Mum and I attempted (and failed) to do another C25K training session yesterday. It was mostly because I was exhausted from lack of sleep — Christmas does that — and didn’t want to get up at 6am just to go running. I needed that constant sleep yesterday, not something all broken up.

So we went at about 5:30pm, and my god, it was so difficult. It was hotter, stickier, each 90 seconds lasted longer…it felt like you couldn’t breathe because of the humidity. So we ended up going halfway and then walked the rest. I’ll stop arguing about going at 5am from now on.

The other news was Weigh In today. My meeting was a Weigh-And-Go, so I just..didn’t. I got up about 9am and did an unofficial weigh in on my scales. But my scales are pretty similar to the official ones, so I’m still good with that. And the results are: I lost .9 this week. Over Christmas. I’d like to think I’m awesome. (I’m a little worried it’s a fluke.)

Current Stats
Current Weight: 88.1
Loss/Gain This Week: -.9
Total Loss: 12.2

Posted at 9:54 am | No Comments »

So yesterday was Christmas, and you know what? I don’t care what I ate. Yes, it was more that a normal day, yes, I had dessert, and I think the only low-fat thing there was the water. But the fact is that it’s not going to be repeated, and I don’t care about what I ate enough to panic over it. I enjoyed myself, but I’m done.

The women over on the Weight Watcher’s board are currently going through a blow-by-blow of everything they put in their mouths over Christmas. That’s up to them. I can understand keeping track, and I can understand being worried. But it’s not really for me. I don’t want to have a mild freak out every time I have a glass of full-fat milk. And maybe this attitude will get me where I want to go slower than they will…but to be honest, I’m okay with that too.

I guess I’m just tired of some of the attitudes at WW. The program has been great for me, it’s true. And I’m not going back to full-fat anything in the near future. But…this spiral where people are so ‘knowledgeable’, this ’support’ that comes through…this feeling that these women are ashamed about what they’ve done and have to ‘fess up’. I’m a little tired of it. I’m tired of being so pedantic. And with my going to Scotland so close around the corner, I’ve got a decision to make: do I stay with WW? Obviously I’ve cancelled my membership to the Australian Weight Watchers. But do I want to get back on that horse in Scotland? I don’t know. I almost think that I might take the tools and ignore the support. Of course, I will need to keep track — Weighing, Exercising, Eating. But I can do that alone…

I have a couple of weeks to make that decision. But I do need to make sure that I stay accountable.

Posted at 12:39 pm | No Comments »

Day 1 of the all-consuming-obsession went very well. I clocked up 18.5 points, was full all day, ticked off all of my boxes and therefore must be awesome. This was helped along by my obsession with stationery (what can I say, I’m addicted.) that verges to the point of insanity. I sit at breakfast/lunch/dinner and work out my points, tick all the pretty boxes… and the only reason I do it now, this way (instead of online), is because the new program has fold out points trackers. Turning a page? No! Not for me! It must fold out! It must be glossy! It must be an aesthetically pleasing magenta-purple colour! It must have boxes to tick for every point I use!

It makes me want to drink so much water I’m peeing like a Russian racehorse each day. What will I do if I haven’t ticked that last box? It makes me want to find lame excuses to drink milk, or want to eat two salads a day to hit those serves. It makes me want to torture myself into a sweaty mess, just so that I can tick the ‘30 minutes’ box for exercise.

Speaking of torture, the C25K happened again this morning. We went onto week 2, and it was like dying. Who would think that 30 extra seconds could be so much harder? I’m plodding along like a sweaty mess, all red and huffing. I’m timekeeping like a fiend and trying to look at the watch and the road at the same time and then BAM! stich. Just like that. Every time. Always in my right side. So I start to walk, and then I have to sit down for 30 seconds. Then we run some more (because apparently I hadn’t learnt) and then I couldn’t do the 90 seconds, I could only do 60, so Mum (who can now be known some kind of torture artist specialising in the cruel and unusual…and possibly manipulation) runs on ahead. When I call time, she goes, “Well if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it.”

I nod, suck air into my lungs and thank god that I still have 2 minutes before I have to run again. When we get to the next interval, I start jogging with her. I’m going okay. I’m pulling out in front a little (longer legs), my eye is on the clock. 45 seconds, 30 seconds, 20 seconds…and around that point I realise that I’m not so much jogging as I am limping at a fast pace, like someone’s numbed my bloody legs and I don’t know how to use them properly. So I stop and let Mum on ahead. I care about getting fit. I don’t want to turn myself into an idiot while I do it. And what’s 45 seconds between training partners, anyway?

C25K
Day 1, Week 2
Distance: 3km
Time: 26min
Average: 8:40/km

Posted at 11:50 am | No Comments »

Current Stats
Current Weight: 89.0
Loss/Gain This Week: -.4
Total Loss: 11.3

Christmas Challenge
Weeks To Christmas: 0
Amount To Lose: 9.1
Amount Lost: 11.3

So it wasn’t the loss I wanted, but considering those brownies, I’ll take it and run with it.

The new program came in today, but it seems to me to be exactly the same program, simply with an (optional) emphasis on what I think of as ‘pure’ foods; fresh fruit and vegies, milk, wholegrains, etc. So it’s not a big change. But I want to make the next to weeks the most perfect weeks ever (Christmas barred). I want to go running and I want to be healthy and I want to track everything so that when my leader looks at my tracker, she goes, ‘My god, you have the most perfect tracker ever!’ Because I desperately want to be at a 15kg loss by the time I get to Scotland. Which will be goddamned hard. But I’m damn well going to try.

