Lyric Acantha

I'm with you on the cheese thing... tasty lil bugger always sneaks up on me too...

Looks like I was a little early for the National Respawn Day My subconscious musta got the memo a little early. I've been doing pretty well so far. I had a little last debauch day on the weekend, a last hurrah if you will. But not an all out roman orgy, just a farewell to the old food and drink ways to make way for the new. I even had a massive house clean and had a body scrub and facial etc to kind of slough off the old and prepare the new. Did a buttload of cooking and freezing meals on the weekend too. Dunno why I didn't twig to this before either but "freezer meals" are my new thing. Making giant batches of freezable meals and freezing them flat in ziplock bags ready to go for lunch or dinner. I also poached 2kgs of chicken breast portioned into roughly 100g serves and added them to some of the meals but also froze some portions for salads or other meals during the week. Most of the meals I made were a bit of an experiment after reading some articles on freezer meals but oh boy were they tasty. I made: Coconut chicken with kale and chickpeas (adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-coconut-spinach-chickpeas-with-lemon-164551because I had kale in the fridge and no spinach) Garlic zucchini soup with poached chicken (adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-zucchini-1-32520) Bacon Lentil soup (with garlic lemon yoghurt cheese YUM) (adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-weeknight-recipe-lentil-soup-with-lemon-yogurt-saucerecipes-from-the-kitchn-169776 although I'd already made some labneh yoghurt cheese and just added some lemon zest and garlic and used that instead of their sauce) The zucchini soup one has become my fave go-to meal because it is SO quick and easy to make (and I love garlic) and so insanely yummy and filling for lunch. I add a portion of poached chicken in there for the protien but it would still be yummy without Ht. Haven't quite done a work out yet but I have been making an effort to move more (getting up for a quick walk from my desk every 30 mins) and did 2 hours worth of vigorous sweat dripping house work on the weekend. I'll be setting up my batcave properly this weekend and will start the NF workouts then.

Hi Rebels I'm back!! I kinda dropped off the face of the planet there for a while, hope you didn't miss me too much ;} My last post was 20 December last year, almost a whole year ago. I kinda had to sort some stuff out but I'm back and starting again. Needless to say I've done jack shit since I last wrote. And I kinda HAVE to start again and do this properly this time... I just had a free medical check through my work and the results are not good. As in VERY not good. My fasting blood glucose is 5.8 which is 0.2 away from being a diabetic. My blood pressure is 150/100 - the doc said that when he sees people with /120 he rings the ambos... and my cholesterol is 6.69 - he top of the range is 5.0. So it's crunch time basically. No more excuses. If I don't do anything now I'm going to have a heart attack and be a diabetic and never be able to have kids. And I don't want that. I want to fucking LIVE. So what's the plan? I'm a bit scared to go too gung-ho with the exercise just yet because of my high blood pressure so I'm going to start with 30 min walks every day when I get home from work to start with. I'll also do the NF workout in the mornings as I did enjoy the weights last time around. I'm going to set up my batcave/workout room this weekend so that everything is there ready to go and there are no excuses. Foodwise... bit simple there. Stop drinking alcohol. Stop eating shit. Natural sugars only. Eat lean meat, lots of vegetables (as the doc said "if it's not growing, don't eat it") I don't want to go full paleo as I like peanuts and beans too much. Not together obviously but I think they're needed for a balanced diet. And I'm gluten intolerant anyway so I don't eat a whole bunch of grains anyway so that part is easy. I'll see how I go for the start. Maybe later once I've gotten my health under control and if I plateau I'll cut the legumes out. Dairy's not too much of a problem as I drink coconut milk in my coffee and only have a little cheese now and then. So I'll keep that but just reduce it. I don't think my weight has gone up or down much since I started last time so I'm around 160kg. I'll have to jump on the mailroom scales sometime to check but for the moment I think my indicators are going to be my blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol. My main focus right now is not so much the weight but my health and not dying. I knew the results would be bad and that I need to hear that stuff for a kick up the ass but to find out just how bad it actually is is a little shocking. Good but bad at the same time. It's certainly motivated me and I can't wait to go to the shops and get a couple of shopping bags full of veggies and start planning my meals and get this shit under control. I don't promise to write here every day like I did last time but I'll certainly try. I don't want to feel obligated and then beat myself up if I don't do it. But I'll definitely keep you posted because I do feel like I need to check-in for that level of accountability. And my health check results paper is going to go up on my fridge so that I see it every day and remember. Without sounding too dramatic, basically it's do or die. Life starts now.

