Good Food and Exercise

Wednesday 30th May 2012

EXERCISE:  

Random Thought:  Sometimes I look at my life and I shake my head in disbelief.  I would of never ever imagined that I would love being as physically active as I am.  Don't get me wrong I have my days when I love sitting on my butt and doing nothing but its only days, not months or years as was the case.  Now when I don't move, my body craves it.  I love the challenge of exercise even when I feel like I can't possibly  push myself any further, I love the feeling of empowerment it gives me afterwards,  I love the strength, the energy...I just love it - Crazy I know!

Yesterday morning I did a PT session with Craig that really pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it was exactly what I needed.

Warm up on the bike (my leg took a little while to respond but it got there in the end)

2 x Sets

TRX - Single Leg Lunges X 10 each Leg

16kg Kettlebell Deadlifts X 10

Wall ball squats squeezing ball between legs to switch on VMO X 10

2 x Rounds (CrossFit)

20 X 8kg Kettlebell Swings

10 X 6kg Deadball Slams

20 X 8kg Kettlebell Swings

10 X Inch Worms

20 X 8kg Kettlebell Swings

10 X Step Ups (I held onto TRX's for support)

20 X 8kg Kettlebell Swings

10 X Ring Rows

Then I came home and did Abs...

2 x Sets (Alternating 4kg and 6kg Kettle Bells)
10 X Kettle Bell Crunches
10 X Toe Taps
10 X Rev. Crunches

2 X 30 second Plank

FOOD:

Well the photos don't do them much justice but dinner was delicious!

Pork and Coleslaw Wraps

This was my take on a recipe in this months Weight Watchers Magazine.

Serves 4

Coleslaw
1/4 Shredded Cabbage
2 Carrots Grated
1/8 Red Onion thinly sliced
OR a 250g Bag of ready made coleslaw mix
1/2 Cup of low fat natural yogurt.

Combine all ingredients together, season with salt and pepper, cover and set aside in fridge.

Pork
1 tbs olive oil
500g Diced Lean Pork
1 medium brown onion, sliced
2 garlic gloves, finely chopped
400g can diced tomatoes
2 tbs tomatoe sauce
1 tbs apple cider vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
Pinch of chilli flakes (I didn't use these)

Heat oil and cook onion, garlic and pork until browned and onions are softened.  Add remaining ingredients, season to taste and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer - the longer the better as you want to be able to shred the pork with forks so it melts in your mouth.

Spread wholemeal tortilla with mashed avocado (we forgot this bit), top with warm pork and the coleslaw mix, wrap and enjoy.

Minestrone Soup

Recipe is HERE

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The Update I promised

WEDNESDAY 23rd MAY

On Wednesday afternoon after much self debate, I had my lapband adjusted by .7ml.  As you are aware, of late I have been really struggling with willpower and consistency (which we all know is the key) and so I swallowed my pride and decided that as long as I make sure I do all the 'right' things with regards to good nutrition and exercise and not use the band in the wrong way, then I might as well use it to my benefit.  So for the first couple of days it was back to only eating what fits through a straw and then onto mush and now I am doing a combination.  Juice for Breakfast, Juice or Soup for Lunch, Fruit for Snacks and either Soup or a small serving of dinner and yogurt for dessert if desired.  Unfortunately I don't feel much restriction but I am still doing better than I was.  My week hasn't been perfect but it could of been far worse than it was and  I am happy that I managed to keep some control. 

I spoilt myself with a new juicer

Kmart Homebrand - $50.00 - It is awesome.

Mean Green Juice = Delicious

FRIDAY 25th MAY

The biggest and most exciting news is that on Friday morning, I LIFTED MY LEG and the physiotherapist has given me the permission to do local drives - no more taking the boys to and from school on the scooter.  It is such an awesome feeling to once again be in control of my body.  I still have a little way to go before I get full function back and build up strength but its a huge step.  The oddest thing is that the day before it wouldn't budge and then I woke up on Friday morning and thought today's the day - and it was!

I was also given a new Physiotherapy exercise (mini lunges with resistance band - with right knee in front) to help prevent the laxation in my knee (stop it giving way on me).

