Losing Steam...

What a week. Over the past 7 days I've gradually been getting more and more tired. Yesterday I completely crashed and had the worst day in a long time where I was just completely out of synch with the world! Thank God today is a better day. Apart from a good BBB training session on Thursday, I've only done a couple of other lame exercise sessions this week: a swim earlier in the week and a long but not very strenuous walk yesterday. I've been getting increasingly cranky each day as I lose more sleep while Manel's away, and I just generally feeling tired, run down and have horrible bags under my eyes. THANK GOD Manel is coming back tomorrow and I can get my sleep in, share the night feeding AND get back into some decent exercise again. Despite the lag in effort/ability to exercise well (although I do think I have good reason) and the occasional binge of bad food this past week (eg. having Jack twist my arm at the supermarket to buy him tiny teddies having been so well behaved, and then proceed to eat most of them myself...) I still have managed to lose another kilo. Ole! I guess single parenting burns a lot of energy!!! I admire but certainly don't envy those who have to do it full time. Bring on tomorrow and the start of a new and better week with my husband home.

Exercise does help

I was going to jump on this morning to quickly write something, but ran out of time. What I was going to say was that while I wrote yesterday that I was feeling surprisingly fine, this morning I felt a WHOLE lot more exhausted. For some reason Alex wasn't sleeping too well last night, so I ended up bringing him into bed with me (at least I didn't have Jack as well this time) so my sleep wasn't overly restful. Having had almost 2 weeks of bad sleep now and zero sleep-ins, I'm TIRED! All I want to do is ignore the kids, roll over and go back to sleep - NOT to get up, feed the 2 of them, make breakfast for myself, get everyone dressed, Jack off to kindy AND to the park for BBB training by 9:15am. Aghhhhh. Well my wish doesn't match my reality so obviously I got up, got through it all, and went to training....and I feel much better and ready to get back on with the house work! Exciting! Exercise really does make my world go around and keep me energised at the moment. 10 days or so to go until Manel get back and until I can get a sleep in.....

Biz's first entry

OK so it's about time to make my first entry! What to write...how's my week been....??

Well I met up with Jen last Friday to get a few tips on healthier eating habits, to work out a weekly exercise plan, and to go through the results from my body composition scan. The detail of information from the scan was excellent, and knowing now what my ideal body weight should be gives me an idea of where I need to get to - it doesn't seem far fetched and, knowing my body, it's definitely within my idea of normal & healthy AND achievable. Coupling that info with Jen's eating & exercising tips now gives me something tangible to work with. I'll then go for another scan in 6 weeks time to see how my body is reacting and reset goals & strategies, if necessary, according to the results.

It's actually been a great week to start focusing on changing my habits as my husband is currently away for 3 weeks for work, so there's been nobody else to think about (apart from kids of course) or tempt me into old habits!! Fitting in 3 exercise sessions around looking after the 2 kids also hasn't been as challenging as I thought, but has just required a bit of prioritising & planning in advance.

So, after almost a week of eating better (inc a proper breakfast, healthy protein snacks in between main meals etc etc) I feel great. Despite waking up between 2 and 5 times a night at the moment to feed Alex, re-wrap him, plug the dummy back in, help Jack go to the toilet and then to have him creep into my bed to sleep (wriggle about), I actually, surprisingly, feel fine! This healthier lifestyle & taking care of myself definitely has something to it as I've usually struggled A LOT when Manel's gone away in the past. Now to keeping it up...!

Meet our latest inspiring mum: Biz

I would like to introduce you all to Biz, Biz attends my Body Beyond Baby group exercise sessions in Centennial Park and I had mentioned to the mums about contributing towards this blog.  Biz is mum of two and has decided to put her head down and do what it takes in order to reach her goals, juggling children included, and she has agreed to share her journey with you. 

Below Biz tells you a bit about herself......

"Ok, so Jen asked me to contribute towards the Body Beyond Baby blog, someone who's not a PT, just a regular mum so to speak...and I can definitely say I'm not a PT, nor do I find it easy to always keep motivated to exercise and eat well (like those personal trainer types apparently do!) My husband and I used to be fit people, and until only recently, still considered ourselves to be those same fit people...but one day we realised that neither of us have trained in a decent capacity for about 10 or more years...possibly since school for me.

Four and a half months ago I had my second son, Alex (I have another boy, Jack, who's now 3). During this last pregnancy I didn't feel great, and hated getting fat. Shame, I know, as some people love pregnancy...but I put it down to hormones. So, I was busting to have Alex and get back into shape again as soon as possible. The first six weeks following his birth were a killer due sleep deprivation & readjusting to full-time motherhood (as it is for everyone!). It wasn't until one day during that 6th week when I'd had enough and went for a walk along the beach that I realised what I needed to do.  

While out getting fresh air and some exercise I felt SO MUCH better and decided that I needed to schedule regular exercise into each week regardless of what else is going on in my life. I went home and told Manel (my husband) of my idea, he told me about Jen, and so I called her and started training that week.

Since starting training with Jen, I have felt a noticeable difference in how I feel physically & mentally. Although I'm not where I want to be yet, I'm doing a million times better than I did after having Jack, as all the exercise I did then was pram pushing. Now I'm training with Jen which is ensuring I'm strengthening the right muscle groups post pregnancy as well as getting fit, plus trying to fit in a swim or bike ride once or twice a week."

Biz is heading off to Body Composition this week and has agreed to share those results along with her progress with you.  Stay tuned to hear about her journey, the ups and downs and ultimately watch her progress towards and reach her goals.............. Enjoy  

Fitness Test March 2010

Fitness tests and measurements have been completed for March 2010 - fantastic effort all round.  I am looking forward to seeing some great improvements when we re-visit in June.  Keep up the great work and check your results below to see how you fared and what you have to work towards:

Name                           Run          Push-ups to fail     Prone hold

Alice Kerrison               3'14"         16 knees             3' knees
Alison Phillips               4'11"          18 knees           48" toes
Becca Talbot                3'55"          10 on bench    1'21" toes
Biz Lopez-Lightfoot      3'08"          40 knees         1'09" toes 
Chrissy Perry                2'45"          24 knees         1'39" toes
Deb Delaney                 3'22"         12 knees            54" toes
Erica Hacker                 3'10"         22 knees         1'11" toes
Helen Campbell             4'12"         12 toes           1'59" toes *Sat run track
Helene Janes                 3'16"          30 knees        3'14" toes
Kylie Riddell                 5'04"          22 knees         2'38" toes *Sat run track
Lily Lin                         2'53"          23 knees         1'17" toes
Liz Francis                    3'12"          20 knees            49" toes
Jo Coombe                   2'52"          8 knees           2'03" knees *1 loop  
Jo Laird                        3'01"          40 knees         1'39" toes 
Kristen Trotman            4'44"         15 knees          1'10" *Sat run track
Lorely Aponte               4'34"         12 knees          1'40" *Sat run track
Lucy Steed                    3'11"         28 toes            1'38" toes
Marijn Cugati                2'38"         10 toes             1'53" toes
Melissa Davies              2'28"          23 knees          2'02" toes
Nadine Moore              5'02"          29 knees             57" toes
Nereda Merrin              3'12"          29 knees             44" toes
Rebecca Beale              3'20"          20 toes             1'43" toes
Sarah Young                 2'56"          38 knees          1'43" toes
Sharon Bruce                3'25"          15 knees          2'04" toes
Simone Sarrar               3'25"          30 knees          1'59" toes
Tarnia Bowden              2'48"          23 toes            2'26" toes

We also have everyone's measurements safely recorded and rather than sharing on here I will save them to share improvements next time round.