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.

Tired but trim

I sit here at the computer, allegedly waiting till it has been two hours since breakfast, to go exercise and burn off some fat.  Heaven forbid I would burn the carbs I had at breakfast by mistake.  I am tired but trim ... My clothes fit better but I feel like I have been hit by a bus after a chiropractic adjustment yesterday, then a massage then half an hour cardio with my PT.  I guess that until my body gets strong I just need to push through.

I lashed out on Friday, out to dinner with a girlfriend in Canberra and had a delicious Degustation Menu with matching wines.  The food itself was not outside what I am encouraged to eat - the star was protein with veges being the support and no white carbs in evidence, and we skipped the optional Cheese course It is the wine that apparently I should be regretting.

I can highly recommend http://www.sagerestaurant.net.au if you are ever in Canberra

Actually after over a month with no alcohol I thought that I would enjoy it more - savour it more, appreciate what I have been missing, but I was underwhelmed actually, even though they were nice wines.  I actually think I would have enjoyed and savoured the delicious food more so if I hadn't have been drinking with it.  All good stuff to have discovered.

Anyway I shall get off my butt and go walk 5kms up hill and down dale in hopefully around the 40min mark.  Afterall - I am dressed for it!

9 Unexpected side effects of a new Fitness regime

1. Extra laundry created by wearing training outfits - sometimes two different ones a day

2. Extra water consumption by sometimes having up to 3 showers a day!

3. The ability to bore your friends with details of your latest workouts or new found products or meals.

4. Something has to give when you prioritise the time to work out - in my case, definitely the house work/paperwork

5. Extra energy.

6. Brighter looking skin.

7. Saving money on eating out and drinking alcohol

8. A new found appreciation for lean meat and fresh fruit and vegetables

9. In my particular case, a new favourite treat - Protein Bars!

I cold probably think of more, so I may need to come back to this brief post again and again!

Great weekend... Yoga and Swimming

Continuing on my journey of fitness, and trying to ensure that I can justify basically paying for two gym memberships at once, I went with a friend to a wonderful Yoga class on Saturday afternoon (that is not me in the photo, but I did do that pose), at my swish gym that is large and has lots of facilities and is quite new and funky.  The class is called Vinyasa Flow and went for an hour and a quarter.  The instructor was very authentic and had a lovely Chilean accent.  Afterwards I felt very fresh, like I'd just woken up from a long nap.  Now I have a new mantra to use when appropriate. And I am probably spelling it incorrectly but it is a silent mantra to go with your  breathing.  On the way in you say 'So' and on the exhale 'Hum'. Very handy to know.  Actually I've just checked and and I have spelt it correctly and you can find out more about it here: www.swamij.com/sohum-mantra-108.htm

And on Sunday I met the same friend, went back to the same gym and swam. I found myself totally out of my comfort zone, dependant as I have become on my swimming aids (flippers and finger paddles), and in my dash out the door I had forgotten them and my goggles.  If I had gone on my own I would probably have decided to do some other kind of exercise, but it is amazing what a little peer pressure can do for your daring.  So I searched out a pair of goggles in the lost and found (probably not very hygienic) and swam like a 'normal' person.  The surprise being that I can swim quite well without the extras, somewhat slower but still with a nice stroke and without drowning or getting too out of breath.  Of course there is nothing wrong with swimming with all the gear, it actually just provides extra resistance into the exercise, but if more cardio if what you are after than less is probably more.  So I will be going at least sans aids at least some of the time in future.

The good times continued through my Monday - woo hoo.  I did a photo shoot for the GF I spent so much time with over the weekend for her to use in her PR for her company.  Gorgeous black and white portraits taken by a local lake.  And later in the day when I met up with my PT Paul, I find out that I am his 'Client of the Week'.