So since my last post I have been to a 10 day holiday to Queensland (Townsville and Brisbane) and just got back yesterday. As much as I had made plans to eat well and plan any servings of contraband - I failed on some levels. Primarily the issue was that we were staying at peoples places and that proved to be an issue for me. There was no way I was planning on investing in all the spices. I also believed that I was ona well deserved holiday and I was going to spend time exploring instead of cooking away. So we ate out a fair bit and I also indulged in gelato on at least 4 occasions and enjoyed every mouthful. Now that I am back, I feel like I need to get back to being disciplined again and am missing it in fact. I believe I am best when I am in a certain kind of routine and structure. I am still not at the stage where I can be confidently left to my own devices foodwise.
I noted that there were some changes in how I do things now. Things that have improved. I am not always looking for opportunities to eat just because I can as I am on holiday and that alone provides the justification. My portions have reduced considerably to how they were in the past. However, I still recognise that I am still vulnerble to the sweet seduction of sugar. I feel as though I now need to get back to a plan to eliminate sugar from my life.
I found I can walk without trying to avoid it. I walked around in Brisbane for a few hours browsing and tired but continued to enjoy the sights. My biggest achievement of all was climbing CastleHill in Townsville, a total distance of 1744m/2180 steps - the ironbark track. I never would have imagined that I would ever climb a mountain and so when I decided to join my hubby in climbing this one, I was amazed. It was hard at the beginning especially as the initial bit was extremely steep and I was struggling to breathe but as I warmed up (or should I say steamed up and sweated) it got better and better. All I will say is that next time I will buy proper shoes instead of runners as runners do not really work as climbing shoes.
So now the aim has got to be that I need to get back into discipline and maybe get a wee bit strict with my self - in other words - plan my meals during the week so I can cut myself a wee bit of slack over the weekend. I think the stage has come for me to tighten up a bit more as I have shown myself that I am capable of change and my body can change. As much as I struggle with food diaries I think I should at least aim to try and keep a sugar diary where I record anything with fructose I am eating including fruit just to keep an eye on what I am having.
the holiday was great - lovely warm queensland sun although I could not live there in summer....it would be soooo hot and humid.
health to all - until next time - keep healthy
The amazing race
Friday 27 July 2012
Thursday 5 July 2012
Pre-holiday thoughts
Since my last blog, I have been continued feeling rather good about myself. I have only dropped a kilo but I have shaved off 6cms off my waist and hips, 4cm off my bust and 6 off my thigh. So I have been feeling as though I am doing alright. I have put on muscle which is good.
However, along with the good news is also the not so good news and a kick up my own bum. Since the time I found that I am doing well with my body I have begun to be a slight bit slack. So I have slowly crept back to the time where I am buying a raspberry and white chocolate muffin with my coffee at work. This will not do. I am slogging me arse off only to start the day with a muffin. Same mistake I have been making all these years. So new rules are in the making - for starters:
- NO sugar from Monday to Thurs. Of course this does not mean that I will gorge on the stuff from Fri to Sun. It just means that I do not have any sugar decisions to make from Monday to Thursdays and over the weekend I can partake but choose when and where. This I think will work well as a few weeks ago it was a pattern which produced results was quite similar.
- I think again chanting the consistency mantra is key. What is working for me at the moment is that I am a lot more consistent in trying to be healthy than I have been in years. In my recently 'past life', I was pretty consistent with doing guilt and chocolate in turns. In my new life, guilt hasn't really featured and life is sooo much better without it. I could get used to this.
- I am NERVOUS. I am a structured person and work best if I have a structure. I tend to fall apart without structure. So in another 10 days we will be going on holidays. This is scary. For the first time since the last 6-8 weeks of great structure working - my formula - finally - there has to be a break - a holiday of 10 days of pure sunshine and relaxation - something our family is in dire need of. But I am nervous - what if I go mad and go back to my old ways? Afterall, I did have the moments of temporary insanity where I was eating muffins with my coffee post learning I was beginning to shrink? What if I think - like I used to in the past - oh let me enjoy (read indulge) this holiday and I promise when I get back I will be good again! What happens with working out? I am used to highly intense work outs and anything I do during the holidays will not be the same - will my level of fitness (which has been achieved after the horrible stage of the body feeling purely in pain due to being plain unfit) decline in 10 days? I have never exercised in all my life whilst on holidays what makes this time so very different?
