exercise

Fitness Goals for 2019

January 20, 2019 by Vicky Leave a Comment

As we hit the end of January 2019 I have been reflecting on my fitness goals for 2019. I think it is really important to reassess your goals when you are on a “fitness journey” as it keeps you motivated and on track.

2018 was a big year for me health and fitness wise. I started working with Felicity Neale in April, initially focusing on diet but progressing to my exercise regime as well and I saw massive changes in my health and fitness.

Towards the end of 2018 our focus moved to building strength and saw the introduction of more regular weight lifting days which I have to admit I was surprised about, but I loved. Previously to that I had focused on cardio quite a lot and was a bit afraid to branch out into the weights section on my own.

This year I really want to keep focusing on strength and weight lifting because I really see the benefits of strength training and it has so much more of an impact on the development of my body and I love the way my muscles are developing.

I am also working towards having surgery to remove the excess skin I have on my stomach, back, arms and legs this year. I haven’t really talked about this much on the blog but it is a big focus. When I started working out I always insisted I would never have the surgery but I am now at the stage where I can see that the excess skin I have is not going to shrink much at all and I don’t want to live with it for the rest of my life when I can do something about it (I know plenty of people do happily).

I am sussing out the costs and timeframe for having the surgery but it is high on my agenda.

Before the surgery I want to get to my strongest so that this will help with my recovery after the surgery. Felicity and I feel like I need to get my arms and legs as strong as possible because frankly it is going to really hurt if I try using my core to move myself around post surgery.

I also want to keep participating in the various running and walking events which are being held around the Brisbane / Gold Coast / Sunshine Coast areas. I am still not really a runner and half heartedly give running a go from time to time, but the events I want to do are usually still welcoming to walkers and so definitely inclusive for me. I am lucky that Naomi and the Aussie indulge me on this aim and will come along for the ride!

I have been a bit hit and miss with Park Run the last few months. This is mainly because I am just not someone who can walk / run in the heat and its been pretty hot even at 7am in the morning. The Aussie and I did a Park Run in the UK (and I got a PB knocking 3 minutes off my time) and this takes me up to 23 Park Runs so far. When you have completed 50 Park Runs you receive a 50 shirt and I am quite focused on completing the 50 this year!

Finally I want to get braver! The Aussie and I did a couple of walks in the UK and I was terrified of falling over. Now after 30 odd years of tripping over I know what it feels like to fall over and I am lucky that this seems to have reduced considerably with my weight loss (touch wood). I am also always worried that if I injure myself I won’t be able to work out and I really don’t like the risk.

I will admit that on one of our walks I was like a baby deer taking tiny steps because it was muddy, hilly and there were lots of rocks to slip on. I want to get over this because I really enjoy hiking and walking.

I think I need to buy some walking poles because from talking to various people this has helped them enormously with building confidence on this kind of walk. Then when it cools down a bit in Autumn and Winter I hope that the Aussie and I can get out there and start building my confidence!

MS Moonlight Walk

October 21, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

After the extremely wet Bridge to Brisbane that we did a few weeks ago, seeing the weather forecast of rain on Saturday 6 October 2018 which was also the date of the MS Moonlight Walk did make me think oh no, particularly as I had felt ambitious when I signed me, Naomi and the Aussie up for the walk and had signed us up for the 10km walk rather than our usual 5km.

The walk didn’t start until 6pm so during the day we watched the clouds roll in as well as a touch of rain before heading to the Cultural Centre to meet Naomi.

Upon arrival we picked up our red lanterns and waited for the walk to start whilst feeling the rain get heavier and heavier. Luckily I had bought some rather fetching rain ponchos so we were able to avoid getting quite as drenched as for Bridge to Brisbane.

The event got off to a lovely start with presentations to the top fundraisers as well as listening to people who have MS talk about how they are fighting to beat MS.

With the sun going down we started on our walk along Southbank and the long and windy, sometimes up and sometimes down hill path to the Story Bridge, which if it is possible to have a favourite bridge would 100% be my favourite!

We walked along pathways and roads which we have never been to or along before which was lovely and to be honest the rain didn’t really dampen the experience for me. It was also lovely to see the volunteers along the route, pointing us in the right direction and from time to time handing out things to keep you going like water, bananas, cookies and yoghurt.

