nanako

Hey everybody, sorry I didn't check in, this week has been crazy. It was my daughter's sixth birthday so I had the house full of girls over the weekend and work basically hit me like a truck as soon as I came back. Just coming up for air again. What was I thinking? I haven't had a minute to myself in those last couple of weeks.

Never mind though.

I've stayed off the alcohol (well done me) and, day before yesterday, I managed to sneak off to my new Pilates course which is just around the corner. I kind of underestimated the HURT this would cause so haven't been able to move much over the last couple of days. I thought it would be more relaxing like the yoga thing...  but it wasn't. So my spine has been feeling like someone took it out and gave it a good twist, and my abs felt like I'd hit them with a sledge hammer for hours. Like when you lie in bed and you feel like you just cannot turn around because it would just hurt too much? That.

Food wise I've been doing ok-ish, not too pleased. Lack of planning, definitely. I was working like crazy, crashing into bed super tired at night, barely managing to fix my kids' lunch boxes but never managing to fix my own. What with the long commute and what lunches are available to buy here, the Paleo thing has not been going too well.  I have kept that one pound off but need to lose another one before the end of the month. So I need to refocus.

On top of it all, I have a bit of a head cold so taking it easy today and tomorrow. I'm not working this Sunday and working from home on Monday so will be able to sneak a couple of runs in.

Still really pleased about the Dry January though. It was a bit of a challenge the first week, but now I can barely remember what it feels like to have a drink so I don't miss it at all. Will try and keep this going for longer.

That's it for now, I've got some washing up to do! xx

Woah, only coming up for air today!

Those last three days were crazy.

I didn't have a minute to myself much less for exercise

Will do a tempo run tomorrow and the long run on Sunday.

Possibly try to fit in some squats today.

I didn't even have time to prepare lunch for myself today so ended up eating bread things. This is a bit sh*t because now I'm still hungry although my calories are just about used up. :/

Never mind.

Chuffed that I kept to my caloric limit those last couple of days (well, almost). Plus, still no alcohol, that is one dry week for me now.

Just checking in quickly, so tired -

Under the calorie limit yes, under carb limit no, did the yoga, didn't do the strength training, didn't have a drink.

Tomorrow there is an afternoon meeting I have to attend (bummer) and I don't know if I'm going to be able to fit my 2miler in. That said, it's two miles! That's 25 mins so there.

Quite pleased with my performance so far. But still a) I should be reaping some benefits soon and I need to improve my planning A LOT. Had some lovely tuna and swet potato fish cakes for lunch today but unfortunately their fishy smell almost brought the train down. Felt really bad for my co-passengers.

I get cranky cranky cranky in the evenings when I am tired and I get even more sensitive to noise then. Somebody said that, if you don't drink (we're not talking serious drinking, just -nighttime-relax-habit-drinking but still) your emotions are more raw, and are always there, and you're not stifling them. This is true. The yoga thing helps though.

It makes me realize I am angry, and tired, and exhausted, and that is just so much better than ignoring the feeling or pushing it away. I feel that I can now deal with all this sh*t in real time, never let it get really bad, or severe, because I can take care of the little things as they occur.

Phoenix, if you search Utube with "Ekhart yoga bedtime yoga" there it is, it's 14:09mins long and you can do it IN bed. Sorry I cannot seem to cut and paste anything here, it's probably my Java script that's broken or something.

I love this yoga thing. I put my PJs on and do the sequence and sometimes I get up again to potter about some more but it kind of rings in night time for me now.

Today I woke up at 4am again and couldn't go back to sleep but it wasn't too bad. I did the mindfulness thing and kept fading in and out of sleep which was really relaxing and not awkward at all.

I read somewhere today that not drinking changes your sleeping patterns over again and it takes weeks to adjust. Ah well.

I've been busy all day because I start work again tomorrow and the kids go back to school. Now I have packed all the bags, filled all the lunch boxes, I've got my lesson for tomorrow ready and I'm actually looking forward to going back to work (a little bit).

