Ability: the power of being able to do something, or get something done; power

Another day in the world of searching for perfection!

Happy Birthday Sabine, hope you had a great day!

I have had a day of resounding and discussion with myself! I asked - Do you really want to be successful with my fitness goals? My answer: Time to get aggressive with the goals.

My advice to myself to read and digest:
1. Get aggressive with your goals
2. Tell my story - blog
3. Contact people who you have lost contact with
4. Chart my wins
5. Associate with people with top physiques
6. Keep workout routines strict
7. Look at other trasnformations and feed from them
8. Keep & display old photos of yourself (Well I don't know about that, sort of like hiding there............maybe a pit to climb out of and accept)
9. Invite others for the ride.
10. And most important - BELIEVE!

What is motivation? A want? A need? A drive?
I read an article where it said that 'relying on just willpower will not work, willpower equals short-term success. Long term success requires planning, discipline, and finding ways to motivate myself'

I tell you what though, motivation takes a lot of work. Everyday you have to work on staying focused, there are days when you just feel like 'giving it a miss'! So what do I do to stay focused...............blog - write down my story at the moment. Look and read other blogs - involve yourself in the journey of others, learn from their pitfalls.

Today I didn't want to eat the lunch I packed myself - a planned lunch.............so off I toddle down to the local cafe with the boys. Then I get there and my mind starts to kick in, what the hell are you doing, you have a great lunch back at the office.............no the left side says, I want to buy lunch. So guess what, i did. But get this...........this is what i purchased for lunch. 150gm of grilled fish (and not grilled on the stove, grilled in under a griller on a double tray that drains), the guy squeezes lemon juice over the top to enhance flavours while grilling under the griller, he then puts into a container with a mixed salad that is not dressed. So I am guessing I had a win win situation, I got to buy lunch and i had the healthy lunch I require to keep on with my goals. The other win is, i don't need to prepare lunch for tomorrow, already in the fridge at work! Wahoo!

Well time to go as it is time for me to go to Body Balance, need to stretch!!
Ciao!
X:D)

Confidence: belief in oneself and ones abilities.

Wahoo! Just thought I would share that with you all.

The high just continues on and on! I don't know what I am on, but I am feeling pretty fantastic. How was everyone's easter? I had a very quiet one, did 3 powerwalks, got a blister the size of a 50 cent piece on my heel from shoes that shrunk in the wash. Only had about 5-10gm of dark chocolate, not as an easter thing but something I do once a week anyway as a treat on friday or saturday nights. Felt a bit lost on Friday as I would have loved to have gone to the gym, but when to fish markets, bought this nice whole barramundi and baked it for dinner. Yummo!

Trained yesterday with my training partner and her trainer as something different to do and for the fact that my trainer J was not working. We did back, rear delts and biceps. I am so sore. My biceps feel like they are about to fall off. I went in and trained chest this morning and did 20mins cardio afterwards. Went back this afternoon to do cardio again. I am shagged!!!! I had my skinfolds done yesterday and I am chuffed at the results I have had in 3 weeks. Trying to get in all the training , but a bit mixed up in order again.

Also for some unknown reason, my legs are sore and I haven't trained them yet. As I did chest today and it is usually leg day, I will do them Friday. Those yucky plyo squat jumps! Also I don't want sore legs when I do balance on Thursday night. The strength track is hard and I want fresh legs.

Well I best be going and I will catch up with you all again soon. I just love Cindy's biceps in the picture above. I will have biceps like that!

Ciao!

X:D)

Euphoria: a feeling of happiness or well-being; confidence.

Nice Delts!!! That is what my rear delts will look like. I have some serious DOMS in my rear delts, that I have not ever had. Target successfully acheived.

Actually having some major soreness happening all over. Abs are sore from?????? Chest - some very deep heavy incline DB flys. Biceps, heavy Db Hammer, Legs; plyo jump squats after leg press!! Yucko!

