Sunday, August 15, 2010

End of Week 4

Had a sleep-in this morning then spent the afternoon cleaning our new house. The previous owners moved out on Friday and obviously did so in a bit of a hurry - they left lots of stuff behind and didn't bother cleaning up after themselves. It's a shame there's no rule about cleaning a house when you move out of a sold property like there is when you move out of a rental property. At least it will now be clean for us when we move in next weekend.

Here are this week's weigh-ins. I went to bed straight after getting home from work on Friday night so Saturday's weight reflects a missed meal.

Mon: 60.8
Tue: 61.1
Wed: 61.1
Thu: 61.1
Fri: -
Sat: 59.8
Sun: 60.5
Average: 60.7, down 0.7 since end of Week 3.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Muddy

We picked up the keys for our house this morning. The back yard has some drainage problems so we did some work on it today, because we don't want the dog tracking mud inside. We will move in next weekend.

Today we dug two trenches leading away from the house on a decline. We lined each trench with perforated drain pipe. The drain pipes drain into larger holes (wells) at the end of the garden. We covered the pipes in the trench with scoria, and put bigger stones in the wells. Then we covered the trenches and wells with some of the dirt we removed.





The back yard isn't wet any more but there is lots of exposed dirt. Hope the grass grows back quickly!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Weird

I am losing fat in the strangest places this week. My feet have been freezing, and last night I noticed that my hands suddenly felt and looked smaller. However, after standing in front of a three-way mirror in a Target changing room yesterday, other parts of me aren't changing as fast as I'd like! Being pasty white probably doesn't help.

I dropped off a big bank cheque at the settlements office yesterday. Settlement on the house should go through this afternoon, fingers crossed.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Loosey Goosey

My lower back has been quite tight since deadlifting on Monday. There's a massage therapist that comes into work on Wednesdays and she had a free spot available so I had a 30-minute treatment on my back. She found lots of tight spots! Am feeling much better now but it's a good reminder to keep up my post-workout stretching and get a regular massage. Am good to go for bench pressing tonight!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Pre-Settlement Inspection

Settlement for our house purchase is on Friday. Tonight we went and did the pre-settlement inspection. It's been almost three months since we signed the contract, so it was nice to get in there for another look. I also measured up the kitchen cupboards for a dishwasher - a slimline one should just fit!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Relief, kind of

Rob finally went to the eye specialist today. There is no damage to his eye, but he has a condition called 'coroneal abrasion'. He has to use drops multiple times per day for up to 12 months, and put a gel in his eye before bed. So to any martial arts practitioners out there, trim your nails before training so you don't scratch someone's cornea!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

End of Week 3

Monday saw me stay at home to look after Rob, who still couldn't see after re-injuring his eye over the weekend.

One of the things I did during the day was to copy all our pics from my old PC onto a flash disk. I found all of TJ's puppy pics. Love this one!



We never guessed he'd grow up to be this big!


I also had a guy out to service the fridge as it stopped cooling properly over the weekend. He ended up replacing the PC board - it's the second replacement since we bought the fridge five years ago. I won't be buying a Westinghouse again.

Rob was able to diagnose that the pain I've had in my right arch/heel lately as the start of plantar fascitis, which I suspect has been brought on by landing heavily on my heels during one of my dynamic warm-up exercises at the gym. Hopefully more rolling on a tennis ball and stretching, and avoiding that particular exercise, will fix it quickly.

Tuesday through Friday I was back at Lonely Planet again. Work, Eat, Train, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.

On Saturday I did some freelance work during the day, called my Dad in New Zealand (Happy Birthday!), then went to a birthday BBQ in the evening.

Today I'm doing more freelance work - am compiling a book of Christmas carols and stories, so it's quite enjoyable.

Although I've been busy, I've managed to get in all my planned exercise. Food and water consumption has also been on track, apart from a few drinks and a couple of cupcakes at the birthday on Saturday night.

This week's weigh-ins:
Mon: 61.5
Tue: 61.4
Wed: 61.7
Thu: 61.7
Fri: 61.3
Sat: 61.4
Sun: 60.8
Average: 61.4, down 1.4 on week 1

My aim for next week is to keep being consistent with my training, walking, eating and water consumption, while juggling my in-house and freelance work, and organising stuff for the settlement of our house purchase.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Kiwi fitness model takes up raw food diet

My dad sent me the link to this item on the news in New Zealand. Thought some of you might find it interesting...

As a fitness model and a pro figure competitor - Raechelle Chase has graced the covers of a dozen magazines.

Her body is her business.

But the strict animal protein diet followed by most body builders was leaving her sick and lethargic.

So she made a radical change.

Campbell Live reporter Natasha Utting visits the body fitness model’s kitchen.


Watch the video here

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Run for a Cause

I have blogged a couple of times (here and here) about my sister Tash and her little boy James, who has type 1 diabetes. Since the start of the year Tash has increased the amount of activity she has been doing, getting up early in the morning to go for a run, a cycle or a swim. One of the reasons she decided to do this was to set a good example to her children, showing them that regular exercise helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

Over the course of the year Tash has entered several 10K fun runs. She was due to run a half-marathon at the start of July but, due to illness the week of the run, decided to do a 10K instead, which she completed easily. She is now gearing up to complete her first marathon, the Auckland Marathon, at the end of October. She aims to run the Auckland Marathon to raise money for Diabetes New Zealand.

Tash says "I'll do all the hard work; train for and complete this event, but I really need your help to make a difference to my charity." If you would like to help Tash, please visit her fundraising page.