Willpower is a glorious thing

Since trying on the most perfect ball dress of all time, I’ve been really getting back on track with my diet and—when I’ve been able to squeeze it in—exercise. My progress so far has been really good and I’ve felt great about my food choices and amazingly enough, my willpower to stay on track and be fit and healthy is stronger than the cravings I have for sugary foods. These particular cravings are something in which I have battled for the most part of my teenage years… I believe it’s genetic 😉 It makes it so hard to stick to a healthy diet when all you want is to gorge yourself on all the wonders of ice cream, chocolate and biscuits. I’m not sure what’s different about this time, but it’s like as soon as I laid eyes on that ball dress something inside me clicked, and I just knew I wanted to look fabulous in it. I have barely struggled with cravings, only having trouble on Sunday when I longed for anything sweet, be it lollies, cake or plain old chocolate. I treated myself to a small chocolate sundae because hey, we all need to treat ourselves every now and then and I’d done so well. Later that evening cravings returned with a vengeance, but were nipped in the bud the following morning after a good night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, since it’s the end of the term I’ve been absolutely snowed under with homework. I’ve been 150% committed to getting all my assessments finished and this morning I had a mild panic attack when I thought I may have bitten off more than I can chew with some of them. Because my afternoons, and mornings and intervals and lunchtimes, have been dedicated to completing work I haven’t gotten in as much exercise as I otherwise would’ve liked. Not to worry though because I got heaps of work done today which has lightened up my work load. I plan to get some form of exercise done tonight after dinner, 30 minutes at least.

I’m looking forward to the increase in temperature once spring kicks in a little more and hopefully decrease in rain!! There’s too much!! Speaking of mother nature, my thoughts are totally with the people of Christchurch. For those of you outside of New Zealand (because every single New Zealander should be aware by now), Christchurch is a large city in the South Island that was hit with a 7.1 Magnitude earthquake on Saturday 4th September. It caused massive damage and destruction but fortunately there are no reports of death. It will take years and millions of dollars to rebuild Christchurch and return it to it’s former glory. So many residents have lost their homes and have damaged possessions and are also facing water contamination and power outages. I wish there was something that I could do to help!

Here are a few photos that I got off tvnz:

It’s the biggest earthquake in New Zealand history and I really wish all the best for the people of Christchurch and I hope they find their bearings soon and that things get up and running again.

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The perfect Saturday

Today has been an EXCELLENT day! I’m so pleased because nothing makes Sunday’s when I’m working during beautiful weather worse than knowing I wasted my Saturday (especially if there was great weather). We’ve finally had a weekend with sunshine and it’s so nice, I really wanted to make sure that I didn’t waste the opportunity and instead get outside and make the most of the sunshine and fresh air. I made plans with Kristine for the afternoon so the morning was spent with Mum. I took her with me to look at a ball dress I’ve had my eye on and I tried it on for her. I loved it even more than the first time so we decided to put it on lay-by… So exciting!! After that we went to the business and leisure show and got a few freebies. All in all though this years was a bit of a disappointment compared to last years Mostly coz I didn’t get any free exercise class vouchers haha.  Day 3 of my mission to get in shape and get healthy before the ball has gone swimmingly! I’m so pleased and surprised at my overnight diet transformation. I haven’t had any issues with resisting temptation to gorge myself on high-sugar, high-fat foods like baking, chocolate and ice cream. It’s fantastic!!! At this rate I should be seeing some good results pretty quickly.

After returning from the Business and Leisure show I ate lunch quickly and then once Kristine had come over we head off to do the Bird Walk together. I’m so glad to have a friend who is just as passionate about healthy eating and exercise as I am. I’ve finally found my long-awaited exercise buddy! 😀 Maybe she’ll help me stay out of the exercise rut next winter? 😉

It was a great walk but my legs were really sore from a 5k run I did yesterday afternoon because I haven’t run in a while and so the stairs were rather unforgiving… Nevertheless we manage to have an excellent time, take some photos and get a good work out!

Yes, I wear overalls with a Veronicas tshirt and a backpack whilst hiking…

Kristine insisted on drinking the water lol. I did not encourage it haha.

