Thursday:
I had an hour and a half at the gym while the kids did their school holiday program Club Gecko session. I really found it hard today, I just didn't want to be there. I did half an hour of weights then moved on to the elliptical, hoping to find a bit of motivation. Nope. I decided that I didn't have to go for a new Natalie record today, but I did have to stay on there for 30 mins. I struggled along for 3.8 km, which is nothing like my best but still further than my first few tries so I guess it wasn't that slow. Then I was done.
Do I feel guilty that I didn't make use of the full hour and a half I had available, and didn't push myself hard? Do I feel proud that I got in a decent workout for an hour even though I really didn't want to? I'm not sure what the appropriate response is here.
After Gecko and an afternoon tea break, Aiden had his gymnastics -- so another hour and a half of exercise for him. He says he isn't tired, poor little mite. The resilience of the young. When we picked him up we saw his last move; he jumped on one of those little trampolines then into a handstand and curled over onto his back on the mat. Incredible for a five year old! Well, I think so. His trainers are very impressed with him, he is in the accelerated stream. But even if he is good enough, I am not going to push him into competition. Competitive sport is so hard on a little body. Or a bigger one, for that matter. But as long as he enjoys it he can have his lessons, next term increased to two days a week.
A new boy started in Aiden's gymnastics class today but went home before the end because he found it too hard. It was a good opportunity to remind both my kids that different people are good at different things, and that is ok.
This has strayed a bit from weight-loss blogging, but it was on my mind.
Perfect steak for dinner, cob of corn, big salad.
Hopefully I'll have a bit more oomph tomorrow.
Showing posts with label gecko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gecko. Show all posts
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
To Gecko or not to Gecko?
Thursday:
I felt a bit sluggish on the rower today, I assume due to my slight cold (feeling a lot better today already), but I still beat my previous best distance. 4.24 km in 30 mins today.
The kids are starting to get a bit resistant to going to Gecko fitness, although they loved it at first. We get home from school then have afternoon tea and change and go straight out again, three days a week. They don't get much time just to play. Or do their chores or homework. They already do gymnastics and violin lessons. Also, there are a couple of very disruptive little girls in the Gecko class who fight with each other and chew gum & eat lollies the whole time (while exercising!) and don't do as they are told. My kids find that a bit hard to deal with. I was going to cancel today but the gym gave me a number to call and now I am reconsidering. It has its downsides, but it is good exercise. And it gets me to the gym even when I don't want to go. I will think about it some more.
I've been carefully moderating my carbohydrate intake and testing my blood glucose levels and they have been excellent all day. Whatever "impaired glucose tolerance" I have is clearly controllable with diet and exercise. And should be reversable.
I felt a bit sluggish on the rower today, I assume due to my slight cold (feeling a lot better today already), but I still beat my previous best distance. 4.24 km in 30 mins today.
The kids are starting to get a bit resistant to going to Gecko fitness, although they loved it at first. We get home from school then have afternoon tea and change and go straight out again, three days a week. They don't get much time just to play. Or do their chores or homework. They already do gymnastics and violin lessons. Also, there are a couple of very disruptive little girls in the Gecko class who fight with each other and chew gum & eat lollies the whole time (while exercising!) and don't do as they are told. My kids find that a bit hard to deal with. I was going to cancel today but the gym gave me a number to call and now I am reconsidering. It has its downsides, but it is good exercise. And it gets me to the gym even when I don't want to go. I will think about it some more.
I've been carefully moderating my carbohydrate intake and testing my blood glucose levels and they have been excellent all day. Whatever "impaired glucose tolerance" I have is clearly controllable with diet and exercise. And should be reversable.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Rowing like an Olympian
I did BodyPump yesterday and increased my weight for the squats and the back track. Then in the afternoon during Club Gecko I got on the rowing machine again. I realised just as we got to the gym that I could watch the Olympic highlights on the 4pm repeat show if I walked on the treadmill, but after a brief struggle with myself I rowed first -- where I couldn't plug into TV sound and I couldn't see the TV on the Olympic channel except on the back stretch of my row if I leaned back a bit. I did 12 minutes again and improved my distance to 1.97 km (so close to my goal of 2 km! I really sprinted at the end) before jumping on the treadmill for a slow 15 min walk and some Olympic viewing.
Australians have been doing really well in the rowing so there has been a lot of coverage, and this morning I did some research. By coincidence, all races are 2 km; about the same distance I am doing at the moment. I had no idea that was the case, and I've even been a bit frustrated that they never announce before a race how long it will be; it is easier to get excited when you know the finish line is coming up. But they are all a standard 2000 meters these days.
The single women's sculls, the most comparable to me on my machine, were being won in a bit under 8 mins. The losers go over that, of course. I am going to call it 8 mins for convenience; that is a speed of 15 kmph. It takes me 12 mins to go (very close to) the same distance at my speed of (nearly) 10 kmph. I am 2/3 the speed of an Olympian! I think that is awesome! Especially considering I have only been doing this for a week. There are not many sports I could claim to be 2/3 as good as an Olympian. If I moved to a country with no history of rowing maybe I could make the team, like that swimmer a couple of Olympics ago who could barely swim the whole distance and came in a couple of minutes after the rest of the competitors.
