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!

Scrumdiddlyumptious

What a miserable start to Monday! It was cold, grey, foggy and just plain miserable this morning. And it extended into the afternoon. I knew I had to walk today but I just kept putting it off, putting it off, until I couldn’t put it off any longer. And lo and behold, I walked outside into sunshine and blue skies later this afternoon. See, sometimes good things do come to those who wait. It wasn’t warm but hey, I can’t have everything!

I ended up walking 6km in 55.15min. Once home I did 20 x squats and lunges with a 5kg medicine ball. Followed by 4 x 15 reps of push ups. And to finish off, 4 different ab exercises: 2 sets of 12 reps.

Dinner tonight we had an amazing, awesome, scrumdiddlyumptious beef, pumpkin and prune tagine. Really, it was that great! If this is dieting, I am all for it. This meal was so, so delicious and perfect for this cold weather. It came with a small serve of rice. Yummo!

And something that would normally be scrumdiddlyumptious would be rocky road chocolate that Mr CJ is about to tuck into. He has advised that I look the other way so as not to be tempted. Generous soul that he is Instead I will savour my hot chocolate. I know, it’s not quite the same thing….

Beef, pumpkin & prune tagine (this photo doesn’t do it justice)

What a jerk!

Dinner tonight: Jerk fish. Verdict: delicious.

According to Wikipedia (what else!) Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (called “pimento” in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet peppers (similar in heat to the habanero pepper).

The 12WBT recipe has dried thyme, allspice, brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, chilli, oil & onion in the marinade. Once marinaded, the fish was char grilled and was served with steamed chat potatoes and a green salad. It was a really tasty meal.

Now for the week in review. This is a milestone week so there was fitness test to do as well.

Monday – I braved the early morning for another walk but with so many layers on I probably looked like the Michelin Man. Be prepared was today’s motto as I prepped Mondays meals as well as Tuesdays as I was going to the movies after work.

Tuesday – from jelly arms at the gym to getting good/not so good news from the physio to seeing The Great Gatsby, today had it all. No popcorn, pop tops or wine at the movies. Diet Coke and yoghurt & berries I had prepared the day before kept me going.

Wednesday – a 900g loss! A very filling egg white omelette for lunch at a Canberra institution: Gus’s to celebrate (belatedly) Ruth’s birthday.

Thursday – another meal out. This time breakfast with work colleagues at a nearby cafe. Another omelette. No grumbling gremlins today! The highlight? Getting next weeks menu plan in my inbox. Love it!

Friday – challenging my core and my balance on a Swiss ball. These things are best done in the privacy of my own home.

Saturday – another awesome SSS including a 1km swim. Also repeated the pushups and plank tests that I last did 4 weeks ago. Have improved immensely In push ups department! Finally faced my fear: Brussels sprouts. Traumatised as a child but decided to give them a chance. Discovered that oven roasted Brussels sprouts are delicious. Who would’ve thought!

Sunday – sleep in yay! And because I enjoyed the Brussels sprouts I had yesterday, decided to have them again today. This time I char grilled them. Yummo! Definitely worth a second chance if the last time you had them was as a child. I also re-did my measurements today and have lost a total of 3.2cm, mainly legs and hips. Biceps are increasing

Tonight’s meal: Jerk Fish

Monday Meals

This morning I dressed warmly for my early morning walk given that it was sub zero temperatures outside (truly I must be mad!). I froze last week when I attempted an early morning walk and I wasn’t about to endure another sufferfest. So it was on with fleecy run tights (2XU make the best), woolly socks, tracky pants, singlet, fleecy long sleeved top, big, thick fleecy jacket that zips all the way up, headband, cap and heavy duty winter cycling gloves. Take that jack frost! And then it was out to brave the elements for a 45 min walk which ended up being just a shade under 5km. So next week my goal will be to walk 5km in that time.

Once home, and after removing a few clothing items so I could move freely, I went through a mini circuit of push ups, single leg bridges and triceps dips – 5 sets of 10 reps each. Then I backed up with full sit ups, crunch pulses and plank, two sets of each. What a great way to start Monday morning.

This morning’s breakfast was banana quinoa porridge. Apart from the portion size (I used a small bowl so it wouldn’t look so tiny!) it was delicious but then again I do love quinoa. Some people love lentils (me, not so keen) but I love quinoa. For anyone who has to eat gluten free this is a great addition to the diet – quinoa can be used in place of couscous, makes a change from rice or pasta, and the flakes can also make a porridge, or added to a muesli mix. I’ve never tried the quinoa flour – maybe I should add that to the list of new foods to try this week. The banana was halved lengthways, drizzled with maple syrup and cinnamon and popped under the griller for 5 minutes. This then topped the quinoa porridge.

When everyone else had take away coffee for morning tea I had balsamic and basil strawberries with ricotta. As part of this week’s food challenge ie try something new, I am trying to incorporate some variety into my snacks. While I abhor same old, same old when it comes to my meals, I very rarely change what I have for snacks. Normally I would have fruit, or nuts, or yoghurt, maybe some corn thins with cottage cheese. Time to shake things up!

