Reforming my ways

Now that the Festival of 50 is over I can return to my normal life without all the emotions and celebrations of the birthday week.  It is an extremely hectic time at work and my calendar has been crammed with appointments.  I welcomed the Easter weekend as a time to catch up without the constant barrage of emails and phone calls.

The one thing I do for myself to maintain a level of balance is to go to the gym.  I love exercising and I know that it balances out my stress levels.  It is a not negotiable in my calendar.  I have been attending the same fitness classes for the past 5 years and find the social side of our group an important element that keeps me going back.

My journey at Mission Possible Fitness started when I thought I would try out the trampolining classes they used to run.  While these are fun and take you back to your youth, they are very challenging on the pelvic floor muscles.  I found that the group fitness and boxing classes were more suited to my style.  I love the boxing and kick boxing classes.  There is something very satisfying about punching when you are in a stressed out mood.

Over the last few weeks I have been introduced to a new exercise style called Reformer Pilates.  I know this is not technically new – but it is to me.  I find trying new styles of exercise challenging as I am not confident in my physical abilities and worry I am going to look like a fool if I can’t do something well.  I am sure I am not the only one who feels like this.  Reformer Pilates is new to our gym so I was learning just like everyone else.  I was intrigued at how you can exercise while you are lying down!

Don’t let the passive nature of this exercise style fool you.  These machines can be dangerous and should be used under proper adult supervision (particularly if you are clumsy like me).  In a few short weeks I have face planted into the springs and still have the bruises to prove it. I also ended up in an unnatural side split position by mistake – unable to find a way to get out of that position without the assistance of my instructor Amanda.

I go to the gym for 2 reasons – to stay fit and to provide the rest of the group with someone to laugh at.  You have got to have fun while you are exercising.

I am amazed at how many different exercises you can do on the reformer machine.  The slow pace means you are concentrating on a small group of muscles at a time, ensuring the technique is correct.  You can really feel the difference.  I strongly suggest you incorporate a class into your normal exercise regime.

So I am back on track.  I attended a particularly tough circuit class last Saturday with an intense number of squats.  You know the type of squats, the ones that make sitting on toilet for the next few days excrutiating.  My Monday morning reformer class was the perfect way to unwind all of the tightness from Saturday and set me up for the week ahead.

Whatever it is you have been wanting to try – give it a go.  If I can do it, so can you!  And if you don’t do it perfectly the first time have a laugh and try again.

Detox Complete

It has taken me a week to write this as I not only wanted to let you know how my detox went, but also how I feel now that it is over.  The timing could not have been better as this week has been a pretty big week of celebrations.  If ever there was a need to break a detox, this week was going to be it with Mother’s Day, Jordan’s 18th birthday and a wedding to attend.

Let’s start with confessions.  I am human and there were a few occasions that I did break my detox slightly.  Most of these were due to bad planning and the need to buy a meal on the run.  There were a small number of occasions when I was not sure what was in the meals I bought, so I may have inadvertently eaten a small amount of soy, quinoa and cheese.  I also attended a few functions that were catered and tried to find the best alternatives from the food that was available.  This meant that I ate 4 small quiches and a few crumbed calamari rings.  I found it easier just not to eat when I was out, but sometimes that is difficult.

I did occasionally eat some gluten free plain potato chips which, while not specifically on my list of banned foods were not really the best choice.  I did break the alcohol ban on two occasions – the first was at day 23 when Jordan’s team won their grand final.  I celebrated with a glass of champagne.  The second was on the last day of the detox when Jordan’s team won the national final and by then I figured that I would just finish a few hours ahead of time.

Ok, so I was not perfect but I was pretty damn good and I am proud of the determination it took for me to stick to my commitment.  By the end of it I was feeling a lot better as I had lost about 5 kilos.  This was starting to give me a little extra confidence as body image is something I really struggle with.  I felt nice when a few people did notice that I had lost a little weight, and it felt great that my clothes felt a little loose rather than too tight.  I was not as tired, I was feeling quite focused and felt that my performance at work was improving as a result.

Cut forward to this week, and while I had intended to stay to my diet as much as possible, this was a little easier said than done.  Diet wise, I have not been too bad.  I am trying to stick to real foods, avoiding grains, dairy and sugar.  There has been birthday cake and I did have a sausage sandwich at football yesterday, which was rather under whelming and didn’t meet the expectations I had for those things I thought I really missed.  I do think my relationship with food has changed for the better.  I won’t be denying myself, but I think that I can make better choices now and feel happy with those choices.

