The numbers......

It was the week for numbers. Time to weigh in and do body scans – at first I was curious to see how I was going, then I started to feel dread – what if the numbers went the wrong way.

 

Many people are focused purely on what the scales tell them. I had considered buying scales to use at home. I thought that by seeing the numbers on a regular basis it would be my motivation to keep going. I had never been motivated by the numbers on the scale in the past so why would I this time around?

Time to check in on myself. What was my why in re-joining Fernwood and sacrificing sleep in the morning to head off to the gym. It was to gain more energy. It had nothing to do with the numbers, the numbers were secondary and only a goal I set after a few weeks I saw weight loss. So back to the main purpose, was I feeling more energised? YES I WAS.

 

I had created a habit of turning up 3-4 times a week and getting ‘huffy and puffy’. I had also created a new habit of eating right largely thanks to the Challenge. I had support within Fernwood to stay focused on those goals. I was doing more for my own health and wellbeing now than what I was 4 months ago, winning.

What did my numbers show me? They were moving in the right direction – the ones that were supposed to go up were going up, the ones that were supposed to go down were going down. Happy dance. Then I thought – I would like those increases/decreases to be greater. I then asked myself to get that result what did I need to do. The answer, I just needed to keep doing what I was doing but get better at it. More sessions at the gym, less straying into bad food habits.

At the half way mark of the challenge my new ‘bigger’ goals are five times visiting Fernwood and zero tolerance on bad foods (makes me feel sick anyway!). Giving me more energy and more focus to meet the needs of my exciting life!

Be Present

I am more than aware of the importance of being present in your life. I write about it in my book. On Monday this week I was walking home from Fernwood after a workout. The endorphins are running, the air is warm and crisp, the sun is rising over Mt Buninyong, Ballarat is waking up. I tap into all of those positive feelings. Every step I take I enjoy this moment. I don't think about the 100 jobs waiting for me at home that need to be done in the next hour. I am present in my own body and enjoying that walk home.

On Monday and Tuesday I am feeling great - as Lee woud say 'I got this'.

Then on Wednesday I can't get to my early morning workout - instead I steal some cuddles and kisses from my daughter. I get the day started. School drop off and head off to a 9.30 appointment. My head is thinking ahead through everything I need to have done for today, tomorrow night and Friday. My mind is racing, I was actually awake half the night thinking about everything that I needed to do (that coffee at 5pm was a BAD idea).

I stop at the red light, my mind racing, I go - only the car in front is still stopped at the red light. Crash. I close my eyes, open them, I have just hit a car. All because I was too busy thinking about things I shouldn't have been at that time. Luckily all passengers were OK - shaken - and both cars can get repaired.

After organising all the insurance and checking the cars were OK to drive, I retreat home for cuddles with my dog. This was the universe telling me to slow down and be present in my life. However the first thing I did today was not eat - my bad food habit - I didn't eat all day and then reached for sugary lollies to get the energy. So bad.

Tonight I not only feel bad for the accident that I caused and the excess I need to find, but my old food habit taking over - and not getting to the gym.

I am grateful today for my family, who I happily hung out with tonight instead of heading back into Fernwood. I am also grateful for the lessons I have learned today - here is to being more in the present tomorrow and every day after that! A return to the feeling I had on Monday.

Self Care is key to a healthy lifestyle

This week I could have easily fell into that feeling of failure towards the 12 week challenge that I did in the first week. Instead I turned it into self care - and I even had a massage!

This time last week I actually wasn't sure how I would meet all of my commitments for this week, and I hadn't even considered the commitment to get to Fernwood. This week I have travelled 532km's, (not counting playing mum taxi) and spoken five times at four different events. I have networked, celebrated International Women's Day, met some work deadlines, sold some books and my ecourse. Every day I have stuck to the meal plan, had more than enough water, walked twice to school with my daughter and dragged myself to an early morning PT session with Emily-who slowed it down a bit for me (thanks!), although I am still sore today. SO I am not going to think of the three gym sessions that I didn't get to, or any of the challenge meetups I didn't attend.

The first week showed me that I am doing this for long lasting benefits, beyond the 12 weeks, to change my lifestyle to a healthier one, and to look after myself better. Part of looking after myself is to now when I am busy in one area of my life I need to slow down in another - I really truly only have so much time in the day and I still need sleep.

One of the other things I have struggled with is meal prep - things have been pretty busy in my house lately - so I took Monday as a day to plan ahead and get on top of my house needs. To fit the Fernwood meal plan into my meal planning for my family and make it easier for me to prepare food for myself so I eat the right things - all day.

Having a massage was an absolute indulgence this week. I regularly have massages, this week I truly needed it. Helping to loosen up muscles that have been working in the last 6 weeks that haven't worked for a long time. De-stressing in the middle of a crazy week and really what a way to honour International Women's Day!

Next week is not as insane, so I really look forward to resetting and resuming my 6am out of bed and off to Fernwood routine and hopefully to some challenge meetups also!

Pressing the Reset Button

I pressed the reset button and got back into the challenge this week with all my heart. My big lesson this week is that I need to get planned and organised around food - because that is what gets me through the day and week. What is more it stops me 'snacking' on wrong foods! I also learned that my time at Fernwood is in the morning - the longer the day goes on the more excuses I have for not going!

There seems to be loads of discussion around the food - I started the 28 day breakthrough before beginning the challenge and from that I learned two things. 1) my daughter wouldn't eat the meals, and our family has two rules - we eat together and we eat the same thing. So it was back to our family meals. Plus I have a thermomix and I can't have it just sitting on the bench! The other thing I learned with the 28 day program was that there was way too much meat for me, so for the 12 week challenge I switched to the vegetarian option - yummo! The bonus us that I have healthy snacks and lunch planned - so I don't skip a meal and then graze!

I really don't like dealing with food and hate thinking about what to eat - so I plan meals for one month, I (online) supermarket shop once a fortnight and do fresh foods (fruit & veg market, butcher and health food shop) weekly. I also try and cook up on the weekend - including meals and school snacks.

The biggest challenge I have had with the meals is fitting them into my meal planning for my family - then I was shown the search function in the recipes. Now I can plan it all out!

I have a really busy week with work coming up - so next week anytime at Fernwood is going to be bonus time - I will be spending time preparing ahead a lot of meals so that I can take them with me and still eat well!

This week Emily made me work hard in PT and it felt good and I also got a new program, which is always a good motivation to keep on going!