As we came back through the botanic gardens at the 9km mark we were dazzled by the beautiful lights which are in the trees all year round. It was “just” a short trek back to the finish line.

I have never walked as much as 10km in one go before. I remember back when I started exercising how walking 3km used to hurt my hips and I would be in pain for a while afterwards. The most I had walked in one go had previously been 5km but recently I have been walking 7 then 8km on the treadmill at the gym and felt comfortable doing so.

The thought of completing 10km still made me nervous though and I won’t lie that I thought, well if it gets tough we can probably just do 5km. Luckily that wasn’t necessary and we did it and it was a really great experience, especially as I was able to raise some money for the MS Society as well and completed it with the Aussie and Naomi.

We have signed up for a 10km walk on the Gold Coast next year already and have a longer walk in mind when the tickets go on sale on New Years Day around Byron Bay as well which makes me quite excited for the fitness goals next year.

I have lost an Octopus!

October 17, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

As you may recall, I am on a long term plan to loose weight and to get fit, healthy and strong. This started on 2 February 2016 and a few weeks ago I FINALLY FINALLY hit the 50kg weight loss mark. Hooray!!!

In the run up to loosing 50kg I did a google search of “how heavy is 50kg” and was not disappointed by the results on the Blue Bull Projects website.

Apparently 50kg is the equivalent of:

* An average Giant Pacific Octopus
* One-and-one-fifth times as heavy as a Toilet
* One-and-seven-tenths times as heavy as a Dalmatian
* 3/5 as heavy as a Kangaroo
* 1/3 as heavy as a Panda Bear
* 3/10 as heavy as a Reindeer
* 1/4 as heavy as The Heart of a Blue Whale

How cool is that!!!!

I also in the same week had a second body scan done using an InBody 570 scanner to see how I was doing and was very excited by the results as my percentage body fat had dropped 2% to 31% (although Felicity thinks it is likely to be lower than that) and normal according to the scan people is 18 to 28% for women.

Also my visceral fat level, which I understand is the fat around my internal organs has dropped from 12 to 9 and under 10 is considered a “normal” level so I was pretty thrilled by that and being healthy and within normal markers.

Overall, according to the scan anyway, my overall measurements have reduced. I don’t know if this is true and correct because helpfully I have not taken my measurements on my weight loss “journey”.

Weight loss plan wise I am currently investigating weight loss surgery (skin removal and liposuction) options and me and Felicity are figuring out what my goals can be / should be / are so we can go into the next few months with a plan of attack. These last few kilograms have not been easy to loose but the work has paid off and is more than worth it. I feel healthier and stronger than ever which is just brilliant.

Colour Run 2018

September 23, 2018 by Vicky Leave a Comment

You may have noticed from this blog that I am a bit competitive / a glutton for punishment as I keep signing up for organised walk/runs (and dragging Naomi and the Aussie along for the ride)!

Last year Naomi and I did the Colour Run. It was a lot of fun and so when the dates were released for the Gold Coast event I signed us up.

The day of the Colour Run came around and unfortunately Naomi was poorly so I roped the Aussie in. Luckily he’s on a health kick at the moment too so he agreed (maybe grudgingly!).

The run takes place on a Sunday morning and so we got up and dressed in our colour run tshirts and headbands and headed to the start line at Broadwater Parklands.

When we arrived there was a big stage again and lots going on. You could get lots of free goodies like coffee, fruit, cereal bars, pens and all sorts. Though it was tricky as we still had to do the 5km’s!

At the start time they let people through in waves so we lined up and we’re on our way pretty quickly.

We quickly began hitting the colour sections where the paint is thrown, chucked and sprinkled on you! I opted for a twirl at each station for maximum coverage!

We made our way round in a good time, accepted our medal and were blasted with a leaf blower to get the loose paint off!

There were free Krispy Kream donuts and Slurpies but that didn’t appeal to either of us! We headed back to the apartment we were staying in (thank you again so much Naomi) showered and headed back to Brisbane.

I will definitely sign up for next years Colour Run and I think the Aussie may as well!