Tuesday, April 19, 2011

On Weight Loss.

I'm pretty tired right now! It's a happy tiredness, though. It has been a big day. Well, a big week to be truthful.


I had clients from 7am, and then it was time to train ME. It was such a beautiful day in the park, where I rode with Mark Jessup and then met for a goal setting session with coach Geoff Nash. I then came home and sent out a long email to my clients.


I'd been wanting to write it for a long time, but I'm glad I waited. I just spent Friday through Sunday as a room host at FILEX, Australia's annual national health and fitness convention and expo. This exposed me to incredible workshops and amazing presenters. On Saturday, for instance, I was fortunate enough to score a seat at the PT Breakfast, hosted by Michelle Bridges. 


Mish covered a range of interesting subject matter, including how far we need to go as PTs to make sure our clients get results. Their head needs to be in the game to make sure they get there and my role in that is critical. The full transcript is here, but I told my version of what I understood to be essential.

Here's what I sent out:

1) You have to take responsibility. YOU choose what goes in your mouth. YOU pick up the fork. YOU decide whether you workout or sit on an expanding posterior. You don't have to eat the things your partner or kids eat and IN FACT you are a part of the circle of influence that shapes their choices and their futures. Lay your cards on the table and communicate your goals to them. It will likely bring you closer together and open a support network you didn't think you'd have access to. I can equal my commitment to you with what you commit to yourself. That said - you need to take ownership FOR YOURSELF FIRST. YOU decide what you will eat, how you will eat and when you will eat. Day to day, week to week - you are the common factor, You will NOT play the blame game. There are NO excuses. We are all busy and we are all stressed. We are NOT all overweight. Here is Mish's link.  Let's move on.

2) Science before psychology. Yes, there is negative self talk and an underlying emotional issue (unhappiness) that causes people to be susceptible to weight gain and obesity. Something went wrong upstairs and landed you in this place. It might not have been something very bad, it might have been. It definitely resulted in self sabotage and lowered self esteem, but please just trust that weight loss is a science. The mathematics of it are calories in must be at least 500 a day less than your calories out. If we can cut it more - we will. You CAN lose weight fast safely and without fear - as long as you acknowledge that there is a psychological issue to deal with once you lose the weight. WINNING AT LOSING, however, is so GOOD for your self esteem, your sense of achievement that you will love the journey that got you there. My job is to make sure you understand that fitness is forever - you need exercise to be emotionally AND physically healthy, always. You need good diet too - one step at a time. Strict while we get the ball rolling because you need to lose and see results for your positive reinforcement. Once you hit your magic numbers though, we start really focusing on balance - examining the things you love in life so that, in moderation, you can enjoy them without ending up where you started, or spiraling out of control. 

3) HAVE A PLAN. STICK TO IT. I'm your PT. I can guide you in the right direction. Keep you on track and motivate you. Give you a food diary and some nutrition guidelines - but you NEED a plan. KZap lost 36kg with me AND weightwatchers. She combined our advice and support. It is CRITICAL to identify your strategy. You have to know how many calories (or points) you're allowed and plan your meals and your shopping list around that total. If you want to have half a bottle of red wine on a Friday night and a choctop every Sunday night at the movies - OK - you factor them into your weekly calorie total, you work for them and you stick to the plan. If you need help with this - I am available. I can also come and pull the CRAP food out of your cupboards if absolutely necessary. I can do your first one on one meal planning and goal setting session for $50 (1 hour). It really doesn't take long. I do mine in excel and after a few weeks its a question of cut and paste. The shopping list becomes clockwork. Go to http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/ to find your total requirements and see calorie values. Build exercise into your routine, make it routine. Motivation isn't essential - getting the work DONE is essential. Not every workout will be amazing. You don't always get to leave feeling like you own the planet - but sometimes you will. And every workout contributes to getting you better, one step at a time, for now and for always <3.

4) Interestingly enough, research shows that a person's perceived ability is a better predictor of success than their actual ability - so for the love of the big G, think positively and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. You in the past, for all your failures and shortcomings, have no prewritten destiny preventing you from making new choices and becoming exactly who you want to be. Choose differently. Start now. Be your own friend and see how helpful it is. The one thing they could find that all successful high achievers have in common? They focus on the GOOD. That's right - the glass has got to be half full and when you lose your wallet it's because you really needed to stop using that credit card anyway :) 

SURVIVING EASTER.

I thought some of you would appreciate a quick note on how to enjoy the Easter break without deprivation or derailing your efforts entirely. Here are some tips.
  • If you are meeting up with friends for a social event, a big meal where you let yourself enjoy and have a few drinks, keep a day between this event and chocolate eating day. 
  • Be SAINTLY around the planned/nominated meals and the chocolate eating. Have your meals planned as very light, low calorie, high nutrition.
  • Be sure to do more exercise to earn these treats and balance them out!
  • Modify your expectations accordingly. If you're having a blowout and eating some chocolates, you need to ramp up the exercise just to maintain. Don't expect to lose weight over Easter.

WE WILL SMASH IT HARD ALL MAY!!

Use this information to inspire you and invigorate you. Life might seem like a cycle of breakdowns, but if you use them wisely, they lead to the breakthroughs that get us where we need to go!

I ended my newsletter with this beautiful article on intimacy and food and I'm ending this blog post the same way :)

I hope you enjoyed it!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Cost of Courageousness

Not so long ago now, a friend and colleague of mine joyfully confided in me that she had nominated me for a fitness organisation's inspiration award and that management were very excited about my story. It looked like it was in the bag.

After a few weeks of unusually distant behavior of this friend of mine, yesterday I decided it was time to get to the bottom of what was going on.

It so turns out that management of the organisation running the award had located the youtube video of me winning the pole dancing competition in 2009, in which I remove my bra. They were mortified and chastised my colleague for having nominated me without having done sufficient research into my character. They deemed me inappropriate and insisted upon having no association with me whatsoever.

At first I was devastated. I shouldn't be. Technically I'm not even supposed to know I was nominated... I am just so shocked and disappointed that such harsh character judgements are still routinely made.

What this organisation doesn't realise is that the pole dancing competition taught me what it was to WIN. That hard work, dedication, focus and bravery actually work. That my goals are achievable and my methods of succeeding sound. I am a one-armed woman who performed and competed in a sport that is associated with showing a lot of leg and sometimes bit of boob too. It's an aesthetic discipline - much like ballet or gymnastics. Pole dancing empowered me. It allowed me to embrace my femininity and this specific competition gave me the forum in which I could express that, despite my disability, I was not only a talented dancer, but a sensual creature. The experience was the single greatest confidence builder of my life to that point.

I refuse to succumb to the inference that it is something of which I should feel ashamed. I'm not too fond of the fact that my performance is pasted over the internet on umpteen different amputee fetish sites, because I myself find this to be unsavoury - but I don't judge these people even if they make me feel uneasy. When I feel uneasy, I can explore why and achieve personal growth (or at least learn something) OR I can distance myself from it. If you have a problem with pole dancing, don't do it and don't watch it. Don't seek it out. Vilifying those who do, on the other hand, is simply closed minded and entirely unnecessary.

I'm angry. I always knew that my bravest choices came at a price, but I hoped that as this is the year 2011, people would have started thinking more progressively. That respect for the choices of other adults, as our equals on this Earth, would equate to an understanding of their right to those choices, even if we don't agree with them.

