them.  The eyes symbolise clarity, beauty and inner health.  Staying Calm and Buddha well yes I need to do more of that.  The family picture is because I love my family and "smart is the new skinny," is certainly what I would like to focus on.  Smart eating and then I can run up my hills with strength and vitality.  Go me.

I had a great week where reality bit me and I am still okay.  I had a few wines but nothing like I used to so that is okay.  I had a 1.2 kilogram loss and can really see the differences in my body after 3 weeks of SMART training.  Okay so yes I do feel pain but as I was reminded by Sue and Tracey today you can't look hot and not feel the pain, but it is a good pain.  Okay, going to work on embracing the good pain.  Yay me and Yay to my transformation.


Food for thought...

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.....Kahil Gibran



Monday 3 December 2012

Why am I doing this to myself?

I keep asking myself why I am doing this program and thought I really need to record and take note of these three reasons;
1.  Because I thrive on routine and with a 12 week transformation plan all elements of my life improve not just health.
2. I want to see if eating/drinking clean and training hard would help me feel better.
3. I want to have a personal focus to assist me through the hard times when it comes to managing myself, my family, my job and my life.

So far the results have been questionable?  I feel more tired than I have in ages, my muscles hurt pretty well ALL the time so everything is an effort and following the eating plan and curbing my urges to snack on peanut butter, sultanas, cheese and rice crackers has proved very trying.  You should have seen me try and make the evening meal of Lamb Balls and Tabouli. tonight,  it took me almost 2 hours.  It was well worth it but I must admit I am sitting here feeling really empty and starving for something else.  So off I go to see if that "herbal tea" will help.  Oh Geez let me tell you this 12 week thing is bugging me.  I am hungry, tired, and miserable.  At least before I could feel the temporary satisfaction of wine o'clock.  Now I find my self counting 10 far too many times and wishing I was somewhere else. Wine used to be such a good friend.  I don't miss the guilt, extra tummy flab and foggy head that came with it but at the moment I am struggling to amp on the benefits.  I know that this may have something to do with the fact that I am a bit of a "moody" person and these issues are par for my course these days but I am annoyed with the icky feeling I have at the moment.

I have a few questions that need addressing.

1. Why do we have to endure pain to feel success?
2. Why are there so many temptations in life that most people enjoy and never feel guilty about?
3.  Why am I any better for flexing that Willpower muscle?

I think what I need to do is remember I am changing a few things here and at times things are going to be difficult.  Ideally lets think what would I be doing everyday to be the person I so optimally need to be.

I would awake at 5am and start the day with 15 minutes of meditation, followed by a ice cold water with the juice of half a lemon.  I would then spend another 15 - 30 minutes practising whatever yoga my body called for that day.  The next step would be to step out and do my morning workout - 1 hour hardcore something, weights, run or combination.  I am back home, its 7:15, I prepare my deliciously wholesome breakfast of ricotta cheese and something on toast and wash down with the first of many green teas I'll consume that day. Its not even 7:30, the washing is on and the children are just rousing.  Their breakfast is prepared and awaiting their enthusiastic taste buds.  Lunch is then prepared for them as I calmly tidy and potter whilst the kids get ready for school.  I am ready for the next phase of the day which is changeable, depending on the day.  Lets imagine it is tomorrow and I am home for the day.  The next thing I will do is consult the "To do" list I diligently wrote the day  before and set about getting as many tasks complete as I can. I will probably enjoy a coffee in the midst of this and then enjoy a green tea or two and yoghurt before lunch which will be something delightful and only 300 calories in value.

I could go on but at this stage all I can say is okay, okay so I am not yet here.  I guess it is something to strive for but I can't even imagine being this cool.

Tomorrow I will wake at 4:30 and inhale a coffee while I stumble around the house searching for all my running gear, I may consume a piece of my beloved peanut butter and honey on toast before setting off to a speed training running session at St Lucia that starts at 5:30am.  I will zoom home and be back by about 6:50 and will proceed to fumble through the lunch boxes, clothes baskets and the pantry to sort the kids out before escorting them to school and walking the dog.  It will be 9am and I will  then sit down and attempt to write a to do list before getting side tracked on some frivolous task and then I will find myself reading forums and navel gazing until my tummy rumble and I fill it with something like far too much oats muesli.  Need I go on?  This is good but it is not good enough for me and does not align with being in harmony with me.

I have to get my act together.  Yes there are few things that need sorting out and the most important is being organised and this is also one of my most challenging   The 12 week challenge is going to help me with this but in the end it is up to me.

Why am I doing this you ask?
Because things need to change and I need to change them.  Why?  I would like to do things more harmoniously and feel well and proud.