Friday 24 April 2009

:(

I've hurt my ankle again.. Netball... hmmm :(

I'll be back to post properly soon....

On a brighter note I dropped 1.7kg in the past week! That menu plan is working!

Sunday 19 April 2009

What does your shopping list look like??

Do you like analysing people shopping baskets as much as I do?? Not passing judgement... I just find it interesting what people choose to spend their money on.

I have spent the last 15 minutes planning my menu for the week and writing my shopping list and thought I might share it. If you don't really like reading blogs about what people eat/buy then I'll see you next post! *wave*

Here's my plan for this week (inspired by Ajay's food plan on HBC):

Breakfasts:
- egg white omelette with mushies, tomato and spinach
- poached eggs on 1 slice grainy toast
- porridge with berries
- berry and skim milk smoothie and a piece of grainy toast w/avocado

Morning tea options:
- apple and a small tin of tuna
- boiled egg
- salmon on 2 vita wheats
- smoothie w/ whey protein
- light cheese and 8 rice crackers

Lunches:
- turkey and salad sandwich
- egg white omelette w/ salad
- tuna or salmon salad
- grilled chicken breast and salad (or in a wrap)
- veggie soup with chicken or beans

Arvo snack options (no carbs):
- tin tuna
- 3 boiled egg whites
- handful raw nuts
- turkey
- ham
- salmon
- protein shake or bar
- lite cheese

Dinners:
- omelette and salad
- grilled fish/steak/chicken and steamed veg
- chicken/beef/tofu with stirfry asian veggies
- warm chicken salad
- thai beef salad
- chicken and vegetable soup

I'm trying to minimise carbs in the afternoon/evening as I want to get out of the habit of having a sweet thing after dinner each night... plus I don't need all that sugar sitting around all night waiting to jump on my thighs while I'm not watching.

Just wanted to say a big embarrassed thank you to Philippa for saying such nice things about me over at Skinny Latte Strikes Back

Big hugs!

Ash

Saturday 18 April 2009

Double-up!

... no not the yoghurt and muesli treat made by a dairy company whose name is a winter sporting activity...

Double-up is what I did this morning at training. After a few days away I wanted to catch up on my training and decided to do 2 sessions this morning. Cardio and toning!! That's 2 hours of exercise with a small stretching break in the middle and at the end. I am feeling so great now for doing it and I actually coped surprisingly well!

Cardio this morning included running up a big hill at 60% effort, running back down, running up again at 80%, back down again, up again at 100% and down again. We then repeated that with side steps, backwards running (no one fell over) and travelling lunges. In between these sets we were divided into a fast team and a slow team and we had to run a lap of the park in a line while passing a ball over head down the line and when the ball reached the back, that person ran to the front of the queue... and so on... did I explain that ok?

In toning we used mats, fitballs and free weights (My heavy and light weights went up one kilo this week) and I think I worked harder than I have in a long time. It was great feeling so warm after doing cardio and just being able to launch straight into it while the others were just waking up. I think I might do the double session every week! We'll see how we go...

This week's food has been ok considering we were away on holidays. All main meals were good (eg. spaghetti, meat and salad wraps, healthy burgers, risotto, Lentil and veggie soup) but I really was quite relaxed about the extra things like coffees, biscuits and left over choccies from easter.. I guess it's only easter once a year and I have done a good amount of exercise to compensate. While we were away we did lots of beach walking, stair climbing and I even got in some pushups, squats and lunges... Enough to be sore!

Yesterday I sat down and wrote in my food diary at the end of the day and realised that I had no other protein aside from the lentils in my soupy dinner which led to a bikkie binge (4 nice biscuits) at about 4pm. So today I made muself a banana and whey smoothie for breakky, had a chicken and salad wrap for lunch (plus some blueberry doughnut which we wont talk about too much) and am planning a chicken and rainbow veggie stirfry for dinner... yum! i might have some yoghurt and fruit after dinner too.

That'll do from me! I'll be back!

Monday 13 April 2009

Taking a little break...

Just waving goodbye for a few days as we head up the Great Ocean Road for a few days of relaxation!

*wave*

Saturday 11 April 2009

Shift the focus...

I have been thinking recently about "dieting" and all the things that go along with it....

From my experience, a diet has been a set of rules around what I am NOT allowed to eat, eg. Don't eat too much, Don't drink soft drinks, Don't eat too much fat, Don't have too many carbs, Don't eat processed foods, Don't drink alcohol, Don't eat sugary foods, Don't add sugar to tea, in face Don't drink tea or coffee!!

Why don't you just develop a taste for air?? It's cheap and tastes fairly neutral so I'm sure you'll get used to it..

Hang on... something's not sounding right here!

So... this morning's ramble is about ADDING things to your "diet" (diet meaning your nutition). It's time to focus on more that what NOT to eat!