Alcohol wise, this week has been a struggle due to the celebratory nature of things.  I have resolved to only drink when there is a good reason to do so, ie, a celebration, but this week has been full of those.  I haven’t gone overboard, and I do find the impact is hitting a little harder now that I have not been drinking for a while, so there is no need to drink excessively.  I have also noticed how tired it makes me feel when I have had a few drinks.  I don’t feel anywhere near as focused, I have not been sleeping as well and I just don’t feel all that positive about things this week.

Next week is not so “celebratory” so I am going to try to be alcohol free for as much of the week that I can.  I do think I have a new perspective on how food and drink are impacting on my life and I need to keep working on this.  I will never be perfect at it, but I will keep trying.

Now I am focusing on the 8 week challenge at the gym.  It is week 3 and I am doing OK.  Baby steps, but lots of baby steps transform into bigger steps.  Everything in moderation.

Half way there

Yesterday was day 15 or my detox and I thought I would do a bit of an update for those who are wondering how I am going now that I am half way through.

I am proud to say, so far so good.  I have stuck to my commitment completely.  I have not touched a drop of alcohol, nor eaten any of the foods on my banned list.  I have surprised myself and I feel much stronger for it.

I do feel a bit like I am a science experiment at the moment.  I am really keen to see what the end result will be and this is helping my resolve to stay on track.  This is as much about my mental fitness as anything else.  I need to prove to myself that I can make a challenge and stick to it.  I will be so disappointed in myself if I can’t fulfil my commitment.  This is for me, it is not for anyone else, and I really do not want to disappoint myself.

My observations so far are:

·       I have lost a bit of weight.  Nothing dramatic and most of it came off in the first couple of days but my clothes are feeling a little loser and the scales are down about 3kgs from where they started.  This is going to put me in good stead to continue to lose a bit of weight this year.

·       I am not missing the alcohol as much as I am missing the food.  I am find the dairy restriction very difficult and as such I may add a little dairy for the rest of the challenge.  Only a little bit, so if there happens to be some feta in the salad I order, so be it.  However, I am still going to try to avoid dairy for the rest of the challenge.

·       I am putting more effort into preparing meals, being more organised in the morning so that I know I have something compliant to eat during the day.  I am noticing this in my bank account as well.  I have hardly spent any money over these past 15 days which highlights how much I was spending on food and drink.

·       I can drink black coffee and I don’t mind it.

·       I can drink that incredible amount of water that my trainer Simon tells me I must drink daily.  I never thought it was possible but when you replace wine with water, you drink a fair bit of water.  Incidentally, holding a wine glass filled with water seemed to promote the same feeling of relaxation for me as holding that same wine glass filled with wine.  Perhaps I should try this more often.

·       I seem to have more clarity in my thinking and I am getting more done in a day.  I have ticked off my list of things I wanted to get through for this week and it is only 8.00am on Saturday morning.  Hey, I even submitted my assignment at 7am this morning and it is not due for another 4 days.  I am feeling on top of things for the first time in a long time.

·       I feel like my skin is looking better.  I don’t feel the same level of tiredness that I was feeling in the first few days of detox and I am sure I am sleeping better.

·       More people than I realised have read my blog, so I need to be accountable all the time.  If I had a sneaky drink (which I promise you I have not), I am sure I would get caught.  For those who have checked up on me or said encouraging words, I really appreciate your support.

The next 2 week includes a couple of new challenges for me.  Mission Possible Fitness (my gym) are staring their 8 week Burn & Earn challenge on Monday.  I am really hoping when I step on their scales I have lost a bit of weight from 2 weeks ago.  I have noticed that I still manage to move up and down a little on the scales and I really do not want an “up” to distract me in my long term goals.  I am looking forward to the 8 week challenge as it will make me extend on the work I am doing now.  I don’t want to break the habits I am getting accustomed to.

We also have a party to attend next weekend so that is going to be a challenge for me. There will be people there to keep me accountable, and I just hope that their support and my resolve will outweigh the temptations.  I am confident I can do this.

In general, it is just another 15 days like the 15 that I have just been through.  If I continue to plan and be prepared I have this nailed.

So stay tuned for day 30.  It is just around the corner! 

