Translation: You are what you eat, dummy. Watch the calories. And stop stuffing your face with cake and chocolate and icecreams and easy meals like meat pies!

Call me crazy, but I really, really thought I could get away with losing a few kilos without depriving myself of my comfort food IF I did a lot of exercise.

Well, duh, woman. That's not how it works. Not for most of us "blessed" with a certain metabolism anyway.

Having just watched The Biggest Loser (Aust) where they lose all that weight by training nearly full time, and totally changing their diet - it should be obvious, even if I didn't know it all already - that you actually have to watch what you put in your mouth as well! You know, both those girls in the final now weigh less than me! - though I must confess that I now think that at the finale, sweet mum of three, Alison (at 10 yrs younger than me), now looks gaunt in the face, and older than me! (She looked better about 10 kilos ago IMHO!! Plus! Size 10 dress?! I hate you!!)

My husband couldn't believe I'd "stooped" to watching a reality show, but despite the stupid parts about it, with the eliminations, and stupid competitions and all that crap, I couldn't help watching because I am inspired by the changes people can make to their lives. Given I have a lot of the stuff they do covered - oh how I would have loved to do that Hawaii challenge! - how easy should it be for me to lose just a few kgs over a longer time frame?... Seriously?!

Well, I must be some kind of stupid to think that I could lose weight without making some changes on the energy intake. Even if I only want to lose 5-10 kilos, as opposed to 50!

Meanwhile, though, the husband has been just casually ditching the kilos. (And looking trimmer, tauter and more terrific I might add.) Not fair! I cried as he hopped off the scales last night. (If this trend keeps going he will be down to my weight!)

"Well, I have changed my diet a bit." he said. "I haven't been ordering chips with lunch at work anymore"

"A bit?!! Well, I've cut right down on the beers and wine!" (I have a quite few nights a week now without any, yet he'll still have a couple every night..)

"But you and chocolate? And cake?..." he reminded me.

Grrrr. Just because he doesn't NEED comfort food. Does he ever feel down and reach for chocolate? No!! Sweet tooth? He hasn't got one. (And is he at home all day staring at the cake one of the kids made?! - Who said Temptation in TBL is unrealistic?! only in the real world, the "prize" is getting through the next hour. )

But, oh wait.. he's stopped drinking full strength beer now too! Well, I stopped drinking full strength beer ages ago, and it didn't make a single bit of difference to anything but my head.

To be fair, yes, he's been doing more exercise too (he's got up the last few Wednesdays, gone into town and ridden 50 odd kms in a road training cycling group.) But a 'few less' beers and chippies, and the kilos just evaporate from him. (Osmosis - they are probably transferring over to me!) I've also been doing more exercise than ever before, and I cut down big time on the alcohol, and... no change. If anything I've gone up a bit.


This has been my last few days:

Wednesday- a 50 minute walk.

Thursday - 54 km bike ride - on my own bike - probably 25km of it riding at a pretty steady pace by myself, the rest admittedly a more social ride)

Friday - 1 hour swim squad. (Maybe 2km of swimming, and some sprints in which I got heart rate up to 180...)

Saturday morning - 67km bike ride - on the tandem - average speed 31kph!



Saturday afternoon - (after racing out with kids to netball) - 3.7km paddle in kayak race, not slacking. (33 minutes).

(Plus last weekend a 20km bike ride one day and a 75km one the other!!)

Reasonably impressive exercise diary, no?

Do I want to detail a food diary here though? No.
Should I? Maybe.
But do I want to confess what I shovel into my mouth after intense bouts of exercise where my body is screaming - "Energy! Sugar! Carbs! NOW!" ? Never mind the snacks the other times.

NO.

Perhaps I should. It might make me more accountable.

Labels: losing weight

It has begun. The Big Clean of Easter 2008. After the Big Sleep-In, mind you. (What? You didn't really think we'd be treating it like one of our start-at-dawn, marathon bike rides did you?!)

