Don't faint !!!

Don't faint - I'm actually posting a blog!!!!

Well, I didnt want to blog about what I was planning to achieve until I had achieved something!  So, as I had whinged before that I had put on weight (10kgs / 22lbs to be precise) I decided to do what always works for me and that is a ketosis diet.  Thats one serve of complex carbs in the morning and protein and veg / salad for the rest of the day.  Your body goes into ketosis and burns fat for fuel rather than carbs.  Normally it takes up to a week to get "into" ketosis but my almost dead metabolism took 4 weeks to do this.  It was soooooo dis-heartening during those 4 weeks but I stuck to it coz I knew it works for me.  So, how much have I lost, you ask ????
7.5 kgs  (16.5 lbs) in 10 weeks
I still have a bit more to go but I'm not taking any notice of the scales anymore and relying on my size 10 skinny jeans as a guide (not sure what size that is in US but a friend who wears the same size  jeans as me went to America recently and she said she was fitting into 6 sometimes a 5 in jeans).
So, what exercise did I do ?
Walking !!!!
Thats it!  10,000 steps is your goal - either incidental or intentional.  Some days I did nothing.  Its almost diet alone.  This is a typical kind of days eating plan.
M1   1/2 cup multigrain oats made on water,  5 egg white omelette, skinny capaccino
M2    low carb protein bar and skinny capaccino
M3    unlimited salad and tuna/chicken/beef/ham (100g) with evoo and balsamic
M4    protein and unlimited veg  (ate alot of fish mainly coz it was easy to prepare as its frozen fillets, skinless and in the freezer and easy to put in foil in the oven) 
M5     1/2 protein bar or fat free low carb yogurt and a cup of tea (normally after my walk or treadmill at the gym.
Veg is low carb so no peas corn carrot pumpkin potato but lots of cauli, broc mushrooms eggplant capsicums onion zucc beans tomatoes etc.
So,  my upper body is lovely and lean, very slim waist, hips OK, then ....... thunder thighs and saddlebags.  So I'm thinking of incorporating some weights for the lower half to speed things up.  I'll just see how I go for energy coz of the low carb thing.  Yes I'm skinny fat (kinda) but I'm happy with that until the butt goes.  Then its full steam ahead with my beloved weights and additional serve of complex cabs !!!!
So, here is a bit of inspiration that I hav pinned on my board in my kitchen !!!

I will do some measurements for my next blog to help with my motivation.
Have a great weekend!

Nutrition

This is what my meals were today.

M1:  steel cut oats done in croc pot on water - sounds plain but i love love love it! skim capaccino

M2:   amazing shake - ice, 1 scoop choc protein powder, flax meal, black chia seeds, All-bran cereal, skim organic yoghurt, splash of prune juice

M3:  cold shredded spicy beef and salad, dressing made of yoghurt and dijon mustard

M4:  skim capaccino and handful of raw pecan/almonds

M5:  steamed piece of salmon and brocoli

M6:  post workout - protein shake

gym - chest and back, 15 mins xtrainer

starting to feel good again!

Meals for Wednesday

This is what I plan to eat for Wednesday:-

M1:  All-bran cereal and skim milk and capaccino (waiting on an order of steel cut oats - had to order them from Tasmania (2 states away) as i cant find them in any shops near where I live - how stupid is that!)

M2: Amazing shake - protein powder, diet yoghurt, prune juice, freshly ground chia seeds and linseeds, 1/3 frozen banana and ice - blended and drunk on the run between jobs

M3:  shredded spicy beef (done in croc pot - lean cut of beef with heaps of spices cooked til it shreds) mixed in a  salad of baby rocket, red capsicum, spanish onion and cucumber

M4:  capaccino and handful of almonds

M5:  steamed fresh salmon and veg

2 litres of water, krill oil supps, multi

No meal 6 today as I cant go to the gym due to injury - slipped off the back steps and landed on my left glute, hit my head on the footpath and thru out my upper back - ouch.  i can hardly bend and changing gears is a whole new world of pain!

Happy Wednesday !

Its been a while .....

