A day in the life of a 12WBTer

5.30am: weigh in day so I was out of bed and getting on the scales before having my regulation black coffee to kick start my day. Woo hoo! Lost 500g. That makes a total of 2kg lost since I started the program. Performed a little happy dance

6am-7am: workout time! This morning I had a cardio session and I was going to introduce some running. Omg this was going to be a big thing for me after 5 weeks of no running. Deep breaths!

I began with a 5min warm up walk on the treadmill before moving to the xtrainer for 10mins. On to the bike now for 10mins and then…this was it…10mins on the treadmill. Now I had to start trying some run intervals. On the treadmill screen I had the running track graphic and so I decided to alternate between 100m walks and 100m slow jogs. I had been instructed to run at the same pace as my brisk walking pace ie 6.5kph, so I certainly wasn’t setting a blistering pace! There were no problems with the running. Then it was on to my final 10mins on the xtrainer before finishing with 50 push-ups and 4 x 60sec planks.

And that was all I had time for before hitting the showers before the inevitable change room rush and scrum.

7.30am: finally…breakfast! Today I had oven roasted tomatoes on ricotta topped toast. It was also meant to have basil on it as well but my basil has withered and died in this cold weather and I only had coriander in the fridge. Oh well, it tasted fine anyway.

8.30am: work.

10.30am: tummy grumbles were telling me that it must be morning tea time. Ignored the half empty packet of Tim Tams on the table in the middle of our bay, and instead had corn thins topped with extra light cream cheese, chopped almonds and honey. Water! I must remember to drink more water. In this weather it’s so easy to forget even though I do have a bright blue water jug on my desk. I can hardly miss it!

12.30pm: meeting Mr B for lunch at Gus’s. Only problem is that I hadn’t anticipated it being so busy. The only tables available were outside and the heating wasn’t great. But I had no choice. I was hoping that the pumpkin soup I ordered would warm me up, along with long black. The soup might’ve done the trick if it had been a lot warmer than what it was – it was a bit of a disappointment. Thank goodness for good company!

4.30pm: feeling a bit peckish so I had an apple. This would keep me going until dinner…hopefully.

5.30pm: a brisk 10min walk to the car. It’s so cold even though I’ve got on a warm coat, scarf and gloves, as well as tights and boots.

6.15pm: start cooking dinner. Tonight we have Chicken Tikka curry with cauliflower mash. The chicken thighs had been marinating in a mixture of tikka curry paste and natural yoghurt since last night so it was just a matter of browning these in the frypan before adding chicken stock and coconut cream. I had doubled the recipe but now I realise I needn’t have doubled the stock and cream – too much liquid. Oh well, I’ll know for next time! There was enough left over for lunch tomorrow so that’s lunch sorted.

7pm: finally sit down to dinner. The curry was very mild but tasty nonetheless. And I’m not sure whether Mr CJ actually noticed that the mash was cauliflower and not potato. He didn’t comment anyway, and ate the lot!

7.30pm: pack the gym bag for tomorrow morning’s weight session. Put on a load of washing.

Now: doing my blog entry. Then I’ll have my nightly treat – a Jarrah hot chocolate. Maybe some knitting. Then off to bed.

A+ report card

This afternoon I had my physio appointment.

Had there been any improvement?

More importantly, would I be allowed to run?

What would my report card say?

Flashback to 5 weeks ago: doing 100m intervals. On the last one for the night I overdid it and felt that telltale crunch or pop, followed by an immediate stop mid-pace. Diagnosis: torn hamstring up at the attachment. How bad we didn’t know, without an MRI. The decision was made to treat it conservatively and see how it goes. The first week it was so sore – couldn’t walk far, couldn’t stand for long, even sitting was painful, given where the tear was.

I have been a model student, doing my prescribed exercises. And slowly, ever so slowly, I could do more. Now? Now I can do weighted lunges, squats, and hamstring curls. I can walk briskly (a surprise to many, including me!), use a recumbent bike and cross trainer. I’ve also followed my 12WBT program, working around the exercises I could do and substituting for those I couldn’t. No excuses.

