Real life happens - the 10+ day catch up

Well, when you last heard from me, on day 27, which would have been the 27th of January, I  was still on my summer holidays, I had yet to go back to my full time job of teaching at a new school. Since then, we've had TWO LONG WEEKENDS and lots going on. 

For me, this challenge has been about 'making the time' a habit. Always a learning curve, bound to slip up here and there, and I refuse to let that stop me or get me down! I'm starting to see/feel success, as the scale is FINALLY (after not moving, since about MAY!?) go down and stay down... and the real tell-tale indicator, I tried on a pair of jean shorts I'd bought second hand online  at Christmas time, and they didn't actually do up because my massive midsection... but feeling brave for some reason today, I decided to see where I was in comparision... and they did up! Still had quite the muffin top popping out the top, but nothing a loose fitting tshirt couldnt hide. I decided to bask in my success and wear those damn $5 shorts. Now that's motivation to keep at this, and eliminate that flab!

Here's the scoop on what I've been up to: 

Day 28:  This was a Saturday morning... I got out on the bike early and did a 10km ride :) I was stoked to have gotten it out of the way, as we were heading up north for the rest of the long weekend, to go camping. 


Day 29: Sunday and we were camping... kind of an iffy grey day all day. Sandy and I attempted body boarding, only to be sent crushed into the beach, so we gave that a miss quite promptly. Us girls set out the surf caster, as Sophie is a legend with the line, while the boys, went spear-fishing. A good feed for lunch was caught!  

The 'fruits' of our labour,
in shellfish form

Low tide was at about 7 that night, and so the remaining four of us wet-suited up, and went for a walk around the rocks to a sheltered inlet, where the I had intended to dive, but instead received the pauas that the boys got. I counted the trek around the rocks as my exercise for that day. 




This effort could possibly have been negated by the cream in our dinner, of pauas and cream. (with a hint of sweet chili sauce)

This is best photo I had on my computer,
of the wee hill we climbed at Spirit's Bay

Day 30: Northland Anniversary day, a public holiday! Before heading back to face the demands of reality, Soph, Phil, Thom and I decided to conqueror the beast that is Spirit's Bay. This little trek is not so much for the faint of heart, or weak of calves, as going up the back has quite an incline. I'd been having trouble recently with my calves, and they played up again on the ascent up the hill.  Soph took her camera with, as mine had died by then, so I have some photos from the top to get from her that I may add later. I believe this might have taken us about 2 hours return to hike up and back. 


Day 31: Tuesday night Yoga for an hour and a half! I'd had Teacher Only Day at school all day, and was looking forward to yoga, although was slightly disappointed by the fact that the lady took the class, and she did lots more meditative breathing activities rather than physical stretching... regardless, it does the body good!


Day 32: Hello February! I'd gone 31 days straight and done so well, I was feeling so proud of myself... but the realities of school starting tomorrow also set in and led me to feel quite overwhelmed, unfortunately. After spending all day at a Restorative Justice Professional Development course in town, I did ride my bike to and from school, but ended up staying quite late and had more to do, so couldn't do any more exercise than that. Not beating myself up, at least I rode my bike. I didn't do 'nothing' it just wasn't as much as I'd have liked.

Day 33: This was the day the 'water jog' was created by Sandy, Mel and I. Resistance running, with the fun and support of the water!  It was amazing. Up and down the length of the beach, twice. We reckoned it would've been about 500m each length, I was out for 45 minutes before I went to a Pizza Oven Party with the staff from my school, to celebrate surviving the first day back to school.

Day 34: Friday morning, 6:30 am,  Sandy and I were in love with our new discovery of the water jog, so we got up early, wetsuits on, and braved the cold sea for an up and down the beach (including Sandy's brilliant idea of throwing in '50 Strokes' for good measure).  Felt so good to get exercise out of the way for the day! After work, we went out the back with the 4x4 trucks, and explored the rugged west coast, and then ended up a bit boozy at the pub!


Day 35: There seems to be an error on my count calendar. I have omitted what I did this day, and I just can't remember.  I woke up early, and took Thom's mate back to town, went to the market, and met up with friends at the cafe for lunch... and that night we went to a 21st BBQ at Thom's family friends.... I think I may have done something water related, as it was a scorcher of a day!


