Week 2: Overcoming Obstacles

My second week of the 12wbt was my week of 'overcoming obstacles'. Not major ones, but definitely ones that crop up every now and again, so I thought I'd share how I overcame them. Remember, just because you have a 'slip up' it doesn't mean you have to throw in the towel! 

Obstacle 1: Forgetting Lunch
Now I know what you're probably thinking. "Ahh, getting up late, forgetting to make lunch, not making time to prepare lunch before work". But no, I didn't forget to make it, on Thursday night I made up the salad, weighed out my hommus and falafel, put it all in containers, cut up my pita bread. I was so excited to eat that lunch! I LOVE falafel. But then I left that all sitting in my lunch bag on the kitchen bench.... and I didn't realise until I'd already arrived at work. Unfortunately it's too far to go back. Siiigh.  I was so annoyed at myself. The negative self talk started a little roar in my head "useless", "trying to fail", "what's the point", "all that time just wasted".  But I pushed it back out. I was determined to stop those stupid voices and dominate the rest of the day.

Now the old Alicia, the 21kg heavier Alicia would have taken this as a major set back and as an excuse to have fast food for lunch. But not this new Alicia, no way! 

I had to think of a back-up plan before the lunch time hunger hit! Because hungry Alicia + no food = eat anything in sight! There isn't a supermarket near my work, the only options are to go upstairs to the cafeteria (think chips, lasagne, fatty sandwiches) or go to a servo nearby. So I found this salad at the servo and a protein bar. I made a couple of modifications (threw out most of the cheese and one of the dressing sachets), and my lunch came to 343 cal.

Servo Salad & Protein Bar

Obstacle 2: Getting Sick
Yep, got the dreaded Flu over the weekend.  I thought I was doing so well, and them BAM it hit me like a tonne of bricks on Friday night.  On Saturday morning I still got up, made myself a healthy breakfast and started to feel a little bit better, so I dosed myself with Cold&Flu tablets to power through my Super Saturday Session with my friends at the park.  During the workout I felt pretty great, and my friend made us a yummy Mish salad for lunch afterwards, but by the time I got back home around 2pm, I was ready for bed. I just felt so weak. And (so unlike me) I had no appetite!

On Sunday morning I woke up ravenous, and usually when I'm sick I kind of give myself a 'free-for-all' pass to eat whatever I feel like. As if that will magically make me feel better. But this time I didn't! I stayed strong, and instead made myself some really yummy Protein Pancakes.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

Now this recipe I can share with you! This is from a lovely girl I follow on instagram, her name there is femmefitale, and she also has a blog: http://femmefitalefitness.wordpress.com/

Serves 2

I made a couple of adjustments, I added a ripe banana to the mix (just chuck all ingredients in a blender), and I used whey instead of casein protein, I'm sure any protein powder will work.  Then just cook over medium heat in a non-stick pan.  They cook quite quickly, so keep an eye on them! I served with half a fresh banana and natural yoghurt. So good, especially when I was feeling so yucky.

Come Monday definitely wasn't in a fit state to go to work, or do my Lean & Strong workout. I was devasted. I didn't want to hinder my progress! I still managed to go for a brisk 45min walk, which made me get some fresh air, and really lifted my spirits. So this week I'm starting a day behind (did Monday's workout yesterday), and I will move my Core & Flexibility workout to Sunday instead of having a rest day.

This is a break through for me, because today I'm feeling almost back to myself! Previously I wouldn't have taken the time to recover, I would have pushed myself to go to work, and to go to the gym, and I know I'd still be trying to fight off the flu.  But there is a VERY important lesson I've learnt: recovery is just as important as nutrition and exercise.  By putting my health first, I was able to recover quicker, and get back to the gym, instead of the flu lingering around like a bad smell for the next 10 days.

How did everyone go with Week 2? Did you too have to overcome some obstacles last week?

And how did you go today at Weigh in? I lost 0.2kg, so happy! That might sound like nothing, but this is AWESOME for me! My BMI is 23.5 and I'm back to my pre-holiday weight, woohoo! I am now the lightest I've been since mid-high school

12WBT: This is NOT diet food!

One of the pre-season tasks for 12WBT is to thinking about excuses...

One of my silly excuses is: "I'm too tired, I can't be bothered".  You know those days when you're alarm didn't go off, so you rushed to work without make-up on, and the traffic was horrible so you still arrived late, you're boss asked you where that performance report is, the phone won't stop ringing? Finally its hometime and things are looking to improve. so you hit the gym to relive your stress, only to find its so busy your workout takes much longer than usual, and after feeling like the WHOLE WORLD has been against you all day, you finally get home and think to yourself, "I'm too tired and I can't be bothered cooking, and then washing up!" Maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm sure you know the feeling?

In an attempt to pre-empt that excuse, and to take advantage of my current excited motivation and "no excuses" #beastmodeactivated mood, I decided to prepare some meals that I could freeze and just wack in the microwave when I'm feeling exhausted.

So I made my first 12WBT recipe! How exciting! I picked the yummiest sounding one that I already had most of the ingredients for - 'Mexican Style Shepard's Pie', and boy, this did NOT disappoint!  I had to triple check I hadn't read the recipe/quantities wrong it tastes so damn good!

This is not 'diet food' people!

I am so impressed! If all the recipes are this full of veggies and taste this amazing; I'm going to be so ripped in 12 weeks! Haha.