I did a tempo run today 1 mile off, 3 mi on, 1 mile off but really found it hard. Not surprising since this is the first tempo run in ... wait .. half a year? I managed 10.30 on the "on" bits which is a bit poor. Also I had to stop in between miles to catch my breath. All this is a bit shit but then you have to start somewhere I guess.

Foodwise things have been going well. Yesterday my husband brought only bones from the supermarket instead of brisket and I got SO ANGRY because I had to go out and buy the meat and then it was too late to eat the stew ... argh. But I had some of it for lunch today.

The caloric limit is ok for me, I do go over but not too much. No carbs=no cravings. I'm just full, I wake up hungry in the morning but I'm ok at night. I can't believe it's day ten tomorrow.

Still the scale is not moving but then I'm hormonal and storing my usual 2kgs+ of water. Still losing those inches though and I remember puling up my jeans today. Hoping to see some progress on the scale soon. On the other hand, this is a longer-term thing and I actually have lost a pound over the last week so I only need to lose one more over the next 20 days!

Did the bedtime yoga sequence again yesterday and I slept like a baby.

(I'm going to post the link at one point but I can't paste anything in here, have to figure that one out.)

This is such an improvement in my life ... for years now I have had trouble sleeping, especially with waking up or being woken up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep again. So yesterday night, I did wake up in the middle of the night but managed to go right back to sleep by doing the mindfulness thing she does in the video - give yourself permission to let go, etc.

And it worked. Ta-daa!

Really happy about this. I feel so much more relaxed ... Who would've thought it was that easy really?

The local pancake run, I'm not going to do it as it's the second-to-last day of the holidays and it would end up being quite stressful. The kids' race is an hour before the adult race and so I'd have to take the husband ... Also, I haven't trained enough to run an acceptable time on the 6,5km. Never mind. I'll do the February race instead and a tempo run today.

Hi Phoenix, so nice to see you again! xx

Hope you're alright! Are you doing the upcoming challenge? Which guild?

Portuguese? You don't say?!

So nice to see not much has changed (except you all have been getting fitter, and me, slacking off) hereabouts and in Handstandistan.

Happy to be back.

Love the photos!

Have you considered yoga for your neck/back pain?

Good work on the diet & workouts.

Incidentally this is day 7 of my new weight loss journey so I'm checking in:

Weight: 76kgs (down .5kgs)

Waist: 71cm (down 4.5cms)

average calories/day: 1652

average net calories/ day: 1316

Paleo uh? Scale's not moving but losing inches like crazy. I guess it's a good sign although I don't quite see myself continuing at this rate ... I'd be wasp woman before summer.

So according to my plan I have earned my first reward (I promised myself a smallish reward for each successful week of dieting).  Will check my list to see what it will be.

Yesterday was ok, I stayed under my caloric limit though not the carb one (lentils). Never mind.

I didn't have a drink but tried out a bedtime yoga sequence which was brilliant.

I read a few interesting things recently about drinking which got me thinking. It was something about how society encourages drinking at the end of the day to relax when really it does nothing for relaxation and doesn't teach you how to deal with exhaustion, stress, discouragement, guilt, fear etc. It is kind of weird when you think about it. I mean, I can see the upside of the whole positive thinking / motivational approach but I think we should be taught how to deal with frustrations on a different level. Of course it is a truism that we can only conquer our fears by facing them but then, who does? For me it seems there is no constructive way to deal with this except everyday meditation. Of course one could try avoiding frustrations ...

Anyway the yoga thing worked brilliantly and I slept like a baby. Will incorporate this into my day as planned.

The day was lovely by the way and we watched "Touching the void" and the one with Guy Martin at the TT. Amazing lazy holiday.

Today I'm going to have to work a bit but I'll take it easy. I'll do a bit of strength training (not legwork though) and more yoga.

Checking in: Happy New Year everyone!

Yesterday was ok - not too much booze but enough to be looking forward to my dry January ...

I made some bread rolls this morning as we'd run out of bread and then I had two myself: bummer. Must admit they turned out nicely though and the family was pleased. 

