Thank You

Just a quick thank you to everyone for your comments and texts....I really do appreciate them even if I dont get the chance to reply to them all xo

Sometimes life throws you a curveball...

...and all you can do it catch it as best you can. There's been something thats been going on behind the scenes, which I've only mentioned to my very close friends. As of last Thursday, I was 7 weeks pregnant with my first child. D and I were so excited and couldnt wait for our first child to be born next July. But all that turned on its head on Friday night. D took me to the hospital late Friday evening and after blood tests on Friday night and an ultrasound on Saturday morning, the doctors confirmed my worst fear that I had lost our baby. The last 48 hours have been the hardest hours I've ever had to endure.

I'm taking a few days off from work so I can rest and relax. Of course this is not something that I'm going to forget easily, but I hope that in time the hurt will start to heal.

A new plan

Well its been a good 7 weeks since I had any real consistency with my training and nutrition. I have absolutely no idea what my scale weight is, and in all honesty, I really dont care anymore! Admittedly my clothes are a bit more fitted, but I'm loving the shape my body is right now. I'm a happy and healthy size 8-10 and I LOVE IT! It's funny, even my friends have said that I'm looking better with a bit more weight on me. Of course, I feel like I could do with a little tightening up at the moment, but I dont feel the urgency to train and diet that I have in the past. Maybe I'm finally accepting the body that my genetics have given me?! I know I'm never going to be stick-thin, plus I prefer being muscular over being a rake :)

I've spent some time researching and reading over my previous training diaries and have finally come up with a new plan, which comes into effect from Monday 17 November:

Nutrition
M1 - 3/4 cup oats, 3/4 cup egg whites, cinnamon, Splenda (made into pancakes)
M2 - 1 tin tuna, 200g vegies, sweet chilli sauce
M3 - Lean protein (chicken/beef/fish/kangaroo), 200g vegies, carbs (couscous, brown rice, sweet potato, wholemeal pasta)
M4 - Rice cakes with hommous
M5 - Lean protein (chicken/beef/fish/kangaroo), 200g vegies
M6 - Protein shake with fruit and yoghurt

This nutrition plan yields approximately 1700 calories. I'm ensuring that all food groups are covered and nothing is left out of my plan. I'm also supplementing with a multi, iron (I have very low iron levels), garlic, vitamin C and fish oil.

Training
Now that I'm heading back to full time work, I'm going to have some more structure in my days.

Cardio - 4 x 40 minute lunchtime sessions per , plus 1 x 60 minute walk on Sunday
Weight training - 3 x 40 minute upper/lower body split sessions per week, followed by 15-20 minutes cardio (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)

I'm still not training chest for another 4 weeks, nor incorporating any explosive/plyometric movements in my training. I'm waiting for the all clear from my surgeon before I add in any chest work.

I'm going to follow the above program until Christmas, then review it and add in chest work, to start again in the new year.

The plan for the future
As I posted previously, competing is out of the question until 2010. I know I have said that I'm not competing before, but this time its a definite and I wont be changing my mind. The focus for now is to maintain a happy and healthy life by eating well and training. For too long I've put too much focus on competing, dieting and training, so now its time to enjoy my life.

I also have some news. I'm now an ASN sponsored athlete! I was contacted by Simon Rees yesterday and I'm waiting for a package of supplements and training gear to arrive in the mail. I'm excited to join the team at ASN and look forward to working with them.

So, its been a while......

Long time, no post