Smart foods

Our local University has a 'smart foods centre' of research and they are always undertaking interesting trials. The latest one they are recruiting for is to determine the value of dietary fats as part of a weight loss program.
I've put my name down - how interesting!!

Blink and it's Friday again

It appears that time is just going way too fast these days. I feel as though I am just rushing from one thing to another, without time to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Yeah yeah. Whatever!

All totally self inflicted of course.

I am sure I'll slow down soon enough.

On another note, I subscribe to a lot of fitness emails, and one thing that keeps creeping in to the subject lines is 'the great cardio debate'. It's an interesting topic, and obviously one that requires constant regurgitation, because the masses will probably go to their graves believing that more constant steady state cardio is the only way to lose weight.

If I think back to the first time i did Body for Life, I lost around 12-14 kilos, and I do recall the first 4 weeks was just getting out and walking because I'd become a bit of a lazy slug. The last 12 weeks was definitely into the sprint intervals!
..and they were only 20 minutes three times a week. Not much really. I think that was the thing I loved so much about the Body for Life concept. Not only was it fairly easy to fit in - 40 minutes of weights x 3 a week, and 20 minutes of cardio x 3 a week, but... it worked.
I think right now, I could do with a B4L revisit - just to regain some control and structure and make myself set more goals and go all out to achieve them. I've just been spinning my wheels for too long this year allowing other things to take priority.


This weekend I'm off to another dog show with Miss Jemima!

How gorgeous is this?

Several years ago a woman found a malnourished lion cub in the Jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. She made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. This is the video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time.

Click on the link to the website below.

Netball Grand final

Well, last night we made it to the Grand Final, and then proceeded to have the hardest 32 minute workout of our lives!
Sadly, we lost by 5 goald - 26-21, but given they had a couple of apparently new 'pro' ring-ins we thought we did pretty well.
I kept that miniature (think low centre of gravity - therefore easy to zip around) WA in good defence, and we did score some goals off of some of my intercepts, so I was pleased...especially when they are all so much younger than me! The WA I was defending was about 20 and still at Uni...

So where did the last two weeks go???

*blink* and they're gone.
there's been a Jemima injury - which I was scared was a cruciate ligament, but luckily she's been given the all clear... although we had to keep her quiet for a whole week. This required sedation. BUT Jemima refused to be sedated...well, she just fought it every step of the way. Poor thing, I think she had a bad acid trip! She wobbled up to the bench and woofed at my handbag... god only knows that the damn handbag was saying to her.

I had to go to a work conference - which finished with a team building exercise - based on the Amazing Race concept. Except we just had to identify 5 key behaviours that we felt were necessary for all of us to function effectively within the team.
Picture this - one of the behaviours was 'good listening skills'. One of the girls and I were pulling together the images to put into the presentation, and others were writing the words for each of the behaviours. We got to the 'listening' part of the preso - and kept asking, then shouting to be heard for 'who was writing the listening words'... Do I need to say anymore? Talk about a bloody disfunctional unit. Clearly needs a $hitload of work to make that an effective team unit.

So glad to be home!!

I did run a 'bootcamp' session for a few of the girls one morning though in the Domain, so that was good!

What a perfect morning

Such a perfect morning this morning. Jemima and I headed down to the beach...
WOOF EVERYONE, WE'RE HERE :-)
Not a soul on the beach, we had it to ourselves for the first 20 minutes - just perfect to allow a rambunctious puppy some much needed energy burning activity (with no poor unsuspecting victims around). She raced across what she thought was wet sand to head to the water, and SPLASH! straight in a hole.
Laughter is the best way to start the day.
We're so lucky to live here...

Kado

Gosh, since I've been doing so much with young Jemima, poor Kado is obviously feeling a tad neglected.
I should start thinking about competing again....
Have only just started jumping again for the first time in over a year.... takes a while to get that confidence back when you haven't done it for a while!
Maybe I should go here:
http://www2b.abc.net.au/abcdiary/event.asp?id=95522&display=fromtoday&gatewayid=2&presdir=local%2Fillawarra&category=illawarra&PageRec=10

that time of year...

