I need to change this haha, - but I need to start looking for a way to love Mondays :-)
Day of optimism for the week ahead perhaps? Ideally should feel rested???
In all honesty I tend to loathe Mondays, - am at least glad when the work component is over
I often luckily sleep soundly on Friday and Saturday nights, (and most others) but Sundays, - not quite so much. Reckon I was lucky to get 2.5 hours sleep infact last night.
I was feeling a little disappointed in myself for having some sparkling wine last night, kept analysing my decision not to wait till Friday. I would have had a bit over half a bottle between 4.30pm and 7pm, didn't feel drunk or anything. I didn't binge or anything. I had completed the 29 day challenge, was pleased with that. Anyhow I had come to realise that unless I make a firm decision NOT to have any wine.........I can easily act on an urge. I remained 'undecided' about yesterday but thought 'probably best if I can hang out till next Friday' haha!
Work was a struggle, we were all clumsy, I have now just under 6 weeks yet till I resign, (not long, but still a good while!) Just felt fatigued and as if I couldn't be arsed, - yet had to work really fast and be quite productive all day. I was glad to see the end of the work day!
I was DREADING training today as the last few weeks I have been pushing myself on a Monday, and thought I'd be lucky if I can manage a 'half' effort. I had binge 'urges', - my animal brain couldn't decide what it wanted to 'devour', - cheese, various cakes, iced coffee, iced chocolate, chocolate etc. I knew I DIDN'T WANT to give into any urges, just told myself 'they will pass',- they did.
Lunch was delicious. I had a crusty multigrain warm baguette with middle dough removed, then scrape dijon mustard, full salad, about 120g plain tuna in springwater, cracked pepper and lemon juice. That is similar to my lunches most days. These baguettes are quite long, (not far off 30cm) but they are skinny and are one of the highlights of my workday! I enjoyed eating it so much, - I just wanted to eat it again when I finished, and then hoe into my sugarfree carrot 'cake' which was part of another 'meal', (with small skinny flat white) later that day. But I drank water, didn't give in. Most days for brekkie of late I have a heaped 1/3 C oats, (or slightly scant half cup) microwaved with water and about 100g frozen berries, then stir either chocolate or vanilla protein powder and psyllium husks through it, - so good! I stayed within my normal control and didn't binge or overindulge, - good! Today was a challenge though!
However: - I blew off the gym today. Good to catch up with my housemate though. Best get to bed early to make sure I get an early night for some killer workouts the next few days! I have made a firm decision not to drink any alcohol till at least Friday. I bought some wine in the Swan Valley yesterday but it remains out of the fridge.
Tomoz after work I am getting a free metabolism test. Will find out weight, lean mass, water percentage, metabolic age, fat around organs and targets when I 'can' work towards. I am sure tomorrows results will be better than those 4-6 weeks ago (if I had them then) and I also reckon they will still leave alot of room to improve. One major point of interest is if my lean mass has increased at all from 4 years ago, (or decreased). I know I am stronger, can lift a bit heavier than back then. Then it's off to the gym for workout with my mate.
I rang up agent about Thailand trip. The thing is back in Feb I booked a 16 day Kumuka tour of Thailand. However a couple of months ago Kumuka worldwide has gone into liquidation. I had paid for tour, flights, travel insurance. I have had to go and fill out forms which I returned to the travel agent and they go toward getting me a refund for the cancelled Kumuka tour. Meanwhile I found another tour through G Adventures which is of similar length and fits in with my pre-booked flights. I so want to book my spot before it gets booked out, - this G Adventures tour sounds even better than the original Kumuka one! BUT getting a refund from Kumuka is proving a nightmare, the travel agent is not getting any sense out of them at the moment. I'm worried they may not pay me back. Agent is reluctant to book G Adventures tour till I get refunded from Kumuka. My dates for Thailand now stand at leaving 19 Oct, returning 6 Nov.
Either way I need to stay focussed, want to continue to get a bit fitter all round, lean up somewhat and drop a few more kg by then and stay in control.
That's about it for Monday gossip, at least Monday is outta the way for this week :-)
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
29 Day Challenge DONE......what NEXT???...
G'day!
Am pleased to announce my 29 day challenge as a SUCCESS all round, - very good feeling!!!
What I achieved was:
* 29 consecutive days clear of ALL alcohol
* I SMASHED my training goal every week of a minimum of 3 intense cardio workouts of 30 plus mins each and 2 resistance workouts of 30 plus mins each. Smashed those by a good bit actually and am really appreciating the efforts of my resistance training.
