Is there such a thing as trying too hard???

I have had a fantastic week. I have been on track with my running even fitting in a run on Wednesday at lunch time. Wednesday is normally a no run day as I am at kids dancing all afternoon and not home until just before 8pm.

I have been on track with my nutrition. I haven't been snacking and I have been having smaller portions. I even avoided the hot dogs my kids had for tea on Wednesday night on the way home from dancing.I have 2 eggs on toast when I got home. I had very yummy chicken salad for lunch Tuesday & Wednesday using the left over chicken from our roast chicken on Monday night. I even avoiding eating any of the yummy chocolate loaf cake I made for the kids lunch boxes this week. I may have licked the icing off my fingers when I was cutting it up.

So when I stood on the scales yesterday morning as I do every morning and saw that I had gained 400grams since Monday I was not happy to say the least!!!! I was FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like it's one step forward two steps back. I was down all day but didn't pig out and stuck to healthy food. It just really took the wind out of my sails as I really thought I was doing great.

When hubby came home he asked what was wrong and I told him about what was happening with the scales. He said "I know you don't want to hear this but maybe you are trying too hard." I didn't snap at him I thought about what he said and maybe he is right. Maybe I am trying too hard. Maybe I need to take it one day at a time and focus each day rather then look at the week or month or year.

I am sure if I shift my focus the weight loss will come. At the moment I am trying to focus on my running. I need to bump up my training so that I can do the 10km fun run I have signed up for in April. My goal is to run the 10km without walking. We are in Perth this weekend so I am planning to do the bridges on Sunday morning. I want to run as much of it as I can and see how long it takes me. I am hoping to be able to run at least 7km before I need to walk but it will just depend on how late my Saturday night is.

So that is where I am at at the moment. If I had written this post yesterday it would have been a very different post. But my wonderful hubby put things into perspective. He also left me a wonderful little surprise this morning when he left for work at 5am.

Roses & Tea my 2 favourite things 

Inspiration can be just down the road........

There are lots of people who inspire me in lots of different ways. But recently a good friend of mine has inspired me in a whole new way. Michelle is doing an amazing thing for no other reason then to help others. She has registered for the 'The Sunsuper Ride to Conquer Cancer' a 200km ride over 2 days in October. 

She is doing it because she wants to help and what better way then to raise money for research so they can find a cure for this horrible disease. She has her new bike and has started her training. She will be making her own sacrifices along the way.  Being is a mum of 3 amazing boys who also works on the family farm, training takes her time away from these two things that she loves. She is a fantastic hockey player and is (at this stage) giving up playing for the year incase she injures her knee and can't do the ride. But these are small compared to what those going through cancer and their families miss out on and give up. 

"As we know there are many people struggling with cancer today
and although I can offer help I just always feel like I can't do
enough. Until now. I'm not a scientist and can't find a cure on my
own, but I can and will be participating in an event called The
Sunsuper Ride to Conquer Cancer® benefiting the Harry Perkins
Institute of Medical Research, Western Australia’s premier adult
medical research institute. Through this event, I can help prevent
other families from having to struggle with this disease."

This is a quote from Michelle in an e mail she sent out to all her friend and family. 

On Sunday afternoon we returned from a quick day trip to Perth at 4:30pm and Michelle was riding her bike past our house. Given that our houses are almost 20km apart and it was 38degrees I was again inspired by her determination. So once the shopping was unpacked and it had cooled down a bit I went out for a run. I had a great run and ran further then I have for a long time. I am inspired to run again and to make it a part of my life. 

If ever I feel like I can't be bothered running I just need to think of what Michelle is doing and think about all those who would give anything to be able to be healthy and active. Or have their family members be out there running with them. It is such a great cause and I am so proud to call Michelle my friend and offer her all the support I can. 

If you would like to donate to her ride please follow the link below. Her aim is to raise $5000. I am sure she will raise this and much more.  

http://www.conquercancer.org.au/site/TR?px=1408610&pg=personal&fr_id=1142&et=PRKu5_suqfXseMav0t69HQ&s_tafId=24497

Not everything is a COMPETITION!!!!

As with most of my posts I get the ideas when I am running. This morning I was running and I was going along quite nicely until I thought that I was going quite nicely then all of a sudden I thought 'I can't do this'. For a change my body was saying 'Yes this is good' and my head was saying 'Are you kidding me'. I pushed through and managed to cross the first thing off my 'To Do List' I ran 5km without stopping!!!

