I'm back!

It has been awhile since I last posted. I have been dealing with some life challenges that resulted in a few 'bathroom floor' moments - those of you who have read Elizabeth Gilberts amazing book, Eat Pray Love will know what I mean! I am back now and feeling grateful for these experiences as they have taught me much and made me a stronger person. I didn't finish the last TT challenge. I tried but just didn't have it in me.

I am really looking forward to the next few months. The most exciting news of all is that the Turbulence Training Transformation Challenge III starts in one week! I will post a link to the official information page when it is available. I have spent the last week preparing for it and will spend the next week doing the same.

The injury to my sacroiliac joint has improved to the point where I can carryout pretty much any exercise but I just have to be careful as certain things do seem to aggravate it. I am recovering from a bout of the flu, something which I would rather not have happened but I am so thankful it happened when it did. I took a couple of days off work and, because I was feeling a bit run down asked my new employer if I could have the rest of the week off. He said YES! I am so thankful to him for allowing me this time. I think my body is still fighting the flu a little but other than that am in a really good place!

Some of the things I have been working on in preparation for the next challenge include:

Nutrition

For some reason I hit a wall on this one. I had the best part of a week to consider and put together a plan but for some reason kept putting it off. The thing that was keeping me 'stuck' was having to plan my meals. It always seems to take way longer to do than I think it will. I find it a challenge trying to think of meals that are quick and easy to make during the week, that limit waste by incorporating existing food I have in the fridge/freezer and that provide variety without wasting food (if a meal has for example pumpkin in it, several more meals really need pumpkin as well to use the pumpkin up). Probably the most difficult meals to plan are breakfasts and lunches during the week as I have minimal time to prepare breakfast in the morning and usually only enough time to quickly heat something at work during lunch.

Anyway, as it turned out, procrastinating on this area of my planning was a good thing - when I finally made myself sit down to do my meal plan there in my inbox was an email from Craig Ballantyne telling us about a great nutrition program called The Diet Solution. It didn't solve all my problems (still have to do a bit of planning) but it did provide a nice, simple and effective approach to nutrition for me. I am going to base my nutrition plan around The Diet Solution program, adapting it where necessary to fit into my lifestyle and availability of ingredients.

What TT program to start with???

Hmm. This one I have not totally decided on yet. So many to choose from! I am fairly certain that I am going to start with TT Beginners to help build up some strength and avoid further injury to my back. Plenty of time in the future to sample all the other great programs Craig has developed.

My goals

I will put some thought into those over the next week and provide a summary of the goals relevant to the TT Challenge on my start date. I will be using the The Magic 100 goal setting system to plan and achieve my goals.

Other stuff I have been doing in preparation for the next challenge

I removed alcohol from my lifestyle a couple of weeks ago and have gradually been removing 'cheat' food from my diet and introducing more fruit and vegetables. I had intended upping my exercise a little more but that didn't happen due to catching the flu. I have managed to fit in a couple of walks, a walk/jog and a short yoga session. I have also been tidying and sorting things at home to remove some 'clutter' and help give me the sense of a 'fresh start' for the next challenge. Today I gave myself a home beauty treatment with face masks, hair treatments and a manicure. It is amazing how invigorated and motivated something as simple as this can make you feel! I have also been reading and listening to a variety of inspirational material, including a little treasure I came across in Amazon called The First 30 Days: Your Guide to Any Change (and Loving Your Life More).

Probably one of my biggest decisions is deciding on how often I am going to post comments in my blog and in the TT members forum. My ultimate goal is to reduce my weight, increase my fitness and achieve balance in my life. I spend most of my working hours sitting at a computer so I really want to keep time spent on a computer outside work to a minimum. I also would really like to keep this blog going as well as post regularly on the TT members forum. I am probably looking at committing to posting at least weekly in each, more if I have time.

So there it is. That is what I have been up to lately. The one thing I am really determined about is that by the time I reach the end of the year and our New Zealand summer holiday period I am going to have the best possible body I can in the timeframe available to me.