Saturday, August 13, 2011
Baby names
Oh my poor neglected blog! If anyone is still reading, I apologise for my lack of posting!
Partly I’m just busy, partly I’m just uninspired. I’m sure everyone is sick of reading my dribble! The only things I’ve got to talk about are my toddler, and my pregnancy and at the moment I’m into my 3rd week of battling a cold/chesty cough/tonsillitis so my motivation is quite low right now!
Anyway, onto baby names…
Wow – its SO hard to come up with baby names that you can both agree on. Last time, we had two girls names picked out – our number one pick was Piper Lily, and our “back up name” was Skye Lily (but we both preferred our first choice). I’m a big believer in having a few options!
When she was born, I looked at her and I thought to myself “She doesn’t LOOK like a ‘Piper’”… and two seconds later my husband said the exact same thing! So by default, she became Skye! I couldn’t imagine her with any other name now!
It was lucky that we had a girl, because we had absolutely ZERO boy names picked out. We just couldn’t agree on anything.
During my labour, my husband was asking all the midwives:
“Have you got any good boys names?” I didn’t know about this until later, I was so wrapped up in my own little world LOL!
Girls names seem to be much easier. Boys names are tougher in my opinion!
Names are so individual too. Once the baby is born, people will generally say that it’s a lovely name, whether they actually feel that way or not! It doesn’t matter though, as long as we like it.
How did you go about choosing names? Baby name book? Internet site? Celebrity name?
Before Skye, I’ve only had to name pets in the past. I had a beautiful Staffie once, and named him “Tyler”. I got his name by flicking through the White Pages, looking for surnames that appealed to me.
When we got miss Elke (Border Collie X Keeshond) she was nameless for a day or two. We toyed with the idea of “Sassy” and even called her that for a day, but it wasn’t right. I found “Elke” on a baby name website, and it just fit. (We pronounce it “Elkie”).
Connor the Siamese cat got his name from the Highlander movie (“Connor MacLeod, of the clan MacLeod!” – I used to love that movie, and this is the only line I remember from it!)
We like unusual names, but not so weird that they’ll get teased. We prefer names of just one or two syllables too – it just seems to fit with our surname better.
I have about 5 iphone apps dedicated to Baby Names – I guess I’ll just keep looking! Time is running out though – we need inspiration!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thoughts on Childbirth for Bub Number 2
The Jellybean at 19 weeks
Well, I'm almost 22 weeks pregnant now, over half way - where is the time going? We have a revised due date of the 22nd of November (one day earlier LOL!) so lets hope this little one doesn't keep us waiting like Skye did!
Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would do differently for this birth – which is frighteningly fast approaching!
I think that having “been there and done that” once before, you are LESS scared of the actual birth process itself. But having said that, it doesn’t mean I’m not scared!! In a few ways I'm MORE nervous, because I know whats coming! When we first found out I was pregnant, I found myself trying to sleep, but having flashbacks of the birth, and started wondering "What the hell am I doing this again for??!!"
I had a relatively “ok” birth the first time around. Skye had been posterior at around 34 weeks, but by 36 weeks she had turned around the right way. By the time I went into labour at 41 weeks, she was back to posterior again! A lot of babies turn themselves during labour, but not my stubborn little monkey. So she came out face up and mummy had to have a ‘snip’.
The doctor at the hospital asked me last week whether, if I had the choice, if I would "do" another posterior birth without the epidural, as I did last time. Hmmm, will have to think on that one.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether having one posterior baby leads to a likelihood that the second baby will also be posterior. The last doc said there was about a 30% chance - but a lot depends on mums body and how the pelvis is built. I found it particularly frustrating, because the “cure” for getting a posterior baby to turn is to spend a lot of time on your hands and knees so your belly swings down, sitting forward on chairs (and not slumping back into couches when watching TV etc), to make gravity do its job and get the heaviest part of bub (their back) to naturally fall towards your front.
BUT – here’s the frustrating and difficult part – how do you manage that when you have edema (swelling of feet, ankles, legs and hands) as well? Because whenever I complained of that to the docs/midwives, the recommendation is to “put your feet up/recline, lie down/have your feet higher than your hips” etc. Which contradicts what you’re meant to do for a posterior bub. So you do both - and neither helps the other.
Anyway, maybe I’m counting my chickens before they’ve hatched, but its something I’ve been thinking about.
I was relatively active in my first pregnancy, still exercising regularly until about 26 weeks, I worked full time in a busy role until 35 weeks pregnant too, along with packing and moving house when 7 months pregnant. I’m probably less active these days – not as much exercise as I’d like, and my job involves walking from the lounge room into the study and sitting down at the computer for the entire duration of Skyes naps. So I guess I’m concerned that a posterior birth is more likely.
For the actual birth process, I have a few ideas.
Last time I hated the gas, and so I’m going to tell them this time to bugger off with it unless I ask for it. I didn’t have the strength or knowledge to say no last time, every time I cried in pain, the midwife would say “USE THE GAS, USE THE GAS!!” and I just dutifully obeyed when it was shoved in my face. I found the gas annoying more than anything. Plus it gave me a dreadfully dry, sore throat for a couple of days afterwards – it hurt to swallow!
The other thing I’m going to ask for is WATER!! I drank zero water during my last labour. Hubby didn’t think to give me any, nobody else thought to give me any. And honestly it was the last thing on my mind, but I was so parched and dehydrated afterwards that I really wish I had. So that will be hubbys job this time around – to at least keep offering (even when I’m swearing at him LOL!).
I’d also like him to take a few photos this time around. Not of the ‘gory’ bits, but just the environment in general. I don’t remember much of anything except pain from last time (hazy memory due to the pethidene I think), and the only photos we took were AFTER Skye had entered the world.
And I’d like to have a bit more of an active birth this time. Last time I was so caught up in my own little world, I just wanted to lay down and grip the bars of the bed and squeeze my eyes shut and not think about anything. But I think I should try to do some breathing exercises this time, stay on my feet more (or at least just lean on the bed, rather than lie on it). Hopefully that might let me have more of a sense of reality, rather than just be in a bit of a haze the whole time. I guess the pethidene didn’t help with that though, as it makes you doze off between contractions. Maybe I can avoid it this time!