* Remained 'sugarfree' for the 29 consecutive days. By 'sugarfree' I mean that no 'confectionary' items were consumed such as chocolate, lollies, cake, biscuits, fudge, icecream, sorbet, packaged fruit juices, soft drink. I DID eat homemade 'healthy' carrot cake, well portioned, (no sugar, but oats, egg whites, carrots, a few dates) and 'healthy' homemade date and walnut loaf, (very well portioned and only a very small amount of dates would have been in each serve, - again oats instead of flour, egg whites, no sugar). I did generally have 1-2 serves of fruit per day, (1 serve was always berries heated in my oats at brekkie!)
* No 'diet' soft drink either!
* No binges!
* Other than when I caught up with a mate who made a pie for lunch, I had no pastry or deep fried food.
RESULTS:
* Improved fitness levels all round, - strength and cardio
* I weighed in on day 4, again on day 27, - between those dates had a 3.5kg drop. I didn't take measurments otherwise, still lardy for my liking but can feel there has been fat loss.
* Sleep patterns seem to be better without alcohol. Still tired and grumpy with alarm awakenings but at least not hungover! Sometimes I still needed/wanted a coffee to feel alert in the mornings, but was secretly pleased I couldn't blame it on alcohol consumption, - still maybe lack of time in bed. I have been averaging 6-6.5 hours in bed per night recently, - still not quite enough but a little better than it used to be! Weekends I often average 7- sometimes 10 hours till I wake naturally!
* Feeling pleased as I achieved what I set out to, and aim to transfer that to whatever I do.
CHALLENGES:
* The hardest was not substituting one 'less desirable' habit for another, - not something I have managed to keep up for a good length of time, - since maybe my early 20's anyway.
* A couple of times I had the 'urge' for a sugar/and/or food 'binge', - told myself, 'it will pass', and didn't relent. Urges 'did' pass. They only arose if I skipped 'training' for a day that I did intend to train, (although I did blast all my pre-challenge training goals). The day after my mate made us the big lunch, - I had a big urge as I had a small 'idea' I would accomplish a 50k bikeride early Sun morning but it didn't eventuate, then I had that 'bigger lunch'. It took a bit of concentration not to 'give in' to a binge that evening!
* Not giving into a few urges for an alcoholic drink was a challenge, - particularly Friday and Saturday arvos and evenings but everyday to a degree! Probably the first couple of weeks for that were the absolute toughest!
THIS WEEKEND:
* I attempted to prep and clean the house for the return of my best mate/housemate who comes home tonight. She owns and built the home from scratch.
* Pics on the posts below were of my hair after my 'salon' visit on Friday after work, ended up getting chunky gold highlights and a dark brown, (without red tones) base colour.
* 10.4km outside run done late yesterday arvo/evening
* I DROVE, (hate driving new places) out to Yahava Koffee in the Swan Valley, for a nicely made skinny flat white, to view the valley, and I picked up a bottle of classic white and also a bottle of sparkling from one of the local vineyards there, (something I have not done in my time in Perth till now)!
* I had not made a firm decision on whether I would/wouldn't but late this arvo I opened a bottle of chilled sparkling, plonked a strawberry inside and am enjoying a glass, - with no firm decisions NOT to, - I relent so I see! Tastes good.
UP AND COMING:
* Hmmm, I have quite a bit more fitness to gain and fat to lose so want to keep pushing myself, will keep to my baseline goals but I do want to keep up training at least 5 days a week, and continue to make grounds with resistance efforts, hopefully manage pullups/chin ups someday! Still am shooting to make new PB's eventually on my run times, fit size 10's tone, (get under 25% BF, perhaps 20%BF), - I have a love/hate relationship with the discipline of it all!
* I plan to stay bingefree for good no matter what!
* I strive to keep 'mainly' sugarfree. I won't bring sugary sweet stuff into house, it will not be part of my 'day to day' consumption. If I take a 'dessert' to a party it will be maybe a fresh fruit/cheese platter or one of the sugarfree desserts with a higher protein source. I will still permit the occasional controlled portion of sugary stuff if at a dinner party or if it's an occasional social desire with others but it is the stay the exception, not the norm. If the urges to 'binge' presents itself after that I have to be ready to IGNORE haha!
