Life in Mono...

Kickboxing anyone?

I never thought I would go to a kickboxing class. Tonight was a first for me. I live near a martial arts centre where you can either take classes or just use the dojo to practice your skills.

I was reading a blog today. I can't remember the name of the blog. The writer raved about how intense a 45 session was for her and how it made her feel.

I can see what she means now. I called up the centre and asked to see if I could go and have a look. The receptionist told me I could come for a casual class and try it out and so I did.

I must say that the class is not as hard as I thought it would be. I mean for someone uncoordinated as I am, I was nervous that I couldn't get the moves or the steps right. The instructor was really nice and really took time to teach me the moves and said that I could take it easy because it was my first class.

I had fun. By the 10th minute, I was sweating like a pig? Horse? Dog? Anyways, I was sweating heaps! There were another 2 girls that was new to the class as well and all they did was TALK AND TALK AND TALK and WHINE about how hard the class was. I was pretty annoyed to be stuck in the corner with them because they were bringing me down! They deserve a rant post by me. I will post about it tomorrow.

So by the end of the 45 minute class I was pretty raved up. I mean punching the sand bags was really fun for me. I can see why people find this class as a stress buster. Having a hard day at work? That's ok. Come in punch the bags and anger and stress GONE.

I will be back next week for another casual class again. :*)

My pen is Red...

At the moment, I cannot think of a good title for the post. My mind is jumping from one thing to another. So this post will be random things that popped in my head.

• I lost 400g at my last weigh in. I was quite surprised since I have not been very strict with myself and skipped gym a couple of times during the 2 weeks that I did not see my consultant. I did compensate not gymming with long walks though. I love walking. Not so much in the cold mornings but in the evening. I just wish that it didn't get so dark that quickly. I guess I will miss walking in the bright sunshine at 7pm since Western Australians voted NO against day light savings. I don't have a say in it because I cannot vote. So there you go. Walking in the dark with Walter it is then.

• I need to sort out my studio again. It's not messy, I just want to clear things out and make room for YARN. So that means I have to get read of some stuff and maybe sell some stuff on Ebay or Etsy.


• I just realise that I have heaps of sewing patterns that I have been collecting to sell on my Etsy store. I have to sit down and list them one by one.


• I have to also clear out my front garden to prepare it for the next planting season. Apparently you can plant peas in the winter so I may have to go to Bunnings to get some seedlings.


• I have started on another crochet project. This time a beret for Tiff. The baby beanie that I started on the other day did not end well. It's too small for the baby so I have unravel it and will start again.


• I learned how to decrease stitches via YouTube. Seriously, YouTube is my bestest friend in the whole wide world at the moment. I learn at a very slow pace so I can always rewind it over and over again without annoying the person that is teaching me.


• Preparations for our big trip to Nepal and Malaysia is on the way. We paid for our tickets over the weekend and now I have to plan where to go once we reach Nepal. This will be my first trip there. I can't wait. I have gotten heaps of suggestions from my Nepalese friends so I have to sort things out. M wants to take us to Pokhra as well before we head down to his home town. I have seen photos of the place and it is gorgeous. I just hope that I will remember to take photos since I will be in awe with all the beautiful surroundings.

• Mornings are especially hard for me at the moment. Walter have to practically drag me out of bed in the mornings to feed and walk him. He would come on my side of the bed and pant and wag his whip of a tail loudly until I get out of bed. All I want to do is just sleep under my warm doona.

•  I have been drinking/eating (?) loads of Miso soup lately. It's weird because I am not a big fan of Tofu. I think it's the seaweed that I am craving for. Give me a hot bowl of large Miso soup and I will be happy for about 4 hours or until the next meal is served.

• Just realised that Volterra, the place where the Volturis reside, is a real place in Italy. HAHAHA...Well I thought it was a fictional place. Who knew!! Thanks to Susan for her photos of a cemetary in Voltera. LOL.

Ok end random post. Thanks for reading.

{happy dance}

Remember the Up I had last week? Well... I manage to lose all of it and then some!! Wooohooo....my hard work paid off. Let's hope this week I continue to lose some.

My main motivation for last week was all my photos from my lookbook last year and all your encouragements. I really wouldn't have made it without all your comments and emails.

My motivation for this week is to get in shape to play my first Netball match in years. My first game will be next week. So I hope to have more stamina by next week.

I AM SUPER STOKED that even my migraine is not bugging me.

even if it was in seattle...

It's going to be ok. Everything is going to be ok. Once again I failed to get up at the time that I wanted. I still have to work in that department. How can I make myself climb out of bed in the morning? I love my sleep so much. Gahh...

