Steep Learning Curve - But Great Lessons being Learnt

The last few days have been interesting to say the least.  Friday was a very busy day at work and for anyone in Finance they will understand that End of Financial year is just horrible.  In my job, all hands on deck, even if you are on your death bed.  Well, as an incentive, us managers decided to supply lunch on Friday for our teams to entice them to work through and get as much done as possible rather than having to stay back.  Now I am not the sort of boss that wants to force people to hang around, but the company expects it.  I also don't want people being forced to work through lunch, but having a nice supplied lunch is also a nice enticement to putting a little extra in for one day.


At our meeting early in the week we decided that we would make sure the lunch was something nice.  Majority of people wanted us to order Crust pizzas, so that is what we did.  Now for me this was a horrible scenario.  Anyone that knows me well enough is fully aware that pizza is my favourite food for a quick and easy meal, whether it be home made or take away.  What is the issue here you say?  Well being on this journey and knowing the calories in a piece of pizza, besides the fact that it is all processed food means I had to make a choice here.  I would also in my old days (not that old really, only 5 weeks ago) have eaten almost a large pizza to myself.


Was I going to be a part of the group and join in, or was I going to bring my own lunch and stand out.  I decided to have 2 pieces of vegetarian pizza (which I normally refuse to eat as it is akin to having a salad sandwich) and then have a small salad.  This is exactly what Michelle said to do in her last video, so I thought this should be okay.  As it was such a busy morning I forgot to have my snack, so I had 300 calories extra to play with.  This was not done on purpose, but I am conscious that I need to eat all my calories during the day as Mich has instructed.  This meant that I could actually eat 3 pieces of pizza and my salad.


The pizzas arrived and the swarm descended on the kitchen.  It was like having fish and chips at Williamstown beach and having to fight off the seagulls.  Ridiculous how people behave over free food when there was 20+ pizzas for 40 people.  Anyway, I found my way to the table and decided that I would take a piece of Mediterranean Lamb pizza (small one) and a piece of Vegetarian.  After having this I ummed and arred about having a third and then decided to have a piece of Tandoori Chicken.


Big mistake right there.  I probably could have gotten away with 2, but the third sat in my stomach and it was extremely uncomfortable.  I have now realised that after only 4 weeks my stomach has taken to the fresh whole foods we have been eating and does not like the processed foods.  This heavy feeling was something that I believe I used to feel previously but nothing registered like this and that was after 6 pieces.  It made for a very uncomfortable afternoon and not something I look forward to experiencing again.

The second big lesson that was learnt was yesterday during my training.  I sometimes forget that I am still only new to all this and must not push myself too hard.  It is important to give it my all and train within my limits as I am not to quit, but listen to my body.  In the morning we had our personal trainer put us through a circuit session of push ups, lunges, squats and shoulder presses.  Doesn't sound much but 4 circuits of this as fast as you can when you are unfit kills you.  After this I went for my weekly bike ride.  I was 10kms into my ride and felt the tendon behind my knee causing severe pain.  I had not felt this before, and whilst I want to make sure I am getting as many kms in my legs before my ride as possible, I want to make sure I am okay to train moving forward.  I decided that I would turn home and see if  could make it at a more leisurely pace.  It appears that my knee is okay, but I might have been pushing it a bit hard into the wind.  Bugger, if that was all it was I would have went on for another 10 or so kms and then turned back.  Better to be safe than sorry so I can go for a run tonight.  Just need the rain to knick off so I can do it without getting wet.


Today marks the last day of week 4.  10 kilos gone, 45.5 centimetres gone, healthier outlook on life, sleeping better and looking forward to exercise.  I am so disappointed that it took us this long to find out what path we should have been travelling and the years of torture both physically and mentally we have put ourselves through.  Thank god for Michelle Bridges and if my sister only did one thing for us she made us aware of this program.  Not long to go until there will be a slim me running around chasing my 4 kids and possibly even the boys at footy I coach, but not getting to far ahead of myself.