Posted at 10:35 am | No Comments »

Eeeep! Mum had a morning tea at work and I found this recipe that looked delicious so I thought, “Why not?” The plan was that we’d have one and the rest would go off to her work. Only she didn’t take them all, did she? And because I was just having one, I hadn’t bothered to check the points. And they were at eye level and I just had no self control.

Whatever, my fault, but I nearly had a heart attack when I found out they were 8 points a slice. Ouch.

And I was doing so well today, too; down 7 points and completely full. All it means is that I have some working off to do and I need to get my butt into gear. Which I can do, no worries.

But that’s the last time I make something and don’t check the points beforehand.

Posted at 9:11 pm | No Comments »

My alarm clock breaks into it’s soulful rendition of You Could Be Happy and I roll out of bed with a groan. I search blearily for my clothes and it’s only when the sports bra sits securely on my chest that I begin to feel like doing what I planned.

Mum’s already waiting for me and we head off. I react to viciously early wake up calls and punish the world by being obnoxiously perky at obscene hours. It’s just who I am. “Good morning sunshine!”

She grunts.

We start the interval training and by the third running session I’m there. I smile, let myself get into it, rather than pace alongside Mum, let my legs get into it. It’s amazing. I love that my body can do this, that I can feel so basic and so wonderfully complex. I can feel my legs stretching and my lungs working and in that instant, I feel like I could do it forever.

Five seconds later, I get a stitch and have to stop running for the next few intervals. But that feeling just beforehand — that was awesome.

C25K
Day 3, Week 1
Distance: 3km
Time: 29min
Average: 9:40/km

Posted at 8:23 am | No Comments »

This is what I listen to now every night before my Mum drags me out of bed at 4:45 in order to start running. When I watch just before I go to bed, it’s there in the morning. So even when the first word out of my mouth is “Fuuuuuuuuhhrk.” I’m secretly a little bit pumped.

Posted at 11:12 pm | No Comments »

I am officially an 80’s girl! Officially! I’ve been hovering around it for a while now, particularly with my starting off each morning in the 80’s and weighing in in the very low nineties. (90.1 is just cruel.) But today at my weigh in, I hit 89.4, which puts me very squarely in the 80’s bracket! Hurruh! My next goal is to get to 86.5, which will put my BMI at 29.9, or “Overweight” rather than Obese.

Current Stats
Current Weight: 89.4
Loss/Gain This Week: -.8
Total Loss: 10.9

Christmas Challenge
Weeks To Christmas: 2
Amount To Lose: 9.5 (Somehow doubt that’s going to happen, don’t you?)

Posted at 10:34 am | No Comments »

I’m not one of those people who have difficulty when I’m home alone. I don’t really snack so much as stare — if you were a fly on the wall you’d no doubt see me get up and, trance-like, open the pantry and just stare. The novelty of having a pantry and fridge and food just available whenever I want it is like a siren’s call. But I’m never really fussed enough to actually eat it. I just like looking.

Plate Food (capital letters required) is another story. When I was a kid I was a picky eater. I ate carrots and beans, potatoes and peas, sausages and bacon and ham and white bread. That was about it for a dinner meal. Mum must’ve hated me. But we always went around to a family friend’s place for dinner and I remember not being allowed to leave the table without finishing. I was a slow eater even when I enjoyed my food, but when it was something I liked — I could finish 30 minutes after everyone else had left the table. But I wasn’t allowed to leave. So Plate Food is a big deal for me.

Today, I didn’t finish all of my Plate Food. I left about two bites. Which seems ridiculous, but is a big deal for me. I was ‘listening’ to myself. Hurrah! Onward and downwards.

Posted at 12:59 pm | No Comments »

Am at home and have swapped to core, because I’m tired of trying to work out points each day. It’s going well so far — I didn’t realise there’d be so much freedom on this program. As long as I address the way I cook it, I can eat almost everything I like without having to worry about it. It just comes down to moderation now, which is kind of cool. And because I’ve got this approach, my family have joined in. My brother not quite so willingly, but since Mum and I cook it, he’s stuck with it. Mum’s completely on board and it’s kind of wonderful. She tried Tony Ferguson a while back and while it definately worked for her — she looks great — the last 5kg or so have just not been coming off, and the 1 shake a day, very strict diet just wasn’t working for her in the long-term sense. Once you get to maintenance they apparently give you a new plan, but she wasn’t there yet and she was floundering a little. So we’re on core, which is wonderful because for me it satisfies this desire to eat well — even better because I am craving vegetables after college.

And I’m back on the 100 Push Up Challenge. Currently on week 4, and today I got to 75 push ups, which kind of feels awesome. I’m really enjoying pushing myself with a goal. I think these programs work best for me because they have an end-goal, and a way to map your progress. I mean, when I started the 100PU Challenge, I could only do 3 girlie push ups in a row. Just three. Now I can do 75 (although not in a row.) My goal after doing 100 Girlie Push Ups is to learn to do the ‘real’ ones.

I’ve also started the Couch to 5 kilometres running program, and I’m really enjoying it. I walk every time I go to the gym, but this time I have my goals, etc. And I discovered Running Ahead, a website where you can track how far you’ve walked, and your walking routes. You can even list your shoes and it’ll tell you how cost-effective you’re being (currently 78cents for each kilometre). It’s perfect for people who love to know everything like me — and the graphs it spits out are just so pretty. So consider this the first real, enthusiastic plug for this website: if you’re into running, go and check it out, because it is awesome.

Posted at 8:17 pm | No Comments »