The person I am today exists because of the breadth and depth of my life experience.

I wouldn't change a thing.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rolling with the Punches

This week's theme appears to be: expect the unexpected.

After a rampant string of cancellations Monday, I received a call asking that I cover a 5:15pm spin class. It so turned out that I had the time available to do exactly that! It was SO MUCH FUN. So I ended my Monday floating above cloud 9 and looking forward to my Tuesday, which was to involve an outdoor session, some riding with Mick, yoga with my sis Bec and catchups with Missy before I retreated to do my admin in the evening time...

As I waited for Mick to arrive in Musgrave Ave Centennial Park, I called my mum to make plans for the weekend and discussed with her at length what a beautiful day it was, especially the incredible colour of the sky. Like the Cote D'Azur. Then it was riding time. I couldn't wait! I decided to try a few new things today. Firstly, the disconnect system for my prosthesis and secondly, some changes to the route. We turned off onto one of the intersecting paths in the park and everything seemed to be going well... Until I had a bit of steering fail and bumped Mick's rear wheel, which knocked me off and nearly took him out as well. All OK though. My head hurt a bit from where my helmet connected with the road and there was some skin off my right ankle, but 5 mins later and I was back in action.

What sweet action it was! I was chatting happily and had a sudden burst of energy, a moment where something clicked and everything felt right. I started pedaling fast, working on riding confidently at higher speeds. For a few minutes, it felt amazing. Then my left foot came away from the pedal. I'm still in sneakers, not cleats. Being a N00b, I panicked and squeezed the brake too hard. I flipped over the handle bars and took a massive tumble... and then the bike landed on me. I was winded. I could neither breathe nor move for what seemed like eternity. A crowd gathered. I came to my senses and realised I was in the middle of the road, so I tried to move, muttering about not wanting to hold up traffic. I was helped to the side of the road, jelly like. I tried to sit on the post/bench, but I was dizzy, floppy, faint and my ears were ringing. I slipped down into the soft, cool leaf litter and lay there for a while. Eventually I was well enough to laugh, then sit, and then to walk the bikes back to the car with Mick. The people who helped were lovely and caring, a little bewildered by my laughter. "How could I be unhappy on a gorgeous day like this?" I had a feed at the suv, cancelled all my plans and instead went to soak in the ocean with Katie. I'd never been to the Coogee pool before. Not the worst place to be on a day like this...

I've been checked over by the doctor and my list of injuries is minor. From the most spectacular crash yet I have the following ailments (preserved here for posterity):

  • Left breast wounded by Prosthesis
  • Pulled muscles in front of neck and left soleus
  • 2 grazed and very swollen knees, the left with a big fat egg.
  • A crushed, bruised and blood blistered pinky with a gash on the finger next to that (the quick has been torn out).


I'm now pretty tired and grumpy, feeling very unproductive and BLOBBY. I'm unhappy that tomorrow has to be an unplanned rest day, I need to get all the inflammation down in time to teach cycle on Thursday and Friday. I want these classes to be HARD! I also want my fingers to stop throbbing.

Anyway, it has been a big week. The new issue of Take 5 comes out tomorrow and my moment of cheesilicious fame comes to an end. I've now taught 2 spin classes (and need to make a new setlist EEK). I've secured sponsorship for physio and massage with Elevate Performance, had further talks about my role as Ambassador with TAD NSW - who will be giving me my very own run around bike in the next few weeks, so I can give Jayme's back. I also presented my talk, The Story of Debzillah the Rubber Bum, to a lovely group of employees from a Sydney based law firm. It was well received - and recorded, hurrah! The biggest win for me, though, was the two 10km bike rides I completed with Mick and Llinos - both without incident. Despite the stacks, I'm making great progress as a rider and I'm aiming to be able to ride to the amputee morning tea at POW Hospital on March 31st. I've got to get a handle on this road riding business.

I'm totally aware that my feelings of frustration and perceptions of stagnant energy are completely irrational. If they would kindly go away, I'd be most appreciative.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Magic of the Moment

I can't believe we are two full months into 2011 already! I'll admit to being quietly content though - because in this short time, so much has been accomplished.

It has already been 2 months and 1 day since I started training towards my paralympic dream, with my bike in my possession. I have learned to use my new prosthesis and ride the bike - but this does need considerably more work and application. It's still really exciting for me to be able to say "I can ride a bike!" and, when I'm not stacking it, I love it. At the moment, though, I'm stacking it a lot - and spectacularly. I have more bruises and cuts than when I was pole dancing! Not to mention a nasty big scab on my elbow...

This moment in my life is magical for so, so many reasons. I love what I am living. I have to pinch myself often!

One of these is the Finishing First Group Fitness Instructor program. The course is so, so good - I'm already a cycle instructor, but I wanted extra development before stepping up to take classes. I want to be on the stage knowing that I'm delivering a quality product to the best of my ability from day 1. Obviously there will still be a learning curve, but with good coaching it won't be as steep. The course facilitators are incredible and so are the other students - highly talented individuals, all of us equally passionate about being exceptional group fitness instructors, hungry for success. Then there's the relationship I have with my mentor, Skye, who I team teach with. She is nurturing me, building me, feeding me the tools and information from her knowledge and experience to give me the best possible chances of success. I'm learning so much from her as a coach, a mentor and as a human being. What I worried might test a friendship is actually building into an even more robust and meaningful one. So my outdoor cycle training is taking a little bit of a back seat while I focus on becoming a first rate teacher, but my cycle fitness will surely be growing because I'm on the bike rehearsing my tracks every day.

Another is my relationship with Eddie. We share so many wonderful experiences so often and he looks after me so well. Best of all he is completely non-demanding and understanding of the fact that I am stretched in so many different directions, there isn't always a lot of me left for him. He just does whatever he can to make my stressful times easier and lighten my load, as well as offer a supportive ear and shoulder when needed (which is way more often that I'm proud to admit).

This weekend we celebrated our first anniversary. I was lead, blindfolded, through the city to a beautiful suite on level 34 of the Shangri-La in the city. We then had a spa and massage in the Chi Day Spa and the degustation with matched wines in Altitude restaurant. It was an incredible evening - and all a surprise to me! I also got a pair of Thomas Sabo earrings to accompany the necklace I got for xmas. What a sweetheart, right?

I love what my life involves right now. I love my clients, helping people, cycling, instructing, training, living, learning and loving. Whilst finance and cash flow are particularly problematic right now, I'm hopeful that the upcoming articles in Take5 magazine (March 2) and Body + Soul (March 27) will help me to secure sponsorship, drum up some new business and generate some fresh speaking engagements.

Fortnightly updates might help me make this less of an essay, then someone might actually read this, hehehehe.

Till next time! Xx Dz

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Looking Forward 2011

This Monday I did my last, sad, little jog on the treadmill. It was, in fact, my first run in weeks. I've now, for the time being, retired from running. Why? Because, as Clint so succinctly put it: "cyclists don't run".

Which brings me to my first point of what 2011 has in store for me.