Still having that great feeling at the moment. Enjoying my time altogether at the moment. I had a very small stuff up tonight with my food, but not going to beat myself up over it. So it was a mistake, now I miss out on my nightly treat of caramel protein shake. Bummer, was getting attached to that. Oh well will have to miss out tonight. Well Easter is amost on us, lucky we don't do chocolate in our household.

Well I am actually looking forward to the 4 day break of some serious exercise time. Hubby is working on The Kid's new car, so I will have a lot of time to myself. I was thinking of going to a very long bike ride. Maybe even walk around Daisy Hill Forest. Actually the Boondall Wetland sounds inviting as well, have always wanted to walk or ride that. Might have to check out the details on the web tomorrow for the weekend.

Well enuf dribble, will now sign off. Talk to you all soon

Ciao!

X:D)

Outcome: a result to something produced by an action or a cause; effect

Don't you wish you had the ability to bottle feelings when

they are just fantastic. Talk about being on a high today........ I mean nothing will or would phase.

I was reading an article on Sunday and I thought I would share a bit; 'Whatever your suffering or problem or emotion is, don't run from it endlessly - welcome it like a visitor so that you can understand it better. Just breathe, sit with your emotion, recognise it and smile at it. Do just that for several days, nothering more and your emotion will gradually have less and less energy..........................ask it questions, think about constructive ways to change the situation.................Once you accept where you are as your starting point, you'll naturally figure out where to go to next.'hassman.

So why is today a great day??? let me see. I am alive, I am here, I am healthy, I am working towards my goal, I had an awesome weights session this morning, I did some cardio this morning, I ate cleanly today, I drank 3 litres of water so far, I have a loving husband and gorgeous son, I have great friends who care about me, I have an awesome network of people who are helping me with my goal and I got 2 weeks in a row of visual results!

I did an awesome weight session this morning - back and rear delts. My back was burning before I got to 15mins of my weight session! Nice! I think I am going to feel the effect of this training session tomorrow with a vengence. My abs are still sore from last week (thursday) and my triceps still hurt from last week. Even better............not often I get DOMS that last that long these days. And do you know what I like the most, even after all the years of weight training and all the heavy lifts I do, I still get DOMS really bad, and often get them from doing a light workout, ie taking weight down a little but changing the count of deliverance. gotta love your muscles, a truly amazing piece of our bodies.

Have a great week peoples.

Ciao!

X:D)

Result: something that happens as a consequence; outcome!

Anything that is worth achieving does not come easily! Wow Sue, when you wrote this, you have no idea how true it is for me. I am at this very moment falling into a pit of anxiety and misery! I am letting my head think too much, is the real answer. I am wanting more results for the long hard work I am putting into my world of changes. So I am having a bad day! So I am thinking of all the hard work I have put in, and how I should continue putting it in as it will come to those who wait. But I ask you, why is results taking so long??

I know, I know, be patient! Keep your eye on the prize!!!! So what am I doing to get on with it you ask!!!!!!!!!!!! Climb out of that pit! I read an article which is interesting "You change from the outside in".

This article goes on to discuss about those who feel the same as I do; I have noted down a few things from the article:
The most common concern seems to be that your loss seems too slow. After starting a serious fitness program including cardiovascular and weight training, nearly everyone feels better and more energetic almost immediately (aside from the soreness). But even after several weeks (months), some people do not see a noticeable change in the mirror, so far as fat is concerned. And the scale! You've busted your bum for weeks, and there's no change!..............Fat is stored in several places, within the muscle as 'intramuscular fat' (like pork), around the organs as 'visceral fat', and under the skin as 'subcutaneous fat'. If you're inactive as you get older, the fat starts depositing in the muscles first - the muscle tissue gets 'marbelized'. After the intramuscular stores are full, the fat spills over to subcutaneous stores, which are more noticeable.........................so now to reverse that process. Exercise tends to draw significantly from the intramuscular stores early on, so instead of seeing a major change in the mirror, you may instead feel your muscless getting firmer and less "mushy". That is a good sign. DON'T GIVE UP! The subcutaneous fat loss becomes more evident once the intramuscular stores are whittles down a bit!

