23 Homeward stretch

I have to say I did indulge a little more than usual last week. The worst part being more than a few wines on Friday night. Nothing to get annoyed about though, as each day is a new day, and one blow out won't ruin all my hard work. What was annoying was being too tired yesterday to exercise. I managed to get to the gym this morning though, and squeak in my three work outs.

My second time around the Hagley fitness track with Ron on Thursday was great. Weather was lovely and warm and there's a great feeling of achievement, and that you've worked some neglected muscles pretty hard for several days afterwards.

I've been contemplating the tri that Jacquie sent out, and wondering if I'm going to be able to fit it into my week. I'd like to at least have one go to see how long it takes me. Out of the three, the biking part is the biggest unknown quantity as I never get on a bike at the gym - unless it's a spin bike, of course.

This week is the start of the new self defense for fitness rec programme and Pioneer. That should be awesome fun. I've certainly tried some great new forms of exercise over the last eight weeks or so, and many of them I plan to continue.

Tomorrow, I'll walk to work, and maybe try and get out for a jog at lunch. Tuesday will be more walking and pilates. Wednesday is the new rec programme and netball if they don't clash. Thursday, I'm not sure yet :-)

22 Fourth Weigh In

August 27th
Weight: 64.4kgs
Body fat: 32.8%

September 23rd
Weight: 63.3kgs
Body fat: 32.1%

October 14th
Weight: 62.3kgs
Body fat: 31.5%

November 1st
Weight: 62.4kgs
Body fat: 27.3%

So effectively no weight loss - I don't count 100grams as a gain as I'd eaten lots and had work clothes on - but an oddly large decrease in body fat %.

This is a fab result, if it's correct. It's a body fat competition, afterall. I was hoping at the last weigh in to get my body fat under 30% at the end of the 12 weeks, so I can't honestly believe I knocked that target off since the last weigh in. It feels really good.

21 Out and about

The walk up the Rapaki track this morning with Jacquie and Dan was great. I was surprised at how many people were up and out there doing just the same thing this morning, and probably half of those were cyclists, grinding their way up the slope.

I used to have a bit of a fear of walking uphill, but it's definitely got easier as my fitness has increased, and I think I'll have to start doing that walk a bit more regularly. Definitely a nice reward of an amazing view when you reach the top too :-)

20 Getting past that point

I think I read somewhere the other day that the six week mark is where it starts getting hard when it comes to new diet and exercise regimes. I've definitely noticed it getting harder over the last couple of weeks.

This will be the first week that I won't tick off my three facility visits. I was stressing a little over this, as I hate to not do something once I've started, but then I realised that I'm still on track with exercise, and the end result will still be the same.

I've also been a bit tired physically on a couple of days, which has been a bit of a wake up call. I need to pace things, and not go out too hard with something that I haven't done for a while, e.g. the five k run on Monday.

Am looking forward to the group activities coming up. I have really wanted something high calorie to eat over the last week, so have found myself eating more than normal, albeit healthy food. I still feel pretty okay about next week's weigh in. As long as I keep going down, that's a win in my book :)

19 On the run

First week away from Pioneer, done and dusted.

Yip, it was hard to fit gym sessions into my week. I managed the three eventually, but it went down to the wire. I'm back to the walk to work, which I love. Now the days are lighter earlier and later, I'll probably walk both ways, a 10k round trip, when I can. I just have to fit in morning visits to Centennial on my way.

I went for my first 'decent' run today in about six months. I started jogging, as that's really what it is, about 2 years ago. Mostly so I could say that I could run around Hagley park. I lived really close to it at the time, so it seemed wrong to not at least give it a go. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to work up to it, but I got all the way around the outside on my second attempt, which I felt pretty happy about. I'd never known before that the start was the hardest. Once you get into a rhythm, it becomes easier. I'd previously gone out hard and then found it too much for me withing the first kilometer and promptly given up. To say I started jogging probably suggests I do it regularly, but I don't. When I lived in town the round the park circuit was a once a week thing. It was hard, and still is hard work. When I'm out there I wonder how the hell people could want to train to run a half or full marathon. And when I stop, it takes me a good half hour before my legs work properly again. An hour later, and I feel great. So it's the health benefit, the emotional benefit and the energy benefit I get from it.