Becoming Debzillah: the competitive cyclist.
I have my beautiful race bike, my coach and my prosthesis. I have been adjusting to using the prosthesis, doing base building cadence and heart rate training in my loungeroom - where on the 2nd day of 2011 I had quite a serious spill. I hadn't secured my bike into the stationary trainer properly and was 6 minutes into my workout when the whole thing came crashing down like a house of cards. After checking that the bike was not damaged and disconnecting from my prosthesis, I lifted the bike to be greeted by my pink patella! My prosthesis had opened up my knee and my knee cap was staring back at me. I got 5 stitches - my first ever for a cut! I've since lost 3 stitches and the cut is healing open, but it doesn't hurt and isn't interfering with my training. I'll have a nasty scar - but it's on my knee, so who really cares?

The amazing team @Fox in Alexandria fixed the elbow in my prosthesis last Thursday and for the past week I've been on a fairly serious mission to learn to ride. Thursday afternoon was torture for my coach, holding onto the back of the bike while I tried to pedal, running back and forth. He researched a better way and came up with this little gem which saved both his back and his sanity. By Tuesday evening, I'm at the stage where I can coast down the hill with my feet on the pedals at a fair clip. The dismount, however, is proving problematic and my shins are scraped and bruised.

It's an amazing journey and one I'm enjoying immensely. Something most children do I am doing as an adult, complete with tumbles over the handlebars. Grass is soft and I am fearless and I feel so privileged to be going through this! There's a deadline, though. Classification day is Saturday, February 5th at 9:30am. Nothing like a little pressure to set you on fire :)

I'm also on the path to becoming a freestyle cycle instructor. My mate Skye has agreed to mentor me while I complete the Finishing First preparation program. This is challenging too, but will be so rewarding! I've been up on stage twice with Skye and will be there again tomorrow, and every Thursday and Sunday until I complete the program on March 18. Hopefully I'll get a class of my very own not long after.

So I have some pretty clear goals in that arena, to become a cyclist and group fitness instructor. It gets a bit more complex, in that I want a great sporting year and to stay injury free. It means taking a much saner approach to my training and I pay a great deal of attention to my nutrition and supplementation, too. I want to look my best, feel my best and perform at my best. Not just when I'm competing, but every single day. Yoga and more down time (as well as recovery strategies) play a big role in that. I didn't get a lot of down time in 2010 and it impacted me tremendously. I have to keep a handle on my workaholism and do a little more sitting down.

I've cleaned out the bookshelves and the wardrobe: thrown out loads of papers and sold my once loved treasures on ebay. I'm determined to make efficient use of both my time and space to allow myself to enjoy life more.

I've got goals around my PT business and building my speaking career, too, but I won't bore you with the business talk.

Taking my lessons in acceptance from 2010 and building on them through 2011 will make this an even better, bigger and more amazing year than the one it promises to be.

I'M SO HAPPY TO BE HERE AND LUCKY TO BE ALIVE!!!

And I'm breathing that in :)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Looking Both Ways - 2010.

It is with fondness and a strong sense of accomplishment that I bid farewell to 2010. It was an amazing year for me that passed in the blink of an eye. It has brought amazing people to me and my life has been enriched in countless ways.

The first quarter of the year was devoted to learning how to operate my business and become Debzillah the PT, as well as getting my mileage up as a distance runner. It was also about establishing myself as Debzillah the single woman and learning to live as my own will dictates. I experienced the frustration of injury and tackled my frustrations head on. I've dealt with them much better this year than ever before. Through yoga and self awareness, I'm able to challenge my instinctive mental inflexibility and practice patience. I have developed a much stronger sense of curiosity when dealing with myself, my actions and my emotions, so I exercise much less self criticism, judgement and negative self talk. I also learned that expressing gratitude as often as possible, especially in the face of adversity, is so very rewarding and fulfilling. It feels a whole lot better than dwelling on the negative and indulging in self pity and despair.

February 25th I was in a burlesque show with my sister, which was a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. This is the night I met Eddie.

At Easter I went to SWEAT Sydney's running camp in Jindabyne with Mark Chandler and we met so many lovely, inspirational and talented people, like Milov, Nathan, Nikki and Pip. As Mark and I summited Kosciusko, I temporarily released myself of fear and self doubt, embraced the joy I take in being in my body and admitted that I desperately long to inspire people on a big scale: that I want to be a motivational speaker. Just as I had found the requisite courage and hope to change my life in 2009 and leave telecommunications to work in health and fitness, I found the requisite strength and courage to build on the dream that I was realising.

I haven't stopped since. I am building, layer upon layer, the life that is genuinely representative of all my hopes and dreams. Despite injuries in March, May and again in June, I completed a sub 2 hour half marathon with a severe upper respiratory tract infection. In May I also moved out into my dream flat, on my own for the first time in my life, in my ideal location. I then bid farewell to the green hair I had so cherished as one of my defining traits for over a decade. I decided to experiment with being approachable, warm and open. What good things that brought!

Not long afterwards, I met Geoff. He saw the potential in me to be a motivational speaker and positive role model. He also set me on the quest to obtain my first prosthesis and learn to ride a bike - my idea being to participate in triathlons... On my quest, however, Richard from APC Prosthetics put me in touch with the paralympic talent search team and on September 12th I participated in a talent search day. 2 weeks later I gave my first motivational keynote speech, shortly after which I received my letter from the Paralympic Committee encouraging me to train in both athletics and cycling... I love endurance, though, so I elected to focus my energy and efforts on becoming a cyclist.

I spent October away on the trip of a lifetime, trekking through Nepal and visiting Everest Base Camp. I made amazing friends, like Jim, on this journey as well as seeing so many beautiful things. I journalled every day I was away and grew so strong - mentally, emotionally and physically. As I had left Sydney, things were reaching fever pitch and this resumed immediately upon my return.

 It was not much more than a week after my return to Sydney that I received an email from the Paralympic Committee advising me that I should mark an important set of dates in my calendar for classification - the track nationals February 3-6 2011. I still had no bike or arm, but I was resolute and not lacking in conviction. I knew I had to raise 10k to get my bike and kit - the problem was I had to do it quickly. I appealed to the people around me, using the internet and forming a relationship with TAD and this was truly the experience of a lifetime.

Feeling a net of support form beneath me, extending such good will and generous donations, my goal was achieved. By the good nature of the people I have contact with, I was able to collect my beautiful racing bike and all the trimmings and kit anyone could ever dream of on Christmas eve. (Thanks again Mark and all the team at Clarence St Cyclery!)

It all worked out and through funding from Centrelink, I got my prosthesis, too. I was able to start training on my stationary trainer in my loungeroom on boxing day and spend the last precious days of my incredible 2010 by building the base of who I will be in 2011. Debzillah the cyclist.

The reading highlights of the year were the Millenium Trilogy and Lance Armstrong's "Its Not About the Bike". That book there has really helped set me in the right frame of mind for things to come.

This is the first of 2 installments. I've looked into my past and next I will write about my plans for the future. I've written this more for me than anyone else, but if you've read this far, I hope you got something out of it :)

Saturday, December 11, 2010

On The Right Track

Thanks to the incredible support of the amazing people I'm surrounded by, throughout the global network of connected individuals, everything is progressing swimmingly.

Centrelink approved funding for my prosthesis and it is currently being configured by APC Prosthetics in Northmead. I have to head to the office, bike in tow, to test it on Tuesday. While I'm over there, I need to go in and meet all my friends at TADNSW, who have let me piggyback off their charity to raise - can you believe it - $10,100?! Wow! I'll come back to this point.

