Jane's BLOG

Whoopsie # 1 – slept in and missed the morning walk, was even too late for a Gym session. Whoopsie # 2 – Got up and raced straight to bathroom forgetting to fill the specimen jar left yesterday for that purpose….Okay take a deep breath and get dressed.

On way to get juice veer to the right to get around the linen cart and (Whoopsie # 3) trip over the arm chair. Juice has been delivered to my room as I was too late to collect it. Whoopsie # 4 – tried to make up for Whoopsie # 2 ended up with too small a sample to be of any benefit – but they still had to toss out the bag and container….

Oh well – drank juice and then headed off for breakfast. Strawberries instead of blueberries and stewed apple instead of yoghurt – variety is the spice of life!

Did a bit of the communal jigsaw (instead of basket weaving) then off to prepare for aqua-aerobics. Another good workout – pool was 34 Deg. Whoopsie # 5 (# 6 and #7) After the workout I slipped on someone else’s slippers, wrapped their towel around me and picked up their bath robe (in my defence they all look the same…and they were on ‘my’ seat!). Quickly provided fresh towel, returned slippers and bathrobe to the aggrieved guest (actually she had not yet noticed) and got the hell out of there.

Had a quick shower and changed into gym clothes ready for circuit training. Had to leave early to make it in time for next appointment and Whoopsie # 8 took sweat towel back to room instead of leaving in the gym.

Made it in time for Hydotherapy (towels on the liver again) and Whoopsie #9 took off bath robe and selected a cover towel when I was supposed to leave on the robe (apparently they thought I would remember the routine from yesterday…). Then at the end I didn’t realise that it was time to leave and laid there for 10 mins or so making me late for my appointment with the naturopath (Whoopsie # 10).

Didn’t have much to talk about because of Whoopsie # 2 – but did get good news in the form of ‘mostly no tofu’ for the next 2 days.

Feeling good, back to room to get dressed for lunch (you are not allowed to eat in your bath robe – phew avoided another whoopsie!). Salad included shredded squash, which is unusual and therefore rates a mention, with a side of mushroom frittata. Then the others started eating from the smorgasbord…very naughty. I headed back to my room to get ready for my massage and discovered Whoopsie # 11 – I had locked myself out!

The receptionist kindly mentioned that everyone does that at least once while they are here. Quick sprint to my room, quick change and make it in time for my Swedish Massage which is very relaxing. Then off to the last half of the weight management lecture and return my spare room key. Yayyy got through several hours without any Whoopsies things are looking good!!!

Time for a bit of relaxation (jigsaw, ukulele – can almost play Hallelujah (not sure if I can spell it though), and a small nap – very important.

Headed off to meditation thinking that the Whoopsies were over but realised that Whoopsie # 12 was that I had forgotten to collect my afternoon juice…oh well better late than never! So skulled my juice (which is not the preferred method) and made it to meditation only a few minutes late – which worked out okay as the (what do you call a leader of meditation? If a yoga leader is a Yogi it must be a Medi – anyway I digress) Medi was also late. We covered a fair bit of ground (figuratively speaking as with all the weight loss I am literally covering less ground than before) and I discovered I need to have more fun…so watch out for the water squirting rings, whoopi cushions etc.

Time to put some real shoes on and head of for dinner which is…..sweet and sour stir fried veg with a side of steamed veg (vegetable of note for its’ rarity is spinach). Think that it is time to quit while I’m ahead and decide to return to room and not leave for the rest of the night.

Whoopsie total for the day – 12

Well in terms of the Hopewood Open this is day three moving day – so I made the cut and am now moving through the field….starting with 30mins on the treadmill before paw paw and Blueberries for breakfast…couldn’t face the yoghurt so had to get some extra paw paw to wash down the lecithin and flaxseed….No rest for the wicked and it’s off to aqua aerobics….what a great class. Pool was 34 Deg (quite noice) and the trainer was focused on the aerobics part of aqua aerobics….so it was a great workout.

Time for a quick shower and off to hydrotherapy, this time no vibrating hot cabinet, it was hot and cold packs on the liver (well not directly on the liver of course)….time for the blood to get moving and get rid of any toxins. Placed on light duties for 30mins. Stretching is counted as light duties so drunk my juice (carrot, celery, chlorophyll and a hint of ginger) and hightailed it back to my room for a quick change and sprint to stretch class. The trainer kindly let me join late and then proceeded to get me into positions in preparation for the World Twister Championship – I’m just a golfer! Fully stretched ready for lunch! (how time flys).

Salad includes grated beetroot and carrot along with bean sprouts of various types, celery and rather a lot of lettuce…and then the tofu bake arrives….the flavour and texture are a bit different from the last one…so lunch was quite enjoyable. I might have been a bit tough on the tofu in my previous posts?

Tuned up the ukulele and had a bit of a session…then a couple of ginger teas while waiting for the naturopath…who advised that ketones up, PH down so fat is burning…so far so good. Swapped yoghurt for stewed apple and strawberries – excellent.

