KikiDee's Battle Log: One Mother of a Respawn.

[Kiki Dee]

No specific challenge as yet; just getting back into the swing of things.  But this time, I'm playing for keeps.

 

One major advantage this time around: although it's almost 2y since I worked out, and 3y since I was active on NF, my diet is probably in the best shape it's ever been.  I never lost the good food habits I developed here previously - I meal plan, meal prep, avoid processed foods, always bring my own lunch to work, and my gliadin allergy means 90% of fast foods/packaged foods are a no-go anyway.  I'm no longer paleo though, I'm moving more in the vegetarian direction.  Pescetarian at this point, though I will eat meat if I'm socialising and I would otherwise be difficult to cater for.  (Ultimately I need to be gluten-free, the meat thing is just a preference, so I'll make it as easy as I can on people!).

 

Tonight was my first session back in the gym.  I dug out my old program and just pulled everything way back.  I have not felt so physically and mentally good in months. Amazing.  I knew I'd missed it, but I hadn't realised just how much.  No wonder I've been feeling rubbish.  Jelly legs though - I am going to be a very sore and sorry person tomorrow!

 

For now, I'm aiming to workout (lift) at least three times per week.  I might try and rope the older two kids into doing a NF yoga session with me tomorrow - they're home on school holidays but we're stuck inside with bushfire smoke so it'd be good for them to move.  And I'll definitely benefit from a stretch!

[Kiki Dee]

Today's details:

 

Sleep:  Went to bed around 9pm.  Lots of trouble falling asleep.  Up to breastfeed at 2230, 0130, 0400, 0600.  Got up at 0630.  So, overall... yeah, pretty rubbish.

 

Breakfast:  1 1/2 nectarines (Shared with HJ).  One piece of seed and nut bread (Pete Evans recipe) with peanut butter.

Lunch:  Didn't happen.  At the hairdresser, then had to collect the kids and didn't get home til 4pm.  Ate a spoonful of vanilla icecream from the freezer that's leftover from New Year.  Eh.  It's there, it's been there two weeks and hardly been touched, and once it's gone it won't be replaced.  No biggie.

Dinner:  Cashew fried rice.  (Definitely a carb-heavy option, but husband was cooking so I'm not complaining!)

Snacks:  Other than the ice cream "lunch", I had three grapes.  HJ wanted to feed them to me, and he is four and he is cute.  Oh, and the kids ate a mango, so they got the cheeks and I sucked the seed.  I guess that counts?

Alcohol:  None.

Coffee:  Yeeeesh.  Um.  Maybe... five?  Six?  All long blacks!  (See sleep log.)

Water:  Undoubtedly not enough.  1.5 x 750mL bottles at the gym.  3 glasses of mineral water earlier in the day.

 

Workout:

5min warmup on elliptical

 

Set 1 - legs and core

Leg press machine (gotta build the core before my back will be safe to squat!) - both/R/L.  Machine only 10/10/10, 5kg 10/10/10, 10kg 10/5/5.  10kg seems a good weight.

Side bends with 6kg KB - 10+10/10+10/10+10.  Could go heavier but for convenience will stay with the goblet squat weight.

Goblet squats with 6kg KB - 10/10/10.  Probably should not go much heavier, tricky to keep form by end.

 

Set 2 - Back and shoulders

Underarm grip pulldowns, setting 2 - 12/12/12.  Should go heavier.

DB shoulder presses, 4kg each side - 12/12/12.  Could go heavier but pretty tapped out by the end.

Plank - toes - 20 sec.  (Should have been doing one between presses and pulldowns but was sharing the machine and didn't want to slow the other guy down too much!)

 

Set 3 - Chest and arms (and back)

DB chest press, 6kg each side - 12/12/12.  Stay same for one more workout at least then back up to 7.

DB single arm row, 6kg L/R - 12+12/12+12/12+12.  As above.

 

Conditioning

Rower intervals - 20/40 x3min.  Was starting to feel a bit tight in the chest and with the bushfire smoke I've been breathing for months and this being my first session back, I felt it wisest not to push it.  Definitely did not "sprint" as hard as I theoretically could, but hey, I was moving and sweating and got my heart rate up!

 

Overall:  Didn't eat well today but that was situational.  So happy to finally be back in the gym again!!!!!  It's honestly the closest I get to meditation.

Oh, and I *totally* nailed my new workout playlist.  10/10 for inspiring beats.

[Kiki Dee]

Well today was as expected.

I was pleasantly surprised by how functional my leg muscles were this morning.  Sadly General DOMS has made a concerted advance over the course of the day and I'm now staggering down the corridor to an early bedtime, hoping that my body will cooperate with me come the morn.  My upper back has been particularly annoying, going into spasm a few times when I put the baby down in her cot.  (Not that she agreed to stay there longer than 10 minutes any time after midday...)

I've been feeling really off today; nauseous after breakfast and lunch.  Unsure why, blaming it on return to workouts.  No nausea after dinner.

Had planned to make cauliflower rice today (have a head of cauliflower sitting in the fridge ready to do it).  But the solar panel guys came around (with 15 minutes notice) just after lunch to install the inverter and upgrade our switchboard; we had no power from 1.30pm - 5pm.  So, no cauliflower rice made today.  Will have to get onto it tomorrow.

 

Vital statistics for the day:

Sleep:  Went to bed as soon as I entered last night's Battle Log, around 10pm.  Up to breastfeed at 0100 and 0500.  Stirred when baby woke at 6 but husband got up and kept her occupied, I slept in until about 7.  Pretty good night by current standards.

 

Breakfast:   Banana/egg GF pancakes.

Lunch:  Reheated sweet potato and coconut curry.

Dinner:  Prawn masala with rice.  (Mine was meant to be cauliflower rice.  But, see above.)

Dessert:  Bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Snacks:  Sucked on a mango seed, as yesterday.  And had a nectarine mid-afternoon.

Alcohol:  3 glasses of a fabulous Nick O'Leary Riesling.

Coffee:  6 long blacks, I think.

Water:  Lots.  Was incredibly thirsty all day and chugging water like nobody's business.  The resultant toilet trips were not appreciated by my shrieking quadriceps.

 

Exercise:  None.  Wanted to do a NF Yoga, but power outage = no internet = no yoga.  Too sore by evening.

 

Other Achievements:  Cast on 363 stitches for a new shawl.  Learned the Twisted German cast-on.  Very exciting.  

 

Overall: a bit too carby but not a dreadful day.  Alcohol yes, but it's my first alcohol for the week so acceptable.  And lack of power inside + choking smoke outside = not achieving much for the day.

Tomorrow I'll be heading back down to the gym for another workout.  Even if I'm sore, at least I can get moving.  Also tomorrow, will do some baking with the kids, and will get that cauliflower rice done.  Meal plan has us doing leftovers for dinner - there's certainly plenty in the fridge!

[Kiki Dee]

OK, so the log has derailed somewhat.  Mostly due to really awful DOMS continuing through Thursday which made looking after the children sufficiently challenging that I was just spent by the end of the day.  I'll try and record what I've done but there will likely be some gaps.  I have been more mindful with what goes into my mouth and why, and discovered something very interesting that I hadn't noticed before - I secret-eat.  Now that's something that I haven't done in *years*.  But mid to late afternoon, when I'm having that energy crash and I pop into the kitchen to make a coffee... I grab something less-than-healthy and eat it *specifically without the children seeing me*.  It seems like I have hangups with them seeing me eat any way other than what I tell them is healthy.  This must change.  Starting today, anything that I'm not prepared to eat in front of my kids, I am simply not going to eat.  Own it.