I've changed bike supplier and what a great choice that has turned out to be! My coach suggested that it would be beneficial for me to work with Clarence St Cyclery because they're close to my work, he has a great relationship with the manager and because they have developed a support relationship with the Paralympic team. They are very sympathetic to my cause, also, and have given me a great deal, as well as being tremendously attentive and helpful. Danni and I went in to get me fitted up for the bike and there is only 1 part missing from completion. If that part can be sourced locally (it is currently on backorder), then within a week from now, I'll have my bike and stationary trainer in my home!! The funds raised are sufficient to cover my bike and trainer, helmet and cleats, proper clothing, a good lock AND insurance.

Learning to ride, on the other hand, is the biggest challenge I've faced yet. I met coach Tom out at Dunc Grey velodrome on Tuesday to have my first lesson... It was super tough. 28 years of my oblique slings functioning in their specific and unique alignment, which involves my right ribs slotting over to the right hand side of my right hip, is a difficult thing to correct and is prohibitive to me finding the balance point and position to allow for solo riding. Technical and complicated, I know, but essentially it lead to me being exhausted within 10 minutes! The other problem is that, unlike my coach, I'm not very patient. Seeing me try to ride for the first time, he just smiled and sighed and said "this is going to take a while."

Raising over $10 000 in such a short time has not only done amazing things for my confidence, but it has exposed me to the beauty of the human spirit and the power of human generosity and kindness. The wonderful ways in which people contributed and the ideas people had were ingenious and touching. I need to make a couple of shout outs:

  • To Skye Jones, for calling for paper bag donations in all her spin classes.
  • To Diane Azzopardi for auctioning her dvds to contribute.
  • To Jules, who sold his artwork at a discount and donated a percentage to me.
  • To Louise and Steve Kovacs, for their generous donation and requesting that I write to their nieces and nephews - which I did.
  • To Fitness First Bond St for running a charity day with $10 sessions and all proceeds going to me - thanks also to the PTs who volunteered their time for me.
  • To FSP for their $1500 contribution and complete support.
  • To the friends I didn't know I had or hadn't heard from in so long who surprised and delighted me with HUGE donations.
  • To Donna and Alison, for all your advice and encouragement.
  • To Ingrid, for the posters, for listening, for being patient, for my website, my newsletter, for everything.
  • To Eddie, Chandler and Danni: for being my tripod of closest friends, who support me in every way, every day. It takes a lot of flexibility and patience!
  • To Scott and Louise, who jumped in at the very last to push me over the line.
  • To everyone who contributed in any way. For Donating. For spreading the word. For believing in me. For caring. For being part of something bigger than ourselves.


Thank you <3

Thursday, November 25, 2010

This Amazing Journey

I am pretty positive most of the time that I lead a particularly charmed life. I live in a GORGEOUS city, it is a beautiful time of year, I love my work because I find it so satisfying and rewarding to help people change their bodies, minds and lives. I have found my soul mate and life partner and I live exactly how I believe and see fit. I run when I want to, swim, dance, move, live, breathe, share, eat and cook. I experience so much joy.

It wasn't always like this. In fact, I've been through times tougher and darker than many. That's another thing I'm glad for - that most people can be spared those experiences, but also that I'm strong enough to shoulder them.

I'm happy as it is and I'm totally glad to be here... I'm an ambitious creature though and I love a good challenge, so the opportunity to work towards a gold medal in cycling at the paralympics when I've never ridden a bike alone is something I simply can't pass up. In fact, it frightens me to admit I've never wanted anything so badly in my whole life.

So I'm just back from a month overseas, trekking in Himalaya - hard to be me, right? I start planning some fundraising events and plotting some ideas for February - when people's wallets have had a chance to recover from Christmas and New Years, and so my ideas and events are well conceived and well executed.

Then on Monday I received an email from the Paralympic Committee advising that the National track championships are on February 3-6 2011, and that I need to attend for classification and to put down a time.

BUT I HAVE NO BIKE OR PROSTHESIS!?

So after a minor panic attack, I resolve to set to work on Tuesday to raise funds for my bike with the special gear set that will enable me to ride one handed and the stationary trainer that will enable me to ride MY bike, indoors, without an arm. I got up early and wrote a plan and brainstormed with my close friend, graphic designer and web site producer, Ingrid in Canada. I was on the phone by 9am, spoke to my accountant about the possible ways I could raise funds without the tax man eating them instead of them going to my bike and the donors receiving the tax deductions they deserve. The only feasible solution was to partner with a charity.

I got onto the Everyday Hero site and went through the list of charities geared towards helping people with disabilities... When I got down to T, I discovered TADNSW - Technical Aids for the Disabled. A charity with a service called Freedom Wheels - specifically aimed at assisting the disabled to ride bikes! Well YAY - that's exactly what I want to do! So I got on the phone secured an authority to fund raise. I see the beginnings of a beautiful partnership... While its fantastic that I found this organisation just when I needed them most, I must say that I'm completely baffled and bewildered by the fact that I have not once heard of this service in all my 28 years. I could have started riding long ago!

I spoke to the team at Renegade Cycles and made sure they knew about my order and were happy to help and I also contacted my friends at Financial Service Partners, who helped launch my motivational speaking career. Then I built my fundraising page and got Ingrid to help me writeup the facebook event.

At 1pm Tuesday I launched my fundraising campaign on Facebook and Twitter. I sent my email campaign shortly after. To my astonishment, the donations started rolling in immediately, accompanied by beautiful messages of encouragement and support. It was an incredible feeling to be connected to so many people in the faith and hope that I will reach this lofty goal of raising $10 000 in 10 days, and ultimately success in para-cycling. At the time of writing this entry, less than 48 hours later, I have raised $4535. INCREDIBLE.

Wednesday was another big day! Fitness First have offered to run a fund raising event where the PTs will give  30 minute training sessions for $10, with all proceeds going to my cause. FSP have a plan to raise funds for me and another friend is pitching me to her company in the hopes of securing corporate sponsorship (thanks Donna!). I also met with my cycling coach, Tom Skulander, and will be headed out to the Velodrome to start training with him (see: learning to ride a bike, Jayme Paris' old one!) on Tuesday.

This morning I did another big thing and instructed APC Prosthetics to go ahead and order my arm from the US. I am confident that funding for the prosthesis will be secured when required.

The response has been completely overwhelming. This amount of support is something I never dreamed I was destined for. I just keep trying to keep on top of the donation emails, responding with my expressions of gratitude, regardless of how insignificant and unsubstantial they seem to me as compensation.


My eyes keep welling up with tears. This journey is amazing. I have never felt so loved.


If you have made it this far through reading my post, please share this link to my fundraising page and my story with everyone you know.


<3

Friday, November 12, 2010

13 Hours in Hell: The Detox Debacle

I think I'm about to start vomiting. I keep burping the flavor of vital greens which I vow never to drink again. I've just eaten a carrot and I'm wondering when I'll start feeling better. I have been crying and barely have the energy to type. This is awful.

Those are the words that crossed my mind more times in the past 3 hours that at any time in memory.

This. Is. Awful.