We walked to town from there and then to the video shop where we rented “Boy” to watch when we got home.

I made us delicious smoothies with soy milk, cranberry juice, cinnamon, banana, strawberry, raspberry and blueberry. It. Was. AMAZING!!! We watched Boy while we drank our smoothies and it was the best way to relax and rest our legs after walking for 3 hours. I’d been getting pretty hungry too!

I’m working tomorrow but that’s ok because today was awesome ^.^

I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday as much as I did!

xoxo

Find a way to make exercise fun

Exercise is so often viewed in a negative light. You think “oh I’m too lazy”, “oh it’s too hard”, “oh I can’t be bothered” and it’s really no surprise if you go out there, try to run when you hate running and then come home with a bad attitude. The best way to try and incorporate exercise into your life so it’s a regular part of your lifestyle is to find something you love. Find a sport or a hobby that’s physical and do that. You don’t necessarily need to go to the gym everyday and pump out 10k’s on the treadmill or on the stationary bike to stay fit and healthy and see results, and believe me you won’t stick with it with that cycle either. There are loads of fun things you can do for exercise and most of the time you don’t even realise you’re working out! One of my favourites is to go bush walking on a beautiful sunny day with my family or a close friend, I’m very nature-orientated as well as family-orientated so it ends up being a perfect combo for me. I get to see some beautiful sights (especially living in Whakatane, there are SO many beautiful places to check out), catch up with a friend or bond with a family member and get my heart rate pumping at the same time.

Bush walking isn’t the only option though, there’s Zumba if you’re into dancing and I’m pretty sure there are loads of classes in every town/city (I know for a fact that there’s a Zumba class every night somewhere in Whakatane), there’s Pilates which is more relaxed but still a CRAZY INTENSE workout if you’re not so keen on the overly physical side of exercise, take a friend or family member and go for a nice long walk (bring a dog if you have one too, you’ll both benefit) and loads more. You could even go on a leisurely bike ride with a friend and bring a picnic with you, with Summer fast approaching that one would be a really lovely idea. Just be creative and think of ways you can enjoy yourself outdoors rather than inside watching the tv or staring at the computer screen.

Today I stepped outside my comfort zone and tried something I’m not used to and have not done since I was a small child….

ROLLERBLADING!!!!

There are a few key components that are important for rollerblading:

Ipod

Drink Bottle

A Snack (that’s a Herbalife protein bar) 

The actual roller blades (I borrowed mine from a friend)

A beautiful sunny day

And a dorky attitude to prepare you for indeed, looking like a dork for a little bit

   

I rollerbladed along the riverbank and was freaking out because I suck and haven’t roller bladed since I was a little kid so I was basically a beginner all over again. I must’ve looked so ridiculous initially and I nearly fell over while people were watching about three times. I was laughed at but oh well, I wasn’t embarrassed because everyone has to start somewhere, right? No one is perfect at anything first time round and I just thought to myself, hey, at least I’m out here DOING something instead of sitting on my backside at home doing nothing. I ended up really enjoying myself and it was great to see the noticeable difference in my skill level from when I first started to when I finished. I went for just under an hour but got bored pretty quickly. That’s an issue I have… serious boredom I was starting to wish I’d packed my running shoes in my bag so I could’ve gone for a decent run after but I had no where to put my roller blades anyway and I wasn’t wearing running-appropriate gear.

Oh well, you live and you learn. I’ll carry on with rollerblading especially with summer approaching, but for future reference I’ll know to bring my running shoes and clothes along with me 😉

I have Jiu Jitsu tomorrow night which should be good and then Zumba on Friday night which should be super intense. Weather permitting I might go for a 10k run on Saturday, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Goodnight!

xoxo

The glue that holds everything together.

I had an interesting conversation with Kristine at lunchtime today.

We were talking about New Zealand food and how much it differs from Norwegian food and that it’s got waaaay more fat and sugar. I said I was feeling really stink at the way my eating habits have completely gone down the drain this winter and that I wanted to make a real effort to improve my diet as best I can. This led us to discuss the things that sort of complete us. We both agreed on one thing: exercise and a healthy diet is the one thing we both need in order to function as regular human beings. For me I struggle to maintain a positive attitude and enjoy anything if one, the other or both of those two things are out of whack.