He suggested we tackle one floor per day. (Three storey house, remember.) That sounded fair enough. So we decided to start at the top. Our bedroom.

Several bags of clothing, clothing for rags, and "rubbish" later, we've only dealt with one half of the room. Given we didn't start till after midday, that's probably reasonable - plus I must point out that it is a rather large room - but I already feel pounds lighter (even if I've only taken 3 bags to the clothing bin so far.) Bloody hell, the amount of clothing and stuff that we have both hung on to over the years is insane. I suppose it's a combination of sentimentality, and dislike of waste - the classic packrat mentality. It doesn't seem right to throw out something still theoretically wearable, or something that cost money, or something that someone gave you... But if you haven't used, worn, or needed it in 10 years, then you don't need it at all, do you?!

Time to get ruthless.

Today I shoved the first thing he ever bought me into the charity clothing bag. It was a woollen Swan Dri bush shirt - which is what all self respecting bushwalkers/cross country skiers etc wore back way back before polar fleece became popular. I haven't worn it for years, and it probably wouldn't fit me now anyway - and even if it did, I'd still choose to wear polar fleece. But it was a bit sad to throw it away. I also put in a few handknitted jumpers. (translation: sweaters) My mum was always an avid knitter, and made some really lovely jumpers with fair-isle patterning. And there was one I made too. But I don't wear them anymore. Not that I'm a fashionista, but they were rather.. eighties. Maybe someone else will. It is pointless them sitting there for another 10 years.

An old bedside table, sitting sideways outside the ensuite, still had bits and pieces in it that I never knew where to stash. Out went the hairdryer styling attachments that I have never used. Out went some perfume. Out went a lot of stuff. The only thing that might hold any value is a few Swarovski figures that have not been on display since... meh.. when I moved out of home? Not my style anymore. Perhaps I'll see what three out of the five pieces will get on eBay. (The owl has lost an ear, and the bear has lost an arm.. so goodness knows what I should do with them.)

Tomorrow I guess we tackle my 'sewing' area. I went through a relatively short phase of sewing (when I learnt how to sew knit fabrics, and acquired an overlocker, around the time that Cait was born) I made quite a few things for my toddlers and babies, and a few sloppy joes for us, but I've not been inspired to sew much at all in the last 10 years. It's hard to believe I accumulated so much material in such a short time. And I don't know what the hell we're going to do with that... (and he'll probably even suggest I get rid of the overlocker seeing I never use it) but that's a conundrum to deal with tomorrow.

God, I hate it when he's right, but not only does this need doing, but it has already rained (tonight) - though possibly not up where I wanted to camp- and the untimely arrival of the red menace has me kind of relieved I'm not where I wanted to be after all.

I hate it when he turns out to be right.

Labels: daily, losing weight

I read something last week that made me feel just a bit better about not being naturally slim, and it is further impetus to keep on at doing what I'm doing. Of course I always knew that exercise was beneficial in other ways.. healthy heart and all that... but if what they are finding in this research is true, I can finally let go my extreme enviousness of people who are slim and don't 'work' at it. And know that even when it hurts, this exercise I'm doing really IS doing me good, in more ways than I originally thought!

Is skinny the new fat?

"When it comes to being fit, experts say there is no short-cut. "If you just want to look thin, then maybe dieting is enough," Bell said. "But if you want to actually be healthy, then exercise has to be an important component of your lifestyle."

So just for the record.. today I rode my bike (new road bike) - and chalked up 20km.. which included one decent hill, and a few other smaller ones. Not a lot,(relatively speaking) but I combined it with a couple of errands, dropping off and picking up things from people, so it also felt good to have used the bike rather than the car. One hour riding time. All good. So I'm also giving myself a tick for being environmentally friendly!

As an added bonus I have probably managed to embarrass my kids, because I rode past the school at lunchtime and heard a "Hey! That's Zoe's mum!!!!" from the fenceline. What a wonderful role model I am. Heh.

