Blip

Ambition is not what a man would do, but what a man does, for ambition without action is fantasy.
-Bryant H. McGill

Well, I haven't trained with Kaitlin since Tuesday, but I kept to what she told me to do. I ran, did abs things, walked, stretched, felt like I was going to die... And tried to remember to breathe while jogging. I know in time all of this will grow easier, but right now it is hard. I remind myself it's just temporary pain.

I still don't understand why I have to THINK about breathing to remember to do it, it should be automatic.

I don't really have much to report, this is partially because I am completely knackered.

--A.E.

"If you don't start running by the count of three I will not be training you tomorrow!"

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
-Winston Churchill

Kaity Training Me Day Two:

Honestly I don't think I could properly do this without Kaitlin. Sure, I can write out the schedule's, and I have, but I can't give myself the motivation she gives me. She yells at me to do it, so I do. When it hurts and I want to simply walk the rest of the way home she makes me jog more.. Sadly while I am doing better at it I am not doing as well as I would like to be... And probably a lot less than my sister would like me to be doing.

Honestly the hardest part to motivate myself with is the running, so I am so grateful to have Kaity to train me. Today when we were running up the hill (and it hurt trust me) I couldn't keep going... So she would yell at me to continue.. And I would and then I would go a bit and stop and walk and go a bit.. It is really hard to keep my body going with that.. Honest to god my body hates me.

At the time Kaity said, "If you don't start running by the count of three, today will be the last day I train you!" I felt as if something was weighing me down. It was a chore to breathe, to move my legs and arms and to try to catch up to her and my younger sister Saskia.

My legs are sore now. Doing our stretches and mild ab work out a bit later seems so much easier... it's weird.

Today makes 13 days smoke free.

--A.E.

Oh deary me!

You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.

– Dr. Seuss

Goodness, this week has been busy! Between going to the doctors, giving blood, cleaning around the house, and walking/jogging there hasn't been much time to be around.

My doctor put me on Zyban on Wednesday to help me quit smoking. He says it won't fully kick in for about a week, so I have made my quit date this upcoming Wednesday. On Thursday I gave blood at the blood bank, and was surprised when the Nurse had no issue sticking me... apparently I will always need to have an experienced nurse, and use my left arm for donations.

Friday I did my run, and found out that mum and I had to drive to pick up Saskia... Which is fine, just last minute. So I spent four hours in a car... Thrilling stuff, I know. Saturday, mostly I spent time with family, and cleaning.

I am getting to sleep at an earlier time, waking up at an earlier time... all around things are going well.

Tonight we are going to get Yoga Mats... we didn't get to start Tai Chi last week, but I personally do plan to start all the things that mum and I are supposed to do, with or without her.

Here are the things I am looking at:

Monday

6:30 - 7:30 PM Tai Chi

Tuesdays

5:30 - 6:30 pm Thai Lessons (to learn the language)

Wed 1st and 3rd of each month

9:00 - 4:30 pm Tramping Group

Mon 8pm / Wed 630pm / Friday 9:15 am

Body Balance - stretch and strength class

Thursday

10:00 am - Art Lessons

6:15 - 730 pm Yoga

7:30 pm Zumba $8 per class

I am really looking forward to the Yoga... The Tramping group frightens me a bit... but I think it might be good? Scary though.


I hope you've all had a good week.

--A.E.

Boom boom Pow

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

—Will Rogers

I must admit, I think I have a severe case of the Winter Blues.

It has been almost a week since I have updated. Time sure does fly when you're busy. In the past week I have worked out most of the days, cleaned some, and tried to stabalize myself.

This weeks lesson for me was about emotional health. I plan to quit smoking, as it is an unhealthy crutch. The medicine I plan to be on to help me with this is also an antidepressant.

Mum and I are going to be going to the community center here, for healthy activities like Tai Chi, Yoga, and walking groups... But it is also greatly for our own social benifit, as we could both use friends in the area. Kaity and I might also start doing ZUMBA, though I am not quite sure how to feel about this... I feel silly.

My weight has been stable, I am not gaining or losing anything, and I think most of this is attributed to my eating habits. Mum and I are going to start weigh ins on Mondays of each week. She is going to order more salad like things, which I think is brilliant.

-- A.E.

But I can see through you, see to the real you.

A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.

– Nancy Rathburn

Today was a good day. I went out with my mum and my sister Kaitlin to the Fish Market here in Auckkers. My sister bought some of the most amazing sushi ever, and I looked at all the whole unaltered fish. We ended up purchasing two red snappers and several kilo's of muscles... as well as other things that I don't remember.

