Monthly Archive for August, 2009

And the winner is…

Published on August 28, 2009 in Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Catherine Conron!  Here’s Catherine’s submission.  Now, I am not saying I agree with it or disagree with it, but I think it’s great that Catherine has thought about it and found something that works for HER.  This may be a really good way for some people to approach a maintenance phase, if they feel ‘deprived’ in any way, shape or form:

PLAN A TREAT EVERY SINGLE DAY….every night after dinner, no matter how full I feel, I treat myself to a Low Carb Chocolate Protein Bar and a green tea. I put the bar in the freezer for hours beforehand so the bar lasts for ages and it is my “dessert” that doesn’t do too much damage. The protein late at night helps stabilise the blood sugars overnight, the green tea gives a slight rise in metabolism (as well as antioxidants) and I feel like I’m being very wicked! sometimes the thought of my treat at night is the only thing that stops me from potential binges during the day.

Congratulations Catherine, please email me your postal address for your free tub of MRM Whey Pumped!  All the entries were great, all fantastic words of wisdom and advice, and I hope that those reading got something out of them.  Thanks girls.

Well I did a great leg sesh today, I don’t want to write it out because it’s in Jen’s next program.  42 mins of high intensity stuff, including some plyos, which I love.  I procrastinated too long before missing my cardio session this morning but I did make up for it with that one I must say.  I am in need of a bit of a massage though, I have been a bit slack with my stretching and my medial hamstring, glute and groin is starting to play up again.

Tomorrow I’m off to visit hubby in Swan Hill.  He’s bored and needs some company :)   Don’t blame him, not the most exciting place to be for 2 weeks I wouldn’t think.  I will be there for a few days and so will be visiting the gym of course. 

Poor Rexy, he’s an indoor cat but goes out in the courtyard when I let him out.  Usually for about 10 mins max and he’s had enough.  Today he has his eye on a lizard or something and so was quite happy to stay longer.  I did tell  him to come in or he would get left out there – but he didn’t listen.  Of course I forgot about him when I went upstairs and the poor bugger must have been out there nearly an hour and a half!  He was rather distressed when I went downstairs - sitting at the door, feeling very forgotten.

I had the longest coughing attack in the world today.  I thought I may have had to go to emergency, I just couldn’t stop and it was getting rather hard to breathe.   My eyes were watering and I almost threw up!

Kristin sent me this lovely message this morning – I am sooooooooooo proud of what she has achieved and how determined and driven she is.  A great example for all those budding fitness/figure enthusiasts out there!

“You rock and I really could not have done this at all without you…you have been a pillar of strength for me, a wealth of knowledge and you have helped me get to this point and I know you will help me go further.  Seriously brings a tear to my eye thinking about how much help you have given me, I really would be lost without you so I am so grateful for everything you have done thus far, I really am, I wish I could give you a big hug right now to say thanks XOXOXO”

So we both had a big sook after that.  How nice is that?  I hope that doesn’t embarrass you too much Kristin, but I am so chuffed you said all that nice stuff :)

On that note, I think I shall go and take a shower and then I have to go and do a couple of jobs in town.  Have a wonderful weekend people.

Day 1 of serious

Published on August 24, 2009 in Uncategorized. 5 Comments

Thanks for your comments ladies on my last post.  And thanks so far for all the great training advice and affirmations – keep ’em coming!

 

So today was my first day of getting serious again.  Now, like most people I feel like I’m starting from scratch a bit – no matter how fit you have been, if you haven’t been hitting it that hard for awhile you still feel somewhat of a beginner.  So, today my one and only goal was to do 2 sessions.  A cardio and a weights session.  I am on the back end of my flu thingy and I’m not 100% so I decided just to get outside and walk.  Now, I am not a big fan of walking for exercise purposes, I just find it too boring around here, so I like to have a purpose when I walk.  I want to be going somewhere for a reason!  Decided to walk to the supermarket and check out the fish situation – as you know I like to buy my fish when it’s on special so thought I would suss it out.  If it was on special, I’d walk back home, get my purse and backpack, walk back, purchase and walk home again.  So, that’s what I did!  Took me 40 mins all up and I actually accomplished two things at once.

