Reached another goal!

I embarked on my fitness journey with Vision Personal Training.  The way they organise you is in 9 week blocks.  So every 9 weeks you reset your goals.  My first goal was to lose 6kgs which I achieved and my second goal was to lose a further 3 kgs which I achieved as well.  I am feeling fantastic, and people are certainly noticing the difference.  The biggest difference is that I have lost 14cms off my waist and I have muscles.  I am ecstatic, but I need to stay focused to make sure I can maintain this fabulous new figure, and hopefully convert some fat to muscle in the process

A couple of days ago, I achieved another milestone.  I stepped out my front door and ran 5kms on my own.  Mad. I am truly shocked and surprised.  I have two events coming up.  The first one toward the end of July is a 5km Fun Run.  It is likely that the route will be quite hilly which has me concerned.  I only signed up to support a girlfriend who recently joined my gym.  A couple of kilometres into my weekend run I decided that I should forget about the girlfriend and the $18 registration and just not turn up, but then I found my rhythm.  In my goal setting session with Paul we extrapolated from my 10km time in the Nike She Runs to come up with a 5km goal, of running it in under 30mins.  And guess what?  My first time out I ran it in 33!  So the upshot is that I think it is definitely possible to shave 3mins off my time over the next few weeks.  Woo hoo!

The second event is a Colour Run in Centennial Park in August, which my PT doesn't take very seriously as he thinks the throwing of colour is quite distracting. Maybe - but I do love colour.

In fashion news, I am heading out with girlfriends for the weekend to hit the sales in Melbourne.  I have found it impossible to buy online as I am not sure of my size now and even don't trust the styles that catch my eye, as it is pretty hard for me to let go of the style rules I have been following for my 10kg heavier frame over the last 10 years (thanks Trinny and Susannah).

In family news, we are heading off on a ski trip shortly, so I have been squatting, lunging, and stepping up till it hurts, but thankfully the pressure has come off a bit as my now 5yo d
aughter fractured her shoulder on a jumping castle at our School Fair, and so we have scaled back her attendance at ski school and I am happy to step into the breach created and am looking forward to doing some low key sight seeing - just us girls.

In the kitchen I have been having an intense baking time, princess castle, flourless chocolate cake, Gluten Free Mandarin Macadamia cake, chocolate chip macaroons, banana and hazelnut cake, AND it is really really hard not to sample the goods.

Out with the old in with the new ...

One of the great things about losing weight is of course buying clothes in a smaller size - like my new pair of Lululemon pants - full length for the cooler weather.  I love buying from this store as they take up the hem for free!  If they didn't that would be another $25 on top.  It's expensive being shortish.

My old pair, besides looking like they had been in the wash a few too many times, were only staying up with the assistance of a draw string being done up quite tight!  Of course, when one is buying new clothes in smaller sizes, one runs out of space to store them along side the clothes that are now too large!

It is tempting to still wear them even though they don't fit right anymore.  It is tempting to keep them 'just-in-case' or because you can't bear to give them away, having spent good money on them.  But storage is at a premium at my house, so today - out they went!  The people at the Smith Family will be able to choose amongst Laura Ashley, Country Road, Adidas, JAG and Verge (that's the one that really hurt :  www.verge.co.nz ), and that is just from my dresser draws - I am yet to go through my wardrobe.  I threw out anything 'L' and anything higher that a 12.  I was still holding onto some stuff that I had bought right after I had my last baby 5 years ago!

In other news - Magic Hands Margaret (my Massage Therapist) figured out and sorted out a niggling lower back pain that I had not been able to shift for the past few weeks.  Turned out it was my Lats that were actually causing the grief.  I am so relieved and please to be able to push on with the training with my new Lat stretch.  I had been avoiding boxing which I love - thinking that the twisting and impact of the punches had caused the issue.  

My next fitness goal is to prepare for my skiing holiday in New Zealand in June/July.  I am only a 'beginner' skiier, but I want to be able to have lessons and enjoy myself at a level I could only previously have imagined :-)

She Runs Unleashed! She Runs 10K! She can't believe she can run!!!

Last Saturday night I gathered with 11 other women from my gym and my sister to run in my first event since I was a teenager.  Back in my teenage years, I could indeed run.  I used to  be a Cross Country runner, running 5kms in under 19 minutes to stay on the school's team.  In year 10 - when I was 15 our team won the NSW State Championships in fact.