It started with great intentions. Dani and I booked this 7 day fasting detox in before I went to Nepal. The goal of the exercise is to remove plaque and mucus buildup from the intestine and eliminate lots of stored toxins from the body, resulting  in improved energy levels, mental clarity, skin condition - not to mention digestion. It sounded like just what I wanted to achieve. A bodily toxin reset. Besides, I'd never tried a fast before and as a health professional it appealed to me as an area I would like to be able to discuss from having personal experience.

Never. Again.

The method was taken from Daniel Reid's Tao. We are meant to drink psyllium husk, hydrated bentonite (a clay to attract toxins) and vital greens on a rotating roster 5 times per day. His method suggests home colonic irrigation daily. I decided on a professionally administered colonic at the beginning and end of the detox. The first colonic would be my first ever.

I'm not at all hungry, though I was at 10am. It passed. I've been awake since 5:30. I've been mildly dizzy and light headed since 11am. Throughout the day, this dizziness has increased, as has the light headedness. It peaked at 6:30pm when I lay on my bed crying, hoping beyond hope for the room to stop spinning. Any movement of my head amplified this a hundredfold. The nausea rushed over my in waves. It felt horrible and depressing. It did not feel like I was being nice to my body. It felt (and feels) like punishment, torture and deprivation. Not AT ALL like the nurturing or supportive outcome I was trying to accomplish.

This is not practicing self care. This is not balanced. This is not healthy. My brain is completely deprived of glucose, my body weak and my vision blurred. My skin tingles and my ears ring. This is destroying my metabolism AND I'm running 34km in 14 days.

In short, this was a very bad idea.

I have, however, learned some really cool stuff.

Today I had my first colonic. I learned not only through the experience of what happens, but from the advice of the practitioner who administered it. She talked to me at length about nutrition in terms of the foods best suited to both my blood type and the symptoms my bowel displayed. I learned that green tea dehydrates the bowel as much as coffee and my interest in an alkaline diet was renewed.

I had made some resolutions as to how I would eat following the detox and I'm going to skip straight to them - eating primarily organic fruits and veg, sprouted grain and raw, with the addition of making alkaline food choices. But I'm definitely not going to torture my body one second longer. Holding walls in order to walk, sitting to dry retch whilst feeling incurably miserable were all great signs to quit. When I reached that conclusion and called on my support crew, she was already on the same page and eating turkey.

We had realised, in the words of James Yates, "that life is too short to be skinny, dizzy or boring".

The End.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog.

Why Hello There!

I have returned from an amazing adventure, trekking through Himalaya. I took LOTS of beautiful photos. The ones I took sightseeing in Kathmandu you can see here and those from the actual trek are viewable here.

This is a great little map of the trek itself:

I cleared customs in Brisbane, Australia and headed to Byron Bay for the Lighthouse 10km, an annual event and a favourite of mine. Boy oh boy I could tell I hadn't run in 4 weeks! It was TOUGH. I even needed walk breaks. From the turnaround point down on the beach, I started chatting with a lovely speech pathologist from the area named Cathy. It definitely made those last 2km much more enjoyable.

I arrived home on Monday evening, November 1st and my tenants were wonderful. They left my apartment in better condition than I had given it to them in! It was such a blessing.

I had been well for the entirity of my nepalese adventure. I had 1 day of stomach upset in Namche and 1 day of a sore throat. And then I came home.. I got gastro AND a chest infection once I had returned! So the germs of a developing country are no match for my immunity, but apparently Australia is. I think it was the air travel. I'm finally recovered from that and easing back into work at the gym.

Last Thursday I had another fitting for the socket attachment of my prosthesis, which is very exciting and coming along nicely :). On Monday, I was visited by a staff member from Work Focus to assess the requirement for my prosthesis in my place of employment. Hopefully this will result in the government's Employee Assistance Program providing funding for me. On the downside, the process is a little slow.

In slightly disappointing news, I didn't win the New You Awards and will have to get cracking on serious fundraising for my $10 000 road bike in the new year. I'll focus on the arm first. I think it will be far less stressful if I tackle one thing at a time.

As we hurtle towards the end of the year, I decided that the best gift I could give myself is a finely tuned version of myself. I decided to embark on an 80 day transformation on the day I left for Nepal in order to ensure I enter 2011 in improved mental, physical and spiritual shape. Regular journalling is key and there is a whole list of objectives contained within my entries. Completing the trek in good health and without injury was another goal, so hooray for having ticked that one off already!

The next stage of the transformation is a little scary. My friend and fellow trainer Dani will be accompanying me on Daniel Reid's 7 day fasting detox, which is all about cleansing and purification. I've never done a detox before, and I've certainly never gone 7 days only drinking supplements and not eating. Add to this that I've never had a colonic, of which there are 2 through the detox, and you'll get an idea where my trepidation stems from :)

There's lots more in the works, but I'll leave you with this for now. Until next time!

<3

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Loving The Journey

The Toyota Paralympic Talent Search was an incredible experience and I got so much out of it. Meeting bronze medalist Jayme Paris and her devoted mother Trayce was a huge gift. This is a relationship I look forward tremendously to developing over the coming years.

Fast forward 10 days and my first motivational speech for a Financial Service Partners dinner was a great success. I couldn't have done so well without the tremendous support, guidance and encouragement of Andrew May, or without Geoff organising the event. I was completely unprepared for the positive response I received or the amount and quality of support offered. More great contacts made, more amazing relationships to nurture and grow.

2 short days after that and I was sitting in APC Northmead with plaster drying on my arm - my first ever mould for creating a socket for my first ever prosthesis, the arm. My phone rang and it was fitness first calling to tell me that I had made the finals for the $30000 New You Awards.

Another 2 days and I received my letter from the Paralympic Committee, encouraging me to continue training for both cycling and athletics! 2 more days and the New You Awards came and filmed an interview with me in the gym and a request for permission to contact the local media followed.

In short, the good news has flowed freely in my direction. I am with a man that I love passionately and on a journey that I feel the same way about. I know what I want. I have clarity. I have direction. My goals are clear and success would feel amazing, but RIGHT NOW is better than the end game. I'm really loving the journey. Every moment is incredible. I'm living my life from the heart and I honestly feel that this is the biggest reward in itself. Once I took that first step in the direction of my dreams, everything around it has fallen into place so naturally. I never want this to end.

I do so love life all its challenges and my next one begins Monday, when I fly out. I'll be overseas for a month, and for 25 days I'll be trekking through the Himilayas, headed for Everest Base Camp. You can find plenty of information about my trip here. I'll have my best friend with me and a fully loaded kit of supplied we have spent months accumulating. I've no doubt this will be the trip of a lifetime.

I'm also using the trip as the start of an 80 day challenge to mentally, spiritually and physically prepare myself for 2011. I want to finish 2010 in the shape that I want to maintain from day 1 of the coming year and I will do everything in my power to ensure that the next year is the best one so far. Once I'm back, I will be detoxing, goal setting, programming and planning. I will write in a journal for 20 minutes every single day starting Monday. I'm going to head towards this years' end having taken stock and expressed gratitude for all that it has brought me and for the person I have become - and I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure that person is everything that I can be :)

See you in November! Xx

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Snowball Effect

I'm 9 days away from participating in the paralympic talent search day and I need to turn my head space around.

Calamity has snowballed over the past 2 weeks: I have dropped and smashed my PDA twice in ten days ($120, $150) and last night locked my keys in my apartment ($120). These things don't really impact me in any meaningful way, but I think energetically I may have drawn them to me by my mounting dread and negativity.

