Its the little things

Its the little things I've noticed over the last few weeks that have really started to make a change and I realise that Shit yes they were big things in my unhealthy life. Far more than the actual weight on the scales, these little things are starting to give me confidence to continue.  Though the scales are telling me I have achieved a 5.4 kg weight loss over the last six weeks, its not always about the wins on the scales that matter, but the wins in your lifestyle changes.

On Friday at the stadium watching the Black Caps slaughter England I walked up the 30+ steps to Row X three times, that's three times without stopping. I could not have done that a couple of months ago.

Today it was I walked up two flights of stairs between Floor 8 and Floor 10 of our building without stopping and without being winded.  That's a first.

Last Monday at Bootcamp I managed to do squats holding a 10 kg weight - I can't remember the last time I squatted (well without it being on the toilet haha).

And at Roller Derby scrimmage last week, we had to "take a knee".  Take a knee means a Skater has been injured on the track and we go down on bended knee as a Health and Safety requirement until the Skater is able to be removed from the track.  There was no way I used to be able to do this.  It was just too hard for me to get down and then get back up again - in fact it was really embarrassing - but last week I did it.  I managed to get down, stay down and get myself up.  All without struggling and all without help.  For me that is a biggie because its always been a hard thing to try to do.

And funnily enough my feet are changing.  I have two pairs of Wedges that I cant wear anymore before the circumference of my feet has shrunk and the shoes are now too well baggy on me hahaha.

And lastly the shape of my face is changing so everyone says.  I dont really see it myself as I stare into the mirror each day but those who havent seen me in a while saw a photo of me or the real me on Friday and commented that they could see that I had lost some of the puffiness in my face - what do you reckon?

Christmas 2014

February 2015

The Scales of Judgement

Under the unforgiving Thanalan sun lie the ruins of an ancient temple half-devoured by the shifting sands of a timeless desert.  The Hall of Maat is where the judgment of the dead was performed. This was done by weighing one's heart (conscience) against the feather of Maat (truth and justice). The heart must not be heavier then the feather of Maat. This was not a physical weighing of the organ by living Egyptians, it was a ceremony that took place in the afterlife and was performed by the gods

These days we weigh ourselves against a different type of scale but still we judge ourselves wanting.

Weighing scales (usually just "scales" in UK and Australian English, "weighing machine" in South Asian English or "scale" in US English) is a measuring instrument for determining the weight or mass of an object.

A set of scales are a necessity when you are losing weight but they are not always a good thing to have around.  Especially where you can get free access to them day after day hour after hour.

Its a fascination that one just cannot stop.  

We are told; 

Weigh yourself at the same time every time you need to weigh yourself - usually first thing in the morning (after your first visit to the bathroom).  This is when you are at your most relaxed, most dehydrated and your most accurate weight.

We are also told

DONT WEIGH YOURSELF EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!

I went and purchased my own set of scales recently because I didn't trust the scales at work - they kept fluctuating too much for my liking every time I stood on them and it was hard to work out if i was losing any weight or not. 

So I went and purchased a set on special that did my weight, BMI and some other funky measuring that I haven't worked out.  This way I knew that I would be getting an accurate measurement of how I was doing. 

Thursdays are my official weigh in day and every Thursday so far except for this week I have lost weight.  There have been six Thursdays and for five in a row I had steadily lost weight until this week where to my horror I had put on 700 grams.  I didnt believe it.  I had to weigh myself 3 times over a 15 minute period because I was so upset that I had put on this weight.  I even made sure I went to the toilet again hoping that would help but nope.

I went through my day quite disappointed in myself.  

Now I know it happens, you gain weight to lose weight.  You gain muscles to lose fat but honestly for the first time in this change of lifestyle it really got me down.

Friday being the next morning I jumped on the scales again and YAH i had lost that gain and more. Saturday, bloody hell weight gain again, and this morning, well it was the same weight as yesterday.

Now I know the rules DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF EVERYDAY but i see these scales every morning sitting in my bathroom on the floor saying "Hi Jo wanna peek at yourself today?" and I cant say no.  

Oh Crap

Hi My name's Jo and I am an Addict. 

Weighing on my mind

OMG My back

Honestly was I stupid or what.

Yesterday I accepted and invitation to go and visit a boot camp style fitness group MSP-Soul-Fitness and participate in one of their sessions to see whether or not it would be a fit for me.

So I got picked up by the awesome Robbie (who I know from Lyall Bay Bowling Club). He drove me over to the Marist St Pats Gym in Kilbirnie and introduced me to Vanessa and Henry who run the group.  

MSP Soul Fitness is a casual fitness group.  It runs Mondays and Friday evenings at 6.30pm, Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6am and Saturday mornings at 7am for 45 min to an hour.  You pay a fee of $5 a session or can buy a 10 trip ticket for $45.

