What a week!

Jeepers! Creepers! Our household is a busy one. We are always on our way to one activity or another, but this past week we have also had a birthday boy, a teething tot and a ghastly gastro bug thrown into the mix!

On Thursday evening I had the absolute privilege to attend the Michael Buble concert at Cape Town Stadium. Those of you who know me, will know that I am besotted with him. So you can imagine my excitement about going to see him live for the fourth time. My excitement was doubled when I was getting dressed for the concert and put on my jeans for the first time in weeks, only to realise that they were too big! WOOHOO!!! So I am now one step closer to one of my goals of wearing a size 22 pant by spring.

The concert was amazing and MB was a fabulous entertainer, as always. However, my Buble high was short lived when hubby phoned me to say that Miss E was running a fever. Not exactly how I had imagined the start to Master J's birthday weekend. So I had a double challenge on my hands: no emotional eating due to lack of sleep and stress over a sick baby; and not to indulge in any party treats that filled my cupboards before the party on Monday. You would think it would be quite a challenge, right? Wrong! Easy peasy when a gastro bug is involved.

I finally got a chance to return to my beloved parkrun on Saturday morning. It really is such a wonderful event. This week I got to see for the first time what goes on "behind the scenes" as a volunteer. It takes 15 volunteers to make a parkrun run smoothly. My job this week was to be on token support. I thoroughly enjoyed my morning and watching all the runners and walkers coming in - some cheerful and chatty while others were serious and meant business. Close to the end of proceedings, my tummy gave a flip and I knew that something was brewing.

Turns out I had caught the dreaded gastro that has been doing the rounds in Somerset West....and this with a party to prep for on Monday!!! STRESS!!!! At least it meant that I was not tempted to cheat on any party things at all.

With all our activities and "cooties", I have been unable to walk with my girls or train with Suzy since Friday and I have really missed it. I am not a natural athlete and have never been crazy about doing sport, but I can honestly tell you that I cannot wait to get back to my walking girls and Suzy. I have missed the glow after a workout, missed the feeling of accomplishment (and dare I say, I have missed the comfort of my tights and tekkies). I know I have been sick, but my body feels sluggish and heavy in the mornings when i get up and by the late afternoon I could do with a nap. I need my endorphin fix again!

One positive is that a gastro bug always helps the scale to move. This week I shifted 1.8kgs (most of which was probably water). So now I tip the scales at 128.2kg. That brings my total weight loss since January to 7.5kgs. It's almost the end of the month, which means that I will measure again. I will admit that I am quite excited to see how many centimeters I have lost, as I can definitely feel it on my clothes.

With everything that's happened in the last few days, I feel exhausted! This made me think about my diet and how to get back into the swing of things, after living off flat Coke for 5 days, and also about my training. I intend to eat very carefully until I know for sure that my tummy has settled, but after that I want to eat clean - loads of fresh fruit and veg, packed with vitamins to give my body a bit of a boost and water to rehydrate. I also want to introduce some stretching or yoga into my workout routine to aid relaxation and manage my stress levels. I have downloaded the Yoga Studio App which includes various yoga routines at different difficulty levels. In the coming week I would like to try doing two or three routines. How do you cope with stress or relax?

Here's to a healthier week!

Until next time,
XX-L

Food Diary & Sports Day Shinanigans

My son is a very picky eater while my daughter will eat practically anything, including the dog's pellets! Up until now, I have been ordering special home made baby food for little miss E. However, we decided that because she was so "easy" when it comes to eating that we should try letting her eat whatever we are having for dinner. This made me even more aware of what WE eat.

So this past week I hauled out good old Annabel Karmel's cookbook. My reasoning is that if it is suitable and nutritious for a baby/toddler to eat her food, then surely it can't be too bad for adults? AK includes plenty of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices in her recipes. We will see whether the scale agrees with my reasoning!

(This is the AK cookbook that I use.)

