Why does no one on tv diet or do they?

I love Big Bang Theory, but I have never seen Penny diet, although she does apparently jog.  Actually, she eats a lot of takeaway and her efforts to cook at home are not nutrient rich.

I love Game of Thrones, but Cersei, and Mother of Dragons don't seem to watch what they eat. Raw horses heart, though I imagine is high in protein.










I love Boardwalk Empire but Margaret nor Billie, are ever spotted dieting. Actually eating doesn't feature hardly at all in the show.  Although drinking certainly does.

Actually I have just thought of an exception was in Mad Men when Betty is dieting - actually that was quite unpleasant to watch.








On the man front, Owen (the guy in the middle) in Men of a Certain Age, is concerned about his weight - especially when his child videos him bingeing at night.






Anyway, week 2 of the diet is just about over and it is satisfying to be losing weight and feeling fitter, but I can see that this could be a bit dull after a bit.  I hope I figure out a way to stay motivated.  I think it is harder when my husband is away as he was last weekend and for a good chunk of this week.

My PT Paul, is also a bit tricky to nail down to appointments and so by the time I see him this week it will have been 6 days, which I don't think is optimum.  I am supposed to fit in two sessions a week , so this week my 1st is on Wednesday and the 2nd is on Saturday.  Not ideal given that I have my Friday work out as well with Therese, and that my plan was to do a boxing class at the gym on Saturday.  I must remember to bring this up.  I wish we could lock in some regular sessions during the week :-(

11 Things I've learnt from this diet so far . . .

1. Things that have fat, and whether it is good or bad fat is easier to avoid.  Egg yolk, almonds, avocado,

2. Things that are high in protein without the downside of fat or carbs - lean meat - Only!

3. Avoid salt because it causes bloating

4. Read nutrition panels and look for not only low fat, but for low carbs and high protein

5. Eating out is hard.  You need to really remember to ask for dressing on the side, hold the potatoes etc.

6. Even good friends who understand the diet will still struggle not to tempt you out of your program.

7.  Losing weight too fast is undoubtably not necessarily a good thing, but it is very motivating to see quick results and have others observe it.

8. Drink heaps of water - which is easy to forget if you don't have a bottle by you all the time.

9.  You need to eat fruit - preferably in the morning, if you want your digestive system to continue to function.  Peaches are better than nectarines.

10.  When I have tried to avoid evening carbs previously - usually in support of my husband - I always found that I was hungry shortly after.  Now I know that you just have to eat MORE meat.

11.  Small Protein Bars can be a good replacement for biscuits or chocolate - and goes nicely with a cup of tea.

Frantic Friday

Yesterday was nuts - but what's new?

After drop off I had my 'Fitness Friday' session with Therese and 6 other Mum's from school and that Therese knows how to drive a person HARD.  Once we were good and warmed up (read:  pretty exhausted) We did a 20m Beep Test (Multi-stage Fitness Test) which is used to estimate a person's VO₂max (maximum oxygen uptake).  All I know is that it is a killer.  If you want to know more - check with PT Google.  Thankfully we were really just getting a baseline and at the end of the school term we will do another one and I will have improved out of sight! That is the plan anyway.  We finished the 1 hour session by doing Boxing Tabata - which I didn't find as hard as doing it on the Elliptical Trainer with Paul, but my left shoulder really knows about it.

I left the girls to head home and have 'meal' no. 2 of the day, on the way realising that I had arranged to play Par 3 Golf, with 5 of my other girlfriends - who I will refer to as the 'Camping Crew' girls (on account of us having plans to go camping with our families in March together)  Well, they will be camping and my family will be Glamping, which is close enough.

So off to Golf with just the 3 required clubs (putter, 9 iron and 5 iron), which I now know, could have been a putter, a Pitching Wedge and a 8 iron).  I lost two balls and only really revelled in one of my shots - although my putting wasn't too bad, given how rusty I am.  Fun was had by all, and when it got too hot we made a short cut across the course and headed to Lunch.


Lunch was one of those challenging diet experiences where what should have been a healthy salad arrived with too much dressing, too many olives and feta and not enough lean chicken - so consequently I didn't eat much of it and made my excuses and dashed to by daughter's swimming lesson where I have volunteered to help the the girls dressed afterwards.  Man did I smell 'NOT FRESH'.  While I had changed in between work out and golf - I did not have time to shower ...

