Tri, Tri and Tri Again

I think I’m a little obsessed … with triathlons.

I decided I needed something to really kick-start this journey again.  My head is still having a bit of a hard time and the food side of things is still on a real rollercoaster.  So I’ve turned back to triathlon training.  Something to focus on, something to work towards, a goal I know I can achieve.  I was over the moon to find a new womans triathlon series (we still have a fair way to go before reaching “real” sprint triathlon level), which means THREE triathlons this summer.

This discovery excited me no end.  I wouldn’t shut up about it, much to Hubby’s disgust I’m sure.  Jumping around the room doing a happy dance I was.  Then one thing put a damper on things … two of the triathlons are on consecutive weekends.

Am I up to doing a triathlon two weekends in a row?  Well right now I’m not.  But it’s not until the end of February …. 24 weeks away.  24 weeks sounds like a long time … is it really?  Indecision is pull at me.  “Old Fat Kelly” is sitting in her corner, snickering, taunting me … “of course you can’t”, “you’ll still be sore from the first one, you can do two in a row”, “you’re two fat!”  While all this is going on all I’m thinking is “why is she always sitting?”  I’ve never thought about it before but “old fat Kelly” is always sitting down, maybe that’s why she’s so fat, she never does anything.  Then I realise that I’m not really paying attention to the voice in my head … I don’t care that she says I can’t.  I decided I can.  So sign me up, three triathlons this summer, first start of December then two at the end of February.  I’m pumped!

So the training begins.  I’m getting organised properly this year.  I’ve done some research (thanks Google) and got a proper triathlon training plan.  I even found one where I could put in the distances and it the time I had and it worked out what I should be doing.  Having a plan excites me.  Something to hold me accountable.  if it’s in front of me, telling me what I need to do then I know I have to do it.  There are a couple of things that I will change.  Some of the bike rides seem too short and I have to put two swim sessions on the plan a week, so I’ll go for a few longer rides and I’m only going to the pool once a week.

All in all I’m feeling good.  I’ve been reading up on triathlons and triathlon training.  Even looking into nutrition.  It’s got me out exercising again and I’ve found myself thinking about what I’m eating more, and if it will be good fuel for what I want or need to do.  I feel like a bit of a fraud since I’m only doing little, short womens triathlons and don’t really need to get too intense, but it seems to be helping.  If it’s going to help me get back on track I’m sticking with it … even if it’s a major over kill.  Bring it on I say.  Goodbye “Old Fat Kelly”.

It’s been awhile ….

This is the song I have in my head while typing that and it seem appropriate  right now (it’s also one of my favourite songs from back in my younger days 🙂 ).  I see it’s been two months since I posted anything.  There’s been a couple of reasons, we’re dairy farmers and calving started 3 weeks ago meaning I don’t even know what day of the week it is half the time and struggle to find time to clean my house.

The other reason is a major event/issue/upheaval (I’m not sure exactly how to describe it) it my personal life that threw me completely off track.  It hit me completely unexpectedly out of left field and left me reeling for quite a while.  During this time, all exercise got put aside and healthy eating went out the window … and I make no apologies for it either.

My mental state at the time needed comfort food.  Chocolate,  lollies, ice-cream, desserts of any kind really.  “Old fat Kelly” should have been over joyed but I was in a place where I couldn’t even hear her voice anymore.  One thing I realised through this though is I have changed through the journey I’ve been on to rid myself of her.  There was no bingeing during this time, “Old fat Kelly” would have stocked up on crap and proceeded to eat it all in one sitting, resulting in feeling sick and horrible.  I may have turned to food for a bit of comfort but I didn’t return to bingeing.  I may have snacked on biscuits or chocolate but I wasn’t eating a whole packet in one sitting.  I was definitely eating too much of the comfort food but there is a difference between over eating and bingeing.  Realising this brought me a little bit of hope.

I was brave and got on the scales yesterday, afraid of what damage I’d see in the number.  I knew I’d put on some weight, from the way my clothes were fitting and with what I was eating how would it be possible not too.  I was expecting the worst, preparing myself to be heavier than when I started this blog … but I wasn’t.  Pleasantly surprised, I found that I have only put on just over 2kgs * does a happy dance around the bathroom*.  Another bit of hope right there.

