Down, down, down

Blood test results are in! My cholesterol has dropped from 6.0 (measured mid-August) to 5.4 (measured at the end of November). My doctor is pleased with my results and said to continue what I am doing (as it still needs to come down a bit more). I have been following the principles outlined in the Portfolio Diet since mid-October, but have added more plant-based sources of protein in the last couple of weeks to support my training. My doctor thinks that doing regular exercise is helping too.

Today's exercise:
- foam rolling
- High Tension, Slow-Mo: Push-ups & Pull-ups
- 10 minutes stair stepping
- walk TJ

I got freaked out while walking TJ this morning as a staffy came running up to us (TJ has been bitten by a similar dog in the past). All good though - turns out it was only a (big) puppy and wanted to play. He and TJ had a great time playing in the water and TJ was still super-excited when we got home. He didn't want to have his lead taken off...



He eventually slowed down for a towel-dry...



Then decided he still wanted to play


He's still just a puppy at heart!

---

Breakfast: mix of oats, water, Sunwarrior rice protein, cinnamon, flax meal, walnuts, almonds and mixed berries; mandarin

Snack: Vega protein shake

Lunch: lentil salad with olive-oil dressing

Snack: warm tofu and vege salad with olive-oil dressing

Dinner: porterhouse steak, mashed garlic cauliflower with Flora pro-active; glass of cab merlot

Snack: Vega protein shake (half serve) with cacao powder

Monday 8 November

I did some foam rolling for my legs before heading out this morning. It was painful but made such a big difference to how long I could run for. Unfortunately my running got cut short as TJ bumped into one of his friends (Mia, a boxer) so I slowed down to walk with her owner.

6.15: lemon water, Combust, BCAAs

Exercise:
- foam rolling
- run
- walk with TJ

8.00: banana shake (soy milk, banana, water, berry Metamucil, BCAAs)

8.15: shower and get dressed

10.45: oat-bran porridge with soy milk and mixed berries

12.00: fibre drink, pear

1.45: gluten-free wrap with hummus, falafels, wheat-free tabouleh and chilli sauce; red cabbage

4.30: fibre drink, apple, almonds

7.30: leftover okra curry, tofu and basmati rice

10.00: mandarin

Sunday

I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday while walking TJ. I've been doing a lot of pull-ups (palms facing away from me) lately, which basically puts my shoulder in the same position as it was when I busted it skiing in 1993. And my shoulder has been aching quite a lot lately. So since pull-ups 'hurt' I won't be doing them any more. Rob got into my rhomboids, levator scap and thoracic fascia quite hard yesterday so I'm feeling much looser in that area now. I'll just subsitute chin-ups (hands facing towards me) instead, as they don't seem to bother me.

Along with the BCAAs I received on Friday, I also got a Gym Boss Interval Timer, so I've been playing with it a bit today. Looking forward to testing it out properly on Tuesday!

Today's log:

On rising: Combust with BCAAs (out of lemons)

Exercise: walk with TJ and Rob

Breakfast: oatbran porridge with soy milk, sugar and mixed berries

Snack: pear, fibre drink

Lunch: gluten-free wrap with hummus, felafels, wheat-free tabbouleh and chilli sauce

Snack: apple, almond butter, fibre drink

Dinner: okra curry, tofu, basmati rice

Snack: fibre drink, apple

Saturday

Had breakfast straight after exercise instead of a smoothie like I've been having the rest of the week. Felt wrecked for the rest of the day.

9.15: lemon water with Combust and BCAAs

Exercise:
- 30/90 PUSH-UPS / PULL-UPS + CARDIO
- walk with TJ
- stretching

10.15: ruby red grapefruit, oat-bran porridge with soy milk and sugar

12.15: fibre drink, pear

3.30: gluten-free wrap with falafels, hummus and wheat-free tabbouleh

5.30: apple, almonds, metamucil

8.30: lamb chop, corn cob with Flora pro-active, coleslaw, marinated eggplant

9.30: soy yoghurt, cherries

***edited to add the following***
10.30 3 gluten-free chocolate biscuits

NOvember 5

Lovely to have some sunny weather at last!

6.15: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: sprint pyramid followed by 25-minute walk with TJ

7.30: banana smoothie while stretching

7.45: shower and get dressed into non-bag-lady clothes (jeans, white long-sleeve T-shirt, pink jumper)

8.45: mandarin; oats with soy milk and cherries

11.45: fibre drink, pear

2.00: lentil and roasted eggplant soup, gluten-free bread with Flora pro-active spread

5.00: fibre drink, cashews and almonds, 2 glasses of sparkling wine to celebrate finishing my hell week of work

9.00: apple, Bird's Eye steamed fish with garlic and spring onion, Healthy Choice oven chips, gluten-free bread with Flora pro-active spread

NOvember 4

My appetite seems to have slowed down a bit since last week (PMT), thank goodness.