 

So, from memory... Thursday.

Breakfast: unsure; might even have skipped it?

Lunch: Leftover sweet potato curry.  (no rice)

Dinner:  Leftover palak paneer with rice.

Snack:  Banana cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Alcohol:  2 glasses white wine

Exercise:  Oh I had great plans.  Nup.  I couldn't even walk without looking like something out of a neurology textbook.  Husband told me not to be an idiot, so I listened.  Wisely, I think.  Decided that I *had* to exercise Friday instead.

Other Achievements:  Baked banana cake with the kids.  They loved it.   

 

Friday

Breakfast: Banana/egg pancakes.

Lunch: Buffet style at friend's house - bbq chicken, cheese and GF crackers, fruit.  Probably ate more than strictly necessary!

Dinner:  Club.  Grilled perch with chips and veggies.

Snacks:  2 x pieces of banana cake.

Alcohol:  2 glasses white wine

 

Exercise:  Yes!!!  I was still very sore so I took it pretty easy on my poor legs, but I got down there and Did The Thing.

 

Warmup:  5min elliptical

Set 1 - legs and core

Leg press machine - bilateral press only, no single leg press.  Machine only. 10/10/10.

Side bends with 6kg KB - 10+10/10+10/10+10.

Goblet squats - Skipped as a courtesy to my screaming quadriceps.

 

Set 2 - Back and shoulders

Underarm grip pulldowns, setting 2 with an extra 2.5kg - 12/12/12. 

DB shoulder presses, 4kg each side - 12/12/12. 

Plank - toes - 30 sec x 3.

 

Set 3 - Chest and arms (and back)

DB chest press, 6kg each side - 12/12/12.  

DB single arm row, 6kg L/R - 12+12/12+12/12+12.  

Carloff press, machine setting 3 - 10+10/10+10/10+10

 

Set 4 - Stuff I Just Like Doing (ie Upper Body)

Assisted pull-up - machine setting 12 - 5/5

Assisted dip - machine setting 12 - 8/5

Seated row machine thingie with arms separated (?name?) - machine setting 3 - 6/5

(Clearly I was actually pretty tapped out by this point but I felt that I needed to squeeze a bit more out of the upper body since I'd skimped on the legs)

 

Conditioning

Rower intervals - 30/30 x3min.

 

Felt pretty good after that workout.

 

Saturday

Breakfast - Banana/egg pancakes (we seriously had a whole bunch of bananas going soft this week, in case you're noticing a theme here)

Lunch - Haloumi and quinoa with capsicum

Dinner - Swordfish with asparagus, carrots, tomato/onion.

Alcohol - 2 glasses white wine

Snacks - 1 piece banana cake

 

Exercise:  Went back down to the gym and did a Sh'Bam class to keep the muscles moving.  It was good fun, though it took over an hour for my heart rate to come back down under 100.  I am SO UNFIT.  I think it was a good choice though, I didn't feel nauseous or like I was going to pass out, and my legs are not horrendous today.  Just sore.

 

Today (Sunday):

Breakfast:  Shakshuka (mmmmmm, husband cooking me weekend breakfast...)

Lunch:  Reheated palak paneer

Dinner:  Haven't had it yet but am halfway through making veggie burgers.  The family are having roast duck, so I shall share in the roast veggies but will have a veggie burger for my protein instead.  Main ingredients are cannellini beans, mushrooms, carrot, egg, onion, and some rice-based GF breadcrumbs.  Haven't made them before so will be interesting to see how they work out!  Once they're cooked they're freezable so I'll cook all of them tonight and freeze the rest - that way I have some vegetarian protein sitting in the freezer that I can just pull out when the rest of the family are doing meat and three veg.

Snacks:  2 handfuls of macadamias so far.  Gave the last of the banana cake to the kids.

 

Exercise:  Yup, worked out again in the gym today.  That's three days being active in a row and it feels really good.

 

Warmup:  5 mins elliptical.

 

Set 1 - legs and core

Leg press machine  - both/R/L.  Machine only 10/8/8,  10/8/8,  10/8/8.

Side bends with 8kg KB - 10+10/10+10/10+10.  (yup, went up on weight because I wasn't doing the squats)

Goblet squats - Skipped again.  Legs are still sore from last Tuesday.  Do NOT want to push the friendship.

 

Set 2 - Back and shoulders

Underarm grip pulldowns, setting 2 with extra 5kg - 12/12/12.  Struggled with the last few reps, good weight.

DB shoulder presses, 4kg each side - 12/12/12.  Again, struggled to squeeze out the last two.

Plank - toes - 3 x 30 sec.

 

Set 3 - Chest and arms (and back)

DB chest press, 7kg each side - 12/12/12.  Really had to push through to get those last 4 reps in the third set.

DB single arm row, 7kg L/R - 12+12/12+12/12+12.  Interestingly, less of a struggle than the chest press.

Carloff press, setting 3 - 10+10/10+10/10+10.

 

Conditioning

Rower intervals - 30/30 x3min. Started feeling nauseous, didn't push on further, especially considering yesterday's HR performance.

 

Best try and update more frequently from here on in!

[Kiki Dee]

Ok, yesterday.

 

Breakfast:  Reheated shakshuka

Lunch:  Tuna mornay

Dinner:  Mexican bean hotpot with tomato/avocado salsa

Snacks:  2 small handfuls of macadamia nuts.  1 spoonful of vanilla ice cream. (Have decided not to put the ice cream in a bowl as it just encourages me to have several scoops, when honestly I'm satisfied just digging in the spoon, putting the lid back on the tub and eating the single spoonful.)

Alcohol:  None.

 

Exercise:  Went down full of enthusiasm, but for some reason I just wasn't really feeling it.  I felt tired, everything felt heavy and uncomfortable.  Even the music didn't really get me in the zone.  Think it might be because I worked out on Sunday morning, then Monday evening, and I am Not Yet Fit.  Inadequate recovery (about 36hrs).  Duly noted, body.

 

Warmup:  5 mins elliptical.

 

Set 1 - legs and core

Leg press machine  - both/R/L.  Machine only 10/10/10 x3.

Side bends with 8kg KB - 10+10 x3.

Goblet squats - Skipped again.  Still playing it cautious.  Might add in some air squats next workout.

 

Set 2 - Back and shoulders

Underarm grip pulldowns, setting 2 with extra 5kg - 12/12/12.  Struggled with the last 2-4 of each set.

DB shoulder presses, 4kg each side - 12/12/12.  Did they relabel the dumbbells when I wasn't looking?  I swear the 4kg weren't that heavy yesterday.

Plank - toes - 2 x 30 sec, 1 x 25 sec.  Arms gave out rather than core.

 

Set 3 - Chest and arms (and back)

DB chest press, 7kg each side - 12/12/12.  A total slog!

DB single arm row, 7kg L/R - 12+12/12+12/12+12.  Still less of a struggle than the chest press.  And oddly I'm finding it easier on the left than the right (and I'm right hand dominant).  My theory is that it's because I carry Baby on the left.  All day.

Carloff press, setting 3+ - 10+10/10+10/10+10.

 

Conditioning

Lol, nah.  If I wasn't really enjoying the part of my workout I *like*, I definitely wasn't going to hop on the rower!

 

Will definitely give myself a full rest day today and look to work out again on Wed or Thursday evening (depending on what time husband gets home from work etc).

 

In other progress, my Annis is coming along.  I've completed the lace section and am now working plain stockinette short rows to make up the body.  So that should progress fairly quickly, depending upon how much time I get to work on it.   And the sun is glorious outside today so hopefully will be able to take the kids out to the playground.

