Greetings from the couch...

Hey you guys,

I'm currently laying on the couch feeling sorry for myself as I have been feeling like I might be coming down with something. I thought maybe I just had sore muscles from all the workouts I've been doing, but it's a different sort of pain. A dull ache across my back and in my hip joints and chills too. Not very nice.

Hopefully it passes quickly because I really don't want my routine thrown off too much. I have done all the training sessions (Monday to Sat at 5:30 am) and eaten properly since the start of last week, so hopefully it pays off and I see some movement on the scales tomorrow morning.

Last Weds I had lost 2.1kg in the couple of days since I started and I am starting to notice a few subtle changes in the way my clothes fit.

We shall see!

Are you working towards any health and fitness goals? How's it going for you?

12WBT Pre-Season – July 2015

Hey gang!

I've just finished pre-season for the 12 Week Body Transformation and I am all set to start tomorrow!

One of the pre-season tasks I needed to do before starting was to organise and diarise so there are no 'I'm too busy' 'I couldn't fit it in' excuses. When I looked at my calendar I realised that the only time that I'm not either working or parenting is early in the morning. At first I started thinking about all the reasons why I didn't want to get up early... mostly these two:

I'll be exhausted all day and I wont get to spend quality time with John in the evenings because I'll have to go to bed so early.

But then I really thought about these things rationally and came up with solutions. I will be exhausted for a little while, and then my body will get used to the early mornings and pretty soon my body will be thriving on the endorphins from my workouts. As I get fitter I will have more energy. Yay!

I will definitely need to go to bed early but this just means John and I will need to re-frame what we think of as quality time. Instead of slothing on the couch watching Netflix until waaaay too late every night, maybe we will have breakfast together before we start the day or maybe we can schedule in a few more intentional dates on the weekends. And actually, it's quite ok for me to kiss him goodnight at 9pm and let him potter around doing his own thing for a couple of hours after I turn in for the night.

To ease my anxiety about getting up early I decided to practice last week. I went to the gym at 5:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and it was fine... actually, it was great. I worked out for an hour and then went to my local coffee place for a very relaxed cuppa and a little alone time before heading home and getting everyone ready for school (and work!).

So tomorrow is day one. Please feel free to check in on me over the next 12 weeks. Also, let me know if you're doing it too! I love having buddies along the way.

Yours in good health!

Ash

Pre Season Stats:
Start weight: 124.8kg
Clothing size: 22-24

Weekly Well-being Wrap Up

Aloha friends! It's weekly well-being wrap up time!

1. What have I been doing to improve my mental health? 
This week I haven't really been making a concerted effort on this front however I have been doing lots of fun things with my family and that always helps my mental health. I think being able to recognise your triggers is important, so I am going to make a little list here with a view to addressing these things and putting them in perspective.

Things that have been getting me down: 

• The state of our house! Holidays have not been kind to our house. I am used to having a few hours a week to myself to focus on keeping the house the way I like it. I am no neat freak by any stretch of the imagination but there are a few key things that I like to keep on top of like the laundry, the floors, the kitchen and keeping surfaces clean and right this minute I can hardly walk in the laundry for piles of dirty clothes (bring on uniform wearing time again!! So many clothes!!), there are tumbleweeds of dust and dog hair floating around getting caught on the piles of sand that have been traipsed in from the beach and there is STUFF on every surface. I LOVE spending time with my family but I get to a point in the holidays where I feel ready to have my space back.

• PERSPECTIVE: Instead of spending time cleaning, I have been enjoying time with my kids, time that for most of the year I long for. So I need to just bloody ENJOY it rather than being a negative nelly about the house.

The girls eating the first red tommies of the season.

• We haven't had a chance to go away somewhere for a proper holiday. 

• PERSPECTIVE: We've done lots of fun stuff over the holidays. We have been to Aireys Inlet for two nights and John played a really nice gig at the Torquay Night Jar Market, we have had a few day trips to the beach, we've been to Healesville Sanctuary, ice skating, rollerskating and the movies. We have spent quality time at home in the garden and making things, we have visited friends, been op-shopping, bought new bed linen and done several op-shop runs to clear out old junk. It hasn't been bad at all. There is always next summer to plan a trip.

Molly basically being in heaven.

John having a paddle at Williamstown.

 

Richie having fun in the sand with some pals.

These are my friends Sally and Sudi. Yesterday was Sudi's first time to the beach! It was such a special day.

Molly (right) and her best buddy Pearl having the best time catching waves.

• I feel like I'm not good at my jobs and it's often because I say yes to too many things so I am always juggling and things slip through the cracks. I fall into the trap of comparing myself to other people who seem to function at a high level... other people who don't have three kids (two from my belly and a foster daughter) and uni, and a book on the go and a paid job and a commitment to community and tricky family things to deal with! I am always apologising to people for doing a crappy job of something instead of saying "I'm sorry I can't do that for you" at the beginning. Or saying, "I'm sorry I can't do more than I'm already doing". When I am going really great with one job, the other things suffer. I guess I'm a natural single-tasker. Pip wrote about this recently.  I guess it's good to be able to recognise but not easy to make the changes required to stop doing it. 