And finally of course I'm hoping for a shorter labour this time - although I cant really complain too much, Skye took about 14 hours "unofficially" (or 9 hours if you go by the hospitals records of "official" length of labour) - so I shouldn't really complain I guess!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Hoarding
So yesterday I cleared out the wardrobe of her new bedroom (which was previously the ‘spare’ room – commonly thought of as the ‘junk room’) to make way for the move.
This room has been the prime place for storing things that we don’t use often, or don’t know where else to put them. It also contained a double bed for "guests" (except we never have any stay overnight these days), spare TV, golf clubs, extra clothes, Christmas decorations, boxes still unpacked from the last move etc. Every house I’ve ever lived in has had a room like this, and I just move this junk from one house to the next!
YesterdayI discovered about 7 rolls of wrapping paper in the wardrobe (and yet I could never find any when I needed it!), and I finally came to the conclusion that I have a serious problem with hoarding gift bags. Whenever people give presents in a gift bag, I always save them with the thought that they are so cute, I’ll use that again. And guess what, I never do! So I have dozens of gift bags "saved" for that purpose!
Another sadder realization that I finally admitted to is the fact that I’m a shocking hoarder of anything sentimental from my past. I mean, I knew that I still had these things, but for some reason I couldn’t let them go. I went through bags containing my high school English lecture pad, with stories I’d written as a teenager (I was an aspiring short-story writer back then). Also, my year 12 student diary and class timetables, with lots of scribbles, notes and jokes inside from friends now long lost. I used to be a member of a theatre group after I finished school, and I’d kept all the old programs of shows that I’d gone to or been involved with – also from those days I’d kept cast newsletters, song lists, scripts, handwritten notes regarding plays that I was in…
I found my old poetry book, where I wrote some pretty good poems (and some pretty bad ones too). And for some reason, I’d kept all my wall calendars from the last 15 years – handy in case I ever wanted to know what date I went to the dentist back in 1998, or what movies I went to see in 2001!!
I also found things from when I was 15 or 16 when I was MAD on the TV shows like The Young Ones and Monty Python movies/series – so I’d written out entire scripts from the skits I liked, along with Monty Python song lyrics… scribbles on paper with lines from Doors or The Cure songs that I listened to at the time etc
I also found my old guitar that I tried to teach myself to play on, when I was about 14!! I keep carting these things from house to house every time we move. I don’t even think about NOT bringing them, because I suppose they are a part of me and my history.
But yesterday I culled about one third of it. I’ve kept the stuff that I just cant even contemplate dumping (and probably wont). I’ve still got a couple of shoe boxes of cards, letters, postcards and photos to go through yet, so I might be getting rid of even more junk soon.
Part of me feels a bit sad at throwing away this “junk”. I know most of it is meaningless, but I suppose its what it represents, rather than what it is. All of these things remind me of certain times, artistic times, or certain friendships. The fact that I haven’t looked at any of these things for years means nothing, its just a part of me.
But another part of me knows that I cant continue to hoard ALL of this stuff for the rest of my life (otherwise I'd need a whole house to store it all!), and I know that it’s a good thing to let some of it go. I have the memories, and that’s what counts.
Luckily I’m not a hoarder of anything else!!
But don’t get me started on my husbands Car Magazine Collection – and he doesn’t see anything wrong with that either!
Sunday, June 05, 2011
15 weeks
The weeks are flying past – only another 25 weeks to go LOL!!
So now I’m past the first trimester I’m feeling a lot better, so nice to feel relatively normal again!
Although having said that, I’ve picked up a cold – booo!
I haven’t been sick for a LONG time, I think the last time was when I was pregnant with Skye, so its been maybe 2 years – a bit of a shock to the system! Normally whenever I feel a tickle in the throat I’m quick to dose up on good old Olive Leaf Extract – multiple spoonfuls of that usually sees me waking up just fine the next day. But of course you cant take anything like that when you’re pregnant. :( So its been lemon juice, manuka honey, and Butter Menthols all week.
Anyway, since I haven't been sick in ages, I've been moaning about it all week. My hubby is the kind who DOESN'T want sympathy when he's sick, he just wants to be left alone - never grumbles (yes I know, how was I lucky enough to score one of those men??). But the opposite side to that is, when its ME that gets sick, I get no sympathy from him at all LOL!!
My bicep tendonitis seems to be flaring up at the moment too. My whole right shoulder, rotator cuff, shoulder blade and lats seem to be involved, and its at the point where its getting painful to raise my arm above shoulder height when my arm is outstretched. I haven't done any shoulder exercises for a while, so I'm not sure why its playing up now. Possibly picking up a 17 month old doesn't help. Might have to eventually see somebody about that. But who? Physio? Acupuncture? Massage?
I've got my first hospital appointment this week, deciding to go to public hospital again. After doing the sums, its going to end up costing about $3000 out of pocket to have this baby private. We had an awesome experience with public last time, I could not fault them - you even get your own room with a shared ensuite, and the care and the food was fantastic - so we'll do that again and I think I'll just downgrade my private health insurance since we wont be using the Obstetrics side of things now.
So as you can see, nothing very exciting going on here, anyway I'd better get off here and get my week organised! Enjoy your Sunday night!
So now I’m past the first trimester I’m feeling a lot better, so nice to feel relatively normal again!
Although having said that, I’ve picked up a cold – booo!
I haven’t been sick for a LONG time, I think the last time was when I was pregnant with Skye, so its been maybe 2 years – a bit of a shock to the system! Normally whenever I feel a tickle in the throat I’m quick to dose up on good old Olive Leaf Extract – multiple spoonfuls of that usually sees me waking up just fine the next day. But of course you cant take anything like that when you’re pregnant. :( So its been lemon juice, manuka honey, and Butter Menthols all week.
Anyway, since I haven't been sick in ages, I've been moaning about it all week. My hubby is the kind who DOESN'T want sympathy when he's sick, he just wants to be left alone - never grumbles (yes I know, how was I lucky enough to score one of those men??). But the opposite side to that is, when its ME that gets sick, I get no sympathy from him at all LOL!!
My bicep tendonitis seems to be flaring up at the moment too. My whole right shoulder, rotator cuff, shoulder blade and lats seem to be involved, and its at the point where its getting painful to raise my arm above shoulder height when my arm is outstretched. I haven't done any shoulder exercises for a while, so I'm not sure why its playing up now. Possibly picking up a 17 month old doesn't help. Might have to eventually see somebody about that. But who? Physio? Acupuncture? Massage?