It's fast approaching that time of year when my Mum died. She died 3 years ago on the 19th.
This is where I scattered 1/2 of her ashes (Sandon Point)

Who framed Dirk the fluffy dog?

Jemima & the cushion fetish...

What?

A brief update

Well, things have been rolling along here in attitude land. I haven't been for a run for 2 weeks now - the awful tickling cough has prevailed, and now I've got funky eyes happening. I have a full day of meetings in Sydney tomorrow so I will be leaving home at 6am. Yes. That's leaving home at 6am. I don't feel I'll be up at 4am for a workout somehow, so I'll have to try and fit one in when I get home about 7pm. Geez. Just the thought of it, if only for one day, makes me shudder with dread. Oh well, such is life.

So, Wednesday shall mark the return of the cardio session, with Thursday being another 'buddy' workout.

Dear husband's ankle is finally returning to normal - still a bit sore though - and I am damn sure it was not gout. I reckon he's just strained the darn thing, but at least it's making him want me to put together a workout program for him, and make him drink more water.
Small steps. At least now he can get into a workout, we can do the much awaited video session.... then I can finally complete my Cert III/IV.

We went to an all day family barbeque on Saturday in the Blue Mountains, and left puppy safely ensconced in the backyard... or so we thought. When we returned home, and I put the key to the lock... I heard the old familiar sound of.. a dog inside..home..alone.... I opened the door with dread..and saw a sea of foam.

Sitting in the middle of this sea of foam was a stuffed dog - that we named "Dirk" - our friends gave him to us as the house was so empty and bereft of canine companions for a while. Either Dirk was a very naughty boy while we were out, or ..he was framed by one Miss Jemima.
I'll let you be the judge of who you think chewed the cushion. Oh, and it was only a cushion, not the lounge as we had feared!!!

But every door in our home was open so she had been able to go everywhere, and she'd gotten Dirk off of a chair in our bedroom, so she could really have had a field day. Instead she just grabbed everything together, sat Dirk in the middle of it all, grabbed her bone inside and chewed on the bone once she'd finished with the cushion.
Thank heaven for small mercies!!!!!!

Fitness Expo & other waffle

Well, workouts this week have been fairly low key given my flu - I have been walking the puppy each morning (except on Monday when I stayed in bed and wallowed) because dear husband apparently but not conclusively has gout...GOUT?!! this boy is lean, yup drinks a beer each night, but we eat pretty darn well, he tends to eat a little less well and his exercise has been a little lax of late, but he woke up with a sore foot, then two days later the ankle just swelled. Dr said he thought it was gout, and gave him heavy artillery arthritis meds - after doing xrays which showed his joints look wonderful.

So, a week later (of eating bland, low purine and no alcohol at all) and ankle still swollen to buggery, no relief. He goes back to doc and doc very surprised that ankle still so swollen, orders him off the meds immediately...and takes blood. Now he has to go back on Sunday.

So I have had to be superwoman, working, cooking, cleaning, shopping, putting groceries away, walking puppy, being sick, trying to do some workouts...

Thank god I have tomorrow off...which brings me to the Fitness Expo at Darling Harbour, which is where i am going to check out all the great things tomorrow on trade day! Yeehaa. I shall hit the Reebok stand for new shoes - yes, I am so old school with my Reeboks, but...they are the only ones that fit my feet properly, and don't cause any imbalance issues further up the legs. My Asics that everyone RAVED about caused my Rectus Femoris muscles such great issues that I had to throw them away! The minute I swapped them back for the Reeboks it was like instant heaven on my feet. But, I guess, horses for courses! I shall also check out the Lorna Jane stand.

Oh, I'm sick of the rain. AGAIN.

uggg

swollen glands - check
sore throat that feels like I've been gargling razor blades - check
fever & chills - check

I think I have the lurgy.
Nothing like a nice flu dose to stop you in your tracks.

