A trip to Gaganis Bros

I made yet another trip to Gaganis today.  I have blogged about previous trips here and here.  I really love this warehouse.  I stocked up on a few things, like cans of tomatos and corn, some herbs and spices, plus some more beans and polenta.  But the real reason I went there was for...

 A Cupcake Apron!!!!!!!!!

I have wanted this since the first time I went to Gaganis.  And today I finally got it.  Ross is my lovely model here.  Unfortunately it is too hot this weekend to cook and actually use it, but I figure making salads can get messy too, so I can wear it for that! :o)

My other extra purchase was this gorgeous little teapot.

I love dragonflies so I just couldn't resist this little 2 serve teapot with the Japanese style tea cups.  I already have a single serve and 2 serve teapot, but this was too cute to resist.

xox

Food, Running, Protein, Heat & Muscles (not necessarily in that order)

A few things to update on today.  Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their tips and suggestions over the last few days for various things.  I truly appreciate it all and will slowly work through everything until I work out what works for me.

Lets start with last nights run.  I REALLY did not want to go.  Although my muscle soreness had reduced a bit throught the course of the day, my legs were still tight and fatigued.  Add to that it was hot - still 34 degrees at 6pm - I was tired, and my deep seated inherent laziness was telling me that staying home on the couch was the thing to do.  But - and here's the kicker - I couldn't think of an excuse to blow it off that you guys would buy, so I figured I had no choice.  :o)  So off I went.  40 minutes with 5 x jogging intervals, all 60 seconds.  My first interval was painful, slow and painful (yes, I know I said painful twice).  The 4th interval was the strongest.  The last one felt like 10 minutes, not 1.  But my goal was to get up to 5 intervals, and I did it.

After dinner I took Mel's advice and had a long hot bath.  It felt weird soaking in a hot bath with the air conditioner on in the next room, but geez it made a difference.  I could literally feel the tension in my muscles fade away somewhat.  This will definitely become part of my routine.

When I got home there was a lovely surprise waiting for me.  A belated birthday pressie sitting there from my friend in NT.  It was a gift basket filled with lots of yummies (unfortunately I pulled it apart before taking a photo).  So many goodies.  I really am spoiled.  The good thing is that most of the goodies are in small packets, so when I open them and share them with Ross, they won't do too much damage to my calories.  I just need to keep the packets closed until I have days with spare calories.

I was starving by dinner time so wanted something quick and easy.  Ross wanted meat so I was on my own.  I heated a drop of oil with some cracked pepper, parsley and oregano and saute'd some mushroom and lightly friend some tofu slices.  I served it with sliced avocado and cottage cheese.  It was so delicious!  And amazingly filling.

I actually got through yesterday meeting my protein target, without needing protein drinks or bars, which I was really impressed with.  I know that some days I will need the help, but I really want to aim for more days where I can get enough protein from my food alone.  It is definitely possible.  Thousands of vegetarians do it every day.  I just need to find a way to do it that fits in with my calories and suits me.

The forecast for the next few days is between 36 degrees and 41 degrees.  The hottest time of day here is around 5pm, the time I leave work and normally do my exercise.  So this morning I decided to get up an hour earlier and do my bike ride at 5am instead of 5pm.  Oh my...

Getting up wasn't too bad.  Getting on the bike was okay.  But...  There were some positives and some negatives about riding at this time of day.

Positives

*  The air was beautiful.  Crisp and clean.  It was about 17 degrees which was lovely for a ride.

*  No traffic on the roads.

*  My exercise for the day is done and the hours after work are now my time.

*  Don't have to ride in 36 degree heat.

Negatives

*  I am not quite awake when I head out.  I got up at 5, had a glass of milk for some calories, some water, got changed, and was on the road by 5.20am.  I can not eat that early so a glass of milk is all I can manage, and it probably wasn't enough as my energy was lagging.

*  Too dark to ride on the bike paths until I was about half way through the ride so I had to stick to streets (I won't ride on bike paths when it is dark - too dangerous)

*  I struggled to get my HR up.  Now I am not sure if this was because I wasn't fully awake, or because I hadn't eaten, or because it had only been 11 hours since last nights run and I still wasn't recovered.  But I did 3kms less than I normally would in that time and my AHR was only 130 and it is normally around the 145-150 mark.

So I guess there is good and bad to it.  In saying that, doing a slower ride/run at 5am is better than getting to 5pm and being so drained from the heat that I do nothing.  And who knows, maybe as I get used to it I will improve.

As for my muscles today, they feel ok.  A bit fatigued, but ok.  That bath really worked wonders last night.  Tomorrow is my rest day - YAY! - so hopefully by Saturday morning when I have a 1 hour walk planned, they will be back to normal.

xox

Muscle Soreness

Now that I am back into the swing of things with my training, I am discovering one nasty little side effect of it all - muscle soreness. 

Last night my ride to the chiropractor was HARD.  It is actually 17kms, and I had 50 mins to make the trip (which includes around 10-12 sets of traffic lights), which is a fast speed for me.  What I hadn't factored in to the equation was the strong head winds coming off the ocean.  OMG I thought I was going to die.  I couldn't miss my appointment as my hip has been playing up causing pain in my left leg, so I just had to suck it up.

By the time I got there (about 3 minutes late, not too bad) I was completely buggered.  The good thing was that my muscles were so warm that Mark was able to do my adjustments quite easily and I do feel a lot better for it.

But by the time I got home the muscle soreness was seeping in.  My legs were already a little sore from Monday nights walk/run and the hard ride just added to that.  I actually had trouble sleeping last night from the stiffness in my legs.  They are a little easier this morning, but still quite stiff.

