Artslim, weight, life, health management.

 
12WBT, Update. 03/10/2010
 
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I have been enjoying the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation and enjoying the meals though I have needed to substitute cooking methods as I have been in the caravan, bush camping last week using only a hot plate as the cooking method, no grills with me and even substituting meals to fit in with many meals as a guest in other people's homes. This is part of the 12WBT training, not to make excuses.

I am learning that I eat healthy and exercise even when it is not easy to fit in with other people's routines and expectations of me. I need to eat healthy and exercise even when I am visiting and travelling. No more, 'just this once time out', excuses.  I am learning to be more consistent and to make MORE of an effort.

I have totally broken the weight stall, I have been on and I am releasing weight well.

Then we visited Reg's sister for 2 days. Then we visited our  youngest daughter, during both the beginning phase of the 2 weeks and now during the mid to late part of the second week. This made half my meals, ones prepared in another's home and I have stuck perfectly to the calorie plan up until last two nights when the temptation, of my daughter’s delicious cooking, had me go several hundred calories, over my eating plan. I have made a mental note to work that off, next week.

Tonight is another challenge, the family want take away food.  I plan to prepare myself something I can eat and not be over calories and eat separate to them, I don't intend to waste the 300 to 350 calories I am allowed on stodgy pizza when I could have a plate full of more delicious and nutritious food I will enjoy more.

Then there is the taking exercise time while visiting. Somehow, I am still keeping it up though feel I have slacked off in the intensity.  LOL at the look on my sister in laws face when I announced 'I was heading out for a run'.

We were delayed, here at my daughter’s home by a few extra days due to tyre damage and getting a replacement. This gave me a chance to get to JB HiFi to get the three Michelle Bridges exercise DVD’s  I plan to do the Crunch Time Seek and Destroy, Cardio Kicker or whatever version of it that is possible to do in the space of the caravan, on my cardio exercise days, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  Then I’ll try the Tight Toned and Terrific Crunch Time DVD on my strength training days Tuesday and Thursday. The super shredded Circuit, I doubt I will be able to modify for the caravan space but I will try it on the Saturday.

When the weather is good and the location, suitable, I go for a brisk walk and jog. When we are on power I can use the Wii and do my biggest loser total body workout program.  The DVD’s I just bought, I can use when bush camping as our DVD runs on solar power.

Then of course there  is the Grampians, where we are headed and some amazing mountain hikes to scenery.  It is a national park and our dog, will not be able to do these walks and Reg is no longer fit enough to do them. So provided Reg is well enough to leave at the caravan park with Indigo, I will be attempting some fairy strenuous hikes on my own.  There will be something a little sad about this.

The Grampians is Reg and my ‘special place’. It is sad, he is not fit enough, to do these walks to the summits, to see the views, with me but it does at least resolve the issue of who would look  after the dog while the hike is undertaken and it will be a fantastic, week three exercise program, for me and almost guarantee me, a great result for my week three, effort. 

We should reach theGrampians, Victoria, on Saturday.

We will stay at Grampians Gardens Tourist Park.
 
 
 
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On Tuesday and Thursday, I used the caravan steps and my adjustable weights to do three lots of 50 step ups.  I then use the weights to do a range of three lots of ten exercises that I learned from the Osteoporosis Association of Australia,  I then went for intermittent power walking and sprinting or a 400 meter jog alongside the Tarra River.

)n Monday, Wednesday and Saturday I do my Cardio Workouts using my Wii, Biggest Loser, Interactive, full body workout and on Friday, I do my Yoga exercises. I do some walk running six days a week and also my stretches. 

I do not always have a place as beautiful as Tarra Valley to workout in (last week it was beach runs),  but while I have it I just have to share the beauty and inspiration of the place :-).
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Yesterday was my second day ot the 12 week body transformation program I an doing.
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This photo was taken alongside our camp.

Today I did part of my fitness assessment.

Instead of doing the 400-meter jog, planned as my 'final burst', for the day I did a timed one-kilometre run.

This was supposed to be timed on a flat surface and done at the same place ever four weeks and I am in the mountains, there is now where flat in Tarra Valley or surroundings, so I took the last timed trial I did as my starting entry level.  I recorded an 8.8 kilometres for 1 kilometre last November, on the flat, pushing myself as hard as I possibly could.

