Oh my darlin' oh my darlin'... oh my darlin Clementine....

You are lost and gone forever, kilo number sixty nine.....!

(you'll just have to imagine me singing that for the full effect - I have a wonderful* singing voice.)

First skidded into this range last week and have held the loss this week (i.e. didn't lose any more this week meh). That is most likely due to a few too many 'revenge' pancake shots at the pub.... oh dear took the me time the wrong way I think!

Never mind, moving onwards and, well, um, downwards I hope! In honour of kilo 69 aka Clementine, I have decided to pick two songs.... because this is my blog and I can Ha!

and this classic

Now that's the 60's baby yeah!!!

* 'wonderful' - of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing. i.e. not necessarily good.
I have a voice that would best be compared to an old, toothless, homeless African American gentleman with a dubious relationship with straight whisky. Perfect for the blues then.

Blahblahblah

Oh dear....

It's one of those days and I'm afraid this is one of those posts -

You know the ones.... it's a RANT baby and there is nothing I can do to stop it.... (well there probably is, but I won't) I know you don't want to read it but I have to have a whinge somewhere so here it is.

I've got a case of the sads :-(  Feel as if I'm surrounded by a lot of people who have a lot of problems / issues / hang ups and that I'm stuck in the middle of it expected to be nice about it and give them lots of love.



Edvard Munch; The Scream; 1893



And I do love them. And I care. But right now I really just wish they'd all F off somewhere, because I'm tired, I have nothing left and I am left quite literally screaming inside in an effort to maintain the calm exterior.

A lot of this is my fault - like everyone the person I am is made up of all different traits, some good, some bad, some ugly and some just somewhere in the middle. One of my (possibly?) best traits is that I am (usually) a nice person, I see both sides of the story and I'm caring. Or another way of seeing this is (and I'm quoting actual comments here lol) that I'm a door mat & a fence sitter.

Which is about right - seeing everyone's point of view and being understanding often means that I get really good of not saying what I think or pushing what I want to do.

Which is where I am now.

Well there you have it - Rant over! Definitely time for a bit of ME time and standing up for myself I think.

Reaching for the oxygen mask so I can help others - Have a good weekend peeps :-)

I'm livin' in the 70's (no more!)

Weigh in Wednesday and Huzzah have now made it out of the 70's!

Hit it in at 69 so went searching for the perfect tune from 1970 to farewell that century - so many to choose from but can't go past this beauty...

what a riff...

what an awesome song...

what a name! Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky:

Strength

I've blogged previously about my 'Inspiration Board' of Inspiring Women, and the characters they possess(ed) that I inspire to.

It's no big secret, I've been bragging enough lately! that my journey's going great guns - the weights coming off, I'm running again and getting faster and stronger.

But in amongst all that success I've had some hard times - we have recently farewelled Ned Kelly's grandfather and had some not so nice personal family issues. Which leads me to contemplate a characteristic that all women have and need, Strength.

We draw on our reserves of physical & emotional strength to get us through the tough times and in the process often surprise ourselves with just how strong we are - just like my inspirational Strength role model Katrina Robertson.

Odds are on that you've never heard of her which is a pity, because like a lot of lesser known athletes, (i.e. non televised sports lol) especially women, she is a superstar who has represented Australia and has broken numerous records.

To diverge a little here.... know of the Southern Stars? Matildas? Elysse Perry - any idea which sport she plays? (I didn't until I went looking for awesome women sportstars!)

Try both representative Soccer & Cricket - freakin' superstar, and yet gets a lot less media attention that our not so inspiring men's representative sides....

But back to Katrina - as a young woman she broke both legs in a motorcycle and was told she would never walk again. Sports mad Katrina drew on her other strengths, successfuly studying psychology and opening her own private practice.

But fast forward a few years, and feeling something was missing, she went against medical advise and started training to complete in a Master's Games in discus, shot put, hammer throw and weight pentathlon.

After cleaing up in those event's Katrina took on the world of powerlifting, breaking the Australian deadlift record (202.5kg) in her first competition.

LEGEND!

Katrina has broken numerous records and has been dubbed 'the strongest woman in the world'. She's retired from the sport and these days is busy helping others find their strength in her professional psychology role.

I was lucky enough to hear her speak at an International Women's Day event a couple of years ago, and was immediately struck by her intelligence, resilience and strength. A truly inspirational woman.

Stay Strong!

Read more about Katrina here:  http://nprsr.qld.gov.au/get-active/pdf/women-girls/katrina-robertson.pdf 

Grief & In-Laws

Hoping that the title hasn't misled - this post is not about the In-Laws giving me grief!