On a related note, I bought some new running shoes. On Ron's advice, they were not too expensive, $50, and nice and lightweight, and possibly alarmingly, they came from Number 1 shoes. They're good so far, but I'll let you know after a few weeks :)

18 Third Weigh In

August 27th
Weight: 64.4kgs
Body fat: 32.8%

September 23rd
Weight: 63.3kgs
Body fat: 32.1%

October 14th
Weight: 62.3kgs
Body fat: 31.5%



Happy with that. Very much so. I was initially pretty frustrated about how much effort it was taking to lose seemingly so little, but now I can see that it's steady and consistent, and hell, this isn't easy. If it was, you wouldn't see so many overweight people walking around.

It's awesome listening to fitness professionals talk about this stuff. I now have a much better idea of the way I should be training to actually see results.

Up until working at Pioneer I'd been walking to work. In the summer, I walk both ways and clock up over 10kms a day. I've been thinking how virtuous I am doing this, and how much good it must be doing be, where in reality, I've been stuck on my comfy little plateau for months now.

I'm already thinking of smarter, harder ways to train when I move back into town to work. I'll definitely be making use of Hagley park as an outdoor training venue, and Centennial will be my fitness centre of choice once again.

I might cut out some of the walks in favour of an earlier start at the gym a couple of days a week.

Overall, I'm happy with where things are at. Really looking forward to some more group training sessions, and seeing how I can overcome the challenge of not working at a fitness centre anymore.

17 Up and down and up and down...

We're a lazy bunch, us humans, so working around a bunch of awesome fitness professionals who know how to motivate and push you has been absolutely wonderful.

I've loved the two outdoor training sessions I've been to so far as part of the challenge. First was Ron's Hagley Park fitness circuit, and this morning was the dreaded 'stairs'.

I'm as guilty as the next exerciser of not pushing myself, so it's great to have someone else do the pushing and make me go that extra mile.

Hagley park showed me just how weak my upper body still is, but I still felt an enormous sense of achievement in what we did. It's been great to try different things since this challenge began, and doing this outdoor bootcamp style training session has definitely been a highlight.

This morning with the ever motivating Mr and Mrs Hibbs a small but willing group of us tackled 'the stairs'. I'd heard of these stairs, but that was all. Turns out there are 108 of them. Yes, we got Dan to count.

It's amazing how quickly the fatigue sets in, but also amazing how much you can do when you just keep at it. We spent 45 going up at down at various speeds in various ways - every second step, at speed, lunges.

Tomorrow will be interesting. My legs were like jelly for much of this morning, but I love that feeling of having worked really hard. I know it's what I need to do to get real results.

Bring on the next outdoor challenge!

16 Take care of yourself

I found out last night from my Dad that one of my uncles through marriage, who lives in the north island had a heart attack on Saturday and is now in Waikato hospital awaiting a bypass operation.

My Dad said right away that he wasn't surprised. I have another uncle - this time my Dad's brother, who's also had a heart attack. It's probable that both of these were related to lifestyle.

I wonder if both these men would have done things differently if they'd known. I guess what I really want to say is, look after your body now, while it's easier to do so. This stuff gets harder as you get older and habits form.

Being healthy is a lifestyle, not just something you do for 12 weeks. Took me a while to figure that one out :)

15 Food Diary October 3rd

Breakfast
Two slices of rye toast with peanut butter
A cup of black coffee

Morning
Two light crisp breads with cottage cheese, shaved ham, mustard, gherkin and tomato.

