Apples and pears

So as I said in my last post, I have been on a mission to improve my health for over a year now.

When I joined the gym I weighed over 96kg, wore size 18 and had a waist measurement of 120cm.  The instructor who assessed me called my statistics 'alarming' (thanks, helpful...).

I didn't create a 'before' photo because I was fairly certain I would fail yet again in my 10 year quest to lose weight.  The closest I could find was a photo of me at my son's third birthday in November 2011, featured in my last post.  You can see I was an apple-shaped fatty.

A year on and I can grab a few handfuls of the fabric on that dress when I wear it, which is great because the weight around my organs was going to make me very sick and now I have three pairs of back boobs less.  About 30cm has gone from my waist. So I guess I've gone from apple to pear....

These days I usually wear size 14 or sometimes 12 or basically a size 'medium'.  I've lost weight on the scales in the order of 12kgs. I'd like to lose some more (one day at a time!).

So how did I do it? The first six months I just tried to ‘get a grip’ on the quantity and quality of food I ate. Just tried to stick with ONE mini chocolate bar a day instead of 500g of chocolate (oh yes I DID –ugh!).

I went to the gym EVERY morning at 5.30am and slogged away on the cross trainer for 40-50 minutes at a time. I didn’t want to do any resistance training because I felt like I really needed to just ‘sweat it out’. I took up a bit of boxing (something I’ve always loved) and wore a heart-rate monitor.

Most of the time, with very little exertion, I got my heart rate to about 170bpm. I was SO unfit. I struggled to do a 3 minute row over 500 metres, I nearly died during boxing classes and in the first week at the gym I actually face-planted straight off the back of the cross-trainer because I was so shaky.

I did okay over this time. I lost a bit of weight and some centrimetres off my waist. But BY GOLLY I WAS BORED!!!!!! I asked the trainers for some more interesting activities. One started me on intervals on the bike. Again, nearly died but managed to get better at them over time. Then I started spin classes. Then I bought a road bike and started to commute to work and back (30kms) twice weekly.

I was getting fitter each week and then would get bored and try something new but this plateaued around three months in (and the scales were not moving at all despite my low-fat, high-carb diet). Then I came across a video on a Facebook page one day and thought ‘what the hell is this?’.

It was a CrossFit promotional video. Life was about to get very different for me!

(to be continued...)

So, what's YOUR excuse?

About a year ago, I was really overweight, completely lacking in energy and had not done anything close to decent exercise for about 5 years. I had a two-year old and a one-year-old to care for, almost zero iron and could not function particularly well on many levels.

But the fact of the matter was that I had not prioritised my health and wellbeing. I had not taken the time and care to look after my body and it had caught up with me.

So, I'd made the decision to 'get into shape' and try dieting once again and I'd lined up an appointment at my local gym to kick things off.

 

But it was actually a phone call I received as I was leaving the gym that truly changed the way I felt about my body. 

 

I’d read in the newspaper about some ultramarathon runners being burnt the previous day but didn’t think much of it.  Then I received this call from my mum telling me that one of the women I'd read about was our friend Kate.

 

I was shocked and distressed at the prospect of losing Kate.  But when I heard she would probably lose her feet I was utterly devastated for her.  Here was a woman who LOVED to run and who would be battling to survive a coma, only to wake up to the news that she would possibly never run again.

 

That morning I decided it would be disrespectful and selfish for me to take my body for granted.  I felt like I owed it to Kate to look after what I had.  And everytime it feels 'all too hard' I remember what Kate has been through and what she is still going through today. 

So next time you want to give up early or miss a session because you can't be bothered, think about the people who would dearly love to be able to the things you take for granted every day. 

Then get off your fully functioning bum and do it.

Sea change, see change...

Hello

Been quite a long time since I posted.

Not much happened between then and now.

Just got my certification as a personal trainer (night school).

And moved from Melbourne to Perth with a two and four-year old...

I'm hoping to post once or twice a week from now on, provided my kids don't send me completely batty and I end up in an institution.....

We have moved to a great sea-side location.  The wind here drives us all a bit nutty and the sun can be strong, but for the most part the change has motivated me to keep moving, to get outdoors with my kids and to soak in all that life can offer.


(Image courtesy of Scarborough Beach Surf School)

Being busy and a bit strapped for cash means that I am not really attached to a CrossFit obsession, I mean, gym.  I really miss my old box in Melbourne - makes me sad to see everyone still getting flogged there.  So I'm taking this time to hone some basic body-weight skills, kettlebell swings, get my fitness up through running (when my knee allows it), stretching and treating a chronic hip problem with the help of a brilliant osteopath.

