Fail to Plan? Then Plan to Fail.

Our Overseas guests have arrived, My two weeks annual leave has started, now the challenge to find time to exercise, and eat the correct things really begins.


Got up at 5am, for a walk around the lake with Mel. Now on with the day.


We will be spending today at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which luckily means quite a bit of walking around, but it also means I have the dilemma of what to eat.


The old me would have probably headed of without breakfast, and then just had a plate of wedges or something when I got really hungry, grabbed a bag of chips, a coke and a choc bar when really started to fade, then after a fun day out I would've said to my husband, "I'm too exhausted to organise dinner, how about we drive through Macca's on the way home".
As pathetic as it sounds, it is accurate... and freaking expensive! 


Where I fall down is my failure to plan in advance.  When I haven't organised and already made definite decision as to what will be going in my mouth, I choose whatever is around, which is generally high in fat, low in nutrients, and expensive because I am paying someone else to prepare it for me.  Yes that is right, paying someone to feed me crap... all because I was too unorganised.




The new me however has planned for our day out.

• I have packed my water bottle.
• I have made a Quinoa Salad, and packed 9 forks.
• I have made some mini fruit salads to share.
• I have snaplock bags containing rice crackers.
• And because we will have 5 children on today's adventure, I have packed a 6 pack of juices.

We have all had a good breakfast before heading out, and I have set up the Slow cooker to be ready when we get home.


Now I am planning to Succeed!  FAIL is not a word I am allowing in my vocabulary today.

Addiction

Yep, my vices are (were) all the usual suspects.

• Chocolate
• Chips
• Fried Chicken
• Lollies
• Burgers
• Pizza
• Soft Drink
• French Fries
• Ice cream
• Cheese

I still haven't started Pre-season on the 12WBT yet, so I don't yet know how I should be dealing with these Addictions, so I will muddle through as best I can in the meantime.

Its hard to go cold turkey on these things, it's probably not a good idea to deprive my body of these things, that I have fed it for 25 years (I say 25 not 40, because my mother didn't feed me these things (excessively) as a child, I did it to myself as an adult.)

To deprive would cause cravings > cravings test my willpower > my willpower inevitably fails > I feel bad for failing again > I start emotional eating and reach for the usual suspects to make me feel better.  Best not deprive myself of all these things completely - everything in moderation. 

http://www.paintingsilove.com/artist/johnbarnes

However I did make myself a New Years Resolution to give up Fizzy Drink (unless it's mixed with Alcohol on a Special Occasion - I am having a 40th Birthday party remember - I do need to be practical and realistic).    My Father has long been telling me I drink too much of that crap... and he is right, but don't you dare tell him I said that!  Sad fact is that a 1.5L bottle of Fizzy, is cheaper than a Litre of Milk, or a 600ml bottle of water , and you can't get a Fruit Juice in the same ballpark - It shouldn't be the way, but it is, and it is this type of insanity that has caused the obesity rates to skyrocket.  



Check out the Research

Not that Coke in particular was my drink of choice, I'm more of a Pepsi Max fan, with a side of Mountain Dew, and Lemonade, and Fanta, and Pub Squash.... I am now having ice cold water instead, and had already been making the change slowly over time, but I am now committed to cutting them out altogether.   DAY 4 and still going strong.

Well what can I say, Addictive personalities run in my family - Why fight it?  I'll just replace it with something else that can give me the same endorphin rush, and what do you know ...  Zumba does that!

I have the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Zumba Instructor, Kassy 

 Not only can she move like nothing you've ever seen, 
but she truly cares about her students, 
and we love shaking our tushies to those Zumba Tunes.
Last night I did my 2nd class for the week, 
with another scheduled for Friday night.

The Amazing Zumba Kass

Zumbathon in Full Swing

A Marathon Effort

I'm kidding ...Right?
I don't really think I can run a Marathon yet...Do I?
Nah, you are right...I don't.  But I did have a Fun Run/Marathon of some sort on my Bucket List, and it is one thing that I really thought I would never cross off. 


I can, however, work towards a 5km or 10km Run at this years Gold Coast Marathon on June 30 2012.  I'm thinking of doing 4km or 8km on May 13, 2012 in the Mother's Day Classic

GULP!!
Did I really just say that....out loud!


Cass (I told you about her yesterday) has convinced me that I will be able to achieve this Goal, so I am officially starting the 20 week Training Programme.  I have a running programme to follow. It starts with interval training, run 4mins, walk 2mins (x 4) and slowly increases each week until I can run 10km. It's called the 'Beginner 10K Training Programme' so if I follow it, and then can't do the 10km route at the GCMarathon, then I'm suing for false advertising .


I am going to get up at 5am tomorrow morning and start Day 1... Baby steps.

It'll be real when I have officially entered, but I actually think I can do this.  Me saying that in the first place is a miracle, only a few days ago I was still thinking Cass had rocks in her head.


There...I have written it down, I am now accountable to you.

My Goals and My Inspiration.

I have a few goals that I will share over time, but I'm starting with the fitness goals first.