Oh, and I heard a commentator say that the rowers (in this case I think it was 4 men) were doing 35 strokes per minute, which is the same as I do on the machine when I am sprinting. So I have that at Olympic standard too. Sort of. For about 30 seconds.
Of course I have no idea, despite my attempts at research, how a rowing machine compares to being in a real boat. I have the resistance set to 5 out of 10, but I read that the drag on a real boat is proportional to your weight so I don't know what 5 out of 10 means in real terms.
Anyway, all this so cool.
No gym today, as Tim has the car; and also my dad is visiting.
photo by Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games
Thursday, July 26, 2012
More rowing
All muscle soreness was gone today and so was most of the uncontrollable hunger. I was pretty tired from all the exercise and a couple of unsettled nights where the kids kept waking up, but at least I wasn't eating all day! Well ... not quite all day.
I had a doctor appointment today to get a prescription repeat, and in the waiting room I was reading a women's health magazine. They suggested eating protein at afternoon tea time to get you through the afternoon. Try 100g of almonds, they said. Really? 100g of nuts as a little snack? I calculate that to be 600 calories, about half the daily allowance of a woman watching her calorie intake. The magazine was a few months old, I wonder if anyone had ever pointed out the mistake, and if they had bothered to correct it in a later issue.
The doctor took my blood pressure (good, as always) and put me on the scales -- 78 kg, the same as this morning at home. He wasn't my usual doctor so talked about my family history a bit; and because my dad is now borderline diabetic and I had gestational diabetes during my second pregnancy, he wants me to have a test every two years. I had one a couple of years after Aiden was born but he is 5 1/2 now. So I need to organise that. I don't think I have any symptoms, but I am in a high risk category. When I did the test when pregnant (you fast and then drink a bottle of high-sugar liquid) I reacted very strongly and had to lie down through most of the two hour monitoring period -- and I had diabetes. The next time I did the test, when I was back to normal, I felt fine the whole time. So I might know the result before the doctors do.
I took the kids to Gecko in the afternoon but -- oh horror -- both the good rowing machines were taken! There are two on the upper floor, next to windows overlooking the pool. They are also closest to where the kids are having their exercise class so I would be more easily found if needed. There are two more downstairs with exciting views of the sweaty behinds of people on the treadmills. So I got on a treadmill for 5 minutes and happily one of the upstairs rowing machines was free by then. I had planned to do 21 mins again and try for a better distance than yesterday, so I went out hard. And was exhausted within minutes. Whether it was rowing fatigue, general tiredness, or just that I was pushing myself harder, I don't know. But I only made it to 12 minutes; 1.93 km which I think is a bit better than last time. I finished off with a cooldown on the treadmill. Overall, today was unintentionally a bit of a rest day for my body.
photo by Shelby PDX. I remembered!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Personal Trainers
Wednesday:
I was really sore yesterday afternoon, especially the fronts of my thighs; lowering myself into a sitting position was a challenge and walking down a slope quite painful. But this morning most of the pain & stiffness was gone and I was back at BodyPump. I managed to get there in time, despite some parking issues, and again got throught the class ok except for the lunges -- although I did a little better there today. When I really think about it, my "ok" includes various compromises due to my old shoulder injury; for instance I do push-ups on the wall instead of the floor and my bar has no weights on it for the chest presses. I can't rest a bar on my shoulders because my arms don't twist back far enough for me to support it, so I hold a plate pressed to my chest instead. I do what I can and modify what I can't. On Monday the instuctor said "good variation" to me 3 or 4 times during the class.
Today the (different) instructor was demonstrating the clean & press move and said "everybody's favourite" and I think she was being sarcastic. But it really is my favourite move!
I spent the rest of the school day editing and finished the current job. Always nice to email one off.
I was ravenously hungry again all day and failed to make great choices. I was really tired too, understandable perhaps after four gym sessions in three days. After the kids got home I was weak-willed and gave Jasmine the option of whether we should go to Club Gecko or not, she wanted to go so it was back to the gym. I got straight on to the rowing machine. I decided to go for a longer row rather than push for more speed, so I ended up doing 21 minutes (I am working on increments of 3 minutes because my goal of 5 km in 30 mins means 500 m every 3 minutes -- it's just easier to work out how I'm going). It's the longest row I've ever done but yesterday I looked at a you-tube video of rowing technique and I think it helped. I was pretty comfortable until my trapezius muscles started to hurt. If I'd been going at my goal speed I would have gone 3.5 km in 21 mins but I only made 2.89 km which is way under. I'll get there, I'm only starting this challenge!
I've been noticing a few personal trainers around the gym, but none of them make me think I really need one. There is a cute young guy who sometimes brings his client to a treadmill near mine when I am cooling down, and I feel very unimpressive at my slow walk. I've been working really hard before this, honest! My least favourite pt is an older, very attractive and fit woman. I've seen her chat in a very friendly way with her various clients, stand around while they exercise, check her phone ... she sets up the machines for them with the right weights but I've never seen much in the way of motivation or encouragement or pushing them. Maybe she does stuff I haven't seen, but it looks like a waste of money to me.