Yesterday was the worst day I have experienced in recent memory. I have been training exceptionally hard and had an extremely tough and rewarding hill session on Wednesday morning. It was physically draining and my legs have suffered. I have also been limiting my carb intake. My first practice run of the beep test yesterday afternoon really reflected these two factors and my result was terrible. My legs just wouldn't serve me, though the lungs were OK. My attitude was terrible going into the test and I let myself down from the very beginning. Worse than the result itself was my emotional reaction to it. I was a tearful mess for the hours following. Its a good sign that I'm carb depleted, over-trained, but most of all, I'm completely overwhelmed.

As a child, I was kicked off the school netball team. I was always the last girl picked for any sports team. My self esteem in the sporting arena was abysmal and my performance reflected my sentiments. In 9 days time, when I step onto that field, I don't want those memories to come with me. I don't want those feelings to hinder me. This fear of failure I'm currently battling is at risk of paralyzing me. I want to send it packing. I want to summon the internal power, the strength and will to make all that negativity turn on its heels and flee. I want this entry to be the turning point to setting me on track to positivity.

The people I will meet at next Sunday's talent search will likely have had very similar childhood experiences to me. They have all faced adversity. Their bio-mechanics are all going to be challenging them in different ways, just as mine challenge me. This is my opportunity to compete on a level playing field. It's also my opportunity to shine. What I would love to be able to do is go in there and beam. I have this light inside me. This power to  inspire people just through my radiant love of being alive. I want to generate that energy and to produce enough of it to motivate ALL of us next weekend. I want the experience to be a positive one for every athlete on the field, but especially so for every single person I come into contact with. I want us all to be enriched and feel like winners on the day and for the outcome to be secondary to the experience.

Please send me your love, thoughts, well wishes and positive energy to help me make it so. <3

Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Roof Of Australia

Nearly 20:30 on a Sunday eve. I've just arrived back in Sydney and spring is definitely in the air. It is the conclusion of a fantastic weekend, filled with fun and adventure.


At 13:30 on Friday afternoon, El Flangers picked me up from my apartment in Randwick and we set off for my first ever adventure in the snow. We ate dinner at Angie's Italian in Jindabyne, and just after 21:30pm we pulled up at our accommodation, which until that point had been kept secret from me! We stayed at Rodney the Rocket Fox's Rivergum Lodge, in our own private log cabin with a wood fire and everything!


The mission was to unpack and quickly get to bed, as we needed to be up shortly after 6am. On Saturday, we breakfasted at 7am then headed into to town where we met our guide, Nick, at the Wilderness Sports store and collected our snow shoes and other necessities. Finally, we set out for Thredbo village. It was such a sloooooooow journey because every man and his dog wanted to get to the snow! The weather was beautiful and there had been recent good falls. We, however, were not heading to the fields in order to ski or snowboard. We were headed on a trek from Thredbo to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko on a journey entitled "The Roof of Australia".


As we approached the Kosciuszko Express chairlift, I went into sensory overload, surrounded by glistening white for the very first time and about to embark on my first chairlift experience! It was with much awkward nervousness that I sat between my mals counterparts, but once we were headed up the mountain I quickly began to enjoy absorbing all this new input, the sights and sounds of a busy snowfield. By the time we reached the top, the situation had drastically changed and we faced very different conditions on the mountain. Once we had attached our snow shoes, we started making our way into a very strong headwind, but for the first half hour, we still had clear sky. 


It was magic. In the sunlight, I marveled at the way the snow glistened like diamonds. I noticed the different textures of snow; soft, hard, icy, bumpy, flat - all of it incredible to me! As we approached Rams Head, the strong headwind became fierce and the weather closed in. The blue sky was ancient history and we experienced frequent white outs. It was very tough going and as the feeling came and went from my fingers they burned and ached. It was also extremely challenging mentally and just 30 minutes away from the summit, conditions became so bad our guide made the executive decision that we should turn back... But we didn't. We agreed to go another 50m and if it didn't improve then we would abort... Improve it did - albeit very slightly! 30 minutes later and I was ELATED to find myself at the summit of our highest mountain for the second time this year - but under strikingly different conditions to my first encounter with this mountain. That magical place where I feel so centered and alive. Where all things are clear to me and I am able to release myself of all fear and anxiety.











After a quick photo stop, we headed towards Rawsons Pass and homeward bound. Less than 2 hours later, we were back at the chair lift and on our way down to Thredbo village. Of course, once we reached the bottom, the weather was just as perfect as when we had embarked on our journey, if a little windier than before. We essentially trekked the red trail on this map:


Overjoyed but thoroughly spent, we stopped in at the Wild Brumby Schnapps Distillery for a tasting on our way back to Jindabyne. We spent the evening chatting with Rodney back at the Rivergum - as it turns out, he's a city2surf legend and we had much running to discuss :)


Today we made our way back to Sydney at a very leisurely pace and along some very scenic roads.. Secure in the knowledge that our gear for Everest has been successfully tested and that we are made of the right stuff to tough it out! Adam was fantastic company and I am so so grateful to him for taking me on this adventure and organizing it all :) I just had to pack and tag along!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Forging my Way!

What a roller-coaster the past 7 days have been! The wonderful human being who has sparked me up to commence this big adventure shall now be known as Geoff, and subsequent to our meeting on Monday, I have a meeting set up with Tony Adams and Melissa Moon on Thursday morning! Very exciting stuff :)

This week I also met with 2 providers of prosthetic limbs and selected who I am going to proceed with, as they have contacts within the AIS and paralympics.

The first meeting I had on Tuesday left me feeling quite despondent, though of course I never allowed that to show through my determination face. The reality, though, is that upper limb amputations make up only a very small percentage - something like 5% - of all amputees and only a very small percentage of those upper limb amputees are above the elbow. Due to us making up a small minority group, there is no money or market to have stimulated the research, development and production of load bearing, motorised elbow joints. Simply learning this fact left me feeling insignificant and very isolated. Although I learnt that I could acquire tools to assist me in riding a bike, holding a dumbell/barbell and even balance me while I run, my hopes of attempting two-handed push ups and handstands were effectively crushed.

That didn't feel very good. What compounded my sadness and frustrations was that I had no access to speak with anyone like me who would really understand what I was feeling. As a one armed girl in a two armed world, the more I spoke to my friends about it, the more frustrated I became by the fact that they couldn't really get it because they didn't know what disability meant. At the same time, my understanding of what being disabled really means and how it can feel grew tremendously. As my limb deficiency is part of who I am and part of my experience, it would serve me well to become more comfortable with handling these emotions instead of rejecting them in defiance. I'm an adult now and the time has really come for me to embrace and accept the whole package. It is, however, quite a difficult and daunting journey to be embarking on alone. The road is very interesting, but I have no shoulder to cry on when I hit speed bumps. Whilst I'm enjoying the freedom and flexibility of single life, it is difficult facing these challenges alone and a bit sad not to have anyone beside me with whom to share my journey. On the other hand, when I come through the other side, I will really own my success and the pride that will accompany it for having done it alone. I try to hold onto that thought.

