Late Night Pondering

Don't you hate those nights where you toss and turn for hours, knowing you have to get to sleep but just not being able to drift off?  Well, tonight is one of those nights... Hence the late night blog.  Exams start in two days and I'm feeling surprisingly positive about them!  I got marks back for one of my subjects today and have already passed the course which takes a lot of pressure off.  I mean, I'm still going to study for it and work hard, it just means I can focus on the bigger exam instead.

This morning when I woke up I looked in the mirror and was actually surprised as to what I saw.  My legs are starting to tone up and they don't rub together as much anymore and Im starting to get a bit of definition on my tummy, my love handles are shrinking (or appear to be).  It's nice to finally start seeing some progress, something to prove that my hard work is paying off.  I'm still really enjoying paleo, last night for dinner I made fish in lemon pepper with oven baked turnip fries and a dollop of home made mayonnaise.  It was the most satisfyingly tasty meal I have had in a long time!  Things just seem to be looking up.

I've been reading up a lot on jogging to improve weight loss and have been keen to get back into it.  This afternoon I was feeling really restless and sleepy, but decided that instead of going for my usual nap that I would lace up my joggers and get some fresh air.  It's weird, five years ago I never would have thought that I would be so into health and fitness... That I would choose a run over a nap!  In the past I used to feel most comfortable with my hair done, a face of makeup and wearing pretty pair of shorts or a dress... Now, I prefer to have my hair tied up, out of my face and in my gym gear... It just makes me feel so much more motivated and fresh, funny how things change hey?  Over the past year and a bit I've discovered that running is such an awesome release.  There is nothing better than the feeling of your feet pounding the pavement and your breathing quicken, yet calm down at the same time.  When I fall into a rhythm, my legs just seem to take over and I can feel myself loosen and relax.  My mind begins to clear.  Somedays it's a real struggle to get into that headspace, other times it just comes as naturally as breathing.

Anyway, my eyes are finally starting to feel heavy.  Sleep well!

No Sugar

Guess what... It has been 8 days since I last had sugar and the most amazing thing is, I'm not even craving it!  Usually when I go on a diet and cut out all sugar, I have massive cravings which leads to binging on a packet of biscuits or "treating" myself to a bag of chocolates from the lolly shop.  This time, I haven't even been tempted to eat any of the sweet stuff we have in the cupboard.

I've got really mixed feelings about how I'm going on the paleo diet... I feel really bloated and can't work out why.  I've cut out carbs, processed foods and sweets yet my tummy feels and looks gross!  The only thing I can put it down to is that it's exam block so maybe it's stress bloating... I dunno.  I'm just super scared that I'm going to go backwards after having such good results last week.

Sometimes I think I set myself up to fail because it's easier to self sabotage than actually try and not succeed... Yet, with paleo I'm not tempted to eat things I shouldn't because they just don't seem appealing to me.  I have a birthday dinner to go to on Saturday night which worried me a little bit as there will no doubt be a couple of birthday drinks accompanying the dinner, but anyway.  I looked up the restaurants menu to see what my options were and if there were any paleo friendly meals.  It's a japanese restaurant so as far as vegetables go, it's pretty good the only thing I have to avoid is the rice.  I think I've settled on the steamed white fish with bok-choy and stir fried vegetables, hold the rice.

My motivation towards exercise has been really up and down this week.  I'm lacking a ton of energy due to lack of sleep because of exam block, but at the same time I know I should be getting to the gym for my workout, or going for a jog, even if it's only for 15-20minutes.  I chat to my brother's girlfriend a lot about health and fitness, she is one of my biggest motivators and always supports me.  Sometimes when things just feel useless she always has some motivational picture to send me or wise words that encourage me to keep going.  I think I'd be lost without her support.

A few months ago I picked up Jillian Michael's 30 day shred.  I worked out to the DVD everyday for 30 days but didn't see any results.  None.  Zero.  Talk about depressing.  But once again, my brother's girlfriend came to the rescue!  She told me to aim to do JM at least twice a week and just mix the levels up, so that's the approach I'm taking.  It's really nice having someone to hold you accountable for your workouts!