6.15: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: Max Sets: Push Ups, followed by 25-minute walk with Rob and TJ

My sets were five minutes apart this morning, so I got my stretching done in between.

7.30: banana smoothie, gluten-free toast with Flora Pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

No time to shower this morning, as I wanted to catch the same train as Rob into the city to drop off my work, but I did get changed into non-bag-lady clothes.

10.30: oats with soy milk, cherries, slivered almonds, cinnamon and stevia

12.30: fibre drink, pear

2.00: lentil and roasted eggplant soup, gluten-free toast with Flora Pro-active

5.30: soy hot chocolate, apple, almond butter

9.30: tandoori tofu, brown rice, garlic spinach and tomato salad from Kek's Good Food blog; Metamucil

NOvember 3

I had the option of posting my work back by 6pm today or working a bit later and hand-delivering it on Thursday morning. The only way I could get it done by 6pm today was if I missed stretching and showering. Since it's NOvember, I said NO to skipping my stretching and NO to staying in bag-lady clothes all day, and decided to work a bit later and hand-deliver the work on Thursday.

I've learnt something interesting about myself this week. If I start feeling tired, yawning and can't concentrate, it could be because I'm dehydrated. Often having something to drink makes this feeling go away (I used to have coffee, but that probably only made things worse!).

Here's todays log:

8.00: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: Squat Thrusts, followed by 25-minute walk with TJ

9.00: banana smoothie

10.30: gluten-free toast with Flora Pro-active and fruit spread; oats with soy milk, cinnamon and stevia; mandarin

12.00: fibre drink, pear

1.30: lentil and roasted eggplant soup, gluten-free toast with Flora Pro-active

3.30: fibre drink, fruit, almonds

7.00: chilli-and-honey tofu, brown rice, asparagus, red cabbage

NOvember 2

Yesterday I celebrated seven days without coffee. But what was even more important was it was also seven days of consecutive exercise. I can't remember the last time I did that. I think that the fact that each bout of exercise is only 20 minutes long really helps. Even if the workout for the day is really hard, I know it's only for 20 minutes, so it seems manageable. And then I follow it up with a walk in the park, which is pure pleasure. On the one day where there's no workout planned, I just do a longer walk. If little and often is the only way I can get exercise done at the moment, so be it.

Three ticks again for me for NOvember...

6.45: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: Physical Fitness Test followed by 25-minute walk with TJ

8.00: banana smoothie while stretching

8.15: shower and get changed into non-bag-lady-clothes (same as yesterday)

9.00: gluten-free toast with Flora pro-active and St Dalfour four fruit spread; oats with soy milk and cherries

12.00: lentil and roasted eggplant soup, gluten-free bread with Flora pro-active

2.00: fibre drink, apple, almond butter

4.30: fibre drink, pear

6.30: Bird's Eye steamed fish fillet (garlic and spring onion) on barley; broccoli, peas, pumpkin and red capsicum

9.30 Cadbury Old Gold rum n' raisin chocolate

NOvember 1

It's seven days since I've had any coffee. Go me! I ended up having a lot of naps last week instead!

Anyway, first day of NOvember today, and I did well on all counts:
NO skipping stretching
NO dressing like a bag lady
NO more than 2 glasses of wine at any one time

Bit of a late start today. It's that time of the month and I always have trouble getting out of bed the first couple of days.

9.00: lemon water with Combust

Exercise:
- run/walk for 20 minutes
- walk TJ for 25 minutes

10.15 banana smoothie while stretching

10.30 shower and get dressed into non-bag-lady clothes: jeans, blue jumper, brown necklace


11.45: oats with soy milk and cherries; gluten-free bread with Flora pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread; Metamucil

2.00: gluten-free toast spread with Flora pro-active and topped with lentil and vegetable dahl

3.00: fibre drink, apple, almond butter

8.30: fibre drink, pear

10.15: salmon, barley, broccoli, pumpkin and peas

Sunday

Wet, wet, wet on our walk this morning and all day today. The plants seem to love it though - this is an iris seen out our dining-room window:


We also have an unidentified fruit tree growing in our front yard. Can anyone tell me what these will be when when they grow up?



Today's food and exercise
6.15: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: 60-minute walk with TJ

7.45: gluten-free toast with Flora pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread; oats with cherries

11.00: fibre drink, mandarin

1.00: minestrone soup, gluten-free toast spread with Flora pro-active

3.00: fibre drink, apple, almond butter

4.30-6.00: nap

6.30: Mediterranean tofu scramble (tofu, semi-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, basil); cauliflower; brown rice

8.30: fibre drink, apple

*My skin has been feeling really good today. Not sure if it's from the avocado last night or from switching over to the gluten-free bread.

