Goals

Now that I've completed the first 4wks of this programme (already 1/3 of the way through!!) it's almost time to reassess and check-in on my goals. These get done at 28days, 56 and 84 days. To make this true and fair, I figured I should share with you, my lovely readers, what my goals actually are before getting them reassessed at my next nutrition session.

For the programme we only had to state 3 goals, all of which must be measurable. e.g. to say "I want to get fitter" is not measurable. So, here are my 3:

1) - to reduce waist measurement by 4cm 
This s a challenge in that I am not necessarily looking to lose kilo's so it will be interesting to see how this goes

2) - to reduce hip measurement by 4cm 
As above but should be easier as there's a whole lot more 'excess' in this area to tone up!

3) - to be able to perform (Tricep) dips with the thin orange band.
This meant absolutely nothing to me when I started as I have never used resistance bands for training before. Actually, I've never bothered with any sort of dips other than the edible type. But as shown in the 'Ooh look it's a Human Catapult' post, there are different widths of bands to help with resistance for this exercise. The stronger you get, the less band width/resistance you need to use. I started on the thick blue band.

One last personal goal that is not covered in this programme is to be able to do chin-up, even assisted ones. I've never been any good whatsoever at upper body lifts. Monkey bars, rope climbs and rock climbing activities have always been way out of my capability zone. So, these I'll practice doing by myself when I go to the gym and try to gradually decrease the amount of resistance I need for help. I also need to engage my brain enough to figure out exactly which of my muscles I need to engage to do this fabulous trick. I always think it looks so snazzy and would love to be in the "I can do chin-ups club' one day!

So, Tuesday is check-in day. I'll be sure to let you know how I'm doing.

And finally… (bench presses are not a stated goal for me, however, I've never done them before this programme and feel pretty proud of this little effort so I just wanted to share)

Less is More but More is Better

Less is More but More is Better - What's that about? I know, it sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? It's all part of this eating & exercise overhaul I've been undergoing. Basically it's less exercise (than what I was used to) and more food (than I could possibly ever had imagined consuming in any given day). Both of these concepts, when combined and carefully managed, are aimed at getting my body in the best possible shape it's ever been in. I'm not talking in terms of 'fitness levels' or 'lowest body weight' - just 'best'. Let me explain.

Less is More:

This is the exercise part of it. By performing the correct (as determined by my qualified trainer) amount of resistance (strength/weights) exercise - just 2 x 45min sessions per week, one x max 30min high intensity (cardio) session and two x 30-40 min low intensity (walking, core body work, yoga etc) per week I am not only putting my muscles (many of them newly found) to workout but more importantly giving them a bit of good ol' R&R. This is so different from getting up early every 2nd day to go out in the cold and dark for a 30-60min run. Something good is happening as I am consistently now managing to lift heavier weights than I ever would have tried by myself in the gym. Also, I can certainly say it was a very odd feeling going to the gym to do a hard 25 mins on the exercise bike and 5 mins extra on the 'arm cycle' and be done. I almost felt like I was cheating.

More is Better:

More food! Eat more! As said, I don't think I've ever consumed the amount of food that I am slowly becoming accustomed to, ever before. Even when I was 10kg heavier than I am now. When you learn to eat the right things, you quickly see & feel how your body needs to keep re-fuelling. I used to have quick (oat based with a dash of yoghurt for protein) breakfast, starved my body it of nutrients until lunchtime, then a hasty mid afternoon snack of anything I could get my hands on) with a cuppa to avert the 4pm slump and dinner (fairly consistently high in carbs) to finish my day - thus leaving a huge 10-12hr gap until breakfast again. I am learning to eat little and often. And I mean often. A day for me now looks more like this - breakfast of eggs (mostly whites) & side of veggies, mid-morning protein based smoothie, lunch of a protein (fish, meat, tofu etc) with fresh salad or stir fried veggies, early afternoon snack of some kind of protein based liquid meal,  late afternoon snack of an apple/carrot with some cottage cheese, evening meal of more protein and veggies and an evening smoothie of berries/mango/yoghurt. (All meals must include a protein and have an additional extra of omega-3 added in some form). All of this is on a 'non' exercise day. On days that I have strength or cardio training I'll add in high energy carbs (grains of varying kinds) to the two meals following my workout. Plus I'll have had a protein shake immediatly before and after training. And get this - if I start to get hungry at any time - a sure sign that my metabolism is starting to speed up and it's time to re-fuel those muscles with more protein - so  - I eat or drink something again! 