Day 36: Thom and I got up early-ish for a Sunday morning, and he came with me on a run to Shipwreck Bay (5km return) ... It was quite cool to run with him, as normally I don't like being around someone that I know is fitter/faster than me, but he was sweet and supportive and encouraging, in his own crude, rude, Thom way.  We walked up the massive hills, and then ran to the bottoms. Was a sweet morning :) 

The Classic Hits Winery Tour

When we got back, it was off to Tutukaka for a Girls Mission to the Winery Tour concert


Day 37: Literally ate crap all the way home from the concert. Big Brekkie, chicken and chips.... ugh! Hit the spot at the time,  but not worth it in the long run. But so difficult to say no to on a precious hangover tummy!

Once safely home, we were surprised with the arrival of my former DeFacto flatmate who moved to Aussie in July!!  Hadn't seen Amy since she left, and it was amazing for her to just rock up! After a yum as pumpkin risotto cooked by Mel for tea,  the four of us did a classic "after dinner walk" along the beach up to the creek and back.

Open fire BBQ!

Day 38: Another less successful day in my journey... as I had a mates bags to return to her at school, it was quite difficult to carry them on my bike, so Thom dropped me and my bike off at school, and the bags on his way to work. I did bike home, but only to then go to a BBQ at a mates place, as Amy's visit was a surprise for others as well. In the grand scheme of things, can't get upset by what you can't control, and 10 minutes on the bike is better than nothing in my mind ;) At least that's what I tell myself. Everyone has off days, and then you move on.








 Day 39: Sandy and I got back into the water jogging. Both exhausted after working, we thru together a deliciously random lasagna of whatever we found in the fridge (some mince, kidney beans, spinach, beans, onions, etc etc) and for the hour that that was baking, we went out to the beach to do a few laps. Perfect timing, came back in to dinner being ready at 7! 


Day 40: This makes for 2/5 of the way thru this challenge already!?!  Thursday night saw another and the final Pizza night, around in the village. Man I love food, I have to say. These pizzas are to DIE for! I didn't quite stuff myself to the same point that I did the week before, so that was progress. We jumped in and caught a ride with Thom's sister over, as there are 5 cars in our driveway when everyone's home, so it was just easier... and then Thom and I walked home. Only about a 2ish km walk , but we enjoyed a lovely stroll by the beach under a beautiful full moon :) Bliss!


Day 41: a Friday... no excuse for only biking to/from school, besides that I was buggered after working all week :( Other than that we went out and gathered tuatuas at low tide.... that wasn't so much "intentional" activity as "accidental" but still good for the legs, as you twist in the sand?  Moving on with life... 

Day 42: Good morning Saturday! This is today! I am getting caught up! I had a lovely wee sleep in (as in, I woke up with out an alarm around 8, and felt sooo refreshed, rather than dragging my ass, as I have been in the mornings) and I ran to the shop - to buy some postage and then back home, to do THIS ------------------------------->>
ab workout, which I got from Fitness Junkie on Facebook. She posts heaps of great motivational pictures, if that's what you're looking for. Always something inspiring. So I did 2 rounds of this, and one of the leg pilates I used to do with my mate at the gym.

Feeling guilty for  yesterdays off day, I also did some treading water, which was quite good for the old arms, as I floated (benefits of salt water?) on my belly, layed on my back and tucked my knees up to my chest (working my core as well?) who knows!


Back on the bandwagon! Ready to get more Fab and less Flab


 You have successfully reached the end of this massive catchup  (if you're still reading!?).
How do you deal with days that are less successful than you'd hope?

Day 26 and 27

Day 26: Felt like I needed that good push this morning, so opted for INSANITY Pure Cardio, as I can always count on that to kick my ass good . And it SURE did! In my garage, just pushing.

So I google image searched INSANITY Pure Cardio and found these pictures on this website

I do feel better knowing that even the super-toned people in the videos get puffed!

Day 27: I use my bike almost daily, doing the 3km return trip to school and back, and don't count as part of my challenge, but more a bonus to decreasing my carbon footprint and increasing my activity... but I haven't been out for a long bike ride in AGES! I thought this morning would be it... but by the time I got myself awake and organised, it was nearly 9am - PRIME drive-to-work-time/that means lots of 100km/hr traffic that I just don't like dealing with... SOOOO opted for a 5km run, out to the Marae and back. Was all going great, until the calf muscles seized up again. Despite stretches, they were just giving up on me, so again, the return trip had a lot more fast walking than I'd like, but what can I do, but keep at it.