Labels: bike riding, daily, losing weight

Meet my new bike. It's called the Dolce, which, of course, is Italian for 'sweet'.

I'm calling it an investment in my fitness future. More opportunity to get out and ride a long way!! It is bottom of the range! - entry level road bike - but it has some nice features for the money, which I won't bore anyone with. I am very happy that it feels good to ride, because I have to admit I was a bit worried about how I would go on a road bike, with the drops and all that. The women's specific frame feels good.

I picked it up from the bike shop in Port Macquarie, a few hours away, as I was going there today anyway for my gyno appointment. And the guy in that shop offered to get it in for me, while my local bike shop didn't. A 'friend' was having a chuckle at me when I said I was also probably going to buy a bike while I was there. She reckoned most women would be using the opportunity to go clothes shopping or something, while Tracey (she's so quaint!) goes to a bike shop.

Hell yeah. That's me. (I also bet most women's husbands wouldn't be encouraging them to go and spend more than a grand on clothes!!)

So I have arrived home safely with it, but it is raining, plus I'm not sure how to get the front wheel back on (the brake calipers are in the way)! Lucky my personal bike mechanic and cycling coach will be home again tomorrow.

When someone asks what we are doing for mother's day on Sunday, if they know anything about me, they shouldn't be surprised when I say "going for a ride on our new bikes!"

I am actually feeling a bit 'blah' because I've done nothing of note exercise-wise for 2 days now... and I've sat on my bum in a car for about 5 hours today. (And eaten crisps and drunk coke to keep myself awake.) I have fallen off the wagon a bit lately, mostly in terms of what I am eating. Curse the fundraising chocolates #1 had for netball. Between her and me we have systematically demolished pretty much the whole box. (They were Cadbury.... *sighs*)

However, I've been reinspired by The Brave! (We are a Mutual Inspiration Society!).. and I'm so proud of her! Go Curves! Go Strauss!

Her self admonishment about the chocolate chip cookies, combined with my post yesterday about chocolate vs kissing has also given me a good idea. While chocolate may give a "better" rush than kissing, it is quite possible that kissing... "snogging!"... could do as a reasonable substitute for succumbing to chocolate. Much like a nicotine patch.

So I have a proposition for the Bike Mechanic. Because I'm sure he wants to help me beat my chocolate addiction. So I might lose some more weight. And inches. And so I'll be fitter on the bike. And...

And...? Yes... On Yer Bike, Trace....

Labels: bike riding, daily, losing weight

82.7 km this morning (already), thank you very much. On the bike (the tandem) that is. We left home at 5.30am. It's not really light at that time now. Marc has invested in a super duper bike headlight, and a flashing red light that you'd have to be blind to miss, but it was still a bit disconcerting riding down the highway.. I don't know where all the traffic was coming from this morning compared to three weeks ago. (Perhaps people returning from school holidays, but being on the road at dawn is pretty keen. Says me, who is on the road at that time on a bloody bike!)

The community ride was more enjoyable than usual - we rode in a group that broke away and went a bit faster, further, and a varied route. The change of scenery was good, and riding faster was good too.

With, by the end of that, about 60km under our belts before 8am, I was feeling a bit peckish! After the ride we sit and have coffee and a bite to eat at a cafe in the city centre square, and this morning I wolfed down my half of the BLAT (bacon/lettuce/avocado/tomato), then paid for it all the way home, with a gut ache. Ech. That didn't stop Marc aiming to crack the 30kph average speed mark by the time we got home. (I wondered why we were really pushing it, even once we turned off the highway! - but I wasn't game to complain.) We did crack it, but I staggered off the bike once we arrived home, and then collapsed on the front lawn for about 20 minutes. Next time, hopefully without pain, we should do it with ease. Nothing like a setting yourself a challenge to make you work hard. And nothing like riding on the back of a tandem to make you put in, when on your own bike you might just slacken off because "ohmigod, my gut hurts"!

