So tomorrow is Valentines Day. Bah humbug I say! I really don't like this day to put it mildly! I reckon it was concocted by some clever businessman to rip off all the people too afraid of being non-conformers! Ag, I suppose that's a little unfair of me, but it really irks me that there has to be one day, just ONE day, where one is socially forced to declare ones love and spend copious amounts of hard earned cash on ridiculously expensive flowers, chocolates and various other gifts. Nah! I put my foot down. I will not partake! Ok, so we're trying to do a fun thing at work and everyone is going to wear something red, but that's as far as it goes for me. I feel rather strongly that ones loved ones are to be made to feel special all the time and seriously if you can't make an effort throughout the year, don't be making any special effort on Valentines Day - that would just make me angry!
So what does this have to do with exercise you ask. Good question!! Absolutely nothing except that I suddenly realised that we are halfway through February 2013 already and I am not on track with my health and fitness goals. Perhaps that has something to do with comfort eating - ya think!! It amazes me - here I am with these great goals and I face a little bit of a challenging obstacle in my life, and what do I do, I eat. And I swing between this not caring, don't care how fat I get, life is too short to eat healthily all the time scenario, to absolutely detesting myself for being such a wimp and giving in to food!! Aaaargh!!! Why does life need to be so challenging sometimes!
On the upside, I had a great session on a spinning bike yesterday. My intention was to do a long session at low heart rate so that I could get a decent chunk of fat burning in. I was a tad short on time so ended up only cycling 20km but my Polar heart rate monitor says I was running at 55% fat burning! Yes please! I need to do at least one of these sessions a week.
This evening of course we had a zumba class. Awesome!! I burnt close to 900 calories in the space of an hour - so it was only 45% fat burning, but it was such a laugh and so good for the soul! I had my two entertainers in front of me again today. They are young girls in their early twenties. One is blonde, tall and has bright blue eyes and her friend is a short, curvy brunette. They are clearly best friends and they laugh and joke around and take nothing seriously! I love them to bits. Some people look far too serious in the zumba class. I had Miss Speedy next to me tonight. She is very enthusiastic, knows all the steps to each dance, but doesn't feel the music. For me you need to feel the latin rhythms, not just hear the music. She does everything she should, but she always seems to be on fast foward and slightly ahead of the beat. Hey, but she is having a great time, and that's what counts. Even the dude with zero rhythm has fun. I think that's what I love most about zumba... you add your own flair and flavour and make it yours.
I spoke about dates and goals in my previous post. I am determined to get to Thailand this year. I have no clue as to how I am going to achieve this, but I just need to believe that I will. If you can dream it, you can do it. I think I will take this thought and use it to fuel my workouts and say no to those carbs. I need to imagine myself snorkeling in a little bikini.... ooooo e e!!
And on the Valentine's front - write a note on a sticky and put it on the bathroom mirror so that tomorrow morning when you get out of the shower, you are greeted with "good morning gorgeous"!!
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Sunday 3 February 2013
Coming up for a year and a half
Well, yes, I have been away for a very long time haven't I? More than a year!
You know, right at the beginning, I promised to be honest so here goes. When at the age of 43 I boldly joined the gym, being overweight and with a body composition that was just so wrong, I had this incredible positivity and I imagined that within three to six months I'd have the body of a fitness model and all my problems would be over! Yeah, I know. Slap me. Hard. For being so naive!
I tried really hard. I've worked incredibly hard in the gym and still do. I tried various eating plans and the craziest thing is that nothing seemed to work. My weight dropped a little, my body fat dropped by an insignificant percentage, I lost quite a few centimetres and yes, I did go from a size 14 bordering on a 16, to a 12, BUT that's where is ended. My body fat is still dangerously high, and I am still around, or should I say a round (lol) 10kg overweight. I got to a point where it was embarrassing to actually blog because I just wasn't able to report any further progress. I felt I was failing miserably.
It was quite good that I'd been to a dietician shortly after getting this whole fitness kick on the road. I saw her a year later at which stage she compared my stats with those of a year earlier. This was quite enlightening. She said that my bone density was better and my muscle mass was more which proved that I was not talking nonsense about working hard in the gym, but that my body fat was still high. This pointed a great big red warning arrow in the direction of the problem. Insulin resistance! Yikes! Sounded bad. And yes it is bad as it's a step before diabetes type II! Alright no need to panic - the situation can be remedied. In laymen's terms, a person who is insulin resistant has a body that says the following when you consume carbohydrates, and here I am referring in particular to high GI carbs: "hell no girlfriend, I've forgotten what to do with this carb stuff so the safest is going to be to store it as fat". Right. A "normal" person's body upon receiving carbs says: "ah, energy, ok you carbs go to the muscles where this gym bunny will need you for fueling that sexy, booty shaking zumba class". Ok, so how does one reverse this situation and "remind" the body that storing carbs as fat is really just not on? Mmmmm I see you have it - you remove the carbs!! Yebo! I went to see an incredible dietician who is extremely witty, practical and so inspiring! This respect is mainly because she says I definitely should not give up my glass of red wine at night! She says it should take a cycle of about 6 - 8 weeks of this low fat, low carb eating plan to wake up the body's insulin sensitivity. Ah, I saw light at the end of the tunnel.
