Since starting back at work it’s been nothing short of crazy busy. The new year’s always an extremely busy time of year for us but throw in a natural disaster and that just takes it to a whole other level. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.
We’re not only having to deal with our daily work but also all things flood relief. So on the whole we’ve all been working extremely long hours and for some that’s also been inclusive of weekends. Because of our location and resources we’ve been heavily utilised so we’re all having to pitch in and do the very best we can do to help those most in need.
What does this mean for me, it’s means juggling a whole bunch of things all at the same time. We can’t plan ahead at this stage so we’re taking things one day at a time. But life’s like that isn’t it, predictable one moment unpredictable the next.
My nutrition and training has been pretty good all things considered and I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got. By that I mean, due to the floods getting to work and gym wasn’t always an option available to me. Then there’s the nutrition. Our normal eating facilities at work had also been effected. If you wanted anything to eat or drink you had to bring it in with you. That wasn’t an issue for me but what’s available unfortunately was. Fresh foods have decreased as has the quality of them. Not much can be done about that as so many of our food resources were flood effected and now everything’s being imported into Queensland.
But we do the best that we can, with what we’ve got and hope for the best at the end of each day. I have nothing to complain about in comparison to those who have lost everything. So I continue to soldier on toward my health and fitness goals and make the best of this bad situation.
Here’s a photo I took this morning whilst trying to see what roads were still open and what resources were still available to us in preparation for the Bremer River peaking today.
This is day two of the Ipswich Floods for us. We’re completely isolated from work and everything else. Myself, hubby, a girlfriend from work and our three furbabies are safe and sound. Our home’s not flood effected so we’re counting our blessings. We have vehicles fuelled, food, water and electricity.
We’re all pretty tired though as we didn’t sleep so great last night. Our housing estate is situated right next to a creek and bushland. Thankfully though, that hasn’t been a threat to us and it doesn’t appear to be in the near future. But after seeing what’s happened here in SE Queensland in the last 24-48hrs I’m not taking anything for granted. Better to be safe than sorry. We’ll probably head out again later to check the levels so we can gauge how it’s going to effect us.
We’ve lost all mobile phone coverage, but that’s not so important other than for work and communication with family and friends. So in lieu of this I’ve had to temporarily re-activate my facebook account so I can keep in touch with everyone. That and I also have friends who are flood effected I’d like to keep tabs on until the worst of it’s over which won’t be until the next day or two.
We’re going to be hurting for quite some time following these floods. Simple things like grocery shopping isn’t going to be easy due to damaged roads and then limited stock. I have no idea what to expect next and just like you, we’re watching the news and checking online for updates as to what’s happening.
Once we’re back at work though the three of us are all hoping that we’ll be put to good use in the clean up to help out those less fortunate around us. All things considered we’re considerably lucky, it could’ve been much much worse for us.
Chilli’s been my walking partner of choice for the past year now. He loves his walks first thing in the morning especially since moving to Brisbane. Through his obedience training he no longer takes me for a walk, thank god, and more often than not he usually sets the pace. That’s not such a bad thing though because I get a much better cardiovascular workout that way. Something else that we both enjoy has been walking in the beautiful warm sunshine instead of the dark cold we were accustomed to in Melbourne. One thing I haven’t gotten used to though has been this damn humidity and because of this fact I sweat a hell of a lot more when walking.
Then on top of that the air-conditiong system broke down at our gym which meant, you guessed it, even more sweating. The term “sweating like Roseanne Barr in a wheelie bin” was being thrown around during our training sessions.
As this was our last week of holidays we’ve been getting back into our work routine by getting up and getting to bed at our usual times. By doing this it makes the transition back into work that little bit easier, especially after such an extended break.
So all good things must come to an end and tomorrow it’s back to the reality of work. For me, I’m actually looking forward to it. I’m very much a creature of habit so getting back to a daily routine will be a blessing for me. I have a huge two years ahead of me with work and after an extended break I now feel ready for it. I’m also still working towards my health and fitness goals which is all coming along nicely. But more about that in a later post.
Until then, good night.
One thing I’ve noticed since being social media free is all the spare time I have. I knew that this would be the case, but not this much spare time. I mean it’s great, it’s really really great.
I’ve had more time to read the many magazines and books that had managed to find their way into the top draw of my bedside table. I’d bought most of them over the holidays so now I’ve been able to make a dent in them. Here’s what’s currently living in there:
✭ Oxygen ~ December/January Issue
✭ Oxygen’s Women’s Workout Annual
✭ InStyle ~ January Issue
✭ Always Too Soon by Allison Gilbert
✭ Motherless Daughters by Hope Edelman
✭ Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones by Suzanne Somers
✭ Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness by Suzanne Somers
Then there’s my blog. I’ve started going through every single post and formatting them. This is something that I’ve started and stopped so many times now that it’ll be a welcome relief to finally finish it, once and for all. My goal is to wrap this up by the time I go overseas mid year so I can concentrate more on writing.
Speaking of finishing things, I’ve put together a “One Day ~ Things To Do List” of all the things I’ve been saying that I’m going to do “one day”. It’s going to take a couple of years to complete, but one by one I’m working through them. I like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish something you’ve been procrastinating about.
Already this year is turning out to be the year that I finish things I started. It wasn’t what I’d originally planned but it’s the path life presented me so I’m taking it. Some times in life I guess you just have to go with it, don’t you.
Now that hubby’s home from overseas I finally have my training partner back again. We’ve trained together on and off for years now but it’s always been dependant on our work schedules. The best part of training together again has been our new gym and all the great equipment and facilities that we have. It’s awesome!
So this week we’re working out our morning schedule timings before we start back at work after taking annual holidays. It’s been six glorious weeks off but all good things must come to an end so back to work we go next week.
My training this year will be very intense. My hubby’s going to be helping me achieve my goal of being ready for my overseas trip and all that that entails. First up each morning we’ll be walking our dogs before hitting the gym for our resistance training. Michelle Nazaroff, my coach, has already designed this for me. Then as soon as we finish work it’s back to the gym for a short intense conditioning session. This will be our five day a week training schedule. Full on I know, but necessary. As long as my water, supplements and nutrition support my activity level all will
be good.
I’m also test driving my new pair of training shoes (Nike Free Run+) that I picked up last week. I already love them and they compliment my existing training shoes, Vibram FiveFingers. Slowly but surely though, I’m learning that I need different shoes for
different activities.
![]( "Nike Free Run+<br /> Women's Running Shoe")
Health and fitness means different things to different people. For me, it means maintaining a figure shape as well as increasing my strength and cardiovascular fitness ready to go overseas. It’ll be a lot of hard work and effort but will pay off in the end. Until then, it’s one step after the other
and one day at a time.
One last thing before I go. I picked up my copy of Oxygen’s Women’s Workout Annual on the weekend and will be sitting down to read it tonight. From what I’ve seen so far it has lots of great workouts in it not to mention some familiar faces. Congrats girls!
