Extended Birthday Celebrations

Nicole, Craig Harper & Me - Maroochydore

Leisa, Lee-Ann & Me at Cactus Jacks

Little Miss Phil in her chinese princess get-up




Wendy House (nee Swansson) & Me

Finally, my birthday celebrations are over, and I can begin to concentrate again on my training and (especially) nutrition. Before Friday I finally got in under 59kgs (just). I think it will take me a good week to get back under. Though I was surprised how little I put on over the three days, so maybe it won't take as long as I think.

Last week which officially was my birthday on 3rd February, I met up with Liz for a review of where I was at in my training and to update my program, after coming out of a recovery period which took 3 weeks! Geez! Did I do a good job of smashing myself or what? It kinda took me by surprise. But being the 'all or nothing' kinda gal, I suppose it shouldn't (come as a surprise).

Liz was happy with my progress (I think). Especially in relation to me activating certain muscles, especiallly the glutes. A definite improvement in that area. So now that I've got those firing better, it seems that I now need to work on other areas, in addition to continuing to improve the activation and strengthening of the glutes.

We've ascertained that I'm very hamstring and lower back dominant, hence my hammies and lower back getting very sore and tight when I'm very fatigued. So in this program I'm concentrating heavily on activating the glutes, before recruiting my hamstrings, and relying on my glutes more. I'll also be working on using my quads more too, which don't get stimulated enough due to the dominance of my hamstrings. So I'm quite excited, because I'd love to have bigger quads and have what bodybuilders call a 'sweep'. Eek...I think that's right??? And of course, to use my muscles correctly to improve my overall strength and performance is right up there with my priorities.

Meriza Deguzman

On Friday (4th Feb), it was dinner with my school friends at Cactus Jack at Logan Hyperdome. Wendy came a bit later, and Terasa could only drop in for 5mins due to family health concerns, so it was a little quieter than usual. But life happens, and we ended up skipping the movies, and having a late coffee with Wendy instead, which was lovely.

Oh...before dinner on the Friday, I did coffee and lunch (just me) with Wendy. I haven't seen her for awhile and she was down from Bauple, so we took the opportunity to have a good chin wag. She gave me some great advice on raising girls too. Wendy has made some life changing decisions in the last couple of years and she's rediscovering herself in a big way! I've lent her a couple of books recently, of which one was Fatitude by Craig Harper. She said it had quite a significant effect on her and she started putting things into action.

I find it fascinating how just the little things we do can have such a profound effect on people.

Wendy said that in one of the books I lent her, she found a bookmark which I'd scribbled the website url for Sweet Poison, in relation to the perils of sugar. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Wendy had looked up the site, bought both books and immediately began to apply the recommendations in the second book. She, in a very short period of time lost 10kgs, just by making a small, but significant change to her diet! I was delighted to see how excited she was and what discoveries she had made about her health and what she was capable of achieving through applied knowledge.

And lastly...the weekend just gone, AW and I headed up to Maroochydore on Friday and stayed at Novotel Twin Waters. The weather was glorious, and we managed to get in a quick swim in the surf in the afternoon. We had dinner at the resort, and then I choofed off to have coffee with CH and Nicole. I was surprised to find that hardly anyone showed up, but then again, I realised that people were probably travelling from some distance too. It was nice though to be able to chat in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Saturday saw me attending Craig Harper's workshop, 'Stop F*cking Around'. The idea was that it would help me refocus after my recovery and give me some needed inspiration to move me towards my ultimate goal. I needed some 'headspace' therapy in big picture thinking.

I wasn't there about the exercise or nutrition, and it was stuff I knew already. Admittedly, it didn't have the desired effect I was looking for. However, surprisingly it helped me to reflect on other areas of my life and helped clarify what I need to do in those areas, which the byproduct will be more time to concentrate on my training fitness. It did also bring to light areas which I've been in denial about, and that I still need to be a bit more brutal about where and how I spend my time and what are truly my priorities.

And also, the bonus of just a really relaxed weekend of just going with the flow and spending some quality time with AW was just so welcomed. My only regret was that I couldn't spend more time at the beach, though I did manage to fit in a quick swim after the workshop on Saturday at Maroochydore. The weather was spectacular and the waves were calling to me all day, in that conference room overlooking the water. I just had to get in a swim! A refreshing end to a good day.

Saturday night we went to Mooloolaba for dinner, and I had a delicious pizza at some italian restaurant on the esplanade. Sunday we checked out and headed up to Montville and AW and I parked ourselves at Poets Corner for the next three hours. So it was coffee and morning tea over the paper and me reading CH's book, surprisingly titled 'Stop F*cking Around' and reviewing my notes, doing alot of contemplation and making a start to my action plan. We then stayed for lunch, had a bit of wander through the shops, bought some little things for Philomena and headed off again.

AW dropped me off at my Leisa's place in Sandgate where she was having a 'homeware' party, so caught up with the girls again. AW then headed off to do his 'Chocolat' class at Deagon, which was his chrissy present.

The weekend was topped off with picking up Philomena from my besties place (Cheryl). She had had an adventurous weekend herself, as they'd been in Toowoomba over the weekend, and had spent Sunday in Grantham, helping clean mud out of people's houses and doing a bit of visiting. Philomena had a ball, kept everyone entertained and her most memorable recollection of the day was that 'everyone was living in their sheds, and the chooks kept coming in and out as they pleased, because they had no houses (she was talking about the chooks...not the people... :P)'.

Phew! What a weekend!

Today it was back to my new program, and I love starting the week with GoCycle with the awesome Craig. This morning though, I was still feeling a little seedy from the 'not-so-clean' food, and spent alot of the time wondering whether I was going to throw up. I'd jogged to the gym before the cycle class and pushed myself pretty hard. I ended up burning 397 calories in 51mins (less warm-up), which is a record for me! Then it was a 5 min break before throwing some weights around in the gym, and I then walked home. What an awesome start to the week!

So there you have it. If you're wondering about Little Miss Phil's picky, I just threw that one it cause she's cute. :)