Eating Journey

Entries categorized as ‘thoughts’

Welcome to my CLEAN flat!

November 11, 2009 · 10 Comments

Ok..yep..I’ve skipped the last two days of tri training..why? Because I am exhausted.

That’s right I am DOWN RIGHT tired.

I twittered about that this morning and frankly everyone said, listen to your body.

So I listened. I am exhausted. I have been blogging too much, I have been un-organising my life, leaving dirty dishes out and frankly wasting time.

I.HAVE.THINGS.TO.DO!

When I feel like my life is a bit off-kilter I clean baby. Welcome to my flat in Oz!

P1013371

The ‘living room’ area. The cover on the couch is from Timor, and the carpet is from India.

P1013370

My kitchen…yeah that’s right…dishes. Then the striped thing is my shower, which is next to my kitchen. Ha. Then the picture-hanging thing was hand-made from India.

P1013373

My bed which is next to my shower. I live in a wall-less flat.

Which is now clean.

You know what else makes me happy and not feel like my life is falling off the axis? Decaf Long Blacks (Americanos). I actually thought about getting a Soy Cap..but said to myself ‘are you hungry?’ nope. Long Black it was.

P1013364

Drinking this disgusting detox drink has enabled my gut to heal itself..so that keeps me world twirling like a top.

P1013366

Yeah I realised after I took that picture that I had my headphones in. However, I was cleaning my house and making it sparkly while sipping this nasty drink and listening to Chris Brown. I felt momentarily guilty for listening to him..then started dancing around.

What also keeps me going is food. Yummy, wholesome, good food. Behold: 5 oz chicken breast w/ sautéed veggies and 1/2 c. of polenta w/ a splash of rice milk. My guts love this.

P1013376

The last thing that will help me sleep tonight is to announce that MELANIE was the winner of the Enjoy.The.Journey Giveaway.

How do you keep your life from falling off the axis?

~M

Categories: thoughts
Tagged: , , ,

Excitement is ALL around me!

November 11, 2009 · 10 Comments

I am glad that everyone liked my post from this morning. I was a woman of simple words this morning…that doesn’t happen often, you should appreciate it.

This morning I powered up with a green smoothie: 1 small pkt. of Amazing Grass, 2 small organic bananas, 3 c. spinach, 1 c. rice milk

P1013358P1013357

I was an Amazing Grass virgin this morning. It wasn’t bad at all. However, I was still a bit hungry. So I had another packet of amazing grass this morning w/ 8 oz of water.

P1013359

It kinda tasted like this

hay

I think it would have been better with rice milk or in a smoothie..will report back. I have supplies.

I have some REALLY exciting news for you…but you’ll have to wait until Friday. However, I am scheming with Katy @ SillyTaterTot and next week is gonna be HUGE! (She lives in Florida and I am in Australia. It’s super weird to actually speak to a blogger that you adore. I have spoken to Caitlin via skpye once and I almost peed my pants with excitement).

I ran down to lunch with these girls: Julie and Ervina. Julie is someone who I met a church about two months ago. She’s from Wisconsin and is a nanny for six kids–I might be helping out once she leaves..God help me. She is headed back home on Friday, so we had a good-bye lunch.

P1013360

Ervina had the Chicken Laksa

P1013361

I had my staple Chan Chua w/ extra fresh chilli

P1013362

I then came back from eating..and I guess I was a bit on the hungry side of life. I had a cup of green tea (need the caffeine) and 1 very small apple w/ 1 TB organic/natural peanut butter

P1013363

I got an e-mail that says my MACBOOK is coming tomorrow..I think I just peed my pants.

What is something that you’ve wait for, and got, that you were dying to have?

~M

Categories: thoughts
Tagged: , ,

Goodbye Savings

November 11, 2009 · 10 Comments

I bought this last night

macbook

I no longer have this

hp-530-notebook-pc

I really wanted to eat this for dinner

DSC_2377-taqueria-burrito

Instead I had this

Chicken Fajita Salad Closeup

I should have done this, this morning

swimold bike

Instead I did this

Sleeping_Beauty_Polar_Bear-1600x1200

Dreaming about no longer have this

australian-money

But this is how I feel inside because I have a MacBook coming to me in a box

me

yes..I am weird.

~M

Categories: thoughts
Tagged: ,

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

November 10, 2009 · 8 Comments

I have posted about the 7 Tri Lessons I have learned and I came across one of my favourite songs while starting to write this little bloggie.