And now? Now I can introduce short intervals of running during my walks, whether on the treadmill or outside. Woo hoo! Progress! I’m to use discomfort as a guide as to whether to continue, slow down or stop. Common sense really. I can also get on a conventional bike. And incorporate step ups in my program.

I also have some neural stretches to do to prevent scarring around the sciatic nerve, as the hammie heals.

I have a glowing report card – I’m an A+ student who applies herself diligently.

So, tomorrow it’s my cardio day. I’m off to the gym in the morning for a combination of the bike, cross trainer and treadmill and now I can include some…running! Glory be! Hallelujah! Woo hoo! And one helluva happy dance!

Halfway there

Week 6 – we’re halfway through the 12 WBT program. It’s going so quickly.

This week was off to a flying start with a brisk 5km walk at 5.30 this morning. The reason for the early start was that I was meeting friends for breakfast in town at 7.30am.

So it was on with the many layers to keep warm and then out the door – with my polar HRM on to record calories burnt and heart rate, the Garmin GPS in my pocket to record the number of kilometres covered, my phone in the other pocket because that counts steps, and my ipod shuffle for music! Nothing like technology to record all sorts of details! Love my gadgets.

After my walk I still had 50 push ups and 4 mins worth of planking to do (this week’s challenge involves doing 40mins worth of the plank over the week) before I could have a shower and get ready for work.

Breakfast was great. I love catching up with friends Ruth and Liz, and this morning we met for breakfast at 2Before10 café. I had poached eggs on gluten free toast with pickled cherry tomatoes, rocket and pesto and it was delicious. Several cups of coffee later, and having caught up with all the news, it was off to work. The lifts have been playing up (there is only 2 in our building) so it meant I had to use the stairs – no excuses. Since my hamstring injury I have been avoiding the stairs but I think now it’s time to return to using them again. It doesn’t seem to bother the hammie and it beats having to wait for what seems forever for the single lift to show up.

Last week’s challenge involved getting to be early every night. How did I find it? I actually felt so much better for getting to bed early during the week so I am trying to continue with that. On weekends I tend to stay up later but that’s because I get to sleep in on Sundays. Anyway I’ll see how I go.

Santas, speedos and shuffling?!

I love my rest days! The chance to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, pore over the Sunday papers (especially the pull outs), and just have a relaxing, do nothing day. Truth be told it doesn’t always go to plan but today was one of those days.

And after the wet, and cold weather we’ve had lately, the weather this weekend has been great. Cold, crisp sunny days with blue skies. Would be great for running…if I was running.

Which brings me to Santas and speedos and shuffling!

Not three words that would normally go together. I was reading the local paper yesterday when i came across an ad for an event which being held on Sunday 28 July to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Association of the ACT. It’s called the 6500 Santa Speedo Shuffle


The 6500 refers to the distance (in metres) from Glebe Park to the Kingston Hotel. The event starts at 11am. Registration is FREE, but all Santa’s (with the help of a Reindeer or Elf) must raise a minimum of $550 before the day. Santa’s must strip down to their budgie smugglers and run (in the Rudolf Pack) or jog/walk (in the Blitzen Pack) the 6500m from Glebe Park to Kingston. Given the temperatures in Canberra in July, this must surely qualify participants superhero status.

More information can be found here. Are you game?! It’s for a good cause.

Super Saturday

It’s been a super Saturday in more ways than one today. Yes, the SSS happened this morning, with more intensity than usual because I was having my good friend Ruth around for lunch and I needed to burn a few more calories than normal. Mind you, there was also a lot of running around cleaning, dusting etc once I got home from the gym to make the place more presentable!

Now don’t be alarmed! I haven’t fallen off the wagon. No siree, lucky Ruth was being treated to a 12WBT-themed lunch to prove that you can entertain while on the program.