* I plan to stay away from 'diet' soft drinks, - I did give them up for about 2 years not that long ago!
* Hmmmm, alcohol! Part of me thinks it could be easier to keep completely away from it and deal with it. But I enjoy it too! On the other hand it is classified as a drug! It doesn't go well with sporting objectives! At this stage I have made the decision to steer clear of it weeknights, (Mon to Thurs), - only reasons to have one or two is a major social function. Friday to Sunday, - I certainly don't want to be drinking every night, - or too much! I still want to keep up high training goals over the weekend so if I have anymore than about 3 standard drinks in a sitting, it is to be no more than one weekend night a week, and I still need to be careful and diligent not to have TOO much.
So there has it! Only 6 more weeks of work. Then hopefully Thailand. (There have been dramas with my Thailand trip. I booked a tour with Kumuka back in Feb this year but I have been informed Kumuka has gone bust! My tour has been cancelled. I found another GAP tour that sounds good I could do with the same dates but there are dramas with getting refunds from Kumuka, travel agents getting back to me and more!) Original travel agent who I dealt with has been transferred to an unaccessible office to me so I am dealing with it through phone/email.
Will keep you updated with my doings :-)
Pip
Am pleased to announce my 29 day challenge as a SUCCESS all round, - very good feeling!!!
What I achieved was:
* 29 consecutive days clear of ALL alcohol
* I SMASHED my training goal every week of a minimum of 3 intense cardio workouts of 30 plus mins each and 2 resistance workouts of 30 plus mins each. Smashed those by a good bit actually and am really appreciating the efforts of my resistance training.
* Remained 'sugarfree' for the 29 consecutive days. By 'sugarfree' I mean that no 'confectionary' items were consumed such as chocolate, lollies, cake, biscuits, fudge, icecream, sorbet, packaged fruit juices, soft drink. I DID eat homemade 'healthy' carrot cake, well portioned, (no sugar, but oats, egg whites, carrots, a few dates) and 'healthy' homemade date and walnut loaf, (very well portioned and only a very small amount of dates would have been in each serve, - again oats instead of flour, egg whites, no sugar). I did generally have 1-2 serves of fruit per day, (1 serve was always berries heated in my oats at brekkie!)
* No 'diet' soft drink either!
* No binges!
* Other than when I caught up with a mate who made a pie for lunch, I had no pastry or deep fried food.
RESULTS:
* Improved fitness levels all round, - strength and cardio
* I weighed in on day 4, again on day 27, - between those dates had a 3.5kg drop. I didn't take measurments otherwise, still lardy for my liking but can feel there has been fat loss.
* Sleep patterns seem to be better without alcohol. Still tired and grumpy with alarm awakenings but at least not hungover! Sometimes I still needed/wanted a coffee to feel alert in the mornings, but was secretly pleased I couldn't blame it on alcohol consumption, - still maybe lack of time in bed. I have been averaging 6-6.5 hours in bed per night recently, - still not quite enough but a little better than it used to be! Weekends I often average 7- sometimes 10 hours till I wake naturally!
* Feeling pleased as I achieved what I set out to, and aim to transfer that to whatever I do.
CHALLENGES:
* The hardest was not substituting one 'less desirable' habit for another, - not something I have managed to keep up for a good length of time, - since maybe my early 20's anyway.
* A couple of times I had the 'urge' for a sugar/and/or food 'binge', - told myself, 'it will pass', and didn't relent. Urges 'did' pass. They only arose if I skipped 'training' for a day that I did intend to train, (although I did blast all my pre-challenge training goals). The day after my mate made us the big lunch, - I had a big urge as I had a small 'idea' I would accomplish a 50k bikeride early Sun morning but it didn't eventuate, then I had that 'bigger lunch'. It took a bit of concentration not to 'give in' to a binge that evening!
* Not giving into a few urges for an alcoholic drink was a challenge, - particularly Friday and Saturday arvos and evenings but everyday to a degree! Probably the first couple of weeks for that were the absolute toughest!
THIS WEEKEND:
* I attempted to prep and clean the house for the return of my best mate/housemate who comes home tonight. She owns and built the home from scratch.
* Pics on the posts below were of my hair after my 'salon' visit on Friday after work, ended up getting chunky gold highlights and a dark brown, (without red tones) base colour.