[Kiki Dee]

An unexciting day.

 

Breakfast:  Black rice and coconut pudding. (Some kinda pre-prepared thing in a pouch.  I think it came in the bag of stuff they gave us at the hospital when we had Baby.  It was coming up on its' expiry so I figured I'd best eat it.  It was pretty bland tbh, and a bit too carby for something without more flavour.  I'll happily eat carbs, if they're *worth it*!!!)

Lunch:  Reheated Mexican hotpot with diced tomato and half an avocado.  Best meal of the day.  

Dinner:  Palak paneer (from the local takeaway) with pappadums.  (It was husband's night to cook, he was stuck at work late... Meh.)

Snacks:  1 handful of macadamias.  1 banana.  1 scoop of vanilla ice cream (I reckon it's more than half gone now).

Alcohol:  1 x G+T.  2 glasses of Clonakilla riesling.  Was tempted to have a port while I knitted after dinner but resisted.

 

Exercise:  Nope.  Today is an ordained Day of Rest.  Must let the gains develop before pushing the muscles again tomorrow.  

 

Didn't even get out to the playground as discovered Husband had taken the pram with him to work, which kinda confined me to the house.  Annoying.  Must get a secondary stroller.  On the plus side, I got some nice knitting done.   I reckon at this rate my Annis could be done in a few more days!
 

Oh, and I nominally switched myself from a Ranger to a Warrior.  Since lifting is frankly all I'm interested in at this moment in time.

[Kiki Dee]

Positive day yesterday.

 

Breakfast: Banana and egg pancakes

Lunch: Mexican hotpot with a tomato and half an avocado

Dinner: Chickpea curry with cauliflower rice and spinach.

Snacks: A couple of small handfuls of macadamias.

Alcohol: None

 

Exercise: Gym workout.  Definitely felt better than Monday's.

 

Warmup:  5 mins elliptical.

 

Set 1 - legs and core

Leg press machine  - both/R/L.  Machine only 10/10/10 x3.

Side bends with 8kg KB - 10+10 x3.

Air squats - 8/8/8 (not going to get too ambitious!)

 

Set 2 - Back and shoulders

Underarm grip pulldowns, setting 2 with extra 5kg - 12/12/12.  Increase to setting 3 next time.

DB shoulder presses, 4kg each side - 12/12/12.  Still losing form on the last few reps especially of set 2 and 3.  Was at 6kg 3y ago before my big break so would be nice to get up there again.  Perhaps one more session at 4kg (since I'm upping the weight on the pulldowns) then look at moving to 5kg.

Plank - toes - 2 x 30 sec, 1 x 28 sec.  Oooh so close!

 

Set 3 - Chest and arms (and back)

DB chest press, 7kg each side - 12/12/12.  Reckon just one more session at this weight then increase.  The last few reps are definitely very difficult.  Grunting may be involved.

DB single arm row, 7kg L/R - 12+12/12+12/12+12.  See chest press.  Last 3 reps or so form isn't quite right, but could probably up the weight.  Will do so in line with chest.

Carloff press, setting 3+ - 10+10/10+10/10+10.

 

Conditioning

For Baby reasons I only got into the gym an hour before closing, so ran out of time.  Oh darn.  Totes devo.  

 

Big concern now is how I manage the next week.  Everything's been going so well thus far - 8 days, 5 workouts, definitely improvements.  But I can't work out today (too soon), and tomorrow we're driving down to the coast for a long weekend with dear friends.  So unless I go super early on Friday (possible, but as per a couple posts up, body is not enthused about 36hr turnarounds just yet), Saturday and Sunday are out... Monday the gym will close at 6pm and I'm not sure we'll be back in time to squeeze in a workout there.  This leaves the next possible workout as Tuesday evening, 6 days hence.  (Assuming Rotary hasn't restarted...)  Just too long for my comfort!  My inclination is to just woman up and go tomorrow morning because I really don't see a workout happening while down the coast.  (Not that we won't be active, with 4 adults and 5 kids on a holiday together, but I specifically want to keep lifting!)

[Kiki Dee]

An uneventful yet mentally draining day today.  Can't wait for school holidays to be over.  Also very keen to get back to work...

 

In exciting news:  BABY SLEPT THROUGH FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!!  I got solid sleep from 10pm-5am.  Sweeeeeet!!!!!!

 

Breakfast:  Cold leftover banana/egg pancake from yesterday, 1 nectarine, 1 small handful of macadamias (I was really hungry)

Lunch:  Reheated Mexican hotpot, 1 tomato (homegrown! yum!) and half an avocado.  Some fresh coriander on top.

Dinner:  Reheated chickpea curry with Basmati rice.  Mixed through 2 handfuls of spinach leaves.

Snacks:  About 3 handfuls of macadamias.  I was stressed and snacky.

Alcohol:  1 x G+T mid afternoon.  3 glasses of white wine with dinner.

Coffee: 5.  I actually counted today.

 

Exercise:  None.  Dust storm outside and bushfire nearby.  I stayed inside with my radio tuned to ABC and didn't let on to the kids.  Thunderstorm out there now.  Kinda wish the planet would pick a natural disaster and stick with it rather than switching between fires, storms, floods etc as she sees fit.

 

Have had rotten headaches the last 2 days.  Shall continue to monitor.

 

Looking forward to the trip away this weekend.  Assuming the fires don't cut us off... Think I'll go to bed now.

[Kiki Dee]

Record of the Long Weekend!

 

Friday:  Got up early and worked out before breakfast.

 

Warmup: 5 mins elliptical

 

Set 1 (Legs/Core)

Leg press:  3 x 10B+10R+10L - machine only

Side bends: 3 x 10R+10L - 8kg

Bodyweight squats: 3 x 10

 

Set 2 (Back/Shoulders/Core)

Underhand grip pulldowns: 3 x 12 - machine setting 3, remain steady next time

Dumbbell shoulder press: 3 x 12 - 4kg - increase to 5 next time and accept I'm not likely to get the full 3 x 12

Plank: 3 x 30 seconds - increase to 40 seconds next time

 

Set 3 (Chest/Back/Arms/Core)

Dumbbell chest press: 3 x 12 - 7kg, increase to 8kg next time

Dumbbell single arm rows: 3 x 12+12 - 7kg, increase to 8kg next time

Carloff press:  3 x 10L+10R - setting 3, keep stable (was doing 3+ but triggering back pain)

 

No conditioning, no time - needed to get home and pack!  Did do my stretches though.

 

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs (3) with 1 diced homegrown tomato

Lunch: (In transit, cafe) Salmon fillet with salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, beetroot, mayonnaise)

Dinner: BBQ swordfish and kingfish fillets with salad (lettuce, tomato, pear, red onion, red cabbage, carrot)

Snack:  Ice cream

Alcohol:  First night on holiday with friends?  You better believe much white wine was imbibed.  And one G+T while I prepped dinner.

 

Saturday

Breakfast:  Fruit salad - mango, apple, strawberry, nectarine

Lunch:  At amusement park.  Limited gluten free options - literally ate the only things available which were a small tub of hot chips and a Salad of Disappointment (shredded iceberg lettuce, anaemic tomato and a couple of small triangles of cheddar).  Now I love me a good salad.  This was NOT a good salad.

Dinner:  Catered by the other family we were holidaying with.  Roasted Portuguese chicken with roast potatoes, BBQ corn on the cob and salad (lettuce, olives, red onion, mint)

Snack:  Magnum ice cream x 1, cheese and GF crackers.