I also did my ‘’how many push ups could I do in one minute test and I disappointed myself by collapsing in a heap after 15 push ups from the knees and 35 seconds

The caravan step and those adjustable weights were my main exercise equipment for day two.

 
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That is Reg, beside the camp fire at our camp, eating the Thai Curry, I cooked as our evening meal, yesterday. It was delicious and HOT.

With Reg and Indigo relaxing today beside Tarra River and our caravan home, I did three sets of fifty step ups on to those caravan steps in the photo, holding those weights.  Reg was most impressed, reminding me that a few years ago I could not have stepped on to those steps without holding on to the door handle and hauling myself up them or asking for help.

I also told myself that if I thought three sets of 50 step ups and down, were hard to do, I would need to be fit enough to do 2,500 of those step ups if I was to be fit enough to climb to the top of the Pinnacle in the Grampians Victoria, ever again :-). Wouldn't that be a thrill to achieve once more?

I did the series of upper and lower body weight exercises, I have been doing on alternate days, since last May, I just upped the intensity a litte, doing three sets of eight each.
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300 to 350 Calorie Breakfast.
Half a large banana, 1/3 punnet blueberries, 8 strawberries, 30 gram of Aldi organic Muesli, 100 gram of low fat, unsweetened, live culture, natural Greek style, yogurt.
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100 to 150 calorie Snacks x two, Morning and afternoon tea: 
Morning Snack was:-Fresh summer harvest juicy white flesh, peach and a few seseme seeds and the skim milk powder I add to my morning coffees. 
Afternoon snack, (see photo) was an assorted salad with my favorite measured quantity, Paul Newman, Classic Salad Dressing on it and the skim milk in my afternoon cup of teas.

Contrary to advise for most people, I have the lxury of drinking tea and coffee with my meals to block iron absorbtion, as I absorb too much iron.
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300 to 350 calorie Lunch was 2 slices of toasted Burgen Lin Soy bread. with low fat ricotta cheese topping, carrot, tomate, spring onion, rocket leaf and capsicum, sprinkled with extra sharp parmisan cheese and freshly grated pepper.
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300 to 350 Dinner 
Thai Curry at Tarra valley.
It was too hot for my taste, so Reg ate the larger serve of it, I had about 1/3.  Reg he loved it. :-)

Tarra Valley ~ Thai Curry

Brown in a non stick sauspan, 200 gram lean minced meat, carrot, capsicum, onion, add I packet of fresh bean shoots and 1 tin of Valcom authentic Green Curry (Gaeng Keow Wan).

Contents, Cocout extract, Bamboo shoots, Eggplant, Chilli, Shallot, Lemon grass, Garlic, Galangal, Sweet basil, Kaffir lime, Shrimp paste, Coriander sead and things I don't like but will accept as a once in a while inclusion for convienience. 

 
We finished a perfect day, in bed together, in the caravan, all three of us, Reg, Indigo the poodle and I, watching 'CATS', on DVD. :-). 
 
 
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I am having a lovely weekend, it is free of any commitments to others and appointments, just Reg, Indigo the dog, and me, doing exactly what we like, in our own time, keeping each other company and enjoying life.

With no commitments, just choosing what I wanted to do, I have chosen a quiet day with the TV on, watching parts of the Winter Olympic Games, blogging, creative writing, a few home chores, the laundry and healthy delicious meals for two, also my  full body workout, which I now feel lazy if I do not do.

It is three weeks since I began my new exercise routine, so I should be through the hard part, it should now be ‘habit’.

I have experimented to try to work out the ideal time plan that is going to allow me to fit in all my busy life activities, when we are travelling between locations. Today I feel I have found the time management formula, I will be able to make work and one that is compatible with the contradictions of my love of sedentary creative arts and my need to be an active, person so I have the fitness level and health I desire

I can see that my current exercise and eating plan is working for me and I know that for me exercise is an incredibly important part of my initial weight loss and latter on, weight management journey. Three years ago, I was unhealthy, morbidly obese and almost very sedentary. I will never be one to exercise for the love of exercise, I LOVE what exercise does for ME and I exercise because I have learned to respect and love myself.

I know for some people, the area in their life they are working on improving is the eating part, and they do not have a problem with being active, and here am I, with no desire whatever to eat chocolate or chips. How different are we?