I am hoping that this is just because I am starting the training and the soreness will eventually become a thing of the past.  If not, I will need to find a way to deal with it.  I have a walk/run tonight that I will be doing no matter what.  Maybe I will have a hot bath after to try and get some of the stiffness out of them.

Does anyone have any good tips for dealing with or reducing muscle soreness?  I would love to hear them.

xox

Healthy Habit a Week Challenge

I got this idea from the Escape from Obesity blog. And I love it! Basically you pick one new healthy habit to cultivate each week for a set period (I am going for 10 weeks). At the end of the 10 weeks you should have 10 brand new healthy habits that will hopefully stay with you.

My first weeks healthy habit is to drink at least 1.5L of water a day. If I have Monday as a start day I am doing well already, as I drank 2.25L yesterday, and am nearly through my first litre for today.

Week 2 I think I will work on getting my 2 pieces of fruit a day as this is something I really struggle with. After that – who knows! I will sit down on the weekend and try and work out what other healthy habits I want to become part of my life.

xox

Protein for Vegetarians

This is a topic I have been giving a lot of thought to lately. I thought I was doing okay with the protein, but since I have started logging my calories again and paying attention to my nutrients, I am realising that I am not doing as well as I could be.

My biggest falling down is lunch at work. We only have a small fridge for 4 staff, and we have a microwave, but nothing else I can use to cook or prepare food. I have been having fruit & yogurt, which is great, but where’s the protein? Then I am exhausted by the end of the day when I need to get out and do my exercise.

What I am thinking of doing is a big cook up this weekend. Make lots of bean and legume dishes which I can freeze, and bring in to be zapped at lunch.

However I do like cold lunches sometimes so I need to give this a lot more thought. Any suggestions on how I can incorporate protein into a cold lunch would be greatly appreciated.

xox

Daily Ramblings

The first few days of this year have been really nice and relaxing.  I have spent time with friends, had lots of good food, relaxed, and just chilled out.  Tomorrow I am back to work, so 'real life' will begin again.  I have not been so good with my training plan this week.  I missed 3 of the 6 sessions, which is not good enough.  But hopefully being back into the routine of work this week will also put me back into the routine of exercise.

Tonight I made Grilled Polenta to have with dinner.  It was really yummy.  I have had it once before at Mum's house, but it was ages ago.  We weren't very hungry so we just had it on it's own, but it would be great as a side with something else.  Even just a bowl of mixed veg.

This morning I sat down and wrotre out some Operation Beautiful Post Its. 

I have done 10 of them and they are stuck in my diary which is always with me.  The plan is to put them up in Ladies Rooms as I visit them, and I also want to put some in diet and self-help books in the library next time I go.  I haven't actually put any of these up yet, so I am excited to be able to do this.  I just hope that they reach some people who need to read it.  The messages I put are:

Beautiful = YOU

You are BEAUTIFUL. Just as you are.

You are BEAUTIFUL.  Believe it.  Own It.  Because it is TRUTH.

SMILE!  Because you are BEAUTIFUL.  And your smile lights up the room.

You are a Beautiful person.  INSIDE & OUT.  Never forget it.

That's it from me for now.  I hope everyone is having a great start to the new year.

xox

10 For 10

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone's New Years Celebrations were fun, and safe, and that you saw in the new year with those you loved.  We had a quiet one at home.  Just the 2 of us.  It was lovely. 

So, now that 2010 is upon us it is time for the goals for the year.  Ten Goals for 2010.  Before I started writing this goal list I decided to review my goals for 2009.  Of course, first I had to find them.  It took quite a while, but I did find them.  Did I achieve any of them?  No.  Why not?  Because after January 1 I never looked at them again. 

So this year I will be coming back to them each month to track my progress.  Because I plan on making 2010 not only happy, but successful as well.

So here it is.  My....
10 for 10

1) Run/walk the Mothers Day Classic in May
This is a 4km charity walk/run. I want to be able to run as much of it as possible.

2) Ride at least 3000kms
In 2009 I got to nearly 2000kms, and that was with several months of hardly any riding. So I am determined to get to the 3000 mark this year

3) Finish the knitted blankets
I started making knitted lap rugs for me and Ross when he got sick in May. I am only about half way through, but plan on getting them done in time to use this winter.  I need to knit 96 squares, then put them together.  So far I have done 44 squares.

4) Lose 30 kilos
This is around what I gained back this year. Thankfully it is not all that I lost, but it is way too much. By 2011 it needs to be gone.

5) Be in a financial position to sponsor a World Vision child
I have always wanted to do this. And this is the year I WILL be able to.

6) Send at least one childrens story to a publisher
I have a few, but none quite ready to go. This year, one will go, no matter how scary it is to put myself in a position where my work will be rejected…

7) Run/walk the 12 km at the City-Bay in September
But hopefully run most of it.

8) Start my novel
I have done so much planning for the novel, so it is time to start the actual writing part.

9) Go on an overnight hike (first stage of Heyson if funds permit)
Ross & I really want to walk the Heyson Trail. We figure we can do it in stages of about 5-6 days and although it will take years to complete, one day we will have done the whole the thing. Hopefully this year we can do the first stage of Blinman to Hawker. If not, we will just do a one night hike somewhere local.

10) Keep in touch with my interstate friends in the old fashioned way - by writing actual letters with pen and paper.
I used to love writing letters. I had so many penpals. But electronic media has stopped this. This year I am going back to the pen and paper.  Why?  Because it is personal and because I can.

So there you have it.  My 10 for 10.  What are your goals for 2010???

xox