Lunch
A pita pocket with ham and salad
An orange

Afternoon
A 150g yogurt
Weightwatchers cereal bar
A trim milk milo

Dinner
Chicken and mushroom filo parcel with broccoli, baked potato and kumara

Water throughout the day

Exercise
Gardening and housework :)

14 Food Diary October 2nd

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Lunch
Savoury mince on basmati rice with parsley
A pear

Afternoon
Small trim flat white and weightwatchers muffin at muffin break

Dinner
Chicken stirfry with egg noodles, broccoli, carrot, mushrooms, red cabbage, spring onions and onions

A 150g yogurt

Water throughout the day

Exercise
A walk up the port hills - hour and a half round trip

13 Food Diary October 1st

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Morning
Handful of raw mixed nuts
A weightwatchers cereal bar
A handful of rice crackers and dip

Lunch
A bowl of pumpkin, kumara and carrot soup with wholemeal toast

Afternoon
A 150g yogurt

Dinner
Salmon stirfry with egg noodles, broccoli, carrot, spring onions and onions

Water throughout the day

Exercise
None! Recovery day.

12 Food Diary September 30th

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Morning
A 150g yogurt
Handful of raw mixed nuts
A weightwatchers cereal bar

Lunch
A bowl of pumpkin, kumara and carrot soup with a wholemeal scone

Afternoon
An apple

Dinner
Bolognese sauce with mushrooms and olives on basmati rice.
Water throughout the day

Exercise
Fitness session in Hagley Park

11 Food Diary September 29th

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Morning
A 150g yogurt
Handful of raw mixed nuts
A weightwatchers cereal bar

Lunch
A bowl of pumpkin, kumara and carrot soup with a wholemeal scone

Afternoon
An apple
One light crispbread with cottage cheese, ham and mustard

Dinner
Bolognese sauce with mushrooms and olives on basmati rice.
Water throughout the day

Exercise
A spin class
A game of netball

10 Food Diary September 28th

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Morning
Handful of raw mixed nuts
A weightwatchers cereal bar

Lunch
Rye bread sandwich with grilled chicken, lettuce, gherkin, tomato, cottage cheese

Afternoon
A 150g Yogurt

Dinner
A two egg omelette with shaved ham, onion, parsley, chives, cherry tomatoes, olives, sweet chilli sauce
An orange
Water throughout the day

Exercise
A bounce class

09 Food Diary September 27th

Breakfast
Bowl of homemade toasted muesli with half a sliced banana and trim milk
A cup of black coffee

Morning
A 150g Yogurt
Handful of raw mixed nuts
A weightwatchers cereal bar

Lunch
Salad containing shaved ham, lettuce, cottage cheese, baked kumara and potato, cherry tomatoes, olives, gherkins and light French dressing

Afternoon
An apple

Dinner
Salad with grilled chicken, lettuce, cottage cheese, baked kumara and potato, cherry tomatoes, olives, gherkins and light French dressing (yes, same as lunch but with Chicken)
Two squares of Whittaker’s dark ghana
Water throughout the day

Exercise
Gym session before work including resistance and cardio

08 Time to bare the truth

From tomorrow, I'll be recording my daily diet and exercise for a week.

I'm pretty good with sticking to a regime, but I definitely need help in making tweaks to get the most out of my exercise, and to ensure I'm eating right, so that's what this is aimed at.

I like to cook, so I'm already in reasonable habits when it comes to making my own, and not eating takeaways. Baking will always be my weakness, so it's hard to not do any baking, as I know it's better just to not have temptation in my way.

I make my own toasted muesli, and as my coworkers will tell you, I was the daily winter soup girl at lunch time. Speaking of which, I have half a pumpkin in the fridge that needs using up. Time to get chopping :)

07 Second Weigh In

August 27th
Weight: 64.4kgs
Body fat: 32.8%

September 23rd
Weight: 63.3kgs
Body fat: 32.1%

Wow, that body fat takes some shifting! Really happy with that weight loss, all things considered, but I clearly need to knuckle down.