Now, all of this has (mostly) a good impact so far. My digestion has never been better; I have less stomach bloating and other annoying digestive difficulties I've had forever have pretty much subsided altogether. The hard part is as I mentioned in my last post, being prepared and never getting caught off-guard without access to a decent balanced meal. This has happened on a few occasions (I'm still learning) and leads to a massive drop in my blood-sugar levels, cravings for all sorts of 'wrong' foods and a HISSsy fit of mammoth proportions (HISS = Hungry Irritable Sarah Syndrome). I will not lie - there have been a few good and proper emotional dummy spits over the past couple of weeks. If you were in the firing line, I appologise. It also occurred to me that my body is also going through a kind of detox. Not just from sugar but from other things like perhaps a build of of gluten (from breads and grains) and a good cleanse from the extraordinary increase in vegetables. Kale and celery growers must be rubbing their hands with glee these days - they are two ingredients that I NEVER bought and now add them as a DAILY base ingredient to at least one of my smoothies for the day. You can't imagine how excited I was to see an entire bunch of celery on sale for $1 at the supermarket today!

The other thing that happens is Mind Games. Yes, those tiny little critters in my brain are beginning to play tricks on me, telling me that all this extra food and decrease in exercise must surely be leading to an increase in weight. I also think my mirror image of myself is pretty distorted at the moment. Despite being able to (comfortably) fit back in to jeans that were getting pretty snug, I can't actually see any changes and therefore don't believe yet that it's working. I think next week is the first of the re-measures so we will see. I'll be sure to let you know.

To give you some idea as to the amount of protein we are now consuming in our family, besides from the fish, meat, dairy and protein supplements, here's a little snap shot from my grocery shop this week. I don't think this will last very long.

A tray of 30 eggs and two cartons of egg whites, each containing the equivalent of 16 egg-whites

On a final note for today, I thought I'd also share with how my lovely husband is also trying to adapt. Here he is reading a chapter on how to create 'metabolically precise' liquid meals.

Hmmm, judging by what's in his hand, I'm not quite sure he's quite got the hang of it yet! 

This however, is a delicious and very pretty choc-berry smoothie he made. I wonder if there's a calling for a smoothie-art?

Disclaimer

All entries in this blog are written from my personal perspective whilst following the Metabolic Precision 12 Week Transformation Programme. I cannot give specific details of exactly how the course is structured, neither can I give detailed information on dietary requirements. Such information could transpire as plagiarism which is not only illegal but also totally unfair on those who a) wrote the program, b) trainers who are authorised to carry-out the program and c) anyone else who's paid a lot of money to follow the program.

Anyone wishing for more information or to be put in touch with a qualified trainer, please contact me directly and I will point you in the right direction.

Thanks for your understanding.

The Challenges of a Long Weekend Away

Well, last weekend really put this new eating & training plan to the test. If you've ever tried to follow a change in diet, or perhaps you have eating challenges yourself, you'd know just how hard it can be to be away from home and 'stick to the plan'. This was a huge learning curve for me. 

For this trip we were travelling by car and staying in a house so it seemed sensible to pack accordingly. In my case this usually means 'overpacking by enormous proportions'.  I always take a decent amount of food and supplies from home. Mostly these are the generic everyday items such as cereals, breads, spreads, dairy/fridge items that need using and any other random fruit and veggies. This trip was no different, other than trying to have as many of the MP food types as possible in order to 'be prepared'.