 

 Side note: why do people at the smoking counter get served before everyone else waiting in line at the supermarket? Doesn’t seem right. Felt like a nap around 1ish but decided instead to go to the gym.  Glad I did, as I didn’t end up having a nap at all!  I trained back, shoulders and abs.  Kristin and I worked together on a program recently for a client, a personal trainer in London (hi Jen!) and when it was all done I really liked the look of it so I’m giving it a go.  I did chest and arms a couple of days ago and when I got back I emailed Kristin to change one of the triceps exercises as I felt the original exercise interfered with the intensity of the workout.  I am looking forward to the leg day as this is more of a conditioning type workout as Jen has the strength of an ox and has been lifting some pretty heavy weights, and is a bit concerned that her legs have overdeveloped – so I think a change in the way she trains her legs is in order.

Diet today:

Oats, bran, cottage cheese

Post workout shake – Myoplex Lite, with some milk

BBQ chook (with a little bit of skin!) 100g, veggies, home made chips, avocado, pesto, a little feta

cottage cheese, strawberries, natural low fat yoghurt, sugar free syrup

Only 4 meals today, bit chockas from pizza last night!  Whoops. 

Off to take my nighttime flu drugs.  My cough is not getting much better, not sure what is going on there.  I have no other symptoms but an asthma-ish type cough.

(Tried to fix up the paragraphs but it’s not working!)

I forgot my giveaway!

Published on August 23, 2009 in Uncategorized. 9 Comments

I mentioned previously I had a tub of yummy chocolate MRM Whey Pumped (now called All Natural Whey) to give away next time.

So I’d like you to share with me your most valuable piece of weight loss or fitness advice.  For instance you probably all know mine – consistency and patience!!

You don’t have to be a client, just send your comment via the blog and tell us about your favourite gem of advice, or, your favourite affirmation/quote etc.

A bit crook

Published on August 23, 2009 in sick. 2 Comments

The dreaded lurgy has caught up with me.  For someone who doesn’t get sick very often, lately I’m not doing a bad job of it.  Luckily so far I have managed to keep it under control though – it started one night with a cough, and that’s all I’ve really had, apart from being tired and a bit spacey.  The first night I slept from 8pm to 8am!!  Then back to bed at 10am for another hour and a half!  Big believer in lots of rest if you can!  It hasn’t become any worse, however the cough got better but has come back a bit so I need to get rid of that. 

Thanks everyone for the congratulations re the shortlisting in the Business Awards, it is pretty exciting and I am looking forward to going down to Melbourne in a couple of weeks.  I have booked my trip and will also catch up with Women’s Health & Fitness mag to discuss my advertising campaign which is up for renewal.

Today I need to cast my eye over my updated website which came through on Friday, so that we can get that launched!  It won’t be a lot different yet, just more modernised

Training – I have sort of lost my way I think and I don’t particularly like just winging it.  It’s not that it’s not getting done, it just feels like there is no ‘purpose’.   I’m a bit over that feeling so today I’m going to sort out a proper program, including diet, and get to it.  Basically, because I sit at a desk all day and am not particularly active, I have discovered that to stay in great shape I need to train 2 x day like when I was preparing for my comp.  Of course that is not always feasible.  I mean, you make an exception when you have a goal you want to reach, but for everyday life, it’s a tough ask.  Not impossible however.  It’s interesting though, that I’m able to stay within about 3-4kg of my week prior to comp weight by just weight training and doing the odd cardio session – basically halving my training volume.  So, you ask yourself is it worth it to make that step from being in pretty good shape, to being in really great shape?  Sometimes it’s worth it, but most times it’s not.  Most times it’s just not liveable on a day to day basis.  You can’t live long term like you do when you are in comp preparation.  Anyway, the point of my dribble is that you go through stages – sometimes it’s worth the extra effort, sometimes it’s not, you just have to figure out where you are at and what you are happy with at the time.  I’ve been happy to be active 1 x day and do minimal cardio for 3 months after my comp, but now I’m ready to step it up again.  I realise it’s not practical to be able to do it all the time that’s all and it’s important you don’t get too down on yourself for taking it a bit easier every now and then.  Your body (and mind) needs it sometimes.  Anyone else have any insight into this?

Well I think I might down some cough medicine and hit the sack again.  I did train yesterday, but think I might give it a miss today to try and nip this thing in the bud.  Damien is off again tomorrow, bit closer to home this time so I might take a trip next weekend to visit.

Go, Go, IBO!

