A short list

Things that bug me about the gym at the moment:

1. All the new people crowding out the gym. Where were you before Christmas, eh? And were will you be in a few weeks?? Why clutter the place up now?

2. Why does it always seem hard? Surely if I've been doing some walk / run sessions for nearly four weeks I should be doing more running in that ratio by now without it feeling impossible?

3. The spinning class. I'm not doing it (I'm not stupid, that looks HARD), but the music is too loud and thus the instructor has to shout really loudly to make himself heard. Which makes it hard for me to hear the music through my headphones and thus harder to run.

4. The lift not working when I get home. Ok so being on the second floor it's lazy of me to take the lift, but I'm working out pretty hard and have a twenty minute walk home, give me a break!

And especially for this week:

5. Having to cook my own dinner when I get in from the gym as Flaneur is away all week.

Grump.

An update on the weightloss/exercise

I know I said I was bored of the diet and I wouldn’t talk about it for a while, but I think that was mostly because it wasn’t going so well. I seemed to plateau for a week or two, around that annoying stone marker and it was a bit depressing. These last couple of weeks, however, have been better. I’m not sure why. I don’t think I’m eating any differently and I don’t think I’m exercising any more (in fact I know I’m not), so I’m not sure what’s happened there. I have changed my exercise regime in the gym a bit. As any long term reader will know I don’t enjoy running. Or to put it more honestly, I hate that bit when running when you can’t really do it and it’s far too hard work to even run for five minutes. I don’t mind it so much when I’ve built up from that and can “comfortably” run for longer – that’s achievement – but I hate the back at zero stage. So after a week or so of doing some speed splits (2 mins walking at 6.5 km/h, 2 mins running at 10 km/h) and then a couple of weeks of really not wanting to be at the gym at all, I decided to ditch the running and use my time on the treadmill to walk uphill, fast, instead. I set the programme to ‘Rolling Hills’ and the speed to 6.5 km/h and off I trot. I’m quite enjoying it as it’s still a sweaty work out (I aint no mountain goat), but I’m not having to run. Hoping to see some benefit too if Flâneur and I ever get out into those hills I pass every day on my way to work...

I’ve also started using the bike more, to do a bit of different exercise, and I’m quite enjoying the rolling hill programme on that too. It’s sore on the arse, and I have a tendency to slip a bit off the seat every now and again, but it’s good to be doing something a bit different and not letting the gym routine get stale. That’s what I tell myself anyway!!

On the weight loss front, I’m pretty pleased as I have now lost (drum roll please) just over half a stone, since starting on this latest kick. Ok, so over the course of however many weeks it’s been (quickly checks back in the blog, oh, 8 weeks – eek!) that’s not so much, but it’s a good steady loss and it is loss and I’m now down to X-2 stone 10 lb, which is nearly what I was just after Christmas. I must be doing something not quite right though as according to the food diary I’m supposed to have lost double that. I must be going off the rails somewhere…. Still, I’ll take a half stone loss at this point over no loss!!

Some of my friends are coming down to visit for my birthday this weekend, so I had better be careful not to put those pounds back on. We have a habit of eating a lot when we get together… hmmm… wish me luck!

Rant alert...

Oh dear.

Only two weeks in to writing on my blog again and already I’m slipping on the updates. Working miles from where I live isn’t helping as I find that I am just too tired in the evenings (when I’m not going to the gym) to think about anything other than watching trashy telly! I need to get a job closer to home… Speaking of which, I actually applied for one recently. It sounded really great – at a posh school as the only archivist. It was part time (term time working), but I worked out that if they paid me similar to my current salary I wouldn’t exactly be down very much, when you take my season ticket into account, and the school holidays would give me loads of time to do other things that I want to do – like sew more! There was no salary on the advert but ‘salary negotiable dependent on experience and qualification’. Well, I’m definitely qualified and having worked professionally for 9 years, definitely experienced (and worth what I’m paid). So I thought, why not give it a punt – I’m prepared to haggle for what I’m worth!

Well, turned out that they had no idea how much a ‘qualified and experienced’ archivist should be paid. And that those negotiations would be based on the most insulting and paltry figure. I had a phone call last week from the deputy head somewhat apologetically saying that they’d love to interview me, but the salary they were offering was considerably less than I was paid at the moment, was I still interested (he knew my answer would be no though). I though, ok, maybe they’re looking to pay around £25K ish, and I can’t afford to do it at that, but no. They valued their archives even less. If the post was full time the most they could offer was £22K!! I mean, really… that is just an insult. And a total waste of my time (and probably some other people’s too, I wont have been the only one earning more than that who will have gone for it). That is the absolute minimum that the Archives and Records Association recommends that recently qualified archivists are paid, and even then the average salary for a new start is around £24K. It was really just an insult and clearly they didn’t really want a qualified archivist (and definitely not an experienced on) and it just left me soooo frustrated. You have to jump through so many hoops to get into this profession and then people who probably get paid quite well themselves insult you with crappy pay. They’ll probably end up with either an enthusiastic amateur or someone recently qualified, who I’m sure would do fine, but shouldn’t have to settle for such crap pay!