I've got my first hospital appointment this week, deciding to go to public hospital again. After doing the sums, its going to end up costing about $3000 out of pocket to have this baby private. We had an awesome experience with public last time, I could not fault them - you even get your own room with a shared ensuite, and the care and the food was fantastic - so we'll do that again and I think I'll just downgrade my private health insurance since we wont be using the Obstetrics side of things now.
So as you can see, nothing very exciting going on here, anyway I'd better get off here and get my week organised! Enjoy your Sunday night!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Some news!
Baby #2 is on the way!
This is part of the reason I’ve been absent from blogging (along with trying to get my work done in the short day nap Skye now takes) – so its nice to be able to share the news.
I’m 13 weeks along now, the due date is 23rd of November. This means there will be 23 months between Skye and this little jellybean, not a bad spacing I guess! We thought between 2 and 3 years would be good – just happened a little sooner than expected :)
We actually didn’t technically “try” to get pregnant this time. Since it took 18 months of very stressful and emotional “trying” to fall pregnant last time due to PCOS, well, I didn’t believe that it would happen quickly this time around – but it kinda did! I stopped the mini-pill around the end of November (after I stopped breastfeeding), and then we just adopted a “see what happens” attitude – and so it only really took 4 months this time!
A doctor did tell me once (when I was pregnant with Skye) that its common for PCOS to not be an issue the second time around – sort of like, your body knows what to do now, and just does it. Pretty cool, since I’m now 36 and technically my fertility levels aren’t so good anymore!
And so far, its been a pretty different pregnancy. Last time I sailed through the whole thing. No real morning sickness or nausea – except for a week or two of feeling a little bit off, and not being able to eat protein.
But this time around I’ve been feeling absolutely rotten since about 5 weeks – constant nausea (no actual vomiting though, thank goodness!) dizziness and light-headed, freezing cold all the time, exhausted, and BIG TIME food aversions – nothing but carbs, carbs, carbs lately! The sight and smell of meat cooking, even salads and some veggies just turned my stomach.
And changing a pooey nappy, with morning sickness, has been a bit of a struggle! I remember chopping up a roll of dog food a few weeks ago, and portioning it out into little baggies to pop in the fridge for the week – and then spending the next two or three days trying NOT to vomit whenever I was in the house – even though the dog food was in SEALED bags, in the CLOSED fridge, I could still smell it!
Anyway, hopefully the worst seems to be over now!
We had our 12 week scan on Monday, and it was still SO amazing to see our little creation on the screen! I remember when we first saw Skye in a scan, she was leaping around doing backflips, bouncing off the walls etc (a true indication of how she is now – she has ONE speed - FAST!) – well I was a bit worried about this little one because it barely seemed to be moving at all! But the heartbeat was strong and normal, and the sonographer said that it was just asleep. Fingers crossed that this little bean is a bit less hyperactive than his/her big sister! Everything is healthy and normal too!
Oh and in case you were wondering, no - we're not going to find out if its a boy or a girl. We like surprises :)
Exercise has been… um…. fairly limited. Ok, to be honest I haven’t been doing much – but now that I’m feeling human again, I’m getting back into it. The plan is to do 1-2 resistance training sessions per week, and 3-4 treadmill walks per week. Getting up early to do them hasn’t been nice though! Now that the middle-of-the-night toilet stops have eased, I’m feeling a bit more energetic too – so will continue this while I still feel able.
I started this pregnancy at 64kgs – 1kg heavier than my pre-preg weight last time. So far I haven’t gained anything yet, which is on a par with my last pregnancy. I gained 14kgs all up with Skye, so the goal again is to not gain more than 15kgs.
But even though the scales haven’t moved yet, OMG I FEEL HUGE! They say that you start showing much earlier with your second due to the fact that the uterus and other muscles are already pre-stretched, and that is certainly true in my case. I feel like I’ve already got a belly – my waist has disappeared, I feel so “round”.
Anyway, I will try to blog more frequently – rather than leaving it so long and then posting a mammoth and boring post! I also must get around to read some other blogs – its been a while, sorry guys!
This is part of the reason I’ve been absent from blogging (along with trying to get my work done in the short day nap Skye now takes) – so its nice to be able to share the news.
I’m 13 weeks along now, the due date is 23rd of November. This means there will be 23 months between Skye and this little jellybean, not a bad spacing I guess! We thought between 2 and 3 years would be good – just happened a little sooner than expected :)
We actually didn’t technically “try” to get pregnant this time. Since it took 18 months of very stressful and emotional “trying” to fall pregnant last time due to PCOS, well, I didn’t believe that it would happen quickly this time around – but it kinda did! I stopped the mini-pill around the end of November (after I stopped breastfeeding), and then we just adopted a “see what happens” attitude – and so it only really took 4 months this time!
A doctor did tell me once (when I was pregnant with Skye) that its common for PCOS to not be an issue the second time around – sort of like, your body knows what to do now, and just does it. Pretty cool, since I’m now 36 and technically my fertility levels aren’t so good anymore!
And so far, its been a pretty different pregnancy. Last time I sailed through the whole thing. No real morning sickness or nausea – except for a week or two of feeling a little bit off, and not being able to eat protein.
But this time around I’ve been feeling absolutely rotten since about 5 weeks – constant nausea (no actual vomiting though, thank goodness!) dizziness and light-headed, freezing cold all the time, exhausted, and BIG TIME food aversions – nothing but carbs, carbs, carbs lately! The sight and smell of meat cooking, even salads and some veggies just turned my stomach.
And changing a pooey nappy, with morning sickness, has been a bit of a struggle! I remember chopping up a roll of dog food a few weeks ago, and portioning it out into little baggies to pop in the fridge for the week – and then spending the next two or three days trying NOT to vomit whenever I was in the house – even though the dog food was in SEALED bags, in the CLOSED fridge, I could still smell it!
Anyway, hopefully the worst seems to be over now!
We had our 12 week scan on Monday, and it was still SO amazing to see our little creation on the screen! I remember when we first saw Skye in a scan, she was leaping around doing backflips, bouncing off the walls etc (a true indication of how she is now – she has ONE speed - FAST!) – well I was a bit worried about this little one because it barely seemed to be moving at all! But the heartbeat was strong and normal, and the sonographer said that it was just asleep. Fingers crossed that this little bean is a bit less hyperactive than his/her big sister! Everything is healthy and normal too!