I love looking for new fitness and health blogs... Usually I do it when I'm procrastinating, and I came across this brilliant blog.  The blog isn't strictly a health and fitness blog but the last few posts have been about running and the blogger talks about wanting to run 10km in just over a month which sounds like a hugeeeee challenge but, she seems to be working towards this goal at a rather impressive pace!  Check out her blog here!  http://tenmonthsofdiscovery.blogspot.com.au/
Makes me wish I had similar motivation!  Ah well, exams will be over next Tuesday and then I'll have no excuses not to exercise!

Too Good to be True?

Every Monday at work we have a weigh in as part of a challenge that we are doing.  Every Monday I dread my weigh ins and today was no different!  I put the weigh in off for as long as I can but eventually I have to step on those scales and see how much damage I have done for the week.  Today I stepped on with mixed emotions...  And guess what... I HAD LOST .6kg!  Now, I know this may not sound like a huge achievement, but for me losing .6kg in a week is MASSIVE!

I've been eating "paleo style" since Thursday... So that's like 4 or 5 days and I have already lost that much.  I don't know if I wrote this in one of my previous blogs or not, but I'm going back to the dietician next Wednesday and I'm hoping to have lost 2kg by then... Fingers crossed!

Tonight for dinner we're having spiced chicken drumsticks in the slow cooker.  It's pretty much just a tonne of spices rubbed on to the chicken, no water or stock or anything since it will cook in it's own juices.  I'm learning so much about eating clean and just going back to the basics.  It's amazing what yummy things can be made with natural ingredients!

Back to Basics

I finished my first 4 week boot camp session... All week I was tossing up whether to sign up again as I hadn't seen any results, but today I decided I was going to!  Todays session was brutal.  We did a "round robin" course where we would have to run two laps of the field with our partner in alternate directions and then do 10 reps of whatever strength exercise the instructor threw at us.  I was absolutely dead by the end of it!  Usually I head to the gym afterwards but today all I wanted to do was go home and have a nice hot shower.  Anyway, while I was running the field for what felt like the 50th time, I realised that my fitness had certainly improved!  If we had of done the "round robin" course four weeks ago, I would have either thrown up or passed out.

I'm forever starting things and then giving up when I don't see results, but today taught me that results happen gradually, and we don't always notice them right away.  So while I am missing my sleep ins, I'm going to come back for round two!

On another note, it's day two of the paleo eating plan.  I'm still bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to try a new way of eating... Don't worry, that will no doubt wear off in about 5-7 days!  I think the hardest thing for me will be cutting out cheese... Especially since omelettes will be the breakfast of choice most days.  

I love how organic the paleo diet is.  It really is all about going back to the basics, cutting out all the processed crap we have become reliant on.  Cooking is one of my favourite past times and I've already found a bunch of recipes I'm itching to try!!! 

I was talking to the dietician about how people just keep telling me that I don't need to lose weight, or that maybe this is just the weight I'm supposed to be.  She said that anything is possible, just sometimes when our body is really happy at the weight it's at, it will fight even harder not to lose anything.  She said once I'm at my goal weight, I then have to maintain it there for three months... And that those three months will be incredibly trying.  She then went on to tell me that while my body is resetting its "set point" I will experience the strangest cravings and my moods will go from sky high to rock bottom... 

I am not looking forward to that!!!

Sorry this is so over the place and doesn't really have much of a structure, I'm just typing what I think.  Maybe I'm on a bit of a high from this morning's boot camp! 

Chocolate Fudge, Green Tea and Slow Cooked Beef

I went to the dietician today.  For a bit there I was seeing her quite regularly (and by quite regularly I had seen her three times in 5 weeks) and managed to lose 2kg in that time.  Unfortunately, exam block cropped up and then she went on holidays so I hadn't seen her for over two months.  Anyway, I went back to her today and she put me on a new plan.  I told her that I had been reading about the Paleo Diet and was very interested in the theory behind that, so we designed a meal guide based around Dr Cordain's theory that we need to eat as our ancestors did... Way back 333 generations ago.  Back then humans didn't eat dairy products or high levels of carbs and grains.  So, my menu goes like this:

Breakfast

- 2 egg omelette w/ spinach, tomato, onion, etc... Any vegetables to bulk it up

OR

- Paleo vegetarian slice

OR

- Fresh squeezed fruit juice

Mid Morning Snack

- 15 almonds w/ 1 piece of fruit

Lunch

- 150g to 200g lean meat/chicken/fish w/ salad or vegetables

Afternoon Snack

- Carrot/capsicum/cucumber sticks w/ 100g lean meat/chicken/fish

Dinner

- 150g lean meat/chicken/fish w/ salad or vegetables

Supper

- Baked apple w/ 100g berries

As you can see, it's a SUPER exciting diet... But I am willing to give anything a go in order to see results!  I currently have a piece of beef in the slow cooker with a heap of tomatoes to give it a nice sauce as well as spices such as oregano and basil to give it a bit of flavour.  I need to get out of the mindset that this is a diet, because it's not.  It's a lifestyle change.  I fully agree with Dr Cordain.  I don't think we need to be eating dairy and carbs and grains, it's just not necessary.  The dietician told me that it is possible for me to lose weight but because my body is currently in starvation mode it's hanging on to all the food I'm eating and not actually burning it off.  I am so motivated to do this.  I really, really want to see the results and to finally feel comfortable again.  After all, summer is only JUST around the corner! Eek!

Anyway, I have an assignment to write.  Happy blogging!

Fat Bottomed Girl

I don't understand myself sometimes!  I've have been trying so hard to eat clean and be healthy and today I feel like I totally blew it!  I started the day off with bootcamp and then the gym.  Breakfast consisted of a paleo diet vegetable slice and 1/3 cup of baked beans.  After sitting in front of the computer for over an hour and getting absolutely no where I started to potter around the house doing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making multiple cups of green tea before sitting back down to have another attempt.  At about 12 I made myself lunch (paleo diet veggie slice with salad) and had another cup of green tea.  All morning I had been fighting against myself finding that as soon as boredom struck I would wander into the cupboard to see what there was to snack on.  A couple of times I reached for the biccie jar before firmly telling myself I don't need it and placing it back in the cupboard.  After lunch, the unthinkable happened.  Before I could stop myself I had scoffed down three biccies and 5 honeycomb chocolate pods.  I had just bitten into a chocolate frog when I realised what I was doing and spat it back out.

It makes me hate myself so much when I do things like that.  I know I can't use it to convince myself that I have screwed up my day and therefore am entitled to eat junk but it does just make me really really sad.  I don't know how to explain the feeling that comes over me when I have a brain snap like that, it's the weirdest feeling.  I am legitimately on auto pilot and can't snap myself out of it!  It's horrible.

Anyway, thats okay.  Onwards and upwards!  I'll go for a run tonight and we have touch training this afternoon.

I think part of my problem is that I feel like theres no one to hold me accountable which is why I have decided to write out my goals in big pink text!

LIST OF GOALS: TO BE ACHIEVED BY 1 DEC 2012

1. TO FIT BACK INTO MY SIZE 6 CUE SHORTS

2. TO FEEL COMFORTABLE IN A BIKINI

3. TO BE ABLE TO BUY A PRETTY BALL DRESS

A bruised face and grazed knees

So, last night I attended a function as a "ring in" for a friend.  Since moving out of home I became a bit of a social recluse... I think it has something to do with my weight gain and what not.  But anyway, I got the phone call at 5pm Saturday and of course all the shops were shut weren't they!  Talk about all panic stations go.  My brother and I were rifling through my wardrobe in search of something somewhat suitable and eventually came up with a vintage cream dress with tan heels.

I really didn't think the foot ware through at all because at the best of times they are incredibly slippery and have no traction on them what-so-ever!  Anyway, after a couple drinks I was feeling pretty cheery and was just enjoying the night.  I got asked to dance by a few of the guys which was quite flattering until the most embarrassing thing happened!  I was leaving the dance floor to go to the bathroom when I slipped on drink and felt my legs fly straight out from underneath me.  It all happened in slow motion and I could feel everyone watching as I went down finishing off the ordeal with my head making an almighty CRACK on the floor.  These things happen though... Just have to laugh them off and wear a little more foundation then usual to hide the evidence!

Anyway, enough about that!

I found this new "healthy lifestyle" thing called the 'Paleo Diet' from what I can gather so far, it's all about reverting back to how we used to live before all the icky processed foods etc were invented.  I purchased the book from a local bookstore but haven't had a chance to read it yet.  I'm pretty excited to learn more about it!  Plus, I am just getting really desperate to start seeing results!