Part 1: More on New Years Resolutions

This week I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I achieved last year and what I want to achieve next year. I realised that (to me, probably not the rest of the world but w/e) I spent a lot of last year focussing on more "mental" things - amongst others, I spent time trying to tackle my anxiety (including my dislike of public speaking), time meditating/EmWave-ing and time practicing mindfulness. I still think that those things are all super important, and I definitely want to continue with them (and will) into the new year.

But...I also realised that there's a lot that I could do to improve my physical appearance, and I want to spend time this year focussing on that.

Posture

Posture has been a bit of an issue for me for a while. I've seen physios and doctors over the years, but have never really been able to stick to anything for long enough to noticeably improve my posture. I (apparently) have slight kyphosis and lordosis (excessive curvature of the spine), which doesn't help but should be fairly easily correctable.

From: http://tle.tafevc.com.au/toolbox/file/c53ab17c-6542-4c66-f587-3e2858a9d41f/1/805_009_2.zip/fit009_2_lr11/fit009_2_lr11_1a.htm

There are gazillions of studies showing how important good posture is for self-confidence, health, impression you make on other people etc etc, so I do think that this is an important thing to work on. In order to do that I'm going to do two things. Firstly, strengthening my abs should help - if my abs are stronger they'll be better able to support my spine, reducing the lordosis. Secondly, I have a rather strange contraption called "Shoulders Back". It's basically an elastic/mesh combo that you put around your back and shoulders and tighten slightly so that it holds your shoulders back therefore improving your posture. I'd like to try to wear it for 1-2 hours per day (although sometimes it starts to drive me insane because it kinda rubs under the arms).

This photo makes me look a bit deformed, but I was trying to take a picture of myself in the mirror reflected in another mirror, so it all got a bit confusing! Also, the "brace" has a bunch of velcro on it, so I don't like it wear it with tops that I really like in case it snags them!

Weight

I've talked about this a lot before, but at the moment I probably weigh about 133lbs (I'm five five). When I met my boyfriend (at the beginning of college) I was 122 lbs (but that was also because I hadn't eaten properly in about a month because I was worried about starting college). At the end of freshman year I was about 137 (eek!) and since then I've hovered around 130ish. Previously, my goal was to stay under 130, and I'd still like to achieve that (I'd like to be 124-125). That might end up changing throughout the year (I think I have a lot more muscle now, I'm not even sure if I could get down to 124, but we'll see). My main "problem area" is my stomach (which you can see in the picture). It used to be my legs, but running's sorted that out for me :D.

Clothes/Shoes

I have a lot of clothes and shoes, a lot of them randomly acquired from my mum/grandmother when they decided they didn't like them/they didn't fit them (we're all roughly the same size). I've realised that I'm not really growing out of things any more, so at some point (soon) I'm going to have to chuck some of the things I've had for 7+ years that sort of fit and have holes that are sort of not noticeable! I also have a lot of great clothes and shoes that I don't wear much because my wardrobe is so cluttered with all the other things. It's also so easy to just throw on sweatpants at college, but this year I'm going to make an effort to plan clothes and outfits better. I've got some awesome new clothes this Christmas, so I want to make the most of them!

Yay! Three new tops (brown, orange and purple), a new jacket (bright pink!!), two new pairs of trousers (orange and pink - I like bright colours!), London pjs, leopard boot liners, new orange leggings and brown bear socks! :)

[More on this to follow tomorrow...]

5K

I noticed a flyer in the gym for a 5K race next Friday (November 18). I took the plunge and signed up for it! I've never run a proper 5K race before, and I'm pretty nervous. I figured that it would give me a good incentive to run and work hard for the next week.

Previously, I've run based on time, not distance. I'm not really sure how far I've been running in the past. On Wednesday I ran my first ever "deliberate" 5K in the gym. It took me 28.31 (I got close to the end and decided that I wanted to do it in 28.30, so I was close!). Anyway, over the next week I'm going to keep working and seeing how I do with running (and if I don't feel that I'm ready on the day I won't do it).

Foodwise, I've done well. I've stuck to my eating plan so far this week, and I've also managed to stay in my calorie goal each day. I'm still using "MyFitnessPal" to track my food choices, and also to track my weight each day. I know that weighing every day isn't ideal, but it makes it easier for me to keep track of things.