Oh and in case you were wondering, no - we're not going to find out if its a boy or a girl. We like surprises :)
Exercise has been… um…. fairly limited. Ok, to be honest I haven’t been doing much – but now that I’m feeling human again, I’m getting back into it. The plan is to do 1-2 resistance training sessions per week, and 3-4 treadmill walks per week. Getting up early to do them hasn’t been nice though! Now that the middle-of-the-night toilet stops have eased, I’m feeling a bit more energetic too – so will continue this while I still feel able.
I started this pregnancy at 64kgs – 1kg heavier than my pre-preg weight last time. So far I haven’t gained anything yet, which is on a par with my last pregnancy. I gained 14kgs all up with Skye, so the goal again is to not gain more than 15kgs.
But even though the scales haven’t moved yet, OMG I FEEL HUGE! They say that you start showing much earlier with your second due to the fact that the uterus and other muscles are already pre-stretched, and that is certainly true in my case. I feel like I’ve already got a belly – my waist has disappeared, I feel so “round”.
Anyway, I will try to blog more frequently – rather than leaving it so long and then posting a mammoth and boring post! I also must get around to read some other blogs – its been a while, sorry guys!
Friday, May 06, 2011
Long time no blog
Long time no post - AGAIN!
Its been so long I'm not even sure where to start!
Skye is now doing just one day nap, and has settled in pretty well now - usually sleeping around 1.5 hours over lunchtime. Unfortunately this has meant that its more difficult staying caught up with my day-job work, as well as my IBO work. I went through a bit of a rough patch a few weeks ago, where instead of getting up early to train, I was getting up early to work because I just wasn't getting enough done during the day.
I had a bit of a meltdown the other week, because I was also trying to get our BAS sorted (which took me a week - it was more complicated this time due to a recent vehicle purchase and sale) and other MYOB stuff which I find quite confusing at times. I am fairly new to MYOB (or bookkeeping of any kind) and I have a very limited understanding of accounting, so trying to run the business on my own in MYOB (with the guidance of our accountant) has been a bit of a nightmare! I have to keep asking stupid questions, and I KNOW they are stupid questions, but sometimes I just dont understand!
My little munchkin is growing up WAY too fast - 16 months now and she is just a joy. I love how she runs up to me now, climbs onto my lap and throws her arms around my neck and SQUEEEEZES a big hug. She makes us laugh every day. This is a beautiful age - she's too young for tantrums yet (although she's tried a couple) and she hasn't realised that she can disobey me yet!!
Piggy tails!
Climbing the slippery slide
LOVES her swing-set!
We had a nice, relaxing Easter break - it was nice to just have some family time with just the 3 of us. Skye also had her first ever taste of chocolate. She bit straight through the foil of a 17g egg (about the size of a chicken egg) and after we unwrapped it, she ended up eating about half of it. Here's a photo of the first taste...
Easter - her first ever taste of chocolate....
...and the after-effects!
The sugar-rush lasted for a while afterwards - with her running around the house yelling "Yippee!! Yippee!!" LOL!
We also had a morning trip up to Tamborine, and went for a bit of a bushwalk. She did pretty well and walked for about 1/3 of it on her own, before cracking it and having to be carried!
Anyway its taken me all day to write this post (!!) so I'll sign off now and go enjoy my Friday night!
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Busy Days!
Jeez I just cant get into the habit of regular blog posting these days! Things are going well here, just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!
For the last two weeks Skye has decided that she doesn't need her second day sleep, so that has been making things a bit more challenging for mummy! I really rely on her having two day naps of about 1.5 hours each. If she doesn't do this then I struggle to get work and other stuff done.
BUT - she's getting older now (15 months - eeek!) and I knew the day was coming, when she'd transition to just having one day nap. Seems that day is pretty much here - sob! So even though she's only having one nap, I've been keeping her to the two-nap schedule. The afternoon nap is now just some "quiet time" in her cot, while mummy finishes up with her day job!
Lets hope that when she officially goes to one nap, that she does me a favour and has a 3 hour long one! (We can hope!)
The other week, Nicole came for a visit and gave me some instruction on how to do some kettlebell exercises, which was fantastic! Kettlebell swings are MUCH harder to do correctly than they look. Anyway, after Nicoles excellent lesson, I feel like I'm able to do them properly now - and can even tell when someone's doing them wrong on TV! I've been practicing them most days with my dumbbells (we haven't bought any KB's yet) and although the action is slightly different with dumbbells, I still feel like I'm targeting the right muscles. I've also been practicing some Turkish getups too :) Thank you Nicole!!!
As far as my challenge goes, well I guess I'm just taking things at my own pace at the moment. And I'm enjoying being able to feel a bit of room in my jeans and shorts these days too, so I've definitely shrunk a bit in the hips and butt department.
Other news – I got all my hair chopped off!! So I’m back to a short bob again, and went back to dark brown. Having it lighter just needed too much maintenance – I hate having regrowth roots. It feel so nice and shiny and sleek again. One of the benefits of having totally dead straight hair. I still tie it up most days, but its nice to be able to wear it out occasionally and feel like there is a bit of style there!
Oh yes - for Kelly and Kristy - regarding our treadmill... initially I was going to get a second-hand one on eBay (so many people seem to buy them and then they collect dust, so I figured it was a good place to start looking). But then we saw some brand new ones on eBay, starting from around $500. Did lots of research, and ended up going for one of the brand new ones for about $600-700 (had a longer belt, higher horsepower, inbuilt speakers, ipod plug etc). They were local to us, so hubby went and picked it up for me, saving us the $100 delivery fee. I have to say that I'm impressed with the great quality of this treadmill too, especially for the price! I LOVE eBay! If you want more details, let me know your email address and I'll send you some more info :)
Have a great week everyone!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Turning it around
I’ve had a great fortnight. Something SO simple has turned it around for me. I’ve started logging food again. I swore I wasn’t going to get into that again, but its really helping me stay in control.
Now, I love a gadget. My favourite gadget is my iphone. I play with it all day. I even have to try to make a conscious effort NOT to play with it when hubby is home, because he gets the shits with me LOL!