I've been quiet this last week, and unfortunately not because I've been kidnapped by Brad Pitt to an exotic locale sans internet connection....

We had the sad news that Ned Kelly's (aka the husband's) Pop had passed away so spent the last week journeying to Sydney to celebrate & commemorate an important person in our family's life.

Pop had had a brilliant, long & healthy life, something I inspire too, but the years have taken a toll and just recently his body has slipped into the rapid decline of old age.

I'd like to take a moment to salute an amazing fella with strong family values, who served our country on the Kokoda trail and raised a beautiful family that I am proud to be a part of.

It's of family I'd like to talk about - not the family you are born into, but the family you choose - the family of the person you choose to commit your life to.

I wasn't lucky enough to be alive to meet and know my own grandparents - my maternal grandfather was the last to pass when I was 7. Lucky for me my first, and one of my fondest memories is that of being bounced on his knee as a 6 month old - one of the few times I met him. I guess our minds must recognise the important moments....

So I am lucky that I got to adopt a pop - Jack (senior, a great honour to go for double brownie points naming my son not only after him but after my father Jack as well).

In all the years I knew him I think I witnessed him down maybe 2 glasses of water and a handful of cuppas - the rest of his hydration came from VB! He lived in central Parramatta for many years and was a founding member of the leagues club there; when his wife passed several years ago he maintained the tradition of remembering not only the grandchildren's birthdays, but the great-grandkids as well, including my three. We love you Pop, and are proud to be your family.

I was fortunate for many years to escape the lesson of death, but when it came it was hard and sudden.

My husband's brother, who was the same age as I, was killed tragically and accidentally.

Since then I've buried my father, and most recently our Pop; but these were nothing compared hard hitting emotion of having to say farewell to a person that should still be here.

During that experience I learnt as well that it hurts, not as much, but nearly as much as it being your own family member - remember that this is not just a person you were born to be the family member. You chose to be involved.

I tried hard to be the rock and anchor to support my husband, my children, and my chosen family. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

Brett just wasn't an in-law, but a brother too.

I still miss him, and still love him.

And so I knew how my sister and brother-in-laws felt when we buried Dad. Even more I appreciated their sacrifice and courage in sacrificing their grief to support their partners. The 'Aunties' descended like angels with cuddles and food, hours spent baking, peeling & pouring to facilitate the outpouring of grief.

At Pop's farewell I saw the same - the wives of the four sons holding their husband's hands; wiping their children's tears; putting their love into comforting embraces and warm dishes.

I hope they've made sure they got their moment alone to cry and mourn, because I know they miss their 'in-laws' as much as they would their own blood kin, just as keenly as I miss my brother (inlaw)  Brett.

IN MEMORY OF BRETT, JACK, & JACK.

Have a beer together in heaven for me.

Commemorating the weight that's been

In celebration of reaching the healthy weight range - BOO YEAH!! I am commemorating the kilos that have fallen, never to rise again.

Adieu fat arse, for we shall not meet again; Adios back flaps, as I won't be needing you anymore.

Let's count them down - from my heaviest at 82kilos at the start of 2012; to my current (healthy weight range - yeah I need to mention that again!) 70.5 - with a tribute song from the corresponding year.

82: (ahh the 80's): 'Down Under' from Men at Work - chosen for their rockin' flute solo.

81: 'Start Me Up' The Rolling Stones... 'cause I was just getting started!

80: Great year this one - number one in the Aussie charts the day I was born: 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' Queen

79: 'I Will Survive' Gloria Gaynor (where are my flares & platforms - fetch me my drag queen outfit!)

78: 'Love is in the Air' John Paul Young - One of my favourites, and the second song we danced to at our wedding (the first was Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing). Love you Ned Kelly

77: 'I go to Rio' Peter Allen .... can't go past those maraccas...

Stuck around the 77 for nearly 12 months before launching into the Mishy Mishion, startin here again at 78... and down we go, into the lower 70's

76: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Queen (again) ahh the memories... headbanging in the back of a Barina.

75: 'Ego is not a Dirty Word' Skyhooks - because damn straight I'm proud of myself!

74: 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' Elton John.

73: 'I Am Woman' Helen Reddy RRRRRRROOOAARRRR ... closely followed by 'Angie' The Rolling Stones... because my sister Angie is awesome

72: 'Most People I Know Think That I'm Crazy' The Aztecs. Enough said really

71: 'Eagle Rock' Daddy Cool - hey hey hey...