I was really sore yesterday afternoon, especially the fronts of my thighs; lowering myself into a sitting position was a challenge and walking down a slope quite painful. But this morning most of the pain & stiffness was gone and I was back at BodyPump. I managed to get there in time, despite some parking issues, and again got throught the class ok except for the lunges -- although I did a little better there today. When I really think about it, my "ok" includes various compromises due to my old shoulder injury; for instance I do push-ups on the wall instead of the floor and my bar has no weights on it for the chest presses. I can't rest a bar on my shoulders because my arms don't twist back far enough for me to support it, so I hold a plate pressed to my chest instead. I do what I can and modify what I can't. On Monday the instuctor said "good variation" to me 3 or 4 times during the class.
Today the (different) instructor was demonstrating the clean & press move and said "everybody's favourite" and I think she was being sarcastic. But it really is my favourite move!
I spent the rest of the school day editing and finished the current job. Always nice to email one off.
I was ravenously hungry again all day and failed to make great choices. I was really tired too, understandable perhaps after four gym sessions in three days. After the kids got home I was weak-willed and gave Jasmine the option of whether we should go to Club Gecko or not, she wanted to go so it was back to the gym. I got straight on to the rowing machine. I decided to go for a longer row rather than push for more speed, so I ended up doing 21 minutes (I am working on increments of 3 minutes because my goal of 5 km in 30 mins means 500 m every 3 minutes -- it's just easier to work out how I'm going). It's the longest row I've ever done but yesterday I looked at a you-tube video of rowing technique and I think it helped. I was pretty comfortable until my trapezius muscles started to hurt. If I'd been going at my goal speed I would have gone 3.5 km in 21 mins but I only made 2.89 km which is way under. I'll get there, I'm only starting this challenge!
I've been noticing a few personal trainers around the gym, but none of them make me think I really need one. There is a cute young guy who sometimes brings his client to a treadmill near mine when I am cooling down, and I feel very unimpressive at my slow walk. I've been working really hard before this, honest! My least favourite pt is an older, very attractive and fit woman. I've seen her chat in a very friendly way with her various clients, stand around while they exercise, check her phone ... she sets up the machines for them with the right weights but I've never seen much in the way of motivation or encouragement or pushing them. Maybe she does stuff I haven't seen, but it looks like a waste of money to me.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Rowing
Tuesday:
Yesterday I went to BodyPump. Since I hadn't done it for about six months I used light weights and it was a decent challenge without being too painful. I thought I had plenty of time to get there but when I came out of the changeroom they were half-way through the warm-up, this happened again today and I've realised that I used to drive the kids to school then go straight to the gym; now I walk the kids to school, walk home, then drive to the gym, so obviously that is going to take a lot longer. It is do-able but I am going to have to hussle. Anyway; I was able to do all the moves except the lunges, and only the shoulder track gave my shoulders any problems so that was great.
I was hungry after the gym but had to do the shopping on the way home. I foolishly didn't buy myself an immediate snack, and by the time I got home it was lunchtime and I was ravenous, leading to poor food choices. I just shoved everything I could get my hands on into my cake-hole.
In the afternoon I took the kids back to the gym for their Club Gecko class and I got on the rowing machine. I did 15 minutes, which I think might be the longest I've ever done on the rower. I went 2.11 km and decided my target will be to do 5 km in 30 minutes, meaning I'll need to speed up a bit as well increasing my stamina. I finished up with a short stroll on the treadmill. Including walking the kids to school, that was over 2 hours of exercise. Awsome.
On the other hand, I ate nearly a whole bag of crispy m&ms.
This morning I was a little stiff and sore but not too bad. Mainly my thighs, from the squats in BodyPump I think. I went to Zumba, but was reminded why I don't like it any more. It was the same instructor that I've always had, and she is completely opposite my preferences in which dances we do. She goes for the hiphop and the heavy angry African rhythms, I like the Latin and the Bollywood. She puts sexy wriggles in otherwise really aggressive moves. To me, sexy doesn't go with "I hate you and I will kill you if you come any closer". I stuck it out for half an hour, telling myself that vigorous movement was good regardless of whether I was enjoying it or not, but then I gave up and left the class. I went back to the rowing machine. I guess that is my new exercise-love! I was absolutely dying to get back on that rower.
I thought today I would try to increase my speed and do 2.5 km in 15 minutes. After 4 minutes I was wrecked! I had to slow down a little for a while, but then managed to speed up again. I changed my target to 2 km in 12 minutes and promised myself I could stop after that time. I struggled to keep up the requisite speed but sprinted for the last 30 seconds and eventually went 1.91 km in the 12 mins, pretty close. Not a bad start. I cooled down on the treadmill.
I just got up after sitting still for a while and my thighs are so stiff and sore I can hardly walk! Maybe it is the rowing more than the squats? Or both.
I forgot to mention something about the snow trip that seemed important at the time, the hired ski pants were hard to wriggle on over my hips but fit just fine when I was standing, but I found on the drive to the snow that they were very uncomfortable when I was sitting down. They cut into my waist, and a three hour drive in that kind of discomfort is no joke. It was such a relief to get out of the car and stand up. I thought they would be ok once we were there, but of course tobogganing involves sitting down too -- and even leaning forward a bit so it was worse. I tried wrigging them below my belly but of course my hips aren't any narrower than my waist so it just moved the pain. After a while I was hitching them up then pulling them down again every few minutes, and standing around instead of sitting on the rocks or tobogganing. Eventually I just couldn't stand it any longer and went back to the car to change my clothes before the rest of my family were ready to go. Such joy to get those horrible pants off! It was pretty cold in jeans but I didn't care.