Because this has been such a particularly bad winter for me in terms of diet, it’s really important for me to remember what makes me tick and how I’m in control and can make a change any time I want, starting from the next meal. As the title says, having a healthy body is the glue that holds everything together. If I’m not healthy my mind feels cluttered and blocked, I feel gross and depressed. I cannot focus on anything and even the things that I enjoy heaps like writing is dissatisfying, I need to de-clutter my mind before I can do anything else. I literally cannot generate useful thoughts if I’m unhealthy.

Spring is fast approaching and I want to sort myself out now so that come summer I’m already in shape and happy so I don’t need to worry or stress about anything, I’ll be able to walk straight onto the beach in my bikini without a second thought. It puzzles me as to why I seem to hit this wall every winter and lose motivation to exercise. I know it’s one of the things I’m most passionate about and I feel amazing while I’m doing it and even better afterward, but like clockwork I get lazy each time. Next winter I will make it my main focus to try and maintain my routine as best I can without being phased by the cold. There are ways around everything!

Because spring is nearly here, I’m looking forward to having exciting spring blog posts! My blog posts from spring through to summer are some of my favourite, and as the exciting events that follow with those seasons there should be some good blogging to follow 🙂

In other news, I have muesli bars in the fridge that I spent an hour working on, using a recipe that I concocted out of thin air. I really hope they’re successful and don’t just fall apart straight out of the tin!

Is there something that is your “glue”? That really completes you and helps you maintain good overall well-being?

Ciao!

xoxo

What I Learnt from “Winning By Losing”

As some of you may know, I’ve been reading Jillian Michaels’ book “Winning By Losing”. I just finished it yesterday and I flicked through once more when I was done to review and make notes on things I needed to remember. I thought I’d post my list on here for you guys to see as it might be helpful in some way. It was an excellent book and really really does help you to gain a positive frame of mind and the desire to make positive change. I like the way Jillian doesn’t make you feel bad about any of your past habits. She gives you the chance to start over completely new and forget the past as the past does not define you. I wasn’t made to feel guilty and self-ashamed about myself, I was just optimistic about the future and the person I’ve made the commitment to become.

• Shop the perimeter of the supermarket. This means fruit, vegetables, skim milk and lean meats.
• Become familiar with the way my body feels and responds to particular foods.
• Keep a food and exercise journal to plan meals, record what I eat and plan workouts according to Jillian’s recommendations.
• Keep up with my goals. Put them somewhere I can see and be reminded of them.
• Learn to make healthy food substitutions.
• Aim for 60 minute workouts
• Speak to people to help improve my support network so they’re aware of what I’m aiming to achieve
• Focus on behaviour modification, e.g. Don’t bring money to school so I won’t be tempted to buy junk food
• Rearrange my bedroom and life to suit the changes and help me get in and stay in the right headspace
• Perfect organisational skills to be able to fit everything into my life
• Count calories for the first 4 weeks or so to help me develop good habits
• “Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind”, I can’t eat junk food if it’s not there
• Focus on strong women in society as role models. There’s a strong woman in every area
• Remember to reward myself
• READ FOOD LABELS!
• Make checklists to prioritise
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with different forms of exercise and different foods
• If I slip up or fall off the bandwagon, don’t throw in the towel completely, get straight back into my usual habits and routine
• If I feel like snacking mindlessly, as myself if I’m truly hungry and do I actually NEED food?
• Make decisions about things in my life that may or may not be conducive to success
• Put in the work now and reap the rewards later
• Learn to cook for myself and how to shop for the right food
• Get up earlier to fit more into my day
• Refer back to book if I’m lacking motivation
• Make time for myself, so matter what it takes
• Cut back on computer and internet time

So there you have it! It’s a long list but it’s helpful to me. I wrote up my goals on a big piece of A3 paper and put them on my bedroom wall where I can see them everyday to help keep me motivated. I also totally cleaned my room and downgraded my bed from a king to a single!! I’ve been sleeping in a queen or a king for two years, so it’s a big of an odd transition, but I’m really happy and I achieved my aim of helping to feel like my mind is less cluttered. I also feel more independent now… oddly enough. It’s like it’s symbolic that there’s only room for myself in my goals.