This list included (in addition to the above) - protein powder/supplement, flaxseeds, flax oil (omega-3), coconut water (I've started enjoying this in my protein drinks) and most importantly Glenda. (If you missed the previous post, which has sadly disappeared, Glenda is our newest family member in the form of a Super-Blender.) Seriously!! Who takes their blender on holidays?? Well, clearly we do. We certainly had a good laugh at ourselves doing this, but hey, we used it every day at least twice a day so it didn't go to waste. 

The first challenge was our en-route stop, traditionally a fast-food outlet of the kids' choice. I knew I wouldn't want/be able to eat anything from said menu so I took a pre-prepared protein smoothie and some hard-boiled eggs for the road. I might've snuck in a homemade savoury muffin as well, and chose to ignore the fact that that particular food type didn't 'fit' with the 'timing' of consumption. (With MP you basically eat 'all' your major carbs (excluding veggies) within a window of time from the start of your last workout, and in this case the window was well and truly closed). This made the road-trip quite bearable. All up not too bad at all.

Even eating out for dinner was remarkably achievable. I'm really happy to eat fish so the choice of salmon with salad & extra veggies (instead of chips) was fine by me. So fine that I had it twice and the 3rd night I swapped the salmon for chicken. Pretty easy (until I realised that by swapping to chicken meant that I missed the Omega-3 component of the meal.) The biggest challenge came when spending the days out and about with the kids. It's easy to pre-prepare and take one smoothie but carrying a few different meals around all day was just not going to happen. And thus, finding the best choices in cafes became pretty tricky. Most places offer some kind of focaccia variations or warm food made of heavy carbs such as pasta. These were no longer 'options' for me as I'd already exercised early in the morning* and thus eaten my oats and  (carbs) for breakfast. Eggs became the best and most usual choice, opting for no toast and extra sides of spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms etc. 

Things I have learned from this:

1) Carry Fish-oil capsules (omega-3) around at all times, then when faced with a meal choice that includes protein and veggies (for my low energy carbs), I can 'pop a pill' and all bases are covered (all MP meals need to have these 3 components)

2) If faced with the chance that a meal out may or will quite likely include pasta/rice/grains, try and change the timing of the days exercise so that the 'appropriate eating window of time' will magically open and all will be good in the world. When this is not possible, look at is as one of the two allowed 'cheat meals' for the week, thoroughly enjoy the meal and stop feeling bad about it. 

3) *When exercising make sure that it's the correct form of exercise in order to 'open the window' for eating those carbs (this would be with a high intensity workout or strength training). I made the mistake of taking a couple of light jogs along the beach (this alone was very pleasant) the error in judgment was me thinking that this then equaled the right to heartily enjoy my carbs straight afterwards. Sadly I was mistaken. On returning to my PT yesterday, I was gently informed that for the Low Intensity Activities) "we don't 'open the carb window". Oops! 

All in all, I'd say that I managed to eat MP correctly for about 50% of the weekend away. Not great but 50% better than I would've otherwise done, so I must've made at least a 50% improvement on my over-all well-being right? 

It is still early days and I am still getting used to the variations in eating patterns and new habits. A lot of  my time at the moment is spent on pre-planning and pre-preparing food to have to hand at any given time so as to not fall-short of daily nutritional requirements. I can only trust it will soon get quicker and easier.

It's All About the Journey

Photo courtesy of Google Images

It's the Day after Training Day #2 - Which also happens to be the Day after Leg Day. 

This just about sums me up today. I had a sneaking suspicion things were going to get sore, but, jeepers, it's been a long time since I felt quite like this! It's strange how your body gets used to doing something, such as for me, running - I never get sore from that, tight yes, but not sore. But generally nothing a good massage wouldn't help. Leg Day brings a whole new dimension to Things. 'Things' like that fact we have a staircase in our house. 'Things' like the fact that as a girl one generally has to sit down to go to the toilet. Life is a tad unfair at times. 

