The Evolution of The Blogger.

Well its been a few weeks since my last post and a lot has been happening. I have been giving the blog lots of thought lately and this post has been rolling around in my head for about a week. I've been wondering what to write about and annoying myself about the fact that I haven't posted as often as I initially hoped. I want the blog to be about more than just fitness and boxing and to be flexible enough to incorporate a few more threads that make up the tapestry of my life (pardon the clichéd metaphor)

So over the next few weeks I may update the blog a little and allow more things to weave their way in. I love food and fabrics and family and friends and fitness...oh and Franklin (go me with all the 'f's') so both the title and the layout may begin to evolve along with my posts when they occur. I want to enjoy this blog for longer than a few weeks and for it to be an easy and enjoyable thing to write rather than a struggle. Also there are a few people out there who I am sure would love to hear and see a little more of the things going on inside the lives of the Egobi Clan, rather than just those going on inside the ring.

On that note though, I am happy to report that my training is going really well. My calorie intake on the other hand quite possibly needs an overhaul (third glass of wine trickles down the throat...woops) but to be honest I don't care! I've managed to lose about a kilo (maybe) BUT my general fitness is coming along in leaps and bounds. Im skipping for longer periods and not tripping over the rope all the time, my joints and muscles don't ache as much and my flexibility and general stamina are returning. I'm still training with a few friends from my mothers group and they are reporting the same benefits and continue to be a great motivation!

So here is a little update on the rest of things this end at the moment, and for anyone reading this who feels lost and confused by any of this information please feel free to ask. Last night we had to take Franklins brother to the airport to return to Nigeria. It was a fairly sad moment as we had tried really hard to find a way to allow him to stay here in Australia permanently but alas it didn't happen.

 

From Left: Amina, Humphrey, Rehana and Franklin on The Giants Chair at Sky High in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne. 

I heard a story the other day about people who will pay in excess of $40,000+ to stay here in Australia and although immigration policies are a contentious issue around the world I felt a horrendous sense of defeat to hear that. It was a sense of defeat on so many levels, both personally and as a global citizen. After visiting Nigeria twice now I have a very real knowledge of the life that he is returning to and how much it hurts him to return.  The older I get (and I know I am still younger and more ignorant than many) the harder it gets to face the powerlessness I feel when I have to bash my head against bureaucratic brick walls (especially those of the Australian Immigration Department) over and over again. I understand the reasons why countries protect their borders and ironically Franklin is the first to stand up and argue that the Australian way of life needs to be protected at all costs. But is that because we've made any better decisions or are luckier than any other nation, or because the only way from here is down because the globe is spiraling out of control at such a rate that nations which are viewed as bastions of sanctuary in a world filled with chaos, corruption, pollution and disaster are becoming extinct faster than the Bengal Tiger? I would love to hear any thoughts on this issue, as being married to someone from another country, it is something that crosses my mind often and something that I face every time a letter from the immigration department arrives demanding that we pay this and fill out that.

Well that's my two cents for today, I'm signing off now. I hope that you have a good day or night and thanks for reading.

Jess

Staying on the fitness straight and narrow...

Its been a busy week. Not because of anything exciting but just those mundane tasks that seem to take over your life and leave you tired by the end of the day. There was braiding Rehana's hair, or picking Franklin up, making soup for a friend who just had a baby, a school information evening (Rehana's progressing to high school next year) and though this is not a craft based blog, I was taught a new knitting technique the other day and that has taken my mind away from the computer a little.

Never mind, I figure as long as I touch base every week to ensure I'm staying on the fitness straight and narrow then I'm happy and I did manage to fit in a few good training sessions. I'm still training with Franklin twice a week down at the gym and trying to fit in some walks on the other days.

This week I stuck to my plan to work out with friends and convinced a few of the girls from my mothers group to come down to train with me. It made things a lot easier as we all put the babies down and they kept themselves entertained pretty much for the whole hour...hallelujah! Both of the girls have some boxing experience and they were great to train with, hopefully if we can keep up the training Franklin might let us do some sparring in the future. We had a laugh and got through the hour and thankfully, Franklin managed to refrain from shouting too much for us to 'Shut up'

 

Ruth, Jess and Rosie.

HA! I feel like the odds are a little more in my favor against Frankenstein now!

 

Brian, the owner of the gym was on hand to keep the babies entertained.