I havent blogged in ages! Its been such a horrible year, its not an excuse - just the reason.  It hasnt justified my bad eating or my lack of exercise or healthy living.  First off I became very sick, couldnt stomach anything healthy (I know, that sounds ridiculous but all I could eat was carbs and mainly procesed ones like toast, muffins etc).  That started February and I have only got over that about 4 weeks ago.
Then family dramas followed and without going into it I was absolutely devestated and there were questions that are not able to be answered and I wont get closure for quite a while yet.  It all seems too overwhelming and just too hard to take on board.
But unfortunately I didnt dig deep and took this opportunity to eat all the foods that I shouldnt.  I didnt even enjoy it at the time and felt guilty.  It was just mindless grazing on crappy foods.  Feeling lethargic, no energy, vicious cycle. Being a couch potato and not getting to bed til after midnight.  My skin is starting to suffer.  I am usually  a slave to my face as I had a lot of sun damage in the past but over the last 5 years I have "turned back time" and am pleased with the results.  I havent resorted to any botox, filler or procedure - just very good products and  facials and healthy lifestyle.
But I noticed how tired my skin is now looking and the fine lines around the eyes are coming back.
THE LAST STRAW !!!
I'm nearly 50.  Time to detox and to detox my mind.  I cant remember the last time I felt really happy with how I look and feel and realise I have to lower the bar of expectation.  I know its ridiculously high and out of my reach for me personally due to my kids and family life/health and back issues and my gruelling job.  But I'm a bit of a perfectionist and thats where it all comes undone.  Its either all or nothing - a stupid mindset. So, first step is a list.
List of things to give up and conquor :-
1.  Im addicted to strong expresso coffee - at least 4 cups a day.  Got to get it down to 1 a day
2.  I bake kids recesses and snacks instead of prepackaged shop bought stuff.  Stop eating these especially with item 1. above!
3.  Sleep, sleep and more sleep - in bed by 10.30 pm
4.  More regular gym sessions - at least 3 a week to begin with then minimum 4 x a week
5.  Eat only healthy non processed foods.  Not worry about counting cals or splitting macros at the moment.  Good carbs til 3pm.  Just concentrate on quality to get back in the groove.
Thats it to start with - just old fashion back to basics.
Wish me luck!

Soo Foo

I was reading Kristy's blog and she mentioned Soo Foo.   Of course we don't get that in Australia so I decided to make my own.

I used 6 grains - equal amounts of brown rice, black lentils, green lentils, wheat berries, barley and quinoa. I used a rice cooker and added the quinoa half way through cooking.

First batch was a bit gluggy so I used less water and the results were great. I still have to work out the nutritional facts. The taste and texture is fantastic.   A great change from brown rice. I read that if you sprout the wheat berries first then cook its way more nutritious.   I'll have to research that a bit I think! This is what it looked like ...

I will add more grains when I can buy them. You should give it a try!!

Power Breakfast

This is what i've been having for breakfast lately - I actually crave it !!

Pancakes made with 50g oats, 100g cottage cheese, 2 egg whites, vanilla blended with a stick,  topped with organic yoghurt and blueberries.

Nutritional facts :

Cals         344
Protein    25.5g
Carbs      38.2 g
Fats         8.3 g
This does not include the blueberries, I used frozen ones and I had previously thrown away the box.

It's a big serve of pancakes but I have a physical job and this keeps me going for 3 hours til my next meal. 
I just went off my normal 5 egg white and tomato omlette - just couldn't stomach the thought of it so when I was flicking through the lean and clean diet book I saw this.  It definitely hits the spot!!

Project Life - February

Up to date on my project life so far - its really fun.  The kids are getting ued to me taking photos - they have no choice!!!

Progress report

I really shouldn't call this a progress report coz I haven't made any progress :(
I have been sick now for over 2 weeks. It started out with a severe migraine (and no meds for it), with a vomitting bug and severe periods with heavy bleeding - altogether at once at 2am in the morning. A trip to the hospital by ambulance, 3 days in bed, ultrasounds and bloodtests, low blood pressure, no energy yada yada yada. I get results tomorrow .
I've just been going through the motions of life, dinner a day to day thing rather than weekly planning and just getting through work let alone thinking about the gym. Boo!
I'm feeling a lot better but still not 100% but my back is spasming so i've got to get back to doing weights.
Today I will organise food, menus etc and psyche myself for the gym tomorrow night. So unfortunately I should call this post "report" and not "progress report"
No pity party here though, I will get on top of it!
Have a good week !