Now I’m coming out the other side of the crap place I’ve been in I’m ready to face “Old fat Kelly” again.  It’s good to know that this hasn’t set me right back to where I was a year ago.  It’s great to know that I have actually changed while on this journey, habits have been broken and even a major setback doesn’t spell disaster in the fight to lose the fat girl.  So onwards and upwards I say, time to get back on track and kick “old fat Kelly” to the curb.  Superwomen is back!

As a side note.  If anyone in New Zealand knows of any runs and/or walks, fun bike rides (I don’t have a road bike …yet 🙂  so can’t be too hard out) or swims (I REALLY want to do an open water swim this year) in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty/Rotorua maybe even Taupo or south Auckland areas I’d love it if you’d let me know, I’m always on the look out for things to keep me motivated.

Naproxenand Anti-Flamme Extra

I’m still here.  I know it’s been awhile but I’m still trucking.  So I’ll do a little catch up;

*Still trying to “run”.  Have started a c25k program (only in the first week but so far so good).

*The bike’s been given a rest.  It’s too dark and too cold in the morning to entice me out of bed and on to the bike … and I’ve decided to focus on the c25k program.

*Eating is still a bit crap, not “old fat Kelly” style binges or anything but not as healthy as I should.

*The scales are stagnant.  Not that I’m really surprised, see point above ^

*Next walk/run has been entered for June 1st, it’s 5km with a HILL!!!! I hate hills 😦 Like REALLY hate hills.

Biggest problem I have at the moment is my tendons.  I’ve had pain in my wrist for months and every time I do a walk with hills I get sore calves, oh and I’ve had random pain through the top of my ankle … All caused by tendons. 

After helping Hubby in the cowshed and having the worst wrist pain ever I decided that I better see the doctor.  While, she’s a little bit concerned that so many tendons are giving me grief at the same time (the million tubes of blood taken will check everything is okay though), she said I’m going to hard.  “Old fat Kelly” did a happy dance when she heard this, free pass to stop exercising … so I told her to F off (“old fat Kelly” not the doctor lol).  So I’ve been prescribed Naproxen (cool ass anti-inflammatory) and advised to use Anti-Flamme Extra rub (mean as natural rub).  I’m hoping that the mixture of the two with added painkillers prior to the race will get me through the 5km in a fortnight without dying.

I’m a little bit worried about this walk/run.  It’s only 5km so it’s not too long, but hubby and I walked the track (or as close to it as we could get) on Tuesday and there is a fairly good hill at the start of it … with steps.  Then you have to come down again.  Not so bad I hear you say down is better than up.  And “old fat Kelly” sitting in her corner mumbling “why bother going up if you’re just going to come down again?”  But this downhill also has steps …big ones … no not just big, BIG ones.  Like drops of a foot or more.  Steps only a giant could actually step down.  I’m only 168cm, these are big drops.  I’m not sure which I’m more worried about, getting up the hill without doing anything to my calves or coming down without falling on a GIANT step.

I had hoped to enter this as a run and actually “run” (or Kelly’s version of “run” which is really more like a really slow jog) at least half of it. Not in one go obviously but as a total.  Now I’m not so sure.  After the first 1km or so (by that I mean the hill) the track looks like it will be reasonably flat and have a lot of sections that I think I could “run” without killing myself.  But will I be able to?  After conquering the hill will I be able to force myself to “run”?  Or should I just enter it as a walk and forget about running?  I just don’t know. 

“Old fat Kelly” is sitting in her corner saying “if you have to do this stupid 5km just walk it.  Why kill yourself trying to run?  You’ll just make a fool of yourself and look like a twat.  Don’t shame yourself by trying, you’ll probably fail, just walk it.  At least you know you can do that.”  TO PROVE THAT I CAN!!!!!!!!!  And even if I can’t, at east I tried.