So when I found a free iphone app last week called “My Fitness Pal” – I had to give it a go, and its awesome! So I’ve been logging my food, my cardio, strength training, calories burned (according to HRM), water intake, measurements, weight etc
Theres heaps of Aussie brand foods too (although even though I’ve switched it to metric, some of the portion sizes come up with ounces rather than grams… so I’ve had to use my Handy Convert app to figure that all out LOL!)
So I even had another whoosh on the scales last week, plus a very sensible weekend, no huge free meal, and I’m even starting to see those lines appear down either side of my stomach again – yay!
I’ve been doing weights and simple cardio – incline walking, and straight powerwalking. I’m trying to be kind to my foot and give it a chance to heal. Nicole has very kindly offered to come next week to teach me how to do kettlebell swings correctly, so I’m really looking forward to that!
I’ve also started doing a bit of Crossfit too. A friend of ours runs a Crossfit Studio, so he’s been giving me some tips and ideas. I’m just starting out with bodyweight stuff, but don’t worry – its not easy!! This week I did “Cindy” – which is 5 x pull ups (using rings, modified), 10 x pushups (modified) and 15 squats. Repeat for as many rounds as possible – I did 5 minutes to start with, and managed 5 ½ rounds… Caught my breath for a few minutes, then went again for another 5 minutes. This time did 6 rounds! I've had really sore leg and back DOMS from this session!
Then later this week I did 5 x DB one arm snatches, followed immediately by 5 x burpees. Repeat. For FIFTEEN minutes!! OMG I was dying at the end! (I hate burpees!!) I did 12 rounds in 13 minutes - yes I had two minutes to spare, but I needed to breathe instead!!
On in-between days I did treadmill walks (cant let that sparkly new treadmill go to waste now)
I'm feeling great, and looking forward to adding some kettlebells into the mix next week. I also went and got all my hair chopped off yesterday too, so I'm feeling like a new woman!
Now, I love a gadget. My favourite gadget is my iphone. I play with it all day. I even have to try to make a conscious effort NOT to play with it when hubby is home, because he gets the shits with me LOL!
So when I found a free iphone app last week called “My Fitness Pal” – I had to give it a go, and its awesome! So I’ve been logging my food, my cardio, strength training, calories burned (according to HRM), water intake, measurements, weight etc
Theres heaps of Aussie brand foods too (although even though I’ve switched it to metric, some of the portion sizes come up with ounces rather than grams… so I’ve had to use my Handy Convert app to figure that all out LOL!)
So I even had another whoosh on the scales last week, plus a very sensible weekend, no huge free meal, and I’m even starting to see those lines appear down either side of my stomach again – yay!
I’ve been doing weights and simple cardio – incline walking, and straight powerwalking. I’m trying to be kind to my foot and give it a chance to heal. Nicole has very kindly offered to come next week to teach me how to do kettlebell swings correctly, so I’m really looking forward to that!
I’ve also started doing a bit of Crossfit too. A friend of ours runs a Crossfit Studio, so he’s been giving me some tips and ideas. I’m just starting out with bodyweight stuff, but don’t worry – its not easy!! This week I did “Cindy” – which is 5 x pull ups (using rings, modified), 10 x pushups (modified) and 15 squats. Repeat for as many rounds as possible – I did 5 minutes to start with, and managed 5 ½ rounds… Caught my breath for a few minutes, then went again for another 5 minutes. This time did 6 rounds! I've had really sore leg and back DOMS from this session!
Then later this week I did 5 x DB one arm snatches, followed immediately by 5 x burpees. Repeat. For FIFTEEN minutes!! OMG I was dying at the end! (I hate burpees!!) I did 12 rounds in 13 minutes - yes I had two minutes to spare, but I needed to breathe instead!!
On in-between days I did treadmill walks (cant let that sparkly new treadmill go to waste now)
I'm feeling great, and looking forward to adding some kettlebells into the mix next week. I also went and got all my hair chopped off yesterday too, so I'm feeling like a new woman!
Friday, March 04, 2011
I’m still here
… treading water.
Last week after “that comment”, I really knuckled down. I upped the ante with my workouts, I was particularly careful with my nutrition. I jogged more. I threw in some more interval training.
A few days later I had one of those magical “Whooshes” on the scales – hooray!!
Then my foot pain flared up again. And I had to scale it back again. Rest, and steady state cardio to nurse my poor plantar fascia on my right foot. Damn. More ice/heat/ice/heat therapy (which I should be doing multiple times a day, and I usually forget – oops!)
My podiatrist says it should settle down, but with my jogging its not getting a good chance to heal. The orthotics really help, but I need to be more patient and stop jumping in head first like I do, and doing too much too soon. I love interval jogging, but my feet dont like it.
So frustrating! But still hanging in there.
Last weekend sent me backwards though - a big free meal on Saturday night, and then a few friends came over on Sunday, and I DRANK! I'd already had quite a few big glasses of wine, and then some more friends turned up and we opened another bottle... and then polished that off too. I must have had 1.5 bottles of wine to myself. I haven't drunk that much in a LOOOOOONG time!
Needless to say I felt a bit yuk that night, and very dehydrated on Monday. But it was nice to catch up with friends and talk about stuff other than kids for a change!
I've been feeling a bit down about my progress (or lack of). My body seems intent on staying this size at the moment, and I'm just going to have to work even harder to bust through it. I need to stop having big free meals (a small one would do just as well) and I need to stop letting those little extras creep in.
Measurements day tomorrow!
Last week after “that comment”, I really knuckled down. I upped the ante with my workouts, I was particularly careful with my nutrition. I jogged more. I threw in some more interval training.
A few days later I had one of those magical “Whooshes” on the scales – hooray!!
Then my foot pain flared up again. And I had to scale it back again. Rest, and steady state cardio to nurse my poor plantar fascia on my right foot. Damn. More ice/heat/ice/heat therapy (which I should be doing multiple times a day, and I usually forget – oops!)
My podiatrist says it should settle down, but with my jogging its not getting a good chance to heal. The orthotics really help, but I need to be more patient and stop jumping in head first like I do, and doing too much too soon. I love interval jogging, but my feet dont like it.
So frustrating! But still hanging in there.
Last weekend sent me backwards though - a big free meal on Saturday night, and then a few friends came over on Sunday, and I DRANK! I'd already had quite a few big glasses of wine, and then some more friends turned up and we opened another bottle... and then polished that off too. I must have had 1.5 bottles of wine to myself. I haven't drunk that much in a LOOOOOONG time!