If my stomach wasn't so big I wouldn't have had that problem. I'm still working on it.
Yesterday I went to BodyPump. Since I hadn't done it for about six months I used light weights and it was a decent challenge without being too painful. I thought I had plenty of time to get there but when I came out of the changeroom they were half-way through the warm-up, this happened again today and I've realised that I used to drive the kids to school then go straight to the gym; now I walk the kids to school, walk home, then drive to the gym, so obviously that is going to take a lot longer. It is do-able but I am going to have to hussle. Anyway; I was able to do all the moves except the lunges, and only the shoulder track gave my shoulders any problems so that was great.
I was hungry after the gym but had to do the shopping on the way home. I foolishly didn't buy myself an immediate snack, and by the time I got home it was lunchtime and I was ravenous, leading to poor food choices. I just shoved everything I could get my hands on into my cake-hole.
In the afternoon I took the kids back to the gym for their Club Gecko class and I got on the rowing machine. I did 15 minutes, which I think might be the longest I've ever done on the rower. I went 2.11 km and decided my target will be to do 5 km in 30 minutes, meaning I'll need to speed up a bit as well increasing my stamina. I finished up with a short stroll on the treadmill. Including walking the kids to school, that was over 2 hours of exercise. Awsome.
On the other hand, I ate nearly a whole bag of crispy m&ms.
This morning I was a little stiff and sore but not too bad. Mainly my thighs, from the squats in BodyPump I think. I went to Zumba, but was reminded why I don't like it any more. It was the same instructor that I've always had, and she is completely opposite my preferences in which dances we do. She goes for the hiphop and the heavy angry African rhythms, I like the Latin and the Bollywood. She puts sexy wriggles in otherwise really aggressive moves. To me, sexy doesn't go with "I hate you and I will kill you if you come any closer". I stuck it out for half an hour, telling myself that vigorous movement was good regardless of whether I was enjoying it or not, but then I gave up and left the class. I went back to the rowing machine. I guess that is my new exercise-love! I was absolutely dying to get back on that rower.
I thought today I would try to increase my speed and do 2.5 km in 15 minutes. After 4 minutes I was wrecked! I had to slow down a little for a while, but then managed to speed up again. I changed my target to 2 km in 12 minutes and promised myself I could stop after that time. I struggled to keep up the requisite speed but sprinted for the last 30 seconds and eventually went 1.91 km in the 12 mins, pretty close. Not a bad start. I cooled down on the treadmill.
I just got up after sitting still for a while and my thighs are so stiff and sore I can hardly walk! Maybe it is the rowing more than the squats? Or both.
I forgot to mention something about the snow trip that seemed important at the time, the hired ski pants were hard to wriggle on over my hips but fit just fine when I was standing, but I found on the drive to the snow that they were very uncomfortable when I was sitting down. They cut into my waist, and a three hour drive in that kind of discomfort is no joke. It was such a relief to get out of the car and stand up. I thought they would be ok once we were there, but of course tobogganing involves sitting down too -- and even leaning forward a bit so it was worse. I tried wrigging them below my belly but of course my hips aren't any narrower than my waist so it just moved the pain. After a while I was hitching them up then pulling them down again every few minutes, and standing around instead of sitting on the rocks or tobogganing. Eventually I just couldn't stand it any longer and went back to the car to change my clothes before the rest of my family were ready to go. Such joy to get those horrible pants off! It was pretty cold in jeans but I didn't care.
If my stomach wasn't so big I wouldn't have had that problem. I'm still working on it.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Back at the gym
Monday:
This Club Gecko thing is awesome, it makes me go to the gym! While I'm there for the kids I might as well exercise.
On Friday I was supposed to go to a BodyPump class and had booked the kids into creche but I was feeling too yuck in the morning. I continued coughing all day, much worse than the previous few days, and at one point I had such a nasty coughing fit that I actually wet my pants. Luckily I was at home. This has happened twice before (both since having kids), during a really bad prolonged coughing fit each time. I guess my pelvic floor is yet another muscle I need to work on.
On Saturday and Sunday I was feeling a lot better, much less coughing, just a sore throat from the post-nasal drip of a continuing runny nose. I didn't leave the house all weekend, had a nice quiet time with the family. Sunday was a particularly freezing day, but all accounts. Sunday night, after I went to bed, I started coughing again; keeping me and Tim awake for ages. It is very frustrating that this stupid flu just goes on and on.
Today I felt a lot better (again). Took the kids to Club Gecko in the afternoon which gave me an hour and a half at the gym. I walked on the treadmill for an hour, with a tiny bit of jogging (plus I ran a couple of races with Aiden while we waited for the Gecko instructor), then 10 mins each on the rowing machine and the stationary bike. I was quite tired and sweaty by the end. I didn't push really hard, but I did get 80 mins of exercise in. I was starving when we got home and ate too many biscuits with my cup of tea. On the whole I call it a win.
Tomorrow we are having a skip delivered so that we can do a garage/studio cleanup so I expect to do quite a bit of strength work throwing old furniture into it.
This Club Gecko thing is awesome, it makes me go to the gym! While I'm there for the kids I might as well exercise.
