"the latest pics"

The first photo is me being silly doing a plank (one of the exercises you often have to do in a gym class) and showing that I can do it one handed and wave at the same time.
Next is a typical photo of me in my gym gear, you could catch me in that 6 days a week! and when I'm not wearing that, I'm wearing casual sports gear as in the next photo . Lastly, a photo of my $10 3/4 length jeans from Temt, and my $10 bargain top from Jay Jays. You can't quite see but the top is a sheer fabric in that popular bodice style with pintucks. I could never have worn this 12 months ago, I would have looked very pregnant even if I could have found one that big! And the jeans are hipsters with a big belt buckle that looks good when its showing.

Update from yesterday's post - ran the 5 kms in 31mins - Woohoooo - very happy with that, especially when you consider that I run/walk intervals of 5 mins/2 mins
And a sneaky peak on the scales this morning - 60.9 - will I see the 50's this week????

Running and weight loss update

I think I always post about the same things - pretty boring hey! But I'm so focussed on my goal of running the City/Bay, and achieving goal weight by mid September, there's not much else to talk about! After that, I will have to set some new goals which might add variety...

I've struggled to lose weight the last couple of weeks, or should I say, I've struggled to remain disciplined. Not that I ever binge on anything too unhealthy, but there has been a lot of food lying around the place lately, tempting me to have tastes of it. This is my worst habit. If I don't see it, I don't think of it, and I don't eat it. And when I'm studying (which is boring and I'm easily distracted, AND I've been doing a lot of it lately) I'm hunting for something thinking I'm hungry. So I think for the first time on my journey, I have been going over my points a little each day, and this has scared me. I'm not at goal, and I don't want any slips now that cheat me of that victory. So I have pulled my head in, and am trying very hard, and somehow managed to score a small loss this week, bringing me to my LWE (lowest weight ever) of 61.1. I even saw 61.0 on the scales this morning, and fingers crossed I'm hoping to see 60 point something in the next couple of days. Wouldn't that be great! (then very close to being a 50's girl!) Hopefully this will help with motivation

And on the same day that the scales dropped to 61.1, I very nervously headed out for my first 12km road run, aaaannnnndddd - I blitzed it - 76 mins - my best ever time. Running on the road just seemed easier that the treadmill, and far more interesting. I was a little suspicious of my great times - so I hopped in the car afterwards and remeasured it - I don't think it actually is 12 kms (hard to tell as some areas are off road), but its more that 11kms -(shrug) I'm still really happy with that I'm aiming for 84 mins for the City Bay, and this now seems achievable.
This was really encouraging as I was starting to get quite depressed with the running and wondering why I had set this ridiculous goal. I have had a bad week with running - it had been just plain hard work. I did a combat class last Friday, and realised how much I had missed these classes, and how much more I enjoyed them than running.
But Mondays big run was a great success, and for the first time ever, I actually enjoyed the experience. So maybe I will persevere with it for a bit longer!
By the way, I did the run in the morning, and then rationalised that there was no reason why I couldn't do an hour of Combat in the afternoon too... so I did! Am I mad or not?????? (If nothing else I'm a little sore)
Ah well, inspired by Mondays run, I'm going to do a 5 km run tomorrow morning - and see how close I can get to the 30 min mark!

I'm gonna luv summer!

I'm gonna love summer - being able to wear cool dresses like this! In the past I could never have worn this - I would have looked sooo pregnant - but now its just slimming, cool and comfortable for me alllll summer!
I have had so much fun trying on all the new seasons stuff - have bought shorts and a denim skirt and some of those lovely peasant style blouses that are out and two of the beautiful dresses that are out (plus the one in the photo - its just a cheapy from Kmart). I haven't worn dresses in about 20 years, and I'm still not sure where I'm going to wear them - I guess I'll just have to be the best dressed shopper at the supermarket!

Bring on summer - I want to wear my stuff!

Running log

http://www.sendmefile.com/00456519

Fallen off the planet

No, I haven't fallen off the planet for those of you who are used to be posting quite regularly - have just been very busy training for the City/Bay (4 weeks to go) and madly writing assignments at night (as if full time work isn't enough!).
Weight wise, nothing much is happening, I seem to be rather stagnant which is very frustrating when I'm so close now. What is happening though is that I'm getting quite upset by people telling me that I need to stop losing weight - that being in a Healthy BMI isn't for everyone, that for my age (42!) it isn't realistic, that you I don't want to become anorexic (for petes sake!) etc etc. I'm really sick of it, and finding it quite distressing having to justify my goals all the time. Hubby suggested I just tell people that I'm aiming to maintain now, but why should I have to lie!
My WHOLE focus of this journey has to become fit and healthy - which to me means a BMI in a healthy range, a waist measurement below 80 cm (achieved) and numerous other fitness goals you hear me rant and rave about often enough. The "goal" weight that I've set isn't even at the bottom of the BMI range, its one kilo below the top, and 3 kgs heavier than I was when I got married - and I wasn't "thin" then.
Agh well - feels good to get the emotions out - if you can't tell, its really p**ssing me off at the moment.
Weigh in tomorrow, and I will try and update my running log soon - right now I'm very tired and have a headache - not sure if its from my 12 km run this morning -or the boring study this afternoon.
Have a great week.