06 Stepping up

No, I haven't weighed in yet. Rest assured I'll be doing the big reveal tomorrow night after I rock up at QEII for my weigh-in. I'm part of the metro team, but QEII is close to home for me. Plus, of course, I get a couple of extra days to work out ;) Shhh, don't tell Jacquie.

Sadly, I didn't make it to my second ever spin class yesterday. Silly work getting in the way. I'm not helping myself much this week by forgetting various parts of my workout gear. Monday it was shoes, and today it was tee. Thankyou Katy for coming to the rescue with a shirt for me to wear today.

So far this week it's been a gym session, a pilates class, and Step this afternoon with the fabulous Erin.

I love step. No really, I do. I've been stepping since I was dragged along to a class at the canty uni rec centre over 15 years ago. Took me a while to get the hang out of it, but ever since then, it's been my favourite form of group exercise. I guess I like the choreography side of it. It's like learning a mini dance routine every time. You'll find me at Gary's step craze class every Saturday morning at QEII, and it's honestly the most mentally and physically challenging step class I've ever attempted. So if you've never tried it, use this 12 week challenge as a good excuse to give it a go. You might like it too.

Worth also mentioning that I've just finished intro Pilates at QEII. To be honest, it took me a while to get into. Probably to be expected when it's an intro class and you're being taught the techniques and principles necessary to progress. I was so used to exercise being physical and sweat-raising that it was kind of odd to walk away from my first few classes feeling like I hadn't done anything. Now though, I get it. I'd actually really like to do three or more classes a week, as I'm hopeless at going through a programme on my own at home. I need someone to guide me for an hour. So the upshot is, I'm going to enroll in level one next term. I want to be able to hold that plank for five minutes :)

Normally on a Wednesday, I play indoor netball. Not this evening. I've played netball for over 20 years, and my right knee will definitely attest to this fact. I think netball probably deserves a whole entry of its own (yes, groan) but I'll just say, that I can't say enough about the benefits of being part of a team.

Before I really start preaching, I'm going to go and raid the fruit bowl for an apple.

Check back tomorrow, for the good news weigh in story.

05 Normal transmission resumes

We can all be forgiven for going a little astray last week. I somehow managed to lose stress weight, but also spent a lot of time cooking and eating for comfort. I guess I lost a bit of water weight - I wonder if not wanting to use the toilet too much while the water was off was part of that?

Anyway, I'm pretty much back at the end of week one now, weight wise, but easing myself back into things.

I did no activity last week but my mid-week game of netball and some pretty gentle, short walks. Man, was that game of netball hard work. My lungs were heaving by the end of it, but I made myself go, so I could get the runaround I badly needed, and of course, forget about what had just happened for a while.

So this week, as my team can't go back into the offices in town yet, we've relocated to Pioneer. From an exercise standpoint, I'm loving being here.

I've done a gym work out, Monday and Tuesday, and today I went to my first ever spin class with the awesome Jacquie Hibbs.

I guess I've been kind of reluctant to try spin. Would I cope as I don't even own a bike? Would I be able to adjust the bike? What actually happens in a spin class? But it was great. A really good work out, and you can go at your own pace. Get along and try a class. 9:30am Wednesdays at Pioneer peeps!

Tonight, I have indoor netball. The big struggle for me has always been not eating too much after exercise. I mistakenly believe I can stuff myself silly once I've worked out. I've had a sandwich now, and I'll have some dinner when I get home later. No more post-quake desserts for me!

How's everyone else doing???

04 fitness assessment day

I last had a fitness programme done for me about five years ago. Today, the awesome Ron Lewis wrote up a new programme for me and took me through it.

We talked initially about some goals, where I'm at now with my exercise, and took some standard measurements.

Blood pressure = 150/85
Yip, a bit high. It always seems to be a little on the high side when I get it measured. I guess the circumstances have some bearing on that, but I'm sure I can bring it down myself too.

Waist/hip ratio = 0.85
Yip, also a bit high. This should be somewhere around 0.7.