Friday was a big turnaround day, though! First I met with the Amputee Association of NSW and hope to develop a relationship with them that is long lasting and super strong. There is great promise for a mutually rewarding and beneficial future delivering improvements to the amputee community at large. Someone just needs to bring them all together... It was at this meeting that I was shown a picture in a magazine of an athlete using a sea leg with an elbow joint as an arm to ride a bike! Such a resourceful and understanding bunch of people at this association... And it was armed with these new resources and information that I then went and met with APC.

Subsequent to this informative meeting, I elected to continue my journey with APC. Firstly, we are going to get everything sorted to enable me to ride a bike, weight train and run balanced. Stage 2 will look at using the power knee joint to make an adapted elbow for load bearing activity.. But that one is a mission of a couple of hundred thousand dollars and not in my immediate future. The meeting was very positive and filled me with hope and marveling at the possibilities of how my future will unfold. I left smiling. It was exactly what I needed.

What does the immediate future hold for me?'

  • I'll need to get a script raised for the prosthesis and see how much funding the government will supply. 
  • The gap will need to be sorted out through fundraising activities of an EPIC nature! More on that when I have the quotes and dollar figures. 
  • I need to research Amputee Athletes within the AIS and Paralympics to see how I can get on that path.
  • I need to write my story... *gulp* This needs to be done post haste as I appear to have my first speaking gig the first week of September.
And in other marvellous news, I have recovered from my injury and was able to run this weekend! Watch out bay runners and city2surfers!


Til next time! Xx

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Serendipity

Last Wednesday morning at 10:05am, less than 48 hours after my previous post, a gentleman who was starting his workout approached me on the gym floor and asked if I could tell him my story. I replied that I was on my way to a meeting but gave him my card. 


Luck had it that the meeting was cancelled and I was able to go back and have a very interesting conversation. He asked me if I was interested in public speaking. I said it was my dream. He asked how I lost my arm. I told him my story. He is the CEO of a financial services organisation and interested in my motivational capabilities.

The outcome of the 40 minutes that we spent together is that he intends to have me trained in public motivational speaking and has events already earmarked for me to present at. I have been tasked to research the prosthesis that would best serve my requirements and to start working towards breaking the record for one-armed push ups. 

It dawned on me at the conclusion of our conversation that, one day very soon, I will ride a bike. I could be on my way to being a role model. This brought me to tears, completely overwhelmed and needing to be pinched.

With cautious optimism, I sent out an email to my close friends to say what had just taken place. We are all so excited about what lies ahead.

Since last Wednesday, I have completed 50 push ups. That was Saturday. I still hurt! The record is 105 in 10 minutes. I reckon I'll go for 120 - by Christmas. 

My next meeting with this gentleman (who shall for the time being remain nameless) is scheduled for Monday 12/07/2010 at 11:30am. I'm also meeting a prosthetician the following day, to spec out my exact requirements.

Watch this space!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Adversity Addled

Last night, when I started this entry, I was seated on the floor of my new residence in Randwick, icing my ankle. I have been plagued by running injuries these past months and the latest is Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy. I was hopeful that 2 weeks of massively reduced training load would be adequate to have me fit to run the Gold Coast Half Marathon, but a test run Sunday morning has very loudly confirmed that I'll be walking the race.


Lucky for me, I'll have walking company! I have been on 2 running camps this year with Sweat Sydney and both were SO enriching! I have met such inspirational, amazing runners and made some life long friends. My friend Nathan Hayes is also currently injured and will be walking the half next Sunday. Its a huge shame for him because he is a lightning fast runner, but with his first full Marathon to look forward to in New York later this year, its important right now to recover from current injuries and nurture his body. 


I need to really embrace that injury recovery and healing are key, as I have a major event to look forward to later in the year myself: El Flangers and I are off to Everest Base Camp!


For the month of October, he and I will be trekking through the Himalayas and it is absolutely critical that my body is injury free. Adam has offered me this trek as my birthday gift this year. No one has done anything quite so amazing for me in my entire life and I feel so blessed and honored.


With all this in mind, though, today really hurts. I'm grieving. Frustration and depression are rattling me and I'm struggling hard to hold it together.


The most amazing thing happened for me on the Easter running camp in Jindabyne. Our long Sunday run was from Charlotte Pass to the summit of Mount Kosciusko and Mark Chandler was my running buddy. I loved the run and was grateful for his company. It was awesome to share the experience with him. Once I had reached the summit of our nation's highest peak, I was able to release myself from the fear of failure, if only temporarily. I realised who I am, what I love, where my passion is and what I want from life.


I am a distance runner. I am girl with one arm who finds joy and freedom in running. It is my truest love and my greatest passion. I embraced my power to inspire people. I embraced that I wholly enjoy creating connections with people and sharing stories of our experiences as well as sharing the experiences themselves. I long to ignite the spirits of those people I come into contact with and I want to illuminate them with fresh hope, courage and bravery as they share in mine. I want to travel the world from age 30 running marathons and speaking to people, motivating, inspiring and enriching them. I want to be sponsored to do this. 


I want to experience balance in my body and the fullness of function that a human can experience. To this end, I would like my sponsors to assist in funding a functional myoelectric limb. I desperately long to ride a bike and this would allow me to broaden my horizons, expanding my view as an athlete to encompass triathlon.


I guess this injury I am currently suffering does help the triathlete's cause: I will need to get in the pool and on the bike, because it will be some time before I can run again.


It is the accumulation of these desires and experiences that leads me to my grief today. I am separated from the outlet that allows me to connect with my joy, my freedom and my passion. The love and support of my friends right now is vital.


My friend Clint, who is also a PT from Fitness First Bond St just messaged me with some sage advice;
"You can't allow injury to break you mentally. It's a set back, yes, but not the end of the world. You just need to change which half you're going to do. There are heaps more. Nothing will break you if you roll with it. Our job is to keep people motivated and mine is especially to show you that there are opportunities out there every day. Reevaluate yours and move forward - it makes you stronger."

Sunday, March 28, 2010

From Strength to Strength

A few weeks ago whilst out on the bay run with dotmef, I had a very bad fall. I was marvelling at what a beautiful morning it was in Sydney and how blessed we are when I should really have been paying attention to the roots and rocks beneath my feet. As a result, I tripped and fell. I took a very pointy rock in my already problematic left knee. That was the worst of my numerous injuries.


I hobbled around in pain for a few days, humiliated by my inability to walk quickly or negotiate stairs, but with time, I healed. I rested. I listened to my body. I saw doctors and learnt that it was not broken. They said the swelling was not normal, though, and that I need to see a specialist to have that looked at. Its not urgent for me, though. I saw my physio who cleared me of any ligament damage and said the residual pain was the result of bone bruising that could take a few months to settle. I was given the go ahead to start upping my kilometres once more.


So 48 hours later I was on the grass at centennial park, and I ran again the following Thursday and I ran AGAIN Saturday morning and my knee has never felt better! I'm very excited because this time next week I'll be in Jindabyne, having already completed 2 or 3 training runs and preparing to run up Australia's highest peak - Mount Kosciusko!


Conny is back here from Switzerland, so a group of us are going along with Sean William's Sweatsydney training camp to do some running as well as some catching up and chilling out. I cannot wait!


Check out our itinerary!