My Paleo diet went a bit wonky in the move and through the Christmas festivities.  But when I weighed myself at the start of this week I was down 2 kilos for the month. Which has convinced me that nothing helps weight loss like a bit of stress relief and relaxation.  However, I'm so glad to have my kitchen back and I have started cooking again - more information in following posts.

Down time has helped me start to lift heavier again and has given me the opportunity to reflect on my goals and dreams. And it has apparently reduced the size of my bum too (according to an eyewitness who reflected on this fact while I was bending over to run a bath for our kids).

Practical Paleo - the book and the 'art of'...

Last week I got a copy of 'Practical Paleo' by Diane Sanfilippo.  I just love it.  It's full of colour and inspiration and very simple and easy explanations for why I do what I do with food and eating.  Get on it.

Coincidentally, last week I also fell face-first into a pile of icecream.  I think it was a whole bunch of stress spilling out around the edges, coupled with my despair about a new injury that was stuffing about with my training goals.

But a bunch of icecream didn't actually make me feel better.  De-stressing and simplifying my life a little bit and getting on to a treatment plan for my knee did. 

One of the best parts of going Paleo, in my opinion, is getting creative - or 'the art' of preparing delicious and healthy food.  Being a busy mum, student and partner means that I need to be practical too.

So, inspired by the book and my re-committment to Paleo, I couldn't stop cooking today! I somehow managed to pump out a weeks worth of food around about 10 committments and still get a bit of sunshine on my skin with the kiddies! (very important for Vitamin D requirements you know...)...

So - here's how my day looked...

I started by preparing tonight's dinner first thing this morning (as I ate a breakfast of grain-free muesli - shredded coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, dried apricot, strawbs and banana with a dash of full fat milk).

Anyone who thinks Paleo is all about meat should know that it's actually got lots more to do with vegetables...

 I chopped up some parsnips, celery, shallots and carrots and cooked them in a bit of duck fat.

 Then browned the shanks in the same fat...

 Into the slow cooker with some tinned tomato, a splash of red wine, salt and pepper and fresh thyme...

 Six hours later.... a quick check before dishing up after 10 deliciously slow hours... meat melted off the bone.

So that was a cheap and easy meal - 'meat on bones' like Osso Bucco and Shanks tend to be cheaper cuts but leech loads of calcium and nutrients into the dish.  The juices merge in a lovely rich sauce and the vegetables are quick, cheap and easy to prepare.  I would estimate that this meal was around $7-8 per person and it balances the body's requirements for carbohydrates, fats and protein. I bought the shanks from Gippsland Pasture Fed - delivered straight to our door.  They deliver this weekend in metro Melbourne so get your order in soon!

I also made rissoles for the kids.  Paddy calls these 'pizzas'.  Here he is inspecting the mix which consists of 500g pork mince, chives, oregano, garlic and onion powder, mustard, one egg and enough almond flour to bind the mix.  I cooked it in the bacon grease I saved from burning a batch of nitrate-free bacon on Fathers Day.

 These babies move quickly in our place! The kids knocked off two and three a piece!  Added some fresh strawberries and banana and they got lots of nutrients in their dinner tonight.

I also cooked a batch of chinese 5-spice chicken drummies.  These re-heat beautifully or can be eaten cold.  I coated 2kgs of drummies in a mixture of paprika, salt, pepper and 5 spice mix. Then I cooked the drummies in bit of last weeks drummy-fat and chucked them in the oven on 180 degrees for 35 minutes.  They crisp up very well this way. Tomorrow night I will make a batch of shredded savoy cabbage to go with the drummies which I will sautee with some organic butter, chicken stock and kaiser fleish.

I also made a snack of preservative and gluten-free beef sausages (also from Gippsland Pasture Fed) and split green olives - cooked in the fat from the rissoles. Mark and I shared this as a snack this afternoon.  

I made a batch of apple streusel muffins from Practical Paleo - but I will talk about those and other sweet treats in my next post - probably in a couple of days!  

I'm off to get some active recovery after a lovely painful osteo treatment that's setting me back onto my CrossFit choo-choo train this week!

Stupid dieting crap I've done (yay!)

I was reading a great Paleo blog yesterday about ridiculous diets we put ourselves on and it got me thinking about my eating history. 

So although this isn't original, I've done a few different diets so I thought I'd take my own stroll down chubby-struggle lane...

The 'beat up your mates for Twisties' diet

 

Bless my mum - she loves me very much but her own weirdness with food was passed on to me at a very young age, starting with the 'no junk food' mantra at home.

There's something to be said for 'normalising' junk food by not forbidding it or spitting at it when you pass it or telling small children that Satan will spring forth from the Tim Tam and such. My mum never allowed me to eat things like Twisties... so when I opened my lunchbox and saw another effing banana sandwich on wholemeal bread I generally tended to tell a random play lunch mate to 'hand over the Twisties and I'll be your best friend'.  Twenty minutes ain't a long time to have to hang out with the dude that smells like poo. I mean, it's Twisties, FFS.