Hi Rebels First of all thank you all for your encouragement. It actually means a lot to me and got me motivated on Wednesday morning when I was reading your comments in bed grumbling about getting up out of my comfy cocoon. I was running late but instead of blowing off my workout I slung weights around for 10 minutes to help form that darn habit and actually DO something rather than make excuses... Went for a walk when I got home as well but your comments helped me just DO something even if it was 10 mins. heheh and then repeat that pattern Thursday and this morning because it's been a hectic end of year rush this week. But here I am at 2:45pm Friday afternoon just counting down the hours til my holidays start and I can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm actually looking forward to it because I'm going to focus on myself for 3 weeks. I have nothing planned except the usual Christmas festivities and catching up with the bestie (who is extremely supportive) so I'm going to focus on myself and get those good habits formed and concreted in. No work distractions, no excuses for not making my health journey a priority. I'm kind of excited as I'm viewing it as a kickstart as I feel like I've kinda been half heartedly going through the motions these last few weeks. But my mind is clear now and I have my goal in sight. I'm going to post you my previous before and after shots when I lost the 60kgs in 2008. Also so that I can see them every time I scroll through this log so that I can remind myself that I CAN actually do it and I HAVE DONE IT BEFORE dumbass. I forget sometimes so the constant reminder helps And I'm going to post my final before photo for this log because once I'm at my goal that's IT forever! I never want to go back and have to do this all over again EVER EVER EVER NEVER. Gonna do Yoga this afternoon instead of a walk because it's too damn hot today and I will actually turn into a melted puddle of fleshy goodness. I'm actually finding yoga to be a bit of a bodyweight exercise in itself hefting and contorting the wobbly bits around so while I wanted to do it for flexibility it's turning out to be part of the strength training at the moment. AHAHAHAA my weight is actually working FOR me for once that's a fkn first... Anyways the food side of things have been on track but I did have 2 delicious lemony gin and tonics yesterday at my work lunch and will probably be having a glass of plonko bubblo tonight at another Christmas do. And there's 2 and bit days of feasting (aka Christmas) ahead but I won't be over indulging as we do it fairly healthily in my family.... but the siren song of wine and cheese.... I don't have earplugs dense enough to drown out that tune. But there will be no guilt trip because it's Christmas and will be my only indulgence days while I'm on holidays. I'll still be checking in, I promise because I need to make updating this a priority as well as otherwise I feel like I can just cheat a lil here and there and if I don't tell you... well who will know then eh? But like I said, I'm going to focus on me me me all holidays long and sort out some of my mental shit to help sort out my physical shit so it's not in my interest to cheat cuz I'm only cheating myself right? Well now that I've managed to kill some time, I'm outta here - it's time for holidays yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!!

and errr make that today is the 17th and the first entry will be the 18th... damn desk calendar on the wrong day... I'm in the twilight zone here people!

Hi Rebels So Sunday was my 1 month anniversary of being on here and I can't say I'm overly impressed with myself in the last month. The last week hasn't been good - I'm not holding myself accountable, I'm not making myself a priority. I feel like smacking myself upside the head to try and work out what it takes to make that click. Reading this http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/07/26/priorities/ made me realise that I'm still chocked full of lame excuses and reading this http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/04/05/underpants-gnomes/ made me realise that I AM an underpants gnome... see... reading articles and gathering info and not doing a damn thing with it once again. Dork. I get really inspired by the NF articles and battle logs but it fades as the day wears on. It's easy to be good at work but come 3:30pm to about 7pm that seems to be my danger time. The "fuckit" time so I need to be extra vigilant. As someone said to me the other day "who's driving the bus" (the bus being me and who is in control of me). There's no phantom bus driver making me do things against my will. I'm the one making the choices in my life and they're not good. It's not like I WANT to be gigantasaur and feel uncomfortable in my skin every waking moment of the day and yet I can't seem to make it a priority to change and so something about it. Strange. So for my anniversary I'm breaking it down and I'm going to give myself a Hard Hat Challenge that comes in two parts. It's particularly good timing because I'm about to go on Christmas leave starting Friday so I really don't have the "I don't have time" excuse because I'll have nothing BUT time. My challenge is to do my NF workouts every morning before breakfast and secondly write down my progress on the tracking sheet and scan and post the results to you on the 15th of January. As proof that EVERY SINGLE DAY I have made myself a priority. I'm even fantasising about doing workout in the morning and a walk in the afternoon but we'll see how that goes. I just really need to get into the habit of doing this so that it just becomes part of my day rather than being a chore and something to be dreaded. And allow me to add that I am NOT a morning person but I'm going to do it for fear of having a blank spot on that tracking sheet. So today is the 16th and the first workout to be tracked on my sheet will be the 17th with NO FKING CHEATING. If there's a blank spot, there's a blank spot and I'm going to have to live with that and pack my bags cuz I'll be going on a guilt trip. My food side of things is relatively good, I don't eat processed foods or sugary things and eat a paleo diet but my weakness is still wine and cheese. So the mini hard hat challenge is to keep up my calendar chain crosses and not give in to my kryptonite. The sugar in alcohol doesn't help and basically cancels out all the dietary and exercisey goodness during the day so it's not a helpful choice. I'll mark it on my workout sheet as well for tracking. Yes I'm the classic Christmas grinch. Christmas makes me crabby. I used to love it but the last couple of years have really sucked and the time of year that should be bringing families together somehow splits my family further part so I'm not looking forward to all the bollocks. I just want to send out a memo saying "Lyric will not be participating in Christmas year thankyouverymuch". So yes this post is grouchy. But I'd be lying to you all if I was all chipper and blah de blah. So there. <start> Hard Hat Challenge...