Other than that, it's going well. Lovely lazy day in bed, nursing a hangover and watching ski jumping on the telly while leafing through mountaineering travel catalogues ... I'd book all of those tours if I had the money.

Lunch was veggie stir fry and tea was a bowl of lentil soup. I took the kids out for a run to show them the length of the kids' race I have signed them up for on Sat (it's only 1.2km - 3/4 of a mile). My daughter (6) was struggling a bit but my son (8) was doing fine - he did complain only at the very end when we had 0.05 miles to go. I hope he will race on Saturday after all. They didn't go fast at all but they'll both be fine in a race I guess.

I'm signed up for a 6.5km race on the same day and I'm not entirely sure if I'm up for it. With my luck, and current form, I'll come in last. Then again sometimes you need to face your demons.

Not sure what I should do tomorrow. The race on Sat will be my speed training session and I don't want to tire out my legs by running fast or doing strength before it. So maybe a short slow run and some upper body training tomorrow. See how I feel.

Thanks Jen!

Yes I'll be looking to increase my activity ... haven't signed up for any summer races yet but there are many to chose from.

So to help me with my challenge, I am going to continue my running. I'm signed up for a half in March, and I might try for another nice race in autumn.

I am doing a dry January (possibly dry February too), so I'm changing my bedtime routine from crashing-on-the-sofa-with-a-glass-of-red-after-putting-the-kids-to-bed to a bedtime yoga sequence.

Let me write this down:

6:30 pm tea

7:00 pm PJ time & teeth brushing for kids

              next day preparathon for me (lunchboxes, bag, clothes) 

7:30 pm story time for kids

7:55 pm kids asleep

8:00 pm news on telly

8:15 pm PJ time for me & herbal tea

8:30 pm bedtime yoga sequence

9:00 pm read a few pages & sleep

Sound good? This will give a 8 solid hours of sleep every night.

(Check)

Dietwise, I will do a low-carb paleo thing that has worked well for me in the past (aka "no bread"). I need a few ideas for paleo breakfasts & lunches that I can take into work. Surely I can find a few on the internets.

What I find intriguing about the weight loss thing is that it will be dead easy in the beginning and get increasingly harder as I lose weight and improve my fitness. Still half a pound a week seems super realistic. I'm tracking everything in MFP and aiming for a 1200 net calories / < 60g of carbs a day threshold.
 

So I just had the best epiphany ever while doing the washing up: why not take it easy this year? So many times I have struggled to lose weight and get fit, taken on too much too soon, suffered injury or just failed for lack of willpower, you know the story...

So this year, why not take it slow?

So my challenge for this year is:

• lose 1 kilo a month (half a pound a week)

This will add up to 12kgs a year (yay! Maths!) .

I'm 76kgs now, so hopefully by the end of the year I will weigh 64kgs and I can spend the whole of 2016 losing the remaining 2kgs if I feel I need to (My ideal weight - dream weight - goal weight is 62kgs, which is bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range for my height). Before you ask, yes, I do need to lose mass, not just recomp, but of course my goal will be both. But since I am in the "fat and fit" department (I SO hate this term) atm, my main goal is to lose mass first and foremost.

I am absolutely thrilled by this challenge. It's so realistic! Why haven't I thought of this before?

Oh thank god for the respawn point!

I'ts been a year ... or more  ... I was even scared to log back in again.

But well, it cannot be helped, and I am going to need you guys if I am ever going to get my *!$%t together aren't I?

So yes, here I am, most literally back where I started and only slightly worse.

Last August, I moved back to Germany from the UK with my family, I changed careers (new job - yay!) and only now do I have enough time to get my head above the water (barely).

I have gained 3 kgs in the process ... which puts me at 76kgs now, definitely overweight now and no longer in the Oh-but-I-still-am-a-healthy-BMI-(barely) range.

What went wrong? Stress is the big issue, definitely, and the alcohol that goes with (cheeky glass of red every night to take the edge of? Yes please).

So this is what's going to have to change and it's an easy one as everybody and their auntie is having a dry January anyway right?