* 10.4km outside run done late yesterday arvo/evening
* I DROVE, (hate driving new places) out to Yahava Koffee in the Swan Valley, for a nicely made skinny flat white, to view the valley, and I picked up a bottle of classic white and also a bottle of sparkling from one of the local vineyards there, (something I have not done in my time in Perth till now)!
* I had not made a firm decision on whether I would/wouldn't but late this arvo I opened a bottle of chilled sparkling, plonked a strawberry inside and am enjoying a glass, - with no firm decisions NOT to, - I relent so I see! Tastes good.
UP AND COMING:
* Hmmm, I have quite a bit more fitness to gain and fat to lose so want to keep pushing myself, will keep to my baseline goals but I do want to keep up training at least 5 days a week, and continue to make grounds with resistance efforts, hopefully manage pullups/chin ups someday! Still am shooting to make new PB's eventually on my run times, fit size 10's tone, (get under 25% BF, perhaps 20%BF), - I have a love/hate relationship with the discipline of it all!
* I plan to stay bingefree for good no matter what!
* I strive to keep 'mainly' sugarfree. I won't bring sugary sweet stuff into house, it will not be part of my 'day to day' consumption. If I take a 'dessert' to a party it will be maybe a fresh fruit/cheese platter or one of the sugarfree desserts with a higher protein source. I will still permit the occasional controlled portion of sugary stuff if at a dinner party or if it's an occasional social desire with others but it is the stay the exception, not the norm. If the urges to 'binge' presents itself after that I have to be ready to IGNORE haha!
* I plan to stay away from 'diet' soft drinks, - I did give them up for about 2 years not that long ago!
* Hmmmm, alcohol! Part of me thinks it could be easier to keep completely away from it and deal with it. But I enjoy it too! On the other hand it is classified as a drug! It doesn't go well with sporting objectives! At this stage I have made the decision to steer clear of it weeknights, (Mon to Thurs), - only reasons to have one or two is a major social function. Friday to Sunday, - I certainly don't want to be drinking every night, - or too much! I still want to keep up high training goals over the weekend so if I have anymore than about 3 standard drinks in a sitting, it is to be no more than one weekend night a week, and I still need to be careful and diligent not to have TOO much.
So there has it! Only 6 more weeks of work. Then hopefully Thailand. (There have been dramas with my Thailand trip. I booked a tour with Kumuka back in Feb this year but I have been informed Kumuka has gone bust! My tour has been cancelled. I found another GAP tour that sounds good I could do with the same dates but there are dramas with getting refunds from Kumuka, travel agents getting back to me and more!) Original travel agent who I dealt with has been transferred to an unaccessible office to me so I am dealing with it through phone/email.
Will keep you updated with my doings :-)
Pip
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
DAY 27/29
Wow, have come to the end of another training week, - did a tough session today!
Efforts include:
Sat: - 50.5k bike ride, definitely pushed it speed wise a during second half after a slightly cruisy first half ride!
Sun: - felt naughty, it rained, I only did a few pushups and plank but then it was 9.30pm, not even a structured session. Missed planned run!
Mon: - 12.5 mins rower, 2.8k or thereabouts L10 I think. Just over 6k running at 0.5 incline, 11.4 speed on treadmill. Full body challenging weights/resistance workout on machines.
Tue: - Tried to push it a lil hard on the treadmill, at 1.0 incline and 11.5, did 5 mins, was just so fatigued, so pushed speed back to 11.3 and incline down to 0.5. Struggled but just after it hit 20 mins I dropped speed back to 10.2, just made it to over 6k. Followed that up with de-puffing and stretches, then a 30 min hard core resistance workout with mate, (phew), then just 5 mins on new 'stepper' machine, - nice and hard too.
Wed: - 9.6k 'Bridges run', - 59 mins, 17 secs, - 4 mins slower than last Wednesday, was windy, and after a really busy particularly active day at work. Still happy with dedication to just get it done!
Thurs: - Treadmill run where I set incline at 0.5, then speed at 11.5 and suffered through till just after the 30 min mark, - then I dropped speed to 10.6 but pushed incline up till 6.8k were covered! Followed up with stretches, loads of water, then chest and back and shoulder resistance work, then went over to the mats/dumbells. I did 3 supersets of 30 powerlunges holding 4kg dumbells, 30 pushups, - (10 toes, 10 tricep, 10 knee), 30 bicycle twist crunches. So after the 3 sets, - 90 of each were completed so I made self do a set of 10 of each to finish off to make it 100 of each! Next was biceps, leg press and more abs/core with swiss ball.
