How cool is .....

How cool is running?
now I know some of you will say 'not at all cool!' but for me its a time I get outdoors run in the amazing perth weather and 'fresh' air, listen to the cockatoos in Carine park and totally zone out and have real thinking time, whilst exercising.
I never think about work always about positive stuff, ideas etc.
So when I went for a run this morning I had an AH-HA moment.
When I get a chance later I'll be back to jot some stuff down on that.

How cool is it to have a husband like mine!? :)
very cool........ unconditional love, never judges me, puts up with me!!, my lover and my best friend who I can belly laugh with :) and now I get the chance to work alongside him developing our business and working towards our dream of our own studio one day.

How cool (or not!) is the Perth weather?
We are having some hot days and this is a plus for our family as we always take advantage of some of the best beaches in Australia (yes, I have toured right round Oz and WA has some gorgeous beaches) and swimming in the prestine, aqua blue waters.

How cool is life?
The best things in life are free and Life itself is a true free gift.
I'm extrememly lucky to have my life and the special people in it, I have to stop and remember this sometimes.

Have a great day all
Shar x

Blog Title, Purpose and Update

Not going to expand but I'm having a quick 'rant' below.

I have updated my blog title, from Shar's blog to Shar's Health and Fitness Log, this is because this is my place to log all things training, nutrition and health, for me. Of course there may be a bit of 'life' thrown in there but I started the blog in Dec 2005 as a way of logging a '12 week challenge' and now although it is my long term Health and Fitness I'm logging not just 12 weeks, I want to bring it back to it's purpose. So if reading about my training & food/nutrition is not what you want to read about then it may be a bit boring for you.
I will be continuing to log pretty much how I have been as it really helps me to break it down, i.e training, food, feeling etc but if I miss a day or have to log 2-3 at once then so be it, as I will below, because Christmas and my family were more important on those days.
Rant over.

Daily Updates
Day 11 of 70 - Thursday - Amber on account of nutrition -nibbles, choc and Christmas dinner. Exercise was a 30 minute jog.

Day 12 of 70 - Friday - Amber on account of nutrition - 2 Bacardi's, a piece of choc cake.
Exercise was a 25 minutes power walk.

Day 13 of 70 - Saturday - Amber on account of cheese and crackers.
Exercise was Bodyattack.

So all in all I am pleased with the outcome of my exercise over the 2 days of Christmas, I took myself out for a run, actually more of a jog! on Chrissie evening at 8pm it was cool and the sun
was setting, nice
Powerwalk around the beautiful Carine park on Boxing evening.

I'm back to normal class load as of today and kicked back in with a Bodyattack.

I am in the process of off loading my 3 Bodypump classes that I had just taken back on from beg December as I want the time back and I really don't love teaching it, I can't fake it either.

This will then allow me time to get my weights sessions in again and also won't interfere with weights sessions etc. So sitting and re-jigging my schedule today and tomorrow.

Food/Nutrition could have been better but I was chugging along nicely before and I know what I need to do from here so back to it................. remembering my aim - 'walking the walk, talking the talk'........ average will not do!

Have a great weekend
Shar x

MERRY
CHRISTMAS




I hope you had a great day doing what you wanted to do, when you wanted to do it and with who you wanted to be with. I did.
Shar x
PS - To my precious family in th UK - We love you and wish we were all together again, enjoy your day and as usual I'm thinking of you. xx

Day 10 of 70 – Wednesday - Amber

Scales – Down 0.7g
Total – 5.5kg

Exercise – Bodyattack
Bodybalance

Nutrition – My food was clean all day until evening when Paul and I sat down to a marathon wrapping session and I had a Bacardi and Pepsi max with some nibbles. So ended up an Amber day on account of that.
I also wasn’t very careful and ate the snacks that contain Gluten and boy am I paying for it!

Rest and Recovery
None

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feeling good, I’m happy with where I’m at for Tomorrow and enjoying a few treats but looking forward to the feeling of getting straight back to it all on Friday (Boxing Day).
This will be a major achievement for me as I have always used Christmas as a time to pig out, to focus on food etc and it would not normally be contained to a small amount and definitely not just on Christmas day.
As Rae said in her blog it’s NOT about food it’s about spending quality time with those you love.

Bloat and spike gone plus some

Day 9 of 70 – Tuesday - GREEN

Scales – Down 1.4kg
Total – 4.8kg (was my aim to drop 5kg by Christmas!?)