My first weight (130) was from ages ago, so that doesn't really count. At least it's going down, even though I'm pretty sure a lot of that is water weight (no way did I lose 4.4 lbs in 4 days!).

Update on Diet from Yesterday

I did manage to track what I ate, I just didn't get around to posting my stats. Anyway, they are below:

Clearly the calories didn't work out great, but I'm not overly worried about it. My target calories are set so that I lose 1/2 lb every week (vanity pounds!), so it's not like I'm going to gain tonnes of weight if I go over. I'm also not worried about going over on the fat - most of it was healthy fat and one of my (few!) readers Ali pointed out that a target of 58g of fat is probably too low for me anyway. (She has a great post on her blog at the minute about macronutrients and how much of each one we should all be aiming for.) Protein...I think the program over counts my protein, but even if it doesn't, 92g isn't too excessively much.

Other good news...I've lost a pound! I'm now 129.4 lb.

PS: I'm probably only going to be tracking calories for a week, so after then I'll be back to my normal posts!

Feeling a little bit better

After I posted that post yesterday I went for a run (with the boyfriend). It was a tough run - partly because I wasn't really in the mood for it, and partly because it was an outdoor run, which I don't normally do. I ran a little slower than usual (according to my gizmo). But, the good news is that I ran for 22 mins 30 seconds, which is even better than my goal for this month!

I also reflected on some of the good things that happened to me yesterday. Something I've been working on is getting less distracted when I'm studying. I have a really bad tendency to be studying and remember that I need to do something (send an email or something) and feel like it can't wait. One thing I did yesterday that seemed to work well was to put little sticky notes in my reading (randomly) that had little rewards on them (e.g. email, have a snack, facebook etc). It made it all a little more a game, which was good!


I still haven't lost any weight (130.8 lbs), which I'm a bit annoyed about. I know it takes time, but I've been feeling like I've been being really good, and usually weight comes off me pretty quickly. Anyway, I'm just trying not to get discouraged.

My skin is also getting a little dicey. Maybe its because of all the water (which is meant to clear your skin, but the skin will probably go through a bad period first, while it's clearing), the sunscreen (I'm not crazy about my current one, but I should be wearing it. And it is a resolution for this month. I think I'm going to give my skin a day off from it today...), stress, or me picking at it/touching it more. I'm going to try to be super nice to it today :)

Anyway, I should get some studying (Sociology) done!

Weight/Psyllium

So...I've gained weight. I was steady at 129.8, and as of today I'm
130.8 lbs. I know that 1 lb is probably just a random fluctuation, but
still. To be honest, I wasn't great with my diet this week and I
haven't really been to the gym. Yesterday was my best day though, so
it doesn't seem fair that I gained weight the day after my best day.
The only saving grace is that I tend to have a lag between my good
eating days and weight loss, so maybe it's just that. I hope so!
Before today I've only taken my psyllium with black or red tea (ie
tea with milk). It's a bit annoying because it means that I have to
finish my existing pot of tea to make the black/red tea, and I don't
like to drink too much water/tea just before bed. Anyway, today I
tried putting the psyllium in herbal tea, and it was fine! I'm pleased
about that!
I'm going to try to be good again today with food. So far I've just
eaten my porridge (with protein powder and maple sugar) and the
psyllium. That said, I'm always good at breakfast, the problem is the
other meals/late at night!
PS I hope this blogger issue gets fixed soon! I'm not liking not being
able to post!

Weight

On a totally separate note from my last post, I weighed 129.8lbs this morning. For me, this is really really bad. 130 lbs is a huge psychological cut-off for me. Before college I was never above about 127 lbs. My first year of college I put on about 15 lbs, and I think that was the first time I was over 130 lbs. I really don't want to start heading in that direction again...

I also haven't taken my psyllium husks for the longest time. I'm going to take them tonight, so hopefully I'll weigh a little less tomorrow (my diet hasn't been to great today though :S). (Pysllium help with weight because a) they make you feel full up but b) (more important right now) they help to move everything through your system, so hopefully by the time I weigh myself tomorrow most of what I ate today will be out of my system...)