The week that was

WOW! Another week is gone...I cannot believe that we are almost into May.

This year is speeding by, which made me look at how far i have come since starting this journey in January. I know my weight hasn't changed much in the last few weeks (keeping in mind I'm on a scale detox, so I'm not really sure what my weight is doing) but I am a lot fitter than I was 4 months ago and I am trying hard every day to make the healthier food choice. I have dropped a pants size since I have started and I'm giving myself a few more weeks before I hit the shops for a bit of winter retail therapy, as most of my winter clothes are too big for me already.

This past week has been a rather challenging one. My mom landed up in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning with atrial fibrillation. This was the third time she has had such an episode and each time is just as scary, if not more, than the first. I lost my dad 14 years ago this month and I cannot imagine losing my mom too! Thankfully, the capable doctors at Vergelegen Mediclinic did a cardio version and mom was admitted for a few days for more observation and an angiogram, which thankfully showed no irregularities. With all the "excitement" and driving up and down of the past week, I missed a session with Suzy and relied heavily on the convenience of Woolies for dinnertime meals. By Friday I felt rundown, exhausted and my cold was still lurking, so when my alarm went off at 4:30am, the mind was willing but the body was weak...and I decided to have a sleep-in instead of going walking.

The hubby had a fishing competition to attend on Saturday, so I had decided that not to do parkrun this week. After missing my walk on Friday morning, I felt quite guilty and almost like something special was missing out of my day. So when a close friend sent me a message on Friday evening asking whether she could join me for her first parkrun on Saturday, I thought "Why not?". It would be a bit of a challenge, as I would have to take little Miss E along in her pram, which is not really suited for trail running, but I was up for the challenge.Master J was thrilled when I told him we were in fact going to do parkrun.

Saturday arrived and we were up bright and early and off to Root 44 we went to help celebrate their 100th event - what a perfect day for it, albeit a bit chilly to start with. We had a lovely walk through the vinyards and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Even though we went at a snails pace, we finished the race and my arms got an extra workout from trying to keep the pram on course. But more importantly, I showed my children that we can have fun together while being healthy. And I now know that my pram can survive a trail run, so no more excuses of having to watch the kids when dad can't. 

After our walk I treated the kids to a pancake and indulged in a delicious coffee at the market. It felt so good being outside in the fresh air and sunshine and having catch up session with a special friend. What a great way to destress after a rather hectic week!

Here's to a happier, less stressful week of healthy food choices and lots of exercise!

Until next time, 

XX-L

Where have I been?

Life goes by so fast! Days melt together into one big blur and before you know it a whole week has disappeared. Sometimes you just need to slow down a bit and smell the roses. That is what I did this school holiday with my kiddies. We enjoyed some much needed quality time together.

Our holiday didn't start off great. The ghastly gastro bug made its way through the whole family, leaving us all a bit weak and open to other bugs....namely the cold and flu virus. So we have sniffed our way through the Easter holidays. But we did not let this put a dampener on our mood!

Admittedly, Easter was TOUGH and by Sunday a serious case of Easter egg regret had set in. On Easter Monday we decided to make the most of the lovely weather and (very) early wake up (thanks to the littlies) and headed down to the beach for a walk. Master J has been wanting to do parkrun with me since he volunteered with me a few weeks ago. I was a bit hesitant to start with because 5km is a looooong way for little legs. I thought that our walk on the beach would be a good indicator as to whether he would be able to manage. Well, I was impressed. He RAN the full 4.5km beach walk! So, last weekend he went to do his first parkrun with me. I can proudly say he finished his first parkrun in a better time than my personal best and beating me by a whole 4 minutes!!!! And I am sure it would have been an even bigger gap had I not insisted he stay within my sights (up to the last km). One proud mamma here! Now I have one running obsessed little boy on my hands...and another parkrun convert. So operation "Fit Family Smit" is well underway. 😁

I have decided to take a bit of a break from my scale for 6 weeks. My next weigh in will be the first week of June...which will also coincide with hubby and my 8th wedding anniversary. The reason for my "scale detox" is simple: I was becoming slightly obsessed and started weighing myself every time I was in the bathroom. So until June I will be relying only on the measuring tape and my clothes to tell me whether all my hard work and healthy food choices is working.

Speaking of the measuring tape, it was time to measure with Suzy last week. Even though I could feel on my clothes that I had lost centimeters, I was feeling very nervous. So here is how my body has changed between the beginning of March and the beginning of April: 

 

So for the month of March I lost a total of 22.5cm. Somehow we forgot to measure my hips at the beginning of March, so it could have been more, but I am happy with my results so far.

After watching the Two Oceans Marathon, some of my walking partners have decided to start the 8 week couch to 5k running program. I would love to start jogging, but at this stage I am still too heavy and my hips and knees just would not cope. So, when they jog I power walk. But, I have added a half marathon (maybe the Two Oceans?) to my "2016/17 to do list". What an achievement that would be! 

School started today again which means life can go back to normal. Back to early nights to bed (well, as early as I can manage - I'm aiming for 10pm) and super early morning workouts. I need to focus on eating cleaning, prepping my food in advance and drinking more water. I have also started reading "Sugar Free" by  Karen Thomson and Kerry Hammerton. I'll write more about this book in a future blog, but for now I'll tell you that it's made me look at my relationship with food in a different light.

 

Until next time,

XX-L