Exercise – Bodyvive
Bodyattack – OMG!!!! I team taught this one and it was so much fun but heaps harder
Bodybalance

Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1250 calories
37% of the calories are from fat,
40% of the calories are from protein,
23% of the calories are from carbs

Rest and Recovery
Sat and chilled watched an episode of Dirty, Sexy, Money with Paul.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Still positive but if I’m honest, which I said I would always be, I am worried about Christmas food getting the better of me. I have a few treats planned, perhaps I’m not in a place where I can plan treats yet, but hey, Christmas comes but once a year and if it is only a few then there will be no damage as there hasn’t been from Sunday’s extras. On the scales I have lost the bloat plus some.
I think a little more planning won’t go a miss, will blog that tomorrow.

Mondays Log

Day 8 of 70 – Monday - GREEN

Scales – Spike of 1.3kg
Total – 3.4kg

Exercise – Bodyattack
My back is so sore from the Back session yesterday

Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1196 Calories
32% of the calories are from fat,
38% the calories are from protein,
30% the calories are from carbs

Was feeling crappy today due to the non clean food of yesterday! Amazing how the body responds after only 6 days clean, but back to a Clean Green day and felt better.

Rest and Recovery
Had a 40 minute sleep as I was just falling asleep. Within my Holistic Lifestyle coaching we learnt about some foundation principles for health and wellness, of course sleep is one of them and Paul and I do not have that sussed yet!! We’re working on it. Also I have my Period on its way, does anyone else just get so tired they can hardly stay awake at some points? Not a good look!

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feeling good to get straight back to clean food without the old habit of continuing and thinking I had ‘blown it’ creeping back in.
Looking forward to the scales tomorrow showing me that one day back to clean food and water can drop the spike plus some.

Shar x

Saturday & Sunday Catch Up

Day 6 of 70 – Saturday - GREEN

Scales – down 0.1kg
Total – 4.4kg

Exercise – Bodyattack, this was one of the hardest BA’s I have done in a while just because I pushed myself so hard so that my members would give back too.

Nutrition – 6 Clean meals Eaten
1526 Calories
42% of the calories are from fat
30% of the calories are from protein
28% of the calories are from carbs

I was starving today, sooooo hungry, so I upped my meals to 6 (which is where it should be anyway!) and allowed an increase in calories and good fats to help with cravings I was getting. Looking back over the week, my amounts were too low, hence where the hungry day and cravings came from.

Rest and Recovery
Had a 15 minute rest/snooze on the sofa in the arvo, was shattered

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feel good for pushing through on clean through and not giving in to eating Junk I was focusing on.
Very focused on being consistent and increasing my resistance training back this week.
Very pleased with the loss of bloat and water and looking forward to next weeks loss although I’m fully aware it will not be as big.
______________________________________________

Day 7 of 70 – Sunday - AMBER

Scales – down 0.3kg
Total – 4.7kg

Exercise – 30 Minutes Steady pace outdoor run
Trained Back

Nutrition – As all meals have been compliant this week I decided to have a meal of choice today. Stayed clean until late afternoon and then allowed myself to have a meal of choice and later some other treats including nuts and chocolate. YUMMO!

Rest and Recovery
Had a 20 minute rest/snooze of the bed in the arvo, was shattered

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feel good. Enjoyed meal of choice, ready to get back to it tomorrow.
Ready to see the spike on the scales tomorrow due to not so clean food. :)
Also thinking I am heading into the Pre menstrual stage, boobs are sore, tired and a bit crappy.

Saturday - Weekly Round Up & Changes to our eating

Week 1
Total Weekly Loss - 4.4kg
Yesterdays loss - 0.1kg

The scales have clearly seen the loss in bloat and are reflecting the new eating plan I am following.
I am eating as a combination of my metabolic typing plan and Precision nutrition guidelines.
I am eating Gluten Free and I must say this is the best thing I have ever done for my body, as much as possible my kids have been changed to Gluten free as well.
Its funny I have assessed my kids without them knowing :) and it is clear we have a Mixed type tending more to Carb in Bryce and a more Protein type in Maddi, since gearing their eating this way we have seen a change in Maddi for sure.
With kids though things will change as they grow and there hormones change etc so they are in no way only eating one way or the other rigidly but it happens to be the way they are now choosing.

Since doing my HLC Level 1 course we have researched and implemented organic eating where we can, including the kids diet, which has seen an improvement in concentration and behaviour.