One could almost be forgiven for thinking that a couple of rounds of squats, split-lunges & dead lifts would be a breeze. Well think again chick! I strongly suspect that whatever it is I've been doing at the gym previously I have not been doing correctly, and most definitely with not enough weights. I have to say, it felt really good pushing through the rounds yesterday morning, with Trainer Flick correcting my posture and technique. I can only say, thank goodness she's patient - it's astounding how quickly the brain forgets instructions. 

It went something like this - "lift your chest, head up, eyes forward and slowly - slower - lower into a deep squat - good! - slow it down, and push through on the way up". Doesn't sound too difficult yet somehow I managed to forget those few simple instructions on about every second or third repetition.

Four exercises, including warms ups and approximately 2 x 12reps of each and 45 minutes later and we were done.

And just like that Week One of my program is almost complete. And it's really not been scary at all. 

I  just have a 30min high intensity cardio session and a lower intense activity - core - to fit in and all will be repeated next week. 

So far my program has been given to me in a 2wk block. 

For me (and it's all individual), it's been broken into:

2 x 45min strength PT sessions

2 x low intensity activities (I took our dog Nora for a 30min light jog on Wednesday to complete one of those). The other could be core body work, 30min stretching or similar

1 x high intensity work-out for 30min (bike/spin), basically anything that gets the heart rate up.

Which, thankfully, all seems quite achievable.

We've not really touched much on nutrition yet, I'm eager for this to happen. Flick has to keep reminding me, that, as the MP quote goes "Success is a process, a journey; not a destination" - in other words, "Sarah, the reason you're doing this course over 12wks is to learn it and implement it into your daily life, one step at a time. Slow it down and it will come." 

Makes sense, I guess after all, you don't start school in Grade Prep expecting to already know everything you will learn through to Year 12. Just as Patrick reminded me, when following a 12wk training plan for one of my half-marathons I didn't start with being already able to run the full 21.1km distance. 

I'm just a little impatient. I want to know how to do it all and what I should be doing from the very beginning. So I shall finish up today with the words of a wise Tanzanian proverb: 

"Little by little, a little becomes a lot"

Ooh Look! It's a Human Catapult!

Well it's a good thing I set 2 alarms for the first morning of my new training. I can't recall when I last slept through my alarm, but somehow I managed to completely miss my 5.30 wake up buzz. Thankfully at 5.40 my sleepy brain had come to the party and I awoke with a feeling of light anticipation. I knew I still had plenty of time as I'd carefully prepared and set out everything I needed the night before. All I had to do was get dressed, grab my things and go. About 200m down the road I thought that it was unusually hazy. Dark yes, but I was suspicious about the fuzziness around me. Then it occurred to me that in my 'very organized' complacency I'd totally forgotten to put my contact lenses in. Good one Sarah! After all I've only been wearing them every single day of my life for, let's see, about 26 years!  Rushed home to correct this with just enough time to spare to allow me to still get there, just on time.

I met up with my trainer Flick and my new training partner, Lyn (oh we're going to have some fun together), ready and raring to go. Flick announced that today's session would be upper body, and Thursday will be legs. Um, Yay? Upper body - my least favourite. Oh well best to jump right on in.

All was going pretty well and relatively straight forward until Flick demonstrated the 'dips' (sadly not the food version) we would be doing, using bands for assistance. In Flick's own words, Lyn and I looked at her as if she'd asked us to jump off a bridge! For anyone that hasn't seen/done these before, it's basically a very large human sized rubber band, hooked over a frame, on which you place both knees, whilst holding yourself up with your arms on the upper part of the frame. And yes, it looks suspiciously like a human catapult!  After some (nervous) laughter whilst trying to actually get up on the thing and some circus-level balancing skills to stop the wobbles happening, I was actually able to push out some dips. I'm actually surprised my triceps (otherwise affectionately known as bingo arms) don't hurt more today.

