Dumps

Man am I sore today. Glad today is a rest day!

I was feeling a little in the dumps today because my measurements are all over the place (even though I check them a few times before I write it down) and it doesn't look like I have lost much on paper.

Should I buy a set of scales?

Week 8

What's Motivating Me This Week?

A proper dance instructor has moved to town and will be started up real Zumba classes!  I'm kind of excited about this!

What's Puzzling Me This Week?
Reading through blogilates and finding out about Gaiam TV. I'm kind of keen to find out if I can join up being from Australia and all that. Sometimes these things don't work because of copyright etc.

What's Bugging Me This Week?
That I really want to drink Pepsi Max. It tastes so good.

What's Encouraging Me This Week? 

That other people are noticing.


My husband C, joined me for exercise for the first time this year.  I hope I can keep him going.

What's the Plan?
I know that I said that I would probably keep that routine for a few weeks but I found that doing 'Get Strong' just wasn't cutting it for me - I think I do better when I have someone telling me what to do (on video) then having to use a peice of paper.

Today I did the 'Booty Shaking Waist Workout' video and it killed me. I think that it will be great to do this plan for a few weeks and see how much I can improve.

Plugging Away

Yesterday, my friend Maria said, 'You have lost a lot of weight!'

The back story to this is last week I went into work while everyone else bar the office staff were on holidays, just to say hello and move furniture. Maria, our office mum,  who always makes nice comments about my clothes especially when I'm wearing flattering things said 'those pants are very slimming'. I laughed and said, 'No, I'm the one who's slimming.' I don't think she believed me.

What makes losing weight harder is all the negative comments people make about their own weight or their diet. Today someone bought in a caramel pie to share. I had a peice - no second thoughts - no regrets. That pie was made with love, and I loved eating it. But some people made comments like 'I'm on a diet' or they cut themselves the tineist peice. Why can't we enjoy things, knowing that it's in moderation?

Week 7 - revision

What the Plan?

Increasing strength.


Keeping up with the mile walk - one mile is 1.6 km - this week I've added weights. I did it this morning and it almost killed me. I'm still trying to kill this cold, and also shark week! Stupid bloating.

A little while ago Discovery Channel was featuring Shark Week! Documentaries about sharks. It made me giggle every time.

Week 7 - or something

What's Motivating Me This Week?
Picking myself up again and getting myself back into routine before school starts.

What's Puzzling Me This Week?
Food still - looking for snacks to take to school.

What's Bugging Me This Week?
Stupid virus. I also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow about my meds.

What's Encouraging Me This Week?

http://fleurmeetsfitness.tumblr.com/

Wearing sleeveless tops. 

About 8 years ago I wasn't half as paranoid about my arms as I am now. It really started when I was at the local pool just floating around after the heat of the day - and when I say heat I mean 40-odd degree C is pretty average at this time of the year - when the manager of the pool swam up to me and told me 'To get rid of those flabby teacher arms you need to do this,' and flapped her arms around in the water. No joke, this biotch came right up to me out of the blue and gave me a complex about my 'flabby teacher arms'.  Well, I'm trying not to care anymore and have been wearing sleeveless tops - I bought 2 over the holidays and am wearing one right now.

What's the Plan?
I did such a shoddy job of last week's that I'm going to repeat it.  I probably will for next week too, but I'm thinking I might add this in:

But, I really think I need to add more strength training.

Things

That I have been looking at lately:

Dukan Cheesecake Recipe

I have the ingredeints but haven't felt like making it yet - I'll explain later

 From Thick to Thin

At the moment, I'm wondering if I should open this blog up to readers. I wonder if I can NOT have comments though, I don't think I could handle the haters.


This week I have been sick as a uni student after a Thursday 1 dollar shot night. I've caught such a nasty bug, with a sore throat, coughing with phlem, runny nose, vomiting at times, lost voice - really death warmed up.  I did struggle to work out for three days, but not the last three. Why don't things work out?

Week 6

What's Motivating Me This Week?
Losing the Christmas podgey fat feeling

What's Puzzling Me This Week?
How to set up a healthy eating plan

What's Bugging Me This Week?
Not much actually – going pretty smoothly at the moment

What's Encouraging Me This Week? 
Check out this:

Looks like I can celebrate my first short term goal!

What's the Plan?
Increasing the length of my exercise in the mornings.

What was the Plan for the Previous Weeks I was Away? 

Woes of Holidays and Protein

I found it really hard in the last two weeks of my holiday to maintain my work out plans and eating habits.  This was partly because my time and meals weren’t really my own as we were staying with family – everything that I ate and did was based upon their own needs and that’s just the way it should be. So not complaining because what we ate was YUM! We also spent a week in a rainforest cabin for our anniversary, where they made your meals for you and the food just kept coming.  We left with a lot of food in the fridge uneaten.

So I feel like all the work I did before Christmas was kind of wasted on one hand, basically I put on everything I lost – although I haven’t checked.  However, I know what I was doing was working and although I feel fat again I also feel healthier. When we were at the cabin we went for a hike up into the rainforest and it felt really good. A few months ago I wouldn’t have done it. I also know that I’ll be able to pick it up again pretty quickly. So now that I’m back at home I’ll start again.

Before Christmas my sister-in-law did a few days of the Dukan diet.  If you don’t know the Dukan diet, it is basically for a little while (called the attack phase) you eat protein foods and not much else.

This works in the short term because your body takes longer and works harder to convert protein into usable energy thus you end up with less of the energy stored away as fat because it is being used up instead. That is why many texts suggest you eat a protein rich food as a snack – it will help fill you up and take a while to convert.

However long term, some obvious side effects are constipation (no fibre), lack of vitamins and minerals (no fruit or veg) and kidney issues (as it tries to deal with all that extra protein).

The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating shows that lean meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nut and legumes (all give you protein) should take up about an 1/8 of your food intake – or between 1-1½ serves a day for an adult woman – up to 2 if you are male. 

Example of a serve:

2 small eggs

½ cup lean mince

½ cup cooked chick peas etc

1/3 cup peanuts/almonds

65-100g cooked meat

One of the things I’m taking away from the Dukan diet is the Galette.  My sister-in-law made them for breakfast, although I got her to add a little bit of parmesan cheese to add some more flavour, it wasn’t too bad. Making it into a pancake- which is apparently what a galette is – seems like a bit of time waster to me – plus you have all that washing up to do just for one pancake – so I’m thinking it could be microwaved in a bowl much like I do scrambled eggs, but I haven't tried it yet.

Galette

2 tablespoons oat bran

1 tablespoon of cottage cheese – we don’t have fromage frais of quark here

50g of cottage cheese – we don’t have fromage frais of quark here

1 egg

150g of thinly sliced ham

Sprinkle of parmesan cheese (not from the Dukan diet ha ha!)

Mix all ingredients together. Pour into pan and make a pancake or microwave in short 20 sec bursts with stirring until cooked.