Next, diet. I cannot do carbs because I pile on the pounds if I do, so it's going to have to be low-carb paleo. I need to lose at least 20lbs (30 would be better but that sounds a bit daunting). So at least I know what to do.

My big poblem is treating myself. Money is still an issue and will be for another couple of years, so I must not fall into the trap of using food as a reward ("I so deserve this raisin and custard pastry... and it's only one Euro!").

It's not like I don't have a long list of little things I need and want in the 10€ range (like, new workout top, new towel for the sauna, new stainless steel lunchbox, new thermos coffee mug etc), but every time I get something for myself I feel like I'm splurging (yeah I know this is a mum thing). So, I'm going to save up my raisin custard pastry money and splash out on something sensible every week. That said, if I do go dry, that wine I'm not having is probably a tenner a week.

I have gotten a lot better at planning since we moved because I now have to get up before 5am every morning and catch the train at 6am. So I have the kids' lunch boxes ready every night (except for the sandwiches because I don't want them to go stale); only thing, I need to fix one for myself as well.

Sleep is a big one too. I usually do about 7 hours and I'm an early riser, but one of these days I slept for 10 hours and I woke up feeling amazing. So I think there is room for improvement.

I have signed up for another half (in March) and have completed the first week of training (*looks chuffed*). The plan has 4 running days and two strength training days a week. I have lost quite a bit of speed over the past year but I guess it could be worse. Good thing about my weird hours is I have no trouble fitting the training in.

I know that cardio doesn't do much good for me in terms of weight loss. Still, I love running and I don't want to let it go. Plus I love training for an event and ticking off the trainings I have done ... yep.

Another good thing is that I found out my health insurance is willing to pay for a Pilates course for me and this takes place (wait for it): next door: yay!

Also, I there is a bouldering place about 10 mins from where I live and I have been taking the kids there - they love it.

tl;dr

• relaxation without alcohol (dry January and beyond)
• treating myself with nice things instead of food (from list, one item a week)
• prepare paleo lunch box the night before
• sauna with best friend once a week
• Pilates course once a week
• half marathon training continues
• healthy family hobbies

So, no I'm going to have a bit of a look around and see what has changed ... Sorry for the long post! Happy to be back!

Happy Valentine's dear fellow Scouts! I love you! 

xx Nanako

Woah, I've been really quiet for the last two weeks - talk about daily battle! Hah! 

It has been crazy with work and colds and no running. But the good thing is I have been losing weight ! by (wait for it) eating less!

I'm at 72kgs now again after briefly stalling at 73.5kg. Also I can fit into my next and my second next tighter pair of jeans again. 

Quite happy. 

The next 3kgs are the most important ones, I haven't managed to go under 70kg for some time. So psychologically this we be HUGE.

Am hoping to lose these over the next month. 

If I continue at the current rate I can still hit 65kgs by my birthday! 

What was my original goal again?

Oh yes I said 10kgs in 13 weeks - now I'm 6 weeks in and have lost 4kgs. I thinks that's just fine. 

As if all my other old man ailments weren't enough I've got a cold today. Pshaw!

Shucks! And the foot! Feel better soon and keep rolling, rolling, rolling them ice bottles. 

You daughter looks lovely, she is very pretty, and most cute! Mine has a similar hairstyle.

And the photo: ach! England.

Quick check-in:

I have been doing well although lots of running means I have eaten a lot. But still on a big deficit.

I have lost more weight - at 72.5kgs now and I have now managed to lose 1/3 of what I was aiming to lose, after 3 and a half weeks. Looks like I'm on track.

So, it's time for a bit of a cheer!

Rewards - this hasn't worked out at all! First I was short of cash, and now that I'm not, I'm being stingy. But my new trousers fit now, when they didn't, and are still getting looser. So I hope that's enough of a reward.

Plus yesterday one of the group leaders from my club told me how he 'd noticed I'd been getting faster. Hah! Tadaa. 

However I must get a nice reward once I hit 50%. (That's 5kgs lost). At 71 kgs, which is really close! Woah. 