Project Life

I finally received my PL kit in the mail! I didnt decide to do this project until towards the end of January so I didnt have a lot of photos to choose from. I'm more aware now of taking photos!!

Future pages will be more interesting!

I've Finished It !!!

I actually finished the 6 day Duigin detox diet (don't laugh, i know it was only 6 days but there were NO carbs at all!).

I lost 4kg of toxic bloat and did end up with a flat stomach (well mainly upper stomach, still have to work on the below belly button area) and in clothes I look totally flat!  My muffin top has diminished as well.
Duigan reckons you get heaps on energy but I disagree.  Totally no carbs drained me.  So now I'm keeping on this lifetyle way of eating but adding my multigrain oats made on water in the morning and a complex carb an hour or so before my workouts.  I'm also adding avocado, nuts, flaxseed oil/olive oil as well. And, don't forget my skim soy capaccino once a day!
I went to a family christening yesterday and back at the reception the food was never ending.  So I chose a chicken breast which I took the skin off, salad no dressing and for desert I ate fresh fruit (the choices for desert were ridiculously sumptuous).  I drank 3 bottles of water so I was the designated driver.
I felt great.  So my main focus is clean and lean foods only and only 2/3 serves of clean complex carbs a day.  I'm hitting the gym this week (I tried last week but felt awful on the first night because of the no carb thing and I had to keep my energy for my work).

Have  great week everyone!

Happy Birthday to me !!

It was my birthday on Thursday - 2nd February and I turned 48 !!! So now I'll have to change the name of my blog.

Unfortunately, I had to work and I did 2 jobs so I was tired when I got home. Normally at our house the birthday person chooses their favourite dinner and gets their favourite birthday cake but I opted not to. Why? I've been on a 6 day detox/tummy flattening diet since Monday. I had put on nearly 5kg over Christmas/New Year/school hols/Australia Day! OMG - bloat city.

So I bought a book that dear hubby Phil talked about last Christmas. I didn't buy it then coz I knew he wouldn't go on it and thought it a waste of money. It's the James Duigan Clean and Lean Flat Tummy Fast. After 4 days I've lost 3kg!!! All bloating has gone and it feels great. There's no secret magic to it - just lean protein and (certain) salad/veg for 5 meals a day, water, green tea, fih oil tabs, fibre powder, vitamin tab. Next week I will add 2/3 serves of complex carbs (oats, sweet potatoes, allbran cereal (need that one!) and my beloved skim soy capaccino! The book is well presented and had some great recipes and wasn't expensive so it served as a motivator.

Another motivator was meeting one of my idols - Shannon Ponton - one of the trainers from Biggest Loser (Australia). It was pure luck to meet him coz there were so many people there and I was in the right spot at the right time. My picture even made the local papers. Needless to say its on the fridge and I have saved a few copies!

My 9 yo Daniel is in the picture but my other kids were too cool to go up!!! Shannon is such a powerhouse and everytime I've waivered this week i just look to the photo on the fridge for inspiration!

Have a good weekend everyone!

White Tea

You may remember me banging on about my back/pelvis problems?? !!!! Well every so often it gets so unbearable or sometimes I even "pop" a back rib out (OMG I feel as though someone is stabbing a hot knife into my lungs and muscles). I then go to my "muscle whisperer".  I have been to many, many massage therapists/chiros in my time but Denis is the only one that has ever done magic! I have only found him recently (within the last 12 months).  I would go to him more regularly but I cant really afford it.  He's not that expensive its just that my health benefit only gives me $10 back out of $80 and there is an annual limit to claim.  However, I will make more of an effort to see him this year.
Anyway, as he was "talking" to my muscles we got talking about health/diet/weights (I don't know how he hears me when Im talking into a hole in the table, but it is quiet in there) and he was talking about acid/alkaline foods.  He said the best thing you can drink is white tea.  I'm going to google this but I remember him saying its good for your gastro system, flushes out toxins and stops the bloating.  Thinking it was going to cost a bomb as I've neve seen it before, he said you can get it from Coles.  So as soon as I walked out from my massage I went straight to Coles and found it!  $3.59 for a pack of 25.  He said to drink 6 cups a day (you can do 2 cups at a time with the same teabag).  This is what i'll be doing next Monday. 