A friend from home has started her own facebook fan page, called FITSPIRATION, where she posts lots of motivation pictures and healthy recipes (which do not disappoint!!). Today I made the banana Ice Cream, and it tasted every bit as delicious as it looked in the picture! I added some chocolate, and chia seeds to mine, just to be creative. I had some troubles downloading the picture of mine, but you might be able to see it here

Day 25 - The Quarter Century Mark!

Yes, you read right, 1/4 of the way to 100 days, already!


Day 25: Me and mornings are not getting along. All of my plans of practicing waking up earlier are foiled by my snooze button. That, however, does not hinder my workout efforts. It just delays all the other things I plan to do in the day. Instead of a 7am run, I left at 8am, and decided to just run a good 3km's, to the school and back, and then do a circuit of ab stuff,  in the garage.  I love the ap that I recently upgraded to, called SecondsPro. I had SecondsFree, which created different interval timers, but the free version didnt allow you to save timers/workouts you'd just created, and I just couldn't see myself reprogramming it everytime! So I splurged the $4.19, and now can enjoy and save a range of Tabata, Circuit and various other kinds of timers etc. And what I love about this ap, is that you can name each exercise so that it tells you what to do, and then using the TexttoSpeech feature, it tells you in a computer generated voice, what you had planned to do... and then also counts down your last 3 seconds of work/rest. It's fabulous, try it out!

A lovely day in the neighbourhood!           

SecondsPro.. I recommend it!

 







































Do you have any iPhone aps that you swear by or like to use during your workout? What would recommend? 

22 and 23...

Day 22: Bit of a lazy Sunday, we made toastie sandwiches with cheese, onion, ham, and avocado in them on the George Foreman grill... yummmie! I didn't really do much of anything all day, till about 3.00, Mel and I decided to go for a drive. Nothing was open in town, so we went out to the East Coast. Found the Indian place, and decided to flag Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner, and bring home some indian. I had wanted a chicken kebab, but apparently they didnt have that, so got a Chicken Korma, which was quite delicious. Came home, and did more puttering around. Trying to sort out my last spare bedroom which contained ALL of my leftover teaching crap from changing schools. Sandy, is meant to move in sometime this week, so really the room needs to be clean and clear for her. 8.30 came, was dusky out, but it was no or never. Got into my gears, and loaded up my new playlist (ah yes, Mel and I had a bit of a music exchange earlier in the arvo, creating the ultimate running playlist). Playlist loaded, off I went. Originally intending just to do a 3km run, to the school and back... but I was feeling so good! With the upbeat music, I was able to set a good pace, and run way longer without having to stop and walk. And the sky was so pretty, I wanted to go over to the beach ramp, and see it from there. I'd logged that route the other day, so I new it was approx. 5km return run, so it didn't matter that my LogYourRun app wasnt working and properly measuring how far I was going. So I'm rocking out to all this upbeat music, get to Kaka Street (haha, yes you read right, like poo) which is the turn around point.... and my calves are aching, so I walk a bit further, but they completely seize up. The last 2km home, I had to completely (but as briskly as I could) walk home. For the final k, I just turned off the music, and listened to the water lap and the waves crash, since the tide was way in. 


I don't recommend running with curry on the belly either. I thought it had digested, I'd gone to the toilet before leaving... but no. That curry put me in a hurry to get home, and with painful legs, it was not fun!

I used to always have the free pass attitude,
now I am trying to SHAKE it. 

Day 23: I am accepting that at the beginning of school, it's going to be very difficult to work out in the morning. I am still struggling to get up and not fluff around. So I will accept afternoon workouts, after school. This morning, proved that. I was up at 7, and considered going for a bike ride. I like to get out before the traffic gets busy, because quite frankly, the main road is busy and there is not heaps of extra room for those cars doing 100km/hr to fly past you. I ate some museli for breakfast, and then had a nose around on the internet.  I love the little icon pictures that say inspirational stuff, or like no one else is going to make you  exercise, I was looking around another blog that sounded like mine on Tumblr and copied some pictures off that.
Then I thought, nah, I'm just gonna use "my gym" since it's there. Warmed up by using Tabata to Jog. And then I started mucking around with the exercise timer/sets on my phone, and decided to work on my arms, since they often don't get as much attention.   So I set up the app to do 6 exercise, 1 minute each,  and 30 seconds between each for 3 rounds
I did:
-lay on the ball, 4kg fly
-press up (i'm getting much better at those, especially in form!)
-boxing
-resistance band pull downs on the door
-sit on the ball 4kg press
-sit on the ball 4kg curl


I was going to do abs too, and probably should have. But I was ready to stop. 

Working on THIS!