There were definites I came home with that we had to change - one being MILK!! the stuff I learnt about milk was horrendous, I don't drink it but the kids have it in the morning and Paul in his couple of coffees a day.
Ideally we would have Raw Milk but this is not practical so what we have decided as a family is to do as much as we can that is practical, so our Milk is now Organic, this is sometimes hard to keep on top of as the 2 shops that do it only have delivery's on certain days etc but this is definitely worth making an effort for.
Same for all the small stuff like sugar, green tea, butter, even the kids tomato sauce, kids snacks are gluten free and organic, Cheese, fruit and vegetables and where possible our meat, although if we can't get Organic we do the best we can and get hormone free, free range meat.

Every little change has to help and the taste is so different so it can only be a good thing.
As for the cost, once you have all the basics changed over it really isn't alot extra, the quality and the taste means you really don't need as much of some foods so there's the make up, also I am willing to pay more to have our insides cleaner, healthier, body's functioning better and reduce the chances of disease and illness.

Anyway, on that note -
I hope you are all well and having a great weekend ,
do what makes you happy,
Shar x

Day 5 of 70 – Friday - GREEN

Scales – Up 0.3kg
Total – 4.3kg

Exercise – Bodypump

Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1237 calories
36% of the calories are from fat,
37% of the calories are from protein,
28% of the calories are from carbs

Little higher in fat than usual, all good fat though.

Rest and Recovery
Had a nice afternoon doing some chrissie shopping.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feeling average today, sore throat again and tired. Must get to bed earlier, this is definitely my goal for week 2.
Still cool with how things are tracking, but still the occasional thought of why didn’t I just maintain a good level of bodyfat and scale weight after comp.

___________________________________________

I'm so excited today and so very proud - 'Proud Mummy Moment' coming, click away if you don't want to know. :)

I have mentioned my little girl was asked to go for a trial to train with the West Australian Institute of Sport - WAIS, which she did and got accepted into Group 10 (Group 10 down to 1 - 1 being the Olympic gymnasts) of which she has done a term.

She has come on so well, it is so cute to watch, it very structured and rightly so, they have picked these kids with the view to them making the 2020 games! She struggled a bit with attention for her hour and a half class to start with but this is now fine, she struggled with being distracted either by others in her group or watching the 'big girls' train but this is not a problem anymore, she has got use to not being allowed to go to the toilet and therefore understands the importance of a 'big wee' just before she goes in.

She can do stuff that I didn't think she would be able to, chin ups and flexibility to name two, she has gained strength, confidence and respect for herself and those training around her....... all in one term! but best of all she LOVES it.

So you can imagine today, when the letter came that was to tell us whether she was going to be kept (they can be dropped at the end of any term) and it stated not only was she going to be kept but moved up to Group 9!! I was floored, they can obviously see her development and perhaps potential? she has now to add another 2 hour training session to her week and it all gets a little deeper I think as she is now officially in the 'Squad'. GO MADDI!! :)

Whilst I'm in this mode! - Bryce brought home a great final report, won a year award for his sports performance at his graduation ceremony and placed very high in a science test against all WA students. GO BRYCE!! :)

__________________________________________

Forgot to mention that to kick off my new goal at a place where I know exactly where I am, I booked in for the very reliable and accurate DEXA scan.
The results were not what I wanted to see but it is great to know a exact starting point, I will have it redone again, 10 weeks from first one.
Here's a bit of info I searched on it -

Using DEXA to determine the proportion of lean body mass (muscle) versus total body fat is a valuable clinical tool in the management of long-term health and fitness. By assessing changes in body composition over time, professional and recreational athletes are able to customise their training to achieve specific physiological goals, and develop tailored sports injury management plans.

For those seeking lifestyle changes and weight loss, DEXA body composition measurements provide accurate exercise effectiveness assessments and soft tissue analysis. With a greater understanding of how your body is responding to the changes made, patients are more inspired to persist with and maintain their newly adopted lifestyle.

With DEXA you can analyse the composition of your whole body, or that of a defined region, such as an arm, both legs, or your torso. Undergoing a full body DEXA scan is as simple as lying on a table for around 6 minutes. Like an X-Ray, you stay fully clothed throughout the process, and the non-invasive scan is completely pain free.The use and safety of DEXA is well proven. More than 70% of pharmaceutical clinical trials currently utilise DEXA technology, while DEXA body composition assessment, is proving highly beneficial in advanced clinical weight loss trials. To date, over 2000 research papers have used DEXA for body composition assessment purposes. DEXA results are also commonly used to show intermediate outcomes in many Nutrition and Metabolic Disorder studies. This widespread acceptance has helped DEXA technology achieve a gold standard for ease of use, accuracy and test / retest repeatability.

