Miss jojo is..................... strong fit healthy slim

It's been a while

2009-08-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted and I am happy to report that things are sunnier in the house of jojo at the moment. I'm:
Back at teaching tap dancing.
Training for the 1/2 marathon in October.
Lots of good stuff to look forward to.
Am not eating chocolate.
Taking my vitamin supplements every day, and making sure I exercise no matter what.
And I've even compromised my interior design tastes by including a brand new piece of exercise equipment in our loungeroom! We just got a spin bike so we can watch tv and exercise at the same time. I'll get onto it tonight while catching up on shows I've taped.

1/2 marathon training is going fine. With 8 weeks to go it should be ok provided I follow the program and keep myself out of injury.

love,

Miss jojo xx

Agile - was it worth it?

2009-05-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Probably. I did learn a few things out of this experiment.

1. My weekly patterns are quite predictable and boring.
2. There are a couple of habits I have that are stopping me from maintaining my weight and the worst is chocolate at work.
3. Injuries have really stuffed me up. I actually think it would be good for me to lighten up my training for improvement and instead just train at an even pace for a while. I am rethinking whether to do the half marathon in June or leave it until October.
4. Monitoring and planning every day (online or in a book) does increase accountability.

That's all for now. When I get inspired about something again I'll blog again.

cheerio

Miss Jojo xx

Agile experiment over

2009-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Will hold a retrospective at the end of the week.

miss jojo is lazy

2009-05-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

At posting. I had a big weekend of food and wine, and I exercised too. The food was healthy(ish) but I ate a LOT! I can see my stomach has expanded already. Hopefully some of it's just hot air.
wot I did yesterday
Yesterday I ate enough food for 1.5 people.
Ran 8km in the mother's day classic.

Today
I am struggling with food - I ate my lunch at 11:30 and ate 3 pieces of fruit so far.
Planning active recovery session (half an hour cardio at the gym).

Obstacles
My brain is better and my soul is back. Except for the simple bad habit of wanting to eat chocolate at work, I'm alright and motivated appropriately.

cheerio

Miss Jojo

Agile Friday

2009-05-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

I'm *starting* to feel better. Last night as I was driving to tap I pondered that I understand why depressed people kill themselves - if I thought there was no way out of feeling like this I'd feel doomed too. It made me think that I'd better scoot off to the doctor again, and maybe this time I should take up his suggestion of trying anti depressants for a week a month. I've been trying to keep it at bay with good food and exercise and vitamins, but this week has been an internal hell week for me.

My body is looking pretty good though - tummy is nice and flat and jeans are suitably loose. On with the agile post.

Yesterday
Ran 40 minutes, 1 hr hard tap class, and I also walked for 25 minutes with a hand bag, a fully packed gym bag, and four compressed pillows! Functional training at work.
I ate good food, except of course for chocolate. I burnt the chocolate off and I didn't eat my lunch - I had the chocolate instead. For the record: 400 calories worth.

Today
Walking to and from osteo = about 1 hour extra walking. All up I will walk maybe two hours today.
I'm hoping the osteo clears me to start doing some uppper body work.
Tonight we are going out for dinner - wine and Vietnamese food. Yum.

Obstacles
The ususal, boring, repetetive, when will I ever learn. I don't make the chocolate eating behaviour non-negotiable.

Miss Jojo xxxxx

agile thursday

2009-05-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

In the immortal words of Dolly Parton here we go again. My mantra today is calm, even as my head and body are filled with poisonous thoughts and feelings. I swear I am mentally ill 2 - 3 days before my period, and my heart is made of stone. Fun, huh?

Yesterday
tap only. did not run - work is crazy and I don't get a break.
ate really really well. I am proud of myself for that.

Today
run or else I think I will kill myself.
tap tonight.
eat good food.

Obstacles
work. I'm so stressed with the amount of things I have to get done, and I am committing to my work commitments this week. I need to be a power house and knock off about ten things, all due today, and then I can get out for a run.
I've double dosed the Blackmores PMT tablets but left it too late.

Summary
thank god I a) know that what I am feeling has a physiological cause and b) know that the end is in sight in a day or so, otherwise I would be a really scary human being.

