Food, Food, Food, Food...

Well, maybe not quite just food, but that is the idea behind this post. As I said in the last post, I get asked regularly about what I eat, so I thought I'd give you an example of what I ate over the weekend. As I said, I chose the weekend just gone because, not only did I work both days, but I also went to the movies with a gf of mine.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is awesome! I may have a slight attachment to kids movies at the moment. Oh well...

So, here's what I ate on Saturday:

B: 2 weet bix with skim milk, boiling water, 1 tsp sugar
    1 cup of tea with a little skim milk and 2 tsp sugar.

S: fruit and nut mix. Sometimes I make this at home with almonds, peanuts, wallnuts, cashews etc, and some dried fruit. I was lazy on Saturday, so a bought fruit and nut mix was what I had. Still really good though.

L: 1/2 chicken breast, and diced bacon, cooked in some garlic, with some salad. Usually I just throw whatever I have around the house into it. Today it was tomatos, cucumber, lettuce, fetta cheese, carrot, and some bok choy with some balsalmic vinegar.
   2 whole boiled eggs.

S: 1 apple. Sometimes I find that apples on their own make me hungry, but it got me through the afternoon.

D: 1/2 a pub size serving of pasta with chicken and bacon tossed in a creamy sauce.

S: 1/2 small popcorn, 1/2 small coke, some maltesers. You have to have some junk at the movies, it's just the way it is.

As you can see, my day was pretty light during the day so I could have my pasta and junk food at the movies. I don't really think about it too much, it just becomes habit after a while.

So, this is what I ate on sunday:

B: same as Saturday. This is a fairly standard breakfast for me during the winter. It's warm and it fills me up.

S: 1 apple and sml box of mixed nuts.

L: Ham, cheese and salald sandwich. I managed to get lunch in before I started work at 11.30.

S: Strawberry yoghurt. I'm on a yoghurt kick at the moment. I'm trying so many different brand and variety's.

D: Baked vegetables and roast lamb. We have one of those convection overn thingy's where you plug it in to the wall and you don't need any oil or anything to cook it. It makes boiled veggies so nice and crispy on the outside without all that fat and grease.

So again a fairly light day food wise again.

I'm not strict with what I eat. I firmly believe int he 80/20 rule. If you eat well 80% of the time, you can afford to have a bag of popcorn at the movies, or a beer at the pub, or a piece of birthday cake. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not picked to pieces.

I do, however, need to be a little more organised with making food to take with me to work at the gym. At the moment we don't have any hot water or microwave to heat things up. I'm considering buying a kettle that we can hide in the cupboard so we can at least have tea/coffee etc of a morning when it's so cold. Inly having a refrigerator limits my meal options alot so I do have to be more organised.

Have to go get ready for work. Have a great week guys.

I'm Back!!!

I apologise once again for how long this blog has sat not being updated. As I have said in previous posts, I have been on a wonderful holiday in the USA, and have been back only 2 weeks. A very hectic 2 weeks at that.

I have started a new job as a pt/gym instructor at the new gym in the town I live in, and I'm still trying to work my head around all the new precedures etc that I have to learn. I've been there a little over a week and I'm really enjoying it. I'm still technically employed at the supermarket too, so I'm also trying to work that one around the gym schedule. Very trying on my brain at the moment. I also spent some time with my grandmother which was nice. I don't do it nearly enough. Other than that, I spent alot of my first few days at home catching up with family and friends, adjusting back to the time change (always harder coming back to Aus, than going anywhere for some reason) and reaclimatizing to the winter weather. Ouch.

Unfortunately, all this 'newness' has left me with little motivation to exercise. But, yesterday I did it. I made myself have some lunch, get ready, and I put in a little ove 1.5 hours at the gym. My chest and shoulders are feeling it today, but I kinda like it. It's always a nice feeling being sore from a good workout.

However, with the change in location has come another change in diet and my body has decided to revolt against it with headaches, nausea, bloating and some horrible stomach cramos. At first I thought it might have been ttom, but that has been and gone, so clearly not that.

So... what do I do to try and fix the problem..?