SATURDAY 26th MAY

The saying 'If you don't use it, you lose it' doesn't only apply to your level of fitness but also your body composition - in other words all the hard work you put into building muscle turns to fat!  I got weighed and measured today and although the difference in weight since my operation 8 weeks ago isn't that great the difference in measurements and body composition is. I know that this was to be expected (on some level) but it still sucks and now I feel like I'm back to square one again BUT I've done it before so I can do it again....I'm going to do it again!

I also did a PT session with the focus being on strengthening my VMO Muscle (Vastus Medialis Obliquus)

SUNDAY AND MONDAY

I spent these days in bed with my sick little man Ace.

 We watched DVD after DVD and one that we really enjoyed (enough to watch 3 times) was A Dolphin's Tale.  I found it very inspiring.

I drove for the first time on Monday morning and it took some getting used to.  I definately need to build up my plantar flexion strength as I couldn't put my foot down hard on the pedals - luckily school is just around the corner so snail speed wasn't too bad and with practise I will get better.

TUESDAY 29th MAY


Exercise:


I worked out with Kerriann this morning and even though I feel like I didn't push myself hard enough (I was worried I would over do it and not be able to do anything tomorrow) it was still an awesome feeling and I certainly felt it.

5 minute warm up on rower

5 x Rounds
12 x Push ups (on chair)
12 x 5kg Wall Balls
12 x 6kg Kettle Bell Swings (I dropped the weight to ensure correct position of my legs)
300m Row Sprint

15 minutes Cycle
Alternating between 30 seconds High Resistance / 30 seconds Low

3 or 4 (can't remember) x Rounds Abs (Alternating 4kg and 6kg Kettle Bells)
10 x Kettle Bell Crunches
10 x Toe Taps
10 x Rev. Crunches

2 x Rounds (Alternating 10kg and 12kg Kettle Bells)
10 x each side Kettle Bell side bends (obliques)

Study:

The girls came over again today and we managed to finish off the rest of our module.  All going well I will be able to send it off before the week is over.

Food:

I am back on track and it feels great.  Despite being tempted by some delicious Pastizzi today I stuck to my juice and fruit and had fish wraps for dinner (very yummy and so quick and easy) and some Yogurt for dessert.  The only thing that let me down again today was that I had 4 cups of tea and 2 cups of coffee each with lite milk and 1 sugar.  Tomorrow I will alternate with herbals to reduce my sugar intake.

I made a combination of the Refresher and Mean Green Juice today and it was very yummy.

Tash's Mean Refresher (sorry no pic)

1/2 Beetroot

1 Cucumber

1 Lemon

Knob Ginger

1 Carrot

1 Green Apple

4 Celery Sticks

Spinach (handful)

Anyway that's it for now....TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY and....

PS.  Tonight is the first time in ages that I have taken my pain killers (endone) and its all because of trying to catch up on my housework.  I managed to do every room except the boys and the toy room (they are on tomorrows to do list) before my feet and legs decided that enough was enough.  Still a good achievement today though and the house looks, smells and feels much better. 

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Quick Update WE 27 May 2012

So I just wanted to come by and pin point a few things that I will come back and address in more detail once I no longer have a sick little boy to look after and have once again gotten on top of family life and study and everything else that I am juggling and feeling 100% again myself.

• I had a lapband adjustment on Wednesday afternoon +.7ml
• I lifted my leg on Friday morning =)
• I was doing really well nutrition wise until today when I allowed myself permission to comfort eat.

That's it for now, hopefully I will be back to post again in more detail sooner rather than later.

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Kicking Goals...

Wednesday 23rd May 2012

WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!  I feel FAN Freaking TASTIC!!

I just had my PT session with Craig and I kicked some awesome goals.

• Cycling (Recumbent Bike)
• Single Legged TRX Squats
• Single Legged TRX Lunges (with my good leg on a chair)
• Calf Raises
• Deadlifts
• Leg Lowers

We did about 7 minutes on the bike as a warm up (next time I want to aim for 10minutes) alternating between speed (my knee didn't like this much), high resistance, low resistance and isolating the left side to make the right leg work.

The lunges were really tough mentally as I had to trust that my right leg would hold me, which IT DID and although I didn't have a huge R.O.M it was still better than nothing.

The deadlifts started off easy so we added more weight and then I realised that I was favouring the left side, so we dropped the weight and really focused on shifting the weight to the right side to make the leg work.  It felt so awesome to be able to feel my hamstring engage.

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