A pain in the...

... left foot! The "other" foot from my previous ankle injury... My self-diagnosis is that in limping around for so long on the right ankle, the left one has been under too much pressure and has spit the dummy. That is a medical term... look it up!

Anyway!! Sore feet and all, I got out of bed at 5:30 this morning and did my second weights session for the week. After a tough session on Tuesday night I was feeling pretty weak this morning! I have another weights session on Saturday in which I will probably feel just as sore. I just have to keep remembering that sore is GOOD as it means the muscles will have to re-build themselves bigger and stronger!

John and I were admiring my newly uncovered biceps last night and that was enough incentive to keep doing it! I can actually do proper push-ups now! Well, about 11 and then I have to drop to my knees, but a few months ago I couldn't do 1!

So even without all the intense cardio I have still managed to lose more weight this week. Only 300g but it is surely better than nothing! I am now 84kg on the button and looking forward to seeing the 83s. I was actually a bit surprised with my loss this week as I have had a pretty slack time with food. Oh well, I won't complain!

I have yummy breakfasts planned for this week! I got inspired in the supermarket last night when I saw Carman's bircher muesli on sale for $4.oo. I grabbed a box and a litre of organic fat free natural yoghurt, mixed it all together with grated apple and I have enough breakfasty-type-food to sink a battle ship! It really makes a lot and it just gets better with age in the fridge (not too long!). I also got some wholegrain english muffins and ABC butter (almond, cashew, brazil). Molly loves it and it has nothing yukky added to it. MMMM!

Anyway, that's enough from me today! Hope you're all doing well.

FYI (and my accountability)- My food diary
B. Bircher muesli
S. 1 english muffin with ABC butter
L. Beef and veggie soup, 1 apple and a skim latte
S. Tuna and beans thingy
D. Grilled fish with steamed broccoli, cauli, carrot, pumpkin
S. Jarrah chocolatte (and apple if hungry)

Exercise: Weights 50 min circuit + warm up and stretching
H20: 2 litres

Just had to post this cute pic of Molly...

Here it is!! It's short!

My new hair...

I'm just waiting for my photos to copy from my camera to my computer... ho hum.... Will be back soon with pics of my lopped locks!

OH MY FREAKING FREAK!

I just registered for Around the Bay in a Day 2009!!!

For those who don't know this is a massive bike ride held on October 18th this year. I have entered the 210km option going from Melbourne to Sorrento and back.

FREAK OUT!!!!

I'm ok... I'm ok...

On a side note, I cut a lot of my hair off today.. It's now a nice bob thingy! I'll take a pic soon!

Food and love

Yes Ani, my day of food did turn out to be all I was hoping for! I needed to make a couple of adjustments due to time constraints (and other factors) so this is how my day of food turned out:

b. scrambled eggs (1 yolk and lots-o-whites) and was going to have toast but went to the freezer and the rest of the family must've thought toast was a good idea too so no bread! Had a very small bowl of muesli with skim milk as well as I am a hell of a nasty pasty if I don't have some form of carbs in the morning.

s. apple and yoghurt

l. was going to have tuna salad but ended up running late for a course I was doing today so I bought lunch from a sandwich bar... I got a chicken and mega-huge-colourful salad wrap and only ate half the pita. 1/2 a coffee... didn't feel like it so threw it out.

s. tuna and 3 tsp yoghurt

d. chicken and steamed broccoli, cauli, brussel sprouts and pumpkin

s. this is the only thing I shouldn't really have had today... some custard (delicious very thick gourmet custard in the purple tub) I had about half a cup... worth every calorie!

I took my mum's dog out for a brisk 45 min walk this evening and smiled at all the other dog walkers. One guy even stopped to talk to mum's dog and said "hello Buffy"... He knew my mum's dog from the park! She's famous apparently!

To answer a question left in my comments section I met my husband at a church camp when I was 14 and he was 17. I fell in love with him right there but we didn't get together for three years after that.

Tomorrow.. delicious and nutritious!

Today's food, while within my calories, did not go to plan. I had a training day where lunch was provided and I ended up carb loading without meaning to. (I did do an hour long boxing session and a half an hour walk but I don't like eating up my exercise burnt calories!!)

So I thought I'd have a good think about what to have tomorrow to even things up.