 

Training with friends again was truly wonderful. Its been something I've really missed since moving from London back to Oz. I cant tell you how many times poor Franklin has had to pat me on the back and say 'Dhere dhere Jessica' as I moaned and lamented the loss of my training buddies (who refused to move to Australia with us!) LOL

But there is a definite camaraderie that is found in a boxing gym (and to be honest, probably most martial arts classes) and a sense of friendship and trust that comes from working hard and trying your best. Not everyone has the desire to do boxing training, everyone has their own preference for exercise, but for me, I'm a social fitness fanatic and getting out there with others helps my determination and enthusiasm for life in general. What motivates you to train hard?

Anyway that's all for me for today there's a ball of yarn and some needles with my name on them!

Jess

Renewed, thanks to the gym.

Well the weekend was quiet this end and I only managed a few walks in amongst cleaning and running Amina, Rehana and Franklin around. But we did get to an inter-club tournament for a few of Franklin's amateur boxers which was fun.  One of the women he trains had her first amateur fight and at just past 50 years of age it was great to see. Well done Jo.

I weighed myself on the Friday and was a little disappointed to have put on a kilo rather than having lost anything, but considering that I am just getting started again and had a topsy-turvy time, I'm not going to worry too much about that for the first few weeks and will just keep my eye on it.

Today I got back into the gym though and it was very cool. For some reason training in the gym with Franklin and taking a more measured pace really worked for me. My last few sessions were only half an hour and Franklin worked me hard so I was probably pushing myself too quickly, I think I'm more the tortoise rather than the hare. Today I took it slow and steady and had a good amount of time on the bags, which was great as my arms are still pretty strong from lugging my (currently 9kg) baby around so much!

 

Punching the bag.

Felt really good to let the arms fly around a bit and its such a HUGE stress relief.

If you've never tried it and have any pressures in your life I highly recommend you give it a go.

 

 

Ground work. Groan!



 

 

 

He looks down and laughs at me doing ground work!

Its VERY mean!

 

 

 

Amina with Franklin's trainer Brian,

had her first go at boxing on the floor to ceiling speed ball!

She's a natural.

 

Overall things were a bit easier today which was a relief and its helped me feel much more excited about going back in a day or so. I feel like I'm renewed in my passion for the sport and for getting fit. Last week everything felt so hard and so impossible. I even wondered if my body was too old...silly I know (and a few friends will frown when they read that and yell 'you're 33 you twat' at their computer) but the most ridiculous excuses fly when your looking for them!

Then I thought about a couple of my friends in the UK who are just a few years older than me and who are super fit. I trained with some amazing women while living in London for a few years and they all taught me a great amount about boxing, kick boxing and life. There is one person in particular who is an amazing mum, kick boxer and athlete in general, (she will know who she is when I mention that she was the first person to punch me in the nose during a sparring session and made my eyes water!) but she certainly is one of those people who has inspired me lately to keep going, safe in the knowledge that I can get back to where I was if I really want to because I know that she must have faced the same challenge.

Who is inspiring you to train? And what strategies are you using to inspire yourself? Many people hang their favorite 'far too tight' jeans up on the hanger in full view, some put pictures of when they were slimmer or fitter up on display and some, like me, let the whole world know about it to ensure that they have to keep going!

Jess xo

Mrs Grump vs Mr Patient

I had a bad day today. It wasn't anything serious but I started to do some light exercise and after about 10 minutes my body felt tired and weak. Not in any serious way, more of a no muscles, lazy, this is hard work and I could go and watch Southland way. But it got me down a bit.
The weather was so bad yesterday that we didn't get a chance to train, so this morning after walking Rehana to school, the sky was still clear and though Franklin was at work I decided to do some training myself. In the past I would easily complete light training or a 5k run without much thought at all, so it seemed like a no brainer.

I set myself up and had Amina chilling out near by playing, but after a good stretch and about 3 minutes of skipping she started to cry, so I had to take 5 and put her to bed. As I went out to keep going Franklin came back with a friend of ours and had a quick chat. All up this was enough to completely break my momentum. I tried to go back to skipping but my body felt cold and stiff. So I felt a bit lost and decided to do some sit ups. 100 crunches later (Hold the astonishment they most definitely hurt and were done in groups of 10!) I felt like I hadn't really done much at all but my muscles had decided that was enough and even a 200m light jog was received with protest from my legs.
Ergh! I was so frustrated. I used to train for 2 hours at times and although it was still hard I could will myself on, my body would comply and I'd do it, now I cant push myself at all (the muscles and fitness are just not there) and its a hard thing to face up to. But it also threw me into some quite negative thought patterns that I did not expect (but that we all are prone to I guess) and which can be really discouraging. Thoughts like "I cant do this.' 'Im so weak and beyond it now.' 'What's the point' 'Urg Im so fat and ugly, I should just go and eat a DONUT already!' lol
Franklin straight away knew how to handle the situation and he quickly reminded me that its been close to 2 years now since I trained properly and that I am going to have to take it slowly. But I had expected this sermon and had already been thinking and ignoring it from myself and it was the next part which was so important. He reminded me that at this stage I should (for the most part) be training with him and preferably with 1-2 other people.

