Reality Check

This week I gave myself an exercise plan to follow and so far it has been so-so.  I completely skipped Saturdays schedule mainly because it was the first Saturday in months that my husband had the day off and we ended up going to the markets, out for lunch, took the kids to the park and then to the football that night so I really didn't even have time to do anything.  I know being busy isn't an excuse, but my husband having a Saturday off is a very rare occurrence and we took advantage of it.

Now, because I was such a slacko on Saturday and did nothing on the plan - NO! wait, I did do one thing on the list, I weighed myself.  I weighed in at 97.2 kg (214 lbs), which gives me a total loss of 18 kg (39 lbs).  I love how close I am to losing 20 kgs (44 lbs) cause I actually find it motivating.  

Anyway, because I was so slack on Saturday I made sure I didn't skimp on Sunday.  I got up early enough to have the kids fed and dressed so I could make it to the gym by 8am when they opened and I did my weight session, which also included a smidge of cardio.  I love mixing a bit of cardio (15 mins treadmill and 10 mins cross trainer) in between the weights as it really helps to get the old heart rate moving, which in turn, means I burn more calories.  I also made it back to the gym later in the day for a Zumba class!

Monday is my rest day so I have the choice of doing nothing or doing either my yoga or pilates DVD.  The physical intensity in both of the DVDs is very minimal so it's more for just stretching out the old body.  I chose not to do them yesterday cause I didn't feel sore like I thought I would, but I am sure that could easily change at any moment.

Today's events are a little behind.  I slept though my alarm this morning which resulted in me missing my early morning swim, but I did make it to the gym a little later for my weights session.  The day is not over yet so I still plan to get the rest of my scheduled exercise in :

• 30 min Treadmill workout
• 100 push-ups program
• 200 squats program

Now all I need to do is fine tune my eating - that is where my real problem lies.  I have no problem with exercising, in fact I love it cause it makes me feel so good, but then I tend to ruin a good workout with bad eating choices.  My food choices are definitely letting me down at the moment so I really need to focus on what goes into my mouth.  I also have to keep reminding myself that.......

In light of my new found food focus, I have decided to re-incorporate a strategy that worked well for me in the past.  Each week I would choose a favourite food to give up for the week.  This week I am giving up dessert.  I have started to get back into the habit of having dessert which I am sure isn't helping me along on my journey.  I rarely have it, but lately it's becoming more frequent so this week I am ditching it.  I'm glad that I now have the ability to recognise when an old habit is returning as it gives me the chance to stop it before it takes hold again.

Please tell me if you ruin a workout with bad food choices.......

• Do you follow a food plan each day / week?  
• Have you ever tried to out-exercise a bad food choice?
• What tips do you have for me to make better choices?

 

Shelving the Scales

That's right!  I am putting the scales away for a few months.  I am a daily weigher, sometimes more than once, twice, three times a lady and it is getting me nowhere.  I have decided to give myself a 12 week challenge starting next Monday (9 April) and I am only allowed to weigh myself 3 times in the entire 12 weeks. I will weigh myself in weeks 1, 6 & 12 and will also be taking measurements in weeks 1 & 12.

The reason I have decided to do this is because that I am finding myself more and more reliant on what those stupid scales say each week and I thought that this 12 week hiatus will allow me to focus more on what I should be doing rather than what the scales will be saying each Monday morning.  

I am hoping to will be focusing on healthy food choices with the occasional treat or Mexican meal here and there and I will be more focused on moving my body for fun, instead of exercising to see a reduced number on the scale the next time I get on there.

I really, really enjoy exercising.  I love my swimming and my treadmill and the other day I took a Zumba class for the first time in about a year.  I think I laughed the whole way through it - I had forgotten how much fun it is to dance around while looking like a total fool.  

I am also enjoying eating healthy foods.  I had pizza the other week and it was horrible, I didn't like it at all and I could feel it just sitting in my stomach for the rest of the night.  I was wondering though whether it was just badly made, but over the next few days (after the pizza) I made some bad food choices and I didn't feel good at all.  My tongue felt like it needed a shave from all the extra sugar I had eaten and I just felt blah.

All of this is good news for me cause it tells me that I am making progress and even though it's extremely slow with one step forward and 100 backwards, I am getting there.  I am changing my lifestyle to a healthy one and the best thing of all is that I am enjoying it.

Speaking of exercise, healthy foods and weigh-ins, here are mine :

*Weigh-in*

Up 2.2 kg since I last weighed myself on the 19 of March, I am back to 98.7 kg.  I was down to almost 95 kg.  All I can say here is boooooo to me.

*Workouts*

This morning I went to the pool nice and early and completed 2 kms in just over an hour.  I would have shaved 5 mins off my time, but I was too busy talking to the lady in my lane.

Last Sunday (1st April) I dragged my butt to the gym and did a Zumba class followed by a nice 30 min swim completing 1 km.  I was surprised at how many people were at the pool cause it wasn't an overly hot day.  

*HRM Stats*  For Zumba 

• Duration : 58.54 mins
• Calories : 525
• Average HR : 145
• Maximum HR : 171
• In Zone : 29.48 mins
• Distance : -

After this morning's swim I indulged in a smoothie.  Well, a smoothie isn't really an indulgence, but when it tastes like banana ice-cream it feels indulgent.  

*Banana Cinnamon Ice-Cream Smoothie*

Into the blender :

• 1 cup Almond Milk
• 288g* frozen Bananas
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Sugar
• 1 tsp (7g) Honey

*There were 2 average sized, frozen bananas used*

The total calories for this smoothie were 333.  I actually had to eat it with a spoon cause it was so thick and creamy from the bananas.  Here's a picture to get you into the smoothie mood.....

still in the blender

in the glass ready for my tummy

How do you get your groove back.......

• What motivates you to exercise?
• Do you find that a sugary treat can make you feel awful?
• How do you get back on track after falling off the wagon?

So So Day

Yesterday was good, I ate well and exercised well, but today was uuuuuuggggg! I was really tired cause I didn't get to bed till 2 this morning and I was up early with the kids and a couple of times through the night as well. I had a doctors appointment this morning and was supposed to go to the gym afterwards, but as usual the doctors were running late and by the time I finished I had seemed to have lost my gym mojo and went to the supermarket instead. I did get to walk up and down every aisle so I added to my steps for the day and we did need food so I guess that 2 birds.

I did manage to get to my Zumba class though which I love, it is always so much fun. I am getting into it more and more each time I go and not because I am good at it, but because I don't care that I'm not good at it. I try my best to do the moves and if I can't I just improvise. The only complaint I have about Zumba is that it isn't long enough.