Saturday, January 29, 2011

Where do you get your motivation?

I have been flicking through some of my old fitness magazines recently… and it got me wondering – what do others do to keep themselves motivated?

I used to buy fitness magazines regularly. I have a huge stack of old Oxygens, Muscle and Fitness Hers, Fitness RX, and Womens Fitness and Health. I even bought a few running mags too, back in the day :)

I went “off” fitness magazines a few years ago though. I don’t know, I guess my priorities changed. At the time, I started buying pregnancy magazines instead! I have to say, although I still buy the occasional fitness magazine here and there (or have a flick through them at the newsagent), they just don’t do it for me anymore, or else they are not what they used to be. I suspect it’s a bit of both.

So what do you use to give yourself that extra kick of motivation?

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I've had an ok week - not perfect by any means. Everything was going well, but on Australia Day I decided to blow off my training in favour of a sleep in, and then a day down the Gold Coast. We had other stuff to do down there, so only spent about half an hour on the beach (little miss was overdue for a sleep by then, but she loved the water!) and then spent over an hour stuck in traffic trying to get home... grrr!! All the while Skye was grizzling and crying in the backseat... enough to set your teeth on edge!

I kept my food clean though (taking my own chicken salad and water with me) but then treated myself to a glass of wine to celebrate Australia Day (and because of the stress of listening to a screaming child in the car for an hour LOL!). Back on track with training on Thursday morning though - except I'm now a day behind - oh well.

Feeling really good and starting to see some definition coming back in my upper arms which is nice.

Yesterday was my birthday (thank you to everyone for your kind emails, texts and FB messages!) and I still dragged my butt out of bed at 5am for an hours cardio. The older I get, the more I begin to realise that its just another day. Bit scary to think that I'm 36 now - eeek!

So last night we had take-away chinese for dinner and I had a few glasses of wine, which I have to admit I didn't enjoy as much as I was expecting. Then we watched a movie - 127 Hours - which I've been wanting to see for a while now. (About the American mountain climber Aron Ralston who got his right arm trapped by a boulder, and after 5 days had to amputate his own arm in order to survive) It was quite harrowing but fascinating to watch at the same time.

Anyway, thats it for another week. Time to go do some housework!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Weigh in day

Week 2 is going well!

I woke up on Wednesday morning with a headache, but dragged myself out of bed anyway and pushed through some weights. Thursday morning I had scheduled in some longer, lower intensity cardio, but woke up with another headache – so I stayed in bed!

Felt a little bit guilty, but I reasoned with myself that it doesn’t matter WHEN I do these sessions through the week, just as long as they get done.

Friday morning after another weights session, Skye decided that 6am was a good time to wake up (normally she waits until at least 6.30 – 7am), after I’d clocked up a huge 3 minutes on the treadmill… bugger! Never mind, when hubby came home that afternoon he was on child-minding duties while I got my treaddie session done.

I finally went to the Athletes Foot on Thursday too and got myself fitted for some running shoes more suited to my foot problems and pronation. Now that my orthotics are in my new shoes, they have a whole different feel to when they were in my old shoes… definitely going to take some wearing in!

This morning was my fortnightly weigh and measure day. Wasn't expecting much change in the number on the scales because TTOTM arrived unexpectedly through the week. Feeling very flabby through the tummy area (I’ve never carried a lot of fat through the tummy before, I’ve always been a pear shape with a bigger butt and thighs – but pregnancy seems to have changed that – or else its age creeping up on me!)

Anyway, on the scales I've only shed 300g, however I was quite pleased to see that I've lost 8cms all up, and am down 2.5% bodyfat! I use digital calipers, so it was nice to see that I've also lost 9mm in two weeks too.

Very much looking forward to seeing those numbers drop even further in the coming weeks.

In other news, I have to go to the dentist on Monday and have a crown put on a cracked molar... eeeek! Really NOT looking forward to that! Hope its not too scary!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Week 1 Update

I’ve spent the last week watching the unfolding dramas in Queensland with horror – as I’m sure everyone has. We are a fair way from the flood affected areas, however I’ve grown up around Brisbane and its suburbs, and to watch so many familiar areas go under water, and then re-emerge covered in slimy, stinky mud has just been crazy. I’ve also spent a lot of time in Toowoomba, Warwick and the Lockyer Valley in the last few years as a sales rep and its been pretty unbelievable to see the devastation in those familiar streets too. My heart goes out to all those who’ve lost lives, and who’ve lost everything.

Despite being glued to the TV last week, I’ve been doing great with my 12 week challenge. Last week I completed 3 weights sessions and 5 cardio sessions. I have to do this at 5am while Skye is still asleep – otherwise there is no way on earth I’d get it done!

Food has been pretty good – I had one day where I forget to eat a meal, and I went a little overboard on Saturday night with a free meal (lesson learned!), but all up its been really easy. I’m really enjoying each and every meal I have, which I’m very happy about!

My major challenge last week was drinking enough water. I’ve averaged around 2 litres each day, but need to work on that. I’ve now got reminders going off (rather annoyingly!) on my iphone so I’ve been doing better the last few days.

My poor little poppet was due for her 12 month vaccinations last Tuesday, but she woke up that morning with a high temperature and a severe case of the miseries… I took her to the docs appointment anyway, but they sent us away and wouldn’t do the vaccination until she was better. Panadol helped temporarily, but she had a temp of 38.8C that night which was a little worrying for me! It was our first fever, and she was off-colour and a very upset little camper for a few days – she’s not been sick before so it was a new experience for both of us! She’s fine now, and unfortunately had her vaccination today :( lots of tears, but that’s it now for another 6 months.