On Friday I was supposed to go to a BodyPump class and had booked the kids into creche but I was feeling too yuck in the morning. I continued coughing all day, much worse than the previous few days, and at one point I had such a nasty coughing fit that I actually wet my pants. Luckily I was at home. This has happened twice before (both since having kids), during a really bad prolonged coughing fit each time. I guess my pelvic floor is yet another muscle I need to work on.
On Saturday and Sunday I was feeling a lot better, much less coughing, just a sore throat from the post-nasal drip of a continuing runny nose. I didn't leave the house all weekend, had a nice quiet time with the family. Sunday was a particularly freezing day, but all accounts. Sunday night, after I went to bed, I started coughing again; keeping me and Tim awake for ages. It is very frustrating that this stupid flu just goes on and on.
Today I felt a lot better (again). Took the kids to Club Gecko in the afternoon which gave me an hour and a half at the gym. I walked on the treadmill for an hour, with a tiny bit of jogging (plus I ran a couple of races with Aiden while we waited for the Gecko instructor), then 10 mins each on the rowing machine and the stationary bike. I was quite tired and sweaty by the end. I didn't push really hard, but I did get 80 mins of exercise in. I was starving when we got home and ate too many biscuits with my cup of tea. On the whole I call it a win.
Tomorrow we are having a skip delivered so that we can do a garage/studio cleanup so I expect to do quite a bit of strength work throwing old furniture into it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Gluteus maximus
Wednesday:
Yesterday I took the kids to see Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. It was really enjoyable and well worth seeing. Enough interest there even for adults. I recognised some of the voice acting, but was stunned at the end to find that the main bad guy, Captain Gut, was voiced by the man who plays Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. He is my favourite character in GoT but I didn't even feel a twinge of recognition.
We went to the food court for lunch and I had Oporto chicken and chips for the first time in a couple of years. They used to marinate the chicken in Lemon & Herb (or whatever) sauce but now they just give you a plain quarter of roast chicken and a sachet of sauce to squeeze onto it. Not the same thing, people! I think they've done it because they expanded their range from two to six flavours (they actually mainly do burgers) and it would be prohibitive to have six kinds of chicken marinating. That's my guess, anyway. But not happy.
The kids had happy meals from McDonalds. Special school holiday treat.
I spent the afternoon doing a bit of editing work while the kids amused themselves, clearly they didn't get enough exercise because they were very hyperactive at bedtime.
As the evening progressed I was coughing more and more, with a horrible tickle deep in my throat. And this morning I woke with lungs fulls of phlegm. I was really worried that I was coming down with yet another strain of this horrible flu that is going around, but by mid-morning I was feeling fine. I spent the morning working while the kids played PowerUp Heros on the XBox, jumped on the trampoline, and tossed a ball around outside. In the afternoon we went to the gym and they had their Club Gecko class.
I had a much better session today. I started with 20 mins on the cross-trainer, which I haven't used for ages, and did fine. I was a bit annoyed that they had moved all the equipment so that nothing was overlooking the pool anymore, I used to enjoy looking down on the swimmers. The cross-trainers were all pointed at the TVs, none of which were on the channel I wanted to watch. I couldn't hear my iPhone over the music they were playing, so I just listened to that and watched the subtitles on Catalyst about how bad the current flu season is and how many people died of flu in 1918 (between 30 and 100 million people).
I next moved on to the rowing machine which I used for 10 mins, I've had problems rowing in the past due to my shoulder injury and was fully prepared to stop after 5 mins or less if I needed to, but I was fine. On to the stationary bike. I used to use a recumbant bike all the time (where it's like sitting in a chair with pedals in front of you, not sitting on a saddle) and I thought Monday's struggle was just due to general tiredness, but I could barely get the pedals moving. It was weird. After 5 mins I moved to a normal stationary bike which was better as far as the pedalling was concerned. Since having children I have zero core strength which makes riding a bike really hard work, my postural muscles around my ribs started aching straight away but I kept going for another 15 mins. Finally 15 mins on the treadmill before it was time to collect the children.
While I was actually at the gym I felt like I was doing well, pacing myself so that I could keep going for the whole hour and not overstrain my rarely used muscles but still get a decent workout in. But once I was home the little voice started up again. Didn't work hard enough, should have pushed myself more, pacing myself was just an excuse to slack off, how come I only got in 70 mins of exercise when I had 90 mins, why did I go so slow on the treadmill at the end ... I hate that little voice that makes me feel like nothing I do is ever good enough.
But a couple of hours later my glutes started to get sore. So that made me feel like I had done some work after all.
Yesterday I took the kids to see Ice Age 4: Continental Drift. It was really enjoyable and well worth seeing. Enough interest there even for adults. I recognised some of the voice acting, but was stunned at the end to find that the main bad guy, Captain Gut, was voiced by the man who plays Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones. He is my favourite character in GoT but I didn't even feel a twinge of recognition.
We went to the food court for lunch and I had Oporto chicken and chips for the first time in a couple of years. They used to marinate the chicken in Lemon & Herb (or whatever) sauce but now they just give you a plain quarter of roast chicken and a sachet of sauce to squeeze onto it. Not the same thing, people! I think they've done it because they expanded their range from two to six flavours (they actually mainly do burgers) and it would be prohibitive to have six kinds of chicken marinating. That's my guess, anyway. But not happy.
The kids had happy meals from McDonalds. Special school holiday treat.