Alcohol:  More white wine. 

Exercise:  Spent the day pushing baby's stroller up and down the hillside they built the amusement park on.  Definitely felt that in the glutes and quads!

 

Sunday

Breakfast:  Catered by our friends.  Pico de Gallo (eggs, beans, rice, tomato, coriander, lime juice)

Lunch:  Steamed fish and chips.

Dinner:  GF spaghetti marinara

Dessert:  Diced mango and banana with strawberry yoghurt

Snack:  Ice cream

Alcohol:  1  G+T while cooking, then white wine with dinner.

Exercise:  We spent half the day at the beach, I pushed the stroller there and back (approx 10 min each way, down a hill then back up again) and had a good time in the surf with the kids.  Nothing structured but it was fun and active.  We played mini golf in the afternoon.

 

Monday

Breakfast:  Leftover Buffet!  Pasta from the previous night recooked in olive oil and garlic; cheese and crackers; BBQ corn on the cob.  (Clearing out the fridge before departure!)

Lunch:  In transit.  Smoked trout salad with lettuce, onion, chargrilled capsicum and a honey dressing.

Dinner:  Thai takeaway (nothing in the fridge!).  Vegetarian pad Thai and vegetarian red curry with rice.

Alcohol:  Champagne.

Exercise:  Got back too late for the gym (closed early on public holiday).

 

And thus endeth the Mini Break.  Now back to a more sustainable way of eating!

[Kiki Dee]

Tuesday:  A frustrating day from beginning to end.  Scheduled electrical work with planned 3hrs power outage, guy didn't arrive til 3 then declared he couldn't do the job because a connection was breaking and needed to be replaced by another agency.  Guy from other agency comes around, agrees the thing needs doing, but our roof is too high for him to do it and the guys with the relevant equipment are out at the nearby bushfire.  (Fair enough!).  No estimate given on time/day.  (Ended up being this morning.). 5.15pm I'm watching the smoke billowing on the horizon, text husband to ask if he's leaving yet.  Husband responds he has another 15-20 minutes of work to do (NB computer based planning work which can be done at home but obv at home children = interruptions so more efficient at work.). I politely suggest he not take more than 15 minutes as I have an appointment at 6pm.  He had of course forgotten this (sigh) but does then come home in time.  Head down to the gym excited to meet my new trainer.  (Mostly excited to actually exercise as by this stage it's been 4 days - am expecting to do a brief assessment session today then agreement with husband that I'll phone home and if baby is ok I can do a workout at the end).  Realise when I arrive that I've forgotten my phone.  (Wise move, with a natural disaster looming in the sky.). Trainer does do an "assessment session" as expected, BUT the hour-long assessment was all about biomechanical alignment, poking and prodding and assessing the tension and "need for release" in muscle groups.  She spoke at length about how after my Caesarean section, I will have adhesions in my abdominal wall that need to be broken down with frequent self-massage, demonstrating her point by poking her fingertip into my anterior hip, which unsurprisingly did hurt... (Not winning points with me here, I am literally an obstetrician and have done thousands of caesareans... I'm rather familiar with adhesions and know full well that rubbing my belly ain't gonna break any down!!!  Not to mention, if a caesarean is venturing out to the hipbone?  Something is *seriously* wrong.). On the plus side, she did talk about her preferred exercises to prescribe being whole-body compound push and pull exercises, so we're at least on the same page there.  She finishes up by saying that she's not keen to load me up with weights until we do deeper muscle release work.  I was somewhat unimpressed with the idea of my next session down there being a glorified massage and she's agreed that our next sesh she'll take me through my strength program... She couldn't do Saturday morning (my preference) but could do Friday morning.  Which means I hadn't worked out last night (no phone to confirm ok to stay longer at the gym), knew I couldn't work out tonight (husband out at work dinner), and obviously couldn't work out Thursday night if I was also going to do Friday morning.  Came home feeling really cross actually, as by Friday morning that would be a full week without structured exercise and I really wasn't keen on losing all that momentum I'd built up in the past fortnight.

So I ate dinner, and whinged to my excellent husband, who wisely said if I gave the baby a feed I could then go downstairs and do a bodyweight workout while he got the kids in bed.  And that's what we did.  Was surprised how much I managed to do with just me and a single 5kg dumbbell.  (No idea where the other one is.). Felt better.  (Always calming to get hot and sweaty I find.). Then came back upstairs and noticed I could now see the flames of the bushfire from my front window.  Not the most reassuring sight in the world before bedtime. Cue some judicious evac prepping and a phone call to my mother who lives in a far more vulnerable location.  But it's calmed down overnight thankfully.  Still burning and out of control of course, just no longer at the emergency threat level.

All in all... a fairly frustrating and stressful day.

 

 

Vital statistics for the day:

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs x3

Lunch:  Baked beans with 2 pieces GF toast

Dinner:  Veggie burger (homemade), carrots, broccoli, tomato/onion.

Snacks:  2 handfuls macadamias.  3 chilli-pickled mussels.

Alcohol:  None.

 

Workout (Downstairs, just me and a dumbbell...)

Goblet squats, 5kg.  3 x 12

Lunges, 5kg.  3 x 12L + 12R

Side bends, 5kg.  10L + 10R.

 

Single arm DB overhead press, 3 x 12L + 12R.

Plank, 3 x 40sec.

 

Knee pushups, 3 x 8.  (Really struggled on the last two reps of each set).

Single arm rows, 5kg, 3 x 12.  A bit too easy but you use what you got and it's better than not doing anything!

Romanian deadlifts, 5kg, 3 x 12.  Felt too easy but on the back of the squats I could certainly feel my glutes.  And continue to feel them this morning.

 

So, after all that, I at least have achieved some level of strength work, and I have a plan.  Have decided I'll also head down on Thursday night and do a BodyJam class.  It's not lifting, I can go low impact, and I'll at least be moving.  (Also, anything dancey is fun and makes me happy!). I would usually get a package of PT sessions with my trainer in the early stages back at the gym, but I'm not going to do that this time.  I do respect the need for good biomechanics, truly, but I'm *not* going to use my extremely limited child-free time on an hour of "tissue release" when she could just write down what I need to do and I can do it myself at home, using the time at the gym to build some muscle and burn some calories.  If I really like the program she's written me, and we get along at my final induction 1 on 1 session in a couple more weeks, I'll think about it.  If not, I'll just work it out myself, or try out one of the other trainers at the gym.  After all, I've actually gotten pretty awesome results just in the two weeks of working out by myself.  I can feel my muscles firming up when I wash in the shower (pecs and forearms especially), I've lost 3cm off each thigh and 3cm off my underbust measure, haven't injured myself, and am generally happy with the direction I've been moving.

[Kiki Dee]

Uneventful day. Pretty exhausted, and turns out it's Day 1 of cycle which explains yesterday's foul mood and teariness.  (Cycle still erratic after Baby, I'm tracking it though.)

 

Breakfast: scrambled eggs

Lunch: sardines on GF toast

Dinner: pan-fried salmon, asparagus, broccoli, carrot, half an avocado (yuuummmmm!)

Snacks: macadamias(1 handful), pickled mussels (about half a dozen) and an iced coffee while out with the kids.

Alcohol: none

Exercise:  none

Other Achievements:  Took Baby for her vaccinations.  Now she is unsettled and won't let me put her down, and husband is still out at work dinner.  Unsure how I'll get the big two into bed without Baby screaming the place down...

Still smoke bound, but no visible flames.  Plenty of ash falling from the sky today.  Minimising time spent outside...