The menu:
Entree: Salmon and grilled vegetable terrine with ricotta

Main: minestrone with lentils & zucchini with toasted seeded wholegrain roll

Dessert: mini chocolate fudge cakes with icecream

To drink: water flavoured with lemon juice and at the end of the meal, a cappuccino (courtesy of my Nespresso machine)

It was a lovely afternoon

And a quick shout out for this morning’s breakfast, French toast with banana, berries & maple syrup. It was soooo good and especially appreciated after my SSS this morning.

Finally, there was a stunning sky this evening.

Truly a super Saturday

Muscles!

I know this might sound obvious but I have muscles! Now this is not a recent revelation – I do know that the human body is comprised of approximately 650 or more muscles (depending what source you reference!) that do all manner of things to enable us to function. However, the reason I know I have muscles is that they are sore! Yes, I have delayed onset muscle soreness. Finally! As of this week I have been able to incorporate leg exercises into my weights regime, and even though I am using itty bitty weights, my muscles are feeling the effects. And I have also increased the weight for my upper body exercises.

Today it’s been an interesting exercise getting up and down from a seated position!

However, DOMS did not stop me from going for my early morning 6km walk today. And having gone to bed early last night (lights out at 10pm), I was…almost…bright as a button this morning at 5.30am! Amazing what 7 hours of sleep can do. This morning it wasn’t as cold as it has been on previous mornings, though I was still dressed for sub zero temperatures. The entire walk was done under the cover of darkness, I walk under the street lights so I can see where I’m going and I’m less likely to fall down a pot hole. There was not another soul out walking this morning. Then once I was home I did a mini circuit of squats, lunges, one-leg bridges, 2-leg bridges on a chair, and push ups, which was interesting given my DOMS.

And how could I forget – today is weigh in day. My loss this week was a grand total of…wait for it…drum roll…ahem…100g! Well at least its 100g in the right direction…down!

Enjoyed a coffee at lunchtime with Mr B. Well I had the coffee, he had a GF chocolate cookie which looked really delicious and oh so tempting. I was debating whether just to have a teensy piece but then I thought if I gave in this time it will make it easier to give in again…and again…and again. So no chocolate cookie for me.

Dinner tonight was meant to be Asian Chicken Patties with Warm Noodle Salad but it morphed into Asian chicken stirfry! I buy chicken breasts and mince them myself rather than buy chicken mince which can be quite fatty. Tonight, though, I really couldn’t be bothered mincing the breast and making patties. So instead I used diced chicken breast and all other ingredients in the recipe for the stirfry. Pretty simple but delicious.

Anyway I must take these sore muscles off to bed. Hopefully they will feel better tomorrow because, guess what?! I return to the gym to do it all again!

And your time starts now…

Wow, this week’s challenge is proving to be very challenging.
300 push-ups in a week?
No worries.
Try a different food or recipe?
Easy.
Aim to get to bed by 9.30pm?…omg this is really testing me!

Tonight I get home from work. And, as they say in Masterchef world, “your time starts now”…cook dinner – Cajun pork with coleslaw & sweet corn.
Get my gear ready for tomorrow morning.
Was going to go swimming but then changed my mind and instead I will do a 6km walk before work. Throw on a load of washing – that’s the downside of exercising every day, lots of washing.
Eat dinner.
Prepare tomorrow’s lunch – roasted beetroot & zucchini salad with goats cheese & walnuts.
Clean up after cooking – the kitchen looks like a bomb’s gone off.
Stack dishwasher. Wash those pots/pans that can’t go in dishwasher.
All the time trying to watch Masterchef!

And so it goes. The time is ticking away. Tick, tick, tick….will I make it?! I have to admit, it is making me very time efficient. No faffing around tonight!

And to other things: this morning it was legs & chest day at the gym. And the really exciting thing was that I could use the xtrainer (for 5min), and do squats, lunges and leg extensions! It may seem strange to be so excited by this but given that for the past 4 weeks these have been on the banned list, so to speak, this is progress.