17 November 2009

Body blows



Hi readers
So, after our holiday week Spud and I have decided to trim some kilos and have started on the Women's Weekly 21-Day Wonder Diet.  After my first three days on it, I was beginning to think the "wonder" relates to whether or not you can actually survive three weeks - I was STARVING and actually shaking and feeling really weak.  It was quite a surprise to me that I could feel so bad, so quickly.  The diet is pretty intense in that we are eating only about 1000 calories a day so we are constantly famished.  For the first time in my life, I did not want to share my apple or my grapes.  They are too precious!  It is really making me think about what it must be like for people who really DO have a limited supply of food. I know I say I am restricted but really, if I wanted to, I can just open the 'fridge door and help myself.  What happens to people who have nothing else?  Not only did I notice my reluctance to share but I became extra crabby and irritable.  And wastage.  There is none.  Not when I know that this salad or that carrot stick is IT for the next three hours.  I even ate peas the other night in a desperate attempt to get as much into my stomach as possible.   I know, I know, that my example is not a tiny single patch of what it really must be like for the millions of starving people in the world, but it certainly has highlighted how lucky I am and made me think more about hunger.  Along that line, check out this website that I like to visit - Free Rice.  It's run by the World Food Program and it's a word quiz.  
Much to my consternation was the weakness I felt just one day before my huge uphill 10.5 km Mt Cootha run on Sunday morning (the Mousdash).  I could hardly walk the dog on Saturday afternoon I felt so jellyish.  However, a big plate of home made pasta with broad beans, ricotta and mint for dinner and half a bowl of basmati rice for breakfast made a HUGE difference.  Again, I am amazed at the efficacy of different foods to increase your energy levels.  As a result, I ran all the way up, up, up and only stopped after about 7kms when I was completely and utterly stuffed.  The run back downhill was almost as bad. My legs/hips/knees/ankles/feet were copping a major pounding as I ran back down the other side for about 1.5kms and my thighs felt like rocks.  Oh this getting fit (and staying fit) is fun, fun, fun!  It is!!  Of course, as you can imagine, I was completely crippled on Monday morning but I am so glad I did it!  I will not rant on about it any more but I get so excited when I set myself a challenge and do it really well (in my own mind anyway).







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