Grrr she makes me mad.  I make me mad, since she is me and I am her.  One day I will get rid of “old fat Kelly”, one day I wont have that voice in my head, trying to hold me back, one day I will lose the fat girl.  Now, I’ve got a run to enter.

 

 

 

 

Diets Don’t Work!

Atkins, HCG, Paleo, South Beach, Sugar free, Carb free, Wheat free, Zone, Blood type, Fast (5:2), Lemon Detox, Raw food, Grapefruit, Baby food, 4 Day, 02, Mediterranean, DASH, TLC, Mayo clinic, Slim-fast, SureSlim, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Macrobiotic … All diets.

I could full this whole post just listing different diets.  Put the word diet into Google and you get About 150,000,000 results. The words Weight loss diet returns about 302,000,000 … you know give or take a couple of hundred thousand.  It’s plain crazy.  The diet industry is making BILLONS of dollars every year, convincing people that to lose weight they need to follow their diet … and once that one’s gone out of fashion the same people are no doubt already on to convincing you that their new diet is the one for you.  To me it’s simple; if these diets worked people would lose weight and keep it off, then there would be less demand for diets and overtime the industry would shrink …. guess what THAT AINT HAPPENING!!!!  It’s growing, so obviously these “magical diets” don’t work.  Plus, I can guarantee you that everyone knows someone who’s been on a diet and failed, probably many people and probably many different diets.  I have tried a few myself over the years … the didn’t work.  I know there are going to be those that argue, but the did work for me or someone I know, if that’s true then I’m very happy for you/them but that is a TINY minority.

The reality is, in general, diets are temporary food plans that help you to lose weight and MANY people do lose weight while on the plan.  The problem is once they stop following the plan and start eating freely again, most fall back into their old eating habits (the ones that made them fat to start with) so the weight comes back on.  EVERY inelegant adult know this.  Deep down everyone knows diets don’t work, but being fat eats away at you so you grasp on to the hope that this diet might be “the one”, might be some sort of magic plan or pill or shake that will melt the fat fast and keep it off FOREVER!  Well, hate to burst your bubble but it aint going to happen.  The only way to lose weight and keep it off forever is to change your life.

Yip, your whole life.  Revamp your entire lifestyle, throw out the habits that are making you fat and replace them with ones that will lose the weight and keep it off.  The changes have to be forever, you can’t think about it as a diet it’s not, it’s simply your life now, there is no end to this eating plan.  Will it be fast? … nope.  You will struggle, slip back into old habits, and get SO feed up that you just want to quit, but if you stick with it you can change your life.

Haha, look at me sprouting on about how diets don’t work and you need to change your life, what do I know?  I’m still fat?  How hypocritical is that?  Let me tell you something, I’ve been there, done diets, lost weight only to gain it all back again.  But I am intelligent and I do realise that diets are not the answer so instead I’m overhauling my life.  I may have only lost 7kgs in the last 6 months but I’m working on it.  I’m making small changes because I know that I could deal with a whole lot of changes at the same time.  It’s SOOOOOO slow that it gets hard not to just give up at times, 7kgs is NOTHING in the scheme of what I need to lose.  I’ll admit that I have been struggling with this lately, feeling like I’m getting no where.  Wondering why I’m bothering at all.     Thinking I may as well give up and accept that I’ll always be fat and probably die young due to something obesity related.  Then I cry, then I eat … lately there has been a bit of that going on … then I give myself a kick up the butt.  While it’s disheartening to feel like you are putting in more effort than what you are getting back in kgs lost, I know I’m working in the right direction.

I see lots of people around me on diets and I really worry, can they continue the way they are indefinitely (in most cases I really can’t see it).  How is it going to affect them if they fail?  If they can’t sustain it and weight comes back on.  My wish for tonight is that everyone on a diet or eating plan takes a hard look at what they are doing and if it’s really what they should be doing.  Only you can make that decision.  I know how heartbreaking it is to “fail” at a diet.

……Just think about it.  Any get off those scales, weighing yourself EVERYDAY isn’t good, your weight naturally fluctuates, do it once a week or even better once a month.  Obsessing about it doesn’t help.