Have a fab weekend all
Shar x

Day 4 of 70 – Thursday - GREEN

Scales – Down 0.7kg
Total – 4.6kg

Exercise – Bodyvive
(Info on BV – Bodyvive if done properly can be challenging and is to me when I teach it. It is on a different scale to Bodyattack, no impact and only half the class is cardio based the rest is functional strength based)

Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1332 cals
32% of the calories are from fat,
38% from protein,
30% from carbs

This is better, still not great but better.

Rest and Recovery
I should be so lucky!! :) No way I was getting any rest or relaxation today.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Feeling positive today, good mood and focused on my goal. I had a look at my countdown thingy today and cannot believe it is on 60 something days until I’m back on that stage again!! BRING IT!!
_________________________________________________

Still going well. Made the decision that I would not pressure myself this week to get in the 3 weights sessions I have planned for my schedule, I do not want the feelings of failing to re-surface and I have been super busy with all things Group Fitness Launches, Maddi's parties at school, Bryce Graduation dinner/dance, ceremony, assembly and last day at school today.

It feels good to be eating clean and loving it again.
I do get a HI training session from Bodyattack which I teach 5 times per week, so that will be cool this week, the scales are dropping everyday which is great, I know this will stop either tomorrow or next day and have my new weeks training planned ready to keep on keeping on.
My week starts on a Saturday and I am planning to train right through Christmas and only have treats planned for Christmas day picnic we pack up to spend the day at the beach.

I read a piece Charlotte had posted and it prompted me to plan ahead and take the challenge to look better each and every week and that includes the week with Christmas in it!

I am starting also to look at my HLC (Holistic Lifestyle Coaching) material, in particular the Metabolic Typing, properly as it took a backseat whilst I continued my Les Mills development and Paul and I have been getting some interest so I really want to get my assessing procedures all up to scratch and have my packages all thought through ready to implement when I decide to 'go live'.
Firstly I am using the system myself, this is the way I have been eating since taking up my challenge again and all good so far!
There was a learning curve early on with what type I was coming out as and that was a valuable lesson to me as I'm sure I will see this happen with a lot of clients.
I need to fully understand it in a practical way and I can then 'walk the walk and talk the talk' regarding what I will be prescribing.

We have a run of gorgeous weather coming our way here in Perth with 35 forecast for Christmas day, just right for the day at the beach me thinks!!

Hope you are all well, thanks for reading
Shar x

Day 3 of 70 – Wednesday - GREEN

Scales – Down 0.8kg
Total – 3.9kg

Exercise – Bodyattack – SMASHED IT, bloody hard though
Bodypump – OOOUUCHHH
Bodyvive – By the time I did this one, my body was screaming to stop


Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1181 Cals
34% of the calories are from fat,
38% of the calories are from protein,
29% of the calories are from carbs

Ok, 3 days on the lower side of cal intake is the limit, must get cals up tomorrow.

Rest and Recovery
Had my nails done, wasn’t that relaxing though as I was constantly thinking about my list of things to do.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Isn’t it funny, 3 days totally clean, ( training is leaving a little to be desired ) , but you feel great, got more energy, clothes already feeling better, then you look in the mirror! and the same fat blob is staring back :)





but no-where
near the same
as this fat blob!
She's gone!!!
YAY!!!

Shar x

Day 2 of 70 – Tuesday - GREEN

Scales – Down 1.5kg What the!!? I must be a fluid retaining machine to drop this much again
Total – 3.1kg

Exercise – Bodyvive

Nutrition – 5 Clean meals Eaten
1154 Cals
28% of the calories are from fat,
42% of the calories are from protein,
30% of the calories are from carbs
Not enough cals, funny, when I don’t stress about food or fight it I don’t eat as much. Just been chillin today so not focused on food, mustn’t forget to eat though.

Rest and Recovery
Just a chilled out day really, no rushing about. My training reflected this aswell.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Woke a little unrested, didn’t get to sleep for a while last night and Maddi woke earlier than normal.
Felt good once I was up and about, feeling positive and the whole walk the walk is echoing in my head.
__________________________________________

Forgot to say I had the best day ever on Sunday. Was our wedding anniversary.
Perth was stinking hot, topping 38 degrees, so I taught my 9.30am Bodyattack and then we packed up lunch and took the kids to the beach.
It was so much fun and very relaxing. I haven't been around on weekends due to Les Mills stuff for the past 6 weeks and It was really cool to see how my kids responded to having me around.
I reality check for me. My little girl came out with a corker, brought tears to my eyes .............
she said ' mum, you know the best thing?' to which I responded ' coming to the beach' and she said ' no, you being here is the best thing'............... talk about priorities.