Anyway I did pretty well today. Ate all my food, went to the gym for Step class. Man...my knee was screaming for me to stop. I didn't know 2 weeks of not doing Steps can do that to you. I felt great after.

My milestone for today was overcoming the urge to eat that Alfajores in the pantry and also a helping of M's fries that he bought from McDonalds. WOOOT. Actually, I am still thinking about that Alfajores though. I know I will not eat it but I could taste it at the tip of my tongue. ARGGGHHH.... Mind over matter, mind over matter. Must be good, must be good. Worked so hard today.

I must really get and prepare food from my free list. I may go and stock up this Saturday. I must also make more JC jellies. They are YUMMY too.

I joined a social netball team and we play every Monday. I have been wanting to play netball eversince FOREVER and could never find a team to play with that is non competitive. So that takes care of my Monday exercise. So here is my timetable for each week.

• MONDAY - Netball
• TUEDAY - JC consult day but will walk with Walter at the park after the consult. If not go for a bike ride.
• WEDNESDAY - Pump & Yoga
• THURSDAY - Steps & Pilates
• FRIDAY - Rest day
• SATURDAY - RPM & Pump
• SUNDAY - Rest Day

Don't fret. I acutally walk Walter every morning so I do get at least 30 mins of walkies on my rest day anyway.

Everything seems to be falling in place at the moment. Let's hope it last for at least 6 months. :*)

{insert title here}

You would think after psyching myself up last night I would get a good head start this morning. I set my alarm to wake me up at least 1 hour before my usual time hoping that I would be able to get myself out of the bed but NOPE. No such luck. I woke up, reset the alarm and went back to sleep again!!

On the way to work, I listened to my podcast and was thinking about planning my day/week while waiting for the train. I whipped out my Organizer / journal and started writing out and planning my week. So far so good.

Breakfast today was Flakes, Fruit and Fibre with 1/cup milk, 1 slice of Toast with peanut butter. I have eaten the Flakes but I had difficulties trying to keep it down. I generally will not go for cereal for breakfast. I don't know why, I will have to get use to it. I will be swapping my cup of yoghurt with a cup of milk because once again... I do not like yoghurt at all. It's the texture. 

I swapped my lunch menu for my dinner menu because I know that I would need that bulk of energy during the day. The lunch menu is usually lighter and I know that if  I do not do that, I will "hunt" for other food. All I need to do now is just buy dinner rolls at the store and I am set.

Fruits that I will have to eat today is an apple and a pear. I can live with those.

Currently it's 10.30am and already I am feeling tired, sleepy and lazy. I need to go for a walk. Maybe I will just walk to the Courts now instead of doing it in the afternoon. Maybe I just need some fresh air.

Restart Again.

I went for my JC consult today and came back shaken. I went up. I am not going to dwell on it. My JC Consultant Meagan, was really really nice about it too. She was calm and she made me think. She showed me my charts from before and was telling me that I can do it. I did it once and now have to find the way back to the light.

Ok. I know there is hope because I have done it before. Now I am sitting here thinking how did I do it last time. What changed and then changed back? Consultant Meagan (CM) also told me that I have to recall or revert back to those good habits.

I realise that one habit that I made before was journalling about it from time to time, be truthful to myself and accounting for the "cheats" that I made or did.

I am taking this positively. This time, I have a real goal to acheive...To fit into a size 12 dress for my wedding reception back home and Nepal at the end of the year. So I have approximately 9 months to do it.

So as they say...Calm down, and {press restart button} . HERE WE GO. AGAIN.

How?

I have not updated my JC day in a while. I lost 1.5kgs last week WOOOTTT. I was also down with injuries to my knee and my upper shoulder. Too much work I think. :*)

Anyway, I took a week off doing vigorous exercise last week and got back in the saddle yesterday. Man owh man. My body was screaming bloody murder but I pushed through.

I did RPM class last night. It's one of my toughest class but I actually love it. I remember when I first started I thought I would faint from my heart pounding so fast and hard. Did you know that one RPM class can burn about 400 -900 calories depending on how hard you work? WOW. 

While in class last night there were these 2 girls that was yapping away throughout the WHOLE CLASS! I was really annoyed with them because 1. I was trying to concentrate and 2. they were just talking loudly OVER the music. Even the instructor kept on looking at them. How can you talk in class? Not only because that it is rude but HOW? You can't even think in RPM classes because you are working so hard and gasping for air. I am sorry but if you can talk in class (and very loudly) you are not working as hard as the rest of us and you shouldn't be in class if you wanted an easy cycle. GAH... they just ruined RPM for me last night.

Currently...

{Warning. Warning. Long ranty and Naggy Post}

I realise that I have not been talking about myself or my life lately. Everything is about things that I found on the Internet and my Project 365 photos. So here is an update...

