Refresher course in healthy living

There seem to be lots of bloggers finding their focus again in the last couple of weeks - hope it goes well for all of you.

Had an interesting session with Hamish this morning. It's amazing that just talking about all this stuff (most of which I know so well) makes you realise how much you've let it slip...

Did lots of measurements, which I've never really done before. Came up with a physical age of 58 - which is a bit shocking for a 44 year old. A lot of that was about body fat and not being well-hydrated, so I hope to see some fairly quick progress there. Always thought I was pretty good at the water thing, but there you go.

I've got a bit of homework to do tonight before I see him for the first PT session tomorrow. It's mostly about goal-setting - but he has a very well structured approach to this, so it feels less airy-fairy to me than it has in the past. Again, quite sensible stuff - like no point in setting the goal if you don't work out some steps to get there.

Seeing the nutritionist tomorrow as well. Really looking forward to that, and looking forward to stitching all this info together.

Oh, official time on the triathlon was 1 hour and 6 minutes.

And I must get Craig to take a photo of me tonight so I can do the progress thing.

One off, one on

I've ticked the triathlon off the list for this year, but the new item on the list is swimming lessons. I want to be able to freestyle properly, not have to resort to breast-stroke.

The triathlon went pretty well - around 1 hour and 5 minutes (haven't seen the official times yet). I didn't even try to run the 3km - I'm a pretty fast walker anyway. I think the best place for me to get time off is in the swim - a few minutes there would make a huge difference.

I was hit by a bladder infection last week - actually had to resort to antibiotics, which I don't do very often.

The diagnosis on Craig's shoulder is some deep bruising in the bone, with some possible tendon damage. Might have something to do with using your shoulder to brace the nail gun when nailing into 100 year old heart rimu! The biggest problem is he keeps re-injuring, so he might get it strapped for the next couple of weeks, as well as continuing with the physio.

Starting my new exercise and nutrition stuff with Hamish tomorrow - quite excited, really. Want to see this as real commitment to 12 weeks of learning and looking after myself.

And the times, they are a-changing...

Craig and I used our nice long holiday to firm up some plans for our future. It's a two year plan at this stage, so nothing very exciting for this year, but things will start happening next year - guess you'll all have to stick around to see what's up!

So, this year is all about getting some things done. The main one is the renovations to our little cottage. It's tiny and we love it that way, but it needs some major layout changes and I need a kitchen that can at least fit a dishwasher and a microwave! We're extending from 72 sq.m. to 80 - doesn't sound like much but gives us the space we need to make the internal changes, then we'll add a big deck on the back (with a pizza oven).

We've been mucking about with these plans for almost a year, so we've got to get on with things. Tuesday night is now planning night for us - to make sure we have things on track and work out what's next.

I also am making some changes to my health and fitness stuff. For too long I've been just meandering along. I need to ensure I have the skills to stay fit and control my weight - no matter what changes in lifestyle or circumstances we may go through.

So, I am going to spend 12 weeks with Hamish (who some of you will remember from Helena's blog). This will include body audits, 2 PT sessions a week, time with a nutritionist and lots of learning! This all starts on 8 February, after my triathlon. We have suspended our membership at the gym for 3 months while I do this - Craig is injured, so his focus for those 3 months will be to get his shoulder right. I think he may be facing some surgery there.

A big focus on saving for us this year too. We are fortunate enough to not have a mortgage, so we should be able to stash away a fair bit. Have to cut back on the overseas holidays!!!! That said, we do have a short trip to Adelaide booked for the end of March - my sister there is having her 50th; about 10 of us are going over from here.

I feel really good about all these plans - we work so much better as human beings if we have goals and focus. I know it is much better for Craig and I in our relationship if we have a feel for where we are headed.

Of course, plans don't have to be set in stone...

Is it over already!

I’m still trying to pretend I’m not back at work! As always, having to wear shoes again is one of the hardest parts – and I’ve only got as far as tinted moisturiser and a bit of eye colour; can’t do the full make-up thing just yet!

It didn’t help that when we got home to Wellington on Saturday it was just 12 degrees! We actually lit the fire.