For lunch I had satay egg, carrot & cucumber corn thins which were surprisingly filling. Go figure! And tasty.

Afternoon tea came and went. I ate an apple and some almonds while busy with work.

Dinner time! Finally! It was a case of arriving home and getting stuck into cooking as soon as I walked inside. No rest for the wicked! However the result was delicious grilled lamb with pumpkin, green beans, feta and pine nuts. Genius!

And finally…a hot chocolate before heading off to bed. But not before packing my gym bag for tomorrow morning, and also my swimming bag for Wednesday morning, as I am going to see The Great Gatsby after work tomorrow. I also cooked tomorrow’s dinner tonight so I can just heat it up once I get home from the movies.

The secret to the 12WBT program is to do like the scouts: be prepared!

“From this moment right now sitting there in your chair (take note of the time on your computer), you can choose to be different. Now. Not later, now. Not next week, today. Not when you’ve thought about it some more, now. Not when it’s convenient, now. And not because you’ve somehow arrived at the mystical ‘right time’ or you’ve had some kind of spiritual revelation or emotional breakdown but just because you’re sick of giving in to fear and wasting your time and talent. It’s that complicated and that simple. You have power, potential and possibilities on tap.” – Craig Harper, Motivational Speaker

The week that was: review of week 3

I can’t believe that it’s been almost 3 weeks since I started this round of 12WBT. It used to be said that to form a habit takes 21 days. However there seems to be a shift in thinking lately that it takes anywhere between 26 – 66 days depending on the habit you’re either trying to make or break.

However I have noticed that I’m not picking at food between meals, I’m trying to differentiate between head and stomach hunger (ie kicking the emotional eating habit) and most of the time I’m satisfied with less on my plate. It does help that the weekly menus offer up tasty options and for someone who loves variety, this program offers plenty of variety.

Not that I’m anywhere near perfect, no way, not by a long shot. Ask me again in 66 days!

This was how week 3 panned out for me:

Monday – froze on my early morning walk. Note to self: wear more warm clothes! Dealt with a social event with amazing restraint. Diet coke anyone?!

Tuesday – apparently I’m an elite athlete according to a health check I had today! On the serious front, my cholesterol ratio is improving. This has been a long time coming. Had my weekly physio appointment and there has been some teensy improvement – I have been given the go ahead to use a recumbent bike at the gym!

Wednesday – lost 300g! Discovered that lentils and I have an uncomfortable relationship. Underwhelmed with dhal.

Thursday – weights session and 5 mins on the recumbent bike! Amazing how little things like this can make my day! Busy planning next weeks menu and exercise program.

Friday – a hungry day. The grumbling gremlins made their presence felt in the afternoon. Drove me crazy. But I didn’t attack the charity chocolate box (just thought about!)

Saturday – my version of a SSS – swim, pool walking, bike, treadmill and weights. The grumbling gremlins hung around again today. Deployed my secret weapon. I also made and ate an awesome chicken, roasted eggplant and capsicum roll with ricotta & baby spinach for lunch. Did the final 50 push-ups for a total of 300 for the week (two weeks now).

Sunday – rest day. Loved the smoked salmon cases with salad for lunch. Very fancy schmancy!

Week 4 – bring it on!

Those fancy schmancy smoked salmon & tomato cases with salad

The promise of coffee for the caffeinista sistas!

7.49am: Gindy parkrun
Distance: 6km (inc 1km warm up)
Time: 31.49min
Pace: 5.15min/km
Cals: 350

Parkrun results:
49th across the line, 1st in age group
Time: 25.39min (this included stopping to tie up shoe laces)

Weather: 6*c, wind – calm; a chilly start but a gorgeous sunny morning

It seemed really strange driving to the start of parkrun this morning as I usually run down and then run home afterwards. But not today. Why? Well there is the Mothers Day Classic 10km tomorrow so I’m saving myself(!), and Gary was shouting the caffeinista sistas aka CJ and Ruth, a coffee for doing the marathon last month. Just quietly – that was the real reason I showed up for parkrun today!Thank you Gary!

It was a chilly start this morning but we soon warmed up on the 5km run – those tricky little hills just pop up when you least expect them! That first one up to the bridge can be particularly nasty – very short and sharp. Deek’s female Indigenous squad were marshalling today as they are running tomorrow. They are training to run New York marathon later this year, as we are!

Then it was off to Birrigai Cafe for a coffee that Gary promised us for running the Canberra marathon. Trust me it was a well earned coffee! And as a special treat, Ruth also had a choccie biscuit and I had a Jaffa slice – very delicious and totally negated any calories I may have earned today from the run! Oh well, the countdown is on – only 2 more sleeps and the challenge is on (deep breath CJ).

This afternoon I baked my first ever sponge so wasn’t sure how this would turn out. I used a recipe from the Cooks Companion – my Stephanie Alexander cooking bible. I remember my nana used to make a sponge using a recipe that didn’t have the usual plain or SR flour but instead used cornflour. This is what this recipe had – cornflour, custard powder, cream of tartar, carb soda, caster sugar and eggs. It baked perfectly and, apart from a tricky situation where it stuck to the wire rack while cooling, there were no dramas. It has now been sliced horizontally and sandwiched with strawberry jam and cream.

