Week 23, day 164

I'm much better and have even spent a couple of days at work, which means I have no excuse for not exercising, so today I walked home - around an hour and a half at 4k/hr, which is a bit of clip considering I also had some groceries (a couple of boxed of breakfast cereal, salad vegies, and fruit from Aldi).
I spent a lot of the walk being deliberately mindful - focusing on my environment, the sounds and smells, the feel of the breeze contrasting with the warmth of the day, and the sound of cyclists tinging their bells before whirring past. Whenever I started to feel achey I assessed my self from crown to toe, minimising discomfort by quantifying the sensation. My problem areas were my right hip, the front of my right thigh near the knee, my left knee and a couple of toes on my left foot, all of which cropped up a couple of times during the walk, and none of which were severe. I think I need to work on these at stretch tomorrow, though.
It was quite warm in Melbourne today, so I worked up a bit of a sweat, and am very disappointed in myself that despite my plan to come home, shower, change and head straight out for week one, run one in the C25K, instead I showered, changed, had a snack, lay down for a moment, took a phone call from a friend, and suddenly discovered it was getting too late to run. So tomorrow, without fail.
On the plus side, I'm still doing well with the calorie intake, which I've dropped down to around 1,500 for the time being. Lately, for some reason, late in the evening has been a problem - I'm not exactly hungry, but I roam around the kitchen a little, looking for an indefinable something. Tonight I had a couple of Lindor balls, and still made it under, though I ate 55.9g of fat instead of the 53 I aim for. On the other hand, the last three days I've had well under this, so it evens out. And now for an early night, before run one - Alex

Week 23, day 161

I'm starting to climb out of my fog of blah, which is quite nice. I'm feeling a little less blah, and even managed to walk down to the supermarket today, which is my first real venture into the world since Monday (today's Friday, and my second day sick off work). Of course I was a little damp and short of breath on the return journey, particularly as I was laden down with care package contents to be shipped to overseas siblings shortly, but quite pleased to be up and moving around again.
In the day or so since my last post I've been spending a chunk of time online - there being little else I can do when too crappy to even write book reviews (the pile waiting grows ever higher and is currently at 77). In that surfing way one has, I started out looking for reviews of Lite'n'Easy, which lead me to other meal delivery programs (plenty if I lived in America, a few if I lived in Sydney, not so many in Melbourne, at least from a calorie counting perspective). I was, however, lead to the Schkinny Mannini website - I'm not a fan at all of fasting, but they provide something in the vicinity of 1900 calories a day, in the form of six 600ml juices, at least one of which can be gently heated and eaten like a vegetable soup. They offer one-, three-, four- and five-day options, and even though they're vastly more expensive than Lite'n'Easy (somewhere in the vicinity of $75/day), I'm thinking about trying it for a few days in a couple of weeks. I need to do something different - I'm twenty-three weeks in to improved eating, and though I've lost some weight, fairly steadily, I'm not more motivated, exercising regularly or, as has been abundantly clear in the last few days, healthier. Perhaps a break from food, particularly if it coincides with days off work, will help.
The program recommends transitioning back to food with a day of just fruit and vegetables. That, in combination with an attempt to work out the calorie content of achacha fruit, lead me first to a site discussing the 80/10/10 low-fat raw vegan program, and though I have no intention of following it, that then lead me to explore weekly deliveries of fruit and vegies, which I think I'll start doing as I transition off Lite'n'Easy.
And what is the achacha that lead to this virtual journey? It's a South American fruit a little like a lychee in texture and composition, protected by a tough skin you can incise with a fingernail, popping it apart to access the lime-like, sorbet-textured flesh. I've counted it as a lychee for calorie recording purposes, as I couldn't find any nutritional information online. They're very refreshing. - Alex