To Be Continued..... Looking forward to farewelling the 70's and getting my flower power on!

Now I'm off to create a playlist I think!

Da doo ra run run da do run run

 

We were asked during the preseason for the Mishy Mishion http://www.12wbt.com/ to make a committment - a commitment to ourselves & the program....

What drives me? What do Iwant out completing the program? What do I want out of life?

Simply put I want to be Healthy for Life - I can't say for sure what happens after we kick the old bucket, but I do know that whatever is in store I'm only going to get one chance at this life, so I better give it all I've got, and enjoy all that life has to give me.

My Commitment:

I commit to looking after the vessel I've been given to live in order to be able to be as active for as long as possible (80, 90, 100 + years!) and to have all the adventures.

I commit to listening to myself and doing what I want and need to do.

 


I commit to trusting myself to make the right decisions.

I commit to losing the excess weight that slows me down so I can run like I want to.

I commit to being as mindful in what I eat & drink as what I am in what I say & do.

 

This week I'm having a big win with commitment number 4. I discovered running about 7 or 8 years ago, and gleefully ran nearly every morning since. Not big distances, maybe 3k or so, but I've always loved the sensation of wind through my hair... ok might be getting a bit carried away there as I'm certainly not that fast either!

 

But after 18mths of a sedentry job, a shoulder injury & too much booze.... well the running has gone from something joyous and free to down right painful.

 

In somewhat of a bad cycle I'd run happily but 'stodgily' for a week, then bam... there goes the shin splints / knee joint / foot. Not hard to pinpoint why - carrying too much load on the old pins!

 

So I got real & got ready. I stopped running & started planning - work on losing some of the weight; work on strengthening & flexibility then add small, sustainable runs increasing over time to up the mileage.

 

And HUZZAH! After only 4 weeks my first proper run of 3kms felt even better then the runs of old; no pressure, no pain, just freedom. By the time I finished I was just about crying in joy!

 

Then yesterday the 4week fitness test - and 26 seconds off my 1km trial. BOO YEAH!!!

 

Those of you who haven't yet found running (hehe) probably think I'm a nutter.... runners generally are I believe :-)

 

So what's next? Don't worry, I've got that covered too.... I'll keep increasing the runs just as planned & listening to my body, and after a good 12 months I'ma gonna turn into an even bigger nutter. That's right.... marathon running here I come  

 

 

 

Inspiring women

Each week on the Mishy Mishion we're tasked with a 'weekly challenge'. Last week was the Push Up Challenge (from hell) - 300 down and done oh yeah.... This week it's the step-up challenge.... probably less said about that the better (but there's still tomorrow to go, so you never know!).

BUT my favourite so far was Week 1's Inspiration Board challenge.

I looked forward to checking out everyone's boards, but (and this sounds delightfully snooty) was a little disappointed. I totally get why we want to look hot, and pictures of god damn gorgeously sexy women abounded.... but seriously, don't we want more than a nice arse? I found myself thinking - is this the sum of our ambitions as women?

FUCK NO.

I've got an articulate, beautiful, intelligent & slightly off the wall 15 year old daughter - what kind of role models, nay, what kind of woman do I dream she will become?

What kind of woman do I inspire to be?

I can tell you right now that I don't dream that she'll have a nice ass. And mine.... well it's already smoking so.....

I thought long and hard & ignored Mish's edict to go to bed early as I pulled together my inspiration board of INSPIRING WOMEN.

They're not all angels. Hell some of them were or are down right bitches. But each has a quality that I admire, that something that I want in myself - and for our next generation of strong, confident & inspirational women.

Some of these you will know straight away and some you're yet to meet - I'll introduce them to you one by one as I go through this journey, as I pull from those strengths that I admire in each of them.

Love

Character

Independance

Sacrifice

Belief

Intelligence

Passion

Strength

Righteousness

Resolve

Power

Aiming for the best version of myself - inside & out.

Beating a dead horse

Good morning Possums!

Well the arms are functioning once again... sort of!

This week has got me thinking & reflecting - scary but true.

I've noticed a lot lately  - in the forums on the Mishy Mishion website, in the office, amongst friends - that a lot of people are their worst enemies; and I'm not exempt!

We spend a lot of time berating ourselves for our own perceived shortcomings & failings - we didn't exercise this morning, we shouldn't have eaten that, why did I do that, what did I say that for - and let's be honest, we can be pretty damn MEAN to ourselves.