What a smart puppy...

how cute is this? we had a little cute mat that we used to have in Jemima's bed, but it's a little small now, so my husband's been using it to make her sit on in the dining room, to keep her out of the kitchen while we cook etc.
Anyhow, last night, it was in the back room, and we sat at the table to eat dinner. Jemima goes racing out to the back room, and drags her mat beside the table, then sits on it.
Awwwwwww
she's so cute
she's so smart

a beautiful morning, and down to the beach

well, it was gorgeous down the beach this morning. Low tide too - always makes me smile!
We managed to get a warmup walk then jog in, some sprints & stairs and boxing.
Nice start to the day.
Now, it's back to work. Down to earth with a THUD!

Not the sort of thing I usually write about, but....

it's newsy so... what the heck.
Given all the protests that are going on around the olympic torch relay, and now they are saying it's damaging the whole spirit of the olympics..
Um. Okay, let's look at a few facts here:
a/ Tibet doesn't have oil. Therefore, this is the only way they can viably get the world's attention to what is going on re China / Tibet.
b/ The spirit of the olympics. Is that the 4 year thing that hosts a whole range of drug cheats?
I loved watching the olympics in Sydney - it was a great atmosphere and the whole thing was a great thing to watch close up - although I just went to the eventing cross country and the pure dressage (yawn).
But...the whole thing does get a little marred by all the drug cheats such as Marion Jones et al - although you know at the time of watching them they MUST be on drugs. Think back to Flo Jo..god, she came out of nowhere, then was dead just after 40. Hmmm. I loved getting whiplash watching Ben Johnson in his 100m final... I think he was just a good scapegoat too at that olympics, the same one that Flo Jo was at....
BUT, I do ask the question, what the hell were the IOC thinking in awarding Beijing the olympics??

I do feel sorry for the athletes who are involved in this particular torch relay, and I don't necessarily agree that it should be here that the protests are made, but.. given the circumstances, where is the right place? This is where the world's eyes are watching, and rightly or wrongly, it's the best place for this issue to gain the greatest level of exposure. The IOC should have known better than to award Beijing this olympics, or any, until they stop killing innocent people in the name of communism. Only the IOC are to blame for this olympic torch relay debacle.

So, where to next, IOC... Afghanistan, Iraq or perhaps North Korea?

Yay! I finally got out for my run...

I managed to get out for a half hour walk/jog (90sec jog / 2 min walk) session this morning. Just what I needed to loosen myself up from netball!! Who'd have thought I'd be a bit stiff - the stiffness is really around my lower back - just from twisting/throwing etc I presume, and a bit of glute stiffness too.
All good :-)

I didn't get to ride my horse last night though - it was just miserable and drizzly up there and I didn't have the heart or the impetus to get him unrugged and cool/wet and then stick the darn lights on.

I have Friday off, so will ride then.

When I got back from my run this morning did about 20 minutes of lovely stretching... well, apart from having to contend with Jemima's paws in my stomach/chest etc.

FitcomXpo update

I have to say, the FitcomXpo has been a great investment. I've been watching all sorts of stuff from a variety of business presenters, new workouts, just loads of great info. Given that I just couldn't do Filex this year, the $US199 was a much better investment for me.

If you don't know what it is, FitcomXpo is a virtual fitness expo, featuring over 90 fitness speakers from all aspects of fitness. From running bootcamps, to the latest strategies in nutrition, there's over 100 presentations that I can access in my own time over the next 3 months! Certainly beats not getting in to the things you want to, and idly waiting at the doors for 10 minutes after start just to see if there are no shows to your preferred presentation!

Now it's intermittent HEAVY HEAVY rain

Yup..woke up this morning to the sound of torrential rain...followed by 10 minutes silence..then down it comes again.
So, again, I opted for the safety of - a quick walk with Jemima followed by chest & shoulders.
Hmmmm. tomorrow couch to 5k? I won't hold my breath.
My knees were a tad stiff this morning from launching after the ball. I do forget that a/ I'm 42 and b/ you're not supposed to dive for the ball in netball.
Still, playing WD was a damn good interval sprint workout!

foiled by a thunderstorm

well, my best intentions of my beginning of week 2 / couch to 5km was foiled due to a dastardly thunderstorm - so I did a TT workout.
Tomorrow... I shall resume couch to 5km...just means this weeks' workouts are a little skewiff ..
tonight I debut on the netball court.
God help them all!