The 'I'm going to hell but it's worth it' or 'Chocolate Sleeves' diet

No chocolate in the house, no pocket money = sneaky chocolate bar up the sleeve.  This was around age 13... On the way home from school I would be consumed by a deep passionate desire for the good stuff with the purple wrapping.  Desperation, oversized school blazer, excellent bullshitting skills all made for an easy theft.

I am paying for my sins through a 15 month age-gap between my two children. Ask someone who knows. It's horrific.

The 'I can't believe it's not food, oh wait, yes I bloody can' diet

Nutrisystem.  Nommy nommy powdered sweetener and powder with sweetener. I think the main reason I lost so much weight on this diet is because my body was rejecting the alleged food matter and starving itself in protest.... I was around 15 when I was on this diet.  It still exists in the United States. God help The America.

The 'trust me, I'm a doctor' diet

Again, Mum - cheers. Love you.

In my late teens I gained some 'study weight' which I actually probably should have attributed to 'beer, burgers and bongs'. But whatevs.  My mum offered for me to go and see her 'wonderful doctor', a local GP who specialised in weight loss. He was very good. All I had to do was severely restrict my calorie intake.  Oh yeah, and do some speed cos it's not natural to just starve yourself (pfft!).  30mg of 'Duromine' a day did wonders for the size of my bum but nearly destroyed my sanity and personal relationships. Oopsies.

The 'finger food at a bogan's 21st' diet

Okay so this was supposed to be Atkins but I frankly couldn't be arsed eating cucumbers and lettuce so I just ate a lot of cheese and kabana off toothpicks.  I was training in Taekwondo 5-6 times a week back then - this was a sheer desperation 'need to drop a weight division' stunt. I got kicked in the head for the first time in my life about 2 weeks in and decided to eat a kilo of pasta a day for the following two weeks to correct the balance of the universe...

The worst-most-disgusting-crap-thing-ever-not-even-a-diet-why-did-I-do-this!?

A certain 'liver-cleansing' expert had a clever book with great advice, including 'detox your liver by drinking a glass of olive oil'. 'Mix it with citrus juice to make it more palatable' - I was told. 'Sure' I complied.... I don't know if you've ever tried to drink orange juice in cup full of olive oil but I can tell you from experience it's possibly the worst and most revolting thing you ever could do to yourself, aside from trying to bleach your own anus whilst inebriated.

Oh yes- and any weight loss was directly attributable to the incessant post-drink vomit.

It's not always crazy...

To be fair, I have tried 'normal' diets like Weight Watchers and had some success. It was always short term though - there was always a 'cheat' factor or a bunch of rules that were very restrictive or obsessive. I've also tried various exercise programs and techniques that either left me feeling exhausted or very bored.

It wasn't until I found CrossFit and Paleo eating that I managed to create some lasting change.

I'll be coming up on one year since I started on my current journey so I'll post some photos and statistics soon.

Meh.

The insanity that keeps me sane...

Hello - long time between posts... what can I say? I've overcommitted with school, kids, work, health etc - what's new?

About 18 months ago I didn't have anything to fill my day aside from two needy little ones and a lovely view from my apartment window of Toulouse's snow-covered hills and leafless trees.

one of the many walking tracks near our home in Pouvourville - not easy to traverse with a twin pusher and two freezing babies...

Now I have days and nights packed with activities that seem endless and exhausting.

The last two workouts at my CrossFit gym have been kind of ridiculous. Insane, if you will. 300 rep workouts each night - which, even if you use a light weight, are very tiring.

But the fatigue is really a small price to pay for the benefit.  And I'm not talking about nice bottoms or lung capacity here - these workouts train my brain and literally keep me sane.

Imagine, if you will, that you are faced with the prospect of 75 deadlifts at 60kg (reasonable attempt for a newbie female doing Mr Joshua).  That's a shitload of weight to pick up and put down 75 times.  If, instead, I told you to pick it up 15 times and bugger off and do something else and come back again, you'd probably say 'that ain't too bad...'.

This 'breaking it down into bite-sized morsels' transposes well into daily life.  If I feel that I'm in Toddler Hell at 4pm on a Thursday I can re-assess the situation, break the afternoon into manageable activities and just push on through without having to hit myself in the face with a frying pan.

If I'm eating well but getting strong cravings for poisonous foods I can tell myself that 'this too shall pass' - because it does and it will.  Against all odds, I have made it through every CrossFit workout I have ever attempted (we're on about #60 now) without fading away, dropping dead or morphing into a blob of sweat on the floor that never regathers into human form.  If I can do 100 back squats, 50 burpees, 200 push ups or some other crazy fitness bullshit then I can certainly cope with a myriad of other challenges life cares to throw at me at any moment.