Going it alone is hard work and that extra support to get through those initial slow weeks is really important. I gained some perspective from this and felt a lot better, determined to trust him and stay committed to our training sessions and to try some power walking on the off days to help with the weight loss and get my muscles working again.  I had put too much pressure on myself to complete things too quickly and it backfired. The older we get the more limitations that are placed on us by our bodies and we have to learn to respect that. Weight wont come off or go on straight away, muscles take work to develop and that stiffness in the bones and ligaments is something you have to work through. Though I have to admit I wont get there straight away, as long as I listen to my trainer and work the program I know I can get my body back on track. There is satisfaction to be gained when you do reach your exercise goals and that satisfaction comes for a reason, because getting there takes serious work.

So if you're feeling disgruntled with your training program, you didn't manage to run as far, or lift as much or you're struggling to get going, make sure you contact some people and get them to train with you, hopefully it will keep you as motivated as Franklin's determined to keep me!

Jess

Diet, its a dirty word to a foodie!

Its been really nice over the past week to get so many messages of support. Especially from people who I haven't seen in such a long time. I'm not, and probably never will be the most sociable Facebook user. I pop on every now and again and post here and there and like this and that but not prolifically as I find it a bit overwhelming at times. When my family suffered a personal tragedy a few years back, I found it really, really hard to even log on and look at what other people were up to, (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this experience) but I digress...so thank you to you guys for touching base.

Diet, its a dirty, dirty word! I dislike it with a passion. I know that many people would rather diet than exercise but here in boxercise town I'd rather exercise and eat heartily like the Botticelli I am! But even I cant exercise that much so here are a few of the changes I've made so far that will hopefully be enough to lighten my load.

• Upping the fruit, salad and vegies. A no brainer really but Im trying to increase my portion of salad and vegies at meal times and making it the bulk of my meals. This usually consists of whatever's in the fridge with a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper or a bit of dressing. I am having an apple a day but know I really need to add an extra fruit so that's my aim for tomorrow.
• A big bowl of porridge for breakfast with a splash of honey. (No more crumpets with peanut butter)
• Swapping full fat for lite.
• No white bread. I've cut out white bread and as much as I love it am avoiding the bakery abd all their donutty and pastry goodies like the plague!
• No sweetie darlings. I've cut out sugar and am avoiding soft drinks, chocolates and sweets but if the mood strikes me I will have a little something preferably a few corn crackers with honey or a few small chocolates or a cup cake.

So far these are my main changes. Not too many and not so strict that I'm going to beat myself up or restrict myself. I like to eat heartily at most meals and enjoy a bit of cheese in my salad or a handful of cashew nuts or a few chips. I guess the key is that I'm having a few rather than loads and I'm happy with that. If my body fat doesn't start to drop I will review my diet again. 

Since having Amina I have noticed a sharp decrease in my propensity to eat with my emotions. I don't really binge on sweets or savories anymore and feel more in control of my portion sizes and cravings. Emotional eating though is the bane of many people's lives and I don't know what the answer is (For me as a woman I would probably identify hormones as a contributing factor.) but I might try to find out by asking around and I'm sure I will touch on this again soon.

I've had a few messages over the past week from people who are in the same place as me, trying to get fit and lose weight and I hope that my blog and its little reminder in their newsfeed, inspires them to commit to do something towards this the next day. One friend in particular has had an extremely busy few years with work and, as a result has put on some weight (about 20kgs). Being really busy can completely annihilate your ability to eat well and exercise. So perhaps over the next few weeks I will try to come up with some suggestions for ways to deal with diet and exercise when you have what feels like ZERO time. I would love to hear any ideas from you guys? What do you do when your super busy? Do you have any suggestions for exercises you can do while sitting at a desk or during a lunch break? If you don't have time to post on the blog, a FB comment would be great.


Jess :)

I got the video up!

I hope the video comes through ok!

Jess

Sorry!

So sorry all, the video didn't load after all...will have to keep trying with it and hopefully get a video up soon.

Jess