The Easter Bunny Has Arrived

It’s official, Easter has arrived in our house.  Hot cross buns and chocolate eggs for Africa.  The joys of Easter weekend.

I don’t understand why people feel the need to buy my boys chocolate for Easter, they are 3 and 1, there is only so much chocolate they can eat.  All that happens is they throw a hissy fit when I tell them they have had enough and wont let them eat all of the giant chocolate bunny they were given in one hit.  Then all the chocolate is just sitting around and hubby and I end up eating most of it.  Not such a big deal for slim, fit hubby … but for fat old me it is.

Then there is hot cross buns … yummmmm.  While I love chocolate (doesn’t every girl?) I’m a carb girl and hot cross buns are my absolute favourite.  Warm, a bit toasty on the outside with butter … *drool* sorry got a bit side-tracked … I could eat a whole pack in one sitting.  That is exactly what “old fat Kelly” would like me to do.  Stuff myself with hot cross buns, then wash it down with a bit of chocolate egg (or multiple whole chocolate eggs) for dessert.  She’s jumping up and down demanding that I do just that.  Throwing around arguments like, “it only happens once a year”, and constantly reminding me that all the goodness is sitting right in my cupboard.

Add on top of that the fact that the weather has been pretty crap so I’ve been stuck inside quiet a bit with two boys who just want to go outside and it’s a recipe for disaster.  *Sigh* I’ve been really naughty and given into “old fat Kelly” and decided I’m going to enjoy Easter and get back on track Tuesday.  I know it’s not the best attitude to have and I don’t intend on going so far off the wagon that I actually eat a whole pack of hot cross buns (with butter) and multiple chocolate eggs in one sitting.

Instead I decided that I need to be realistic, there is all this chocolate in my house because it is Easter so I am going to eat some … well likely a lot more than some, likely well more than I should.  But what I’m not going to do it is continue to eat like that.  Once the Easter chocolate is gone I wont be keeping chocolate in the house on a regular basis.  As for hot cross buns … well they wont be on sale so I don’t have to worry about that because while I also love fruit bread it’s just not quiet the same and doesn’t have quiet the same pull.

While coming to this conclusion I thought about all the skinny people I know and realised that most of them over indulge at Easter, the difference between then and “old fat Kelly” is they only do it at Easter and she would do it ALL THE TIME is she was given free regain.  That’s the difference rather than do it occasionally “old fat Kelly” did it all the time.  Since this journey is not about going on a diet just to lose the weight, it’s about making small lifestyle changes that will add up to a new (slimmer) Kelly living a new life and keeping it forever I need to live like a slim person.  So I will allow myself to over indulge in the Easter goodies (but I will resist the “old fat Kelly” styled bingeing, which is NOT slim person behaviour) and not feel guilty about it.

Once it’s gone, that’s it, it’s over, back to healthy normal eating … but I do have my fingers crossed that it’s fine enough in the morning for a bike ride, I’m feeling a little house bound and I need to burn off some calories before I join the boys in an egg hunt (and resulting egg eating).
Happy Easter everyone!  Don’t sweat the Easter chocolate, it will be gone before you know it lol

Look Who’s Back

So …. I know it’s been a while, in fact it’s been WAAAAAYYYYY too long.  I’ve let life overtake me in the last few weeks and all things losing “old fat Kelly” related have gone out the window 😦  Pretty much no exercise, not watching what I’m eating as closely as I should and no blog; the only thing that I’m kind of keeping up with is the Facebook page.  But now I’m shaking it off this funk and getting my grove back.

I can’t have been too bad the last few weeks, the weight has gone down a little (I’m talking grams not kgs here), but at least it’s not a gain.  I’ve made a deal with myself (and hubby), once I get under 90kgs I’m getting a road bike (the aim is to one day to a real triathlon).  It’s a double incentive, I get a new toy and be able to ride a road bike.  At the size I am now I physically can’t do it, my body doesn’t fit into the position required (ie my tummy is too big and gets in the way) and if I force it I wouldn’t last very long.  So that’s my aim, 17kgs an I get a new bike, fingers crossed I’ll have a new bike by summer 🙂

In the hope of kicking my butt into gear I asked if any of the lovely ladies on the Losing the Fat Girl Facebook page would like to share their stories or experiences her on the blog.  I have had one lady come forward with her story and I’m hoping more will too.  So I’ll be starting off with Hayley’s story

 

Small Victories

The scales may not be my friend of late, and that no one else seems to be noticing a change may have been getting me down, but sometimes small victories make it all okay again.

