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