Firstly... I'm going to up my water intake. I haven't been drinking nearly enough water, and I'm hoping that by drinking more, I'll flush whatever is playing havoc with me, out of my system. It's a pretty easy fix too. I just have to remember to take a litre water bottle with me. If I forget, the drinks fridge is right next to the desk at the gym.

Being a PT in a new gym I get asked alot of questions about what I do myself. What do I eat? How much do I exercise? What exercises do I do? How much reading and research do I do? So I've decided, in the coming weeks, to share with you what I do, eat and read. I hope this shows you that most pt's aren't perfect (I know of only one that is close to perfect and that's for her own health reasons) and we all struggle with the same things everyone else struggles with: time, energy, work, family commitments etc, that derails your good intentions when it comes to food and exercise.

On sunday I'll post my food diary for saturday. I'm choosing saturday because, not only is a weekend day, but it's a saturday where I'm at work for 8 hours, them I'm heading to see Kung Fu Panda 2 at the movies with a girlfriend after dinner. So it's a really good example of a weekend day for me, because weekends are when most people go a little off the rails for various reasons. Then on monday I'll show you what I did on sunday to make up for saturday. I would have posted about today's food except that I can't actually remember what I ate. As I said in a previous post, I'm not very observent about what exactly I eat.

Over the next week I'll also post some of my workouts plus recipes and photos of what I eat and some of my personal nutritional and workout tips.

Enjoy your weekend. I will.

Food and Exercise on Holiday

Good food? Basically non existent. Exercise? Some, but not enough. As I said in the previous blog here, I spending 5 weeks on Contiki tour from LA to New York City. I have been on the go for a little over 3 weeks (25 days to be exact) and I think I have hit the wall. You know the one, when your body just goes 'enough is enough'. It can be to do with bad food, no sleep, to much alcohol, not enough down time or rest. Even just on a night out when you hit that time of the night when you are just suddenly so tired you just want to go home to bed and sleep for 12 hours straight. That wall. I have well and truely hit it.

I have been on the go since I landed in LA on the 14th of May. Early mornings, late nights, breakfasts where the options consist of sugary cereal, toast and jam, bagels, muffins, and on a few memorable mornings... donuts. Yep, you read that right... the hotels are offering us donuts for breakfast. Needless to say, I've skipped breakfast more times than I've eaten it. Which is playing havoc with my body because I always, always, always eat breakfast. Even at 4am when I have an early shift at work and the last thing I feel like doing is eating. It's just something I have to do.

I've been healthier in the last 4 or 5 days. I'm in Florida at the moment, so it's more salads etc on the menu, but dinner has been based on carbs most days. It's been alot of pizza and pasta options, and meats with rice. I generally (probably 80-90%) of the time, cut my carbs out from about 3 or 4pm. Not because I think it's a good way to lose weight, but because it's what works for my body. I'm a big believer in everything in moderation. Last night I had a chocolate ice cream, mixed with marshmallow whip and almonds in a waffle cone as I walked along the beach and I enjoyed it. I didn't feel guilty about it at all. I'm on holiday. But I am feeling more bloated, and less energetic due to the carb overloading I'm doing at the moment. I try to do what I can, but when dinner options are pizza or pasta (like they were tonight) I can't really do too much about it.

Exercise wise there are days where I do nothing but walk. I spent an entire day in Disneyland. I spent an entire day at Universal in Florida. I spent a day walking around Miami. I have done alot of walking. But, in saying that, there are days where we spend alot of time on the bus, ust driving from one place to another. Those days I feel so lethargic. But I can't make myself get up early to exercise because we're having late nights, and we need to be up, packed, and on the coach, most days, by 7.45am. Doesn't leave alot of time for anything else.

The lack of sleep is probably my biggest problem. I only need 6-7 hours of sleep a night, but most nights I'm lucky if I get 4 or 5 and it's finally starting to hit me. Alot of people sleep on the bus during the day but I am finding that I can't actually sleep. I doze for an hour at most, and then I'm awake again. That's probably the worst part of this whole trip.