Detox day 4

Yesterday was day 4 of my 30 day detox.  It is based on Melissa Hartwig’s Whole30 eating plan which includes no alcohol, grains, dairy, legumes, added sugar or junk food.   The key for me is that it is only 30 days and hopefully at the end of this I will have a much better relationship with food and drink.

So far, so good.  I have not broken my plan.  I am not calling this a diet, I can eat what I like so long as it is not a banned food.  I thought day 4 would be easy as I had got through days 1-3.  Eating and drinking wise, it was much easier.  My body, however, did start to feel the effects of the detox.

I started Monday in my usual way with a PT session.  I woke up feeling slightly fluey but was pumped for a good session at the gym.  I sweated my way through this session, hey, I think I sweated out a bottle of wine.  At the end I felt more exhausted than usual but I had worked through the difficulty and I finished the session with determination.  Suck it up princess!

Last night came another small challenge that I faced head on and succeeded.  My sister had obtained tickets to The Real Full Monty which was the filming of a television show where 8 celebrities got their gear off while dancing to “You can leave your hat on”.  I knew there would be alcohol there and under normal circumstances I would be getting into it.

Can I have fun without alcohol?  It is sad that I need to ask myself that question but unfortunately I do.

The night was hilarious.  Without giving away too many secrets, the guys did go the full monty and we did get a brief glimpse of some famous willies.  It was all for a good cause, talking about men’s cancers, getting the conversation started for men to get checked by their doctor.  These celebrities wanted to show other men that they too can go out of their comfort zone. They displayed their most vulnerable selves to give courage to other men.  The message was brilliant. 

The crowd were in a frenzy.  We were clapping, cheering, dancing and laughing our heads off. Not for one minute did I feel like I was missing out by not having anything to drink.

By the time I got home I was exhausted.  I can feel my body is adapting to this detox.  I am tired, a little sore, have some flu like symptoms and a bit of a headache.  These will pass in the next few days. I am not craving alcohol or junk food.  I am going to do this!!!

This morning on day 5 and I crawled out of bed for the 6am boxing class. It would have been easy to roll over and sleep some more but I am making the commitment to myself to train every day this week.  Another day closer to day 30 and feeling pumped. 

My Health and Fitness Journey

This is not going to be a fitness blog about someone who is super fit with a perfect body.  This is about a real person who tries to fit some fitness into her daily routine because she knows it is good for her.  I am not about to preach to anyone about fitness or diet.  I am not going to be perfect at any of this but I do want to challenge myself in my health and fitness goals this year.

I am a bit overweight and I have this vice called wine.  I love wine.  I love the way it tastes, I love the way it makes me feel while I am drinking it and I love being social.  What I don’t like about wine is that it makes me put on weight and it makes me feel pretty crappy the next day if I have too much of it.  My challenge this year is to stop drinking wine to release stress, and to only drink wine as a form of celebration.  I definitely want to cut down on my alcohol intake this year.

As a near 50 year old women I am also starting to struggle with the challenges of menopause.  Mood swings and weight gain are all part of this bundle of fun that we are given to mark the end of our child bearing years.  As I move solidly into middle age I want to make sure I remain as fit and healthy as I can be.

I have been extremely fortunate with my health so far.  Nothing major has ever happened to me and I rarely get sick.  My doctor once told me it is because I don’t have time to get sick, and I think that is partly true.  The fact that I do generally eat healthy food and exercise regularly may also play a part.  Let’s hope my good fortune with health continues.

When it comes to fitness I do think it is something you need to invest in.  I think it helps so much with my mind as well as my body and I would much prefer to be paying money to a gym than to be paying money to a bunch of doctors to fix me up.  This is an investment in me and my future.

I have two amazing personal trainers, Simon and Amanda from Mission Possible Fitness.  They are a brother and sister team who run a small gym that I have been going to for about 4 years now.  I do 3 PT training sessions a week with my fitness buddy Mel, and try to fit in at least one other group class a week.  I didn’t know anyone when I started going to Mission Possible Fitness but I now have a group of friends from these classes.  Most of us are business women who see the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and we keep each other accountable.  I have no doubt that Simon and Amanda will be pushing me in this year of challenge.

To kickstart this year, I am publicly challenging myself to 30 days of eating cleaning and being off the grog.  It is day 2, so I am only just starting this journey.  I am determined not to fail on this one.  I have a lot of control in my life but the one thing I struggle with is controlling what I eat and drink.  I am easily tempted.  I need to stay focused on this. 

So let the challenge continue.  Only 28 days to go!!!