All up, the 45min session flew by amazingly fast and all was over. 

High five to us Lyn!

I expected to be a bit sore in my upper back and arms today, but actually not. My Pecs (pectoral/chest muscles) however are. Every time I go to move or lift something I can feel the entire area groaning at me. Thankfully after a rejuvenating facial which included a light therapeutic neck, shoulder & upper chest massage, all is well in my world again and ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

Ready, Prep, Go!

Breakfast prepped and ready to go!

I'll be up with The Lark tomorrow for my first PT session. Sustenance will surely be needed post workout if I am to remain coherent enough to understand the nutritional session that follows immediately afterwards.

I have no idea whether this is the 'correct' (type of ) food or not but I guess time will tell.

My own recipe of:
Rolled oats (soaked overnight in coconut water, with a dash of flaxseed oil, cinnamon & chia seeds). Combine with pre-cooked quinoa (fancy-schmancy!) Layer to serve with pre-stewed apples, pears & a few mixed berries, some natural yoghurt and a few walnuts.
Yummo!

A Pictorial Journey Through the Ages

With the impending start date of my new Metabolic Precision Challenge now so very close, I thought I'd share with you my 'body journey' over the last few years.  OK, so perhaps it's not quite 'through the ages' but you get the picture. To give you a glimpse of my background; as a child I always remember being 'the chubby one'. As a teenager I struggled with a clear image of myself, swinging from one eating extreme to the other. (I got it into my head that I had a weight problem, but looking back I see now that I really didn't at all - I also believe this is when my fixation with 'reading the numbers on the packets' began). Most of my adult life I've kept within a pretty good/healthy weight range, always being food/healthy eating conscious, but I get lazy. Most of us do. 

I'm certainly the 'type' to try this and that but try to steer clear of the latest fads. What I've never been able to do is work out what works best for me long term, for my body type and for my level of exercise. This is what I really hope to achieve from this new challenge. I reiterate when I say I'm not doing this challenge for weight-loss, nor is it a fast fix diet of only eating certain prescribed foods, specific formulation of shakes, calories, grams of carbs or fats. 

I'm doing this programme to (hopefully) gain the holistic balance between the right type, quantity & timing of food together with the right quantity & quality of training to best suit and my body type. 

To quote from the creators of Metabolic Precision... 

"Because today is another chance to get it right". 

 March 2011 - ca Sep 2012 - July 2013

February 2013 - July 2013, before and after Michelle Bridges 12wk Transformation.
I love these photos as they really show 'what I was' and 'what I can be'.
I lost around 10kg in weight during that time, with a strict (calorie controlled) diet and half-marathon training programme. I didn't however focus on my strength training, hence very low muscle tone

Running fit, feeling strong. October 2013.
At this point, although I was running quite a lot, I was also doing some
strength training which clearly helped tone those arms & shoulders!

Today!
This is me as I stand ready for my the
Metabolic Precision 12wk Transformation. 

The side profiles (below) very clearly show how weak (lazy!) my core and stomach muscles are. Although I stand fairly upright, my left shoulder drops considerably lower than the right. I tend to sink into my lower back, where I have a natural curvature of the spine. This gives me compromised posture and lower back issues. 
These are all areas that I will be focusing on, together with upper-body strength and conditioning. 
Oh, and not to forget the all-important butt-lift!

So, we can clearly see that changes can be made. That alone gives me faith in what I am about to do. I'm no-where close back at where I began, however, I've let my nutrition slip and I really don't want to be counting calories any more - it's only ever a short term solution, and it hurts my brain. 

Yes, I'm currently at a pretty good fitness level and have a decent level of cardio stamina, but that still leaves a lot of room for improvement.

I have full belief that my trainer (yes, that's you Felicity O'Meara) will create and guide me through an awesome, butt-kicking (aka butt-lifting) training & nutritional programme for me. 

Tuesday is Game-Day - It's ON!