A couple of days I had a small victory.  I was a little behind in my washing and searching for shorts that were acceptable for wearing in public when I found a pair of denim shorts my sister gave me last summer.  These shorts have been buried in the bottom of my draw as they have never really fit me properly and at my worst (right before I started this journey) they wouldn’t even do up.

So, with trepidation I pulled them out … eyed them sceptically … thought “what do I have to lose” … and pulled them on.  Well look at that, I could pull them up no worries … pull them together … heck the button does up … and the zip does up … easily.  OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! THEY FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, take shorts off, just to double-check that they are the shorts I think they are.  Yip, definitely the ones.  Put them on again … still fit.
*Does a happy dance around the bedroom while the boys wonder why Mum’s gone crazy*

Feeling quite proud of myself I packed the boys in the car and went to town. Had to drop the car off to be looked as so I pushed the boys around town in the pram for an hour, then visited my sister on the way home.  I wore the too small shorts all afternoon … in comfort.  Every time I’ve poured myself in to them in the past they have been too small, cut in, hardly done up and been so uncomfortable I’ve pulled them off the second I walk in the door in favour of my daggy old farm shorts (the kind you wouldn’t be seen dead wearing in public).

It’s amazing that something as small as fitting into a pair of shorts gave me such a lift.  It makes me realise that this journey is about seeing all kinds of results.

It’s not just seeing the scales move (though that is quite nice), it’s going further on my bike, it doing that walk/jog quicker than last time, it’s fitting into clothes that were to small and finding that those that used to fit are now too big.

It’s not about being on a diet and cutting out foods, it’s about being strong enough to say “no” from time to time, it’s being able to leave some dessert on the plate because I’ve had enough rather than forcing myself to eat it just because it’s there.  It’s being at a buffet and asking myself would I rather have the pasta or rice dish, because I know I don’t need both and not feeling like I’m missing out because I didn’t have some of everything.  It’s about being happy to feed my boys morning tea without feeling I need to eat too, even though I’m not hungry.

It’s about the small changes, that will … eventually, add up to a big change and the end of “old fat Kelly” for good.  So, I’ll keep reminding myself to work on the small things and the big will follow.  Not a bad result from trying on a pair of shorts.

Why Will She Not Go Away?

Gahhhh! The fat girl has come back to stay 😦

I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve come to a wall … figuratively speaking.  After the high of the triathlon I seem to have come to a stop.  Motivation has gone out the window, exercise is slipping and bad eating habits are reappearing.  “Old Fat Kelly” is back with a vengeance, and over the last few weeks I’ve just stood  aside let her in.  After having a good hard look at myself, I’ve come up with a few reasons I think this may have happened;

1)   My scales seem to be broken … every time I jump on to weigh myself the show me exactly the same number, right down to the grams.  Surely this means they are broken … right?  108.7kgs has been staring me in the face for over a month now.  I guess “old fat Kelly” started butting her way in and since I was starting to get down about the number on the scales I didn’t see the point in fighting.  If what I was doing wasn’t working why not let her back in?  To be 100% truthful I’m kind of amazed that the number hasn’t gone up with the way I’ve been eating lately (another thing that makes me think that the scales are broken).

2)   It’s so dark and cold in the morning.  Sounds pathetic, I know, but it’s soooooooo much harder to get out of bed at 6am when it’s pitch black still and cold.  I hate riding on the road in the dark, even though it’s quiet (most of the time) country roads and I have very good lights on the back and front (thanks to hubby for his mountain bike light that possibly blinds oncoming drivers it’s so bright).  Even though I’m not an idiot, I pay attention to what’s going on around me and stay left, I’m petrified of being hit by a car and riding in the dark just makes that fear a million times worse.  Then there is walking (or partially “jogging”), I don’t really enjoy it all that much, so it’s hard to get out of my cozy, warm bed to do it.  Even the knowledge that I have an 11km trail walk in 44 days (yes ladies out there doing it with me it’s only 44 days until Xterra) hasn’t been enough to drag me out of bed.