Published on August 16, 2009 in Uncategorized. 8 Comments

I have some very exciting news for business – I’ve been shortlisted for an interview in Melbourne for the Telstra Business Women’s Awards, in the Innovation category!  We were one of 6 businesses shortlisted for Victoria, out of over 500 nationally.  How awesome is that!  I’m very stoked of course.  The application was pretty tough going but it was an interesting exercise and so far very worth it!  So, I will head down there on September 7 to be interviewed by 2 judges, and, then see if we have made the state finals!  Cross fingers for us :)

I just finished up a 30 minute Skype session with a client – this is something new, I haven’t done it before and I felt it really worked well.  We ironed out a few issues she was having with a couple of exercises, we personalized the meal program a little more by making the meals a little more enticing for her, and we chatted about goals, the importance of fat in the diet etc.  It may be something I look at bringing in as a regular option for clients if they feel they could do with some one on one ‘chat’ time.

It’s certainly been a mad few weeks here at IBO, I think the warm weather (and the opportunity to win $5000!) has brought everyone out of the woodwork!  We’ve had some fantastic transformations, but the last 3 unfortunately want to remain anonymous so we can’t share their fab results with you.

I trained legs today – I’ve gone back to a previous program which is a 4 day upper/lower split.  My heart rate was getting up to the 160’s during my lateral squats and lumberjack squats.  It was a pretty simple workout:

DB Bulgarian Split Squat – 3 sets

DB Walking Lunge – 4 sets

BB Lateral Squat – 2 sets

Lumberjack Squat – 3 sets

That was meant to be it but I was done in 20 mins so I figured I would do a bit more.  Did some ab wheel rollouts, followed by Knee Extensions and Jump Squats as a tri set.  Finished off with a little more ab work.

We have the folks for dinner tonight, having a lamb roast.  Damien is back in town which of course is nice.  We went out for dinner on Friday night to Seasons – I had a bit of a carb/fat frenzy – turkish bread smothered in cheese, and duck ravioli in some cheesy kind of sauce.  They also gave us a try of their pumpkin and gorgonzola tart which was lovely.

Well, I need to go and order some more stevia products and pudding to keep my inventory up.  I was hoping to see my new website on Friday but did not hear from my web people so not sure what is going on there.

Oh, re the defamatory comments on the other forum I discovered, we were able to have the offending post removed by the forum moderators so I’m glad about that.

Jude, I’ve been using the Damascan Rose oil morning AND night (that’s how dehydrated my skin is) and it’s much improved already.  How nice does it smell!

Have a fantastic week people.  Next edition I have a tub of Whey Pumped (All Natural Whey) chocolate protein to give away.

How do you make your healthy food interesting?

Published on August 11, 2009 in food. 2 Comments

I am actually feeling quite unmotivated for training recently.   Yes I go through it too!  I don’t particularly like it!  My workouts are only taking 20-30 mins because I’m training 5 x week and just one muscle group (apart from arms which I combine with some plymetrics).  I think I may have to change back to a different split.   I am definitely struggling with the cardio side of things at present.  I miss having a goal (like a competition), but that’s not on the cards in the near future.

Watched Farmer Wants a Wife again last night.  Go Russell.  I wouldn’t have appreciated the first date being white water rafting though I must say.  I would have been ditched already.  One of the girls he has invited back to the farm is from here – lucky her!  And of course Nate the Bullrider – well Nate is actually a previous client of Ideal Bodies Online, and previous partner of one of our former staff members.  So I’m watching with great interest.

Thanks so much to everyone who emailed or commented – about the crappy comments made on a public diet forum, and about my dry skin problem!   I immediately went and ordered some of the Aesop Damascan Rose oil that Jude recommended.  I got it today already!  I had numerous other recommendations after receiving Jude’s so I will keep those on file for future reference!  Thanks again for taking the time to let me know your thoughts, it was very helpful.  And for your support of Ideal Bodies Online!

I just finished a really nice dinner of chicken, on top of steamed broccolini, home grown (not at my house!) baby silverbeet and a 1/3 pack of broc/peas/corn/beans.  My mum bought me some realy nice mango chili chutney on her trip to WA, so I topped the chicken with a spoon of that, and a sprinkle of crumbled feta cheese, and mixed a teaspoon of basil pesto into my veggies.  That’s all I need to do to keep my food interesting off season.  Tell me, how do you keep your healthy food ‘interesting’?