Certainly, no one fitness plan suits us all. The basics of energy balance remain the same but just as some people clean the skin successfully with little more than water and others have a beauty parlour of brand loyal or assorted creams and lotions, there is no ‘one size fits all’, anything. That is why I always suggest, ‘ask for personal guidance from experts’, in anything your wanting to master.

I took a look, at forum topic about blackhead treatment, about two weeks ago. I left my own advice in there, knowing at the time, mine would not be the usual suggestions. That is just an example of how, what feels right for my face, and what feels right for me to do for my body, may not be a program that is manageable nor desirable, for another.

Each person does, what works, for them.  The only time we need question this, is if what we are doing is not working and then it becomes a case of not continuing to do the same thing we always did and expecting a different result. Sometimes we have to change from what is comfortable, to attain a goal we seek. Sometimes it is even fun to push outside of our comfort zone, try something new, increase activities, and discover, we are getting results after only three weeks as I have just doneJ.  It is fun, when we get to see some results.
 
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Three weeks into my Biggest Loser, interactive full body work out training for the Wii at the begginer level and I am ready to restart at a higher level and I am seeing fantastic results.
I know the differences this week are due to the new exercises, as everything else, my diet, my incidental exercise routine, have remained the same.

Results are showing. Drum roll........I made up for a fluids weight gain last week.......a near unbelievable 5 kilo weight loss this week (I ONLY aim for 640 gram, I am not after fast, I Am after lasting excess fat loss( and I increased my exercise level and duration today, :-) I am reporting this to say 'hang in there' when the scales are crazy and show gains when you know you put in the effort, they are not as accurate as consistent effort is in showing the results, the scales are only 'a tool', not your judge and jury.

Yesterday I was noticing more muscle in my upper arms, this I want, as it will help fill up the area where I am losing excess fat. The other day when drying myself after a shower I saw muscles I had not seen before in my lower legs and lol, I often ‘feel’ the muscles in my butt these days so I know I am working these. The muscle development I am getting is subtle but considering it is only 21 days since I began my biggest loser interactive training workouts, you would think I was on hgh, the change seems so dramatic for me.

The thing that excites me the most is that I can do ‘the plank’ exercise, and the quad stretches, those were beyond my ability a month ago.  

J. Do not pop my bubbleJ, by reminding me I am still a work very much in progress, lol, I want to bask in the glow of having discovered a pair of little bud muscles on my upper arms tonight, J  and it is all, ‘home grown’ lol.

 
 
 
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Life has been a bit hectic for me this week and I missed out on two of my exercise sessions but the positive side was I DID succeed in getting to bed before midnight for six nights in a row, quite an achievement for me, so I have been looking after myself. :-). I did actually gain some weight so the cutting back on exercise had a negative effect.  I know not to panic, I know it is ‘life style’, not panic short sprint actions that will make the difference I want to happen in my life.  

It is often hard to maintain my focus on this and that is why I express, in my blog,  that I am seeking ‘balanced life’, not a yo-yo of being on or being off a diet. I keeps me focused and stops me going from one extreme, overeating and or under activity, to the opposite extreme, of deprivation or one food group denial dieting which is unhealthy for very long and unsustainable.

Yes I have friends who have chosen to lose weight this way, I DO wish them well, it just does not work as a healthy option for me, I want a lifetime of comfort around food, food pleasure, weight management, not dependence on a diet and being on a diet struggling with weight for the rest of my life.

I had planned to join in several start of February fitness slimming and challenges then other priorities that were very important to me took most of my time and I am only participating in a  simple one, with a group of friends.

Thinking about this, I know that this is the year when I ;learn how to incorporate a busy lifestyle of creative work with eating well and being active and fitness orientated plus having adequate sleep hours.

Today was a good start, I have visited both daughters and grandchildren, son in laws, four hours drive apart, managed time for a country walk, a fresh fruit and vegetable shop up, I am being creative now, working on my photos and writing and I may pack some art supplied for out next trip,  tonight.

I have also begun, to research more links to time and life management, as I know the secret to weight management for me is not in radical diets or extreme actions, it is as simple and as hard, as managing the lifestyle balance of doing all the things I love to do, gaining satisfaction from my life and not from a desire to overeat or seek out comfort foods of low nutrition.


