Another Year, Another Time to Try Again.

I came to the realisation the other week that while I'm miserable and hate my working conditions and my family sitch, I don't need to make it worse on myself by also making myself miserable about my size and the fact that I don't fit into my clothes.  In fact, out of the big 3, this is the one I have the most control of.  So I should control it, and be responsible for it. 

I'm gonna get a hold of this eating sensibly and moving meaningfully business.  

I've started relogging in my MFP diary, and I sat down this weekend to foodplan what I was going to eat for each meal & when I was going to cook what. 
     Not gonna lie, it took a while.
   
Thinking about what I wanted when was time consuming.
     I had trouble thinking so far ahead to Thursday & Friday.  I wrote the meal plan out on a sheet of paper, with a basic idea of what I was going to eat for breakfast, morning tea, lunch & dinner.  For example, tonight for dinner I am having tortellini with a spinach based pasta sauce.  I sat down and planned out (as best I could) for a whole week in advance.  Probably took me over 60 minutes.  I got distracted or frustrated along the way too.
     Writing the specific details into my (paper) food diary wasn't too bad.  That only took about 15 minutes for the whole week, given I had to flip back and forth between pages as I realised that I would need to create a recipe for the green sauce, so I needed to list the ingredients for that.  I keep a paper food diary in a notebook so I have somewhere to write down how much everything weighs.  This is especially useful for when I am creating my own recipes and I don't measure out my quantities in something as arbitrary as 'cups' when the food I am eating isn't liquid, like a stir-fry.
     I would love to know how people know how many cups of food they've cooked without ladelling their whole dish from one container to another 1 cup at a time.  For me it's easier to create a 'recipe' listing the raw weights of the ingredients, weigh the whole thing when it's finished, and then create portions based on 100g serving sizes.  Then, when I do weigh out how much I've eaten, like 335g, I know it's 3.35 servings.    I find it a quicker process.
     It was entering everything in advance in MFP that was trying.  Nearly 1.5 hours to enter a week's worth of logging in advance.  I did it though, so that when it came time to log the weight, I could save time during the week, by already having the ingredients/foods already entered and I wouldn't have to search for everything.  It was quicker on my phone too, than the webpage.  Recipes were easier to do on the computer, but everything else went through the phone. 

On Saturday I went to a butcher to get quality mince and chicken breasts.  I shopped at a Fruit & Vege grocer first, before going to Coles to get everything else I needed.  For the first time in a while, I set myself a food budget, and I think I stuck to it.  <--- This is another much needed motivation.  I was finding myself going through Drive-throughs and spending $20-25 for a meal, sometimes three times a week.  I don't have that much free money to just throw away. 

I decided to join MFP's April 2016 Running Challenge.

I have never really paid attention to how much I walk in a month, so I set myself a fairly low goal of walking 30 km this month (~18mi).  I'm trying for consistency more than I am concentrating on distance.

I always start out with good intentions, and walk 2-3 days in a row, and then... fizzle.  I get lazy.  Or find excuses like I don't have time, or I'm tired.  I'm trying to tackle that by taking the time to evaluate: am I physically tired, or mentally tired? Because there is definitely a difference and I need to work on recognising that, and not letting it get in my way.

I'm re-evaluating my goals.  I'm currently at 110kg and I wanted my first goal weight to be 90kg because that's the BMI cutoff between being obese and merely overweight.  I've stepped it back a fair bit and am going for 105kg, because that becomes the distinction between Obese Class II and Obese Class I.  I'll look into setting myself 5kg goals after that.

I've also measured 7 points around my body to keep a track of too, because it's not really about weight for me.  I honestly couldn't care if the scales said 400kg! It's the fact that I don't fit into clothes that really gets me down.  So taking (and writing down!) those measurements and entering them into my spreadsheet is going to happen the first Monday of every month.  I won't share them publicly I think, but I will be graphing them to see what happens.

It's Friday already? Oh dear...

So I started the week with a renewed sense of wanting to get fit, organised and healthy.

I went for a 25 minute walk on Tuesday morning.  I planned to go as soon as I got up, but it was around 9:00am before I left the house.  Nearly 2 hours later!!  Mind you, it's the first time I have undertaken any form of exercise in weeks.  Possibly since January to be honest?   It's not surprising then I felt out of it for the remainder of the day.  I split my time between the sofa and my bed.

I still managed to do a bit of washing up, but I also spent a lot of time just kicking back in the air-con (yes!, April and I still have the air-conditioner running some days - it's just that hot).  That's when I wrote the other blog post.  Felt slow and dopey all the rest of the day.