August Running Update

well things have been going better on this front
A HUGE motivation has been reading Galloway's Book on Running. Galloway is an Olympic Marathon runner, who turned his love of running into a career through developing running camps, sports shoe stores, writing books, personal training, and also features quite heavily in the Cool Running web site.
His methods for training are a bit different to the training schedule I have been following, so I have decided to modify it. One of the things he really focusses on in the book, is the importance of regular walk breaks, early and often, both in training and in races. He believes that marathon runners can actually improve their times using this, as if you walk for 1-2 minutes, ever 3- 9 minutes, the body recovers, and can continue on at the same pace almost indefinitely, whereas those who run continuously tend to slow down in the last legs of the race. So my interval training is a good thing!
What happened on Sunday is, that he suggests one endurance/distance run a week, adn this should be done by dropping your race speed by approx 1km/hr, and gradually building up the kms until you can run approx 20% more than the race length. So I did this and ran......
wait for it.......
I ran 10 kms - and only stopped there because the gym was closing! (It took about 75 mins) I was sure I could've run at least 12!
It was exhilarating! By running slower, I kept my heart rate at a comfortable level, and during the walk breaks my hr dropped to the bottom of the training zone, legs recovered, and I was ready to go again. Yeah!
He has also convinced me that I need to drop any cross training in between my running days that is pounding, or overly stressful. So reluctantly I need to drop Combat for the next 6 weeks until the race. The reason for this is that when you stress the muscles through endurance or speed, the muscle fibres break down, (that bruised swollen feeling) and then rebuild in a stronger format - but only if you give them rest! Light cardio is ok - helps the circulation and rebuilding - but no running or other similar stressful activity. His theory is akin to "less is more"
So I will try this out, as well as a speedwork routine on Fridays - will focus on short intervals of 11kms/hr - OUCH - don't know how I wil find running this fast.

Any way - its all very exciting, and only 5.5 weeks to the big race! Will be trying to run 12 kms this weekend - will let you know how it goes
Here's the weekly update of my running log:
http://www.sendmefile.com/00452591

My Monday Post

Well – are you all wondering how my week has gone on No Count?
Has it made a difference to my weight loss?
Have I felt better, been less hungry, had more energy????

Well – yes and no on all counts for the following reasons…
I hate to say it as there are so many fans of No Count – but I didn’t really like it.  I found the rules too restrictive rather than freeing (I can only have a low fat yoghurt as a free food if I eat it at a meal time, otherwise need to count it), and my personal difficulties with using bonus or allocated points.  I know I had 21 points to use, but I didn’t like to!  And even then, as I tracked my exercise as well, my points never went down as it kept adding in my exercise points, which I never used to count!
It made meals really difficult, especially as things such as Weight Watchers meals aren’t permissible (with out counting the full 5.5 points for example), and I often use these as a back up when the rest of the family are having take away.  Coming home from the gym/late night shopping at 8pm faced with cooking tea for one, was not good – really needed to just heat up a frozen meal which is healthy, portion controlled and ready in 6 minutes!!!!

However, there have been some good aspects.  I learnt to eat a good breakfast.  In the past , I have spread my “breakfast” over the morning to save on points –ie it has been a series of snacks.  However I have spent a week eating No Count oats – adding cinnamon, Equal, and a banana every day, and this has been quite delicious, and very filling. I haven’t wanted to snack after this, so the impact on points hasn’t been an issue.  It has also increased the fibre and fruit in my diet, and reduced my intake of processed bars (eg muesli bars, etc)  So this has been quite positive.
I have also relaxed my portion control of meat – which I think is a positive thing, as I need to get more protein.
Lastly, I have decided to drink one 600ml bottle of Powerade each day to increase my hydration.  I made an agreement with myself that I would take this out of my exercise points, as I earn so many of them (about 5 – 6/day) and this is the reason why I need to drink more!  As a result of this -  I have found that I have also drunk more water, as after the powerade is finished, I feel thirstier, and don’t look for the (caffeine free) diet coke.  So this has been good all round.

The outcomes
Don’t know if its just been the great weather we’ve had here last week, or the changes made – but I have felt great – and been full of energy.  Had a fantastic run on Sunday (ran 10 kms) – but this is possibly due to new info I’ve looked at re running – more about that later.
I do feel that dehydration was an issue, and that this is much better, and the powerade hasn’t affected my weight, because this morning I recorded a   (drum roll)

1.4 kg loss!!!!

Yep, you read it right, I now weigh 61.6kgs –only 4.6 kgs to go.

I have decided to go back to the Points Plan as I feel it gives me more freedom, but I’m going to take with me these dietary changes.  I think they will still all fit, its just been a really good learning experience.
So onward and downward for me!