Work It
Make It
Do It
Makes Us
Harder
Better
Faster
Stronger

Any guesses?

So how am I going to Work It for my next tri in Feb?

TRAIN

training scheduleEAT

Doesn’t that sound obvious? You should eat when you’re training.

However, coming from eight years of dieting and worshiping a scale…I am learning LEARNING to embrace the idea of intuitive eating. I don’t really have much more to write about this, because I am not an expert.

I still struggle fall back into ‘Old Michelle’ ways. However, what I have learned is that I have to FUEL my body. My body is a bit messed up right now and I have to live a damn clean diet because of my health issues. However, I can still overeat on healthy foods–bring on the peanuts :)

I am no longer eating to lose weight, I am eating to fuel.

ENJOY

I am still blown away at times from the comments that I get for you.YOU. and YOU! Thank you for letting me share my journey with you all.

I am here to enjoy it.

I am FINALLY doing exercise for the enjoyment of exercise.

How do you work it harder, better, faster, stronger?

~M

Categories: exercise · food/diet · health · idea · list · thoughts · training
Tagged: , , , , ,

7 Tri Lessons

November 9, 2009 · 17 Comments

I have posted about how I got into the Tri, how nervous I was to do the Tri and how great it was to FINISH the Tri.

finished

But what have I learned from the tri?

1. You have to properly fuel: On the day of the race I only ate about 1 1/2 pancakes and 1 banana before the race.

foodI was STARVING afterward and ate the same amount right after the race. I came home and had the WORST headache for about five hours after the race. Nothing that food and water and sleep could cure. I need to eat more substantial things when I got home– a green monster and nuts weren’t enough. I am still learning how to properly fuel. Shifting my focus from losing weight–to fueling for my fitness.

2. H2O: I only drank about 2 c. of water before and after the race. I had about 2 squirts of water while I was racing and it was a hot day. WATER. WATER. WATER. I know that is the reason I was so de-hydrated and zapped afterwards. However, when you come from a ‘losing weight’ mentality, water is seen as extra weight in my old mindframe.

3. Kick and Plow through during the swim: I am not someone who likes or takes pride in inflicting pain in other people. However, what really slowed me down was the swim. I wasn’t ready for the swim and I really wasn’t ready for the fact that you just have to plow your way through people.

4. Have a mantra or two up your sleeve: This goes for anything in life..have a negative thoughts ‘fire blanket’. Snuff out those negative thoughts.

grandmaMy legs were tired 1/2 way through the bike ride and it was getting warm. I just kept saying to myself ‘Smash it! Your Grandma survived so can you. You are a strong machine’. I said it out loud to myself…say it to believe it…it makes it much more powerful then just running it through your mind. Give it energy.

5. Lazer Zap People: Focus on someone in front of you that you want to get past. It works every time. I had fun lazer zapping people on the bike ride.

6. Train: I could have never done this race without the training that I did. It may seem like a lot when you first start, but you can’t underpin the value in training.

7. DO IT AGAIN! I have two races, 5km, with my family when I go back to visit in November. I also have my second Tri planned for Feb 2010. It’s a huge one! 750m ocean swim/ 21km bike / 5km run. It’s basically THREE TIMES bigger than what I just did.

These are some of the thing which I have thought about in the past 24 hours. It has been a journey and I am loving every single reflective and awesome flashback moment that I bestow upon myself.

Have you ran a race? Made it through a hard time in life? What have you learned?

~M

Categories: exercise · idea · list · thoughts
Tagged: , , , , ,

American Love

November 9, 2009 · 7 Comments

I just want to say that I am feeling very loved from all of my American friends.

First I got some love from Kat with this awesome Halloween inspired card.

P1013303

Did I mention that I LOVE October and I LOVE Halloween. I was sad that I couldn’t be part of the Halloween experience while I was in Oz. Actually that’s a lie..we did host a little Halloween Party…which was fun.

Then today I pretty much BOLTED down to the Post Office because Caitlin has sent me a package!!!!!!!

P1013346

I am SO excited, because I feel like I’ve missed the Amazing Grass and Lara Bar band wagon because I was in Australia. I may have opened up the Cashew Cookie Lara Bar and ate it ALL. It was awesome. Then my co-worker Jaime wanted to try the Peanut Butter and Jelly one. She had a bite and I did to. It sure tasted yummy.