After an idyllic Sunday spent tandem biking around La Perouse and Little Bay, followed by my nephew's 2nd birthday party, I've just spent 2.5 hours in the kitchen preparing my food for the following week. On the menu are the following items:



  • Hummus (my recipe)
  • Salsa (my recipe)
  • TONNES of crudites - snowpeas, capsicum, carrot, celery, cucumber
  • A massive salad dressed in seeded mustard and lemon juice with lots of olives and cherry tomatoes
  • 3 grilled fish fillets
  • A huge batch of DELICIOUS spinach and chick pea soup
  • 4  boiled eggs.
Om nom nom and bon appetit! :) Time to check in on my challengers! Xx

Monday, February 1, 2010

Good Food and Gratitude!

I can't believe I'm already on day 29 of the 12 week challenge! Holy cow, it just flies. The first month of 2010 is already over and that just completely blows my mind.

I've lost 1.5kgs, which is pretty sweet considering I'm already a very active person and a healthy eater with little to lose. I though that seeing as the challenge is 1/3 of the way over, I'd share some of my favourite foods with you.

Today I made Tanya Dyhin's breakfast smoothie. Her base ingredients are fruit, soy milk, an egg, cinnamon and ice. Mine had an egg, malt free organic soy milk, half a frozen banana, some frozen mango chunks and raspberries with cinnamon. Pretty tasty indeed!

I make another type of smoothie as an afternoon snack. It has soft or silken tofu, cinnamon, frozen berries (no bananas for me after midday cos of the carb content) and ice. If you add water or juice its a smoothie, but I like to eat it like yoghurt, with a spoon.

I eat loads of tinned and frozen fish - I know fresh is best, but its just not that convenient for my lifestyle, eating out of my backpack. I eat the tiny tins of smoked salmon in springwater as well the coles brand spanish, italian, morrocan, mexican, japanese and spicy tomato and chilli tunas. I split a tin of sardines in spring water into 2 serves.

I make my own hummus using chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, tahini and I add chilli and cumin. I dip celery, carrot, capsicum and cucumber in it, as well as the occasion wholegrain 9 grains vita wheats or a couple of multigrain or soy and linseed corn thins. I might also spread a little macro organic nothing added crunchy peanut butter on one of those as a treat. Whilst on the subject of chick peas, I buy the bag of chick nuts from woolworths and divide it up into little snack container portions which are great on the go.

I also love fruit as a snack with a couple of almonds and sunflower seeds to make the energy last. I keep apples and bananas for the am.

I have first lunch, around lunch time, and second lunch, later on. For first lunch I might have a version of a lentil stew i make at home. Sometimes I use regular lentils, sometime yellow, sometimes both! I cook them slowly with onions, garlic, spinach and tomatoes (tinned, fresh or both) and any number of herbs or spices - chilli, ginger, tumeric and cumin are all wonderful. I throw in mushrooms and olives if I have some. Sometimes I'll mix that with a tin of salmon post reheating.

Second lunch is usually a salad with a tin of fish and a piece of fruit (nectarine, blueberries, peach). My salads contain loads of green leaves and cherry tomatoes, cucumber, olives and mushies. I dress it with seeded mustard, lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Sometimes its steamed firm tofu with chilli, broccoli and various other vegies.

I try not to eat dinner after 8, but that's not always easy working my hours! My favourite meal is grilled salmon and steamed vegies - carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, beans, peas, zucchini, capsicum - I'll eat them all if I've got them! I will always use vegies as the base of my meal and also like to make a stir fry using a frozen hoki fillet. Both are very quick, very easy, tasty, satisfying and ultra healthy.

Hopefully this gives you all some healthy ideas that you can introduce into your days!

Onto the next subject, I'm going through some pretty tough times in life right now, but I think its important to express gratitude for what we do have, especially when worried, sad or suffering. So today, I choose to express gratitude in the form of a top ten list. Here goes:
  1. I'm thankful for the car my mum bought me. Stellar is the basis of my independence and is a wonderful machine that brings me immense pleasure and joy.
  2. I'm thankful for my mum and all my brothers and sisters who are there to hear me and support.
  3. I'm thankful for my wonderful friends and clients who make a huge and positive impact on my life in so many ways.
  4. I'm thankful for my chosen career path and my business, which provides me with the amazing opportunity to help people find better health, better confidence, greater happiness and longer life. I truly believe that society at large has an immense need to recconnect with body and breath, that being trapped inside our minds and stuck behind desks is a tremendous problem, but one I aim to combat.
  5. I'm thankful for being in this body that allows me to dance and run. YAY I LOVE TO DANCE! YAY I LOVE TO RUN! Also, the specifics of my body and how I was born give me greater connection with it, as well as enabling me to inspire people! That's a huge gift :)
  6. I'm thankful to live in Sydney! It's such a beautiful city with so many benefits. The sea, the weather, a beautiful harbour, every modern convenience, access to fresh food, water and air... This list could be a long one!
  7. While we're at it, I'm just thankful to live! To experience the fullness of the human condition, for all its ups and downs.
  8. I'm thankful for the internet! It allows me to connect with you all in so many ways and is a fantastic research tool! I only wish I had more time to take advantage of it.
  9. I'm thankful that, for the most part, I do not want for necessities. I have shelter, food, clothing and transport. Already I have so much more than so many millions of people I share this planet with.
  10. Finally, I'm thankful for Hayden. I know what it is to be truly loved, nurtured, supported, looked after and cared for and it is such a tremendous blessing that I'm truly grateful now for every single day that it was mine.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

It has begun!!

I guess some of you might be wanting to know more about the challenge than just my facebook status updates give away. Besides, that's my version of the challenge!


So here's how it works:



It doesn’t have to be about doing something drastic. It needs to be a commitment to making a difference.
You might want to pull out all the stops and do everything possible to be your ABSOLUTE best in 12 weeks. Or you might prefer to look long term and use my 12 week challenge as the first step in sculpting your lifestyle to be healthy forever, by implementing small changes, week by week.
We can work it how you want it. I’ll design this with you. It’s an individual program which is specific to your needs. The essentials remain the same:
·         We track your diet and teach you how to eat properly to optimize your body function.
·         We schedule your exercise routines and get you active, moving, breathing and burning.
·         I keep you focussed and on track.
·         I monitor your progress and record your results.
And those results are universal. You WILL have a better body in 84 days.
What you need to do:
1.       Nominate a start date.
2.       Maintain a food and exercise journal until such time as we are both satisfied that you know how to eat and properly to achieve your goals. Nominate your preference - paper or online.
3.       Commit to a weekly weigh-in around the same time one morning each week and submit the results.
4.       Submit a weekly exercise schedule to me – in advance.
5.       Accept my weekly challenges and homework tasks.
My Commitment to YOU:
·         If you’ve selected an online food and exercise journal, I’ll create that account for you and get you set up.
·         I’ll track your progress, keep score and reward your efforts!
·         I’ll keep it interesting! No 2 workouts with me will ever be the same, and no 2 weeks of your challenge will ever be the same.
·         I’ll send you new information and resources every week to educate and motivate you.
·         I will be there for you. If you need your hand held, I’ll do it. If you need an ear, I’ll listen. If you need advice I’ll give it!
·         I WILL support and encourage you and I WILL NOT let you down.
If there’s anything else you need, please tell me! I’ll do my best to accommodate you. I want you to succeed and I’m here to help!


Check out my spiffy promo flier from the inimitable Ingrid of Frankenmedia Design!


How awesome is that?? I love it!!