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