Fri, (tomoz): - DAY OFF TRAINING!
I checked scales progress, - Day 4 was 81kg, Today, (Day 27) - 77.5. Can notice there is slightly less back flab and breasts are slightly smaller, - still much fat to remove/muscle to tone around torso lol! I have dressed like a dag these last few weeks as I have limited nice clothes that fit with my recent bit of a gain, (workout clothes, elastic waisted trackie type pants and baggy tops, (which become more fitted) and polar fleece jackets)
I have a desire to keep this up. I want to keep up the increased resistance training, (working toward better all round strength and levels plus pullups!) I also want to keep up the running, cycling, get into more swimming again and rowing..........am working toward being competent in shorter distance triathlons in NZ and not coming last haha! Also am still working on a sub 50 min 10k outdoors, a sub 25 min 5k and I still want to finally complete a half marathon sub 2 hours. I have come really close when at last years mid year 'peak' to all these targets, now just want to see if I can nail them! It will be interesting to see how my physique responds over time to a higher resistance training load, much less wine/alcohol in future and staying off diet soft drinks and with keeping mostly sugarfree and of course bingefree! Will keep you posted!
More to write, but it's late so beddybyes for me :-)
Pip
Efforts include:
Sat: - 50.5k bike ride, definitely pushed it speed wise a during second half after a slightly cruisy first half ride!
Sun: - felt naughty, it rained, I only did a few pushups and plank but then it was 9.30pm, not even a structured session. Missed planned run!
Mon: - 12.5 mins rower, 2.8k or thereabouts L10 I think. Just over 6k running at 0.5 incline, 11.4 speed on treadmill. Full body challenging weights/resistance workout on machines.
Tue: - Tried to push it a lil hard on the treadmill, at 1.0 incline and 11.5, did 5 mins, was just so fatigued, so pushed speed back to 11.3 and incline down to 0.5. Struggled but just after it hit 20 mins I dropped speed back to 10.2, just made it to over 6k. Followed that up with de-puffing and stretches, then a 30 min hard core resistance workout with mate, (phew), then just 5 mins on new 'stepper' machine, - nice and hard too.
Wed: - 9.6k 'Bridges run', - 59 mins, 17 secs, - 4 mins slower than last Wednesday, was windy, and after a really busy particularly active day at work. Still happy with dedication to just get it done!
Thurs: - Treadmill run where I set incline at 0.5, then speed at 11.5 and suffered through till just after the 30 min mark, - then I dropped speed to 10.6 but pushed incline up till 6.8k were covered! Followed up with stretches, loads of water, then chest and back and shoulder resistance work, then went over to the mats/dumbells. I did 3 supersets of 30 powerlunges holding 4kg dumbells, 30 pushups, - (10 toes, 10 tricep, 10 knee), 30 bicycle twist crunches. So after the 3 sets, - 90 of each were completed so I made self do a set of 10 of each to finish off to make it 100 of each! Next was biceps, leg press and more abs/core with swiss ball.
Fri, (tomoz): - DAY OFF TRAINING!
I checked scales progress, - Day 4 was 81kg, Today, (Day 27) - 77.5. Can notice there is slightly less back flab and breasts are slightly smaller, - still much fat to remove/muscle to tone around torso lol! I have dressed like a dag these last few weeks as I have limited nice clothes that fit with my recent bit of a gain, (workout clothes, elastic waisted trackie type pants and baggy tops, (which become more fitted) and polar fleece jackets)
I have a desire to keep this up. I want to keep up the increased resistance training, (working toward better all round strength and levels plus pullups!) I also want to keep up the running, cycling, get into more swimming again and rowing..........am working toward being competent in shorter distance triathlons in NZ and not coming last haha! Also am still working on a sub 50 min 10k outdoors, a sub 25 min 5k and I still want to finally complete a half marathon sub 2 hours. I have come really close when at last years mid year 'peak' to all these targets, now just want to see if I can nail them! It will be interesting to see how my physique responds over time to a higher resistance training load, much less wine/alcohol in future and staying off diet soft drinks and with keeping mostly sugarfree and of course bingefree! Will keep you posted!
More to write, but it's late so beddybyes for me :-)
Pip
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
DAY 26/29.......straight......and.....narrow !
G'day!
Am still going strong, no booze, sugarfree, no bingeing, committed intense training, no pastry/deepfried food, no diet soft drink.........all TICK TICK TICK still! Just 3 more days till I can proudly say I reached the finish line of this self imposed 'challenge', all boxes ticked!
