Well, I have no idea what happened but I lost 1kg since Monday. Jen made a point that is probably mostly water due to my low carb intake and usually I would tend to agree but my carb intake hasn’t been that low, only slightly reduced and yesterday was a high carb day which would lead me to suspect I should have held on to some water if anything. The other thing is that my hydration level usually hovers around 48% on my Tanita scales but was up to 51% today which is one of the highest readings I have seen for me. The reason I decided to try out carb cycling was because I felt I had hit a bit of a plateau and needed to shake things up. I guess the next few days will tell if it was water as it starts to balance out again. Either way it was a wonderful feeling to see a number that I haven’t seen in six years. I so desperately want to hit my 35th birthday feeling good about myself and not miserable that I have turned over another year and not made any self-improvements. This year it is finally going to happen for me and I am so excited – it’s the best birthday gift I could ever wish for, to finally change myself for the better and permanently.
Yesterday was legs day at the gym and as usual I smashed it – I love that I can go really heavy and push myself so hard on legs. I went for an easy 5k later in the afternoon to try out my calf and it was fine, not even a niggle. I even ran a good pace considering my legs were fairly fatigued. I can always feel in my glutes how hard I’ve worked the following day, I love it! I’ll possibly go for another gentle pootle around the golf course later today again but will see how the day pans out.
Today was shoulders at the gym, I smashed this session too and felt really fantastic. Watching in the mirror (as I always do to keep an eye on my technique), I could really tell that my arms have slimmed down. It will be really nice to not feel I have to keep them hidden away this summer. My arms have never had that long and lean look and they have always been a point of embarrassment for me. I doubt they will ever have that look about them but if they are toned and lean that will be enough for me – I don’t want sticks anyway, I want sexy muscles that I can be proud of.
Speaking of summer, I tried on my bikini again today and it now fits wonderfully – I’m actually a little concerned that it may be too big to wear come summer and wondering if I should have been more ambitious when I bought it. Not that having it too big and buying a smaller size is such a hardship – just that it wasn’t cheap and I hate wasting money. It’s also interesting to note that I seem to be losing fat pretty consistently all over and I’m not noticing any areas losing faster than others. I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing, it’s just an observation. The stubborn areas are perhaps not so stubborn, it’s just that they have more to lose so they will appear to be the last areas to get rid of it.
Well, having eaten breakfast number two, it is time to settle in and watch my first Hitchcock movie for Uni, charge up the iPod and update my running play list. I hope I keep awake for the film, I have a shocking habit of dozing off during the daytime when I watch a movie. I feel a little weary and I can just imagine myself settling down with a blanket and cushion, watching the opening scene followed closely by closing credits. Deary me.
To let you know I have finally posted a couple of photos and will write something properly later.
I like poast, makes me think of toast.
Sadly the calf is still sore today so it will be a gentle ‘stroll” later or nothing at all. I did consider taking some nurofen and off I go but running on a “masked” problem is hardly going to make it any better now is it… I’m sure a day or so of rest will do it the world of good and normal service will be resumed shortly.
Back and biceps at the gym this morning. Yesterday the gym was empty come 9am so I thought I’d head there for 9am today. Apparently there is no rhyme or reason to the times at this place as today was pretty busy. Conclusion? It really doesn’t matter what fecking time I go to the gym. I had an awesome workout, yet again *sigh*. I am really, really loving lifting and am so glad I joined up at a gym again. It’s also great because it gets me out of the house when otherwise I would be inclined to sit in front of the computer all day long.
My carb cycling seems to be working a little as I have consistently dropped weight every day since starting it – not huge amounts but this is the first time I have consistently traveled downwards for a few days. Today is a “high” carb day so let’s see what happens over the next few days.
I spent some time writing for my course today and successfully completed my sonnet and haiku. I expected it to take a lot longer but once I started working on them I was really enjoying myself and the words just seemed to flow of their own accord. I do hope they are what the tutor is after, the assignment isn’t due for another 5 weeks so it’s going to be a while until I find out. I suppose that gives me time to refine them should I need to. Now all I need to do is read and review a traditional thriller – Agatha Christie here I come!