But it made me think of the internal dialogue that goes on in my head. Then I started thinking about how it's a competition between your head and your body. Then it made me think about competition. Now don't get me wrong I love good HEALTHY competition I can get white line fever with the best of them. But I am not a hugely competitive person off the field.

My brother is very competitive. Growing up you couldn't just go and play a bit of basketball it always turned into a game of 21 with full rules. And it was never just a hit of cricket it was an Ashes series. My brother in law is much the same. I have been running with him a couple of times but he doesn't quite get that I am just running to run and enjoy some me time. I am not in a race, I am not trying to run it as fast as I can. Yes it's great when you get a PB but for me it's not the be all and end all. I know he has the right intentions but just needs to chill out and realise that not everyone wants to run their fastest time or push themselves or run at his pace. The main thing is that you are out there moving and enjoying it.

The other competition that I am really OVER is the competition between people who are losing weight. I have read a few quotes which say something along the lines of "The only person you are competing with is yourself". This is SO true. Everyone loses weight at different rates. For some people it seems 'easy' for others it is a real struggle. You really can't compare yourself to someone else. I have been envious when I see other people's before and after pictures and even more envious when I see the time frame they have done it in. It inspires me and gives me a kick up the bum when I go to reach for an extra piece of toast or that afternoon snack. I am not competing with these people. I am travelling along side them cheering them on looking for inspiration to keep going. If they can do it then I can too.

I have a few friends who have lost weight in the past year or so. I am so happy for all of them. They have all done it in their own ways and I know it hasn't been easy for any of them. They have all put in the time and effort it takes to lose weight. I have not felt like I was in competition with any of them. We all had our own goals and our own way of reaching them. I have been the most public about it but that is what has worked for me.

My theory with weight loss is 'Each to their own'. There is no easy way out and as long as you are doing it through healthy channels then that is all that matters. It's not a one size fits all kind of thing. And even more importantly IT IS NOT A COMPETITION!!!!!!!

See these are the weird and random thoughts I have when running. Funny how you start thinking of one thing and it leads into something completely different. I hope this hasn't been too all over the place or preachy. It is a post I have been wanting to write for a while but never really knew how to put it into words.

Getting my MOJO back.

So for the last 6 months I have felt like I was treading water and not really getting anywhere. My legs were getting tired and I was ready to give up. Someone must have thrown me a life jacket because I seem to have my MOJO BACK BABY! 

Actually no I bought some size 14 tops on the weekend without trying them on and when I got home and did try them on they were tight!!! I have noticed my clothes getting tighter but I was in denial. I have put on almost 5kg in the last few months. My lowest weight was 83kg.

I feel like my head is in the right place again and I am back to how I felt this time last year when I began this whole process. I am planning meals, exercising, setting goals, realistic goals with realistic time frames.

Weekly Menu Planner on the fridge

To Do List also on the fridge front and centre as a daily reminder

Using a smaller plate to control my portions

I feel like with school holidays and no real plans I have had the time to plan things out and get back on track. I have been menu planning and researching different things. I am going to do a  fortnightly menu plan and shop for that menu. I am hoping to stop those trips to the shops for a couple of things and $50 or $100 later you leave the shop. And more often then not it involves a 'little snack'. 

Here's to being more organised and back on track!!!!

CHEERS 

2014 TO DO LIST

Well here it is my goal list for 2014!! It almost seems more like a to do list. Actually yep that's what I will call it.

MY 2014 TO DO LIST

1) Run 5km - At the moment I am really struggling with my running. My 5km walk/run go like this...Walk 1km, run 1km, walk 700m, run 1km, struggle to finish that km and then walk the rest of the way. I find it hard to believe that I used to easily run 10km a day. I know I can do it as this time last year I couldn't even run 1km. Time Frame: Mid March.

2) Get to 80kg - I have been saying this since August!!! As at today that is 7.9kg away. I want to do this in the next 12 weeks while I am doing the Symply Too Good 12 week mentoring programme. Time Frame: 12 weeks 7th April

3) Get to 75kg - This will put my total weight loss to just over 30kg. I started this time last year at 106.6. I would love to do this by my brithday. Which is 20 weeks away. Time Frame: 9th June

4) Get to 70kg - This is a hard one to put a time frame on. Knowing how this year went I am not sure what to put here. Soooooo I will say that I will commit to doing this by the end of September. This is when all my winter sport will finish and I can start the warmer weather feeling great. Time Frame: September

5) Run another Half Marathon - We are talking about running our local one again in October. But I am tossing up if I should do the City 2 Surf half. Only problem with this is it falls at the same time as hockey finals and I know how much commitment both of these activities take.