We dug a hole, poured in water, played at the edge of the water, played ball, went in with her on my back whilst Paul and Bryce bodyboarded, sat and chatted whilst having lunch. What precious moments.

I played ball in the water with Bryce and he was shocked to see me go in!! don't normally go in unless it hits 40 odd.
Had Bryce's Graduation Ceremony tonight then he went to his dinner and dance. he was awarded the 2008 sports achivement award. For athletics and football.

Anyway, enough for tonight, Bodyattack, Bodypump and Bodyvive to teach tomorrow.
Have a great day
Shar x

Back to it

So here goes, Day 1 of logging.
I'm pinching from a few bloggers, Shelley with regards to the scales and feelings and Katie with her colour coding.
Mine will be as follows, bit like traffic lights -
Green = Both Training and nutrition were as planned,
Orange = Either Training or Nutrition were as planned,
Red = Both Training and Nutrition were not as planned.
I will total the week up, aiming to get no reds & mostly Greeens of course, but if an Amber is in there try and improve next week.

Day 1 of 70 - Green

Scales – Down 1.6kg
Total – 1.6kg

Exercise – Bodyattack
Maxed out the HR a few times, as usual :)
Hard to teach this morning, feel I’m getting sick, razor blade throat.

Nutrition – 6 Clean meals Eaten
1284 Cals
29% of the calories are from fat,
50% of the calories are from protein,
20% of the calories are from carbs.
On paper its too low on carbs but I felt fine. Will adjust another meal tomorrow to include more.

Rest and Recovery
Was hot last night in Perth and I didn’t sleep well. Made up for it this afternoon when I had an hour and a half sleep.

Mood/Feelings/Mental Focus
Woke up feeling in a ‘pants’ (bad) mood, felt better after my class.
Had a few, ‘I’m such a failure’ moments because I have stacked on a few kilos again but my focus is there and I know with a few days under my belt I will be right.
Alongside my want to be a role model, Paul and I have plans to develop professionally and I personally wouldn't hire/choose someone that doesn't practice what they preach, so I know what I have to do and its my choice, walk the walk and talk the talk or don't, simple choice really.

Shar x

Where did the last 6 weeks go!?

OMG!! I cannot believe the date.
I have had weekend after weekend of 'stuff', stuff being my Les Mills development on 3 weekends, our Perth Quarterly Workshops on 1 and a long weekend in Sydney gaining my Holistic Lifestyle Coach qualification.
Along with the normal goings on in the week Monday to Friday.

I could not have done any of it without my bestest husband, he has been a star and is my total calm in the storm. The kids have been very patient with mum disappearing and dashing around, extremely stressed at points so I am looking forward to some down time with them over the holidays.
Thankfully I have come out the other side and am feeling great about what I have achieved, what I have learnt and where I am heading on a Personal level and professional level.

The one bad thing is that when stressed I ate extra, I didn't have any spare time and my training has consisted of basically my classes.
So not a good place for my body, mind or health really.
I lost a about 5 kg then put 2.5 back on so am still down but have to now bring the focus back to me, getting in my training, feeling positive and mainly getting to the 'ROLE MODEL' place I want to be at......not only for me personally to walk tall and proud, but for my kids, my members and due to the fact I am a role model for all other instructors now I am presenting and training to deliver Les Mills training modules, I am definitely one that believes in walking the walk and talking the talk, so best I start to deliver hey!?

I do have the desire to compete again but have to get to a place first that is maintainable and a place that competing isn't the long hard slog it has been the two times previous.
So as mentioned in previous posts, I am a goal setter, a dates person, someone who likes small chunks to chop away at.
So goal one is to come into my next Quarterly workshop looking the 'role model' as mentioned above.
I have decided to take a leaf out of Shelley's book (check out her pics by the way!! HOT!!) and log daily, exercise, feelings, food etc.
I will also log what the scale is doing. As recently rather than find the scales play games with
my head I have been analyzing why they do what they do in relation to what I have been doing with food, exercise etc it is really interesting.

Will be starting this new procedure from Monday - Day 1 of 70! Will try and make it a part of my nightly wind down routine, so hope to be blogging a little more.
Must go to bed now as I'm launching Bodyattack on my own tomorrow and I'm shattered, done 12 classes already this week and I must have mind working to remember 12 tracks of choreography on my own!!!!!! :(

Have a great weekend
Shar x