Shake it out

Im right back where I started a year ago.  A few differences though… have gained a few more of those pesky kilos, have found love and have accrued a new battle, cancer.  No, I’m not going to change the theme of this blog to one of those “I have cancer and thats all I can talk about now”,  blogs. Nope, in fact Im re-igniting this blog with the same true purpose of loosing weight, getting healthy, and healing my body mind and soul. After all, the only way you can wage a war, is on all fronts.

Yea, so 2012 was not all I hoped it would be, but it was eventful and interesting.  Its took me down some interesting paths, both lovely and horrific, and Im now choosing to allow it to build my character and not make me hateful.

So, today I walked back into the gym, a new gym in fact.  Virgin Active Victory Park, and wow it is lovely.  25m pool, some new machines, and a crossfit ‘play’ area.  The new gym looks and feels great.  I hopped on the bike for a 20min cycle, only managed 8.5 mins of that, and then proceeded to try our all the new machines, as well as the crossfit area.  I was not disappointed in myself for not reaching my goal, instead I was proud of myself for going to the gym, and was excited with all the new ‘toys’ to have fun with.

Last year I set myself strict rules, exercise regimes and tight weight loss goals, which worked well, for 7 weeks.  It was just not sustainable from a psychological point of view.  This year Im gonna mix it up, do things that will feel like fun and not hard work, and Im gonna try stick to these four rules…

1. Always remember to breathe. This seems obvious, but when you’re in the middle of an exercise you may actually forget. In most cases you’ll exhale when you do the hard work (e.g. the pushing up part of a push up), and inhale on the easier part (e.g. when you lower your body for the push up). This isn’t always the case, however, and special breathing instructions are noted where relevant in this post.
2. Form is extremely important. If you do an exercise wrong, what seems like progress initially will quickly dissipate and possibly result in injury. Be sure you’re doing the exercises correctly before you begin. Ask a friend to watch your form first. If you know a professional, ask them to help guide you. While this guide will explain proper form, it is your responsibility to ensure you doing the exercises properly and not cutting any corners.
3. Take it slowly. While aerobic exercise if often the exception, most other exercise is best performed slowly. This doesn’t mean you should take long breaks in between each push up and sit up, but that you shouldn’t perform each as quickly as possible. Going slowly will work the muscle more and make you stronger.
4. Your goal is to fail. The key to a good work out is failure. That doesn’t mean giving up because you’re frustrated and tired, but rather pushing the limits of your strength until your strength is spent. Obviously you don’t want to push yourself to the point of injury, but that shouldn’t be a concern so long as you’re exhibiting the proper form. Don’t worry too much about the number of repetitions of any given exercise, but instead concentrate on working as hard as you can. A larger number of push ups doesn’t necessarily mean you’re stronger. Some days you’ll have more energy than others and will perform better. Some days you’ll perform worse. The key is to do the best you can with all of the energy you have. If you fail, you succeed.

(above from http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1QiTKS/lifehacker.com/5839197/how-to-get-a-full-body-workout-with-nothing-but-your-bodyardio/)

Also, this year I have decided to not waste time with new year’s resolutions.  Instead I have chosen to be more pro-active and made myself a 2013 ‘To Do List’, this is how it looks so far…

Get bi-polar under control

Get a full time job

Fix my car to reliable status

Get under 100kgs

Pass fresh meat (this is a roller derby thing, its the newbie skating level)

Become a better editor

Learn after effects (animation and sfx software)

Pay off my debts

Make a movie

Save money for an overseas vacation

100 days with no alcohol

Kick cancer’s ass

What’s on your 2013 To Do List ???

Getting back on the band wagon

The week end was not good to me, okay, okay, I was not good to myself.

An old friend came to visit, and I slipped back into some old bad habits, eating badly drinking beer and skipping gym.  I just 5 really short days, I regain 3 of the 8kgs I lost.  This is just no good, and yesterday I felt awful when I climbed on that scale and saw  was back up to 141Kgs.  It was nearly down right depressing, and then I said to myself, Lizz, this is just a hurdle not the end of it all.

So, today I returned to gym with much vigor, and all my initial desire.  I’m back with my eating program and I have taken my workout to a new level.  It’s only a small step up, but it’s the next step I need.

My eating plan currently is;

BREAKFAST: small bowl muesli with a small hand full of dried goji berries and parmalat fabu-lite yoghurt (just one of those small ones – they are low fat and not sweetened, and you can really taste there is no extra sugar rubbish in there).  I also allow myself 2/3 fruit like plums, necterines, or green apples.  Did you know green apples (granny smith’s) has fat burning qualities??  It’s true…

SNAX

Between meals I allow myself to snack when ever I’m feeling peckish or hungry.  As you may know, eating small amounts more often speeds up you metabolism.  I keep a mix of plain raw almonds and goji berries in a tupperware container for snacking, but I don’t have more than 10-15 almonds per snack time.  This counts for my snack between breakfast and lunch (which is usually before I go to gym for the day), as well as my snack between lunch and dinner.

LUNCH

Alternates on how hungry I’m feeling I have lunch after gym, so sometimes I’m ravenous and sometimes not.  I allow myself either 2 boiled eggs or 1 lean grilled chicken breats, or 1 small tin of tuna, with as many salad greens as I like, or just by themselves.  Sometimes I’ll have a fruit or two. I try not take in any sugar after 2pm

DINNER

I have as much ‘Magic Soup’ as I want.  Its a special soup made from everything green and fat burning, and the way I make it, it is quite tastey.  Sure it’s no cheese burger from Steers, but all the green veg removes all my sugar cravings, as well as it needs to use fat to digest.

Gym today went as follows…

10min  brisk cycle

6 X 15 Hip aduction (outward) – works legs and ass

6 X 15 Hip abduction (inward) – works legs and ass

6 X 15 two handed over head tri-cep extension with free weight – for those ‘wings’ under the arms

5 X 15 two handed downward tri-cep extension – for the tr-ceps

5 mins on the orbitrek, I’m new to the orbitreck so just tacking it easy but still find this really challenging, it’s quite the thigh and ass buster – love it!

5 X 20 uporight seated ab crunches on the machine

5 X 10 hyperextensions

10 min brisk walk on treadmill with 2kg weight in each hand doing little punches in time to my stride

and to wrap it all up…

30 laps in the 20m pool

Tomorrow morning I’ll be back here with my sister, to ‘punish the iron’ some more.  ;p

276 days to go till goal weight or 70kgs

Nutrition Fact For today

Apples and Pears contain very high levels of a fat burning chemical called “flavonoids”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the women in one study who often ate apples and pears increased their rate of energy use (calorie burning) and the rate at which they burned fat. Apples are also known as a cleansing food, contain fibre, antioxidants and fruit flavonoids. The most important of the flavonoids contained in apples is quercetin, which has anti-inflammatory as well as anti-cancer actions. Apples contain vitamin C as well – more so in green apples than in red ones. Apples can reduce blood cholesterol levels, counter constipation and diarrhoea, help joint problems and help prevent diseases in general.

 

ps… will post pics as soon as I figure out how to do that.

Keep the faith!