My diet and weight training has stalled - i've decided to wait til the kids go back to school on Monday to get back into a routine. I go back to work full time then. We have Austalia Day on Thursday 26th Jan and we are having a big street party - need I say more!! If I find some good info on white tea I will post the link. I'm also waiting for my Project Life to arrive so I start that - wish it would hurry. I put on a self tan last night - i just love Naked Tan - it makes me look slimmer and my arms a bit more toned - gotta love that!

Just to clarify

Even though I rant and rave about my unwanted and unwelcomed long term borders aka muffin top and gut,  I need to clarify something about my previous photo of said culprits in my white jeans.  I do not look like this normally - see photo below.

Its only when I squash them into something that they clearly don't fit into!!! Not to say that they're not there - they are lurking under there - just spread out evenly!!!

Just to clarify .......

Goals 2012

I don’t feel like its a race against time to get in shape for an occasion this year.  I’m not going to continue with Bodytrim at the moment.  I will focus on a 4040/20 macros for my diet but if the carbs are stalling my weightloss I might try 50/30/20 for a while.  So, I have an ultimate goal in my mind and as soon as I find a photo that depicts my mind’s image I will post it!

But, in my first goal I am including my skin.  It was really great before we went away but with the sun, beach not so good diet, lots of alcohol and not drinking my usual 2-3 litres of water a day, my skin has suffered.  I have worked hard to reverse the damage caused by sunbaking and smoking as a teenager and in my 20’s  and have had fantastic results (no “procedure” or botox or fillers! – just good health, exercise and some fantastic, albeit expensive, face creams). So working on that is a must! 

I have recorded  my stats – not stressing on these – just as a comparison for later on. I will post them next blog.

So, goals for 2012 - Healthy, Healthy, Healthy!
Phase 1 – to fit into these:-


Nothing special about these pants.  They are a size 10.  When I bought them before Christmas they were just a tad snug – no real serious muffin top – if I wore a hip length top there was no probs.  Can’t say that now !!!  Yikes!!

I am aiming for 8 weeks – I’ve really got to start my metabolism firing again. I am doing a 4 day split lifting weights with 30mins interval cardio – xtrainer or tready.  Clean eating and maybe a cheat of a couple of low carb beers. I'm hoping that because I'm not dieting for a specific date I won't feel so pressured and anxious about it and not become obsessed about it.  I want this year to actually enjoy the ride and feel the benefits and be encouraged by the healthy aspects and just feel great.
So, 12^th March will complete phase 1 and I will set phase 2 before then!

Bring it on!

Back to the real world

We are back from hols today and back to work for me tomorrow - boo.  But more importantly - back to the gym tomorrow night.  All in all I didnt do too bad these hols but i'm really looking forward to getting back into it.  I want to feel energised again and strengthen up my back and shoulders as I am suffering from extreme back aches.  So, I am going to set out my long term goals and break them down into mini goals and check them off as I go. I will post this in the next few days.
I am also doing a Project Life inspired by Libby and Jackie and will post piccies of this as I do them.
The kids still have 2 more weeks of our Christmas hols so things wont go back to normal until February.  I will also devote more time to blogging this year! and post more pics coz I think blogs are pretty boring without pics so i will finish this post with a piccie of what we saw everyday on hols ...

This was taken at Corrimal beach around 6.30pm on an overcast day - very peaceful for an afternoon walk
Cheers,
Amanda

Holidays

We are on hols - yay - the first of the year for me.  We are down the coast, on the beach, lots of sun, sand, cheese plates and beers.  I am doing surprisingly good this year.  Usually by the end of the hols I cannot fit into any of my shorts and have gone from bikini top to tankini top to cover the bloated bulges!!!
This year (apart from christmas/boxing day) i'm sticking to bodytrim diet (one serve of carbs a day) and am drinking low carb beer.  Have only had one cheese plate so far and didnt eat the crackers.  However, my cal intake is higher than normal due to the beers.  Each Tooheys White Stag beer is only 3g carbs, 0 fat, 100 cals - not bad until you have half a dozen!!!! thats half my daily cal intake!! beer free day today (I hope).