Needless to say I felt a bit yuk that night, and very dehydrated on Monday. But it was nice to catch up with friends and talk about stuff other than kids for a change!
I've been feeling a bit down about my progress (or lack of). My body seems intent on staying this size at the moment, and I'm just going to have to work even harder to bust through it. I need to stop having big free meals (a small one would do just as well) and I need to stop letting those little extras creep in.
Measurements day tomorrow!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
End of week 6 - refocus & recommit
Ok so it was measurements day again yesterday - and I went into it with some trepidation!
It was TOM so I wasn't expecting much - and I was right. Up 300g from last fortnight, grrr, and most measurements and skinfolds had little or no movement. 2cms lost. BAH!
Very annoying when you feel like you've been working your butt off. But anyway - time to refocus and recommit to my goals. I know that this is normal, so I'm not going to let it stop me.
I had a very negative moment on Friday when a relative said 5 little words that every woman dreads - "Have you put on weight?"
WHAT!!!!?????
Only a family member would dare say that to anyone, wouldn't they? It took all my strength to keep my composure and not let it get me down. I kept saying to myself "dont let it get to you, dont let it get to you..." over and over.
But of course it got to me. I even had a little cry over it to hubby when I got home.
Stupid thing is, I only have to look at my results over the last 6 weeks to know that this is NOT true, but these comments have such a way of deflating you, dont they?
Anyway, not letting this stop me - here's to having a fantastic fortnight, and I'm going to kick arse!!
It was TOM so I wasn't expecting much - and I was right. Up 300g from last fortnight, grrr, and most measurements and skinfolds had little or no movement. 2cms lost. BAH!
Very annoying when you feel like you've been working your butt off. But anyway - time to refocus and recommit to my goals. I know that this is normal, so I'm not going to let it stop me.
I had a very negative moment on Friday when a relative said 5 little words that every woman dreads - "Have you put on weight?"
WHAT!!!!?????
Only a family member would dare say that to anyone, wouldn't they? It took all my strength to keep my composure and not let it get me down. I kept saying to myself "dont let it get to you, dont let it get to you..." over and over.
But of course it got to me. I even had a little cry over it to hubby when I got home.
Stupid thing is, I only have to look at my results over the last 6 weeks to know that this is NOT true, but these comments have such a way of deflating you, dont they?
Anyway, not letting this stop me - here's to having a fantastic fortnight, and I'm going to kick arse!!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Funny little habits
Do you have any funny little "rituals" or idiosyncrasies?
Last week I discovered I have a “funny little habit” that I knew nothing about…
Now when I’m preparing dinner, I normally always have 2/3 of the plate covered in a big salad, and the final third is the meat. I’m normally the one who sets the plates down on the dining table, but one night last week I was still getting Skye’s plate organized, so hubby grabbed our two plates and set them down.
But when I went to sit down to eat, I looked at my plate and realised that it just didn’t look right. I stared at the plate for a few seconds before I realised that the plate was the wrong way round - I cant eat my dinner unless the salad is on the left, and the meat is on the right!! Once I turned the plate around, I was fine!
I once had a neighbour who counted steps. She knew exactly how many steps it took to go from her car, to her front door. How many steps from the front door to the kitchen bench, how many steps from her house to my front door etc.
I thought that was a bit funny, then I realised that lots of us have our own “funny little habits”.
My main “funny little habit” that I’ve always been conscious of is being worried about forgetting to shut or lock the door properly. I used to lock the front door, check it, get in the car, drive out the driveway, then spend the rest of the day worrying if I'd locked the door. I'd do that every day. When that got a bit much I developed a new ritual where I’d lock the door, check it (several times) and then scratch the back of my hand with my key. Then whenever I started to worry about not locking the door, I could look at the scratch on my hand and remember – YES I locked the door.
I’ve overcome that one a bit, but I still think about it. We've never been burgled or anything, so I'm not sure where that comes from!
My mum has a thing about wall picture frames having to hang straight. If she’s in your house, and a picture frame is hanging crooked, she cant sit still or concentrate until she gets up and straightens it.
I've heard that some people have to put their left shoe on, before their right. Or wont eat a certain coloured food etc
Do you have any funny little habits? Come on, share them with me so I don’t feel so strange!
Last week I discovered I have a “funny little habit” that I knew nothing about…
Now when I’m preparing dinner, I normally always have 2/3 of the plate covered in a big salad, and the final third is the meat. I’m normally the one who sets the plates down on the dining table, but one night last week I was still getting Skye’s plate organized, so hubby grabbed our two plates and set them down.
But when I went to sit down to eat, I looked at my plate and realised that it just didn’t look right. I stared at the plate for a few seconds before I realised that the plate was the wrong way round - I cant eat my dinner unless the salad is on the left, and the meat is on the right!! Once I turned the plate around, I was fine!
I once had a neighbour who counted steps. She knew exactly how many steps it took to go from her car, to her front door. How many steps from the front door to the kitchen bench, how many steps from her house to my front door etc.
I thought that was a bit funny, then I realised that lots of us have our own “funny little habits”.
My main “funny little habit” that I’ve always been conscious of is being worried about forgetting to shut or lock the door properly. I used to lock the front door, check it, get in the car, drive out the driveway, then spend the rest of the day worrying if I'd locked the door. I'd do that every day. When that got a bit much I developed a new ritual where I’d lock the door, check it (several times) and then scratch the back of my hand with my key. Then whenever I started to worry about not locking the door, I could look at the scratch on my hand and remember – YES I locked the door.
I’ve overcome that one a bit, but I still think about it. We've never been burgled or anything, so I'm not sure where that comes from!
My mum has a thing about wall picture frames having to hang straight. If she’s in your house, and a picture frame is hanging crooked, she cant sit still or concentrate until she gets up and straightens it.
I've heard that some people have to put their left shoe on, before their right. Or wont eat a certain coloured food etc
Do you have any funny little habits? Come on, share them with me so I don’t feel so strange!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
The playgroup
Today I ventured into the world of the unknown… the playgroup.
I've been wanting to take Skye for a while, but I kept putting it off.
I find it amusing that despite my roles in the workplace, which for years saw me flying around the country to stand up in front of a room full of strangers and train them to use a computer program, and then later as a sales rep covering the whole of South-East Queensland – where I was talking to strangers all day, and making small talk out of absolutely nothing, that I should be so daunted by a childrens playgroup!
