A Little Whine With My Cheese

Uggh. Early plateau. REALLY early plateau.
My metabolism, I think, is being really stubborn. I've stayed between 76.6kgs and 75.5 for the past month. My dad, who is also eating right and exercising, has been dropping a kilo a week. BUT there is a difference in both of our cases- he's never dieted or exercised before, whereas I'm fitter. I have been doing about three hours of exercise every second day with limited results. Sadly, that means I will have to up the weight I'm training with, and also up the days that I exercise. I'm being very very impatient, but the last time I lost a heap of weight I too was losing a kilo a week. This time, not so much. I think it's because last time my body went: "good god! she's eating regularly, and eating healthy stuff! And moving!!! What's that about???" and it responded.

On the plus side, I'm not neglecting weights and resistance this time. Last time it was pure cardio and even though I reached my goal weight I still had a high fat percentage. I hope that once I reach my goal this time it will be for the very LAST time, that I can maintain it. I could kick myself for letting myself put all the weight back on, but my lifestyle changed so rapidly in such a short space of time that I totally forgot about having a maintenance plan in place. It was; well, I'm skinny now, I can't eat ANYTHING I WANT!!! Erm...no. Not without regular exercise I couldn't.
I'm hoping that if I stick with it, things will work themselves out.

Move it To Lose It

You've heard of the phrase "move it or lose it", right? I prefer the phrase "move it AND lose it."
I've started back exercising again. It began with 45 minute walks in the park every morning to get my stamina up, wearing my new toning shoes. I know the scientific studies say the shoes don't work, but I beg to differ- I lost centimeters around my calves, which is the place I usually find I don't lose weight until very much later! But in order to make the scale move and decrease my body fat, I knew that I couldn't just walk the weight off. Previously, when I lost 50lbs I could, because I didn't have a baseline of fitness already. I sort of shocked my body into losing weight because it wasn't used to phyiscal exertion, other than jumping to conclusions. But now I have to work quiiiiiite a bit harder.
Yesterday, I did an hour and 30 minutes of exercise, including 30 minutes on my stationary bike, and mixing and matching of various fitness DVDs. I tried Shape's 20 Minute Makeover DVD for the first time too. Whoo! It's exhausting but I think it's worth it. It incorporates cardio intervals with strength moves, and combines yoga postures with traditional ballet moves. It gave me a bit of a bad Black Swan flashback, but the moves were appreciated! I woke up sore this morning, but seeing the scales move a fraction overnight was worth it.

I like to mix things up on a daily basis, so I find DVDs that have 10 minute routines are fantastic for this. That way I can change things around and keep my body guessing, and make sure everything gets a good workout.

The Shakes

It's day 2 of my healthy new lifestyle (I am attempting not to use the word DIET because it makes it sound so temporary), and so far so good. I haven't had any sugar crankies, and I think that's because my blood sugars are stable for the first time since before Christmas due to eating 3 regular meals and 2 snacks and basing my food choices around fruit and vegetables. I must admit to having a real sense of apathy towards breakfast, which is strange because I usually am okay with breakfast, but to get around that I have been having a protein shake instead of just going without breakfast, which would be worse. I can even still have dessert- I have been having low-fat, low-calorie Chocolate Paddle Pops to treat my ice cream craving and to control my portions of said ice cream!

I did have one moment of longing, however. There was an advert for Wendy's Flake Shakes and I started salivating. Which is weird, because I like shakes but I wouldn't go out of my way to have one. But that's been my only real moment of craving.

Exercise has been an issue, however. I hurt my back on Monday, and as much as I am gagging to get into the full swing of exercise again, that little twinge is annoying me. I have been applying heat and ibuprofen gel and stretching, so I am hoping by tomorrow I can get back into things.

I also set myself a goal this month on my NikePlus account to burn 40,000 calories by walking, which is a ginormous amount, but we shall see how I go!

Healthy 2011

In the New Year I started a Facebook group called Healthy 2011. I have to admit right here and now that it was completely self-serving; I did it because I am most definitely going to need support in reaching my health goals this year. It's had a great response from my friends so far, especially those that have goals of their own. Of course, I'm aiming to get back down to my goal weight, but I have other little mini-goals as well, like aiming to eat 5+ serves of fruit and vegetables per day, and because I'm such a fussy eater I want to try new vegetables that I have been avoiding like the plague. This week it's tomatoes.