Now I ask you, what if you have been exercising for a long time?????? Oh yeah and right now I hear Carolyn ' Be patient little grasshoper' changes are happening!!!! Oh yeah I hear you!

The article then goes on about lifting weights, you build muscle, muscle being able to store more glycogen which binds itself to water within the muscle, giving it a more pumped look and a pumped muscle is heavier, than an empty muscle! And because significant differences in fluid-volume changes, some people will notice changes immediately and others. wellllllll!!! The upper body generally shows improvement first. There is so much pressure to see quick results! If you were able to look inside your cells and see your good enzymes increasing, your energy producing mitochondria multiplying, your cholesteral falling, your arteries clearing, your blood vessesls become more efficient, your muscles strengthening, your bone-density imroving, and all of the remarkable changes that this program triggers, it would be clear that the scale and calipers are just insufficient ways of measuring success! etc etc etc! Then comes in bold letters "So don't force the numbers, They'll come. Here is your job today: adhere to a winning pattern of action that you know will produce results if you follow it consistently!

But do you know the beauty about all these feelings I am feeling!! I actually understand that nothing will matter if I am consistent with my training, my cardio and my eating and I have to learn to be more patient with my results. Look, I know that ever so slowly changes are happening to me, just not as fast as it does with other people. My work trousers are looser, I can notice some small changes in my body and I am very happy with that! So to spin a negative process into a positive process, here goes:

Well done Doris on what you have acheived so far! You are closer to your goal than you were yesterday! and the best words of wisdom of all - "Whatever it takes for AS LONG AS IT TAKES"
Hey its okay!
Ciao!
X:D)

Purpose: an intended or desired result.

Backs and shoulders, can't get enuf of these inspirational pictures.
As previously stated, one of my main goals, to have an awesome back, shoulders and arms! When this doona layer comes off, I know I have awesome triceps already as they stick out a mile, but it sure would be nice to see them cut!!!

Well, all good on the food front, 150% clean and to plan. Exercise is great, greatest challenge is maintaining a moderate intensity. Do you know how hard it is to stay in a range lower than you normally do. It is hard, I kept creeping up when I wasn't thinking about it. Amazing. An interest has me going at the moment with my new HRM and the levels of intensity you have on each different piece of cardio equipment ie you have to work a lot harder on the rowing machine than the elliptical trainer to maintain the same heart rate reading.

Enuf about gym stuff and exercise and onto these stupid hot flushes!!! Man, do I break into a sweat 5-8 times a day and almost every hour at night. I have been taking Remifemin to try and balance out these symptoms, but the hot flushes are starting to annoy me. Not to mention that TTOM has now been away 8 weeks. Actually as I am sitting here, I am having the biggest sweat session right now!! I am just dripping in sweat and it is not hot. AArrgghhh!

Have a great night and talk soon.
Ciao!
X:D)

Goal: the result or acheivement toward which effort is directed; an aim or purpose towards satisfaction.

Backs and shoulders are one of my goals! I think a great back and nice set of shoulders look hot!!!!!

Well finally with all the tweaking and mixing and matching, we may have a winner!!! But lets not count our chickens before they hatch. I had an okay result from last week with a drop of .5kg, not much I know but believe me it is something!. I am also starting to notice small changes, like pants are much looser and my shoulders and biceps are more noticeable and J says he can start to see some changes in by back (he would know as he can see it working when I can not). So the test will be if the same sort of result happens this week. I am feeling pretty confident and self satisfied at the moment, so hopefully this is reflected outwardly!!!! Bring it on I say.