I tried to eat my main meal at lunch time and then just have a snack at dinner time. Admittedly, I struggled with this! I managed to eat the leftovers from the previous night at lunch time, but once I smelled dinner, all resistance crumbled and I had a plate of cooked food at night too. So the lesson I have learned this week is that I need to work on my self discipline (no surprises there!)

My food diary for the past week looks like this:

Monday: 

Breakfast - smoothie made with yogurt mango, pineapple and banana (I celebrated a very good friend's 40th birthday at Vergelegen Wine Estate and this was the most legal option on the menu).

Lunch - Ham and cheese sarmie

Snack- Vienna

Dinner- Yogurt with mixed seeds and strawberries

Tuesday: 

Breakfast: 1 toast with 2 boiled eggs

Lunch - 2 bobotie bites

Snack - Vienna and banana

Dinner - Chicken with summer veg and rice

Wednesday: 

Breakfast - toast with 2 boiled eggs

Lunch - Chicken with summer veg and rice 

Dinner - Savoury mince and rice

Today I didn't have snacks so by dinner time I was ravenous!

Thursday:

Breakfast - 1 toast with honey 

Lunch - Savoury mince and rice

Snack - Yogurt with mixed seeds and 10 grapes

Dinner - Stewed lamb, broccoli, butternut (We had our weekly family dinner at my inlaws with my MIL's scrummy food...at least I didn't have rice or potatoes!)

Friday: 

Breakfast - toast with honey

Lunch - Hotdog

Dinner - Kfc burger and ice cream

(My weekend weakness!!!😢)

Saturday:

No breakfast (was in a rush to get to master J's sports day)

Snack - Half a boerewors roll (the half master J didn't want)

Lunch - McDonalds Mcfeast meal with chips

Dinner - nothing as I was still full from lunch 

( BAD DAY!)

Sunday: 

Breakfast - muesli, fruit and yogurt (courtesy of Woolies Cafe)

Lunch - homemade hamburger with bacon, cheese and mushroom sauce 😳

Dinner - Tuna tagliatelle (which I actually made for the kiddos for dinner tonight and for myself and hubby for lunch tomorrow)

Even though my eating habits have changed significantly since starting this journey, there is still a lot of room for improvement. I am still adamant that I do not want to follow a diet, but rather change my lifestyle and in this way "shed my load". In the week ahead, I will try to eat my main meal at lunchtime and just a light snack for dinner. I will also try to have my light dinner a bit earlier than usual. We usually only eat dinner after we have put the kids to bed. Neither of them have afternoon naps any more so I give them their dinner by 5pm and then hubby and I have dinner around 7pm.

On Saturday it was master J's sports day at school. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was to run in the mom and son race with him. Last year I was terribly embarrassed as I hobbled along, so I was determined to put on a better "show" this year. Boy, oh boy did I put on a show! About half way into the race I could feel how my body was waaaay ahead of my feet and both the little man and I crashed over the finish line, ploughing into the dry grass, dress flying over my head (thank goodness for tights to save my dignity). I got up almost as soon as I hit the ground, wishing it would rather swallow me up. I wanted to die of embarrassment! The only thing worse than being the "fat mom" is being the "fat mom who falls infront of everyone"!!! Not only did I feel embarrassed for myself but also for my poor boy who so desparately wanted to win the race. I tried my best to laugh it off but couldn't hold back the tears when my darling said to me in the car on the way home, "Mommy, we were going so fast that we crashed!". The heart of a child is so pure and innocent. Bless him!

With the exception of the grazed arm, stiff knee and bruised ego I came out of the situation unscathed and with more determination than ever to become leaner, fitter and stronger.

(Image: Pinterest)

Until next time,

XX-L

Training wheels

For the past month i have been walking 3 times a week with some wonderful ladies. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning we all get up while the rest of our families are still sleeping soundly, put on our tights and tekkies and make our way down to the beach. There is something about knowing that there is someone waiting for you to walk with them that makes getting up at 4:30am a tad (and i mean only a tad) easier. We walk no matter the weather. The camaraderie is awesome and i really appreciate these ladies efforts to encourage and support me.