Its a bit off-putting, entering a room full of mums and their kids, who all know each other. Me not knowing anyone. Wondering if they’ll be friendly, or keep to themselves etc.
But kids are amazing aren’t they? They aren’t shy, they just jump right in there and go play. They don’t worry about if someone will talk to them or not – they just march right in there and get down to business.
Grown ups on the other hand, worry about all sorts of silly things. Nobody likes to be the new girl!
Luckily this local playgroup is a small, relaxed one – only about 20 kids. Its raining today, so they had to stay indoors. But I was amazed at the huge variety of toys, and activities for the kids… a drawing table with lots of crayons and paper, a painting table with glitter and glue, a big padded play mat with a zillion toys, a reading section, a food table with lots of healthy kids foods (plus a few unhealthy too! I was quite pleased to see Skye reach for the strawberries and apple, and then pick up the piece of muffin and throw it on the floor!)
Skye had a blast! Plus I got to meet a couple of other mums who were also new today (but they were already friends) so it was a pretty nice morning. I think I’ll be going back.
Next on the agenda this week – Skye’s first official swimming lesson!
I've been wanting to take Skye for a while, but I kept putting it off.
I find it amusing that despite my roles in the workplace, which for years saw me flying around the country to stand up in front of a room full of strangers and train them to use a computer program, and then later as a sales rep covering the whole of South-East Queensland – where I was talking to strangers all day, and making small talk out of absolutely nothing, that I should be so daunted by a childrens playgroup!
Its a bit off-putting, entering a room full of mums and their kids, who all know each other. Me not knowing anyone. Wondering if they’ll be friendly, or keep to themselves etc.
But kids are amazing aren’t they? They aren’t shy, they just jump right in there and go play. They don’t worry about if someone will talk to them or not – they just march right in there and get down to business.
Grown ups on the other hand, worry about all sorts of silly things. Nobody likes to be the new girl!
Luckily this local playgroup is a small, relaxed one – only about 20 kids. Its raining today, so they had to stay indoors. But I was amazed at the huge variety of toys, and activities for the kids… a drawing table with lots of crayons and paper, a painting table with glitter and glue, a big padded play mat with a zillion toys, a reading section, a food table with lots of healthy kids foods (plus a few unhealthy too! I was quite pleased to see Skye reach for the strawberries and apple, and then pick up the piece of muffin and throw it on the floor!)
Skye had a blast! Plus I got to meet a couple of other mums who were also new today (but they were already friends) so it was a pretty nice morning. I think I’ll be going back.
Next on the agenda this week – Skye’s first official swimming lesson!
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Weigh-In day
Results after 4 weeks:
This fortnight has seen a small loss on the scales again – only 800g since last fortnight, and 1.5kgs in total. Bit disappointed in my measurements this fortnight too, as my waist, hips and chest stayed the same (and they are normally the big movers for me), and only had small losses from thighs, calves and biceps. Still, a 4cm loss is a 4cm loss and I am still happy that things are going in the right direction – albeit a bit slower than I’d like!
I am pleased with my skinfolds though – I’ve lost another 1.3% bodyfat (down 3.8% in 4 weeks) and a 8mm from all over (down 17mm since the start).
So although the scales and some measurements aren’t showing the progress that I’d like, I have to look at the big picture and know that the changes are slowly happening!
I’m actually quite impressed with myself this week, and really really chuffed that my determination and commitment is still there!
I had a bit of an “a-ha” moment yesterday when I was thinking that my progress felt slow compared to in the past, despite the hard work. I’m not sure if this is because I have Polycystic Ovaries – this was never a problem until we first started trying to get pregnant a few years ago and went off the pill. Actually – I never even knew about it before then. I was on the pill from the age of 18, until I was 32, and so consequently I never had any of the tell-tale signs or symptoms until I stopped taking the pill and tried to get pregnant (and even then, I don’t have MOST of the symptoms that go with PCOS, just the faulty ovaries) and being on the pill may have helped control the symptoms.
So PCOS is possibly hampering my fat-loss attempts, but in no way is it an excuse. But it might explain why my belly fat (which I’ve never had a problem with before) is a bit more stubborn now (or it could just be that I’m older now LOL!). I’ve been working hard and eating clean – the results will come but they might just take a little longer.
We had a night from hell with Skye last night – she woke up every hour and a half crying… I don’t know why, she NEVER does that. She seemed fine and if I went in to her, and picked her up, she would fall asleep on my shoulder. Put her back down and the crying started again. At 1am we brought her into our bed (which we’ve never done before) to try to get her to settle – BAD IDEA! She thought it was so much fun, and was too excited to sleep. So… back to her room at 2am – more crying… finally she went to sleep until she woke at 3.45am crying again… sigh…
Today I feel shattered, I don’t know how on earth I survived on so little sleep when she was a younger baby!
This fortnight has seen a small loss on the scales again – only 800g since last fortnight, and 1.5kgs in total. Bit disappointed in my measurements this fortnight too, as my waist, hips and chest stayed the same (and they are normally the big movers for me), and only had small losses from thighs, calves and biceps. Still, a 4cm loss is a 4cm loss and I am still happy that things are going in the right direction – albeit a bit slower than I’d like!
I am pleased with my skinfolds though – I’ve lost another 1.3% bodyfat (down 3.8% in 4 weeks) and a 8mm from all over (down 17mm since the start).
So although the scales and some measurements aren’t showing the progress that I’d like, I have to look at the big picture and know that the changes are slowly happening!
I’m actually quite impressed with myself this week, and really really chuffed that my determination and commitment is still there!
I had a bit of an “a-ha” moment yesterday when I was thinking that my progress felt slow compared to in the past, despite the hard work. I’m not sure if this is because I have Polycystic Ovaries – this was never a problem until we first started trying to get pregnant a few years ago and went off the pill. Actually – I never even knew about it before then. I was on the pill from the age of 18, until I was 32, and so consequently I never had any of the tell-tale signs or symptoms until I stopped taking the pill and tried to get pregnant (and even then, I don’t have MOST of the symptoms that go with PCOS, just the faulty ovaries) and being on the pill may have helped control the symptoms.
