Every action has a reaction.....

WARNING - this blog contains stomach churning contents!!

When I'm out for a ride on Hannah it's really obvious that everything I do creates a change.  When I push slightly on the right handlebar, I'll turn right.  If I look to the left and shift my weight I'll start to turn left.  You get the picture.

Well yesterday I made the quick dash to the supermarket on the way home to get the ingredients to make one of my cool birthday cakes for my beautiful friend Emma who I had a date on the stairs with tonight.  All good, I made the cake and it turned out really nicely - However I licked the beater & the bowl......

My detox diet is all raw and no processed food, and the sugar in the cake mix, gave me an instant headache, there's the first reaction.  But wait for it - here's the stomach churning bit - the 2nd reaction was a lovely dose of diarrhea this morning!

Now the purpose of me sharing this with you is that sometimes we ignore those signs from our body, or make excuses - "oh I've picked up a bug"  when really it's our body sending us a message, that "Hey I really don't like what your putting in here!!"

So lesson learnt - thank you to my beautiful body for that awesome reminder - message received loud and clear!

Here we are at the end of our 1 hour session on the stairs!  Thanks Em for your awesome motivation!

Life is all about choices

Another awesome day today - back at the gym for a full on legs session this morning then a second session with my trainer at lunch time.

Had a HUGE achievement this arvo.  Was running late leaving work and had to stop at Woolies on my way home.  It was already 7pm and I was half an hour overdue for my next meal.....tummy grumbling and a supermarket full of chips, lollies, chocolates and a WHOLE lot of other stuff totally NOT part of my detox!

So proud because what I chose was to get myself some yummy salmon!  I'm supposed to be having fish and vegetables for dinner anyway - now i'll just have the veggies when I get home!

Tummy satisfied, shopping done and all without upsetting my detox!

It was a surprisingly easy choice to make too - and what I've realised is that when I'm following the road map (that I talked about yesterday) and just like when I'm on the Harley trying to decide which turn to take - it's really easy to make decisions, because the #1 criteria is - will this choice get me closer to or further away from my destination!

LUV my life.  

Ps - stay tuned for tomorrow - I stopped at Woolies to get the ingredients to bake a surprise for an amazing friend!  I'll be sure to share the results in tomorrow nights post.

The joys of having a map!

Today I did something that a week ago, or even 3 days ago, I would never have thought possible.

My King and I hit the gym at 5:30 this morning for our first full on workout - Shoulders and Abs!  An awesome workout that left my arms shaking!

I ate all my meals, really enjoyed them and felt great, then this arvo I started getting ready to hit the gym again for a cardio session.  3 things cropped up - I was late getting away from work, I forgot my hair ties and also my socks.

The old version of me from last week, would not have contemplated going to the gym twice in one day, and any one of those 3 things would previously have been enough to make me think twice about completing the first workout of the day let alone the 2nd!

So what's changed??  Finally with my health & fitness it's just like when I'm out on the bike, I'm focused on the destination and the journey that's going to get me there, one super exciting and positive step at a time.  I have a clear goal, and more importantly a detailed map that highlights all the service stations along the way!

So at the end of Day 3 - I'm totally pumped! - now time to get to into bed so I spring back out again when that alarm goes off at 5am!  It's legs tomorrow.

Check out my sweaty shoes - 45 mins in the gym with no socks - eeww!

Grateful

Day 2 on the road to body building journey and I'm still smiling!  Headed to the gym at 5:30am, then again at 12:30 for my first session with the trainer to get my official program!  WOW that pushed some buttons,  this really is taking training to a whole other level.

I thought that I would be hungry, but in actual fact I'm relying on my alarm to tell me when it's time to each again - 6 meals a day is full on!!

Most of all today thought I'm grateful -

1. For my awesome King (hubby) who presented me with this when I got home today
2. For strong muscles that powered through 3 training sessions today.
3. For amazing friends who have committed to walking dates and sent so many messages of support
4. For yummy fresh food that nourishes my body
5. For a workplace and boss that support the journey
6. For decent toilet for facilities (4 litres of water has to go somewhere!!)
7. For saying yes to me!

 91 days to go!!!

Time for a new journey

Soooo today I've started a new challenge - I've taken a giant leap out of my comfort zone and committed to competing in the 2013 NT All Female Classic Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness competition on the 29th of September here in Darwin. 
Today begins an amazing 92 days of diet and exercise like I've never done before.  Just like when I'm on the bike, it's all about what I focus on - So I've started today by setting my goal for the end.