Miss Jojo

Finding it bloody hard to fit in a run

2009-05-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't run yesterday. Interviews all ran late, got home at 7:30 and with no dinner preparation in sight decided I should cook something to get us through the next few nights, then did an hour's tap choreography, then went to bed!

Got up to do it all again today. I brought in my running clothes and I'm trying to squeeze in 40 minutes at 11:45 this morning. Better not spend too much time blogging!

Yesterday
no exercise, but I ate good.

Today
2 tap classes (= about 300 calories)
40 minute run
eat good - easy as we're having vego indian for lunch (no cream or coconut) and then I have tuna pasta for dinner which is scrumptious and really really good for me

Obstacles
gotta remember to breathe, and just make time for the run

PS PMT is going well - said "Fuck" in front of my team today and yelled at the admin manager

It is hard to burn off 400 calories sometimes

2009-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday:
So yesterday I ate 400 calories of chocolate (2 caramello koalas) in addition to my normal food, and then made a decision to burn those calories off after work. Problem was, I wasn't planning to run heaps because my hip and glutes are still sore, so I needed to do other cardio. Got to the gym at 7pm, haven't done spin bike for ages and it was bloody hard. I couldn't get my heart rate over 160 BPM, so after 40 minutes on the bike, plus 15 minutes walk run combo (very easy to avoid any further injury) I had only burnt 372 calories. I did a few light weights and walked home from the gym, knowing I got close to the 400 calories. Thankfully it was the only bad choice of the day.

Today:
eat my good food, 40 minute Increase Your Speed Run
cook tuna pasta for dinner and watch master chef

Obstacles
my moods. I've chosen to have a glass half full day even in the throws of PMT .... it's day 23 of the agile experiment so I'm on the hormonal downhill path.
Running really really helps.

cheers

Jojo xx

Agile Monday

2009-05-03T15:57:00.000-07:00

Weighed and measured yesterday and the low down is:
weight 64.3kg
body fat 29.0% (although on Tuesday at it was 24.5% so go figure)
waist 72cm

and I'm able to wear my happy jeans. Where I am now is where I don't want to go over. This is my maximum. So, to give myself a little room to move, I'm aiming to get to 62kg in the next two weeks.

What I did yesterday:
only pushed out a 50 minute run before my hips caved in. better than nothing and stretched well.

What I plan to do today:
30 minutes easy(ish) cardio - X trainer and walk/jog combo, keeping HR at 145 or so
30 minutes easy(ish) weights - focussing on smaller muscle groups and good technique - my back and shoulders are not well enough to do more than that

Obstacles in my way:
A warm house and master chef on the tv. Plan around it: to come in, grab my gym gear, and go straight to the gym.

cheerio

Miss Jojo

Agile Friday

2009-04-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

I missed posting yesterday because our internet connection was out at work.

Oh boy I'm tired. We've been getting up every day at 5:30am so Niki can start clinicals at 7am in Elsternwick. It's good for productivity at work, but we're stuffed!

Anyway, I'm in my happy jeans at the moment. Yesterday I walked for 90 minutes in them. So I'm slimming down a little. I'll weigh myself on Sunday and see what the scales say.

Yesterday:
90 minute walk
Ate too much lunch (a really healthy choice, but I ate to stuffed point not just full).
Skipped my usual low fat dessert to help make up for that.

Today:
Visiting the osteo for a final check up. Otherwise today is a rest day exercise-wise.
I will take the stairs at work instead of the lift when leaving the building.
At work I will eat my own food - banana at around 10am, sandwich at 12, and a small bowl of porridge at 4pm. I have a 50 calorie emergency bag of popcorn for a snack.
Tonight we are having healthy home made pizza instead of our usual Friday night dinner at a restaurant. I will have 2.5 glasses of wine.

Obstacles:
Friday tiredness - I cannot eat any other food other than what I have with me!

love,

Miss Jojo xxx

Agile Wednesday

2009-04-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

Life is so much better when I've had enough sleep. I'm a different person today.