Weights and Cardio are going great, definately lifting heavier and better than before and cardio is on track. i had to buy myself a HR monitor as my old clunker when I pulled it out, was a little worse for wear and would have cost too much to fix. I was playing with it when I was doing my weights session with J and at some points my HR went to 170bpm. J made a comment that is was a good idea me wearing it as he can tell if I am actually working or not, or just faking!! Man I let him have it, I never fake it when it comes to weights!!!!!!!! Sacrilege! Still have not pushed my knee to its limits again, so not doing anything that impacts hard or twists on impact.

Well heres to a great weekend that past, a great week we have started and to a fantastic weekend coming.
Ciao!
X:D)

Mission: a special assignment given to a person; GOAL!

Aah! my goal (mission!)is to have a back like this.

Hello bloggers, well I think officially I can not be any sorer!! I have done 4 weight sessions, all with heavier weights and supasets, 6 cardio sessions! I hammer curled with 15kg DB's (10,10,8,6)(just getting the last 6 out)ooowww! this is a pb for me as well.

Food still 150% to plan and still feeling slightly hungry half way between meal 1 and meal 2, not as much as beginning of week, so body is getting used to it. Had the yummiest piece of barramundi last night - just perfectly cooked (by me of course). I have decided my favourite fish is 'Barramundi'. after weeks of eating all different types of fish, Barra beats everything. Not that fussed on Mahi Mahi, definately not over the moon with Tailor (reminds of when I fell pregnant still - the morning, afternoon and night sickness! Yuck!), don't mind the cods and perches, snapper and reef fish.

Well not much planned for weekend, shopping for veges, fish and chicken, cleaning house, 60mins of cardio Saturday and Sunday.

Have a good weekend everyone. Remember your mission!!!!!!! I will focus on mine!
Ciao!
X:D)

Quest: a search to find; A MISSION!

A Mission: Isn't amazing once we are on that journey, what we put our bodies through to gain rewards from our search! This morning, the alarm goes off, I get up, sore all over! I think just go back to bed and let the muscles recover.............mind then says no! you are on a Mission! Up I get, make and pack my breakfast, pack my lunches and snacks, my clothes for work and off I toddle to the gym. Start my cardio, watching the clock for the first 30mins. THEN endorphins kick, pain subsides and goes away and I am "in the zone". Next thing you know, another 30mins has passed by. You get off the cardio equipment, walk down the steps to your car, drive to work and feel so good that you did your thing this morning!! AND you are looking for more time to do some more exercise! Back comes the pain as you sit 2 hours after your gym time ...especially when you get up from sitting.... my butt hurts, quad hurts, hammis shot! Chest, rear delts.........don't get me started on those (please someone get me a tissue or at least a friend I can phone who cares!!!!). Only thing that does not hurt is my calves!!! But weirdly it actually feels sensational to know that I hurt all over! (sic puppi!)

Food 150% clean and to plan - have had diet tweaked again - actually feeling a little hungry this time every morning, but that is a good feeling, means my system is working on itself. Exercises has been great for the last 2 & 1/2 days so far, getting in weights and cardio as planned. On other notes, hot flushes still not gone away of a night and during the day, but only started Remifem on sunday.....so I guess I have to give it time. TTOM still is avoiding me, so that makes it 7 weeks from previous visit????

Well I best be working now!!!
Ciao!
X:D)

Pursuit: An effort to secure or attain; quest!

Inspirational picture for the day!

Well really nothing much to tell. Did nothing all weekend except clean, shop for groceries and prepare salads and protein for next week. Grated, sliced, baked, diced etc etc etc.

Here's to a busy week ahead, more cardio, lower intensity for a change (7 sessions all up) 4 weights, did first one this morning and already I am sore. J had a shadow trainer with him so I think he decided to show off how heavy I can lift and pushed me even further. Must of as I am so sore already and usually that only happens when I do go heavier than normal. In saying that I did have a week off last week on upper body weights to give my shoulders a clean rest - slight twinge in problem area, but all good doing chest this morning. Weights lasted 45 mins then walked for 20mins at a steady pace on treadmill.

Well talk to you during the week.
Ciao!
X:D)