Sunday Archery

Archery was a total success! I think most of us were completely suprised that we could actually hit the target, well somewhere on the board at least LOL. It was a great day but because of the nature of being taught how to use a weapon as such and the venue being "in the middle of nowhere", it wasn't as social as I would have liked but we did have A LOT of laughs together. I highly recommend giving it a go sometime. It's not something I really want to pursue but it was definitely fun. Click here for photos.

On Target Archery
http://www.archery.net.au/

B2B for Summer - Week 1

Last Week: 75.6kg
This Week: 74.2kg
Loss/Gain: -1.4kg

• planned
• tracked using Calorie King
• packed my lunch for work everyday and saved money!
  
• ate every 2-3 hours so I was never hungry
• had my treats when I craved them
  (panang chicken curry @ Thai Pothong and double dutch chocolate icecream from an ice creamery down the road last night, delish!)
• ate 2 pieces of fruit every day
• no coke/coffee for 5 days of the week (Sun-Thu)
• stuck to 1390 - 2000 cal everyday
  
• minimum 30 minutes exercise everyday

I am still a little sick but certainly much better than last week. It feels so good to do yoga and some walking again. I never thought I'd miss exercise but I guess that's just it for me, it's not exercise anymore because it's just part of what I'm about now.

It was beautiful this morning in the park when I went for a walk. The sun was shining and the breeze was refreshing. I love early walks best when the city is waking and all the dog owners are out as well. I wish I could take my kitties walking with me too.

I have to work a little later today so won't have time to check everyone's blogs until tomorrow. I work in television as a Stills Picture Editor and the shoot we're doing today should be really fun. I've never worked in television before and been on a shoot like this so it'll be a great learning experience.

I am currently LOVING this DVD: Yoga Trance Dance by Shiva Rea. If you're into yoga and dancing, this is worth buying! I wish I was out in a desert or rainforest somewhere while doing it though. Mmm, one day. If I had a 43 Things list or 101 list, I'd have to add - go on a Yogadventure Retreat with Shiva Rea.

Back to Basics for Summer

Start Date: Sat 21 October
Start Weight: 75.6kg
End Date: Sat 2 December

• lose 5kgs
• be kind to myself (and others)
• be patient with myself (and others)
• have fun and enjoy the ride

• 1390 - 2000 cals per day
• track everyday using CK
• no junk food in the house
• take my lunch to work (save money)
• eat more fresh fruit/vegies
• no take out during the week
• no more coke/coffee during the week
• bring back my weekly cooking challenge posts

• complete OM Yoga Challange for october
• minimum 30 mins per day
  includes: yoga, power walking, weights/resistance and/or hula hooping anytime!
  

Sick & Calorie King

I'm sick *blergh*. I have a head cold and have decided that I need to put my yoga challenge on hold until I get better. Sydney's weather is CRAZY (hot, cold, hot, cold) and my body is really confused. Last time I pushed myself when sick, I was sick for 3 weeks and lost my job. Not this time, I can't risk it.

So anyone else noticed the craziness over at Calorie King? They changed the exercise database considerably and conveniently failed to tell their users which in turn has stuffed up a lot of our tracking. I've been checking the forums this morning and I'm not impressed. I hope they fix it soon.

Will be making a nice big batch of vegie soup tonight, ahhh. Something to look forward to.

PS. Thanks for all your well wishes guys! I was too exhausted to make soup last night and had to stay home today. I might give it a go a little later on when I take my next lot of Codral tablets. I find they give me a buzz for about 30 mins which is just enough energy time to chop the vegies and put the soup on. I hate being sick *grumble grumble*.

So Bri, if only you lived closer! I'd be over to your place in a flash :-)

Daily Yoga - Week 2

I have been feeling a little off centre this week and by Thursday, I was not getting into my yoga practice but I persisted and did it anyway (like the OM Yoga challenge says and Katey Weighty would say) but by Friday, I needed a rest day from yoga, life...the universe. I was in a nihilistic mood and I was not letting any airy fairy bullshit cross my path without being shot down.

Work is busy and things are on every weekend too. You'd think all this routine would be making me more focused but nope. I've been looking over my food diary and it could be the food. I still haven't been cooking and I can't believe that I haven't really had any fruit/vegies of the real fresh variety for over a week! How the hell did that happen? Will definitely try to eat better this week, especially now that I feel like I am coming down with a cold.

This week in both my yoga classes the focus was meditation. I have never really meditated "properly" before and really enjoyed it. I personally think meditation is as simple as sitting in the garden with my eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my bare skin but the class meditation was different and is definitely something I would like to explore further.

My focus in yoga this week will be to practice patience towards myself and others. I became frustrated with myself last week and that only made me more critical of myself and then in turn, less patient with others. Maybe all this yoga is bringing out lots of the negative crap in me to deal with. It's forcing me to really look at myself.

On a fun note, I've got purple bits in my hair now. I went to Doppelganger Hair for my monthly colour/cut which I am loving! I love having the back of my neck free of hair too. I am a short hair convert.

Time's a wasting...maybe not!

I've been following Leighanne's blog for a while now and she constantly surprises and inspires me with her awesome attitude. Her results speak for themself. The other day she posted $86,000 A Day and I wanted to post a link to it here, as a reminder - click here.