I spent the afternoon doing a bit of editing work while the kids amused themselves, clearly they didn't get enough exercise because they were very hyperactive at bedtime.
As the evening progressed I was coughing more and more, with a horrible tickle deep in my throat. And this morning I woke with lungs fulls of phlegm. I was really worried that I was coming down with yet another strain of this horrible flu that is going around, but by mid-morning I was feeling fine. I spent the morning working while the kids played PowerUp Heros on the XBox, jumped on the trampoline, and tossed a ball around outside. In the afternoon we went to the gym and they had their Club Gecko class.
I had a much better session today. I started with 20 mins on the cross-trainer, which I haven't used for ages, and did fine. I was a bit annoyed that they had moved all the equipment so that nothing was overlooking the pool anymore, I used to enjoy looking down on the swimmers. The cross-trainers were all pointed at the TVs, none of which were on the channel I wanted to watch. I couldn't hear my iPhone over the music they were playing, so I just listened to that and watched the subtitles on Catalyst about how bad the current flu season is and how many people died of flu in 1918 (between 30 and 100 million people).
I next moved on to the rowing machine which I used for 10 mins, I've had problems rowing in the past due to my shoulder injury and was fully prepared to stop after 5 mins or less if I needed to, but I was fine. On to the stationary bike. I used to use a recumbant bike all the time (where it's like sitting in a chair with pedals in front of you, not sitting on a saddle) and I thought Monday's struggle was just due to general tiredness, but I could barely get the pedals moving. It was weird. After 5 mins I moved to a normal stationary bike which was better as far as the pedalling was concerned. Since having children I have zero core strength which makes riding a bike really hard work, my postural muscles around my ribs started aching straight away but I kept going for another 15 mins. Finally 15 mins on the treadmill before it was time to collect the children.
While I was actually at the gym I felt like I was doing well, pacing myself so that I could keep going for the whole hour and not overstrain my rarely used muscles but still get a decent workout in. But once I was home the little voice started up again. Didn't work hard enough, should have pushed myself more, pacing myself was just an excuse to slack off, how come I only got in 70 mins of exercise when I had 90 mins, why did I go so slow on the treadmill at the end ... I hate that little voice that makes me feel like nothing I do is ever good enough.
But a couple of hours later my glutes started to get sore. So that made me feel like I had done some work after all.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Monday, Monday
Monday:
As usual I didn't want to get out of bed this morning and as it was school holidays I had hopes of a sleep-in; but alas. Aiden came in for a cuddle, which was nice although actually I would have rather continued sleeping; but also to hassle me about my iPhone, which wasn't so nice. He loves to play a little game called Tiny Monsters and I am fine for him to do so with my supervision, but I like playing it too and in the past I have found that he has spent my carefully horded in-game money or started an 18 hour hibernation on a monster I needed or similar disaster. So he is allowed to play it only when I am up (during, of course, his carefully regulated "screen time" for the day). The kids are allowed to turn on the TV and/or computers at 7.30am on weekends and holidays, we don't encourage them to get up before then. And not at all on school days, of course, until late afternoon.
Anyway, so Aiden spent the next hour asking me when I was going to get up while I tried to snuggle down and ignore the little voice. He wasn't interested in TV or computer games or his Nintendo DS; only my iPhone! Eventually I dragged myself up, but carefully without any hint of "giving in" to nagging.
We did both the grocery shopping and some clothes shopping. I got myself three new sports bras to replace my old saggy-elastic ones, some kids clothes, and new school shoes for Aiden. He'd only had the others for six months but he'd been complaining they pinch his toes. I had him fitted for new ones, which he seemed happy with. I commented that they looked a bit smaller than the sneakers he was wearing, but the assistant said they were just a more compact shoe. Got them home, and they are exactly the same as his previous school shoes! Same brand and size. So I'm going to take them back, unworn. Either Aiden was wrong about them being too small or the salesman was wrong about them fitting him. Either way, he doesn't need a pair identical to his other ones.
We rushed home for a late lunch. I made lazy nachos, which was a bad choice under the circumstances, ie just before exercise. Lazy nachos is corn chips with salsa and melted cheese. Delicious, but stodgy and with little nutritional value. I chivvied the kids into a change of clothes and off to the gym. Actually, I was unable to convince Jasmine to change out of her heavy tracksuit pants, but at least I got her into a T-shirt. I knew she would be too hot, but clothes and shoes have always been a bit of an issue. Her choices have little regard for suitability or temperature, and everything has to be too small and too tight. She was much worse at 4; at 8 I can often talk her into a better choice. Well, sometimes.
To continue my ramble, I left the kids with the Gecko leader and got onto the treadmill. Belly full of cheese and corn chips. No energy. Sluggish. Tired calves. Sore feet. Even walking was an effort. I made a brief attempt at riding a bike then went back to the treadmill, eventually clocking up a measley 40 mins. I went and watched the end of the kids' class. They finished with some tug-of war competitions. After pitching the children against each other in teams, the instructor put them all on one end of the rope and took the other. With one arm, and very little effort, he dragged them over the line (after giving them a chance to try, of course). Very unusually for me, I jumped up and grabbed the end of the kids end of the rope and tried, with their help, to give him a bit of competition. I think he had to flex a muscle or two, but basically it wasn't that much harder for him. Unfair. Still, it's about the only thing I felt good about during that visit to the gym -- I took on something non-compulsory and just gave it a go. Normally I would just sit there on my behind and watch other people. Nice work.
