Something you didn’t know about me……

This blog is coming up to it’s 1st anniversary. It’s gone by so fast! Over that time though, there’s something I’ve never shared with you and I’m not sure why.

For the past 2 and a half years, I’ve been a stay-at-home dad to our 4 kids.

After the birth of son #4 my wife was struggling at home, so we decided to swap. Bek went back to work, and I quit my job.

It’s not the first time we’ve done it either. When we first got married, I had moved to the US and had to wait for employment authorisation, so I cared for our 2 oldest boys for about 18 months.

That’s when I started having trouble with my weight. Cooped up at home, in a new country, in a new role……..I was so isolated. I started to spiral out of control.

This last stint has been better though. I’d started to make some progress and changes. It’s over now though, as I officially returned to the workforce 2 weeks ago. That’s why I haven’t been posting. Been so busy!

Getting back into a routine though has reminded me of just how hard it is for parents who stay home. You don’t get much ‘me’ time, and it’s easy to focus on everyone else all the time. Plus, you’re surrounded by temptation all the time. It’s a lot easier to lose touch and get down. I’m already enjoying being back in a routine. I just have to fully adjust, as it really is a shock to the system.

Like Sheryl Crow said “Everyday is a winding road”.

First run in about 5 months……

Decided to dust off the sneaks and hit the road tonight. Considering I’ve put on about 15 kgs since my last run, and have done minimal cardio over the past 3 months, my expectations were pretty low.

Surprisingly though, I was still able to punch out 4k’s. Pretty happy with that. To be honest I was wondering if I’d make it 400 metres up the road, so 4 k’s was great.

My calves are cramping up big time now though. Very sore. Lucky I invested in a roller!

Felt good to be out there again. Might have to make it a more regular thing.

Obesity: It’s a family matter

When you’re overweight, and you have a family, one of your biggest worries is (or should be!) the impact your example has on your children. While obesity is a very personal battle, it still has a big affect on everyone in the family. This is definitely something that plays on my mind, and has been a huge driving force in my efforts to get healthy.

The other day Bek read a really good article online, about the role of both parents and children in eating healthier. She thought there were some great points raised by the author, and we decided to sit down with the kids and discuss it.

Luckily for us, most of our children are pretty good with their eating. Although, our 6 year old is definitely a fussy eater, and he does provide us with a struggle to get him eating a healthy diet.

The discussion went well, and it helped our older kids understand the importance of eating better, and the part they need to play in the process.

To help us increase the variety of foods we eat, and also to improve our openness to trying new things, we decided to do a weekly family challenge. Every week we will be trying a new fruit or vegetable that we haven’t had before (or most of us haven’t had before). Some will be pretty common, while others will be more exotic.

This will be interesting, as we tend to stick to a stock range of fruit and veggies that we know everyone likes. The rule is though, that you have to at least try it once.

Saturday was our first week, and we decided to try star fruit. I’d never heard of these before, so I was very intrigued.

For the record, I thought it tasted like old boots. No one was a big fan. In the defense of the star fruit though, it was supermarket bought, so it’s fair to expect the one we tried was lacking in the freshness department. I’d like to try one that I know has been picked recently, so I’m going to give it another shot down the track.

Anyways, I think this is a fun way for us to expand our horizons, so stay tuned for this weeks mystery food!

Trying to have the best of both worlds

The past couple of months have been really tough for me. Not because of a traumatic event or anything major, I’ve just been in a rut and have felt out of control. During this period I’ve done a lot of thinking and reflection, trying to find some answers.

Until this past weekend, I’d struggled to come up with anything. I couldn’t understand why even though I was still trying hard and wanted to reach my goal, I seemed to be going backwards. It was so frustrating.

While working out in the gym on Saturday, though, I had a bit of a breakthrough. I was thinking about my life, especially the past few months, and trying to figure out where I was going wrong. Then it hit me. Although I had been trying to get healthy and lose weight, I wasn’t living a truly healthy lifestyle.

I’ve always been a night owl. Ever since I can remember I’ve always gone to bed later then 10pm. As I got older it was rare for me to get to bed before 11pm, and an early night for me was 10:30. When I started this journey I knew I had to try and get on top of this, but deep down I know I’ve still hung on to the notion that ‘it’s just who I am’. And I’ve tried to adapt to this habit, rather then change it.