Daily Yoga - Week 1

What a week. I thought I might find excuses not to do yoga everyday but I seriously looked forward to getting up at 5am most days and doing my sun salutations. I really wish I could share this feeling I have inside!

If anyone thinks yoga is for wuss bags, think again. Once you start going beyond a beginner's level, it seriously starts getting very challenging and you will feel it and notice how beneficial it is to not only your body but your mind and spirit too.

I initially hated yoga. I had a bad experience with a teacher and had a lot of insecurities about my body so never went back but something kept drawing me to it. That and the fact that my sister (in NY) has practised for more than 10 years so I couldn't ignore it. There are obvious benefits!

I've decided to list in point form how I'm feeling at the end of this week.

• way more chilled
• easier to make decisions
• feeling fitter
• feeling stronger, especially in my upper body
• don't feel like a slave to fitness
• taking more risks, challenges
• dimply thighs looking more smooth but
  obviously not just from 1 week of yoga
• my body feels more streamline and slinkier
• eating better, healthier
• lost 1kg
  

Alrighty, off again to enjoy the sunshine. It's a beautiful day in Sydney and we are heading out. Will catch up with you all a little later.

Listening to:
Dead Can Dance
"Toward the Within"
(one of my favourite artists of all time!)

Legs open and breathe...

I finally went and had a Pap Smear today. Would you believe it, my first? I know, I know. I'm 28 so what the hell was I thinking? Three people I know now have had CN1 and CN2 so that scare in itself should have pushed me to go earlier but I was so hesitant. I think it was simply the embarrassment factor and it really doesn't hurt at all. It's just awkward being naked from the waist down on a table with your legs spread and a light being shone directly on your punani. But damn, this is so important for women to do. Funny now that I've done it. Sex any which way, anywhere is far more revealing LOL. It's time to really look after myself and next up is making an appointment with the dentist next week. I hope the test results come back normal!

Lucinda/Linda: *tutt tutt* I know! How irresponsible am I.
Dan: cheeky!
Cath: my doctor and I spoke about it every time and I was really not ready (goodness knows why now!). My doctor finally said that she can't keep giving me the pill if I don't do it and you know what I think about having a baby right now, no thanks.

UPDATE 18/10 - I got the all clear, everything is NORMAL.

So what if you're vegetarian?

I'm not really a vegetarian but I may as well be. I never cook meat, ever. Can't stand to touch raw flesh and yes, I did grow up on a farm. I experienced all ways of providing for myself but I'm not on a farm now and I don't need to go out of my way for it. Fortunately my partner is not much of a meat eater either.

This brings me to the book I recently purchased, The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook. It's a great book with really easy to follow recipes. Great layout, great pictures. I hate recipe books with chunks of text and no images. This will help me get back in the kitchen and start cooking again.

Part One includes: Most things you need to know about being veggie and there are some great menu plans for adults, teenagers and children. Part Two includes: Eighty delicious recipes for vegetarians and vegans! I'll be posting "tried and tested" recipes soon...

Walk to Work Day

The aims of Walk to Work Day are:

• To promote regular walking as a healthy activity
  (better physical, mental & social health)
• To reduce the reliance on the private motor vehicle
  (reduce car-dependency)
• To promote and improve the use of public transport
  (less traffic)
• To improve air quality by reducing unnecessary vehicle emissions (reduce global warming)

You can be a Walking Class Hero on Friday 6 October 2006 by simply walking all or part of the way to work. Use public transport and get off the bus, train, tram or ferry a few stops earlier and walk the rest of the way. Or take a half-hour walk at lunch-time. And where possible, walk up stairs. But, PLEASE, leave the car at home. If you have to drive, leave the car at least a kilometre or two from your destination and walk the remaining distance.

October OM Yoga Challenge*

* Details... plus any other exercise along the way

SUN 1 - 60 min walk, 30 min OM yoga (AM)
MON 2 - 50 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM), 30 min hooping (PM)
TUE 3 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM), 30 min hooping (PM)
WED 4 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
THU 5 - 75 min samadhi yoga (PM)
FRI 6 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
SAT 7 - 75 min samadhi yoga (AM)

SUN 8 - bondi walk (AM), 20 min meditative yoga (PM)
MON 9 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
TUE 10 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
WED 11 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
THU 12 - 75 min samadhi yoga (PM)
FRI 13 - rest day
SAT 14 - 75 min samadhi yoga (AM)

SUN 15 - 60 min walk (AM), 20 min meditative yoga (PM)
MON 16 - sick day
TUE 17 - sick day
WED 18 - sick day
THU 19 - sick day
FRI 20 - sick day
SAT 21 - 45 min lunar flow yoga shakti (PM)

SUN 22 - 30 min hula hooping (PM)
MON 23 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM), 60 min walk (PM)
TUE 24 - 25 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
WED 25 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
THU 26 - 75 min samadhi yoga (PM)
FRI 27 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
SAT 28 - 60 min walk, 45 min samadhi yoga (AM)

SUN 29 - 60 min walk (AM), 30 min meditative yoga (PM)
MON 30 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)
TUES 31 - 45 min solar flow yoga shakti (AM)