Kristin sent me some new pics today and I must say she is looking really good at 6 weeks out.  I’m very proud of her dedication and commitment!  She is definitely a dynamo.  We changed her diet a little bit today, for the next week so we’ll see how that goes.  I hope to be able to go and watch the comp, but at the moment everything is depending on baby making activities!  Damien being away is not conducive to good baby making conditions.  But he’s coming home soon, if only for a week.  I will have to go with him next time, wherever that’s going to be.

I’m watching America’s Next Top Model – oh my, there are weird and wonderful people on this show.   After this I’ll head to bed and read my trashy novel.  It’s been a long day what can I say.

Oh must let you know that we just announced (internally) our new membership option for clients.  Have been inundated with interest!  Perfect for those who are fairly comfortable with their training and don’t need a lot of support – and great value.

Getting old sux

Published on August 7, 2009 in Uncategorized. 6 Comments

august-3-2009.jpg

It’s been awhile between posts again.  How cute is my Rexy?  He is the only one keeping me company these days.

Training was going well until I injured my shoulder again.  I so am hopeless at taking it easy in the gym!  I was hanging (stretching) from the smith machine bar and decided to pull myself up.  I did it really easily which prompted me to think, hmm, I must try some wide grip overhand pullups sometime soon.  I have been doing chin ups but haven’t attempted wide grips for a long time.   Last time I think I managed one solitary pull up.  Anyway, I knew I shouldn’t have attempted them, I actually said that to myself before I did them!  But, like I said, I’m useless at common sense sometimes.  The good news was I did 4 unassisted wide grip overhand pull ups – for 2 sets.  Then, I felt a twinge!  Luckily I had enough brains to stop then and not try and eek out another rep or another set.  This time I felt it more in my pec, along my clavicle.  I knew my chiro would be very unimpressed with me!  I was lucky to be able to get in to see him the next day.  So he worked his magic again, and made it very clear that I should TAKE IT EASY in the gym until early next week.  No overhead stuff, and nothing heavy!  And to make it worse I had some knee pain which he managed to make even more painful for a short time – and so not allowed to do full squats or lunges.  I don’t wanna be a half rep Harry!!   Getting old sux, I’m fighting injury niggles every time I train.  Lucky I’m good at improvising.

So, I just did some cardio yesterday and today I trained chest.  I tried to keep it light(ish)!! 

Been fossicking around the net tonight because I’m bored.  It’s very interesting what you get when you put your own name into a search engine.  I managed to find a diet forum and read the thread with interest.  By the end I was fuming, and sent the link to Kristin, who was even more angry than me I think!  Someone (who is now a client and loving the results she’s getting) had asked about IBO, and there were a few replies, but the one that got me was one saying:

wouldn’t pay big bucks for an online program. You’re getting a cookie-cutter diet and training regime the same as everyone else who is paying the money. Your individual requirements, goals etc aren’t taken into consideration. Ther is nothing individual about them. Ultimatley, if you don’t have the jutzpah to be motivated and do it on your own to begin with – a pricey online program wont magically transform you into a ball of enthusiasm.

The information you will get will be no different than i’ve no doubt you know anyway – eat right and train.

And that’ll be $800 thanks.

Well YES I most certainly do take offense to someone talking crap about my business in a public forum!  They obviously have no clue about what we offer.  Kristin was mega pee’d off when I showed her (being the one that spends hours poring over the questionnaires and programs!).

My hubby is away :(   I’m a bit over it now, it’s been nearly two weeks, and one still to go!  Not good baby making conditions.

Anybody got any suggestions for a really hydrating moisturiser?  My skin is sooooooo dry it’s not funny.  I have to keep reapplying, it just soaks it in.  I was using Dr Grandels hydro lipid range and this was great.  I need to buy some more but I have to get it from the US.  It is so thick but it has to be!  Most products that are advertised for dry/dehydrated skin are nowhere near moisturising enough for me.  The other option is to move to Qld where the moisture in the air will help my dry skin :)   Not so good for the hair do though.

Nothing much planned for the weekend.  I need to write an article for Women’s Health & Fitness, but other than that, just a few things workwise to tidy up and that’s it! 

I bought a trashy Jackie Collins novel a little while back, have started to read it, had forgotten how bad they were :)   I’m still reading so it can’t be too terrible.  On that note I think I will head up to bed and read some more trash!  Have a lovely weekend people.