Tomorrow its Mothers Day. So why am I getting up early to run 10km? I’m still wondering that myself!

Last long run :)

7.17am: long run inc parkrun
Distance: 17km (inc 5km parkrun)
Time: 1hr 33.36min (5km – 24.09min)
Pace: 5.30min/km
Location: Lake Ginninderra
Weather: (7.30am) 6.6*c, wind – calm; (9am) 11.3*c, wind – ESE, 7kph

Today was my last long run before the marathon. Of course, come Sunday week I’ll be running 42.2km.

It was another chilly start this morning and for a while there I thought I’d be heading off to the lake in the dark but the sun did eventually rise around 7am. Thank goodness daylight savings finishes tonight. It was great while it lasted but its so dark in the mornings now.

There was a large turnout for the Gindy parkrun this morning and the usual suspects were there – Ruth, Marg, and Gary, and Mr B even showed up. I was 6secs off my PB today though it did feel like I was running faster, obviously it was just harder! Then a casual cool down run home again afterwards – a pleasant way to end the run.

The rest of the day was spent familiarising myself with domestic duties once again because for some strange reason I decided to save some money by not getting a cleaner anymore. What was I on at the time to even consider this absurd notion?! As compensation for hard labour I had prepared Moroccan lamb shanks with pumpkin & mint for dinner tonight, with poached vanilla pears with chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream & toasted coconut flakes for dessert. Recipes courtesy of Michelle Bridges and Weight Watchers Verdict? Delicious.

“I may not be the strongest, I may not be the fastest, but one thing’s for sure, I’ll be trying my hardest.”

Seedy & nutty

Some would say that half of today’s title would describe me to a T, and I’m not disputing that! (and I hope you’re thinking the second half of the title, and not the former!)

However I do have to admit I am feeling seedy today, i.e., under the weather, and no alcohol has been involved. The seediness gradually crept up on me last night and has stuck around today, just to ensure that I have a very mediocre day. To think, I left half of my perfectly good cappuccino behind this morning at Kingston & Co. What more proof do you need that I’m not well?! So I am having a proper rest day – no swimming today.

However today’s title describes a loaf of bread I made last night after discovering a recipe on My New Roots site, referred to as “The life- changing loaf of bread.” This, of course, stoked my curiosity and I had to give it a go. It’s basically a mixture of seeds (sunflower, chia, flax, psyllium), nuts (almonds), oats (or quinoa flakes), coconut oil and water, mixed together in a silicon loaf pan and left for several hours (or even overnight) before putting in a 180 degree oven for 30min, then removing from the loaf pan and sitting the upside-down loaf directly on the oven rack for another 40min, until it sounds hollow when tapped.

Now if you’re after a fresh, fluffy, light loaf of bread, this is not for you. It’s obviously very seedy and nutty and dense, but I like it. It’s got flavour and texture and smells delicious when toasted. And it looks great.

“Where there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Christmas Day

After a much-needed and appreciated sleep in this morning, and much humming and haaaing while enjoying a coffee before getting out of bed, I decided to do my Christmas day 10km intervals run before breakfast. The reason for the humming and haaaing was that I was starving and then factoring in a 10km run, it was going to be close to 11am before I had breakfast. In the end I decided the wait would be worth it because I was sure that later in the day I really wouldn’t feel like doing the session…..and I was right!

Intervals are always hard and this morning was no exception – 3 x 1km (2 min RI); 3 x 400 (1 min RI); 3 x 200m (1 min RI); 4 x 100m (30s RI). It always looks so much simpler written down than actually doing it! I was the only one outside doing anything – funny that! I really appreciated the berry bircher muesli I had once I had finished – so healthy and delicious and it really does prove that healthy food needn’t be boring, bland and not tasty.

There were the phone calls to family back home in WA and to son #3 in Melbourne to wish them a merry Christmas. Its a shame that son #3 couldn’t be with us today but I am going down to Melbourne next week to spend a week with him. Sons #1 and #2 came for lunch – cold ham and chicken, homemade potato salad, coleslaw and a roasted vegetable and feta salad. Dessert was ice cream Christmas pudding topped with chocolate ganache and a fresh berry salad (blueberries, cherries, fresh currants, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries). Champagne for moi and beers for the boys, and then later coffee from my brand spanking new Nespresso coffee machine.

I also received a pair of snazzy red Oakley sports sunnies (red makes you go faster!), Lululemon running shorts, Lorna Jane running shorts (seems to be a theme happening!), LJ sweat bands, Rebel Sports gift card, Sapphires DVD, a glass angel fish ornament (to add to my collection) and various other bits and bobs.

Now I feel stuffed, satisfied and sleepy but I’m planning on finishing the night by watching Bad Santa.

So, Merry Christmas to all and to all……

…a good night!”