In fact, I kind of felt achy and my skin was tender - like I was coming down with something.  I was originally planning to walk to the shops (1.6km/1 mi each way) to pick up a few things like chicken drumsticks to make chicken soup.  And tomato juice. But I piked out and ended up driving.  And I'm glad I did.  Because when I crave tomato juice, it means I'm getting sick.  A cold or virus.  Urgh!  Just what I don't want when I'm on holiday.  So I made chicken soup with LOTS of vegetables and garlic.  And drank nearly a two litres of liquids before bed.

It helped.  I woke up Wednesday feeling better.  WAY less achy, but with a minor sore throat.  I decided to go for a walk anyway because I figured that a short bout of exercise could only help to boost my immune system.  25 minutes again.

This time, I felt a bit more motivated and later that morning I walked to my nearest hardware store to buy a hose.  I don't own one anymore, and I decided that I really needed to wash out my wheelie bin and my kitchen bin.  So it's easiest to do that in the backyard with the hose.  Especially as Wednesday is bin day, so it was "freshly" emptied.  So that is one of my (many!) holiday jobs done.

I've since spent the rest of the week doing nothing but lounge on the sofa and either be on my laptop or playing games on my phone.  Physically I'm still going back and forth between being better and worse.

For instance, last night I felt really full of phlegm and mucous, and this morning woke with a pretty horrid sore throat.  Gargled salt water, had a few cups of strong black tea with honey.  And am feeling much perkier. I've not got a runny or blocked nose and for that I am incredibly thankful.  Sinus infections just seem to drag on forever don't they?  But I have been coughing a bit.  A wet cough.  *Gross out warning*  I've been coughing up a lot of mucous, but it has only seemed to reach the top of my throat and then I've swallowed it again.  This morning I was finally able to cough some up and spit it out.  Gross I know, but as soon as I did that, I've started to feel better.  

Hmm.... I think I need to leave the house this afternoon and go for at least a small walk.  25-30 minutes like I have been doing.  Try to motivate me again to keep up some momentum.  And plan out what I am going to do with the rest of my weekend.  So I actually stick to it.

Quick thoughts

Now that I'm back home I need to get into the logging habit again.  Slowly but surely, right? 

Already started one good thing when yesterday I ate my portion for dinner... and that was all. ☺  I was about to go and get more food but then I stopped myself.  I self-talked and questioned whether I was really hungry and could I not just let it be for once.  
Now the trick is to make it not just "for once" but for twice, for three times, four times...

Exercising has really been my mainstay.   I've been getting up early nearly every morning.  I skipped yesterday morning because it was raining.  In fact, it was raining this morning too.  But I didn't realise that until I was outside.  It was only a light dusting of precipitation.   If it were 20°C colder, it would have been the nicest lightest snowfall... * sigh*  I miss snow.  Anyhow.  It was light rain when I left the house. Ten minutes into my walk and it became a fraction heavier.  A steady drizzle.  It was heavy enough to be noticeable but too light to bother turning back.

This morning I also did 20 sit-ups for the first time since I don't know when.

☆   ☆   ☆

I mentioned last week I was starting to go through and sort my clothes.  Well, I decided to keep on going and unpack some of the boxes that were still in my bedroom.  I managed to knock through 2 of the big "wardrobe" size boxes yesterday.  Some things that were in there, were packed away in 2011.  I found so much stationery that I bought: pens, textas, highlighters, notebooks, staplers, scissors, erasers, sharpeners, display folders... so. much. stationery...  !!

I also found my sewing machine, my telescope and my exercise mat amongst all the other things.  So, with the duel benefit of having cleared space on the floor (by unpacking two boxes) I also thought I'd start some sit ups again.

So after getting back from my walk this morning, I talked myself into some sit ups.

I'm going to try and make it another daily habit.  I am sure I have said this before, but I think the sit ups help with how much my stomach hangs out from my body.  It's probably really stupid, but I really do think that when I do sit ups, the muscles of my gut get stronger and are more able to hold my tummy in.  In fact when I suck my gut in, even right now at my current size, I can almost fool myself into thinking that it is not so bad. I'm willing to leave the house looking like I do, as long as I concentrate on keeping my gut sucked in. Next Monday when I do photos again for progress I'll do contrast of stomach muscles relaxed versus tensed.  I'll bet there's a difference.

Merry Tidings of Joy to you all

Okay. So I'm now at my mums place and already I've eaten things out of my diet plan.