We had a few compliments on our tandem riding today, which is nice, as the hyper-sensitive part of me (yes really!) usually feels like other cyclists don't think much of them, basically because they have had no experience of them. (Like they think the one on the back - me in this case - is just luggage, and I always get the "vibe" from women 'roadies' in particular that riding stoker on a tandem is second rate. And - like - why would you relinquish control - to a male! - and not having control of the steering, braking etc.) Someone today, though, told us we looked really professional! LOL. Well, it is easy to look good on a tandem, as you have no choice but to pedal in synch, but, hell, I'll take any praise and bask in it. We blow the single bikes away on the flats and downhills. Yee ha. Yes, perhaps I am a speed junkie. Certainly the speed factor is what attracted Marc to tandems in the first place. And, given that tandems are not as abundant in Australia as they appear to be in the US, for example (where they have tandem rallies of several hundred tandems at once!), then it is a process of educating our bike riding community. And I can take every chance I can to explain the team process involved in tandeming.

I wish we had a photo of us riding it - but so far I guess we've not ridden it where other people have cameras. (And we're going so fast, we'd just be a blur... ha!)

Yesterday afternoon I was true to my re-resolution, and bolted out for a half hour/40min walk up the beach and back as soon as I'd 'got rid of' the kids' friends who came to play for the day. How lucky am I to live where I do - where going for a walk is such a delight to the senses. 150 metres from my front door and I am on the sand and striding up the beach. It is a flattish beach, so at half to low tide, the sand is hard enough to walk on easily, and you can walk half an hour (to the north) without getting to the next headland.

Last night there was an awesome cloud formation which I realised was a storm cell. The top of the cloud was illuminated in a reddish/pinkish glow from the light of the setting sun, and with lightning flashes within, I felt privileged to be witnessing one of nature's light shows. Oh to have had a camera with me, although I know it wouldn't have captured it fully - certainly not the lightning.

On the way back, just as it was getting dark, I even found something in me to break into a jog. I am cautious about attempting to run, as last year when I was determinedly thumping my way around a 2.5 km cross country course I gave myself a lot of hip 'issues'. So I tried 10 jogging steps, 10 walking, 20 jogging, 20 walking.. and increased it by 10 each time till I got up to 70 jogging steps. It felt good. So I will see how I go. It did occur to me last night that if I avoided throwing my back/hips out by attempting to run, the money I'd save per month on chiropractic sessions would help fund my private trainer sessions, which are probably better for me in the long run.

I know, I must sound obsessed with the exercise thing at the moment. Plenty of woman out there way more hard core than me though. I am just determined, this time, to keep doing it enough to reap the benefits, and I am chuffed with myself that this year (after the Big Ride) we are not losing our bike riding fitness, but continuing to push the envelope. The weight loss is only part of it. The zingy-zing-zing endorphins you have jumping around the rest of the day are a more immediate reward - just as long as you don't scoff your BLATs.

Labels: bike riding, endorphins, go me, losing weight, Resolution

Three and a half months on. Time to revisit/revise the Resolution that I made. No point getting to Jan 3 next year and saying 'oh bugger'. Or to Jan 15 - the full year on from another post I made about goals and objectives and finding that I didn't stick to any of them.

So how have I done?

Just to remind myself:

Tracey's Goal for 2007:
To lose 10kg and get fit for the Big Ride (a 9-day, 500km bike ride) in March.

Sub-goal:
Lose 1 kg per month.

Objectives (or how I am going to make that work; wishful thinking is not allowed):

Exercise: Every day. Half hour walk each morning. Bike ride every second day. Make appointment with trainer, and invest approx $100 in 3 or 4 private sessions before hopefully joining a group class.

Eating: More fruit. More vegetables. More multigrain. More 'low GI' choices. Less fat. Less sugar. Less alcohol.

What have I actually achieved out of that?

I didn't stick to my walking everyday.

But I signed up to the personal trainer. I've spent twice as much as I initially intended, but it is working! And it feels good! Money well spent, in terms of self esteem etc.