OK. Yesterday:
close to plan. Did a 40 minute increase your speed run which normally burns between 400 and 500 calories. I'm noticing that my running technique and speed are improving as I continue my half marathon training.
Food: excellent, but found it difficult to add up the calories because I had home made canneloni (vege and low fat ricotta) and I had no idea of quantities. My snacks and breakfast and coffee added up to 638 calories, and I assumed that lunch and dinner were 300 calories each.

Today:
Eat my food that I have with me which is:
. ham, mustard, avocado & spinach wholegrain sandwich
. 2 vive light chocolate biscuits
. small mandarin
. small banana

For dinner I have a half serve of left over canneloni and some vege filo pastries that I made that are just veges wrapped in filo and baked. Should be pretty light on but again, I don't know the exact portion or calories. I'll work it out better tomorrow.

Then: pilates at lunch, 2 tap classes tonight. I will wear my HRM and measure the effort.

Obstacles:
Nothing obvious - I'm usually good when I feel like this.

cheerio

Miss Jojo

Agile foolishness

2009-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

I don't think the agile experiment is foolish but I do think I am.
I've been eating relatively well, I've been exercising like usual except for the injury, which I've now been cleared for, and I weighed myself last night and I have gained another 700 grams.

So now I need to pull my head out of you know where and properly control my food. The exercise is fine, the food, well, the portions are getting bigger and I must say I'm adding lots of little extras (like margerine and marmalade on my toast) that make a difference. Back to it Jojo. I not only need to write down what I eat, but I need to control my calories. I'm going for 1500 per day for the next week on days that I exercise, and 1200 per day on days that I'm resting. I will weigh myself again on Sunday.

Yesterday:
Ate till I was full at lunchtime - a big bowl of couscous and veges is still probably too much food. Ate a good sized dinner but then had low fat ice cream for dessert.
Light cardio session: burned 300 calories in 45 minutes - 30 minutes Treadmill walk and run combo, 15 minutes cross-trainer.

Today's plan:
Add up my food on calorie king and write it down in my exercise and food diary.
Circus OR 1 hour cardio.

Feeling a bit more real.

Miss Jojo xx

Agile Monday

2009-04-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

We had to get up really early today so I'm tired, headachey AND grumpy. Lovely way to start a Monday. I'm wallowing in it a little but have a lot to do so I'm getting on with it.

Wot I did Yesterday:
I ate really well and I ran about 15km.

Today's plan:
go to Osteo for follow up visit and hopefully get permission to exercise again

Potential obstacles:
Food and injury. Hoping the injury thing sorts itself out. The food issue is the same old boring issue - boredom and tiredness.

Be happy,

Miss Jojo x

Agile Sunday

2009-04-25T22:53:00.000-07:00

News: there is no beach at my house today - the water has come all the way up to the car park and is flooding boat houses and washing heaps of sand into the car park. It's scary.

Wot I did yesterday:
nothing. I wasn't allowed. Osteo said no, definitely not, absolutely nothing! He also said nothing for today unless I felt fabulous.

Today:
90 minute run in the Melbourne weather (done - hard against the wind!)
eat good food from my kitchen
cook for week.
resist the urge to spend hundreds of dollars on bed linen

Obstacles:
my room looks dowdy. I'm not going up there until after the shops have shut.

By the way, since when did pillow cases start costing $30? My dream bed linen set will cost about $250 for two pillow cases and a doona cover. No wonder I need to stay away from the shops.

Miss Jojo xx

Agile goes on

2009-04-23T17:12:00.001-07:00

But I don't. Back is so painful I am having difficulty breathing. No exercise possible.

Yesterday:
ate well, but missed tap because back was bad

Today
Osteo appointment which I cannot wait for

Obstacles
none - i'm not planning anything

Agile Experiment - Day 10

2009-04-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

Took measurements this morning and everything is the same except my waist is 1cm smaller. Haven't weighed in formally - at the other gym yesterday I was about 64.5. Will weigh formally on Sunday morning at my local gym which has accurate scales.

Yesterday
. sprints as per plan. bloody hard actually.
. 2 hours teaching tap - definitely raised a sweat.
. ate really well except for 1 caramello. Unbelievable that I still do this.