I thought this was a fantastic article, in Kirstens Blog. 
Learning how to start jogging 
Just be careful not to slip in the snake oil and dodge the fake magic weight loss berries as you search the web with me for great helpful information :-) There is great information between the scams, if you keep in mind, you cannot buy weight loss, it 's about life management and we have to do it yourself, we will be safe from the hoax and the yo-yo forever.
 
 
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Reg and I love exercising out of doors.
This week has been a big celebration week for me.  No cake, but many fitness related gifts have been purchased in the last month, not to mention some gorgeous, slim fitting summer dresses.

All this increased health, fitness and healthy size, because I made the decision to not allow ill health or injury to hold me back any longer, I rejected the looming continuing deteriorating health, status and I swam, walked then jogged, weight lifted, full body workouts, yoga and skipped my way back into fitness and a more attractive shape and size.

I did not do it on my own.  I asked for expert help at every step of the way.  I’ joined on line support forums, sort guidance from a certified practicing dietician and I used a physiotherapist, a fitness coach and I have attended two of the best gyms in Victoria, having private personal training sessions, attended group fitness classes  and even attended an evening Boot Camp. 

I believe that it does not happen (my goals), by itself, I have to make it happen.

Right now, I am highly committed to achieving some fitness and weight loss goals and I am currently one week into a four-week goal, one week into a three-month goal and tomorrow morning I am beginning an on line 12 week slimming challenge

To be highly motivated to not just set these goals and begin the challenge, I look for increased fitness tips and motivations and experts and equipment that help me make the effort I need to make, to achieve the goals I want.

I found a great on line Fitness, Nutrition and Wellness, Newsletter from Agilis Fitness. I found it here:-: Long Beach personal training .

My current fitness work out is one I have complete confidence in., It has great weight, balance, aerobic and stretching components and I can safely do all the movements without risk of injury because I have used the services of sports injury prevention trained, personal trainers like those here:- personal trainer Long Beach.

Even when I exercise from home and when I tour interstate in the caravan, I do stay in close touch with exercise experts. For me it is not just about exercising it is about exercising safely so I minimise the risk of back injury in my daily life, rather than risk injury through exercise.

Trying to do a ‘lunge’ for instance, on my own always caused me knee injury yet once I was shown by a personal trainer, how to do it and what not to do, I can now for the first time do lunges and I feel my knees becoming stronger as a result.

 

This week while I have worked very hard focussing on Fitness, Nutrition and Wellness, I overheard the conversation below:-.

Friend 1, told her fiends that she had just lost a lot of unwanted weight, and ‘it was amazing what eating healthy and exercising right, had done for her figure’.

Friend 2, said, ‘If you find the secret to the weight you lost, let me know’.

Since then I have heard that same conversation, expressed in slightly different words, many times this week.  

There isn’t a magic ‘secret’, to find out, it is all about  following a path toward Fitness, Nutrition and Wellness, the path that professionals like Agilis Fitness are qualified to advise and guide you with.

I am looking forward to adding the newsletter I have signed up for, to my mix of other professional fitness equipment and services I use.

I am a firm believer in the sayings.

 
 ‘Step outside your comfort zone if you want exceptional results’.

 

‘Don’t keep doing the same things

and expect a different result.’

 
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Fitness training in the fresh open air, My prefered exercise.
 
 
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I am a member of the Biggest Loser Club AU.  I mostly chat in fitness and exercise related forums, as Kathyjoy.  Rank: Advanced Member
 
If you are looking for great healthy eating, consuming adequate calories, non of those metabolism depressing, health wrecking, poor nutrition or very low calorie dieting, or emphasis only on the silly (my opinion), bathroom scales. If you are willing to become active ad exercise, and focus on fit and slim, not slim at any cost, I would recommend the Biggest loser Club to you.  A one year membership is not expensive, on a per week basis.

I do not like purely weight loss only orientated programs, they are ‘not for me’..

The first healthy weight loss forum I joined  three years ago was fantastic, it was good nutrition, portion control and exercise with each of us doing our own thing, but all of us being focused on the healthy way to do it.  The thing is, it was so successful those who joined it, mostly achieved their goals and moved on. It was a small group of similar minded people most of whom I have developed a lifetime friendship with and we are all, winners for having met and motivated each other to achieve wonderful healthy goals.