I did get fit for the Big Ride. And we are still riding our bikes - something we didn't do last year!

On April 4 I was on track with the weight loss, and got the lost centimetres thrown in for free!

A bit more low GI/multigrain/fruit has been consumed, but I'm not doing too well on the alcohol front. I have reduced my caffeine intake - mostly I don't have a coffee after dinner anymore (occasionally I'll have a 'half-caff').. and I am sleeping better for it. It also shows I can make changes, so I shall have to direct some of that willpower to the alcohol issue.

In the last couple of weeks, things like it being school holidays, relationship issues, Easter chocolate, and unkind monthly "women's problems", have been throwing up challenges that have thrown me off track a bit, and I feel like I've taken back at least a kilo, and quite possibly some of those centimetres. If I am not careful, I'll lose what I have gained (Well actually, gain what I have lost - you know what I mean!) With things going back to 'normal' next week - well, in the everyday routine department anyway (ie. thank god the kids are back at school!) - I thought it was time to regroup, get back on track, and maybe revise the sub-goals.

The weight loss resolution still stands. A kilo a month.

Exercise? - I'll revise that to doing some form of exercise everyday. Cycle, walk, swim, trainer... those are my options. But I must attempt to do a minimum of half an hour of something.

Eating? - Keep cutting the caffeine. Try to cut the alcohol, kiddo. You regret it every night, so why do you use it as a crutch? Back to the low GI stuff - which pretty much incorporates everything you should be doing. Basically try to make good decisions. Got rid of the last Easter egg today! so no more chocolate temptations. (Damn the kids for making another cake! )

I am still kind of drawn to the idea of lots of exercise so that I can cheat a bit on the intake department.

In the meantime I have a few other goals to achieve in other areas, but I probably should stick to my resolution to have just One Resolution! I will chip away at other areas, though.

Some ideas:
* go see a bloody counsellor and sort yourself out.
* dejunk or clean one area or one 'thing' in the house each day. Doesn't matter how small.
* address a couple of bigger 'projects' that I keep putting off. Like hemming curtains. OK, I'm giving myself one month to do the curtains.
* start back on the extension plans. It will give me a project to work on.
* less "talk" more action. Says it all really.

Labels: introspection, losing weight, Resolution

I am a loser! But this post is not a grumble. (Which makes a pleasant change!!)

I am a happy loser! I have to share... I got measured at the trainers today, and compared to measurements taken my first day with her at the end of January.

Lost: 3.5 cm off chest/boobs... 9 cm off waist!!, 8 cm off hips!! around 3 cm off each thigh, and 3-4 cm off each upper arm. And around 3kg.

Seeing my aim was to lose 1 kg per month, I am on target and more.

And the centimetres?!! I had no particular aim, except to be a bit slimmer, thanks.. so I AM STOKED!

And boy does it give me the impetus I need to keep going. Not only to be able to take my pick of women's cycling jerseys, but maybe I might even feel like dressing up and going out.

Labels: go me, losing weight

We rode 75km this morning before 9.30am. Got up at 5am, left at 5.40 to ride into town down the highway (23.5 km) on our road tandem. Got there just in time for Community Ride 6.30am departure. Did 30km with that (easier pace though). Had a coffee, bite to eat, and a bit of chit chat with the other loonies bike riders, and then rode home. (Then I raced out 20 mins later to netball with the girls.. and only got home at 3.30.)

Guess what! I'm tired! And quite possibly insane.

But if I keep this up I will look 'effing' good in lycra.

Labels: bike riding, daily, losing weight

"I don't ever want to hear you whine about your weight ever again. You look MAHVELOUS, Dahling! Not everyone can wear spandex with that kind of flair!" (Rootietoot in the comments section of my last post)

No, I'm not whining!! Or whingeing!! (which is how we whine in Australia...)... I have in fact been admiring my slightly slimmer body this week. "Look! Look!" I say to anyone in the family who will listen, and showing them the space between my waist and my waist band. "My pants are looser! I've lost weight! Haven't I?!!"
Truth is, though, that some photos are more flattering than others! Me and the camera don't have a good relationship, usually. Somehow that one in the last post got me at a 'good' angle!!! This, for instance, is not so flattering! (I guess it was earlier on in the week!) I guess I am just vain enough not to want to see any bulges.