I don't think I've put any weight on during this trip, but I certainly haven't lost any either. Unlike one of the guys on this trip, I'm not too concerned with what I eat, and trying to be healthy 100% of the time. If I want a margarita, I'll have one. If I want a slice of pizza I'll have one. If I can get a salad, usually I'll have that because I know that not all options will be healthy later on. I'm on holiday, I'm here to have a good time, not worry about every single thing I put in my mouth.

Sorry this post isn't very health and fitness focused. When I get back to Australia and get back into my eating and exercise routine, this blog will go back to being about health and fitness.

Heasing off the bed, need to be up in 7 hours.

D!

USA

I apologise profusely for the length of time this blog has sat not being updated. I really don’t have an excuse. Except lack of time really. I had a blog written just after Easter, but my internet was not in a good mood and crashed, taking my latest entry with it.

I am currently writing this from a plane on my way from Sydney to LA. That’s right; I’m flying to Los Angeles. I am embarking on my first actual holiday since I was 15. That’s the age I was when I started working. Since then, I have juggled working with, firstly school, then university. Every school break was spent working.  But, didn’t I spend 3 months in the US, just a little over 2 years ago? Yes, yes, I did. But, I worked the entire time (give or take a week). So, you see, I really haven’t had a vacation in a long time. So, now I am embarking on a 5 week USA holiday, Contiki style.  Should be a lot of fun.

But, back to the blog. About health and fitness. Mental, physical and emotional.

It feels strange to be writing about health and fitness when I currently have a cold. Yes, you read that right, I have a cold. Not a very severe one. Not even one where I feel like coughing up a lung. No, just one of those annoying ones where my throat hurts in cold weather, and first thing of a morning, and my nose is rather stuffed of a morning. That sort of cold. Thank god I’m heading to warmer climates.

I have a friend from work, M, who I think is the sort of friend everyone should have. She’s the type of friend to knock on your front door as she walks in. She’s the type to turn up unexpectedly. She’s the one who will phone and say ‘a movie starts in 30 minutes, do you want to go?’ She’s also the type of friend who will hit you over the head if he thinks you are being ridiculous.

Comparing myself to anyone and that if I do I’m stupid. She told me other things too, but they really aren’t fit to post here. But see what I mean about everyone needing a friend like her? Thought so. I really believe that we all need a friend to give us a reality check when we get like that.

Which leads me to what my deleted post was about: comparing ourselves to others and how that impacts on our mental health.

The next time you compare yourself to others, be it that you think you look better or worse than the person you are comparing yourself to, think about how you feel, mentally, about yourself.

I have been trying to do that over these last few weeks, and I’ve noticed some things.

Firstly: I compare myself more often than I think I do. Even something as simple as ‘she has the same shoes as me’.

Secondly: Who I compare myself to, and whether it’s in a negative or positive light, is dependent on what my mood is like. If I’m in a negative mood, I tend to compare myself in a negative way, and find very thin people to compare myself too. Things like ‘she’s so much thinner than I am,’ and the like. On the flip side of things, if I’m in a positive mood, I tend to compare myself in a much more favourable light. More like ‘She’s so thin, but I’m glad I’m not quite that small,” etc. I compare myself to make myself feel better or worse, depending on whether I’m in a good or bad mood.

Thirdly: comparing myself to people makes me more aware of what I want, in life, for my body, in looks etc. I want to be thinner (an Aus size 10), so I compare myself to people who are that size or smaller. I want to move out of home, so I compare myself to people around my age who are already out of home. I wish I hadn’t dyed my hair blonde a few years ago, which in turn made a lot of it fall out, so I am envious of people with thick hair like I used to have.

Essentially, I am comparing myself to people who have what I want.

This is not always a bad thing. It can drive you to try harder to get the things you want, give you focus when you start to stray. Just remember to use them as motivation, and not just as the end goal. It’s all about remembering that everyone is different, and that what works for someone who has what you want, or what you think you want, may not actually work for you, or in reality, may not be what you actually want or need at all.