Definitely counts as a workout in my book! I'm sure there are metrics out there on how many calories burned during a vigorous cleaning session ;} And YAAAAYYYY for Muse they rock my workouts!

Are you taking measurements as well as weighing yourself? I've found that often the scale says NOPE but when you do your measurements they will have gone down. Depending on your workout you could be putting on muscle while decreasing the fat so the scale can lie in that way. Don't let yourself be discouraged, you can do it and you know you can Make the choice to keep going and achieve your goal one step at a time, we're all here behind you rooting for you so keep up the good work!

hahahah I really like that thought... think I'll be using it in the future

Hi Rebels (wooops forgot to press the POST button on this one yesterday so it applies to yesterday and at the end, today) hmmm something odd... I hopped on the scales over the weekend just out of morbid curiosity and for once it didn't come up with ERR.... it actually said I'm 161.8kgs.... sooo... does that mean a) that the mail room freight scales are wrong as they had me pegged at 160kgs and I've put on weight... or does it mean that I was on previous weighings more than 161kgs and have lost weight so that the scale actually registers me now? Because I dunno how many times I've hopped on that damn thing only to get ERR (which is pretty disheartening in itself). So I'm not quite sure how to take that. Home ones are digital, mailroom ones are hmmm dunno what you call them but look like these : http://www.advasco.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/freight-scale.JPG I did my measurements on the weekend and the belly jigglyness is definitely weight loss related I'm a couple of cm smaller yay! For once I don't mind the jelly wobble and keep reminding myself that I'm one step closer to the wobble being non existent. Think I need to stick to measurements as I know the scale lies. And ultimately it's not the number that I'm interested in. I just want to fit into my old jeans I keep losing my updates... Wrote one yesterday but either my browser crashed or it didn't post properly cuz it's not here But the jist of it was that I was good on the weekend. Foodwise was on track and went hiking for a couple of hours on Saturday. Can't remember where I saw it but I've got another good quote for my collection “Self-worth comes from one thing – thinking that you are worthy.†Simple but stuck in my brain. I've had a bit of a problem with self worth for a while, hell that's how I got to where I am weight wise because I just couldn't be bothered when it comes to myself. I do everything for anyone else but when it comes to myself... meh. I've even read books and articles on how to regain yourself worth and that phrase... that's the lightbulb switch. That and I'll have to CBT myself every time I get those negative thoughts But I'm going to add it to my quotes which I have stuck on the wall next to my bed so that every morning when I sit up out of bed I read them before I start my day. And remind myself why I'm doing all of this. Was reading the NF thread about workout music and programed myself a new playlist for walking tunes. Kinda excited for my walk this afternoon just so I can listen to it hahaha. I think I'm going to try and start doing all my exercise in the morning as I find I'm more motivated then. By the time I get home after a long day at work I'm tired and just couldn't be bothered (there's that thing again) so if I get it all out of the way in the morning then I've got nothing for the rest of the day. As I mentioned yesterday I picked up some dumbells and far out they're heavy... it's strange to think that I can barely carry a case of 20kg weights and yet I have 3 sets of them on my body that I carry around every day. Sobering thought that... Anyway got my bodyweight workout done this morning and I wussed out a bit and was only using the bars without weights... lame Next one will be with actual weights and I'll go hard. Dinner was grilled veg with pork burger and salad as I mentioned. Had some fresh cherries for dessert YUM. Breakie was 2 eggs and a slice of gluten free toast *fail*, 2 coffees with coconut milk and lunch is left over grilled veg and pork. Snacks are 10ish almonds this morning and this arvo will be choc protien shake as I've run out of almonds at work haha.