• PERSPECTIVE: I have a lot of things on and it's quite natural to not cope when there is so much happening. The kids are about to go back to school and I am about to have the routine and alone time back that I so desperately crave. It will be ok. All the things will get done. I might disappoint people some times but I need to communicate with people how I am feeling and if I am not met with understanding, maybe it's not me with the problem?!

2. What have I been eating to nourish my body?
Same as last week, meat, veg, nuts, eggs, olives, avocados, Greek yoghurt, a little fruit. I have been forgetting to eat breakfast so I really want to make a plan and do some more food prep. Smoothies are a good option for the mornings as I usually don't feel like savoury food first thing in the morning. I just need to make sure I have all the ingredients available every day.

3. How have I been moving my body to improve my physical health?
This week I have been playing on the beach with the kids, walking the dog, dancing to Christine Anu at the Footscray Wominjeka Festival (which was amazing!!), and ROLLERSKATING! I am going to be starting roller derby soon! GAH! Fun with other women, roughness and fitness all rolled into one! Sounds tops to me!

Here's a picture of me NOT falling over! High fives!

4. How am I feeling and why?

I'm feeling good in a "I'm ready to have my own space back" kind of way. Do you ever feel like that? Does it make you feel a bit guilty? I do. Meh. 

And here's something I've noticed! There is a jawline emerging! First pic was November last year, second was yesterday. 

Weekly Well-being Wrap Up

Hi everyone!

I've decided to pop in here every week to give a bit of a wrap up of my progress. I am intentionally working on my physical and emotional well-being and I think I'll be more aware of what is actually happening if I take the time to document it and share it here.

Because I want to ensure that I don't get myself out of balance I will loosely work around the following questions:

1. What have I been doing to improve my mental health? 

2. What have I been eating to nourish my body? 

3. How have I been moving my body to improve my physical health? 

4. How am I feeling and why?

So, I'm going to answer these questions right after you watch this cool video. I find this so inspiring because I love working out and I absolutely jiggle... a lot. And I've just had to get past this and do it anyway.

What have I been doing to improve my mental health?
For me, my physical health and mental health are so connected. I have been making time for me, which has not come so naturally in the last few years because I have so many people who need me and, like many women, the needs of my family have come before my own. I am fortunate enough to be married to a teacher so during these school holidays I have been working on making more time for myself and spending time working on moving my body purposefully and re-discovering what to eat to make me feel great. I feel if I get these habits in place during January, I am much more likely to successfully continue them during the year.

I have also been doing a bit of a de-clutter at home which is making my head feel clearer. So far, we have taken a car-load of stuff to the op-shop and there's more to go.

What have I been eating to nourish my body?
I am focusing on eating lots of veggies, good fats and meat with the occasional bit of fruit or bowl of Greek yoghurt. I'm sticking to a fairly low carb, med/highish protein menu as it really helps with my PCOS symptoms and stops me craving food all day. An average day might look like this:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with bacon, avocado and sauteed spinach, mushrooms and onion and coffee with full fat milk
Lunch: Salad with salmon or chicken or leftover meat, almonds and home made mayo
Dinner: Bolognese sauce with veggie spiral noodles. Usually I use carrot and zucchini for the "pasta"
Snacks: Almonds or yoghurt and raspberries, or half and avocado with salt and pepper. This totals about 1500 calories but I'm not really counting. 

I am not getting hungry between meals, in fact, I am having to remind myself to eat which is so different to how it has been for me in the last few years. I finally feel the food side of it has clicked again and I can do a lot of it without thinking.

Also, I am not letting my "diet" (for want of a better word) get in the way of enjoying my life, for instance, last night our family went out for Vietnamese and there wasn't really anything on the menu that ticked all my boxes so instead of getting stressed about it mucking up my progress I chose a beef and chicken pho and didn't eat many of the noodles. It was delicious and I enjoyed spending time with my family without having to stress about food.

Food shouldn't be stressful. It's just food.  

How have I been moving my body to improve my physical health?
This is where I am feeling really excited because I found a trainer at the gym to write me a program that is completely, exactly, what I asked for and what I know works for me. It is a functional weights program that I will be doing twice a week along with doing a class or two and walking the dog. If anyone is interested, I am happy to share my program for you to try too - hit me up in the comments or Facebook me if you'd like to see it. It only takes 30-40 minutes so it will be easy to fit into my schedule.

Another cool thing that happened this week is that I got myself a second hand Fitbit from my friend Gemma so I can keep better track of my sleep and activity. I already know that I actually sleep quite well but my best, deepest sleep happens in the wee hours of the morning, so I'm never waking up early again.. lol.


How am I feeling and why?
On one hand, I'm feeling positive, encouraged, intentional and on track and I feel this way because I am making time for myself and pushing my own limits. On the other hand, I'm feeling disillusioned with the media, world governments and some parts of humanity because of the awful massacres that have occurred in Africa and France and responses (or lack thereof) to them. I am struggling with how to respond to this and how to pro-actively care about all the things that matter to me. I have reached a point where I have to acknowledge that the best contribution I can make to the world right now is to raise loving, peaceful, critical thinking children.

Thanks for joining me today, If I don't see you before, see you here next week for another update!