Take the time over the next week or so, to notice who you compare yourself to, and in what light. Think about how you feel about yourself when you compare, and after you’ve done it. Then think about why you’re comparing in the first place. Are you jealous? Do you want what they have? Or is there some other reason?

I’m going to kick back and watch a movie now. Then maybe try and sleep a little before I land. Got my bottle of water, my lollies, and my ipod. I’m all set.

Enjoy your week. I know I will.

Dxo

I'm Back!!!

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. With the completely odd hours at work, the Easter break, and my sister being back at home, blogging time dwindled to nothing. Not that I'm making excuses, I'm not. But, as it seems to do, life gets away from you.

Just a quick little note to tell you all that I'm still alive. I made it to the gym last week... twice. I even took my mum with me once. And I worked out over the Easter weekend too. I overdid it with the chocolate (surprisingly, not until after Easter had passed), but I didn't, and still don't, feel guilty.

See, I can work on this mental health thing too.

Firstly, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday period, not matter what you celebrated. I hope you all had a wonderful time, and for the Aussie's, I hope you, like me, enjoyed your 5 day long weekend (even though I worked 3 of 5 days.)

Secondly, I hope that any readers in North America are all safe and well, and that, if you do live in the areas that are being battered by the tornados, that you and your families are all safe and healthy. Mother Nature is really being destructive this year isn't she?

In keeping with the mental health train of thought, everyone should have a friends like M in their lives. As I have said before, I generally don't compare myself to other women. They aren't me and I'm not them. We don't have the same live, situations, or experiences.

But, the other day M and I were talking about bodies, and how we feel about them etc, and I said that that particular day I felt fat. As you do. I was bloated, and I felt horrible and huge, and just yuck. I also happened to mention that one of the girls who is coming on the tour of the US with me is a (Aus) size 8 model, and it makes me feel just that little more self conscious about how I look.

I thought she was going to hit me. She ranted and raved about how you don't compare yourself to anyone else. EVER! She went on to list reasons and do a little more ranting and raving. Then she proceded to tell me that if she ever heard me talking like that again she was going to thump me. Hard.

I got such a giggle out of that.

Everyone needs someone like her to bring you back down to earth when your thinking gets out of hand.

Like I said, I normally don't, but every so often we can't help ourselves, and we compare ourselves to everyone we see. Whether tha person be a famous actress/songer/model on the cover of some glossy magazine, fitness people and athletes we see out exercising, or just the random person on the street. We compare ourselves to people, both big and small, and we do it depending on our moods.

Try this...

The next time you are feeling good about how you look, take a look at who you compare yourself with and why. I know I always compare myself to those larger people I see in the supermarket who are buying bags of lollies, chocolate, and chips. It makes me feel better about myself. I do it even though I know that, rationally, they could be buying those things for their child's birthday party, and that, more than likely, they aren't going to go home and stuff themselves full of junk food.

The reverse is true too. When you are feeling low about how you look, who do you compare yourself to? Id it the opposite to who you compare yourself to when you feel good? I always end up comparing myself to those stick thin people I see. Those people I see in skinny jeans with very thin legs (something I know I will never have, it's just not my body shape) or those who have clearly been doing some sort of exercise and who are buying fresh fruit and vegetables. It always makes me feel like I am less of a person.

And when I realise I'm doing this I always feel terrible. Terrible for judging people I know nothing about. Terrible for thinking that what I see in magazines is actually, 100% real. But most of all, I feel terrible about criticizing myself. Because really... that's what we're doing when we're comparing ourselves. We are picking what we feel bad about with ourselves and projecting it onto someone else, so we can bag them out and not ourselves. At least not consciously.

The next time you find youself doing, work out what you're trying to discover about yourself. When I criticise people who are running around in exercise clothes, it's usually when I feel guilty because I haven't been. When I 'hate' someone for having thin legs, it's really because I know I will never have them outside of liposuction and surgery (like I said before, it's all genetics) and will never get to wear tiny shorts.

So there you have it.

The next time you criticise someone think about why you're doing it. Think about how you feel, and if what you're criticising is actually your insecurities coming to the surface, to be directed at somone else.