The highlight of my Frantic Friday, was definitely heading out with yet a different GF (makes me sound popular doesn't it?  But that's just weird ...) to see Lincoln at the movies.  We had a lovely seared Yellow Fin Tuna dinner before hand - see photo - I did not eat the Salsa Verde and I had told them to hold the Chat Potatoes.  I arranged this a while ago when I realised that my Husband was going to be away and I hate sitting at home alone while he is out having fun.  Great film, fabulous Daniel Day-Lewis (will definitely get the Oscar over our Hugh :-() , wonderful script, great cast, fascinating time in history, AND really really long!  (photo of Theatre below) In bed at midnight - a super late night for me - hence doing my Friday blog post on a Saturday - sorry.

My Thursday Running Sheet

6.30am Wake up, feeling tired and in denial about needing to get up, should meditate but ...
7.00am Finally get up and join the throng of children in my kitchen
8.00am Kids in the car and off to school and catch up with some mums at the gate
8.40am Pick up a coffee with my friend and fellow Philosophy student Alex
9.10am Arrive at my Philosophy class (my island).  We discussed 'Devotion' - nice, included a story from the Upanishads about a man with two wives - one who thinks that wealth is 'stuff' and one who know it is so much more. Obviously in more poetic and meaningful terms.
11.30am Head home to get changed for the gym and check on my tree lopper - yes the tree from post no. 1 nearly 2 weeks ago.  The tree-lopper managed to freak me out before I left by casually asking "How much is your dog worth? $900?"

12.30pm Arrive at the gym for my 30 min Weights and 30min Cardio session (wondering the whole time if my dog will still be there when I get home).  The weights are getting heavier and the Cardio is getting more agonising.
2.00pm Arrive home, tree lopper gone, but dog still there (phewww).  Collect all the swimming gear for lessons for all three children. Do a bit housework.
3.00pm Collect the kids from school and dash to the swimming centre (without my purse).
3.30pm Both boys in the pool and the other one off playing or nagging me for snacks.
4.00pm Daughter in the pool, boys dried dressed and sitting with me at a table to do their homework
4.45pm Daughter out of the pool dried and dressed, everything packed up and stowed in the car.
5.00pm Home and checking the mail and then assisting my elderly neighbour across the road with her pool maintenance.

6.00pm Cook dinner for the kids, then for me - eat it, clean up the kitchen, put a load of washing on.  Good news - I have figured out how to meet my Macro Nutrient goals every day.
7.00pm Husband home with his new car.  Jump in and take it around the block. Talk about OTT.
7.30pm Kids in bed - courtesy of the husband, who will depart in the morning for a weekend with his friends (leaving me with the new car :-0)

8.00pm Plant my butt on the lounge to watch some mindless television in between bouts of laundry action.  Get a FitBit notification that I have reached my 10,000 step goal
9.00pm Pick up my iPad to write my Blog

There you have it - a semi typical day in my life.   I need to remember to wake Mstr 7 at 6.30am so he can go to his first Senior Chess Class (so proud) and then go over Mstr 10's spelling list with him.  Not looking forward to a weekend without my DH.  Still don't know how I am supposed to get all three kids to their Saturday morning activities, without him!

The magic touch

I have a fabulous massage therapist.  I only found her about 6 months ago.  My Chiropractor referred me to her.  I have known my chiropractor for about 15years and he is very skilled and has never given me a bum steer. He used to be the chiro for the Australian Swim Team and he probably knows me better than most of the members of my family.  Anyway, he was right on the money with Margaret.  She is all kinds of qualified, with degrees and diplomas in all kinds of sport, massage and personal training and related subjects.

When I say to people that I've had a massage, I am sure they picture an aromatherapy experience and me coming out feeling blissfully relaxed and like I could just go straight to sleep (after I wash the oil slick off me).  Actually Margaret is not one bit like that.  She is much more like a really expert motor mechanic, working on an engine that she knows really well and wants to tune to within an inch of its life to get the best performance out of it.