I'll be blogging about my journey along the way - so follow along and share in this adventure with me!

Where is Your Focus?

I was out riding on Hannah (my harley) today and I hit a pot hole - no damage done, but I realised that I hit it because I was so busy focusing on the pot hole that I couldn't avoid it.  It's one of the first rules they teach you at riding school - focus on/look where you want to go. Look around the corner your turning, look up at the road not at your front tyre and it's soooooooo true, riding is much much smoother when I focus on where I want to be that's exactly where I end up :-)

By choosing to focus on the pothole I lost the ability to look at the whole situation and therefore see alternative routes around the pothole.

It's true that the same applies in life - what we focus on expands.
At work I can choose to focus on the fact that I don't like the way my desk faces and that I can't see out a window and how much I hate it and become increasingly miserable everyday and everyday finding something else I don't like about being where I am.
OR
I can choose to focus on the opportunity to increase the amount of time I spend away from the office, either out visiting clients or asking for the opportunity to work from home.

Previously I had chosen to focus on the fact that my King never put his dishes in the dishwasher, over time this festered to the point that when I got home from work I would immediately start looking for things he hadn't done, by focusing on the negative I kept finding more and more negative and I started to think I didn't love him any more (extreme I know)

Now I choose to focus on the things I love about my King - his awesome mash potato, the fact that he hangs the washing out for me, his big bear hugs, how he makes sure our puppy dogs get walked and bathed, the list goes on and on.  By focusing on the positive I'm happier and he's happier (he even puts his dishes in the dishwasher!!)

Focusing on where you want to be and what you want doesn't have to be the domain of the vision board or your journal, it can be part of every day.

Looking for love? - focus on what you do want in a partner
Trying to find your dream home? - focus on what you do want in that home
Kids driving you mad? - focus on what you do want from them
Work making you depressed? - focus on what you do want.
Always get crappy traffic on the way to work? - focus on having a smooth effortless journey to work


You'll be amazaed at the opportunities that present themselves when your putting your energy into getting what you do want instead of stressing about what you don't :-)

PS - Did you know that your subconscious can't hear the word don't - so when you are thinking or saying I don't want a ..........  your subconscious hears I want a ..............

Trust the voice in your head, it's usually right

We've all got one, you might call it your sixth sense, the angel on your shoulder or the little voice in your head. You know the one I'm talking about, the one that tells you not to walk down that street, to take a different route to work or not to do business with someone. Some of you might think you haven't got one or that it's very quiet, the truth is though, we don't always listen to our little voice.

Last weekend I got reminded why i should listen!

I was heading out on an overnight ride with a group of the HOGs. The destination was a 2 hr ride about 180kms away. When I ride I like to cruise along usually around 110kph, mostly because I'm not out on the road for speed, I like to relax and enjoy the ride, taking in my surroundings as I go. I can go faster but its a lot harder work on your body, the extra wind speed pushes you around more and you have a lot less reaction time to deal with things, I've only been riding for a few years and super fast just isn't my cup of tea.

When we are in a group we tend to push a bit harder, most of the time I hang back and do my own thing - (listening to my voice) and riding within my own limits, but last weekend I got sucked into pushing a lot harder than I normally would. I was very aware my little voice was saying something but chose to ignore it.

With about 40ks to go and after a short stop (where self and I had a little argument about pushing past my limit), we continued on, this time off the main highway on a road that was less than perfect! Our speed slowed, but on the windy bumpy road I was still pushing past my own ability trying to keep up with the pack, all the while still ignoring the voice that was getting more & more persistent.

Then in the middle of giving myself a mental slap it happened, I entered a sweeping bend going to fast, I slowed but hit a bump in the road, and that was it, I missed the bend and ran straight off the road into a ditch!

The whole thing happened in about 2 seconds, and I was cursing the whole way down "what were you thinking PJ, you should have listened!"

Luckily I'm fine and so is Hannah. A bit dustier than we were at the start of the experience, but no scratches, dints or broken bits. But it got me thinking, about that little voice, she had been telling me for more than an hour that I was pushing to hard and that I needed to back off, but for some reason on that day I decided I knew better than she did! Luckily for me the universe was kind with the consequences this time, and I'm still here to tell the tale!

So this week take a moment to pay attention to the voices in your head:
Do you need to slow down or take a different route?
Do you need to go to bed early?
Do you need to choose the healthy option?
Do you need to ring that friend or relative you haven't spoken to in ages but suddenly find yourself thinking about?

Ride safe
Pj

The bend where I came unstuck!



The spot where Hannah and I stopped!