(Just on this: I have been so worried about getting this MMR needle done since she was born! I just worry so much about the autism link. I KNOW its been disproved, but once the idea is there, its really hard to NOT think about it)

I got my custom orthotics on Friday. Podiatrist cautioned me to go slow with them – wear them in, wear them around the house – increase by half an hour every day etc. He suggested I don’t actually exercise in them for a week, and certainly don’t run for a few weeks.

So what did I do? I wore them in my shoes around for a few hours on Saturday, they felt fine so I went for a big hilly powerwalk with Elke on Sunday.

DUMB move.

Now I have extremely painful shin splints, and my right arch is aching. GAH!

This morning after weights I was struggling to walk on the treadmill at 6km/hour because of how sore my shins were. Stupid stupid girl!

Now I’m going to have to use my much hated cross trainer while I try to let my shins have a rest :(

I've also got to get myself some better quality runners - podiatrists orders!

Ok – here’s to another good week!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Changes

Over the last 6 months I’ve come to a few realizations about myself.

I’ve realised that for me - simply WANTING to lose bodyfat is not enough

Going through the motions is not enough

Halfhearted planning is not enough

Having a vague general idea of what I want to achieve is not enough

Doing it SOME OF THE TIME is not enough

Over the last 6 months I’ve started and stopped my fitness endeavours a number of times, never quite getting anywhere. Or taking two steps forward, only to take two steps back a few weeks later. Getting frustrated, and making excuses, then feeling like a failure.

Not having a plan of attack doesn’t work for me. I’m no good at just “winging it”.

Actually that’s probably not quite true – when I was fit, when I was working out every day (and intensely) and keeping my nutrition pretty clean apart from a couple of free meals each week, I WAS good at just "winging it". I think I had my metabolism in a really good place for a few years there, I had a little muscle, and I was able to experiment with things here and there – enjoy a few glasses of wine each week, and be able to maintain and feel happy with myself.

The trouble is, for some reason I thought I could just start doing that again (after a year and a half of NOT doing that, during pregnancy and beyond). And unfortunately, the old bod isn’t what it used to be!

So I’ve decided I need to get right back to basics and do a 12 week challenge. I’ve been working on a few things – the first thing being my headspace. Like a lot of us, I have some self-sabotage issues that I am currently addressing. I have some negative self-talk that I am addressing.

I have started using a goal/inspiration workbook again, and I’m in the process of creating an inspiration poster (which will be situated on the wall right beside my computer in the study – seeing as I spend so much time here!). I have motivational quotes stuck around the house in key locations (on the fridge and inside the pantry door works for me!) I have my goals written down where I can read them every day. I have had hubby take some ‘before’ photos, and done my stats and measurements, and will be keeping track of them regularly in my inspiration workbook. I have a plan of attack, and it feels good.

This is what I did when I first started out on my fitness journey, and it’s the best way I know to keep me focused on my goals. Today is day 1 and I’m feeling positive and inspired! Here's to an awesome start to 2011!

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break :)

I'm on holidays from my "day job" until the 17th, which has been awesome - apart from the rain! Its hard enough trying to keep a one year old entertained in this constant wet weather, I dread to think how other mums manage it with older kids.

Our Christmas was a bit of a bummer this year unfortunately. Our border collie X Keeshond decided to go for a wander on Christmas Eve. Hubby was mowing the lawn and had left the front gate open as he was going in and out. I didn't realise, and let Elke out to do her business... half an hour later I went outside and said "where's Elke?"... and that sparked 2 days of frantic searching, letterbox dropping, ringing the pounds and local vets, doorknocking, driving around the streets, printing posters (and trying to keep them waterproof in the neverending rain!)...

When she still wasnt home by that night, well I was pretty distraught. Christmas Day was a very emotional one for us. I feel sorry for Skye that our hearts weren't in it this year - we were trying to get excited about opening her presents, but with tears pouring down our faces :(
We hosted Christmas lunch, but I felt like I had to apologise to everyone because the meal was a disaster, green veggies overcooked and sloppy, meat gone cold, roast spuds started to burn etc because I wasn't able to concentrate properly.

On Boxing Day morning hubby went to put some rubbish out in the wheelie bin, turned around and there was Elke, safe and well (and completely dry too, despite the fact that it was thundering down with rain at the time!). Needless to say, he scooped her up inside and we both dived on her and hugged her silly - a HUGE relief! I guess we'll never know where she was - she had a very upset tummy for a few days, and was a bit smelly, but other than that she seems fine - just VERY clingy (and constantly underfoot) since she came home.

I guess you can tell I get a tad emotional about my pets LOL! I have heard of plenty of people whose pets fall by the wayside once they have a child. But I can assure you that is not the case in this household. My family means the world to me, and that includes the dog and cat.

Apart from that drama, Skye's first Christmas was good - she was completely bewildered of course and had no clue what was going on, but she seemed to enjoy having all the family around so she could show off! Seems that babies just love to be the centre of attention!

We also had Skye's first birthday party on Monday, which was really good - she had a great time running around with the other toddlers, they all stole each others sippy cups hehehe (somebody elses water obviously tastes better than their own LOL!) and generally ran around having a great time :) She had her very first cupcake too, and liked it so much that she stole half of one from her friend Georgia!

This week I have been steadily working away on my fitness goals for the next few months, and working through some mental roadblocks too. I feel a lot more pumped and ready to be fit and healthy again. Looking forward to picking up my orthotics from my podiatrist next week too, so I should be able to work up to running again without pain.

Anyway thats me up to date so far. Really looking forward to having an awesome 2011!