Saturday

I've been wanting dinner really early the last couple of days then end up eating more before bed. So I increased the size of my breakfast again this morning. I'm working over the weekend so my schedule is going to be pretty much the same as usual.

6.15: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: Max Sets: Pull-ups followed by 25-minute walk

7.30: oats with cherries; gluten-free bread spread with Flora Pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

10.00: banana smoothie

12.00: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew on gluten-free toast spread with Flora Pro-active

1.00-4.00: nap (didn't plan to sleep that long!)

4.30: fibre drink, pear, almonds

6.30: barley topped with Mexican tofu scramble (tofu, oregano, garlic, pepper, chilli, cumin, salsa, tomato, red pepper, grated zucchini, spring onions, coriander) and avocado; cauliflower

8.30: fibre drink, apple

Friday

I've been feeling a bit nauseous when training on an empty stomach a couple of times this week. I had some Combust in my cupboard so added that to my lemon water this morning and that seemed to help. I've also ordered some BCAAs to have pre and post training as I don't want to lose any of the muscle I've worked so hard to build.

6.15: lemon water with Combust

Exercise: Sprint 8 followed by 25-minute walk with Rob and TJ

7.30: banana smoothie

8.30: oats with cherries; oat-bran toast spread with Flora Pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread; Metamucil

11.00: fibre drink, apple, almonds

12.30: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew on oat-bran toast spread with Flora Pro-active

3.30: fibre drink, apple, almonds

5.30: tofu curry with pumpkin and broccoli on a bed of barley

8.30-10.30: peach, bit more dinner, fruit spread and Flora Pro-active on oat-bran bread

Thursday

I had the day off today so thought I'd share some photos of our house now that we are settled in.

I do my morning exercise in our garage. The purple paint job was done by the previous owners. Rob put down the mats on the floor so he and a couple of mates can grapple, and I put the band around the rafters to assist me with the chin-ups.


My office under the stairs. It looks out over the back yard - that's the mandarin tree outside the window. Note TJ lying under my desk...


Our dining room. The rug under the table was left in the garage by the previous owners.


View of the lounge from the dining room


Today's food and exercise

6.15: lemon water

exercise: Dips & Chin-ups Supersets followed by 25-minute walk with Rob and TJ

7.30: oats with cherries; oat-bran toast spread with Flora Pro-active and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

10.00: fibre drink, apple, almonds

12.00: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew on oat-bran toast spread with Flora Pro-active

3.30: fibre drink, apple, almonds

4.30: leftover stir-fried tofu with peppers and black bean sauce on a bed of barley

8.30: fibre drink, pear

edited to add
9.30 Bird's eye steamed fish fillet, carrot, 1 gluten-free cookie

Wednesday

I walked on my own this morning so chose to walk around the streets near our house as I haven't done much exploring yet. I enjoyed looking at all the different front gardens as I walked past.

I got hungry quickly between meals yesterday and ended up adding an extra meal at the end of the day, so today I made my first meal a bit bigger. I think that and the mid-afternooon nap helped a bit with my appetite today.

6.15am: lemon water

Exercise: Animal Conditioning (this was tough - reminded me of some of the exercises I did at a Jen Hendershot camp a few years ago), followed by 25-minute walk

7.30am: oats with cherries; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

10.00: fibre drink, apple, almonds

12.00: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol

need coffeeeee - had a nap instead

3.30: fibre drink, apple, almond butter

6.00: stir-fried tofu with peppers and black bean sauce on a bed of barley

8.30: fibre drink, pear

Tuesday

6.15am: lemon water

Exercise: 5 x 4 minute rounds, followed by 25-minute walk with Rob and TJ

7.30am: oats with cherries; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

10am: fibre drink, mandarin, almonds

12pm: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol

2pm: fibre drink, apple, almonds

4.15pm: tofu burger, four-seasons coleslaw, broccoli, little bit of sweet potato

I want coffeeeee

7pm: fibre drink, apple

8.30pm: kangaroo bolognese with gluten-free spaghetti and lots of veggies in the sauce

Monday

I'm currently using the foods mentioned in the Portfolio Diet in an effort to get my cholesterol down a bit more before Christmas. I'm also trying to cut out caffeine: I have a negative variation in the MTHFR (cardiovascular health) gene, and consuming caffeine may increase my risk of heart disease (see points 3 and 4 here).

On rising: lemon water

Exercise: run-walk for 20 minutes, followed by 25-minute walk

Breakfast: oats with cherries; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol and St Dalfour four-fruit spread

Snack: fibre drink (berry Metamucil mixed with water and soy milk), apple

Lunch: eggplant, tomato and chickpea stew; oat-bran bread topped with Logicol

Snack: fibre drink, pear, almonds

Dinner: mixed vegetable and tofu stir-fry (adapted from Michelle Bridges' Crunch Time Cookbook) on barley


Snack: fibre drink, apple, almond butter