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Update time

I haven’t posted a lot lately about how I’m going, mainly because I’ve been hurting. I had a couple of good days there for awhile, and then proceeded to fall into a heap again. It’s pretty hard to feel good when you keep sucking so bad.

That said though, I’ve kept pushing along, still exercised (although with a lot less purpose) and it seems that I’m getting things sorted out. And it’s cool, because it’s naturally happened, I haven’t had to dig super deep to try and motivate myself. It’s like my body has just said enough is enough, time to get this show on the road again.

So……this week has been really good (so far!). I’m not feeling the greatest still (mentally, more than physically), but it seems that subconsciously my mind has decided it’s time to finish this journey. I couldn’t focus during last nights workout and felt like giving up. I didn’t though, and finished it.

Today was a lot better, which is really encouraging.

The truth is, if I had all the answers for success on this journey, I wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. All I can do is keep fighting through it, because I will get back to where I need to be physically……no matter how many times I fall down.

P.S. I have 6 weeks until I hit my 1 year anniversary since I decided to get fit. Keen to finish the year off strong!

Anyone else have this problem…….

For some reason, once I open a packet of something (like cookies), I can’t stop eating until they’re all gone……even if I’m full. And the other thing I always seem to feel obligated to do, is eat everything on my plate, no matter how big the plate. It’s like an insult if I don’t.

These are 2 of my worst eating habits. Just gotta take the temptation and decision out of it by getting smaller or single serves. Easier said than done though!

Switching things up a little bit

I decided to get serious this week, and have written out my training program and meal plan for the week. I’ve got a pretty good memory, so usually I just plan it out in my head and go from there. I’ve found lately though, that I’m a bit wishy washy with things, so writing it down is setting it in stone, and giving me some real direction.

I’m also going to start keeping a training log. I’ve always sucked at this, so it’s going to be a huge challenge. I’m just looking for ways to keep myself accountable and focused.

I made a new playlist for the ipod. I have a few made up already, but I needed something fresh. Here’s my new list.

Comin home - Diddy

Feel the love - Rudimental

Sunshine - Matisyahu

Fuel - Metallica

Bring em out - T.I.

Troublemaker - Taio Cruz

Attitude - Alien Ant Farm

Message in a bottle - Matisyahu

No place to hide - Korn

Airplanes - B.O.B. (feat Hayley Williams)

Touch the sky - Kanye West (feat Lupe Fiasco)

Duality - Slipknot

On the way down - Ryan Cabrera

Breathe - Prodigy

Miracle - Matisyahu

Bounce - Calvin Harris (feat Kelis)

Don’t ask me why I’m sharing my playlist with you. I guess it’s interesting to see the kind of music people listen to. You probably won’t see too many peeps with a broader spectrum then me. Old school, new school……hip hop, metal, pop, techno. I don’t discriminate! (well, except for country, but there’s even some exceptions to this rule) As long as it’s got a good beat, I’m there. And yes, I love Matisyahu.

Recipe time - No bake protein bars

I haven’t posted a recipe in ages. Mainly because I haven’t found one I liked that met my 3 criteria of being fast, easy and tasty. I came across this one recently though, and have made it a couple of times, and they’re good. Most protein bars taste pretty bad because they are real chalky or they have that after taste you can get with artificial sweeteners. Plus, they usually cover them with a heap of chocolate to try and make them go down a bit easier.

That said, I do like protein bars though, because they’re very practical when you’re busy, and they offer you a break from the usual stuff you eat. Plus, it can be hard to get the protein you need to be eating without downing a lot of meat.

Anyway, here’s the recipe…….it came from Oxygen magazine (I think).

I used all the recommended ingredients, but also added about 1/3 cup of sultanas and about 1 tablespoon of chocolate coconut butter (cacao, no sugar). I’ve made them with and without the chocolate butter and they were fine either way. I just wanted to try something different today.

The recipe says it makes 6 serves, but I actually cut mine into about 10-12 serves. It still makes a good snack, it just doesn’t pack as many calories. I also keep them in a container in the freezer, and just pull them out one at a time and zap them for about 15 - 20 seconds in the microwave.

So if you’re looking for a quick snack idea, this is definitely worth a try.