[Kiki Dee]

Thursday details:

 

Breakfast: Leftover salmon fillet, scrambled eggs, half avocado

Lunch: Sushi

Dinner:  Slow cooked chickpea and tofu curry with spinach and cauliflower rice

Snacks: Pickled mussels

 

Exercise:  BodyJam class!  Nearly didn't go, it had been a long and draining day with Cranky Baby, and I was feeling really tired.  But I went anyway and OMG it was SO MUCH FUN!!!  I hadn't expected to enjoy it quite so much!  Now I think I'll have to work it into my weekly schedule.

 

Other achievements: Cast off my Annis!  Looks very pretty but being lace she is of course in need of a vigorous blocking before she's wearable.

 

Fire is expected to head our way again today and tomorrow... Really keen for this summer to be over.

[Kiki Dee]

Friday.

 

Started out strong, down to the gym at 0700 for my new program with my trainer.  I was a touch apprehensive given our previous visit, but that proved to be totally unfounded.  The new program is totally different to what I've been doing, and it absolutely kills me!  Yaaaayyy!!!!

 

No idea how many reps at what weights we did, as a lot of it was demonstration and getting technique correct, but the regimen was:

 

Warmup: my preference of light cardio (which is always 5 minutes on the elliptical, as it doesn't hurt my back the way the treadmill or bike do)

 

Cat-cows followed by neck flexion/extensions

Hip extensions (which I shall henceforth refer to as "worship lunges")

Sumo squats with resistance band in arms - forward on squat, rotating up and back behind on stand

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs

 

Cable squats with straight arm press

Rotational lunges with cable pull

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball

Stepout dumbbell "row" - (more like a press really)

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation

Pallof press on cable machine

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises

Cable rows on one knee

 

Aaaand stretch.  I was knackered by the end and had definite DOMS in my legs and midsection for the next two days, but nothing unmanageable.  Decided the new program is pretty good, but I might mix it up with the old one - possibly two sessions of the new program and one of the old per week.  Because the old program was all braced on benches etc, I could obviously lift much *more* weight and I... like that!  (eg the dumbbell flys, I could totally go heavier in my arms/chest, but my core can't hold me stable on the fit ball with any more weight.). I don't want to lose the habit of lifting heavier stuff completely.

 

Breakfast:  Tuna mornay

Lunch:  Zambrero vegetarian bowl (mmmmm cauliflower)

Dinner:  Out at the club as per usual Friday night.  Half a dozen oysters, Grilled perch with chips and veggies.

Snacks:  Pickled mussels, some leftover ash brie and blue cheese.  No crackers - no problem.  

Alcohol:  1 x G+T in the afternoon, 2 glasses white wine with dinner.

[Kiki Dee]

Saturday:  A day of rest, and watching the bushfire advance.  Spent the whole day expecting my mum to be evacuated, but our emergency services are amazeballs and the fire never got close enough to her suburb to warrant an evacuation.  Still not out of the woods, there are some high winds today so still on alert, but hopeful.

 

Breakfast:  Tuna mornay

Lunch:  Grill'd Beyond Burger on GF bun (seriously if you'd told me ten years ago that my favourite indulgent lunch would be a vegan burger on a gluten free bun I would have laughed at you.  And possibly prescribed an antipsychotic.)

Dinner:  Veggie patty (homemade) with carrots, tomato/onion, broccoli.

Snacks:  Still working my way through those awesome pickled mussels.  Probably had another half dozen.  Also working my way slowly through the leftover soft cheese from last weekend, had a little bit of that.  And a banana.  AND a Boost Juice mango concoction - this would usually be on my "do not touch" list, but it was so hot and so humid, calories be damned I wanted it and I enjoyed every last drop!  Happy that I made a mindful decision, honouring what my body wanted and needed at the time, and I have exactly zero guilt.  So I think I'm doing ok on the "relationship with food" front - always need to be careful not to slip back into disordered eating patterns when I throw myself back on the fitness bandwagon.

Alcohol:  1 x G+T (had planned an alcohol free day but husband made me one, and it was the last of the O'Gin so I was hardly about to decline!)

Exercise:  Just pushing the pram around the shops while we acquired the kids' school uniforms and shoes, as it's the first week back this week.

[Kiki Dee]

Aaaaaaand Sunday.

 

Bugger of a night; crazy hot and humid = thirsty baby = up every 2hrs to feed her.  Husband took her at her 6am waking so I could snooze an extra hour.

Got up, had coffee, went down for a workout.  Did the new program and was really happy with it.

 

Warmup: 5 minutes on the elliptical

 

Cat-cows x12 followed by 6 neck flexion/extensions

Hip extensions  - I couldn't remember what these were.  Saw my trainer who was on the floor towards the end of my workout and asked, she showed me.  Will remember next time!

Sumo squats with resistance band x 16

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs x 16

 

Cable squats with straight arm press - 2 x 16, weight 3.  Will increase to 4 next time.

Rotational lunges with cable pull - 2 x 9L/9R.  Weight 3, will increase to 4 next time.

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press - 2 x 12L+12R.  Weight 5kg, will hold stable next time.

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball - programmed 2 x 16, did 2 x 10+6 at 5kg as my back/legs couldn't hold me stable beyond that. Will hold stable until I can nail the sets.

Stepout dumbbell "row" - (more like a standing/lunging chest press really) - programmed 2 x 16 with 3kg, did 2 x 11+5 due to arm fatigue.  Will hold stable until I can do it!

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation.  4+4+4 each side, 2 sets.  I am very bad at this but will persevere.

Pallof press on cable machine - 2 x 12+12, setting 3.  Hold stable, it's a challenge to complete.

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises, 2 x 12+12.  Challenging to complete, hold steady.

Cable rows on one knee, 2 x 12R+12L (6 at pace, 6 at increased time under tension for 3-count each direction), machine setting 7.  Increase to 8 next time.

 

Aaaand stretch.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

This workout had me running with sweat like a tap.  Absolutely smashed it.  Felt brilliant afterwards.  Will be sore tomorrow!  Working through it myself, I can see the reasoning behind every exercise.  I'm working all the major muscle groups, I'm doing push and pull exercises, *everything* makes me engage my core (crucial for protecting my damaged lumbar spine), and the squat progression... well, let's just say I can *tell* that the sumos with resistance band going over the head and the "assisted" cable squats are both *forcing* me into correct squat technique.  Considering I said to her in our first session "I want to do big heavy squats with the Olympic bar but I'm not ready yet, my back is too fragile and my core is too weak"... she's really picked the perfect exercises for me.  My hesitation appears to be unfounded.  I've got one more session with her next Saturday morning, but am seriously considering getting a 10-pack of PT sessions based on how happy I am with this programming.  Next scheduled workout is tomorrow evening, only 36hrs after today's workout; I think I'll run the old program rather than exhaust the same muscles the same ways, then return to the new program on Wednesday night.

 

Breakfast:  Shakshuka

Lunch:  1 dozen oysters with lemon juice

Dinner:  GF spaghetti marinara

Snacks:  The last 2 chilli pickled mussels.  Just the garlic ones left now...

Alcohol:  1 x G+T.  1 x white wine.  1 x red wine.

 

My little boy has his first day of primary school tomorrow!!!! ❤️ 

[Kiki Dee]

Monday.  My little man's first day of primary school!!!  He did so very well and was super adorable in his uniform.

 

Breakfast: leftover shakshuka

Lunch: leftover tofu and chickpea curry (no rice)

Dinner: prawn and chickpea masala on cauliflower rice

Snacks:  2 handfuls of macadamias, one piece of ash brie (working my way through it slowly!)

