Day 63 - I’ve Been Running - Honest!

I have been duly chastised by my son that I haven’t been posting. And he’s right. It’s been a week since I last checked in and it’s been a weird week.

Last Monday was a public holiday in my home city of Perth but the rest of Australia has a public holiday today, 9 June. And I’m in Melbourne, have been since Wednesday. It was all a bit of a rush to get over here and spend some time in our eastern state’s offices but it has been good here in Melbourne. I like Melbourne a lot. Very cosmopolitan, wide streets, good shopping and the restaruant scene is awesome. Tonight I fly to Sydney which I don’t mind but just don’t have the same affection for it as Melbourne.

In fact if you asked me what I don’t like about Sydney I’d have to respond by saying there’s nothing I don’t like. Maybe i just don’t “get” Sydney. Anyway, off that and onto the purpose of this blog.

Wednesday through Friday I didn’t run at all and I did eat well! So I’d suggest a step on the scales isn’t going to be a good experience. A couple of good meals, ice cream (chocolate chilli ice cream from trampolines!) and then 3 beers (organic, does that help?) and I think I’m on the way up in terms of weight.

Admittedly breakfasts came in the form of oats so I think I had a good start to the day - but not what Jenny Craig would call a good start.

So, Saturday and Sunday were run days and I expect to have a run tonight (Monday) once I get into Sydney.

Saturday ended up being probably no more than a 3km at the most though I kept up a good pace.

Sunday was more of the 6km variety along St Kilda Road up to the War Memorial. This was a stop and start affair due to traffic as well as a bit of fatigue. All in all it took an hour.

Today and the rest of my work trip needs to be more conservative in terms of food. I’ve had to do Lygon St twice (Carlton one in the AFL and I had to celebrate) while here and even though the food has been great I am sure the calories have been greater.

While I only travel for work every three months or so, this experience has taught me to plan more and more for a healthy lifestyle. The following are errors of judgement (I am allowed to judge myself )

1. processed sugar - as a I love coffee and will have between 3 - 5 (or more) cups a day, adding processed sugar is an absolute no-no. I have forgotten to take my sweeteners with me each day and have resorted to the unhealthy kind. Ouch! While this may seem small I am sure it hadds up.

2. Read the labels - I stopped in at Starbucks for a drink but didn’t really want coffee so i went for one of those fruit drinks with mineral water - Pink Grapfruit. Now, AFTER I opened it I decided to read the label, just so I coud pat myself on the back for making such a good choice. 34g of sugar later!!! OMG! I still drank it!

3. Mental, mental, mental - when I visited Lygon St (twice) I actually decided not to follow the rules! Entree, main, alcohol, dessert. I am waiting for my “just desserts” on the scale! But the key is really mental. I didn’t need to eat as I did. From now on it is entree sized main and one drink (coffee OR alcohol)

4. Walk or run every day - while I’ve only run twice I have walked a lot. I walked to Lygon Street both times (around 2.5 kmn round trip) and also walked out to Fitzroy (probably 4km), so there is some saving grace.

One thing I’ve learnt:

Wear a pedometer or something to measure you paces. I have walked a LOT around Melbourne this weekend but really have no idea how far. A pedometer ($20?) or something to help you gauge distances might be helpful. I was going to buy a pedometer but we have at leats 5 at home so I thought better of it.

So, I must redoule my efforts to:

• think about what I eat
• watch what I eat
• ensure I exercise everyday
• and plan to be able to achieve the above 3 points

Until next time …

Tagged as: Diet, Exercise, food, planning, travel