But that was a long long long time ago!  So when I registered for the Nike She Runs The Night, Sydney!, I was only really motivated by the chance to be with friends and have a night in town :-)
http://nikesydney.com/nike-she-runs-2013/

I fully expected to run a bit and walk a bit and maybe or maybe not run some more and have a bit of a giggle.  Actually, at one point I must have thought that I would in fact train for the run, but the reality turned out to be quite different.  Prior to the event I had only run/walked 5km's max, just a couple of times, and with School Holidays and long visits from the Parent-in-law, even that kind of activity went out the window in the weeks before the event.

So you may be able to imagine my surprise and in fact euphoria that I felt at actually running the full 10kms, without walking at all!  My time was 66mins.

I sprinted the last few hundred metres and crossed the line as if I had won the whole event and would be winging my way to San Fransisco (that was the prize).  More than one week later I am still astounded.  Actually I ran 1km this morning to the Cafe for my large soy flat white with an extra shot and wondered how I had run an extra 9kms just a few days before.  This photo is me on the left, shortly after the end of the race with my BFF who ran in 9mins faster than me.

I can only explain it as the culmination of an interesting set of circumstances! Which I will list in some kind of meaningful order below:

1. Running with my sister:  16 years younger than me and I wanted to not come over like a middle aged lady in front of her :-)  I wanted us to have a great time that night - something to really remember.  I certainly did not want to be asking her to stop running and walk with me.

2. Great atmosphere:  98% women, at night, lights, music, good cheer!

3. Improved fitness:  While my cardio has not had a great deal of attention,  the combination of weight loss, diet and strenghthening through weights, can only have made my result more probable.

4. Even after all these years, I think that the running experience that I had in school, may have at least given me some good memories of running good distances - about getting my breathing right, and pushing through the tough bit and waiting for the 2nd wind to come along.

Anyway, I think that my next event will be the Colour Run which is also at Centennial Park, but this time only 5kms. http://thecolorrun.com/australia/sydney/ And that I will definitely do the Nike She Runs again next year!

Sisters Be Fit!

It is definitely harder to maintain a fitness program during school holidays with house guests [GRRRRR]

For the past two and a half weeks I have had my Parents in Law staying with me from Europe - keeping it vague :-)  I have been trying to show them a good time and present myself as a totally normal mother who cooks one meal for the whole family every night, where as the reality is that I usually feed the kids and then later I eat my high protein low fat low carb dinner.  I did try them on this for a bit, but it felt pretty mean watching them go to bed hungry.  It is enough that I don't serve afternoon tea of home made cake every day and that they have to eat their high carb breakfast on their own.

Throw into that challenge the added pressure of school holidays which is when I usually give up all hope of getting to the gym in combination with actually going away to a Resort in the Whitsundays (see my Simpiet Instagram photo below) for a week where you have to eat every meal and snack in a restaurant and yes - I am scared to get on the scales.  And I was drinking alcohol too - uh oh.

My loving husband put on 2kg's under those circumstances and I am hoping that I would not have done quite as much damage - but I am not even going to check until school has been back for a week and the PIL's have gone back home.  When I look in the mirror I look like I haven't changed much and I really did feel much more comfortable by the pool on holidays than I would have otherwise.  Anyway - stay tuned for the dreaded weigh-in, in about a week or so.

Having said all of that, I did keep quite active while away.  I went to a Yoga class, a Pilates class, kayaking, hiking, and went to they gym for cardio.  The Pilates was the stand out as it ended up being a 1:1 class, so lots of fab attention from the instructor.

Drunk on motivation

I have definitely been remiss in not blogging of late, especially with so much exciting stuff to relate.  So my 9 weeks was up last week and I kicked butt.  Losing my 6kgs and 7cms off my bust getting my waist down to 78cms and losing more than 13cms off my waist and losing 7cms off my hips and I have lost 4% body fat!  I am buying size 10 and size S. My old clothes are sitting so differently on me. In find all this very inspiring.  I continue to be amazed by my muscle development.  My strength posture and grace of movement (dare I say) are very noticeable to me.  People who haven't seen me for a few weeks are noticing. It is very gratifying.

I have reset my goals.  My PT is very flexible and non prescriptive.  He is no fan of BMI, but we have agreed on losing another 1%+ of body fat and I suggested that I could probably aim to lose a further 3-4kg, which would take me to my fighting weight when I fell pregnant with DS1 in 2002. My Macro Nutrient daily goals have been recalculated thanks to some mysterious algorithm that the Visionpt trainers have access to and the pressure has come off in relative terms, to eat so much protein.  Which is a bit of a relief, but I have also gotten lower targets for fat and carbs.

Check this out!  It lets me off a bit given that I am currently at 31% at 44yo.