RANDOM THOUGHT: When I am training quite 'intensely' like at the moment, I dislike dropping off the effort! The last couple of weeks Wed arvos have been a long outdoor run day, - have done my 9.6k lap 3 weeks in a row on Wednesday after work, (oh, actually once on a Thursday as Wednesday was pouring with rain so I gymed it).
Today however was a particularly mammoth day at work, just flat tac and I got out late. The last couple of days have been intense sessions at the gym. The last thing I felt like doing was the 9.6k run, - but I'd done it the last 2 weeks, didn't want to drop my standards, (felt like going home, curling up with a wine lol!) However run it was, I did it, not a bad time but it was 4 mins slower than last Wednesdays quite pleasing time. Tomorrows training will be another gym effort, with a day off training on Friday.
I am getting much more training in than my baseline of 3x cardio, (enough for sweat up at least 30 mins a pop each) a week and 2x challenging resistance of at least 30 mins each. In future if I ever back off a bit, I'm not to go below my baseline level unless I deem circumstances really permit.
Just 6 weeks left at work this Friday. 9 weeks till I head to Thailand on Friday. Between finishing work and going to Thailand I intend to really nail some study and keep up the fitness training a bit. I have intended to recently do some revision prep for next year but I find time is ellusive! Am quite excited about finishing up at work, - have been with the company in some way and form for almost 6.5 years!
So...........the question begs: - am I planning some wine for Sunday hahaha? This challenge will be finished! To answer, I haven't made a decision on that yet. My housemate is home late in the evening such as 10pm or so, (we won't be then as we are both working early in the morning). I will hopefully train, but spend a good while making her home as spotless as I can for her return, including hopefully sweeping outside patios etc. I will remain non-committal either way regarding wine this Sunday. If I finished this challenge on a Friday or Saturday I would definitely say 'yes' or even 'yes' if there was a party on Sunday. Am non-committal but am leaning toward no wine on Sunday. I really want to not drink weeknights so I may even drag the alcohol free thing out another week!
I intend to keep up all the other stuff, - definitely no bingeing, - stay sugarfree except for rare special social occasions, keep off the diet soft drink again, refrain from pastries and deep fried foods, (except perhaps small amounts where the host has gone to great effort at rare social occasions) plus I want to be fit, (lean too) and feel I can stay committed to a decent training regime. As for wine, - I'd love to still enjoy it but want to reduce consumption to no more than a quarter than what I used to have!
Talk soon :-)
Am still going strong, no booze, sugarfree, no bingeing, committed intense training, no pastry/deepfried food, no diet soft drink.........all TICK TICK TICK still! Just 3 more days till I can proudly say I reached the finish line of this self imposed 'challenge', all boxes ticked!
RANDOM THOUGHT: When I am training quite 'intensely' like at the moment, I dislike dropping off the effort! The last couple of weeks Wed arvos have been a long outdoor run day, - have done my 9.6k lap 3 weeks in a row on Wednesday after work, (oh, actually once on a Thursday as Wednesday was pouring with rain so I gymed it).
Today however was a particularly mammoth day at work, just flat tac and I got out late. The last couple of days have been intense sessions at the gym. The last thing I felt like doing was the 9.6k run, - but I'd done it the last 2 weeks, didn't want to drop my standards, (felt like going home, curling up with a wine lol!) However run it was, I did it, not a bad time but it was 4 mins slower than last Wednesdays quite pleasing time. Tomorrows training will be another gym effort, with a day off training on Friday.
I am getting much more training in than my baseline of 3x cardio, (enough for sweat up at least 30 mins a pop each) a week and 2x challenging resistance of at least 30 mins each. In future if I ever back off a bit, I'm not to go below my baseline level unless I deem circumstances really permit.
Just 6 weeks left at work this Friday. 9 weeks till I head to Thailand on Friday. Between finishing work and going to Thailand I intend to really nail some study and keep up the fitness training a bit. I have intended to recently do some revision prep for next year but I find time is ellusive! Am quite excited about finishing up at work, - have been with the company in some way and form for almost 6.5 years!