Today
. mostly resting. my back is sore.
. 1 hr advanced tap.
. no chocolate - simple.

Obstacles & how they will be managed
. my continued bad choices with food - I've worn the skin tight no stretch jeans today to deter me from eating.

cheerio then

Miss Jojo xx

Agile post #9

2009-04-21T16:54:00.001-07:00

I'm checking the stats soon (tomorrow night probably). I'm feeling in control and noticing clothes getting looser again. Even yesterday was interesting - I kept having little thoughts about just calling into maccas and getting a sundae or having more chocolate and they quickly disappeared with the replacement thought that it won't make me feel better. If I keep it up all week then I'll be in good shape.

What I did yesterday:
ate good stuff + 1 caramello koala
2 hours circus
did not do sprints - my meetings ran late and I scraped into circus just in time

Plan today:
2 hours teaching tap (not that strenuous actually)
40 minutes running training including sprints at lunchtime. I'm skipping pilates - my abs and arms, shoulders and back are sore from circus yesterday.
Eat my healthy food continued.

Potential obstacles
Still tired, still need to be careful about passing the chocolate fridge.

Miss Jojo xx

Here's why I never leave the office at lunchtime unless I'm exercising

2009-04-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Because I can't trust myself with a wallet and lunch hour to not go out and buy food.
I've been bringing my lunch into work every day (except, maybe, 5 days per year) for over 3 years now and I still battle with wanting to go out and buy food, usually when I'm tired, or bored.

I also managed for the whole of last week, and 1.25 days this week, to walk past my fridge at work that has the chocolates in it. This morning I broke a record and ate a caramello freddo worth 200 calories at 10:30am. Earliest yet.

Fuck it and lucky I'm exercising this afternoon to work it off. Weird thing is that I stopped at one. Not even consciously.

Miss Jojo xx

Agile post #8

2009-04-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

A week in, and I've managed 7 out of 8 posts. Daily posting isn't as easy as the approximately one per week I've been managing. It's harder to cheat on your commitments if you're posting daily. It's why people advise to keep a food or exercise diary if you're struggling a bit.

What I did yesterday:
Ate uber-healthy
Pump class
Walked to city from Richmond

What I plan to do today
2 hours of circus class
speed training: 4 x 250m running as fast as I can while holding form. I will do this on port melbourne beach before circus.

Potential obstacles and how I will manage them
I am really tired. I only had about 5 hours sleep and had to get up stupidly early so I could use the car today - we survive by choice as a one car family but sometimes it means some compromise. When I am tired I get sooky and emotional and tend to want to eat. The only thing I can think of that will get me through is my commitment to continuing to do the right thing for my body.

Miss Jojo x

Agile Post #7

2009-04-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

What I did yesterday:
Ran. You already know this.
Ate well.
Cooked up a storm.
Had 3 glasses of wine which is one too many.

What I plan to do today.
Eat my healthy food I have with me.
Get to the gym for either a pump class (if interview runs on time) or a general weights conditioning session.
Stay focussed at work.

Obstacles in my way & how I plan to manage them.
Using late running meetings as an excuse not to get to the gym. I'll be too embarrassed to report if I don't make it today.
Internet distractions - I will only open browsers at lunchtime.

Sunday morning agile post

2009-04-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning. I skipped yesterday. I had a hangover from a whole bottle of red wine on friday night and did no exercise. It's embarrassing to report even if no-one reads this. Last night I couldn't even consider a glass so I had green tea instead.

What I did yesterday:
Cleaned my house so it is sparkly. At least I did some moving.
Ate ok - mostly good. 1 small pack chips and a slice of full fat cheese.

What I plan to do today:
90 minute run - already done and I'm feeling grouse!
Walk to the footy with the dog and watch the kid (approx 5km round trip)
Eat vietnamese soup.
Do the healthy cooking for the week.