My battle has been (and still is) to lose a mere 10kg... Which compared to many is chicken feed, I know, yet still I have a need to lose it to bring me back within my healthy weight range. (And carrying 10kg less in any exercise you do has got to be easier! - try lugging around a 10kg weight in a backpack and you'll tire pretty easily!)

Trying on clothes in a shop fitting room is usually a pretty good way to cause many women to get into a funk about their weight. And, peversely, buying bike clothes is as well. Despite compliments to the contrary (like Rootie's above), it's actually been bloody hard for me to buy "spandex" to fit so that I am not self conscious. Many of the styles are very close fitting and have elastic in the waist, which definitely accentuate the bulges.

I just fit into a size 16 (the largest size) nix from Netti (in Women's, it is their largest size). And with shirts, again, I can only fit in the largest size that is a 'looser fit' style. I got all keen a few months ago to buy me some cool jerseys online from Team Estrogen. This was a company that sourced bike clothes specifically for women, so I thought they'd surely cater to all shapes and sizes. I measured myself, and perused the size charts for all the jerseys I liked. It was an exercise destined to reduce me to tears as I found that in many brands, the largest size would not go anywhere near fitting me.

In a pms-induced funk, I emailed them giving them a serve about how it doesn't encourage women to get out and cycling! The President and founder of the company wrote me back a sympathetic email (which to my shame I haven't answered yet).. acknowledging the difficulties she has getting stuff from companies (it's a supply/demand thing)... (and pointing out that her measurements were quite similar to mine) but directing me to suggestions of jerseys she thought would fit. Some of these were in the 'plus' sizes section!! Plus sizes! I don't even need to shop for PLUS sizes for my normal clothes!

Now, while I appreciated the effort- and even by trying to ignore the size labelling as just irrelevant numbers/letters - the upshot was that the selection I had for my size wasn't very wide, and I didn't really like any of them. They just don't make the cool styles in plus sizes. (Not cool enough to warrant the overseas postage.) Simple as that. Lucky for Netti (Oz company) and their 'looser' fit styles. Though I lashed out at the end of the Big Ride and bought an elastic waisted Big Ride 2007 jersey which seemed just 'ok' because I think I'd lost some weight (or toned some muscle - or both.) I have yet to wear it on the bike, or be photographed in it, so the jury is still out.

So it is very hard not to whinge or whine, or feel bad about the little bit of extra weight I am carrying when I struggle to find appropriate bike clothing to fit me. And, seriously, I know that I am really not THAT big. I feel sorry for women who are bigger, but who want to get out and seriously exercise. It is not made easy for us at all.

And before you roll your eyes and question the need for lycra on a bike, it's not just an image thing. It's a bike-riding comfort thing, and certainly I couldn't stand to go back to riding a bike in normal shorts, or indeed a normal t-shirt.

In a way it all relates to the fashion image thing. I have always managed to ignore it with normal fashion, simply because I dress for comfort. (I know what shops to avoid, and I buy most of my clothes these days in one shop where they have sensible sizing and very helpful assistants.) But when the fashion/sizing thing encroaches into my sport, then it's very difficult not to let your "bit of a weight issue" get to you.

So the only thing to really do about it is to keep riding (and exercising!) and keep losing. Only then will I really be a winner! (And not a whiner!)

I'll still take any compliments I can get. Sometimes a woman needs a good support network, and I seem to have found mine here in cyberspace. Just don't build me up too much, because when people tell me I'm 'looking good' I tend to eat as some sort of celebration. The battle of the bulge is, in many ways, the battle of what you put in your mouth!

Labels: bike riding, losing weight