Only a shorty today as I don’t have much to write about, or at least to blog about.
Ahhh, my pancakes looked like pancakes this morning and what a joy they were to eat:
I had an aborted attempt at getting up at 5am this morning. I got out of bed, walked about the apartment, decided it was a bad idea and promptly crawled back into bed. Attempt number two at around about 6.30am (or maybe earlier, I can’t remember) was much better though.
The early rise meant that I was at the gym by 8am and feeling surprisingly bright. I made gains on all my exercises and felt nice and strong (except for the final tricep exercises when my arms are always ready to give out on me). Despite it being a tad busier in there, it seems like a good time to go. I was good and did my ab work today – something I have been slacking on lately as you can probably tell from the lack of pilates entries. All in all a good 45 minute session and I bounced out feeling good before heading into the grocer’s to get some bits and bobs for tonight’s lamb curry attempt and Beki’s latest attempt at eating red meat.
After getting home, refueling up and doing a bit of reading for studies, I threw on my running gear and headed out for what was a planned easy run of about 60mins. It actually turned into a rather sad 45 minutes of intermittent calf pain as I pulled the pin early and headed home feeling rather deflated. I’m not sure what exactly was going on, my left calf just felt very tight after a short while so I stopped frequently to give it a stretch but every time I stretched it seemed to get worse. Since I’ve been home I’ve given it a bit of a massage but that seems to have increased the tightness as well. Naturally I have done what any sensible runner would do, pop a couple of nurofen and hope for the best.
So, with all my training already out of the way before lunch, I have nothing to do but eat and study for the rest of the day. Excellent.
Finally a week where I dropped a whole kilo! Hahaha, doesn’t sound like much but that is the biggest drop I have had since I started so I am really chuffed about it. It is especially pleasing since I was a bit naughty on Friday night and over-ate a bit with my cheat food. Still, one little blip obviously doesn’t cause a breakdown as long as you get back on the wagon and don’t make a habit of it (omg, I’m learning!). So with two weeks to go I only need to lose another 400g to get under my stage one goal which was 55kg. I wouldn’t say it’s been easy this time, more like I’ve been in a different mind set to previous attempts. It’s like when I quit smoking, you can’t really do these things successfully until you truthfully really want to and are ready to make the changes. If there is a tiny part of you that is still doubting then you will never succeed.
So this morning I excitedly bounced into the kitchen to make my first batch of protein pancakes in a couple of years. I gleefully measured out the ingredients into the blender and whizzed it up. “Hmmmmm, there doesn’t appear to be as much as usual, I should be able to get four made out of this. Perhaps I will throw in some blueberries for my simple carb and to bulk it up a bit”. “Oooooh, it’s looking kind of gray, that’s not very appealing”. Well, I figured it couldn’t hurt and so cooked it up anyway. Good lord, blue pancakes. And I mean BLUE. When I cut into them they were bright blue. To make things worse, I put some lemon juice and stevia on them, they started to turn pink from the juice. The result of my experiment? Technicolour pancakes:
Now, I have never claimed to be worthy of appearing on Masterchef, or anything even close to it. But really, I can make good, great even, pancakes. You just wouldn’t beleive it from looking at that photo. I giggled my way through breakfast deciding that I clearly need to dig out the recipe as the mix was just fine previously, without the need to “experiment” with it.
No training today, Monday is a rest day generally speaking. Instead I shall be sorting through my uni stuff and trying to navigate my online study area. I have been unsuccessful in locating a copy of the first movie I need to watch (Alfred Hitchcock – Shadow of a Doubt) but as it is more of an introduction and not necessarily required in the first assignment I am not yet panicking. The new Beki does not panic (well, not as obviously anyway).
Okies, off to start school!
*Edit*
Recipe for pancakes added to the side bar