Back for a bit more practice on the Ukelele and now I’m all warmed up for dancercise! Well it was more er-size than dance…due to my multiple left feet. We covered all dance types so if they ask me to go on “Dancing With The Stars” I will know the basics (I won’t be able to do them but I’ll know them!).

Dinner was Shepherdless Pie…no meat and not sure if the topping was potato – must find out. The filling is a bean mix and was quite tasty, it was served with a side of steamed veg. The smorgasbord was calling but I showed great restraint and did not partake.

A short break and then back to the fitness room for a yoga session. It was the stretching Hatha Yoga – so relaxing that 2 out of 5 fell asleep during the relaxation…neither snored….btw I was not one of the two.

Sunday is the day of rest so I got to sleep in until 7:30 and then off to drink some lemon juice (with water) and to “Salute the Day”. After apologising for having to run out of the previous days yoga class I got to have a one-on-one class. The Yoga Instructor even provided a rebok step so that I was tall enough to place my foot on the windowsill for one of the stretches – they are so nice here!

Finished “saluting the day” in time for Paw Paw and Blueberries followed by Yoghurt, Lecithin & Flaxseed. Next activity “Mandala for Meditation” was very relaxing and another one-on-one. If I could get the uploading of images sorted out you would be able to see what excellent work I produced.

Different juice for morning tea…it was orangey green due to the carrot and celery…not a bad mix. Blood Sugar 4.7 – very good again.

Robijn (pronounced Robina) must have been getting a bit sick of the sight of me by the time I had arrived at the “Boosting Energy” class…at least this time there was another person in the class (Robijn also teaches yoga and mandala’s). Feeling very energised I raced off to lunch – salad with a slice of Cashew Loaf – best meal yet.

After giving lunch sometime to settle it was back to the pool for aqua-aerobics and then a quick shower and down to the river and back for a bit of a bush walk. Of course the river (Nepean) is not up to the beauty of theMurraybut it was ok!!

Nearly forgot to collect the juice (Beetroot etc) but made it in time and also reminisced with the night staff about our previous nights escapades – apparently she had considered bring the ‘kidney dish’ down with her as she thought it “could go either way” but decided against it incase the sight of it gave me ideas!

On a cheerier note the laughing class gave all my laughing muscles a workout…and staved off the feelings of hunger that appeared to have arrived since one of the fellows leaving mentioned he was going to have some chocolate when he got home….mmmm can someone email me some chocolate…Please!

Guess what was for dinner???…tofu and vegetables….while the others got to have onion & almond tart….Lucky I like tofu…but for how much longer…..Hope they don’t serve it for breakfast.

Ended the Hopewood part of the day with a talk from Roger French about having a healthy lifestyle…bought the book…now have to read it. Will let you know how that turns out. After that I enjoyed a beautiful Euphonium concert by the very talented Lara. There were many old favourites, a pop song, some singing and even a guessing competition – where I guessed 2 out 3. What a great way to end the day.

Up early for a lemon juice starter and off for a morning ‘walk’. Ooops my watch is slower than their clock so everyone has left. Lucky for me Kate also has a dodgy watch and has been on the walk before and knows which way they are heading – so we set off in pursuit. Eventually I catch up with the Peloton (after much jogging and heavy breathing) by this time Kate is with the lead pack…Go Kate! Get my breath back and travelling okay on the flats but the hills are killers (at least 15 Deg slopes!!!).

More lemon juice and then breakfast of Paw Paw and Blueberries followed by yoghurt topped with lecithin and flaxseed.

Time for a quick shower and off to the pool for aqua-aerobics….followed by another shower to get rid of the chlorine and a Body Blast – and what a blast it was….had to have another shower and off for a delicious juice (same as yesterday) and a VibraSaun. After an initial panic attack about being locked in a hot cabinet which vibrated I realised I could actually get out anytime so then I relaxed and enjoyed the soothing music.

Off to lunch (thankfully no need for another shower!) and it is tofu bake with salad…tofu bake is tomato based and had the texture of tinned fish…not too bad.

Food demonstration cancelled (due to food poisoning??) which is ok since I have a Spa Pedicure to attend. Hmm totally relaxing and beautiful colour nails to impress my socks!

Feeling relaxed ready for Yoga – when the sickness sets in…first a small headache (which I had been warned about) but then sweating (even during the easy poses) and nausea…have to leave in a hurry and visit the ladies on way to the “health centre” (otherwise known as sick bay!). Several Cold packs and Peppermint waters later I’m feeling well enough to have my afternoon juice (Beetroot etc etc) and off to my room with various hot packs/cold packs and potions to have a lay down and ward off the headache.

Feeling much better after an hour so decide to get up and have dinner to prevent later starvation and not being able to sleep. Missed the collage activity through sleeping etc…oh well can’t attend everything. Doing fine until about 9:30pm, ring the “health centre” (they are on call 24/7…excellent). They bring down more heat and cool packs and then make a second trip with peppermint water and lavender lotion which they kindly massage into my neck. Feeling okay until I lay down then it is off to the bathroom to drive the porcelain bus…not so good but feel better after another shower (that’s four for the day!). Then off to the land of nod where no one is ever sick!