New Slate

Fuck ... where do I start?!??!?!?!

I put on 7.1kgs in 6 weeks ... hmmmmmmm
I knew it knew it knew it ... I refused to jump on the scales when I got home from holiday, my clothes were feeling tighter and I knew I was ready to get back to my routine and healthy lifestyle!

I am no longer a "Weightwatcher" in the tradename and programme sense. At the end of last year I made the decision that I needed to find something that was going to be tailor made for me to get me to where I want to be. I decided that I didnt want to be a "goal weight" - hell I have no idea what I should weigh for my body shape, size, height, lifestyle, etc etc. 84 was a number that was provided to give me the incentive to work to. And it did work - I lost 60kg and I was well on my way to achieving that goal. Then ... my body metabolised and my brain (and life) went into happy mode and I bottomed out and plateaued ... for 12 months! But all that time I managed to stay within a 2-3kg fluctuation of my lowest weight.

The goals I set - THREE YEARS - ago have all been achieved and I am living a life I'd never have thought possible when I joined WW on 8 January 2004. When I sat down just before Christmas and thought ... what are my new goals I really struggled trying to work them out. I posted about FEAR on November 8 last year and it got me thinking big time. Weightwatchers is the best programme out there for honest to goodness education, advice and support for long term weightloss. It really is. I think what wasnt working for me was one on one specific wholistic attention. It worked for the first couple of years while the body was soaking in its new lifestyle ... but once the hard times started and I needed specific help I knew I had to find something else that could fit that bill.

So what do I want? I mean what is it that I really want now?

I want to being happy in all aspects of my life and I want to be fit and healthy.

I think *fingers crossed* and hope I will find this through the new programme I am focussing on.

Before Christmas I met up with Hamish my personal trainer - he is a CHEK practitioner.
The CHEK institude was founded by a dude called Paul Chek who has a total wholistic philosophy towards life and well being - it includes nutrition, movement and lifestyle (much like Weightwatchers). It's not some fad crazy arse thing ... its actually a logical sensible long term approach to life and well being. Hamish and I spent some time working on my goals before Christmas, he recommended a book for me to read over the break ... It's called "How to Eat, Move and be Healthy". Chek philosphy is about getting back to basics and eating high quality NATURAL foods that support your metabolic type (it is very similar to WW No Count, but types of foods is more restricted depending on what metabolic type you are). Supporting the food side of things is the move - strength and resistence training as opposed to hours of cardio aerobic activity - this is where Hamish comes in. The other side of things is about lifestyle - understanding sleep patterns, digestion, what time you eat, stress, fungus and parasides and what you eat and how all that affects your total wellbeing. The food, exercise and wellbeing stuff is all assessed through a myriad of questionnaires/assessments which tells you what you need to concentrate on, how and what you should eat supported by the best exercise for your body type. I'm happy with that and I'm giving it a go.

So what have I learnt so far? I have a mixed metabolism i.e. Protein and Carbohydrate so that means I need to proportion all my meals - 50 carboydrates (grains, fruit and veges), 40 protein (meat, seafood and limited diary products) and 10% fats (natural oils, seeds and nuts). I should be drinking 4.1litres of water a day!!!!!!!!! The more low fat processed products that people eat ... the fatter or unhealthier they get, the chemicals i.e. additives, colourings, preservatives, emulsifiers etc etc etc are blocking our bodies natural immunity and repair processes - I've thrown out all my WW products LOL I've probably been over exercising (thats debatable right now) and poo's are are the windows to our health - pay attention to them! LMAO

So ...

I met with Hamish today - my very first one on one PT session. He took my weight, measurements, blood pressure all that good sexy stuff - I didnt want to know any of it. I just said ... right it all down and let me know each week if I'm doing ok. My focus is to feed my body well, listen to it (watch my poos) and follow his exercise programme. I'm knackered right now, he worked me hard - I worked myself hard!

My goals this week are:

• up my water, cut out coffee
• plan my meals, write my food diary/how the food made me feel
• 3 gym sessions + 1 PT session
• get to bed by 10:00pm each night
• lose 500gms
• finish writing up my middle and long term goals

My key middle term goal is of course my surgery - I need to be as light and fit as possible by August to get the most from it and get through the recovery.

This journal is going to go back to being a health and lifestyle journal. I'll be posting food entries and things I've learnt about from the CHEK philosophy and I'll be using it as a reference guide to keep going back too.

Breakfast - bran flakes, pumpkin/seasame/sunflower seeds, low fat berry yoghurt
Lunch - 2 slices whole grain bread, chicken, lettuce, capsicum, cucumber, cherries
Dinner - mince pattie - hm made, lettuce salad, baked potatoe, olive oil
Snacks - apple, 2 apricots, 6 vitawheats with vegemite, 6 almonds
3ltrs water