6) Drink more WATER - I have started but I am far from doing well at this.

7) Stop Snacking - This is something that has crept back in. I was really good at resisting snacking and picking off the kids plates but lately I can't help myself. I think one of the main reasons this happens is because we have stopped eating together as a family so I feed the kids at about 6pm and then we don't eat until about 7:30 once they have gone to bed. So while they are eating I am obviously hungry and picking. NO MORE!! Back to family meals.

8)Exercise 5 days a week - It's funny how during hockey season this was easy because I HAD to go to training 2 days a week. And I had to keep up the running on the other days. I also MADE the time to train for the half marathon. So I NEED to make time to exercise.

9) Be More Confident - I find it really hard to get used to my new figure. On the weekend I again wore bikini's on the beach. This time infront of people I knew and while there were other people on the beach. I even layed on the beach afterwards with my towel not completely covering me. But I still have a LONG way to go.

10) Less Couch Time - I am terrible for getting caught up either on here (computer) or watching TV. Especially if I am tired and have been up with a certain 2yr old all night or after a busy weekend I can spend my Mondays on the couch. So this year I am going to make more of an effort to get up and find other things to do. As my 2yr old is getting older I need to spend more time with her doing activities and entertaining her. I am sure once school starts in February she is really going to miss having her brother and sister home.

So there you go there is my plan for 2014. It feels like it has taken me forever to write this and if you have got this far then thank you for taking the time to read it.Hopefully I have put realistic time frames on everything. I think 2013 was a big learning experience and I feel confident that I now know what it takes to achieve my dreams. I also know what it is like to not quite meet your expectations.

 I am going to copy and laminate my list and stick it to the fridge as a constant reminder.

Cutting through all the crap!!!

Well I have done it......................................I have signed up to do Symply Too Good 12 weeks mentoring programme.

I was tossing up what to do to kick start 2014 and after looking at various options I thought I would give this a try. I have 4 of these cookbooks and love that there are normal healthy family friendly recipes. Annette lost 35kg and has kept it off for 19years. She did this through making healthy changes to everyday meals. I like the idea of following someone who has been there, done that and keep it up (or off I should say).

There are so many programmes, diets & quick fixes out there that it can be hard to cut through the crap and find something that genuinely promotes good healthy weight loss. I am after a healthy lifestyle change and while I would love to lose the weight as quickly as possible (who wouldn't) I know that it isn't realistic. Also just because something works for one person doesn't mean it will work for another. It's all about finding out what works best for YOU.

In this whole 'journey' I am trying to cut through the bullshit and find what works for me. I figure if I try a few different things and take from them what works for me. I loved the 12WBT but I did find the menu plans hard to follow and far more involved then I was willing to commit to. I found some fantastic recipes that I still use now.

As far as exercise goes I am pretty happy to go it alone. Like with most things I know 'what' to do it's just a matter of actually doing it!!

So I will give this a try and let you know how it goes...................................

What do I want from 2014?????

What do I want from 2014??????? 

That's the million dollar question. On Friday it will be 1yr since I publicly stated on Facebook what I wanted to achieve in 2013. On Saturday it will be 1yr since I started this little old blog. So I will be spending this week looking at what I really want to achieve in 2014. 

We had a fantasticly busy festive season with all my family here for a few days over Christmas. Followed by a 50th celebration for New Years and then a wedding this weekend. Which has left very little time to reflect on my year and think about what I want to achieve this this year.

I know that I want to set big goals as well as mini goals to keep me going. I want to be realistic but also to challenge myself. I want to get back the drive and momentum I had 12 months ago. Where I chose water over diet coke. Where I chose salad over chips. Where I chose to exercise over watching TV. Where I knew that small changes would make big differences.

I am tempted to sign up for round 1 of Michelle Bridges 12WBT. I haven't decided yet if that's the path I want to take. I have however started to listen to the hypnotist recording again as I fully believe in everything he says. It's all common sense stuff. Calories in v's calories out.

So while I am working out where to go I will also look at how far I have come. The good, the bad and the ugly. The successes and the failures.

How do you set your goals? Do you achieve them?