3)   I’ve simply lost motivation.  It feels like I’ve been trying soooooooooo hard to make good lifestyle changes for the last 4 months and I have nothing to show for it.  Nothing … at … all 😦  I’ve lost bugger all weight, so no one notices.  I don’t really feel like I’ve changed at all.  I’m still “old fat Kelly” on the outside, and that’s how everyone around me is treating me.  It’s hard to try and be new Kelly, when everyone still thinks I’m “old fat Kelly” and she’s the one I see when I look in the mirror every morning.  What’s the point if I’m not seeing any results.  The logical part of my brain points out that there have been changes, but I guess if I’m the only one who can see them then it doesn’t seem like they were worth all the work.  I guess I thought after this long others would be able to see a change.

So it seems that the mixture of these 3 things have to led to “old fat Kelly” making a come back.  Sugar once again becoming my best friend.  Laziness being the easy path to take.  If I look like a fat girl, people treat me like a fat girl, then I may as well be a fat girl.  I’m my own worst enemy at the moment … haha what I joke, I’ve always been my own worst enemy.

Why Do We Exercise?

Now that is the question right there.  Why do we exercise?

Awhile a go I saw the question posed “why do I run?” (can’t for the life of me remember where it was, if I’ve stolen you question I’m so sorry).  Now that question doesn’t really apply to me, I don’t really run (attempts at more than walking are short-lived), I much prefer riding my bike or even a nice bush walk with hubby.  So in my head I changed the question to “why do I exercise?”

This question has stuck we me, I’ve pondered the answer on and off for a while now and I think I have the answer.  BECAUSE I EAT!

Yip that’s the short answer, I exercise because I eat.  I love food, I love to eat, but I have major issues with food.  I struggle all day, every day to control “old fat Kelly” and the compulsion to eat CONSTANTLY!  I often get depressed when I lose to “old fat Kelly” and fall prey to the compulsion to eat everything and anything that I think of.  If I exercise I don’t feel so bad when my control disappears and “old fat Kelly” takes over (which happens a lot more than I’d like to admit:(  ).

I will admit that I do enjoy exercise … once I’m doing it.  I still struggle with forcing myself out the door in the morning.  I have to decide the night before what I’m going to do then just get up and do it in the morning without thinking about it too much … or I think of a million reasons why I don’t want to/shouldn’t do it and 50% of the time end up doing nothing.  The reason I decided to enter the triathlon is mainly because I knew I needed something that would force me to exercise.  I don’t want to look like any more of a fool than a 100kg+ women doing a triathlon already does, so I train to prepare as much as I can.

I also got to thinking, “why do other people exercise?”  My hubby exercises for fun (I know crazy! Right?).  He’s tall, skinny and naturally fit (and bit of a mountain goat).  His idea of a good time is to ride 20km+ of mountain bike trails (or at times walking trails, naughty boy).  Or to go for a trail run, doing what should be a 7-8 hour walk in 3.5 hours.  All purely for fun.  He does the odd mountain bike race, but he’d rather just ride for fun.  It’s a concept I struggle to get my head around.

Next I posed the question to the Losing The Fat Girl Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/634881956579217/ if you would like to join us 🙂 ) and these are some of the reasons the lovely ladies on there had for exercising;

I exercise because I know it makes me feel better. It takes a lot of cajoling but once I am in a routine I am ok. I turn into a cranky cow-face when I don’t get out and get a bit of exercise. I totally just take a stroll though, none of this hard exercise the rest of you do!

I do it more for myself, even though I … feel horrid to start with, but feel better afterwards. I have just started c25k with a friend of mine, so at least we have each other to rely on for support and can chat along at the same time. I have realised I am a bit more fit than I thought, so yay a good feeling there! But once I’m all sweaty I actually feel good and that I have earned it!