However, over the past month, my muscle mass has decreased and my body fat % has increased. After doing a bit of research and talking to a few people in the know, i decided that it was time to take this fitness regime to the next level. One of my walking buddies does group training with a personal trainer, Suzy, and they were kind enough to invite me to join their group. Group training is great as you get the individual attention of the trainer but you also have the other ladies there "suffering" with you.

So i started my strength training with Suzy on Tuesday this week. It's safe to say that on Wednesday i could feel muscles in places i didn't know i had any. 

What does a training session consist of, you ask? During my first session we did 3 sets of various body weight exercises. These included push ups, various types of sit ups, planking, steps, squats, lunges etc.  After the first set i thought to myself that this wasn't so bad....but halfway through the second set i started to struggle and only just made it through the last set. Every time i felt like throwing in the towel because my muscles were burning, i had to remind myself that i cannot give up. I had to push through because that burn meant it was working. I also thought about the example i was setting for my children. I want them to see that through hard work and perseverance, great things can be accomplished.

 I really enjoyed my first week of strength training! I actually loved that stiff and sore feeling in my muscles the day after because it told me that i worked hard and reminded me to eat clean so as not to undo my hard work. I look forward to another week of early morning training and walking sessions.

I was unable to do Parkrun this weekend and i really missed it! I will also not be able to do it this coming weekend as it is my son's sports day at school and i'll be cheering him on and taking part in the mother and son race. Last year i was so embarrassed when i ran / hobbled along infront of all the other parents. Hopefully this year will be better and i trust that by next year i will be at my goal weight and sprinting along.

In the week ahead i will be keeping a food diary, which i will force myself to publish as a way of keeping myself accountable. So you will see the good, the bad (hopefully not much of that) and the ugly.

Until next time,

XX-L

(Ps. I do NOT look like that while planking...yet!)

Weigh day and Fit-Feb stats

In the Tights and Tekkies household, Monday means weigh day.

So with a heavy heart (and body) i climbed onto my scale this morning and this is what i saw:

Not very good, but perhaps after last week's bad choices, it could have been much worse. I will not be disheartened but this hiccup. So I put on my tights and my tekkies and braved the gale force south-easter to do my walk. This morning i walked a personal best average pace of 10:21min / km, despite the wind and finished 4.54km in 47min! Yay me! That makes getting up at 4:30am worth it!

What i love about Runkeeper is that it allows you to compare your walks from one week or month to the next. And if you are willing to pay their subscription fee, you can compare one work out to the next and get even more insights on how your training is progressing.

My stats for Fit-feb are as follows:
Km walked: 71.1
Ave pace per minute: 12:05
Activities: 19
Calories burned: 7967.1 (this number brings out my OCD...it could have been 8000!)
Elevation climb: 1307.6m
Time spent: 14:20:07

Not too shabby!?!?

In my previous post i was moaning about how i have been losing muscle mass and my body fat % increasing. Today my new trainer, Suzy, told me why. Apparently I have been doing too much of the same type of cardio and not enough (actually none at all) strength training. She suggested that instead of walking 3 times  a week that I rather walk twice a week and swim once a week. This way my body will constantly be challenged. I am also starting strength / weight training with Suzy twice a week. I also need to increase the amount of protein I'm eating in order to build muscle mass and burn fat.

We discussed my goals and where I would want to be in 6 months from now. My short term goal is to weigh 110kg by spring and to go from a size 26 pant to a 22 and a 24 top to a 20. Then came the measurements part. Sit down for this...

Bust : 127cm

Waist:124cm (!!!)

Hips: 144 cm (!!!)

Thighs: left 73cm; right 75cm

Arms: left 37cm; right 36cm

Right! Now I'm ready for part 2 of this journey/challenge and I'll be kicking it up a notch! I better start saving for those Levi's!

Until next time,

XX-L