Christmas is hard because 1 - Mum makes food that I don't normally eat. 2 - I have limited idea what the ingredients are and in what quantities.  3 - I won't be able to weigh out the amounts of what I eat, because we have guests over and it wouldn't be good manners to show them I'm trying to do something about my unhealthy size. *Sigh*

I'm also the taste tester.  Not voluntarily but because I'm the only one. So much for watching every bite, lick and taste. ☺

There really isn't much to be done about it though is there?


Well, there is something that I can do right? I can keep exercising.  Over the last week I've been getting better at getting into the routine of getting up in the morning and going for a 3km walk.  I even got up this morning and went out.  Traversed some of the terrain that I used to wander as a teenager.  Made me realise just how much I used to walk everywhere...!

I'm in the process of coming up with my new years resolutions. As usual most of them are health and fitness based.  Joining a gym is high up there.  Need to do some research though because I'm going to be in split locations next year, spending time in two different suburbs.   I'm thinking one of those 24 hour gyms where you join one - you join 'em all type deals.  Hoping that all the specials for gym membership come up soon.

Anyhow, we're about to have our Christmas Day breakfast.  Leftovers yay!

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Nöel, Szczęśliwego Bożego Narodzenia and Feliz Navidad.

These boots are made for walking

So this week has been better mental health-wise and food wise.  I've actually stuck to my food plan and have eaten lunch everyday at lunch time.  (The emphasis is necessary!).  There have been a few not so great food choices in there too, like a 5-pack of Tim-Tams, but that was on Thursday, and it fit with my calories, as you'll see below.

In terms of exercise, well... not much.  No swimming, no zumba, no couch to 5k.  :(  I was not able to get up early and exercise in the morning, simply due to my doona being far too comfy.  Mmmmmm : ).  I did however walk out of my way a little in the past few days.

I dropped off my car for servicing on Wednesday afternoon (yes!  I finally managed to get that organised! : D ).  I purposely chose the dealership only so I could walk home!  I managed to rack up an extra 4.2 km to my day by doing that.  And saved money by not going through public transport.  Brisbane happens to have some of the highest public transport fares in the world (so I've been told).  If I had chosen to walk the 1km/10min to the train station, and caught the train home, I would have travelled ONE station, b/c my station is the first on that suburban line, and I would have had to pay $3.53.  To travel 4minutes?  No thanks, I'd rather walk the 40 minutes instead!

This also meant that on Thursday, I walked to work (35minutes) and walked from work to where I dropped off my car (~45min).  I actually kind of enjoyed doing that, because I ended up walking paths where there were a lot of other people who walk as their commute.  I felt so cool, because I was walking like everybody else.  I work just outside the CBD, but still within inner city boundaries, so there's tons of people walking for commute.  If at anytime I felt tired or like I should have taken up the offer of the bus or taxi, I just reminded myself that thousands of people do this everyday.  And it does them no harm. 

Makes me want to try and recommence walking to work everyday again. 

Well okay, let's be realistic here.  Maybe like, twice a week! :)

Rainy Rain

Hi there! 
I've been away the last few days for a conference, so good eating and exercise have completely left me for the time being.

So, back in town today and working on getting the eating back together - very busy time at work at the moment, certainly until the end of next week.  So crazy times, and the thing that is sliding at the moment is proper food prep!  Urgh! :(  I'm finding I just don't get enough time in my lunchtime to sit and eat, so I am eating more in the evening.  And because I'm tired and hungry, I am trying to get food into me quickly - so it's not the most nutritionally balanced food.  One more week, and then I'm on holidays - yeah!  Time to clear out space in the freezer and cook foods for the next couple of months! :) 

So, eating hasn't been great.  But, I'm happy to keep up the exercising.  I didn't get a chance to much this past week, unless it's been walking from the building where we stayed, up the hill to the dining hall, down the hill to the 'outdoor teamwork' area, and so on. 

After work today, I was so keen to head out for a walk, clear my head, stretch my legs...  except it's raining.  And not a light drizzle, but a steady downpouring of rain that could turn into flash flooding.  If it were a drizzle or shower of rain, I'd take my brolly and just go.  But this is the sort of rain that no matter how much you wrap up, dress up, you are going to get wet. 

So no.

Instead, I decided I needed to move regardless, so I thought I'd see what YouTube could offer me.  I wasn't really feeling a 'bodyweight' workout or anything yoga like.  So I did a Leslie Sansone 'Walk At Home' video I found. 

WOW!  What a workout!!  I picked the '1 Mile' walk just to see what it was like.  I can't believe walking in place can get you so sweaty and raise your heart rate so much!  Whew!  According to Nike+ Fitness app, I burnt 321 Calories. 

Niiiiiice.