Because I really don’t want to be so fat anymore! Not just because I feel unattractive, but also because want to feel lighter and have better balance when I move.

And one beautiful brave lady private messaged me this saying I could share it with you all (and I’m sure we can all relate, at least in part, to what she’s saying);

I think we start exercise when we are bigger as we are told it is good for us and will help us lose weight so it is expected of us. The bonus is once you start it isn’t so bad. I have wicked back pain- I don’t turn in my sleep so place stress on my spine. The pain is worse in the morning and gets better as I warm up in the day. It came to a head over christmas when I couldn’t lift my baby out of the portacot first thing in the morning. So the resolution this year was not just to lose weight but to get fit and once I start I actually enjoy it, it’s just needing a reason to do it, and getting into a habit. I think that I don’t turn in bed as my core muscles are shocking so hoping that fitness and core strength will sort out a lot of my back issues- as well as carrying less weight around! I think that’s my honest answer.

Do we, as fat girls, exercise because we are told to?  Short answer, yes.  I really believe we do, not because we enjoy it or want to try something new, but because we are told to.  It’s good for our health, it will help you lose weight, everyone needs at least 30 minutes of exercise per day etc, etc.

So, now I pose the question to you, “why do you exercise?” … Think about it ❤

 

Look Who’s Back!

So, after a lovely holiday at one of my favourite places in the whole entire world

Consisting of practically no exercise and indulgent holiday eating … I’m home 😦

Though I had an AMAZING time, I wish I could live there and I didn’t want to leave, I am glad to be home.  Firstly, Hubby was only there for the first 3 days and I missed him like mad for the rest of the time (as did the boys).  Second, back to my safe haven of normality … my routine … my new life.

While away I put on 900grams (in 9 days), which is less than I thought I would.  So, YAY, I’m still under 110kg mark ❤  I knew I had put on weight, I did no real exercise in those nine days and indulged in all the yummy treat food that seems to pop on holiday that we don’t have at home.  It sounds like I let “old fat Kelly” takeover while I was away … but I didn’t.   Yes I over did it a bit (hence 900grams) and lazed around too much … but I didn’t “old fat Kelly” over indulge.

The Fat Chance workbook (http://www.fatchance.co.nz/) tells you to watch what slim people eat, because to be slim you need to eat like a slim person (makes sense, but I know that this isn’t always the case, I know some slim girls who eat like crap and do no exercise but must be blessed with very good genes or something).  So while I was on holiday I watched what the other, slim, people around me were eating.  I saw that they were also over indulging on the good stuff, but not to the extreme that “old fat Kelly” would like too.  After my research, I decided that I would indulge in all the foods I don’t normally have, I just made sure I didn’t over do it.  I didn’t once eat until I felt so overfull it was disgusting, like “old fat Kelly” would have, but I had everything I wanted (just smaller portions than I would have in the past).  I, also, kept the calories that I drunk to a minimum.  I was New years so there was a bit of drink flowing to welcome the new year, I limited myself to 1 glass on wine then stuck to the rum and diet coke 🙂

But, now I’m home and with 900grams to show for my holiday, so I’ve been straight back into it.  Set the alarm for 6am once again and was out on my bike.

Apparently 8 days is long enough for my legs to completely forget everything they have learnt on the bike and after doing my short lap (just under 9km) they were jelly.  Felt so good though, didn’t realise how much I had missed it.  Take out the jelly legs and I felt really good, fitness has improved so much I can’t believe it.  As you can see from the picture, I wasn’t even bright red when I got back … which I would have been not so long ago.  I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long for my legs to get back to where they were.

So I over indulged on holiday and put on 900grams … but after my people watching experiment I concluded that most people over indulge a bit when on holiday.  It’s not a normal situation so if my eating turns to crap it’s not the end of the world, as long as I leave the holiday eating behind when I come home I should be fine.  “Old fat Kelly” enjoyed the holiday eating but she’s in for a shock … it’s not staying, that I can promise you.