So PCOS is possibly hampering my fat-loss attempts, but in no way is it an excuse. But it might explain why my belly fat (which I’ve never had a problem with before) is a bit more stubborn now (or it could just be that I’m older now LOL!). I’ve been working hard and eating clean – the results will come but they might just take a little longer.
We had a night from hell with Skye last night – she woke up every hour and a half crying… I don’t know why, she NEVER does that. She seemed fine and if I went in to her, and picked her up, she would fall asleep on my shoulder. Put her back down and the crying started again. At 1am we brought her into our bed (which we’ve never done before) to try to get her to settle – BAD IDEA! She thought it was so much fun, and was too excited to sleep. So… back to her room at 2am – more crying… finally she went to sleep until she woke at 3.45am crying again… sigh…
Today I feel shattered, I don’t know how on earth I survived on so little sleep when she was a younger baby!
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?
**************************************************************
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!
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?
**************************************************************
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Update and Merry Christmas!
Things are chugging along here nicely - I've just been doing my thing, getting up every morning and jumping on the treadmill... have not got on the scales for a few weeks, mostly because I cant be bothered at the moment - but I got on them this morning and was surprised to see it much lower than expected! Yay!
One drawback of my lovely treadmill has been the return of plantar fasciitis. I used to suffer from this before I was pregnant - I think it came about from wearing sky-high-heels every day to work, coupled with running, and having high arches. Anyway, it went away while I was pregnant and I haven't thought about it much since. I thought that pregnancy had cured it! But I started jogging regularly again, and within 24 hours of that first treadmill jog, I was waking up with heel pain and a burning sensation in my arch on my right foot.
I kept up the jogging for a few days, but when I started waking up in the middle of the night with foot and toe cramps, well I had to tone it back a bit. So its been powerwalking and incline walking + foot strapping for me since then. I'm going to see the podiatrist tomorrow so hopefully we can get it treated, get some custom orthotics and (fingers crossed) I'll be able to jog again!
Anyway, we are VERY much looking forward to our little munchkins first Christmas, and her first birthday next Thursday! I cant believe my little girl is almost ONE! Obvioulsy she hasn't a clue whats going on, and everyone else is looking forward to just watching her face on Christmas morning :) and watch her play with the wrapping paper instead of the presents lol. She has a cute little outfit to wear on Christmas day too of course!
Its hubbys' birthday today, so she can help daddy open his presents tonight and help him blow out the candle on his cake - good practice for next week!
December for our families brings many, many birthdays. We have a total of 8 birthdays in December, accross 2 families - as well as mum and dads anniversary, plus Christmas... busy time of year! Anyway...
Wishing you all a lovely Christmas - hope Santa visits you all and everyone enjoys some relaxing time with family and friends! Bye for now!
One drawback of my lovely treadmill has been the return of plantar fasciitis. I used to suffer from this before I was pregnant - I think it came about from wearing sky-high-heels every day to work, coupled with running, and having high arches. Anyway, it went away while I was pregnant and I haven't thought about it much since. I thought that pregnancy had cured it! But I started jogging regularly again, and within 24 hours of that first treadmill jog, I was waking up with heel pain and a burning sensation in my arch on my right foot.
I kept up the jogging for a few days, but when I started waking up in the middle of the night with foot and toe cramps, well I had to tone it back a bit. So its been powerwalking and incline walking + foot strapping for me since then. I'm going to see the podiatrist tomorrow so hopefully we can get it treated, get some custom orthotics and (fingers crossed) I'll be able to jog again!
Anyway, we are VERY much looking forward to our little munchkins first Christmas, and her first birthday next Thursday! I cant believe my little girl is almost ONE! Obvioulsy she hasn't a clue whats going on, and everyone else is looking forward to just watching her face on Christmas morning :) and watch her play with the wrapping paper instead of the presents lol. She has a cute little outfit to wear on Christmas day too of course!
Its hubbys' birthday today, so she can help daddy open his presents tonight and help him blow out the candle on his cake - good practice for next week!
December for our families brings many, many birthdays. We have a total of 8 birthdays in December, accross 2 families - as well as mum and dads anniversary, plus Christmas... busy time of year! Anyway...
Wishing you all a lovely Christmas - hope Santa visits you all and everyone enjoys some relaxing time with family and friends! Bye for now!
Thursday, December 09, 2010
My new treadmill
Last Friday, Santa paid me an early visit! I got a treadmill!The treadmill was in aid of cheering me up - well, in giving me the "tools" to cheer myself up. I've been feeling very... um... FLAT... lately. Quite down on myself - struggling to find ANY "me" time at all these days.
While working part-time from home is awesome, it does take some getting used to. I've been feeling a bit daggy because I can be working while wearing my slippers, or with wet hair and no make-up. Or hair not done (can you call pulling your hair into a rough, unbrushed ponytail "done"?). It takes some effort to make an effort!
I also have to make an effort to eat, because I often cant be bothered! I always thought it would be great to be home at lunchtime because you could eat "whatever you wanted". But the reality seems to be that you just dont bother, or pick at whatever your child doesn't eat. Or when I take Skye out when she wakes up, typically I get her food organised to take with us, but completely forget about myself! So by the time I get home I'm starving...
So for the last two weeks I've been super organised - cooking up big batches of things on weekends so that I've got meals ready for the week - just like I did when I was working full time.
I've also been using the new treadmill almost every day - slowly building up the fitness levels again! I've been getting up at 5am to fit my training in - although yesterday after doing some weights, I only got 5 mins done on the treadmill before Skye decided that 5.45am was the time to wake up... bugger!
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Anyway - other stuff - I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year! Last year we cancelled Christmas, since I was 9 months pregnant and just over everything LOL! So we are making up for it this year - BIG TIME! We're hosting lunch this year - both hubbys family and mine are coming. No doubt Skye will be getting spoiled rotten (even though we all said we wouldn't!). I went and collected Skye's Christmas layby on Wednesday - I did the layby back in July I think, so I had completely forgotten what I'd bought!
For the last few weeks I've been mentally planning the Christmas meal - I'm going to do a glazed ham this year (never done one before), plus a roast beef I think. Also having roast spuds, maple glazed roast sweet potato, individual stuffing balls, and green vege. Dessert might be a macadamia and white chocolate Ice Cream cake... haven't decided yet! (Both our families are English, so we like the traditional dinner, as opposed to the cold seafood buffet, or BBQ etc)
Ok - enough about food! Have a great weekend everyone!
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