I have to say that Kaitlin is a riot, especially when in a weird mood. I had mentioned the red snapper had a tongue, and Kaitlin just went closer to it, face to face with it with her tongue out, mum her and I all making smart ass comments... If I were a wicked sister I would have pushed the fish into her face.

Kaity also kicked my ass today while we jump roped... tomorrow I need to run on the treadmill first because daaaaaaaaaaaayum. She made me keep going even after I was so completely over it. Here in autumn I thought swimming would be an easier idea than having her make me jump so much. She's a good motivator though, and though my muscles already hurt, I know she is good for my weight loss goals. In the long run, though my body aches and complains now, it will thank her later.

I also cooked dinner tonight, it was healthy enough, and everyone seemed to love it. Mum is making Armenian Kebobs tomorrow night, and I can't wait. I will help her with them, because mmm mmm mmm!

So I joined Spark People a few weeks ago, and I tried to stay true to it... tried to bother writing down calories in and out... but honestly it just doesn't feel like there is enough time in the day. I give up on Spark People, it lacks what 3fatchicks.com has, as well as the time it seems to take up.

I am going to sign up to Jillian Michaels (free) and see where that gets me... I am also thinking of looking into getting the bike in the garage up and running. Mum, Kaity and I were talking about bicycles in different styles... I must admit, I want banana bars, and a bell on mine... and to tell the truth, a basket on the back. Anywhozit, this is what JillianMichaels has to say about my height/weight ratio and what it seems I need to do from the preliminary questions:

• 1. Variety is your get-skinny solution!
• Because you crave fruit and bread as well as salty foods, cheeses, and meats, you may be a balanced oxidizer (the fancy term for your metabolic rate). Put simply, you need equal proportions of protein, carbs, and fat to process the nutrients in your food optimally. Lucky you — your diet is the easiest to follow! You feel your best on a diet that incorporates a wide range of foods, and your ideal macronutrient ratio is roughly 40% carbs: 30% protein: 30% fat.
• 2. Follow the rule of four:
• Eat every four hours to optimize your body’s fat-burning potential. When your system goes for long periods without eating you go into starvation mode, effectively shutting down your metabolism.
• 3. Get Moving!
  The greater your muscle mass, the higher your metabolism. My killer cardio and fitness program will help you build lean, strong muscles so you lose weight faster and with less effort.
• 4. Do the work.
  You need to remove the toxins from your diet and your environment, restore healthful nutrients, and rebalance your energy. The result: a body that's essentially a fat-burning machine.

So these things are what I am doing, minus maybe her killer cardio and fitness program, we will see! I still need to pull out her video for Yoga... but I have come to realize I have no mat, and it would bite to do yoga on tile with no mat!!! Kaity and Keely are uninterested in Yoga... but are both interested in jumping rope. I can see positive things on using JillianMichaels.com, but it seems like the same thing as SparkPeople but paying 20 USD a month for it... which while I can afford it, seems pointless.

Tomorrow is my second weigh in, I am hoping I haven't gained weight... If I have then I don't know where I went wrong, really.

Hoping for a kilo less!

-A.E.

So Pick Me Up, Twist Me 'Round

Anything you are good at contributes to happiness.

– Bertrand Russell

This is short, and a few hours late...

It is two in the morning here, and I have decided it is most definitely time to get back into a proper sleeping pattern. Eight hours of sleep, at night, except on special occasions... especially while I have the ability to.

Today I finished my sister Keely's hat, it is gorgeous on her. This makes two hats in less than a week. I will begin on another soon, as the one I have I don't like as much as I thought I did previously. I need to pick up some new wool for Kaity and my hats... I think mum wants one as well.

In the past three days I have walked 6 Kilometers which is 3.72 miles on varying inclines at varying speeds. I know it isn't heaps, as most people probably do twice that at the gym in a day... but I think little steps back into a healthy life is doing me good. The distances I am doing are slowly increasing.

The amount of calories has not been properly counted as I am to understand inclines, plus my weight, plus the speed all have effects.. and honestly I don't want to try to manually figure out the math. It's not worth it. Mostly I am happy I am becoming more healthy.

As of when I woke up for the day, I sent news to those I play an online game with called World of Warcraft, that I will be unable to play due to personal reasons for the forseeable future.... Honestly, though this probably sounds odd, it was a big weight off of my chest.

Tomorrow we will actually have the weigh in, apparently, as today we did not. If it gets 'bumped' again I will simply have my own weigh in and measurements done. Fingers crossed.

Goodnight.

-A.E.