Even my Dad is getting on the fitness bandwagon, exercising and switching from full-fat milk to low-fat. I also discovered that through my Pedometer on my iPod I can share my progress on my power walks on Facebook, which is kinda neat.
But most of all, I want to be healthy and stay healthy. I want to keep my depression at bay and get my confidence back up after having to resign from my job. I want this to be a good, positive year full of possibilities!

Like a Christmas Pudding

I have been absent from this blog for a while. Have I lost an extravagant amount of weight? Heeelll no. A little thing called a 7.2 earthquake in September, begging a new job and then having to leave said job put paid to any ambitions to be svelte. And then there's Christmas. Ugh.
My wake-up call was when I saw a picture of myself taken at Christmas and realised how much I'd really let myself go! I think sometimes you need those short, sharp shocks.

My family has been very supportive in my newly revived efforts to downsize. My mum bought me a goggles and snorkel set so I could swim laps (I can't swim properly so the snorkel eliminates the need to practice my breathing), and my partner is paying half of my 3-month multi-membership at the local pool, which includes access to their gym, the pool, spa and sauna, as well as their AquaFit classes. My parents and I also did a temporary swap of exercise equipment- they have borrowed my elliptical and I have borrowed their exercycle. Which means at the very least if I want to watch telly I can hop on it and then do weights during the commercial breaks!

I'm planning on starting January 1st, which seems defeatist because how many people start diet and exercise plans on that day and fail? But with the support of my friends and family I want to make it a habit. Skinny jeans, here I come!

Removed From Food

Tomorrow there is a potluck lunch for a colleague who is leaving. I was unsure of what to bring, so I opted to buy a packet of ready-to-bake sausage rolls. If I were my mum, I'd have made them from scratch. It suddenly hit me how...removed I am from food.

Let me explain.
Throughout most of my childhood I had the benefit of knowing about where my food came from. The first three years of my life were spent on a farm and orchard, so I knew that fruit came from trees and plants, and I knew that the animals in the fields would most probably end up on the dinnertable. My mum made her own bread.

As I got older and we moved from the farm to urban life, I still had the benefit of knowing where most of my food came from. We had a garden, and might I say very proudly that it was organic. To this day my mum still has incredibly rich soil thanks to composting, and bugs are kept at bay by birds who do their work and also benefit from the occasional fat worm when mum turns the soil. I grew up with the joy of shucking peas from their pods and watching our massive pumpkin patch grow to such a yield that often mum would end up giving a pumpkin to anyone who came to the door! She bakes all her own baking, makes her own jam, etc.

So how was it that I rebelled against the bounty of nature so spectacularly? I live out of packets, there are ingredients on said packets that would never be found in nature. I don't bake, and sadly there is no room for an organic garden in our little shoebox backyard. It makes me sad. I know it's not good for my health either.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I know I haven't written for the longest time...my bad...but in my defense I have spent most of the month of September dealing with a 7.1 quake and several hundred aftershocks...so...yes.
The quake definitely had an impact on the way I eat. So too did starting a new job one week before the quake hit. The stress of both incidents coinciding meant any healthy habits were thrown out the window. Not to mention the fact that the cafe next door to my work sells the yummiest food!!!

I've been so stressed out from these events that I took to a LOT of comfort eating. But my body has seriously had enough. Thankfully the weather is moving towards summer here, which means longer, lighter, warmer days. I'm aiming to start walking home from work every day next week and also having an evening walk after dinner in the park because I can guarantee I'm not fit enough to re-launch into a heavy-duty fitness regime.

I'm sadly at my heaviest, BUT I have been dressing very nicely despite my larger size. I think I look incredibly snazzy at work, and thankfully I've found that when you find a cut that flatters or something that fits well, you buy that item in different colors or patterns! I've taken to wearing skirts which is something I've never really done but I do so because they are flattering for me and comfortable. If it wasn't for the fact that my health is so bad right now, I would stay the size I am. But unfortunately I am having health problems related to my size so I need to start getting back to health.

Another reason for me to commit to a more healthy lifestyle is cancer. Thankfully I don't have it, but recently my friends and their families have been having to deal with this killer disease and I don't want to be another statistic. So I'm going to do everything I can to cut my risk of cancer.

I feel positive. I know that it's going to be slow progress, especially because I am an emotional eater and a sugar addict, but I know I will get there and feel better for it.