This week, I will be (and I challenge you to) ensuring that in each day I am getting enough of the following three things;

1. Omega three fatty acids... Hardly any of us get enough. On the days I don't EAT enough I will be supplementing with fish oil capsules. Omega threes do all sorts of amazing things including helping your body burn fat! Yes, eat fat to burn fat! But it must be the right type!

2. Protein... I am doing a lot of strength work at the moment and need protein that will easily assimilate into my cells to help my muscles recover and repair. Whey protein is the best for this. I found a whey with no flavour (Aussie Bodies Natural) so I can add it to savoury dishes as well as sweet and make it into fruit smoothies for an in-between snack. Protein also keeps you full for longer.

3. LIVE foods... particularly leafy greens and deep green veggies like broccoli. These foods contain live enzymes which help your digest foods. They also contain clorophyl and will fill you up so you can increase the size of your meal greatly without adding lots of calories. Mind games mind games! Your body KNOWS how to process these foods so you'll be happy happy happy on the inside!!

So there is the challenge. I guarantee you and I wont have heaps more room for junky things in our day if we make sure we are getting enough of these things.

Let me know what you think and how you go if you choose to try... go on!!



My food yesterday:
(not great- but part of my easter treats and I did 1 hour of hard (read: excruciating) cardio today to make up for it!)

B. 2 x french toast made with capeseed loaf and 1.5 eggs (2tbs whey added to the egg mix with NO change in flavour) skim latte

S. 1 hot cross bun

L. Strawberry skim milk shake, 1 slice cape seed loaf with avocado and light cream cheese

D. Small bowl of tuna and veggie macaroni, 1 scoop low fat icecream

S. 1 hot cross bun... oh come on.. it was good friday!

Thursday 9 April 2009

Because I want to be the best me....

Something has happened over the last couple of days.

Something has changed and I think it's going to be really good for me. For my mental health as well as my physical health.

I have realised that I am too heavy... okay, well, I knew that. However I have always looked at my weight as a number on the scale and as a gauge of whether I am OK or NOT OK.. That sounds harsh, but it is true. It was all wrapped up in body image, feelings of self worth and whether I felt ugly or pretty. Don't get me wrong. I don't think being overweight is ugly. Deep down I know I'm beautiful, but these things just come into your head sometimes.

ANYWAY! So I am feeling pretty good about my life right now. I am not feeling any sense that I am not worthy, not gorgeous or not OK. But I am too heavy...

I am too heavy to be the best runner and athlete that I can be

Woh! I never ever thought I would consider myself an athlete! But I am heading that way and I do not want to let a few kilos weigh me down. I have been thinking about how much happier my body and knees would have been on Sunday if I hadn't run 14kms with 10-15 extra kilos on my body. I crave feeling light and bouncy!! (Not that type of bouncy!)

So... what do I need to do to get light?!!

I know exactly what I need to do...

eat CLEAN! eat ENOUGH! eat RIGHT! And train SENSIBLY!

I will be putting my food diary on here more regularly and giving more in-depth analysis on here as to how it's all going for me.

There is no magic number on the scale. I know I carry a lot of muscle so I will never be as light as those chicks who don't weight train, however somewhere from 70-75kgs works right for me... Or about a size 12. I am going to enjoy a sensible amount of chocolate over easter (a medium sized fair trade egg) but after that the treats are out for a while. Not going to set a time limit. I just need to get back in the habit of eating real foods all the time!!

So Stay tuned!

Food today:
B. 2 slices wholemeal toast with 2 eggs and a soy latte.
1/2 litre water
S. 3 tbs natural fat free yoghurt with whey protein and 1 tsp honey. 1/2 slice capeseed loaf
L. Grilled fish with salad, 1 slice capeseed loaf.
2 litres of water
S. Small smoothie w/ soy, banana, whey protein
D. Grilled mustard chicken w/ mashed sweet potato, piles of broccoli and green beans

Sunday 5 April 2009

A couple of pics from the run today

Here I am obviously thrilled with my result... This pic was taken for the Step into life newsletter as my trainer has made me member of the month!

Mayra and I loving ourselves sick!


Big girls CAN run!

Okay, well I'm not THAT big any more however I am not your run of the mill athletic type. I have big strong muscles and curves in all the right places.

That aside, today I ran 14.1km (although I think it was a few hundred metres longer but that's a side issue) in 1:48:38. I am stoked with this time!

In 2006 when I was apparently at my fittest (and 10 kilos lighter than I am now) I completed run for the kids in 1:55:26. I was only able to run for about 10km of the whole course and I needed frequent walking breaks.

This year Mayra and I jogged the whole thing, only stopping for a few steps at each drink station. I felt so amazing sprinting accross that line after being able to achieve a goal I had set myself.

What's next??

The Run Melbourne Half Marathon (21km)!!