She got to know my issues quite well initially, and now I walk in and she asks me what hurts and then she usually goes no where near the offending area at first, but works with the muscle group that are related to that spot.  If my feet are giving me hell (see Troublesome feet below) she does my calves and ITB.  If my neck is sore she massages my MTJ (jaw).

What I love about her is that she is so hard working.  She is ambitious for her business and herself.  She teaches, she does corporate work, she goes to markets, she networks, she volunteers at charity events and she is a single mature mum of 2 kids.  Other professionals, like George, and physiotherapists, and personal trainers love to work with her and are always trying to get her involved in their business.

She is my secret weapon on my fight for fitness. It takes a village :-)

But I stayed strong

Yesterday's post was somewhat prophetic on the sleep front.  I went to bed very tired and then I woke a few minutes before my husband's alarm went off at 4.45am (he was going to his swimming squad), so I listened to him get up, get dressed, make himself a coffee and head out the door.  Then I couldn't get back to sleep, with the day ahead's details running through my head. I was still awake at 6.15 when my little girl had to have her blanket put back on. But shortly after I must have falling back to sleep, only to have to get up and get the children ready for school at 7.  So wrecked, and impatiently getting my disorganised children ready for school, I turned into late 'shouty mum'.  And the magic lasted all day long :-(

I can however feel good about making it to the swim centre and doing 40 laps in the same time it took me to do 30 last week.  It was not quite the meditative experience as last week, as I was sharing the pool with some school groups.  They left just the one lane for us and the kids had the other 3.

Anyway the 'staying strong' relates to the thought that I had at around 5.30pm that a glass of wine may have helped my mood.  I was not actually tempted but just thought about it for the first time since starting this kick.  Anyway, as I cooked my super delicious dinner (see photo) and even more so when I finished eating it, the thought passed.

Tomorrow is another day, and with a bit of luck I will get a better nights sleep and tomorrow the children will all be angels.  Angels who will be able to find their school shoes and remember to go to T-Ball Try-Outs after school!

I'm thinking a long walk/run with my dog will be in order.  I need to take a photo at school and supervise a chess class, but besides that the day is mine between 9 and 2.30 at least :-)

Oh, and the neighbours insurance assessor came today and he is going to have the tree taken care of - yeah!  Then will come the drama of the fence replacment ... you can't wait to hear about it!

And I'm off and racing!

I had my PT session this morning with Paul (who has decided against an alias).  Despite my lamb dinner, my struggle to not exceed my daily fat goal (41 grams), a litre of water, some apple and a coffee, right before weigh-in, I lost nearly 2kgs. That is one third of my 9 week goal.  I am not expecting to lose that much every week, but I think I can do at least a kilogram a week. I hope I am not being over confident.  Besides being weighed I completed my weights and cardio session - woo hoo.  I go back again on Thursday. My husband says he thinks my bum looks smaller aleady - I think it is just the Lululemon working :-)

I am feeling better!  In discussion with my girl friends, we agreed that it was primarily because I was focusing on me! I certainly have not been focusing on the housework :-(

Today I have had no trouble meeting my macro nutrient goals (carbs, protein, fat) and tomorrow I am planning to swim. I am meeting my neighbours insurance assessor for them at 11.  Mine haven't even contacted me to make an appointment - referring to the large tree lying in my yard instead of standing in my neighbours, from post 1.

I think I need to focus on my sleep quality too.  I am definitely going to bed too late each night, and with 3 kids, 2 of whom still wake me up with nightmares sometimes and a dog who lets me know if he does not have a sufficiently cosy kennel, I often get woken at night.  See photo of dogs new bed bought today.  Add that to needing to get up to pee because I drink so much water all day long and I am wrecked.  I am waiting for my new FitBit One to arrive in the mail and when it does I will monitor sleep as well as steps (so far today over 13,000). They say that the hours slept before midnight are the ones that really count - and I don't get many of them ...

I wore a Nike T-Shirt today that read: 24/7 EVERY DAMN DAY!  My husband bought if for me on a trip to the States, and at bed-time my daughter was practicing her new found familiarity with letters and numbers by telling me what each character was, and then I had to explain how Damn is a bad word, but not a bad bad word, but not one that children should use.  Oooops (but I love that T-Shirt).

Sorry, totally rambling tonight - must be the lack of sleep ...