Beyond this awesome and amazing American Love…I powered up after my Triathlon today focusing on LISTENING TO MY BODY AND FUELING FOR MY EXERCISE and not losing weight :)

P1013340

1/2 c. rice flakes w/ 3 strawberries, splash of rice milk, 1 tsp. flax and 1 tsp. chia seeds, 8 walnut halves

Then we had this thing which I created at my work called ‘Exam Snacks’. We host free food for all of the uni students before and after their exams for a hour and host yummy food..like cookies, sausage rolls, etc. I DIDN’T get into anything. I need to heal my body. I did however get into the salted nuts and carrots/celery–abt 5 TB. of nuts (opps)

P1013338For Lunch: This is a TON of veggies (carrots, onion, bok choy, snow peas) which was fried in about 1 TB of vegan spread and water. I then baked tofu last night: sprinkle chili powder and salt over tofu chunks and bake for about 20 minutes at 350/180 degrees. I also had about 1/2 c. of white rice (brown rice upsets my tummy).

Honestly, I didn’t eat until 2pm because I was stuffed from the nuts and veggies that I ate before during the exam snacks. As stated above I did have about 1 1/4 Lara Bars–which I probably didn’t need–but you know what..I’ve waited ages to have them and they were GREAT!

A gluten free ginger cookie may have just slipped in.

Anyways, I am just over the moon because of the American Love that I’ve got!

Do you ever send care packages to people? Snail Mail?

~M

Categories: thoughts · travel
Tagged: , , ,

TRI-Star

November 8, 2009 · 40 Comments

I did it..I didn’t stop once..I completed my FIRST TRIATHLON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, maybe it was a mini-tri.

Do you remember that just THREE WEEKS ago I decided that I was going to do the Pink Tri which I participated in today. Just three weeks ago my friend Madi decided that she was going to do it with me as well.

Three weeks of training, three weeks of wondering what we were doing..to have a GREAT sense of accomplishment.

This is what I fueled up on today: 3 gluten free pancakes and 2 bananas–1/2 eaten before and 1/2 eaten after the tri.

P1013328

We were so nervous…we got lost on the way there and Madi had to call her mom at 6am–sorry Mom. But we got there and got painted up and ready to go.

P1013313P1013314We then headed over to the pool to scope out the group of participants in the longer race. I know that I said I was going to do the longer race, however, I decided that going the medium amount of 200m swim/7km bike / 2km run was a better start for someone who had never done it before.

It was good for us to check out the scene, know how they swam and transitioned. We then waited and I had to take care of some girlie stuff–why does it always come on race days. The last race that I did this happened as well..my body is out to get me!

We got all kitted up and had to take one last picture before RACE TIME!

P1013322

We were ready. We had our tags on our legs and I had to try my shirt on before the race of course.

P1013317

The Pink Tri is a series of Mini-Tris around Australia which are for women only and raise money for Breast Cancer. I signed up for the race for my grandmother who faught Breast Cancer and won in the early 1980s. Not only did she win, she healed the shoulder which had limited movement as a post-operative situation which was partially due to the way in which her surgery was done. This wasn’t through more surgery–it was through intensive and painful massage. My grandmother is the strongest woman I know.

P1013319

We got into the pool and instead of doing laps, you went from one marker to the next–basically an ‘M’ shaped–equaling 4 laps. I am not a strong swimmer–and have only started swimming in the past three weeks. It was overwhelming starting as a group of 10. I got cut off, kicked in the face, etc. There were much slower people that I had to navigate, my arms were tired and negative thoughts started jumping in my mind.

I quieted them.

Got out of the pool ran–IN MY SWIMMING SUIT–down to my bike. Chucked on lyrca pants, socks, shoes, headband and helmet and my pink shirt from above.

The safety pins popped off…so I had to re-do my number.

I get to the place where I could mount my bike and my damn chain had fallen off. I didn’t panic, because I knew that I could fix it. I just put my hand on the chain and with the help of a organiser I was able to get going. Greasy hands for the whole bike ride and run–this is after I had tried to wash them off. I also got grease on the sweat band that I had on my arm and then rubbed it across my face–AWESOME.

P1013323

I bolted. I didn’t want to leave anything behind..I want to pour my energy into the bike. I did. I kept saying to myself ‘Your grandma didn’t give up, so neither or you. Smash It. You are not tired, your legs are only warming up‘.