Day 21 - 3 Week mark!

Day 21: A gorgeous Saturday morning, had a lovely wee sleep - in, and then up and out the door for a solid 5km run! I do get a bit bored on runs, so I need to keep changing up where I go, so today I opted for something different, and went thru the village and did a little loop, which was nice. So warm out by 10am though! But there's hardly any wind and the bay is sooo flat. I definitely ran more often than I walked today, although my legs/shins kept aching :( While I was out, my mate was texting me about going camping tonight, so I'd take walk breaks to reply and by the time I got home, we'd decided that next weekend, being a long weekend, would be a better plan.  
Came home to a delicious western omlette with cajun spice, GP, onions, ham and mushies. Yummm yum.


Can't believe it's been 3 weeks of the challenge already! Habits are being formed! 

16 and 17 and still going strong

Day 16: Monday morning! Starting this week off right after a TERRIBLE sleep, I tried to run...  but ended up walking, as my badly bruised leg was giving me a bit of grief and throbbing pain. But I still did 5km, and just did 2 minute intervals of walking/running. I also biked down to school and back. We had the most delicious falafels for dinner - a favourite!


Day 17: Today! Tuesday, slow start. I was up at 730, but again had another terrible sleep and was awake for more than an hour, so I let myself go back to sleep till about 9 or so, and then at 10 decided to bust out some INSANITY Pure Cardio in the garage rather than the living room. So much better on the concrete floor instead of the yuck carpet upstairs.

3 day catch-up! Days 10, 11 and 12

Day 10: Tuesday, I got up a bit later than I intended, was about 9am before I left the house. I was going to walk/run to Shipwreck Bay, which is a lovely 5km return trip from my house, BUT there are some solid hills involved. So that's where the walking came into the equation. I didn't seem to have heaps of energy on the go at that point, especially up the hills, so it actually took me ages. 5km in an hour isn't a personal best by any means, but at least I got it done, I say. 

Shipwreck Bay, from the top of the hill

I was meeting the principal at my new school at 10am, and she drove past my house just as I was getting home... "I'll just grab a shower before I go to school" ;) Since we finally had a not raining day, I was stoked to be able to ride my bike there and back. It is literally 1.5km from home to school, so I really dont want to be driving my car that short of a distance. 

Day 11: 

Post-donation bandaid

The first time I gave blood! I am not a needle fan, but braved through the whole process no troubles, giving my half a litre. I was just about to get up, and then it was all over. Will spare the details of the after effects, but there was vomit. And it was not pleasant nor pretty. 

The rest of the day, I felt like crap, so lethargic and yuck. We had a Nova Scotian guy come Couchsurf with us for the night, and cooked up some homemade pizzas and garlic bread. 

Come 10pm, still had not done 30 minute of intentional activity, and I was not about to give up on only day 11.... So Mel and I went for a walk over to the school and back, 3km return in 30 minutes. Felt better knowing that I made the effort, rather than just going to bed. 

Looking oh so lovely not so bright but early in the morning

Day 12: After yesterday/last night's procrastination and 10pm mission, I did not want a repeat! So I got my butt outta bed at about 7.45am and got on my bike, and did my (becoming more usual) loop of 10km in about 40 minutes. Stoked. Love the feeling of having it done in the morning, and just knowning that it's done so I don't have to worry for the rest of the day! 

On top of the world! 

Came home and had a lovely little snooze before going horse riding  with Thom's dad later in the morning.  Kev's 3 horses are all rescues, and not the easiest of horses nor am I the most confident.... I came off 3 times, and made a few graceful exits as the saddle went 45 degrees to the side. I live in such a beautiful area.... massive sand dunes, tea tree forests, farm land - all in one ride and then some! 

It was a great ride, when I was actually on the horse. My last topple resulted going down yet another hill. I was in 'HANG ON' mode (as I was for most of the ride) and stayed on a good while before sliding down Harmony's neck as she stopped short. I was on the ground, and she was a bit spooked, and did a bit of a dance... stepping on my calf in the process, as you can see in the top photo (the bruise is coming out in the shape of a hoof-print!)  My shins got some bad knocks going through the Tea Trees as well, my left one that got stepped on was incredibly sore. Ice, ice, baby !

Add caption

So onwards and upwards, will find something to do tomorrow morning, before I have visitors over to catch up and then head out to Urupukapuka Island for a free concert with the girls. See morning workout will be necessary, just need to do something that doesn't hurt (too bad)

Stayin' strong!