So I did it.  I tried it out.  At first it wasn't too bad - 5 min of casual walking, 5 min of stretches and lunges to warm up.  I wasn't fast.  In fact I was the slowest but it was all about "at your own pace".  And you know what I wasn't the largest woman there.  There were a mix of old and young, big and small, tall and short, all levels' all sizes and apart from being nervous being the newbie I felt ok about being there.

Then because it was a gorgeous day outside we went out to the rugby field where we were split into two groups.  The first group (including lucky me) were told to run.  Run or jog around the rugby field for ten minutes, including small sprints at the end of each lap.  I didn't run, I didn't jog, i just walked it and Vanessa whispered to me i could be forgiven for not doing the sprints too - YAH me.  

So I made it around the circumference of the rugby field 3 times in that ten minutes.  A rugby field is 100m long and 69m wide, so calculating my distance

100 x 2 = 200
69 x 2 = 138

200 + 138 = 338

338 x 3 = 1014

therefore

I walked 1.014 km in ten min OMG that's the quickest I've walked. Usually 2km takes me half an hour.

It didn't stop there.

After a 2 min breather and a slug or two of water we swapped places with the other team and got to stand in front of heavens above - Barbells.

Right you lot Henry yelled out.  You have ten minutes to do sets of four different exercises and you cannot stop at all during any one set. You can only stop at the end of each set.  Away you go.

Ummmmmmmm

Me?? Lift weights? Seriously? ohhhhhhhhhhhkay.

So I did 10 reps of Front Deltoids Raises, 10 reps of Bicep Curls, 10 reps of Military Press, and 10 reps of Squats.  Actually I DID IT.  I did one set without stopping.  WOW.  I impressed myself.  I tried again and ok this time it wasn't as easy.  In fact by the third exercise I was struggling but I made it through and threw the barbell down on the grass.  

Took a break had a drink and said yes I can do this.  So I started a third set and UH HO my arms decided to protest and didn't want me to do anything other than actually lift the barbell up off the ground.  I pushed my way through the agony and managed to do the third exercise but just couldn't get the energy to complete the fourth so I snuck my barbell down before Henry had a chance to catch me.



FARRRRKK I was had it.  That took me 7 out of the 10 minutes to complete but others were still going and going good.  What I didn't realise and I guess it irked me a bit was that I had been lifting 15kg.  I would have hoped that someone would have come over and adjusted the weight for me being a newbie and all and explained how to lift correctly but they didn't. 

But there was still more to come.

Once the ten minutes was up then it was swappsies again for another 5 minutes of running - well walking for me.  Off I went. Around the field yet again.  My poor legs were killing me. I made it once around the circuit and then that was it, I was overdone.  I went to Vanessa and said that it was time for me to head off - I had to be at Roller Derby Scrimmage in 15 min.

So by the time I had done a 40 min boot camp session and spent 75 min doing Line Up Tracking and Jam Timing I was shattered.  I dreamt of having a bath but knew that if I found one to go soak in I'd never get out of it again without help lol.

Home, snack, shower, bed, asleep by 10.15.  Didn't even managed to watch the Phoenix play Melbourne.

Today I'm still feeling the pinch, especially in my back but I've decided I will go back, just not today. 

I'm thinking once a week to start with as a good easing in period until the weather changes and I cant get outside to walk or bike and then maybe twice a week will be the go.

Anyway I DID IT and I'm so proud of myself.

And in the end I WASN'T STUPID or What.  I was NUTS!!!!!!

She Shoots, She Scores, Goal!!

In a matter of three weeks In January I achieved three things. I lost weight, I managed to get back on my push bike and I pushed myself to bike eight kilometres without killing myself and I started walking again. Proper walking rather than the short slow amble to the Bowling Club and back again on a Friday night. 

So now I need to actually set some goals. 

Not soccer goals of course though that could be a long term goal in itself. Get back to playing soccer that is. It's been 26 years since I last put soccer boots on. 

Like work goals lifestyle change goals need to measured SMARTly. specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted.

So my goals for February are

Lose 3 kg

Achieve 9km on the bike

Achieve 3km walking

My plan to achieve these are

More veges more veges less meat and less takeout but also less calories. I am allowed 1500 calories a day + more if I exercise more but I need to try to keep within the 1500-1600 range and stop chewing up all the extra calories that I can use as a buffer when doing all my exercise. 

Achieving 9km on the bike should be easy. I made 8.3 km on Saturday. So if I tackle it in increments by going for an extra 100 metres each time I bike I should be able to do it comfortably by the end of the month. 

The same goes for walking. If I push myself to do an extra 100 metres every time I do a big morning or evening push I could achieve this pretty easily. 

So they are smart (simple), measurable (weights and lengths) achieveable (they are not too hard) realistic (easy for me since I'm just really still starting out on this journey) and time-targeted (I've got til the end of the month). 

So here goes ........ 

Fantastic February here we come 

My stats for the first day of February

weight 138.5 kg

Neck 44.5 cm

Left arm 42.5cm

Right arm 43cm

Waist 132cm

Hips/Tummy 151cm

Left thigh 72cm

Right Thigh 73 cm