Of course typical to me, I started this shortly before the Festive Season. Why they ever started calling it Festive is beyond me! I tried to maintain, but eventually succumbed to the carbs in my three weeks I had off. Doritos became my carb of choice followed closely by an ice cold ale. I suppose it's silly really as I really do feel better when I eat less carbs. Suddenly I don't have a bloated tummy and I haven't had stomach cramps for ages. I figured pretty quickly that bread, low GI or not, does not like me at all! So we've just hit February and I am now back on track with the low fat, low carb eating plan. I have various dates that I am using as motivation.... Valentines Day, first weekend in March (I may be going away with friends), 26 April, the first week in May (a challenge with Ashley and Maryjane), and of course the end of May when I shall be hitting the big 45 and the start of my next 5 year plan!!
My current exercise of choice is zumba. Zumba I can honestly say has changed my life! It's the most fun, the sexiest, the most de-stressing form of exercise I have ever tried. I think, no I know, this is due to having the most awesome zumba instructor that was ever born! He is an amazingly positive energy and just inspires and motivates and makes one feel special and amazing! Of course it helps that he has thee hottest body I have seen in ages and when his T-shirt clings to his sweaty six pack, it just fuels me to keep going!! My husband says this guy could get SO much action from the ladies!! I can't argue with that! The Kick class also does it for me hey. I genuinely feel as if I'm going to die during each and every kick class, but the endorphins and good stuff that's released when you're near death is just too fabulous. I do say a prayer before each class asking that I do survive it and I just keep going back for more!
I can tell you emphatically that I am so much fitter than I was when I started this blog. I have a way to go to get the body fat down, but now that I know what the problem is, I can start working on the solution and hopefully I will keep you updated now that I am all fired up again.
You know, right at the beginning, I promised to be honest so here goes. When at the age of 43 I boldly joined the gym, being overweight and with a body composition that was just so wrong, I had this incredible positivity and I imagined that within three to six months I'd have the body of a fitness model and all my problems would be over! Yeah, I know. Slap me. Hard. For being so naive!
I tried really hard. I've worked incredibly hard in the gym and still do. I tried various eating plans and the craziest thing is that nothing seemed to work. My weight dropped a little, my body fat dropped by an insignificant percentage, I lost quite a few centimetres and yes, I did go from a size 14 bordering on a 16, to a 12, BUT that's where is ended. My body fat is still dangerously high, and I am still around, or should I say a round (lol) 10kg overweight. I got to a point where it was embarrassing to actually blog because I just wasn't able to report any further progress. I felt I was failing miserably.
It was quite good that I'd been to a dietician shortly after getting this whole fitness kick on the road. I saw her a year later at which stage she compared my stats with those of a year earlier. This was quite enlightening. She said that my bone density was better and my muscle mass was more which proved that I was not talking nonsense about working hard in the gym, but that my body fat was still high. This pointed a great big red warning arrow in the direction of the problem. Insulin resistance! Yikes! Sounded bad. And yes it is bad as it's a step before diabetes type II! Alright no need to panic - the situation can be remedied. In laymen's terms, a person who is insulin resistant has a body that says the following when you consume carbohydrates, and here I am referring in particular to high GI carbs: "hell no girlfriend, I've forgotten what to do with this carb stuff so the safest is going to be to store it as fat". Right. A "normal" person's body upon receiving carbs says: "ah, energy, ok you carbs go to the muscles where this gym bunny will need you for fueling that sexy, booty shaking zumba class". Ok, so how does one reverse this situation and "remind" the body that storing carbs as fat is really just not on? Mmmmm I see you have it - you remove the carbs!! Yebo! I went to see an incredible dietician who is extremely witty, practical and so inspiring! This respect is mainly because she says I definitely should not give up my glass of red wine at night! She says it should take a cycle of about 6 - 8 weeks of this low fat, low carb eating plan to wake up the body's insulin sensitivity. Ah, I saw light at the end of the tunnel.
Of course typical to me, I started this shortly before the Festive Season. Why they ever started calling it Festive is beyond me! I tried to maintain, but eventually succumbed to the carbs in my three weeks I had off. Doritos became my carb of choice followed closely by an ice cold ale. I suppose it's silly really as I really do feel better when I eat less carbs. Suddenly I don't have a bloated tummy and I haven't had stomach cramps for ages. I figured pretty quickly that bread, low GI or not, does not like me at all! So we've just hit February and I am now back on track with the low fat, low carb eating plan. I have various dates that I am using as motivation.... Valentines Day, first weekend in March (I may be going away with friends), 26 April, the first week in May (a challenge with Ashley and Maryjane), and of course the end of May when I shall be hitting the big 45 and the start of my next 5 year plan!!
My current exercise of choice is zumba. Zumba I can honestly say has changed my life! It's the most fun, the sexiest, the most de-stressing form of exercise I have ever tried. I think, no I know, this is due to having the most awesome zumba instructor that was ever born! He is an amazingly positive energy and just inspires and motivates and makes one feel special and amazing! Of course it helps that he has thee hottest body I have seen in ages and when his T-shirt clings to his sweaty six pack, it just fuels me to keep going!! My husband says this guy could get SO much action from the ladies!! I can't argue with that! The Kick class also does it for me hey. I genuinely feel as if I'm going to die during each and every kick class, but the endorphins and good stuff that's released when you're near death is just too fabulous. I do say a prayer before each class asking that I do survive it and I just keep going back for more!
I can tell you emphatically that I am so much fitter than I was when I started this blog. I have a way to go to get the body fat down, but now that I know what the problem is, I can start working on the solution and hopefully I will keep you updated now that I am all fired up again.
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