To be clear - this is not about willpower or discipline. CrossFit has taught me that I am capable beyond my wildest dreams.  This means a lot to someone who has regarded their body as an immovable garbage tip for over a decade.  No, I can't do a muscle-up. But I know that one day I will.  I can't do most of the workouts anywhere near record time.  But one day I might come close.

More importantly for me, the changes this sport has made to my thinking and my brain chemistry means that I am almost certain I won't be in the same headspace I was in during that long winter in Toulouse.  The winter that culminated in a severe depressive episode that could well have ended my life and denied me the opportunity to experience the highs, and requisite lows, that it brings me today.

So to those of you who think CrossFit is a crazy pursuit I say 'hell yeah!'. 

But I'm alive and well today to tell you that it's more than worth it.

Now is not the time...

So it's been a while....

I thought it might make interesting reading to have me track my Whole30 experience. But it's been about as interesting as watching hair grow. Don't get me wrong - it hasn't been too tough.  I am sticking to it - no problem at all.  I feel very healthy, no tummy troubles to report. And I did get over my eternally grumpy phase and into the 'EVERYTHING IS SO SHINY! OMG - THAT'S A FRICKING UNICORN!!!!' phase.... for one day.  

And on that one day I did a crazy Crossfit workout with energy to spare.  I felt invincible! There was a spring in my step, the world was my oyster blah-di-blah.  I went to school-for-monkeys that night thinking 'you know what, I am going to do the hell out of all our practical work in the gym'. And so I did.  After completing 120 backsquats with a 30kg load earlier in the day (plus around 40 half-arsed handstand push-ups and 2kms of rowing in under 9 minutes), I completed another 50 or so reps on the lat pull-down, a few dozen bicep curls, some planks, 50 or so chin-ups and general mucking about with vigour for 2 hours, followed by 250 box jumps.  My partner in the box jumps was recovering from viral bronchitis.  We both exercised to complete exhaustion.  

I came home feeling pretty wrecked.  Went to bed with a headache (dehydrated maybe!?!?!) and woke the next day feeling rough.  The following morning I could barely move.  My chest felt like a Japanese contemplation garden with all the freakin' raking across my lungs....  Needing to be a tough little mother and get through the day with the evil toddlers, I dosed up on cold and flu medicine so I could 'Solider On'.  The following morning I felt worse.  I decided to fill in an old repeat prescription for antibiotics because I 'don't have time to be sick' - certainly no time to wait in a doctors waiting room to be told to go on antibiotics.  I went to work the following day to hack up a lung, to school the next day so I could hack up the other and then finally crashed on Sunday, just before my little boy came down with the same or a similar bug....  

My first thought was 'Great! Now I'm going to be up all night with a sick toddler and I won't be able to go to training. AGAIN.'  But as I watched him fall in and out of sleep (he hasn't had an afternoon nap in almost a year), burning hot, cuddled in my arms, I just melted into my role of nurturer and comforter.  I remembered my real priorities and decided that exercise could wait for now.

I also realised that THIS is how we are supposed to get over a virus.  We are SUPPOSED to feel like a truck has hit us, to expel mucus, to burn a fever, sweat, dribble, ache etc.  Until our body naturally defeats the bug.  The fact that I went for the drugs and struggled to 'push through it' and didn't ask Hot Husband to stay home for a day and help me out was actually about as dumb as eating a box of donuts with a bottle of bourbon on the side (hey - that used to be a healthy snack for me).    

Being healthy is about whole lifestyle - not just what we eat or how hard we work out at the gym.  It's about getting downtime when you need it (not when it's scheduled), it's about dropping expectations sometimes and allowing the natural rhythm of our bodies or our lives to dictate our activity.  

Recently a very strong and fit Australian woman named Denae Brown qualified to go to to LA and compete as an individual in the World Crossfit Games.  She had to withdraw at the last minute because she found out she was pregnant.  I thought to myself 'oh no, she must be devastated that she did all that hard work and didn't get to use it!' but she is absolutely thrilled. She's going to have a  baby.  You forget how exciting that is (she may not be as thrilled when she finds out how much sleep you get in the first three years!). If she can deal with that sort of setback and be over-the-moon then I am sure I can miss a week of my own half-arsed training.  Besides, I have been eating really well and resting my sorry muscles and bones so it's not all that bad.

This last week has been a good lesson for me. I like to think I can control and conquer anything with the right amount of planning and persistence.  But nature can't be tamed. Sometimes it's better to learn to ride the wave instead of getting dumped and eventually drowned by the beast.  

I also learnt that bacon makes everything better.