Made it out today for my long run, 8 mile - further than I've run in a while. Wonderful run. Had some ankle trouble on the flat but it got better once I was going uphill. Went up Nightingale Valley for a gruelling half mile (and 200ft up) for wonderful views of the bridge. Very English winter morning, fog and sunlight through the trees and robins chirping and bobbing about. I went out and back as to not lose my way and the downhill was just as good, rock - mud - rock - mud - rock, trying very hard not to slip. Good for the brain I guess. Ended up going right through the puddles in the end for the icy water to cool my feet and ankles. Last mile (on the tarmac) was hard but made it in the end. Lots of bargaining thoughts ("Oh I'm only going to do another half mile." "Another quarter mile and that's it I swear" and so forth). 

Oh I'm going to miss this when I'm back in Berlin.

Now I've got a 2000 kcal+ deficit and it's time for breakfast. Nomnom.

I'd rather eat and exercise but hey, If it's working...

How's your daughter now?

It's just me, if I can find an excuse for eating more I'll do it ... ... and exercise makes for such a good excuse ... 

Thanks for asking. She's quite poorly really - tonsillitis with high fever again, and she's so weak she can't walk, can't eat... Tonight she had an "accident" and then an hour later she threw up all over the bed ... We were quite desperate. But I can see she's slowly getting better. I can hear giggling from the bedroom where they're watching "Despicable me". 

Fantastic job on hitting the fitness bracket!  So it really is diet, huh?  *sigh*

Thanks! Yeah, 'fraid so ... but you know how it is, the longer you stick to it, the easier it becomes... at least that's waht I'm thinking today.  

Aw shucks about the PF! 

If you want a change from the bottle rolling, I can recommend frozen golf ball rolling. It's hideously painful but also strangely comforting at the same time. All the little dents in the golfball somehow add to the massage effect. Also I have found that foot stretching and foot strengthening exercises - picking up towels with your toes, and the like - are good against heel pain.

However this is just for random heel pain which I get from being overweight and running in minimal shoes.  

Film night sounds good, just like game night! At our house, Santa brought a new board game - "Settlers of Catan Junior". The adult version is hugely popular in Germany and, although I had never played it before, I can now see why. Very much like a little computer strategy game brought to the kitchen table. You are pirates trying to found settlements on different islands which yield different materials - gold, wood, sugar etc - which you need to build your ships and forts - you get the picture. We've been playing it ever since. Even my 5 yo loves it although she keeps buying rum to buy event cards. It is a bit worrying to have a 5 year old crowing "I need rrrumm!". But hey. Thoroughly recommended. 

Haven't been logging but very diligent wrt eating.

No running! Work has been tough and my daughter fell ill, so I couldn't go running with the club as planned. 

Will do a long run tomorrow, to get back into it.

Not much change in weight but inches lost! Not sure if I can trust the bodyfat numbers but seeing they are a relative measure as good as anything, I'll keep tracking it for motivational purposes. Especially since I am, as of now - *drummroll* - leaving the "acceptable" bracket and entering the "fitness" one. Tadaaa! 

Height 1.69 m

Weight 75kg -> 73.7kg->73.5kg

Waist 72.5cm ->71cm->69.5cm

Belly 74.5cm ->74cm->72.5cm

Chest 90cm ->88cm

Hips 101.5cm -> 99cm->98.5cm

Neck 34.5cm ->33.5cm

BF 27% -> 26%->24%

So this proves that, for me, like for anyone else, you can sit on your lazy bum all you like but, if you eat well, you can still lose inches. 80% diet, who would've thought. Still, I miss running. 

Now let's see if it's going to make me hungry once I start again ... 

Ah, good news about the foot. Feel better! 

Woawoawoa I totally lost track! 

Last week totally got me, just far too much to do. Back to school, daughter's 5th birthday, big party, tired and exhausted and all the bugs trying to infect me. No running and less than perfect eating on a couple of days.

Back on track now since Monday - I should be alright. Robbed myself of a week's progress though, argh. 

Good thing: the husband wants to lose weight and has gone strict low-carb paleo. Always helps to have some company. 

No running today, still sneezing! Hope I don't get really ill.