Alcohol: one glass of red wine after workout

 

Exercise:  Feeling sore through my back, did the old program.  Wow.  Compared with the new one, it feels soooooo easy...

 

Warmup: 5 mins elliptical

 

Set 1 (Legs/Core)

Leg press:  3 x 10B+10R+10L - machine only first set, 5kg sets 2+3. Do this again next time.

Side bends: 3 x 10R+10L - 8kg - stable

Bodyweight squats: 3 x 10 - keep stable

 

Set 2 (Back/Shoulders/Core)

Underhand grip pulldowns: 3 x 12 - machine setting 3, remain steady next time then look to increase with the 2.5kg add-on (3+)

Dumbbell shoulder press: 3 x 12 - 5kg - Managed all sets and reps to my surprise!  Keep stable next time.

Plank: 3 x 40 seconds - only managed 35 seconds on the third, core failure.  I've clearly gotten a lot stronger in the last few weeks though.

 

Set 3 (Chest/Back/Arms/Core)

Dumbbell chest press: 3 x 12 - 8kg, surprisingly comfortable.  Checked what I was doing when I stopped regular exercise a few years back, it was 10kg.  So I suspect I'll probably be back up there within the month.

Dumbbell single arm rows: 3 x 12+12 - 8kg, will keep stable

Carloff press:  3 x 10L+10R - setting 3, will keep stable.  Not going to be stupid with my back, it's been pretty tolerant of my return to regular activity thus far and I don't wish to push the friendship.

 

And stretches of course.  I love my post-workout stretch.

 

I finished my workout feeling... a little underdone, if I'm honest.  Which is interesting as this program had me so content until I tried the new one, which I can now categorically say is a better full-body experience and has my heart rate higher too (without the need for dedicated "cardio/conditioning", which I have never really liked).  I think I'll keep doing this one once a week or so as it's a different type of workout (heavier weights, more focus on individual body areas, and definitely easier on a whinging lumbar spine) and it's good to mix things up and alleviate boredom.  But in a busy week where I only get down twice, it's this one that will get the chop.

[Kiki Dee]

Tuesday was fairly uneventful.

Breakfast: scrambled eggs

Lunch: reheated tofu and chickpea curry (no rice)

Dinner: mushroom risotto (just me and Mr 4-nearly-5; mushroom risotto is our Special Meal because he and I love mushrooms while husband and Miss 7-nearly-8 hate them! So whenever those two are out and it's just him and me, we make mushroom risotto together.   No word yet on whether Baby will like mushrooms, but she seemed enthused about the small amount of risotto I gave her!)

Snacks:  1 nectarine, 1 handful macadamias.

Alcohol:  White wine is involved in the risotto so I had a couple of glasses too.  The rest of the bottle is still in the fridge.

Exercise: Nope, day off, and husband/eldest had Rotary in the evening.

It was Miss 7's first day back at school for the year so that was nice, but it was smoky and unpleasant again.  Visited my mum who was delighted to get some time with Baby.

 

Wednesday:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs

Lunch:  reheated prawn masala

Dinner:  reheated spaghetti marinara (needed to clear the leftovers in the fridge!)

Snacks:  3 pickled mussels. 1 spoonful vanilla ice cream.

Alcohol: nope.

Exercise:  New program again.

 

Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical

 

Cat-cows x12 followed by 6 neck flexion/extensions

Hip extension stretches x9 each side

Sumo squats with resistance band x 16

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs x 16

 

Cable squats with straight arm press - 2 x 16, weight 4.  Surprisingly achievable on the press, main issue is making sure I don't let the cable assist me up too much..

Rotational lunges with cable pull - 2 x 9L/9R.  Weight 4, hold steady next time.

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press - 2 x 12L+12R.  Weight 5kg, and by my self-imposed Rules of Progressive Gains I'd best put that up to 6kg next time.  Unsure why that fills me with such trepidation.  It's just a bloody shoulder press.

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball - 2 x 16, weight 5kg.  Managed to get through the sets today.  *Possible* that I've made massive improvements in the past four days... More likely I didn't roll out quite far enough on the fit ball.  Did manage to tweak my range of motion a bit so I felt it more through the chest which was nice.  Will hold weight stable next time and try to improve my positioning on the ball.

Stepout dumbbell "row"  - programmed 2 x 16 with 3kg, did 16 then 10+6 due to arm fatigue.  Will hold stable until I can do it!  The day I up this to 4kg will be a proud day for me. Ooooh, maybe a bonus goal for the next challenge?

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation.  4+4+4 each side, 2 sets.  Seeing improvement; can manage the straight sets without putting my foot down now, and starting to get a feel for how my body needs to move to achieve the internal rotation.

Pallof press on cable machine - 2 x 12+12, setting 3.  Hold stable until it starts feeling easy; past experience has taught me not to underestimate how this one affects my back.

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises, 2 x 12+12.  Still challenging to complete, hold steady.  (I wonder if they'd be easier if they were at the start of the program, before I've smashed my body?)

Cable rows on one knee, 2 x 12R+12L (6 at pace, 6 at increased time under tension for 3-count each direction), machine setting 8.  Felt pretty good; very shaky at the end.  I really like having this as my last working set; I like the way the movement feels, and being on one knee it's fairly stable so I can move more weight.

 

And quite a long, well-deserved stretch.  I was knackered.  Jelly legs down the stairs out!  But have pulled up just fine this morning.  Not a hint of an ache.  (Hmmm... must lift more???)

 

I've been tracking my heart rate during my workouts with my Apple Watch.  Old program, I hit 140 during warmup then run 95-120 through the rest of the working sets.  New program, I hit 140 during warmup, 120 during the prep set, run 160-180 during the first working set (peak is during the rotational lunges, and yes, I checked manually, it's accurate!), 140 during the second, coming down to 110 during the extensions and Pallof press, then back up to 140 during the final set.  In exciting news, where it was taking me >1hr to come back below 100 post workout a few weeks back, I'm now back below 100 by the end of my stretches.  So without *any* emphasis on conditioning whatsoever, I think my cardiovascular system is showing substantial improvements there.  Gotta be good for me!  I am having a few dizzy spells here and there the past few days but doesn't seem to be pulse related... weight has dropped a lot this week so might be caloric deficit.  That or I need to pull back on the coffee...

 

Tonight I get to do my BodyJam class again, and my next strength session is not until Saturday morning when I catch up with my trainer again.  Who I might add has totally redeemed herself with me after that inauspicious first meeting.  Friday is a scheduled day off, and a scheduled alcohol-with-carbelicious-dinner day.

[Kiki Dee]

Thursday.

Breakfast:  scrambled eggs

Lunch: out with Mum,  Shared a vegetarian pad Thai and prawn stirfry. 

Dinner: GF roast vegetable pasta.

Snacks: Finished off the ash brie.

Alcohol:  One glass of white wine (the last of the bottle from Tuesday).

 

Exercise:  BodyJam class.  So much fun!  Despite not being sore from Wednesday night's strength workout, my legs definitely noticed every time I tried to get low!

 

My back was pretty achey but not enough to stop me moving; took a dose of analgesics before the BodyJam class. Hopefully it's happier today.

[Kiki Dee]

Friday.  Designated day of rest.

 

Breakfast: reheated mushroom risotto

Morning tea: yoghurt with fruit

Lunch: Grill'd Garden Beyond Burger, half-serve chips

Dinner: Salmon with chips and veggies, hollandaise sauce.  (The gluten-free options at the club are pretty limited.  I actually think the only GF and vego option they have is a mushroom risotto.