I got through the bike and started the run. It was hot. By that time it was about 9am and the sun was beating down and we were running on grass. Hot, steamy, grass. And it was TWO LOOPS–anyone find it hard to loop? I rounded the first loop and there the finish line was staring at my face. Grrr.

I just kept running. Repeating that ‘I can, I will, I am. Running across that finish line is gonna feel amazing, so you gotta keep going‘

I saw the finish line and bolted. I didn’t want to leave anything out of my body that I couldn’t give. Crossing the finish line was such an incredible experience. There I was, running a freaking Triathlon. This was FOR ME…for me only. For no one else, but for me :)

Madi was in a different group of starters so she was behind me, I cheered her on and I was so proud of her.

DONE! HAPPY! FEED ME!

P1013326P1013325

The results:

  • Overall time: 41:24 :) I was really proud of that. I had written on my hand 40…and I told Madi that I wanted to get in the low 40’s for the race today.
    • Swim (200m): 5:24
    • Bike (7km): 23:43
    • Run (2km): 12:16
  • 6th out of 43 in my age group
  • 24th overall out of 233 participants in my run

I am really proud of how things ended up. I say to anyone–go out and give it a TRI!

This has been such a journey for me. I am ok with the journey I am on. Madi said to me today, after we were talking about training for the huge triathlon in February, ‘Michelle, I no longer eat because I want to lose weight. I eat to fuel for my exercise‘. This is where I am focusing the rest of my journey.

What’s one thing in your life that you must get done before you die?

~Thank you for your support, it has meant so much to me. M

You have until 10am Eastern Time to enter into my Giveaway for an awesome charm trio…can’t wait to read your entry. :)

Categories: exercise · health · thoughts
Tagged: , , , , , ,

my TRI thoughts

November 7, 2009 · 11 Comments

I am excited about my TRI tomorrow.

I am excited about swimming, biking, running.

I am excited that my body is doing this amazing task tomorrow.

I am excited about eating pancakes and bananas for breakfast.

I am excited to show you my note that I am wearing on my shirt.

I am NERVOUS as hell.

~M

Categories: thoughts

Friday = YouTube

November 6, 2009 · 4 Comments

Hey there…I have lost my camera.

So I leave you with some cool stuff to watch..cause most of you are in USA..and it’s Friday..and who works on a Friday anyways?

Perhaps this will be a goal of mine..I’ll start with a 1/2 before taking the whole

Please..I beg of you..watch this..and laugh out loud

One of my favourite songs

Favourite Spiritual Song

I need to go and find my camera–seriously–where oh where are you hiding? On second thought–stay hidden, I need a new one.

What’s your favourite YouTube video?

~M

You..enter here for a great giveaway…

Categories: thoughts
Tagged:

How to get ready for your First TRI….

November 6, 2009 · 3 Comments

How do you get ready for your first tri? EAT and CELEBRATE!

Yesterday was Madi’s Birthday. Us girls went out for lunch!

P1013290P1013293

This morning I woke up feeling like I wanted to get the mud flying in my life..and powered up with a bowl like this..1/3 c. rice flakes, 1 tsp chia and flax seeds and 1 TB peanuts (no banana–old pic sorry)

P1013286

I had a cup of tea w/ about 1/4 c. of rice milk and 2 carrots before devouring this awesome bowl of soup. Chan Chua: rice milk w/ extra chili and vegetables!

P1013294

Then I gave Madi her necklace which I bought her for her birthday..doesn’t she look great!!!!

P1013295

I have had another cup of tea. I would like to state for the case, that I have been listening to my body today. Madi and I are going to go out and order pasta tonight…to carb load before the Tri on Sunday :) I have made a conscious effort to eat meals which I know are good for me and also knowing that tonight I am going to enjoy my pasta and not shove my face all day long.

After yesterdays very scary reoccurrence of stomach pains, to the point I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital again, I knew that cheating just isn’t in the cards. It’s not only about my weight–but it’s more about my health. It’s poison to my body and I have finally embraced that this is what I have been dealt, so I am going to make the best of it.

I am off to go for a quick swim tonight at the gym and then for a run tomorrow morning. I am really excited about tomorrow and I am even more excited about Sunday.

Have you ran a race or done something where you were really looking forward to it? How did you prepare? What do you wish that you would have known?

~M

Enjoy.The.Journey Giveaway is still going on…get on it!

Categories: food/diet · health · thoughts
Tagged: , , , ,