Obstacles in my way:
None that I can think of. It's so much better if I can just get my sneakers on and leave straight away.

love and an endorphin or so,

Miss Jojo xx

Agile post - quick one

2009-04-17T02:16:00.000-07:00

spent a lovely day at the zoo with my family. A bit rushed, and only walking for exercise which is all i had time for. So didn't get to run before the zoo trip today.
yesterday's plans fine, except that i went to a meeting where there were lollies and chocolate bars, and before I knew it, I mindlessly ate a mini mars bar and two lollies and then thought "shit - what the $&#ck have i done - ate without thinking. bloody hell!"

Lesson learned from today - scrum only works if you do it in the morning.
Other lesson - remember to be mindful when opening mouth and shoving food into it.

miss jojo xx

Agile Experiment - Day 3

2009-04-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

What I did yesterday
About 3/4 of what I planned. Did not do the sprint training - I got lazy and when I got home and the kid needed dinner I put the heater on and cooked instead. [Remedial action next time is to do the sprint training when I'm in my exercise clothes. I really find it hard to leave and go outside and run when it's cold and dark.]
Ate my home cooked food but didn't bring enough. Bought lowest calorie snack bar from the garage that I could find, and a low fat muffin after work. Not ideal. Ate less dinner as a result.

What I plan today
Eat my home cooked food at work. I am prepared today with snacks for my 4pm second lunch.
Eat a healthy choice for dinner in the city tonight and have no alcohol.
Enjoy myself at the comedy festival - I'll burn calories laughing.
Run tomorrow morning before I go out for the day.
Tick off work to do list which is full of fiddly little things.

Potential Obstacles to success
Internet time wasting - will do same as yesterday and stay off my favourite sites (except for now of course).

cheers

Miss Jojo xx

Agile experiment - Day 2

2009-04-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

What I did yesterday:
Worked mostly productively although I did get distracted a lot and kept popping on the internet for a minute when I got stuck. I really don't think this helped.
Ate and exercised as per plan.
Took the measurements and I was right I didn't like the numbers:
Waist 75 cm
L thigh 58cm
R thigh 59 cm
bust 85 cm
hips 95 cm
weight 65.3 kg
body fat 23%

I am nearly 2kg heavier than I was in the first week of December 2008.

What I plan to do today:
Pilates
4 x 200m sprints and 2-3 minute recovery
Eat food brought from home only

Obstacles and how I will manage them:
Will not open a web browser for the rest of the day, except for IE to use work tools.
Drink hot water and eat a piece of fruit if I get jumpy for food.

cheerio

Miss Jojo xx

Mixing scrum methodology with training

2009-04-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm conducting an experiment. I will use part of the scrum methodology to set goals and then track progress for the next 28 days. Why? Because I have just had a week at less than par. I ate very badly last week, I ate way too much, and I ditched most of my exercise plans. Self-sabotage anyone? I even purposely made a meeting go late so I could miss my pilates class. Pathetic. I could blame it all on PMT as I felt absolutely shit-house for most of the week last week, but that's still no excuse to go and eat a house.

The end result: I have put on weight, my stomach is podgy, and I felt extremely unhealthy and sluggish (that's the worst bit). Some people reckon your body doesn't change in a week but I can tell you mine does.

I'm going back to circus classes next week and want to feel lean and strong! I am also training for the half marathon and I want to have a good run. This means that training is essential.

The good news: These days I only have these kinds of weeks for one week at a time (max) and then pull myself up.

By tracking for 28 days, I want to see if it helps me get over my next bout of the downward post-ovulation hormone-fest.

So the Scrum methodology has a quick daily meeting which I will replace with a daily post. There are only three topics and it needs to be brief. The topics are:

What I did yesterday.
What I plan to do today.
What obstacles are in my way and how will I manage them.

Post 1: 14 April 2009

What I did yesterday:
80 minute jog on beach.
1 hour stroll in botanic gardens.
Ate lovely healthy food and no alcohol.

What I plan to do today:
Work productively.
Eat only the food I have made and brought with me to work.
Go to gym after work: 30 minutes cross trainer, 45 minutes strength and conditioning work (shoulders, chest, back, abs)
Weigh myself and take measurements and tell the truth (even if I don't like the numbers)

Obstacles and how I will manage them:
After lunch chocolate craving - get up and walk one lap around office instead of going to fridge

cheerio

Miss Jojo xx