So these are the questions plaguing me at the moment. At the moment I think one thing is clear - I need to enjoy the holiday because I am on holiday - and not to mention relax - but I clearly need to structure my days. So if I am used to waking up early there is nothing stopping me from going off for a walk - joining my family in walking everywhere instead of being the one to tire first. This is a short holiday and this is a little test - afterall, I cannot rely on ALWAYS being in the gym working out with the same trainer for the rest of my days? or his? The test is simply to prepare me for my life and the pleasant things like holidays and breaks that will occur and who knows even getting myself independent of the gym one day? So I will stay balanced and keep a sugar diary - I have never been regular at food diaries coz they have seemed tiresome and far too long and tedious. However, one thing I know I can do is keep a sugar diary where I note down everything I eat that has sugar in it. That is more manageable and easier to do - convenient even.
- Lastly, of course the key is to keep moving all the time - we will be in sunny Queensland and at the very least there is the guarantee of sun - so move, move and move. The rest we will know when we are back and I am getting measured up. Heeee hawwwww!!! :)
However, along with the good news is also the not so good news and a kick up my own bum. Since the time I found that I am doing well with my body I have begun to be a slight bit slack. So I have slowly crept back to the time where I am buying a raspberry and white chocolate muffin with my coffee at work. This will not do. I am slogging me arse off only to start the day with a muffin. Same mistake I have been making all these years. So new rules are in the making - for starters:
- NO sugar from Monday to Thurs. Of course this does not mean that I will gorge on the stuff from Fri to Sun. It just means that I do not have any sugar decisions to make from Monday to Thursdays and over the weekend I can partake but choose when and where. This I think will work well as a few weeks ago it was a pattern which produced results was quite similar.
- I think again chanting the consistency mantra is key. What is working for me at the moment is that I am a lot more consistent in trying to be healthy than I have been in years. In my recently 'past life', I was pretty consistent with doing guilt and chocolate in turns. In my new life, guilt hasn't really featured and life is sooo much better without it. I could get used to this.
- I am NERVOUS. I am a structured person and work best if I have a structure. I tend to fall apart without structure. So in another 10 days we will be going on holidays. This is scary. For the first time since the last 6-8 weeks of great structure working - my formula - finally - there has to be a break - a holiday of 10 days of pure sunshine and relaxation - something our family is in dire need of. But I am nervous - what if I go mad and go back to my old ways? Afterall, I did have the moments of temporary insanity where I was eating muffins with my coffee post learning I was beginning to shrink? What if I think - like I used to in the past - oh let me enjoy (read indulge) this holiday and I promise when I get back I will be good again! What happens with working out? I am used to highly intense work outs and anything I do during the holidays will not be the same - will my level of fitness (which has been achieved after the horrible stage of the body feeling purely in pain due to being plain unfit) decline in 10 days? I have never exercised in all my life whilst on holidays what makes this time so very different?
So these are the questions plaguing me at the moment. At the moment I think one thing is clear - I need to enjoy the holiday because I am on holiday - and not to mention relax - but I clearly need to structure my days. So if I am used to waking up early there is nothing stopping me from going off for a walk - joining my family in walking everywhere instead of being the one to tire first. This is a short holiday and this is a little test - afterall, I cannot rely on ALWAYS being in the gym working out with the same trainer for the rest of my days? or his? The test is simply to prepare me for my life and the pleasant things like holidays and breaks that will occur and who knows even getting myself independent of the gym one day? So I will stay balanced and keep a sugar diary - I have never been regular at food diaries coz they have seemed tiresome and far too long and tedious. However, one thing I know I can do is keep a sugar diary where I note down everything I eat that has sugar in it. That is more manageable and easier to do - convenient even.
- Lastly, of course the key is to keep moving all the time - we will be in sunny Queensland and at the very least there is the guarantee of sun - so move, move and move. The rest we will know when we are back and I am getting measured up. Heeee hawwwww!!! :)
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