Licence to Drive & Shiva Rea

Guess who got their learner's licence today? It's a hard one ... me! What, you serious, but you're 30 you say? Yep, finally. Without getting ethical about why one shouldn't drive a car etc, I need to be able to drive to get to places quicker, on time and safely. Getting home quite late most nights on a train full of drunks or opportunists is not my idea of fun. For the little amount of time I do have between work and study, I waste it by sitting around for public transport, connecting services - yadda, yadda. Enough is enough. Plus, I have a niece now who lives in the country. It currently takes me 2-3 hours to travel by train to see her but it'd take me 45 minutes in a car. Which option would you take? You see my point. So the fun begins. My partner just got his licence too - we're in competition to see who gets their P's first, ha!

The past week has been good in terms of eating and exercise. I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect more of a weight loss but I did good this week. I've also lost centimeters off my waist, hips and thighs and I could really tell by the way my jeans sat.

Goal Weight: 75-70kg (my 5kg buffer)

Current Weight: 77.3kg
Loss this week: .5kg

And now for the *drum roll* - Shiva Rea is visiting Australia this March! She will be doing workshops at Body Mind Life in Surry Hills. I don't know if I have the mulla or time but I'm definitely going to try. Shiva Rea's DVDs are what got me into yoga in the first place. I love her vinyasa style and philosophy of yoga which to me seems all inclusive no matter who you are, where you come from or what your own beliefs are. Yoga doesn't mess with that, it can only embrace and enhance it. To say that I am excited is an understatement. I seriously can't wait.

Skinny Latte Strikes Back!

One of the best things you can do to help you achieve your goals in life is to surround yourself with positive people. People who get off their butts and take responsibility for every single thing they think, say and do - not blame others for their lot in life.

Here's another shout out to a wonderful woman in my life who continues to inspire me, the gorgeous Skinny Latte. If you're looking for an inspirational read - go check out her Skinny Latte Strikes Back blog. She is a phenomenal writer and has been writing some great stuff lately on how to get healthy and stay healthy.

Yoga for a great cause!

If you are in Melbourne this Friday, the wonderful Nadine Fawell is donating her time as a yoga teacher at Moksha Yoga, who in turn are donating the proceeds of their "Free Yoga Day" to the Melbourne Bushfire victims.

Nadine is really cool. Ever thought of trying yoga? Maybe this can be a great start. I can't wait to get down to Melbourne to try one of her classes myself.

FREE YOGA DAY - click here

Organising Myself

60+ hour weeks really are the bane of my existence right now but all for a very good cause, to be a professionally qualified and working Nutritionist. It's going to happen but I need to get myself more organised. I just don't have time to do things on the run anymore. I need to think about my day before it begins. That way the stuff like food, exercise and priorities are dealt with so I can handle the curve balls better.

My weight has started to creep up a little since I started studying because I sit on my arse for the majority of the day. My food intake has increased because I am sleeping less and more tired. When I'm tired, I go for coffee, which inevitably goes hand in hand with a sweet. I also find that when I'm not prepared, I'm presented with the worst options for a quick bite in between work and college (usually 10 mins to choose something and gobble). And therein lies that vicious cycle. Having said all this though cannot be an excuse. I'm just not organised and need to be.

The exercise has been decent. I'm still working with a Personal Trainer twice a week, which I love. Yoga has been virtually non-existent so I promised myself that today I had to go back, and I did. I need to exercise smarter by doing exercise that will burn the most amount of kilojoules in the least amount of time and walking won't cut it so running, cycling and boxing is going to do this for me. Yoga won't burn major kilojoules but it does amazing things for my peace of mind and flexibility so it's equally important that I keep up my practice.  

So when do I fit in the time to exercise? First thing. Before work. No excuse. I can't function otherwise and that means getting up at 5 am. Basically, if I eat every day I've got to exercise everyday and keep my kilojoules in versus kilojoules out ratio in check.

One of the main things that I will do over the next 12 weeks is keep a handwritten diary. On my bad days, I will be able to look back and see why in relation to sleep, mood, weather, exercise, water and general kilojoule intake. Should be interesting. Keeping a diary like this helped me lose 30kgs in the first place. I think the main thing will be to cut out the sweets and make sure I do a big cook-up on weekends for the week ahead so I don't have to make last minute decisions on the run. 

I know for a fact that my food intake and the changes I make will play a big part in how much better I will be able to cope with my work/college hours this year. If I eat well and exercise, I will have infinitely more energy and be happier because my body is not being constantly hammered from all angles. My health is so important to my success.

MY STATS

Height = 178cm

BMI = 20-25 

WW Goal Weight = 75kg (BMI 24)

Current Weight = 77.7kg (BMI 25)

Ideal Weight = 70kg (BMI 22)

Taking A Moment

One of my favourite things to do, and something I don't do often enough, is to simply float (in the ocean). I feel light, I feel free, I feel like there is not a care in the world.

I am so unbelievably busy right now. Happy, but so very tired. Trying to survive on 4-6 hours sleep a night is not great, especially when I don't have any wind down time. I'm grabbing half an hour this morning to just centre myself.

Work is crazy. Study is crazy. Today, I will just close my eyes when I need a moment ... and float.

"But now we float
Take life as it comes..."

We Float by PJ Harvey