We did about 2200km on our holiday and had a really cool time. We stayed at Paekakariki for the first week, then trailed our way through: Taupo, Whitianga, Omokoroa, Maketu, Ohiwa Beach, Waikite Valley then back to Paekakariki. So, for a quick summary:

Best coffee:
Two Fish Café in Opotiki

Best find:
Waikite Valley Thermal Pools – if you camp there you get free use of the pools, even when the staff aren’t there. They empty the pools each night, but they’re full again by 5.30am. They don’t open to the public till 10am so it’s like having your own private thermal wonderland. There are only about 16 sites so we're not talking a horde of people!

Best camping ground:
Ohiwa Beach – surf on one side and the harbour for kayaking on the other.

Best place we stayed:
Mercury Bay Holiday Park with Helena and Craig. It was just so wonderful to see them and to see what a great life they’ve made for themselves (and apologies to the other bloggers up there who I didn’t get around to contacting).

Best tourist spot:
Without doubt, the Driving Creek Railway. Met up with some friends (and a niece) who were staying nearby and went on this very cool train ride. If you do nothing else on the Coromandel, do this.

Best treat:
The Lost Spring in Whitianga. We had a very luxurious soak in the hot pools (love being served cocktails in the pool!), then Craig had a massage and I had a Sea Kelp and Coffee Body Wrap. Heaven!

Best first experience for Sue:
I’ve never been to the speedway before, but we went in Tauranga. I wouldn’t bother with speedway again – but the caravan demolition derby at the end was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen.

Soggy start to summer

It's so easy to feel smug sitting in the caravan looking out at the rain! But I'd hate to be one of the many families here who spent all yesterday pitching their tents in the lovely weather, and have laid in bed all night listening to it bucket down!

Thanks goodness for the advent of low-priced gazebos - at least they have a bit of space outside their tents so they're not all cooped up in that nasty, murky, fugginess that tents become when it's warm and wet outside!

And the long-range forecast doesn't look too flash either - but we're perfectly happy here in our apartment on wheels.

We'd bugger off to somewhere with a sunny forecast, but one day this week I have to take a quick trip to Auckland to get some work stuff out of the way, so we need to stay close to Wellington till that's done.

But who cares? Not us, we're having the time of our lives!

Yesterday, we had a great couple of hours out in the kayaks. Of course I didn't put quite enough sunblock on - the bottom half of my shins are a bit burnt (sort of the reverse version of a sock tan) with these odd white stripes on them where the leg straps from the kayak were. It was so lovely and peaceful out there on the water - not to mention all that great building up of shoulder and arm muscles!

Have trained pretty well since Christmas. Boxing Day I did a 3km walk/run in the morning and then Craig and I biked the trails in the afternoon. The next day was wet but I still did 12km road training on the bike. Yesterday I figured the kayak trip was plenty of exercise but went for a quick swim in the evening as well - first sea swim this summer! Didn't managed to tempt Craig in though.

Season's greetings

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year - and a great summer break for those of you who occupy the same hemisphere as me.

Take time to relax and enjoy. Do something every day that fills your soul with joy - potter in the garden, read a book, spend lots of time with those you love.

Phase 1 complete

We had our family Christmas dinner yesterday - it was easier than juggling kids working on Christmas Day, wanting to be with partners' families, wanting to be their other parents, all that sort of thing.

So, we whipped up a Christmas feast that consisted of:
Rotisserie boned shoulder of pork (all 6kg of it!) marinated overnight in ginger beer and stuffed with dried apples and prunes
A whole (very large) blue nose, stuffed with parsley pesto and lemon slices, baked in the BBQ
A variety of salads and vege dishes (all suitable for the vegan in our midst)
A three tone chocolate cheesecake the size of a small apartment building
My Christmas ice cream (Kapiti vanilla ice cream with fruit mince and rum stirred through it and refrozen)
Lots of yummy summer berries
Banana tofu ice cream (which I have never forced myself to taste but the vegan swears is lovely)

Consequently, I'm feeling a bit bloody jaded today - but it's actually a relief to know it's all done and I won't spend Christmas Eve rushing around like a lunatic all day and cooking half the night. Even better - I WON'T HAVE TO GO NEAR A SUPERMARKET ALL DAY!

Phase 2, on Christmas Day itself, is the traditional chicken and champagne brunch at my sister's place. All I need to do for that is bake a couple of panettone in the morning - sweet as!