As usual I didn't want to get out of bed this morning and as it was school holidays I had hopes of a sleep-in; but alas. Aiden came in for a cuddle, which was nice although actually I would have rather continued sleeping; but also to hassle me about my iPhone, which wasn't so nice. He loves to play a little game called Tiny Monsters and I am fine for him to do so with my supervision, but I like playing it too and in the past I have found that he has spent my carefully horded in-game money or started an 18 hour hibernation on a monster I needed or similar disaster. So he is allowed to play it only when I am up (during, of course, his carefully regulated "screen time" for the day). The kids are allowed to turn on the TV and/or computers at 7.30am on weekends and holidays, we don't encourage them to get up before then. And not at all on school days, of course, until late afternoon.
Anyway, so Aiden spent the next hour asking me when I was going to get up while I tried to snuggle down and ignore the little voice. He wasn't interested in TV or computer games or his Nintendo DS; only my iPhone! Eventually I dragged myself up, but carefully without any hint of "giving in" to nagging.
We did both the grocery shopping and some clothes shopping. I got myself three new sports bras to replace my old saggy-elastic ones, some kids clothes, and new school shoes for Aiden. He'd only had the others for six months but he'd been complaining they pinch his toes. I had him fitted for new ones, which he seemed happy with. I commented that they looked a bit smaller than the sneakers he was wearing, but the assistant said they were just a more compact shoe. Got them home, and they are exactly the same as his previous school shoes! Same brand and size. So I'm going to take them back, unworn. Either Aiden was wrong about them being too small or the salesman was wrong about them fitting him. Either way, he doesn't need a pair identical to his other ones.
We rushed home for a late lunch. I made lazy nachos, which was a bad choice under the circumstances, ie just before exercise. Lazy nachos is corn chips with salsa and melted cheese. Delicious, but stodgy and with little nutritional value. I chivvied the kids into a change of clothes and off to the gym. Actually, I was unable to convince Jasmine to change out of her heavy tracksuit pants, but at least I got her into a T-shirt. I knew she would be too hot, but clothes and shoes have always been a bit of an issue. Her choices have little regard for suitability or temperature, and everything has to be too small and too tight. She was much worse at 4; at 8 I can often talk her into a better choice. Well, sometimes.
To continue my ramble, I left the kids with the Gecko leader and got onto the treadmill. Belly full of cheese and corn chips. No energy. Sluggish. Tired calves. Sore feet. Even walking was an effort. I made a brief attempt at riding a bike then went back to the treadmill, eventually clocking up a measley 40 mins. I went and watched the end of the kids' class. They finished with some tug-of war competitions. After pitching the children against each other in teams, the instructor put them all on one end of the rope and took the other. With one arm, and very little effort, he dragged them over the line (after giving them a chance to try, of course). Very unusually for me, I jumped up and grabbed the end of the kids end of the rope and tried, with their help, to give him a bit of competition. I think he had to flex a muscle or two, but basically it wasn't that much harder for him. Unfair. Still, it's about the only thing I felt good about during that visit to the gym -- I took on something non-compulsory and just gave it a go. Normally I would just sit there on my behind and watch other people. Nice work.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Birthday!
I had a really lovely day today, if not a particularly healthy one. It started with presents in bed then croissants for breakfast. After taking the kids to school (I walked!) I went to the movies. There was a bit of a mix-up there, I had seen ads for a movie about Snow White -- a comedy with Julia Roberts as the evil queen. So I saw "Snow White and the Huntsman", which turned out to be a completely different movie, with Kirsten Stewart (Bella from Twilight) as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the evil queen. Why are there two movies about Snow White on at the same time? This one was gloomy and serious and not very good. Charlize Theron's acting mainly consisted of shouting, no-one has ever claimed Kirsten Stewart can act, the plot was silly, and the editorial work on the movie was terrible. I enjoyed what I could and let the rest go. Aparently the one I actually wanted to see was called "Mirror Mirror." Oh well.
I wandered around the shops a bit and bought myself a lip balm from the Body Shop then met Tim for lunch at our favourite Chinese. We had a table booked and arrived at almost the same time but were shown to different tables with one table between us. Luckily Tim noticed me before too long. We had some lovely chocolates from Koko Black for dessert then I dropped him back at work and went home for about half an hour before getting the kids (walked again!).
Shortly after that we headed off to the gym where the kids did their Gecko Kids session and I did half an hour on the treadmill, my first exercise in some weeks. It went well, I felt fine and did 4 "sprints". I walked at 4.5 km/h and jogged at 7.0. Of course the girl next to me was walking at 7.0 and jogging at 10.5! I'll speed up in time, but 10.5 will always be running nearly flat out for me, my legs are so short. I think I got to 11 once for about 30 seconds.
Home and started dinner, then Tim called to say he wasn't feeling well so we went and picked him up. Bummer if he has finally succumbed to my germs after holding out for a month. I finished making the crumbed lamb cutlets with broccoli in cream sauce and for dessert a chocolate raspberry mousse concoction. Mmmmm.