I have been feeling very tired and lethargic lately. After my trip back home in November, I have not been able to sleep early like I use to and also wake up as early as I use to. I tried a lot of things to counter this, warm milk, eating before 8, blah blah blah but nothing helped.

I have also started going to the gym regularly again. 3 times a week and 2 hours each session. When I come home from the gym it would already be 830pm so by the time I wind down, take a shower, reply to my emails and so on, the time would be 11pm. I always try to go to bed before midnight, but nope, my eyes would stay wide awake until pass midnight.

When I wake up in the morning, I am always tired and feel like I am sleep deprived. I mean 7-8 hours of sleep is surely enough right? Nope. I wake up feeling worst than the night before. I tried to figure out what was going on but couldn't find out why until it clicked yesterday. I found out the reason why I have been so restless and sleepless.

I am so stressed out at work now with the office not having another person helping me out. We had to let go of her due to the economy and she was moving on to a better place. So here I am stuck with having to do 2 persons job.

I have also been worried about Mortgage payments and watching our savings depreciate because we had a few things that needed to be done around the house like installing curtains and an air conditioner for our home. These are all necessary things because, if you live in Australia, you know how hot it would get in the summer (the eastern states have been hit by a heat wave of over 45 degree heat for 3 days last week) so curtains that block out the sun is a must if you have 2 cats and a dog sitting in there all day and the air conditioner is also a must to keep M and I sane.

It's not like I am not doing anything. I have been applying for weekend jobs all over the place but have not heard back from anyone. There are not many openings at the moment as people are not hiring much. *sigh* All I have to say is I am glad that I have my day job because I know loads of PA's are being retrench and being let go because big firms and companies told them that "One person can hold on to 2 roles at the moment". One of my ex colleague who is a lawyer was let go of her job over at a BIG MINING Company. She lost her job that pays her 100 grand a year. Poor thing. 

Anyway, other than that, on the health front things are going pretty slow. I am back on JC and I have to relearn how to kick old bad habits away. Last week I only lost a total of 300 grams. Which is good but I wanted to lose more since I have been going to the gym often and working out a sweat. But I know if it comes off slowly the chances of it coming back is slim to non too. So I am not being too hard on myself.

I am going in to see my consultant today and I am a little bit nervous because we ate out 3 times last week and went to the gym only twice last week. Eeekkk...But I guess I will do ok because I watched what I was eating and making good decisions in food intake. I also walked everywhere I could even in the hot and humid weather that we had last week.

I have found my mojo for journalling again. After reading THIS over at Decor8. I use to journal a lot when I was younger becuase it was the only outlet I have. Yesterday, I found all my old journals and read random pages on it. Man I have grown up heaps. I use to journal about boys when I was in my teens, and when I hit 20 I started journalling about things that were bothering me (usually my curfew and the parentals) but I stopped when I started blogging.

The thing about blogging is that you tend to edit what you say. We tend to not let our feelings go when you have a blog for the world to read and see. I think that was one of my problem. So now, I have a private journal that I carry everywhere and write down things that amuses me, angers me or stresses me. I wrote down all my worries in point form yesterday (I am a list girl) and it worked!! I slept soundly through the night.

Ok enough ranting for now. Will update with pretty things later.

Second Skin

I wish I could live forever in my maxi dresses. I found this dress 3 weeks ago and I have worn it a couple of hundred times already. It's cotton and lightweight and will not cling on to your body. Perfect for the stinking hot days that we are currently enduring at the moment. I will have to learn how to make a dress like this.

I went to see my consultant at JC today. I manage to lose 800 grams during the silly season. WOOT. Not bad for 1 week. I also realise that my intake of fruits and vegetables is more now that I am back on JC. This week, I am going to take it up a notch. I will try to go to 3 RPM classes, 1 Yoga class and 1 Pilates class. On top of that, get back into waking up early again, 6am, and walk the dog each morning. A habit that I dropped after my trip back home 2 months ago.

Goals and Motivation...

Ok. So the first day back was a good one. I came home early from work and cycled to the gym to go for the RPM class that they have. I love RPM classes it's easy on my knees and it burns a lot of calories. By the end of the class I was huffing and puffing. It felt good to start up again.

I read something about motivation over at Ian's Messy Desk. He explained about the meaning of Motivation and how you stay motivated. "You stay motivated by deciding what choices you need to make to achieve the outcomes you expect." He also said that Motivation is about setting clear  goals. It is very interesting. Go have a read if you have time.

Anyway, at JC, they taught me how to set mini goals. So my goal for this week is to stick to my meal plans and go to the gym or walk 4 times this week.

I feel so pumped up from yesterday's workout. I want to go do it again.