Week 22, day 158

I weighed myself, even though I feel like crap – can’t miss check in Tuesday – and was reminded that excessive weighing is counter-productive. My initial weight was a modest 500g loss since last week but when I decided, after several toilet visits and no oral intake, to see what I weighed a couple of hours later I was surprised to discover I’d somehow gained 1.5k. And all this time I thought fattening air was a myth.
On the plus side, I also did a little tape measuring, and the news there is a little more rewarding. I've lost 3.1k since February 1st, 2cm off my bust and after doing a load of washing one off each thigh and my waist. Since starting this program 157 days ago I've lost 12.7k and a combined 47cm from my bust, hips and thighs.
On the minus side, climbing a flight of stairs from the laundry to my apartment, and had to lie down for a bit. So I've delayed both the RealAge aims for a week, and am stalling my foray into running until I'm most of the way back to normal. - Alex

Program Paused

Today is C25K week 1 day 2 and I can honestly report that I have broken into a sweat. Sadly it was while sitting on the couch.
Yes, I'm still sick.
To be honest when I started this program on Monday I really thought that this cold would have cleared up by today. Just goes to show how much I know. If anything I'm worse. I've now lost my voice and have a bona fide fever. Since there's little point in killing myself in order to get fit I've decided to temporarily throw in the towel and pause the program until I'm better.
I've heroically dragged myself around the supermarket and now I'm going to spend the rest of the day dozing on the couch watching dust settle.
Regular programming will hopefully resume shortly. - Lynn

Week 22, day 157

Beset by the dwarfs of illness (Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Achey, Coughy, Cloggy, Runny, Feverish and Acopic), my start to the C25K has been delayed. I started feeling sore and icky at work, and despite some vitamin C, zinc and a gram of paracetamol I was febrile and sore throated by the time my shift was over. I thought a little exercise might do me some good, and I hadn’t done any sustained walking, so I bridged the gap between the end of tram trip one and my place on foot. This may have been a mistake – my respiratory capacity is always the first thing to go when I get a cold, so I was huffing like a steam train up the hill, damp with a combination of exertion and fever by the time I got home, and suspect tomorrow will be a bed-bound write-off. – Alex

C25K

Over the weekend I developed a head cold. I've a headache, my nose is blocked, I feel as if I've been gargling glue and I'm so very tired.
In deference to my illness I didn't get up until 6:30 but with a family to get up, dressed, fed, watered, packed up and delivered I couldn't have the long sleep in I so richly desired. By the time I got back from the final drop off it was already hot and windy out, perfect drying weather. I stripped the beds and threw on a load of washing with the knowledge that I was procrastinating. I did consider using my cold as an excuse to put off starting the C25K until next week but if a head cold doesn't stop me from doing housework then it's not a real reason to pike out of exercise.
So I dragged my tired arse out and did week one day one. My runs were more like casual jogs but by the sixth interval I was barely catching my breath during the walk phase, which had become less of a brisk walk and more of a panting stagger. I really had to push myself to finish the final run but I did it. Then, because my usual running circuit is still partly flooded, I had to take a different route so I had a longer walk home than I would normally have. I'm hoping the extra walk time makes up a bit for the lesser effort. - Lynn

Getting back on the horse

For the past five months my motivation has been at an all time low. I've had zero enthusiasm for healthy eating and exercise. In fact, I've had little interest in anything this last while. Things I'd usually enjoy have become a chore and chores seem simply overwhelming. Not surprising then that I've let things slide. I can't remember the last time I exercised, even incidentally. And my diet, while not completely gone to the dogs, has been far from ideal.
I knew I was regaining weight (my clothes were feeling tighter) but I just couldn't bring myself to care. When I finally worked up the courage to step on the scales and assess the damage I discovered I'd put on just under ten kilos. Ten hard lost kilos. But even this didn't give me the impetus to change. I'm still unmotivated and the very idea of exercise is exhausting.
I can remember a time when it wasn't like this. When I maintained healthy habits without much thought. Motivation never entered the equation. In the words of the the Nike advertising campaign I just did it.
And that's what I've got to do again. I've got to re-establish a healthy routine in lieu of motivation that just isn't there.
To that end I've decided to redo C25K starting this Monday. In an heroic effort to help me out of my funk Alex has decided to go above and beyond the call of friendship and give it a go as well.
I know I can do this. I've done it before.
Forget motivation, I'm opting for routine. - Lynn