 

 

The good thing is I believe that this is 100% up to us to change - not the media, not society, not a self help book; despite any outside influence it comes down to what's in us, because at the end of the day we are in charge of how we treat ourselves.

 

Be nice to yourself - so I didn't do as well as I'd like.... this time! To quote Thomas Edison -

 

"I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

 

You are your own best cheer squad - let's stop beating ourselves up and just continue on being awesome!

 

 

 



Pushing Uphill

Pushing uphill

As part of the Mish Mission we've been challenged to complete 300 pushups this week - i.e. by tomorrow evening.

Now, I'm incredibly proud of the fact that I can do a full big person pushup on my toes and all, having put myself to the task of learning to do this last year. So my pride took a bit of a battering when Ned Kelly critiqued* my technique this afternoon.

Fortunately for me I have chosen to ignore his mockery and put it down to the fact that he has so far only completed a paltry 70 to my 120.

Doing the math you'll see I still have a lot of work to do and I can tell you it ain't happening tonight, so tomorrow not only will I be completing the  SSS I will be smashing out 180 pushups and dragging my sorry arse around the golf course at junior golf**

Wish me luck, lovely readers. I may update tomorrow. IF I can move my arms that is.....

*bagged the shit out of

** because I thought that golf would be much easier than driving all over the place each Saturday to do football. I was wrong.

Soooo... I'm writing a blog!

Firstly, I'm writing for myself, to retain some of those memories that tend to dribble out one's ears as one gets on a bit....

Secondly, I am writing to record my journey through life; inspired by the 12wbt https://www.12wbt.com/ that I am on (to get fit & lose weight) and hopefully stay healthy for a long time to support my goal of staying active and have ALL of the adventures long into the sunset years.

And also, if I'm ever brave enough to share the link, for readers who happen across my 'interior speculating' - I hope you find this amusing, interesting and a nice stop on your online browsing.

So, a few rules for myself re. Blogging:

1. Thou shalt not blog while drunk.  

A no brainer this one - we've all said stuff when we're a bit pissy that we really would rather didn't come out - last thing we want is for that to be eternally scribed on the internet for all and sundry. eeeek. Don't do this Mary!

2. Thou shall not get toooooo D&M.

Ok, a little sharing is great - blogging about your marital exploits / latest bodily functions.... no-one wants to know, especially me if I'm rereading old posts.

3. Thou shall share weird arse anecdotes of the insane children that you have bred.

Hopefully one day these can be collated into a best selling novel to help you bail out son 2 from jail (see below introductions).

4. Thou shall be honest - don't bullshit.


OK, housekeeping out of the way, time for introductions for the main players in the stage show which is Mazzarrattaz -

Ned Kelly - aka the husband:

Obviously not real name.... or picture. BUT he does share a canny resemblence minus some hair on top... hahahaha
Also not involved with any holding up of stages / standoffs in pubs (unless it's over last drinks) or any tendency to wear metal overcoats.....

The Children:

 A cast of players, responsible for exasperation, tears & general hilarity..... yes this does include the dog.

The divine Miss Em - responsible for such utterances as.... 'oh when I'm famous I'll have people to do that for me'. Will soak oneself in bath with lotions and potions for hours then happily waltz off down street with no deoderant and hairy legs... I've done well.

Rusty - a very pretty dog. Not a lot of mental power. Fantastic training partner (you will run...) probably bi-sexual. He's a lover, not a fighter, but has been known to start dustups with German Shepherds. Like I said, not a lot of mental power....

Jack - he's looking unimpressed here because he has to pose with brother & sister - not cool  man.... is 13and typical. Suffers from OCD & attitude. Can cook a mean steak and wants to be a chef. I currently enlist him as slave labour  let him cook for me.

Quick Mick aka Captain Underpants aka the sock ninja - best way to sum Michael up is to relate a little incident. He had a little money box with a toy padlock to keep it closed, but lost the key. He proudly came to me as he had unlocked said money box with a paper clip- - 'Now' (he proudly stated).. 'I can rob a bank!'.... I suggested that he may need more than a paper clip. He thought about it.... 'I might need a grenade.'. 
Anything Michael does happens at Michael pace... I know you know someone like that.....

Also central to my adventures are my extended family.... and there are a lot of them - I'm the youngest of 8 catholic breeders..... but luckily I get to live in the same town as my next oldest sibling Captain A - I'll dig out photos soon to show you how amazing she is... following the Michelle Bridges Program she's dropped over 40 kilos and discovered that running is fun! But more on her later.....

Happy Reading -

Love, Mazzarrattaz!