Alcohol:  G+T in the afternoon.  2 glasses white wine with dinner.  Small glass port at bedtime.

Exercise:  Pushed a pram halfway across the local tech campus to attend a Women in Climate and Health meeting.  It was good.  Inspired to get my activism on.

 

Today has started off well; have already worked out and taken the kids to their swimming lesson.  Haven't made it to food yet.  Will get onto that once baby is napping.

[Kiki Dee]

OK lots to catch up on.

 

Saturday's workout:

Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical

 

Cat-cows x12 followed by 6 neck flexion/extensions

Hip extension stretches x9 each side

Sumo squats with resistance band x 16

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs x 16 (used the purple band instead of the green one this time - much easier, clearly they're different resistances!  They should put a sign up in the drawer or something!!!)

 

Cable squats with straight arm press - 2 x 16, weight 4.  Increase to 5 next time.

Rotational lunges with cable pull - 2 x 9L/9R, weight 4.  Increase to 5 next time.

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press - 2 x 12L+12R.  Weight 6kg.  And I could actually do it.  No trepidation needed.  Go me.

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball - 2 x 16, weight 5kg.  13+3 then 9+7; back and glutes were really struggling.  Figured out I was using a smaller ball, and thus it was harder.  I'm supposed to be on the larger ball, but there's only two there so I guess I'll use whatever's available.  Won't be increasing weight here for quite some time.

Stepout dumbbell "row"  - programmed 2 x 16 with 3kg, did 16 then 13+3.  Another one I won't be upping for a while.

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation.  4+4+4 each side, 2 sets.  Still seeing improvements.

Pallof press on cable machine - 2 x 12+12, setting 3.  Consider a quarter-increase next time.

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises, 2 x 12+12.  

Cable rows on one knee, 2 x 12R+12L (6 at pace, 6 at increased time under tension for 3-count each direction), machine setting 8.  Should increase this one according to my rules.

 

Stretches.

 

I'm not going to detail my food intake for Sat/Sun/Monday.  It was Birthdaymageddon in our house; my daughter turned 8 on Sunday and my son turned 5 on Monday so we have been overloaded with cake, cake and more cake, lollies, chips, popcorn... you name it, I ate it on Sunday.  :S 

 

Monday night was another scheduled workout.  One of those days where I *really* did not want to go; I was tired, I had slept terribly the night before, my back was still a little sore from Saturday's effort, and I just wasn't feeling it.  But I made myself go down.  Got there and they were having an evacuation for a fire alarm.  It was like God himself was saying "yeah, don't do this one".  But I persisted!!!  I waited until they got the all clear, I went in there, and I did my workout!

Well.  I tried to.

I increased my weight on the first set (cable squats/straight arm press) as per plan.  Right arm wasn't terribly happy about it, but I told myself I was being a wuss and pushed out the first set.  Did the next exercise.  Went back for my second set.  Right arm literally could not move the cable.  Nope, it was locked up good and screaming at me.  I got through some of the other activities (I definitely did my squats - #neverskiplegday!) but a good half of the program was just completely unachievable.  And I haven't been back down since!  (It's now Thursday morning).  That arm still doesn't feel quite ready to work hard again.  We've had events on the past two nights (Tuesday night I was on a panel for a Medical Women's Society event, and last night we indulged in some truly beautiful live music in town) so I didn't intend to work out then anyway, and tonight's plan is the BodyJam class.  So the big question is, as I have a scheduled PT session on Saturday, should I just leave it to heal until then?  I'm thinking, since I'm exercising in some form tonight... yes.  I know I've messed up by pushing the weight up too high too fast, and not listening to what my body was telling me on that first set, so might have to loosen my rules a little.

I hate loosening my rules.  #typeAperfectionist

 

Anyway.  Food log for Tues/Wed.

Tuesday

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs

Lunch:  Zambrero cauliflower bowl with beans/no rice

Dinner:  Quite late after getting home from MWS panel.  Indian takeaway (thoughtfully purchased by husband who realised as the event I was attending was catered with pizza, I wouldn't be partaking, and ordered extra for me. ❤️ Palak paneer with rice.)

Snacks:  1 piece of birthday cake.

Alcohol:  None.

 

Wednesday

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs

Lunch:  Sushi

Dinner:  Again very late after the show.  Everything shut on the way home; got a large fries from McDonalds. 

Snacks: 2 pieces birthday cake.  (WHY IS IT NOT GONE YET???). 2 handfuls of macadamias before going out.

Alcohol:  3 glasses white wine while at venue.  A really good sav blanc.

 

Subjectively, I have been feeling like crap this week.  I don't think I've slept enough, I've injured myself, I've got daily headaches (which I know damn well are from the sugar but I just can't stop myself eating it and it's my son's birthday cake and he'll be devastated if I chuck it in the bin), I have mouth ulcers... just BLEGH.  Need a reset this weekend methinks.

 

I do want to note that the music event is something we haven't done in a really, really long time.  When we were young we used to love going out to small live gigs and seeing indie music acts.  That fell away as work got crazy, we moved to a city with less of a live music scene, and then we had kids.  This particular act I was put onto recently by a friend, who then couldn't attend the event herself in the end (because she lost her house in the bushfires and then her new temporary accommodation got flooded this week).  But we turned up.  Felt terribly out of place initially in an obviously hipster-cool venue, because we are decidedly Not Cool.  We took our 5 month old, who promptly fell in love with the beautiful violinist.  (It was mutual).  And we had the best night out we've had in ages.  Will definitely be going back on a semi-regular basis to explore more acts.   (Preferably without Baby, once she weans in a month).

 

It's all about figuring out how you really want your life to look, isn't it?  I think last night was pretty significant from that PoV.

[Kiki Dee]

Blergh.  Tracking has been a bit off since Wednesday!  Ah well.  Challenge began yesterday yeah?  I did work out on Saturday (strength session with PT).  My arm is still not better.  This is causing me problems.  I also went to BodyJam on Thursday, which didn't set anything off but also had a different instructor who was less inspiring than the usual guy.  Still, movement - tick.

 

Sunday:

Breakfast:  Shakshuka

Lunch:  Zambrero vegetarian nacho bowl

Dinner:  Mexican bean hotpot with avocado and sour cream

Snacks:  1 piece orange and almond cake (Mr 5's second birthday cake, for his party on Saturday)

Alcohol:  1 G&T, 2 glasses white wine

Other Achievements:  Completed Clue 1 of my "Love Is..." shawl. Next clue released Monday night (ie could start knitting it Tuesday).

 

Monday (today):

Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with sautéed spinach and garlic

Lunch:  Reheated vegetable Penang curry

Dinner:  Eggplant schnitzel with steamed broccoli, raw carrot, tomato/onion (Not sure how to describe this but it's basically diced tomato and diced onion with finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and grated chilli, all done in the microwave for about 6 minutes.  It's really yummy, I do this a lot as one of the veggies with a protein dinner).

Snacks:  3 cherries.  1 piece orange and almond cake.  1 handful macadamias.  1 small packet popcorn (bloody party leftovers).

I shouldn't have had the cake or the popcorn, I was already feeling a bit off but somehow thought eating might make me feel better?  I was very wrong and should have paid closer attention to my body's signals, but the baby was clingy and not napping and I couldn't get anything done all day as the second I put her down she'd start crying and I was just completely over it.  Husband didn't get home until after 7pm, he's on call this week.  So I think I interpreted frustration, and possibly thirst, as hunger.  It was not.  I feel really overfed now.