My programme involves very little machine work, which is kind of cool. A bit of swiss and medicine ball work, and using free weights. Finishing with the dreaded tricep dips, which as I said to Ron, I've always found really hard to do. Yes, I have weak girly arms.

I do a bit of a cardio warm up, and some specific stretching at the end, but because I do a lot of other cardio, it's pretty much all about the strength and conditioning. All up, it should take me no more than 45 mins to do my programme. I'm keen to get in there at least one morning a week, and maybe after work one day too. But I'll talk more about my weekly exercise schedule in another entry :)

03 something about diets

So diets. Dirty word? Yeah yeah, one should eat everything in moderation and refer to it a 'lifestyle change'.

I'm not sure I used to believe this. I've 'dieted' before, and it's felt like deprivation. My most vivid memory being my last year of uni where I managed to lose quite a bit of weight, through feeling hungry most of the time, and not eating things that I love, like cheese. I realised that didn't work when I couldn't keep that weight off. I had to go there and do that to figure that one out though.

That was about 15 years ago, and today, I'm lighter than I was at the end of my 'diet' year back then. I've never been what I'd call my ideal weight. Not ever. Not even during school. I've always carried some extra weight, and I'm actually pretty proud to say that now, I am at my smallest of my adult life. Still, I'm not as healthy as I could or should be.

I'm a typical apple shape, which as you may know, carries a higher risk of heart disease if that extra fat is carried around the middle. Mine definitely is. My waist, when I last measured it, was above the recommended girth for females. This sort of thing worries me these days, a lot more than it used to, when I first started 'dieting'.

I'm going to ramble on a lot more about food and 'diets' but this introduces me, and where I'm at with this weighty issue. I'm pretty happy with my body right now, and I don't feel anything about my size holds me back in life. I can shop where I want to, and I like getting dressed in the morning. I do worry more and more as time goes on about the health implications of some of my choices, but hey, I can change that, and I will.

These days I eat reasonably well, and I love reading labels, and info on what foods can do for you, and how to achieve a balanced diet. There's no excuse not to be informed. There's more info out there than ever before. But still, my downfall will always be my sweet tooth.

Speaking of my sweet tooth, it's time to have my two squares of Whittaker's Dark Ghana and relax before bed :)

02 the way of things

I haven't planned out exactly what I'll say here but I have ideas. I'm sure there will be random entries about my love for scrambled eggs on toast, and how Step aerobics changed my life, but mostly, it'll be about how I managed to stay on track for the challenge, or otherwise :)

One weekend down, and yes, I've stayed on track since the weigh in. Okay, so the comp doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but it really started on Friday night, right?

Saturdays follow a fairly standard exercise pattern for me - up early and at QEII for Zumba with Jodie followed by Step with Gary. Talk about cardio overload :) I'll talk about these classes later on, as they're worth talking about.

Sunday, I've started doing some resistance training at the Centennial fitness centre, and that's what I did this morning. More on that later too.

I'm probably going to run a food diary on here at some stage. I doubt I could manage every day for 12 weeks, and you'd get bored with that anyway.

To be honest, I'm still having issues with my body fat percentage, and that's what's mostly sitting at the top of my mind and motivating me right now. According to plenty of websites, I'm borderline obese. Okay, I shouldn't be completely surprised. I know people who don't look that big can have a high body fat, but I just didn't realise I was going to be one of them. Now I do!

01 in the beginning

First weigh in and body fat calculation complete!

Tonight was the first meeting of the Really Shape Up competitors at the Pioneer rec & sport centre.

We got to meet the fitness team and introduce ourselves, before the dreaded weigh in. People are pretty amped for the challenge and already talking about what exercise they'll be doing.

Here's how I measured up -

Height: 159cm (yes, short)
Weight: 64.4kgs
Body fat: 32.8%

Body fat was a bit of an eye-opener. Fantastic fitness trainer Ron tells me it should be between 15 and 25%. Not good, but let's get it lower, kids.