 

This morning I went to the gym to do my first ever Jillian Michaels style workout. I worked my lower body and IT KILLED ME!! (In a good way ;] ) I was achin’ afterwards! My legs still feel like jelly and I’m so tired that I’ll go have an afternoon nap after this, but I can definitely see how her clients and the biggest loser contestants have such incredible results. Tomorrow I’ll focus on my upper body and then Sunday will be a cardio session.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday afternoon!

xoxo

Today was a good day.

Today worked. Today I accomplished what I woke up and set out to accomplish at 6.30am this morning.

I was healthy.

I know that sounds ridiculous because that is something that should come so naturally and easily to me, but it actually requires a lot of effort and will power to make it through just one day without slipping up. It’s like a vicious cycle.. I crave food, I eat, I feel terrible and want to cry but then I figure what’s the point? too late to go back now… and I eat some more.

Today I broke that cycle and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. How did I avoid temptation? By walking away.
“Just walk away… Just walk away… Just walk away…”
It works, instead of cutting myself a massive slice of Lemon Meringue Pie that my mother baked this afternoon, I walked away and made myself a cup of Green Tea instead. I just told myself that by not having any, I wasn’t torturing myself by restricting my intake and already knowing how great it tastes.

I’m happy to say that I have gone this full day eating nothing but healthy, nutritious food and it feels absolutely amazing to have achieved that 🙂 Now I know I can get through just one day, I feel like I can really get back on track and keep this up like I already did for so, SO long.

Not only that, but I sat down today and really really thought hard about how I overcame the Winter hump last year with my exercise and then I remembered how I’d done it.

My grandfather has a large property in his back yard which up until very recently has been a tennis court. He decided that because it was rarely used, he’d take the tennis net out and leave it as a very large and tidy property. Last year during winter when I didn’t want to stray too far from my house or go all the way to the gym I’d set up a circuit on the tennis court and put together a 35-45 minute playlist on my Ipod and do something different for each song.

I did that today, I exercised for 45 minutes and then rollerbladed for a further 10 before it was dinner time. I felt great 😀 I think I’ve found the antedote for my winter blues and the future is looking bright. Already within 24 hours I’ve made a change that makes me feel happy and relieved.

Thank you, internet, for simply providing a place for me to vent my emotions and make important realizations about myself.

Expect more from me in the way of progress. Now I plan to hit the sack and get some seriously good sleep.

Goodnight!

SERIOUS lack of motivation :S

I have a massive problem. It’s Autumn/Winter, and as with this time every single year, my motivation for exercise decreases dramatically. I hate the cold, it’s a fact of life with me, and so evidently when it’s winter I can’t imagine anything worse than leaving my lovely warm, dry, well-insulated, fire-heated home to go outside in the freezing cold (and quite often pouring rain) to exercise.

I have not been following my usual routine and have actually only exercised ONCE this week. That is so unlike me!!! (Well actually, if you think about my history with cold temperatures it’s not really). I feel terrible because I know I should be exercising, my BODY wants to exercise but I just can’t get my brain in gear!!! I forced myself outside and actually enjoyed a nice run the other day but my knee’s hurt so bad, they throbbed for two days afterwards. I don’t think I’ll be running this winter….

I’m gutted that the pool is closed down for renovations because I feel like swimming. Weird because I hated swimming in summer, but I really feel like just jumping in the pool and doing laps for an hour or two.

Today I kinda had plans to go outside on the bike and spend one full day just being outside and cycling around wherever the wind takes me… But it looks like the forecast is for rainy patches today and I’m in no mood to get soaked.

While I’m battling with this motivation crisis, I’ll really have to watch what I eat. I gain weight suuuper easily and I’ll need to monitor my food more carefully to make sure I’m not getting more than I need. So far I’ve been doing badly in that department too… 😦

Man… I need serious help. Can anyone help me!?! Or link me to people/websites that can!?!?

I would really appreciate it!!!

Now, to end on a nice note, here’s a photo of me having cuddles with one of the Pug pups last night.

 

 

Please help me if you can. Other than that, enjoy your weekend!

xoxo