Yesterday I told you how and where i started moving, and now I have a bit of momentum, I can tell you where I am going with it.
A bit of background... 
I have lost weight before, and put it back on, and lost it again... Actually I lost the same 13kgs twice 2 years apart!
Yes folks, I'm a Yo-Yo dieter...Correction, I WAS a Yo-Yo dieter.


This time it's different. I have a different focus. It's not about Weight, It's about Fitness. I have finally accepted that I will never be a size 8, with a model figure, and actually realised that is not really what I want anyway.


What I do want is :

• Feel Healthy
• To buy clothes of the rack in boutiques - not the plus size store
• To be able to run around with my kids and kick the ball
• Go on adventures
• And not just sit on the sidelines and watch.

A friend of mine recently did a round of Michelle Bridges 12WBT Challenge (12 week Body Transformation). For those of you who don't already know, Michelle is the female trainer from the Australian The Biggest Loser. 

I had assumed that the price would be out of my reach, and that its just another program where I would pay and I would fail myself again - I know, i know, Great positive attitude there Mandy, but you don't know how much money I have spent over the years on Weight watchers, Gym memberships etc, only to be in the same place.
Anyway, Cassandra joined up, and has just completed her first round 15kgs lighter! I am impressed with that Weight loss, but more importantly, I am impressed with how this program has changed her attitude towards exercise.  At the start of the program she couldn't run for 1 minute, now she can run for an hour! Wow-wee!  I want what she's having!...So I have signed up for Round 1 of 2012. 
Michelle Bridges, I am all yours!
At a cost of only $199 (or 12 weekly payments of $19.99 - which is the option I chose) It's actually not too bad, I mean, I betcha I spend more than $20 a week on Junk food.  

So, Pre-season starts January 16th. Pre-season is 4 weeks of preparation before the actual 12 weeks start - so really you are getting 20 weeks of Michelle's expertise!  The preseason includes kitchen preparation, goal setting etc.

I am really looking forward to this, and super excited that not only Cassandra has signed up for another round so I will have her support, but two of my cousins Melissa & Leigh have also joined up. We live in different countries, but with the internet and tools such as forums, facebook, youtube, skype... we really are doing it together.

Cassandra showing me it can be done

I want to Thank Cassandra for showing me what is possible, I can't wait to start this program.

While I am at it - Special mention as well to another Cousin Cyndi, who started a FaceBook Group called "Just Do It", it's private, by invite only, and so far has about 60 of us who post what we have done 'exercise' and how we are feeling, and we encourage each other, and support each other...and I don't believe I would have this momentum without you guys.

Universe, I put in my order...

I've been singing this song in my head since I wrote the last post.
It's prophetic in a way. I have nowhere to run and hide, not now that I have put this out here in cyberspace... 
but I do have somewhere to run to.

You see.. this is me

and this is who I want to be.

I have long dreamed of the life I want to have; I have read The secret, watched Oprah, made vision boards and 'put it out there'.

Of the many things I told the universe that I wanted, one was a life where I was fit and healthy, where I would get up in the mornings and go for a run along the water before work.

Problem was, I was obese*, lazy, undisciplined.. the list really could go on. 

I told the universe what I wanted, and sat back and expected it to come to me.  The universe (or God if you prefer that name) is amazing and can provide the most awesome things, but you need to do the work to recieve the rewards.

You would have heard the story, and if you have read or seen Eat Pray Love, by Liz Gilbert you would know the following anecdote 

So, I hadn't even realised that since I originally 'put in that request' with the universe in 2006, 5 years later I am living in a house which is less than 100m from a lake with an awesome 4km track around it that I could run every morning. The universe had fulfilled my request, all that was missing was me.

As much as I want it, I have to do it, no one can do it for me. I needed to get up every morning and buy a ticket for the life I asked for... and for goodness sake the ticket is free.  What the hell was i waiting for?

At 101 kilos (the heaviest i got - that I know of) starting to run is a bit daunting. I couldn't do it. My body didn't want to. It hurt, and cried and pleaded to stop every time I tried. 
The truth is I hated exercise, and would avoid it an any cost.
Excuse after excuse after excuse after excuse....
Then the universe gave me a helping hand.  It gave me Zumba.
It took me about 8 weeks of saying I was going to give it a try, before I actually got brave enough to walk into that hall on my own and try a class!


That was the first day of the rest of my life.
Moving my body to music, ...they call it dancing, ... is exercise, and I loved it.  I was buzzing from the first class, I was uncorordinated, unfit, sweating, puffed, but it was ok.. the music pulled me through. 
An hour once a week, quickly became not enough, increased to two, then three.  
I felt different. I joined in on a workplace challenge to increase activity, and started walking the lake to increase my 'minutes' of activity.
Before i knew it Zumba had me fit enough to actually try running, starting at a certain mark on the track, and each time trying to improve on that if only even a few steps.

The route around the lake - I have increased my run to 

So there we have it! The universe has given me my request, and I hadn't even realised. I am running around the lake.  I have a long way to go to reach my goals...which you will hear about tomorrow.


*World Health Organisation says a BMI greater than 30, is in the Obese category.