What citizenkade said Or at least try and focus in on the pain and bloating and remember what it's like next time those naughty little cheesey triangles call your name. Damn them and their yumminess. Hope you can take that black dog and drop him off at the RSPCA! Easier said than done I know but we're here for ya, cheering you on! Tomorrow is a new day, one step at a time PS. I found out that 20kg dumbbells are cheaper at Kmart than BigW if you're still looking for some - $49.

hahahah just realised that I haven't pressed that POST button on the post that I was writing at work Oh well, I'll post it tomorrow when I'm back and update it but I just wanted to share. Had a mini win tonight. Was fighting a BIGASS case of the fuckits this afternoon.... lettling that little soothing hypnotising voice tell me how awesome wine and cheese is and that its alllll okaaayyyyy if i have some tonight because tomorrow is another day for a fresh start and all that jibbering. But I managed to talk myself down and beat that voice to a bloody pulp and leave it gasping it's last breath on the floor. Drove to Kmart and bought my weights (cheaper at Kmart Thom... $49 for a 20kg set!) and walked straight on past Liquor Land... even though my trolley started veering that way with the weights in it fkin freakass trolley I keeell yyouuuu! AND then to seal my triumph I walked past Dan Murphys as well. Take THAT wine and cheese! POW!! So there's another cross for my calendar yay! And who would have thought 20kgs would be so damn heavy! Or else I've just turned into a big ole wimp under all my fat padding. Scary to think that I'm carrying around 3 of them without actually "feeling" the weight. So I got my walk in plus a lil arm workout at the same time! wooot! Baking some veg for dins and have some lean pork burgers and salad to go with. See ya tomorrow!

Thom, on 05 Dec 2013 - 2:01 PM, said: Me three although you'd be surprised how much you don't miss on things due to the rising availability of gluten free products. I still find I get a reaction some times but depends on what it is (mostly rice flour based stuff). I basically try to stick to the veggie carbs but can be lured by fresh gluten free bread mmmmmmm

not to make excuses for your chocolatey goodness but there's this awesome fitness tshirt that says "Chocolate comes from cocoa which is a plant therefore chocolate counts as a salad"

hmmmm does kicking yourself into a stupor count as a workout I wonder?

Oh the other thing I forgot to mention is that I noticed today that my stomach was getting jigglier when I was walking which despite how it sounds is actually a good thing.... Can't wait to do my body measurements on Sunday to see if it means what I hope it means. Definitely felt good... in a weird way...

Hi Rebels I apologise in advance for this post for the pure yumminess of it all Discovered this little treasure... http://paleogrubs.com/ice-cream-recipes while looking for this little treasure: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-coconut-vanilla-ice-cream/ I've been having a bit of a coconut "thing" lately and I just can't get enough of all things coconuty. And I was talking to someone yesterday who said that you can make a paleo coconut icecream. And after dinner I like just a little something sweet to round things off. Normally I'll have a lil chocolate protien powder with coconut milk or something like that. So I made some of the coconut vanilla icecream last night and lets just say YUMMMMMM. Managed not to snarf the whole thing and just have 2 scoops yay! Was very happy to read from today's NF newsletter post that I'm kinda at "Hardium" stage - halfway between medium and hard! This was their scale: Beginner zone: • Kick your soda habit. Ramp down from 6 sodas a day to 5, then 4, then 3... (tick, don't drink any) • Complete a hard hat challenge to prove you can follow through.(tick, looking in the mirror thing) • Start walking to Mordor.(tick, started months ago A:)) • Work on doing a push up.(tick, every day of bww) • Fix your sleep (tick, not much to fix) Easy: • Start a basic body weight workout, like this one. (tick, from the start of this battlelog) • Begin to learn the form for squats, deadlifts, and overhead presses.(tick, ditto) • Eat a healthy for lunch every day (tick, have been for a while as its not my kryptonite) • Cut back on processed carbs. (tick, can't eat them anyway as I'm allergic to wheat) • Cut back on all sugar from your diet. (tick, barely have any) Medium: • Gym 3x a week plus walking on your off days, working on building good form with only a few big compound exercises. (tick) • Eat a healthy lunch and dinner during the week. (tick, as above) • Work on some skill based bodyweight exercises, like handstands. (no tick) • Start to eliminate grains, outside of foods like rice and oats. (tick, cuz I'm allergic to them anyway and not a big rice or oats fan) Hard: • Consider moving to a more advanced strength routine. (no tick for doing, but am considering it... so is that a tick... hehehe semantics I know) • Incorporate some assistance exercises into your routine to support your main workout. (no tick... not entirely sure what an assistance exercise is?) • Add a new activity to your week, like yoga or a team sport. (tick, doing yoga as much as I can for flexibility goal) • Try going full Paleo or completely eliminating processed carbs and sugars. (tick, with occasional cheese) So for me I've kicked Beginner and Easy's butt and I'm ticking off points one, two and 4 on Medium.... A handstand though... I think my arms/elbows would buckle from the sheer bulkitude of me trying to do it. Perhaps when I'm a little smaller. But just typing that now makes me at least want to try hahahah. hmmm I smell a mini goal Ticking points 3 and 4 from Hard, I'm basically full paleo with miniscule amounts of dairy such as a small sprinkling of parmesan cheese with my kale eggs some mornings but I'm trying to wean myself off of that. And I've started doing Yoga on the off bodyweight training days. And I'm not quite sure what happened to yesterday's update... cuz I know I wrote one! Managed to control myself and eat pretty well for Dutch christmas. had yummy food but didn't gorge myself to the max. Dinner was a dish called Stampot which is basically a large baking tray lined with a thin layer of mashed potatoes then the filling is a layer of sauteed mushrooms, onions and garlic then a layer of sauteed kale then another lay of the mushroom mix topped with the rest of the mashed potatoes and a sprinkling of cheese then baked til the cheese is golden. Lil side salad of baby beets, potatoes and herring (YUM) and rookwurst (smoked sausage) which is kind of like a kransky. Desert was almond pudding (I'll have to give you the recipe! another awesome low cal, no sugar high protien yumminess.) So all in all not toooo bad and all paleo except the cheese. Didn't go for a walk to do yoga though so that was a bit of a fail but I'll make up for it on the weekend as I'm probably going hiking so it all balances out in the end Breakie was just 2 eggs, no kale as I was in a rush, 2 coffees with milk cuz I have no coconut milk at work today (again cuz I was in a rush this morning). Snack was 10ish almonds, lunch was chicken salad. Happy Friday Rebels