Tonight was a scheduled workout.  My arm is still sore (pain/injury sore, not just aching sore), and I'm utterly drained from parenting today, and the gym closes in an hour, and so I have decided not to go.  It's the first workout all year I've missed.  But given what happened last Monday when I went down against my better judgement, I'm going with it.  Hopefully by Wednesday, my arm will be feeling better. (I keep hurting it every time I sit up to feed the baby overnight... might be why it's slow to improve) If not, I'll just have to go down anyway and modify what I do.  Annoying.

At least now I've fed the last of the cake to the children for dessert.  And Miss 8 actually ate everything on her plate.  (She got chicken schnitzel rather than eggplant.  The kids and husband are still eating meat.). But she even ate her broccoli without complaining.  So that's a win.

[Kiki Dee]

Sigh.  Still tired.  Still sore.  Less headaches this week though.  Less sugar.  Figured that was the connection, looks like I'm right.

 

Tuesday:

Breakfast:  reheated eggplant schnitzel with mayo

Lunch:  reheated Mexican hotpot with avocado and sour cream

Dinner: mushroom risotto

Snacks:  2 cherries, 1 nectarine.

Alcohol:  2 glasses white wine.  (It's in the risotto, else I wouldn't have opened it...)

 

Tomorrow = mandated strength workout (unless husband has a work emergency and can't get home in time).  Suspect I'll be tailoring it around this bloody arm.

[Kiki Dee]

I have gotten seriously behind here.  Been too busy keeping the domestic side afloat and not logging here!  I have at least logged within Foodility most of the week.

 

Righto, Wednesday.

Breakfast: nectarine with vanilla yoghurt

Lunch: Reheated mushroom risotto

Dinner:  Veggie burger with asparagus, broccoli, tomato/basil salsa (from the garden which is finally producing!), carrot

Snacks:  Lindt balls x3 (dark chocolate).  1 handful macadamias.  And a couple of cheeky cherry tomatoes while I harvested for dinner.

Alcohol:  None.

Exercise:  Strength workout.

 

 

Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical

 

Cat-cows x12 followed by 6 neck flexion/extensions

Hip extension stretches x9 each side

Sumo squats with resistance band x 16

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs x 16 (purple band.  Increase to green next.)

 

Cable squats with straight arm press - 2 x 16, weight 3 as I was cosseting that sore arm.  And it does still need cosseting, but at least I'm squatting and it's moving.

Rotational lunges with cable pull - 2 x 9L/9R, weight 5.  Hold stable.

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press - 2 x 12L+12R.  Weight 7kg.  And I have finally found my tap-out weight for this exercise.  Did 12L+12R first set, 8+4R/10+2L second set.

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball - 2 x 16, weight 5kg.  10+6 then 16; hold stable.  (After a form check with PT on Sat I learned I've not been putting enough of myself on the fit ball.  Am now resting a bit more on the ball and it's definitely more stable.)

Stepout dumbbell "row"  - programmed 2 x 16 with 3kg, did 12+4 then 11+5.  Another one I won't be upping for a while.

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation.  4+4+4 each side, 2 sets.  Still seeing improvements.  Still can't string them all together!

Pallof press on cable machine - 2 x 12+12, setting 3.  Only did one set due to rising nausea.  Plan a quarter-increase next time.

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises, 2 x 12+12. Only did 6+6 with a lateral excursion, and was too exhausted to do another set. 

Cable rows on one knee, 2 x 12R+12L (6 at pace, 6 at increased time under tension for 3-count each direction), machine setting 8.  Kept at 8 as this also irritates that sore spot on my right arm (which I think is my deltoid insertion).  12+12 first set, then 12+1 and just couldn't do anything further.  I tried.  Nope.

 

So although I didn't do everything on the program, I genuinely could not squeeze out another rep and I felt like jelly walking out.  So, y'know, job done.

 

Thursday:  Blergh.  5yo pulled a sickie which threw plans into disarray.

Breakfast = scrambled eggs

Lunch = took my mother out for her birthday. Had a cauliflower risotto and a glass of white wine.

Dinner = Palak paneer after daughter's swimming lesson.

Snacks = 3 x dark chocolate Lindt balls

Alcohol= 1 glass wine at lunch and 2 with dinner

Exercise = none.  Wanted to do a BodyJam class and was all set but husband was on call this week and had a spinal cord compression to sort out.  It happens.  Not his fault, but kinda sucked because I missed Monday for my reasons and then Thursday for external reasons.  Hence, I had wine instead.

 

Friday:  A better day.  Husband was home for the afternoon (Friday usually his day off but he's on call so was in all morning).

Breakfast: reheated mushroom risotto

Lunch: Tofu and vegetables with rice noodles and soy sauce

Dinner:  Out as always.  Grilled barramundi on salad with potatoes and basil pesto.  Half a dozen oysters.

Snacks:  3 x Lindt balls.  Handful of macadamias.  2 jelly lollies which the children insisted I share with them.  They're very sweet. ❤️ 

Alcohol:  2 glasses white wine at dinner

 

Saturday:  Again, husband in doing ward round half the day.  But I got down to the gym in the afternoon.

Breakfast:  scrambled eggs

Lunch:  Grill'd Garden Beyond Burger with GF bun, kids' chips

Dinner:  GF vegetarian pizza (it's been a takeaway heavy week!)

Snacks:  Peppermint Magnum

Alcohol:  2 glasses champagne with dinner

Exercise:  Strength workout

 

Warmup: 5 minutes elliptical

 

Cat-cows x12 followed by 6 neck flexion/extensions

Hip extension stretches x9 each side

Sumo squats with resistance band x 16

Glute bridges with resistance band around legs x 16 (green band)

 

Cable squats with straight arm press - 2 x 16, weight 3.  Arm is getting less painful but I am taking no chances.

Rotational lunges with cable pull - 2 x 9L/9R, weight 5.  Will increase next time but only to 5+ (quarter increase).

Stationary lunge with dumbbell shoulder press - 2 x 12L+12R.  Weight 7kg.  Did 'em all.  Go me!!  Let's see if I can do it again on Monday... (I did need to take a break between R and L sides during second set because I was having palpitations and my watch said my HR was 184.  I let it come down <150 before restarting.)

 

Dumbbell chest flys on fitball - 2 x 16, weight 5kg.  Did em all with that improved positioning!  Again, let's see if I can do it again on Monday.

 

Standing balance extensions - straight, external rotation and internal rotation.  4+4+4 each side, 2 sets.  Still can't link them all.

Pallof press on cable machine - 2 x 12+12, setting 3+.  That quarter increase is really noticeable.

 

All fours, opposite arm-leg raises, 2 x 12+12.  All done, with lateral excursion, and a few muttered curse-words.

Cable rows on one knee, 2 x 12R+12L (6 at pace, 6 at increased time under tension for 3-count each direction), machine setting 8.  All completed, can't increase it until the arm is better though.

 

Dicky arm aside, this was a really good workout.  My final set of arm-leg raises, I got down on all fours and literally laughed, as I had no idea how I was going to make my limbs move!  I love that feeling when you're stretching, and you think "yup, I could not have done *any* more even if I wanted to".  I really do love my current program, though it takes me about 75 minutes to get through.  But it's literally my only child-free time atm, so....

 

Challenge-wise, this week is a fail.  Too much alcohol, not enough exercise.  Haven't completed any of my big-ticket items.  But hey, weeks with one of us on call are always messier.  Sick child, birthday, still recovering from injury... And I can shoot for "Most Improved"!