Here goes;

B. 2 poached eggs on toast
S. 1 tub jalna yoghurt, 1 apple and peppermint tea
L. Tuna salad with avocado
S. 4 meatballs and peppermint tea
D. Roast chicken and steamed veggies
S. If I really want a sweet thing I'll have a jarrah chocolatte


YUMMM!!! Love the thought of tomorrow's food... love the thought of size 12 jeans!

The last couple of days of semi-unplanned eating have me worried that my next weigh-in may not be as spectacular as I'd like... My weekends at work are something I need to work on as far as sticking to a plan goes as my workmate is a very go-with-the-flow type of eater and I often have 5 hour breaks between breakky and lunch and then eat too much in the afternoon.

We'll have to wait and see if I can correct the possible damage done before weigh in...

:)

Answer to Bee's question on the Gabriel Method

I have nothing but positive things to say about it! I am using the visualisation CD and find myself saying things to myself during the day like "I run like a child at play"... just out of nowhere it pops into my head and makes training more fun..

I am also finding that I am not thinking about food as much and like the CD suggests "food is just there". I am craving nurticious fresh and healthy foods and my body feels great.
I am sure about the idea that you stop craving junk when your body is properly nourished.
Hope that helps!

Things you wanted to know...

What did you have for dinner last night?

Last night I was at my sister in law's for dinner. She made healthy pita breat pizzas and I ate till I had enough... mmmm!


What is your one vice?

I can't say I have many vices... although I love really really good ice cream. I'm happy to say "no thanks" to crappy ice cream but if someone offers me something really good (like the gelato shop near Lygon t in Carlton... droool!) I have a hard time saying no. I also love Jalna yoghurts.


Do you think you've grown your hair much longer? I got a shock when I saw how long it was! :)

Yes... te hee! I'm getting sick of it though... It's hard work!


Oh, and come on - you owe me a Gabriel Method answer from a question I posted ages ago!!!

I'll have to go review old posts and comments about this and get back to you... Sorry! I'm not a very good comment replying person.

Edit: I have nothing but positive things to say about it! I am using the visualisation CD and find myself saying things to myself during the day like "I run like a child at play"... just out of nowhere it pops into my head and makes training more fun..
I am also finding that I am not thinking about food as much and like the CD suggests "food is just there". I am craving nurticious fresh and healthy foods and my body feels great.I am sure about the idea that you stop craving junk when your body is properly nourished.Hope that helps!

ASK ME MORE!

This is fun!

Ask me anything....

I did this on my old Healthy Ashwee blog and I think it's time to do it again!

Ask me anything and I'll answer as honestly as I can!

Go on! It's fun!

A yummy thing...

Today for lunch I had a Mexican wrap from Healthy Habits. It was so delicious I just had to share it and I'll probably replicate it at home.

It had;
1 medium pita bread
1 tbs guacamole
1 tbs salsa
1 tbs low fat sour cream
100g (ish) shaved chicken breast

It was supposed to have crumbed chicken strips but I asked for shaved chicken breast instead. It was like a nacho in a wrap (minus the corn chips!). It was delicious!

It's been a tough week and a bit...

... I haven't been able to exercise since I hurt myself.. well, I have kind of exercised by doing upper body toning work and core strengthening exercises at home however I am pining for my Step into Life sessions...

I am back tomorrow morning. A 7am toning session. I am going to give my muscles the shock of their lives!

I managed to lose another 200g in the last week bringing my total loss for the last fortnight to 1.9kgs! This is a much better result than I have had in recent months and I am determined for it to keep happening!

I am now 84.3kg.. the lowest weight I have been since before Molly was born... I am very pleased with this!

My nutrition plan is still consisting of 5 meals a day as follows (example only);
1: (carbs and protein) porridge, fruit and low fat jalna yoghurt with whey
2: (carbs and protein) tuna and apple (and a skim latte usually)
3: (carbs and protein) wholemeal pita with poached chicken and salad and wholegrain mustard dressing (mmm!)
4: (protein only) cottage cheese/protein bar/shake/low fat meatballs
5: (protein and veggies) chicken casserole with steamed broccoli, cauliflower and green beans

This is keeping me so so so full! I am expecting another good loss next week.

I'm off to have a peppermint tea and go to bed!

:)

:(

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!

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

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!

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*

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!

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

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)!!