Congrats on reaching your goal! Hope you feel a great sense of accomplishment

Targilnars Tortuous Transformation - try saying that 3 times fast! Just wondering how you're going? Looked like you started off really well so hope you're still going strong!

The good thing is that tomorrow is a brand new fresh day to try again. Just accept today for what it was and try not to repeat it. I know that's easier said than done, trust me I do Just make the decision that tomorrow will be better because you choose it to be. And then your less than satisfactory day today will be in the past and you can forget about it and move on! You've been doing really well so far, don't let one itty bitty day put you off. You've already proven to yourself that you can do it... so just keep going one day at a time

mmm got some fresh out of the chicken's bum eggs from a work colleague today. SUCH a difference between fresh eggs and supermarket eggs even if they are free range. Can't wait to have some chickens of my own! I've got a bit of a challenge ahead of myself tomorrow. It's Dutch Christmas which is usually a giant food fest of yumminess. My mum is an amazing cook so I'm sure there will be a stack of deliciousness on offer so I'm going to have to restrain myself and just have a small sampling of all the good stuff. It's impossible not to and in a way it's all mostly healthy stuff and will certainly be gluten free but there may be a smidge of dairy in there. So I'll have to concentrate on portion size Went for a walk yesterday as I didn't get to the Big W in time to get the dumbbells and can't get them this arvo either! Looking like Friday on the way home at this stage... busy busy busy Did the bodyweight workout this morning (with cans arg). Dinner last night was hamburger with weird stirfry (half a potato, peas and snowpeas with red curry paste) Breakie was the usual kale, 2 eggs, 2 coffees with coconut milk. Lunch was salad and leftover hamburger. Morning and afternoon snack was about 10 almonds.

Great news that your fitness group is growing, it usually takes a groundbreaker like yourself to start a trend and then you'll all start keeping each other motivated which is a big bonus. In regards to getting some veggies into your breakfast some great ones are grilled mushrooms or tomatoes or my personal favorite kale. I saute it with some coconut oil and it goes a little crispy then crack 2 eggs over the top so I trick my brain into thinking I'm having bacon and eggs hahah It's high in protien too and I find it keeps me fuller for longer than just having 2 eggs. Keep up the great work, sounds like you're getting yourself (and your fitness group) into a good routine. Stick with it and you'll start seeing the results!

Broccoli and cauliflower fritters YUM!!! kale, lettuce, sweet potato, walnuts, sweet peas and feta salad YUMMM!!!! I know what I'm having for dinner tonight (and I have some pomegranate seeds to add to the salad YUMM!!!) Sounds like you're doing really well so far, keep up the great work!

Wooot! congrats! Good idea to measure the steps.... might have to consider that myself as I'm not sure whether I'd get to 10,000 being a desk jockey Keep it up!