It interested me that those who lost weight fastest, by cutting calories to 1,200 or below, struggled to maintain the weight loss and even regained.  Those who focused on good nutrition, adequate calories, but controlling portion and not binging, and exercising regularly, lost the weight gradually but maintained the weight loss and gained greater health.

I know I frequently emphasise that osteoporosis is sometimes called 'the slimmers illness'.  When you put fitness and nutrition, first in your mind, slimming happens naturally, without effort and what is more, you maintain it. :-). 

The Biggest Loser Program, may not be the program for everyone, some people need more help with the emotional issues of overeating. This program suits me because I have found fitness interested forum members I can enjoy interacting with.

So I AM taking part, in the Biggest Loser Club AU Club, 


~~~~~~~~~~~ FABULOUS IN FEBUARY!        

        Ready ?

ON YOUR MARKS..........GET SET.............GO!

 
 
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Today I bought the Wii console and Wii fit Plus bundle then shopped around to find the Biggest Loser, logged in on that and set my player up, weighted in, set a target goal and then did 30 minutes upper body and core work out followed by weight loss Yoga and stretches. :-).  If I had any doubts before I bought it, that it would be something I could use to keep me motivated to fitness goals working from home and a caravan, I do not have any now :-).

 Only problem I had was I could not read the screen in the program, on the old TV and I had to take over the one good TV my husband watches so I may need to get up at 6am before he rises and then use it again late at night, not use it during the day as I had planned. Anyhow I did an extra hours exercise  using the Wii, on top of the exercise I had already done today :-) I am pleased.

Because I am adding more creative art work and writting time into my life I needed to be more efficient in my use of my exercise time, get more fitness results without increasing my time spent exercising. I feel this program game me as good a work out as I was getting at gym and it was aas enjoyable, and I saved a good half hour travel time and probably the same amount of time changing in and out of special gym clothes.  I liked that I could exercise in bare feet and pyjamas, then shoower in home comfort as soon as I finished the workout.

Wii is WOW! :-), I did the Biggest Loser workout upper body and stretches 30 minutes then Biggest Loser Yoga and stretches. First time I have done my Superman's, for a while, :-), good to be back on track again with some new motivation I felt I needed fitness kick in the but :-).
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Chasing Indigo running after a ball, is a great fitness workout.
During the after Christmas sales I wondered around in department and sporting goods stores looking at home gym equipment from treadmills to Wii and trying to understand words I am not even familiar with, never having had children of my own when computerised game technology began, terms like video cards and consoles left me quite confused  

My home gym equipment is simple and portable:-

A skipping rope

Resistance exercise equipment, Two stretch bands and a  Gym stick

A blow up, balance ball

One set of high quality, adjustable weight dumbbells

One set of wrist weights and one set of ankle weights

A pedometer.

One set of steps (caravan steps do very nicely), I see no point in buying steps just to exercise.

A chair, ditto, to the steps, I  ‘find any available chair’.

10BX  card detailing a range of 10 Basic exercises, to be done, at varied intensity depending on ability. lol, I have used 10BX exercises since I was thirteen, lol, my little tattered 10BX exercise card could be 50 years old.

Sports clothing, A swimsuit, Gym pants, gym top, cushioned soled sports socks,  and a sports bra. My Brook Addiction Control, Running Shoes.

Water bottle and a back pack water bladder for use on long walks

A thin palates mat, this doubles when we travel as a pad between the window and the roof of the caravan.  When you travel for months out of every year, everything needs to be compact or do several duties.

I have a DVD and a hand held chart of dumb bell exercises for osteoporosis.

I do have an iPod with the week one of the Couch to 5 Kilometre, intervals of walking and running for thirty minutes, loaded into it. That is about as high Tec as I go with my home gym travel equipment. I rarely use it these days, I get the idea, you run briefly, then you walk and recover, I do not need anyone telling me to do it, :-). I will throw a ball for Indigo and run with her, that works just as well and is more, family fun.

I have packed exercise DVD’s but I simply do not use them, I think I like the tranquillity of not having anyone barking orders at me while I work out. In fact the closer to nature and peace, I have when I exercise the happier I am. J

A flowing stream to swim up or a mountain trail, I think would draw more effort from me without my even feeling it, that any modern fitness, electronic, computerized, wiz bang, wii tec  game J. Maybe one day my grandchildren or a more knowledgeable about ‘new stuff’, friend will convert me.