So...........the question begs: - am I planning some wine for Sunday hahaha? This challenge will be finished! To answer, I haven't made a decision on that yet. My housemate is home late in the evening such as 10pm or so, (we won't be then as we are both working early in the morning). I will hopefully train, but spend a good while making her home as spotless as I can for her return, including hopefully sweeping outside patios etc. I will remain non-committal either way regarding wine this Sunday. If I finished this challenge on a Friday or Saturday I would definitely say 'yes' or even 'yes' if there was a party on Sunday. Am non-committal but am leaning toward no wine on Sunday. I really want to not drink weeknights so I may even drag the alcohol free thing out another week!
I intend to keep up all the other stuff, - definitely no bingeing, - stay sugarfree except for rare special social occasions, keep off the diet soft drink again, refrain from pastries and deep fried foods, (except perhaps small amounts where the host has gone to great effort at rare social occasions) plus I want to be fit, (lean too) and feel I can stay committed to a decent training regime. As for wine, - I'd love to still enjoy it but want to reduce consumption to no more than a quarter than what I used to have!
Talk soon :-)
Monday, August 13, 2012
DAY 24/29.......HOME STRAIGHT and WEIGH IN
Hello all!
Still haven't caved! Am fully on track!
Friday was a nice day off training, - I watched the Olympics and footy in evening and read a bit more on my e-book, ('Toughen Up'), written by Michael Hill Jeweller!
Saturday I had planned a ride, - rode push bike to Scarborough beach and back via Hillary's Marina. I was hoping to get away by 9am, but didn't wake up, (no alarm) till a bit after 8am! Then had brekkie, mucked around, did housework, watched Olympics and didn't get away till 10.45am.
I stopped off for lunch, (16k enroute) at Hillary's Marina. I was concious of going for a relatively healthy option, (of course not sugar, pastry or deep fried food) not too huge quantity wise or not too expensive!
I settled for a Mexican burrito which was advertised as fresh and healthy and the accompaning nutritional info didn't look too shocking. I skipped the rice which is normally served on the burrito but enjoyed it with blackbeans, beef, lettuce, fresh tomato/basil/cucumber, corn kernels, medium spicy sauce, red onion, and asked for a half serve of the grated cheese and only a 'tiny' blob of sour cream, (I made sure it was small) so I even chopped the calories slightly further. Was delicious and a new eatery I hadn't tried before. Yes, the tortillas were made of white flour as that was all they had but I'm not at the point of being extremely anal about one meal a week on average :-)
I did notice, I walked past the pubs and eateries on the Marina with people hoeing into battered fish and chips, garlic bread, meals with really fatty looking pork chops and chips, creamy sauce based pastas served with white bread, - none of it looked at all appealing at all! The colourful salads, steamed veg, steamed looking fish/seafood, small quantities of lean meat and OK, dark rye bread type foods look much more appealing. Although the glasses of beer and wine on other people's table did look good :-) After the burrito I stopped into Gloria Jeans for a small skinny flat white, (I drink coffee at work but only when out in the weekend!)
Next stop was Scarborough Beach. I parked up, actually went for another coffee, (arvo snack) and read the paper and took a few photos, then it was time for the 25k ride home going as fast as poss, the weather was coming in, (which I beat) and there were less people on the cycle paths which meant a nice fast ride! 50.5km all up according to my Garmin when I got home! Nice light healthy tea and more watching of the Olympics!
Sunday ended up a little lazy, housework, reading, (finished my e-book), watched Olympics, was 'planning' a run all day but it kept on raining, (still could of gone out I guess). Then 'planned' an aerobic/resistance session on the tiles to music, too lazy but and my book, the internet, TV etc were too enticing, then it was after 9.30pm, - I deemed it too late!
I made up for yesterday at the gym today! 5.9km run on treadmill at 0.5 incline, mega full body weights workout, then the killer rower for 12 mins, then abs.
WEIGH-IN: It fluctuated backwards and forth between 77.9 and 78.0. Will go with 78, - that means down 0.8 since last Monday and brings the total loss to 3.0kg since my first weigh in on this 29 day mission. I must look odd, I am the only one I notice to remove my sneakers before weigh in. The scales are right beside the water fountain, many around are either waiting for the scales or to fill up their bottles so they can easily look over their shoulders to see what I weigh, as I could do for other people. Can start to notice a small difference, - some emergency 'fat pants' I bought on special which fit 4 weeks ago, now hang off my bum, and are bagging around my slightly more toned thighs, that was fresh after a wash. Can also tell stomach has gone down slightly but it still needs LOTS of work. Upper body and arms are infact getting maybe just a tad more muscly than before, :-)!