I am feeling rather full this evening. I used 61 PP today, more than double my allowance, and used up all my weeklies yesterday & today, plus my handful of activity PP, and I am on -5 for the week! I'll have to earn those back, and be very good for the rest of the week. Of course it is a shame to eat so much and undo the good work of the last few days, but then it was my birthday. Back on the wagon tomorrow. I've had a really good day; the food and the rest, and I am not going to spoil it with regrets. Non, je regret rien!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Club Gecko
Thursday evening:
I decided that I was well enough this afternoon to finally take the kids to Gecko Kids (or Club Gecko, which is what I think they call it at my gym, athough the concept is wider spread). I sat and watched (and played with my iPhone) while they ran and stepped and sat up and various other things. Aiden seemed to enjoy himself but didn't say much -- his face was very pink afterwards and he still has a runny nose so maybe he isn't 100% well yet -- but Jasmine loved it. She is very keen to go regularly and has already made a friend. I signed them both up and also joined the gym myself.
I don't have the excitement about returning to the gym that I had two weeks ago when I first decided to rejoin. But I am determined. My membership will start on Monday. Gecko runs four afternoons a week and also has some sessions in school holidays, which starts in just over a week.
I decided that I was well enough this afternoon to finally take the kids to Gecko Kids (or Club Gecko, which is what I think they call it at my gym, athough the concept is wider spread). I sat and watched (and played with my iPhone) while they ran and stepped and sat up and various other things. Aiden seemed to enjoy himself but didn't say much -- his face was very pink afterwards and he still has a runny nose so maybe he isn't 100% well yet -- but Jasmine loved it. She is very keen to go regularly and has already made a friend. I signed them both up and also joined the gym myself.
I don't have the excitement about returning to the gym that I had two weeks ago when I first decided to rejoin. But I am determined. My membership will start on Monday. Gecko runs four afternoons a week and also has some sessions in school holidays, which starts in just over a week.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Planning for when I am well again
Sunday:
I'm still not well enough to exercise and doubt I will be tomorrow either so I am hoping to start at the gym on Wednesday morning (I'm busy Tuesday). I called them (Club Lime at CISAC) this morning and although I haven't found a friend to share the special 2 for 1 joining deal they are still giving me a great price, only a little bit more than the friend one. I have also checked the location of Club Gecko for the kids (it is inside Club Lime, perfect) so I'll take them on Monday and just watch or maybe walk slowly on a treadmill. I haven't waxed my legs for a long long time (it's winter, remember!) so I'll try to get that done before exposing my lily-white legs to the whole gym. I am blonde with very fair hair even on my legs so it isn't that obvious anyway.
I have been doing really well on the housework thing in the past couple of days, tidying the kitchen straight after meals instead of leaving a mess and also working on a big pile of paperwork. That's about as strenuous as I get atm. I was feeling pretty awful yesterday and when Tim took the kids out in the afternoon I went to bed and slept for two hours. Much better after that. Another restless night last night with the runny nose and now a cough, but I'm improving each day.
I'm going to try a couple of WW recipes this week. Usually they don't appeal to me but there were some interesting ones in the last magazine. I just used my frequent flyer points to subscribe to Donna Hay magazine but I don't think those recipes will be quite as healthy!
I've been unwell for at least three weeks straight, but I haven't exercised regularly for a couple of months now and my body is really feeling it. Even aside from the headcold; I don't have as much energy, I'm not sleeping as well, it takes more effort to chose healthy food, my jeans are getting tight, and I think my stomach is sticking out past my breasts again. I am about 2 kg up from my lowest point, which is pretty bad considering I hadn't lost very much to start with. I'm really looking forward to getting fit and healthy again.
I'm still not well enough to exercise and doubt I will be tomorrow either so I am hoping to start at the gym on Wednesday morning (I'm busy Tuesday). I called them (Club Lime at CISAC) this morning and although I haven't found a friend to share the special 2 for 1 joining deal they are still giving me a great price, only a little bit more than the friend one. I have also checked the location of Club Gecko for the kids (it is inside Club Lime, perfect) so I'll take them on Monday and just watch or maybe walk slowly on a treadmill. I haven't waxed my legs for a long long time (it's winter, remember!) so I'll try to get that done before exposing my lily-white legs to the whole gym. I am blonde with very fair hair even on my legs so it isn't that obvious anyway.
I have been doing really well on the housework thing in the past couple of days, tidying the kitchen straight after meals instead of leaving a mess and also working on a big pile of paperwork. That's about as strenuous as I get atm. I was feeling pretty awful yesterday and when Tim took the kids out in the afternoon I went to bed and slept for two hours. Much better after that. Another restless night last night with the runny nose and now a cough, but I'm improving each day.
I'm going to try a couple of WW recipes this week. Usually they don't appeal to me but there were some interesting ones in the last magazine. I just used my frequent flyer points to subscribe to Donna Hay magazine but I don't think those recipes will be quite as healthy!
I've been unwell for at least three weeks straight, but I haven't exercised regularly for a couple of months now and my body is really feeling it. Even aside from the headcold; I don't have as much energy, I'm not sleeping as well, it takes more effort to chose healthy food, my jeans are getting tight, and I think my stomach is sticking out past my breasts again. I am about 2 kg up from my lowest point, which is pretty bad considering I hadn't lost very much to start with. I'm really looking forward to getting fit and healthy again.
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