What is a Healthy Body Fat Percentage?

Age-Adjusted Body Fat Charts for Men and Women

If you look around the Internet, you will see a lot of different recommendations for body fat percentages. As far as I can tell, this is the most authoritative, as it is based on World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health recommendations, and takes age into account. Please do not confuse these numbers with the BMI (Body Mass Index) scores, which are not the same thing.

Age-Adusted Body Fat Percentage Recommendations

Women

Age	Underfat	Healthy Range	Overweight	Obese
20-40 yrs	Under 21%	21-33%	33-39%	Over 39%
41-60 yrs	Under 23%	23-35%	35-40%	Over 40%
61-79 yrs	Under 24%	24-36%	36-42%	Over 42%

Men

Age	Underfat	Healthy Range	Overweight	Obese
20-40 yrs	Under 8%	8-19%	19-25%	Over 25%
41-60 yrs	Under 11%	11-22%	22-27%	Over 27%
61-79 yrs	Under 13%	13-25%	25-30%	Over 30%

Source: Gallagher et al. Am J Clin Nut 2000; 72:694-701

I can see where the term gym junkie comes from, as improving on your body in this way can be very compelling.  I am a bit like a reformed smoker - don't start me, because I have definitely been drinking the cool aid.

I feel as though I am in a rhythm now and as if I have really broken the back of my fitness challenge, so I don't feel as though the program is as restrictive as the last goal period.  I am training toward a 10km Nike Run in May but I won't kill myself to get into peak running shape, as my body still requires a bit of nursing through this process.

Combined with my Philosophy course, great friends and family, I am feeling lot calmer and happier in myself generally. I am looking forward to an upcoming holiday.  I will feel better by the pool, running around after my kids, joining into activities etc.  What a worthwhile investment.  It has made me really aware of the excuses that people use not to go ahead and do something for themselves.  But everyone needs to come to it in their own time for their own reasons and I am so lucky to have a supportive husband who is on a similar journey.

0.5kg and 1 week to go!

After plateauing a couple of kilos away from my 9 week goal of 63.8kgs, I finally shifted down to into the 64's.  My most recent weigh in was 64.3!  I am totally chuffed!

Last week I had an event to attend with my husband and I walked into David Lawrence, picked a dress off the rack (there it is on the right - though that is not me - I also looked fabulous in it) zipped it up in one without and 'miracle' pants and much to my relief.  And sadly, that is mostly what this has been about for me!  I just don't want to have to cater for 'flaws' in the dressing department!

I do notice however that my posture is definitely better than before.  I just feel strong! I have to stop myself from banging on about it to my friends - nothing worse than a convert ...

A girlfriend of mine was rubbing sunscreen on my back on the weekend and commented on my muscles.  Back muscles - something I have never thought about having before.

I've got muscles!/Raising Girls

It has come as a revelation to me to see myself actually developing visible muscles!  I should have realised that it would happen eventually I guess.  But it is one of those things that I thought only happened to other people ;-)

After 6 weeks on my program I can say that I actually have developed some muscle definition in my arms shoulders and chest, that I am totally unfamiliar with.  It helps me to understand how people get hooked on muscle building.  There is quite a thrill in doing so!

I'd love to take a photo of my right bicep and post it here, but that would not be cool (and plus it is a bit technically challenging for me ...) - so the woman to your right, is not me - and I don't quite have this level of definition yet, but I concede that it is possible I might achieve something like this :-)

In other news, I am struggling with injuries.  The right side of my lower body is in rebellion with a very tight hamstring, ITB and TFL and Glute, that no treatment has been able to address thus far, and a neck that is also resisting adjustment.  It is kind of depressing - to be so motivated yet feel like your body is not cooperating.

For a total change of discussion, I found myself worrying about how my daughter sees my new found interest in dieting and exercise.  She is nearly 5 and at school and to give you some perspective on where she is at in terms of 'phases', she wants to be a princess when she grows up.

I went with some friends (hello girls!) to see Steve Biddulph talk about 'Raising Girls' this week and he talked about how our generation is full of women who are unhappy with our bodies and who pass on that insecurity - hand-in-hand with the media, to our little girls, resulting in unhealthy self-esteem and obsessions with looks over substance.  Of course the politically correct thing would be to try to convey to DD (dear daughter) that I am dieting and exercising in order to be fit and healthy and strong - not to fulfil any goal of looking like a princess ... but actually, fit and health is great, but I can not pretend that I don't want to be thinner to have more fun shopping for clothes and to look younger etc etc.  It turns out that I am as big a victim of the media and society as my little girl may be one day.