I despise Mondays, - a little urge for a binge was there today, - blaming Monday and the fact I felt slightly disappointed that I didn't train yesterday but no bingeing eventuated, - urge gone. Am now confident I will complete this 29 days as I set out to do :-)
More soon on 'general life'! Pics below are from Sat just been. Sorry, no time to edit or crop pics. The marina is at Hillarys, the beach pic with me in blue top is at Scarborough, quick self portrait and took my hair out from under the helmet!
Pip :-)
Still haven't caved! Am fully on track!
Friday was a nice day off training, - I watched the Olympics and footy in evening and read a bit more on my e-book, ('Toughen Up'), written by Michael Hill Jeweller!
Saturday I had planned a ride, - rode push bike to Scarborough beach and back via Hillary's Marina. I was hoping to get away by 9am, but didn't wake up, (no alarm) till a bit after 8am! Then had brekkie, mucked around, did housework, watched Olympics and didn't get away till 10.45am.
I stopped off for lunch, (16k enroute) at Hillary's Marina. I was concious of going for a relatively healthy option, (of course not sugar, pastry or deep fried food) not too huge quantity wise or not too expensive!
I settled for a Mexican burrito which was advertised as fresh and healthy and the accompaning nutritional info didn't look too shocking. I skipped the rice which is normally served on the burrito but enjoyed it with blackbeans, beef, lettuce, fresh tomato/basil/cucumber, corn kernels, medium spicy sauce, red onion, and asked for a half serve of the grated cheese and only a 'tiny' blob of sour cream, (I made sure it was small) so I even chopped the calories slightly further. Was delicious and a new eatery I hadn't tried before. Yes, the tortillas were made of white flour as that was all they had but I'm not at the point of being extremely anal about one meal a week on average :-)
I did notice, I walked past the pubs and eateries on the Marina with people hoeing into battered fish and chips, garlic bread, meals with really fatty looking pork chops and chips, creamy sauce based pastas served with white bread, - none of it looked at all appealing at all! The colourful salads, steamed veg, steamed looking fish/seafood, small quantities of lean meat and OK, dark rye bread type foods look much more appealing. Although the glasses of beer and wine on other people's table did look good :-) After the burrito I stopped into Gloria Jeans for a small skinny flat white, (I drink coffee at work but only when out in the weekend!)
Next stop was Scarborough Beach. I parked up, actually went for another coffee, (arvo snack) and read the paper and took a few photos, then it was time for the 25k ride home going as fast as poss, the weather was coming in, (which I beat) and there were less people on the cycle paths which meant a nice fast ride! 50.5km all up according to my Garmin when I got home! Nice light healthy tea and more watching of the Olympics!
Sunday ended up a little lazy, housework, reading, (finished my e-book), watched Olympics, was 'planning' a run all day but it kept on raining, (still could of gone out I guess). Then 'planned' an aerobic/resistance session on the tiles to music, too lazy but and my book, the internet, TV etc were too enticing, then it was after 9.30pm, - I deemed it too late!
I made up for yesterday at the gym today! 5.9km run on treadmill at 0.5 incline, mega full body weights workout, then the killer rower for 12 mins, then abs.
WEIGH-IN: It fluctuated backwards and forth between 77.9 and 78.0. Will go with 78, - that means down 0.8 since last Monday and brings the total loss to 3.0kg since my first weigh in on this 29 day mission. I must look odd, I am the only one I notice to remove my sneakers before weigh in. The scales are right beside the water fountain, many around are either waiting for the scales or to fill up their bottles so they can easily look over their shoulders to see what I weigh, as I could do for other people. Can start to notice a small difference, - some emergency 'fat pants' I bought on special which fit 4 weeks ago, now hang off my bum, and are bagging around my slightly more toned thighs, that was fresh after a wash. Can also tell stomach has gone down slightly but it still needs LOTS of work. Upper body and arms are infact getting maybe just a tad more muscly than before, :-)!
I despise Mondays, - a little urge for a binge was there today, - blaming Monday and the fact I felt slightly disappointed that I didn't train yesterday but no bingeing eventuated, - urge gone. Am now confident I will complete this 29 days as I set out to do :-)
More soon on 'general life'! Pics below are from Sat just been. Sorry, no time to edit or crop pics. The marina is at Hillarys, the beach pic with me in blue top is at Scarborough, quick self portrait and took my hair out from under the helmet!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)