Argh….

And I think it would have been a good and enjoyable and interesting job and I had to turn the interview down. I’m not sure quite why I’m so angry about it, I might not have got it anyway, but I am…

:o(

So the possible glimmer of light at getting out of the commute and the relatively dull job I have ended up with has been snuffed out and I’m back to feeling knackered all the time and feeling under used and under valued. Ok, yes, so the pay I am on now is great, but I just don’t know if I’m going to get a job at the end of this that will even come close to matching it, let alone be in Manchester… Or even get a job at all! In the current economic climate, now is not a time to be looking for a niche job… Don’t get me wrong, bits of this job are interesting, but I do feel that it under uses my experience and skills and I find myself getting bored quite easily… I never thought that I’d miss the responsibilities that I had in my last job, but turns out that I do. There you go.

Sorry for the rant. I have also been to the gym three times since my last blog, lost another 2lbs, and had a lovely visit from HL and BC. Flâneur also joined the gym and we had our first session together on Saturday, followed by a lovely Japanese lunch, so things aren’t all bad! ;o)

In need of a holiday...

In keeping with the new new regime, I went to the gym last night. Go me. Turns out it’s not so hard to do after all. ;o)

I get changed at work before leaving for the station so I’m all set to go when I get to the gym. Just have to take the joggers off to reveal the running tights (well, cropped leggings really), and away I go! Last night wasn’t quite so quick off the mark though as I faffed around with a padlock for the lockers for about 10 minutes, totally unable to make it work properly. And getting increasingly frustrated as I’d only just bought the damn thing in one of the vending machines in the gym. £3 it cost me and it’s a piece of junk! Luckily the gym wasn’t so busy so I could use machines that I could put my coat and bag next to, in plain sight of me, so no-one would nick them. But I don’t like doing that really…

So I did my usual running machine/cross trainer routine managing:

Treadmill:

2 mins walk at 6 kmph
5 mins run at 8 kmph
2 mins walk at 6 kmph
5 mins run at 8 kmph
2 mins walk at 6 kmph
5 mins run at 8 kmph (more or less, I did walk for about 30 secs in the middle)
4 mins walk at 6 kmph to cool down.
Total: 25 mins, 2.94 km (how annoying to just miss the spot on 3)

Pretty pleased with that and it’s definitely an improvement on Monday and much more what I want to be doing at this stage.

Cross trainer:

25 mins on manual setting (including 4 mins of cool down), going an average of 6.7 kmph, swapping between level 1 to level 4 every 3 minutes. Which I figured was better than every two I had done on Monday! Total kilometerage: 2.79 km.

Pretty pleased with all that.

Wont be back again this week as we have HH and BC visiting this weekend and I have lots of hoovering, cleaning and tidying to do on Friday night before they arrive… Our first visitors, it’s very exciting. And I can’t wait to see them as I find I am missing my Edinburgh friends terribly at the moment. I need to make it back up there very soon, but I just don’t know when I’ll have the time or money. More importantly the money (trains really should be cheaper)!!

I am desperately in need of some time off though. Since April I have had proper time off only for moving house, which is not exactly a relaxing holiday. In fact it’s horrible and stressful and I will always need a holiday after doing it… So I feel like I have been working relentlessly for the last 4 months. And I need a lie in! I’m hoping to take a week off at the beginning of September, to lie in, read (totally engrossed in my book at the moment, reading ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. So much so I hate it when my train journeys end at the moment and I have to do work – I could just keep reading and reading. Must get the next one for when this one runs out…) and hoping to do some sewing, which I have not done for ages! Still have a project for little IMcM to finish off and have more projects buzzing round my head but no real time to do them at the moment. I’m taking Flâneur to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in August, so I’m hoping to find more inspiration, some supplies and a bit of oomph while we’re there! That’s the theory anyway…

Getting back on track...

Haven’t blogged for a while, but with starting a new weight loss and fitness regime, I feel I ought to have somewhere to record my progress, and this is what this blog was supposed to be...

A lot has happened this year so far… Far too much to put in one post. To sum up though:

• I got married. This was brilliant. I had the best day, the sun shone and it was just fantastic.
• We didn’t go to Tokyo on honeymoon. Bastard BA greedy scumbags… (don’t get me started on this, I’m still very upset about it)
• We did go to New York instead. Which was brilliant. We got upgraded at our hotel, ate in a couple of fantastic restaurants (including 3* Daniel), ate lovely cupcakes that we travelled across the city for, and had fun with a stuffed knitted green dinosaur at the top of the Rock…
• We moved. Three times. First Flâneur moved to a flat in a new city in January, then I moved to join him there in April when we got back from New York. Then we moved everything to one flat in June. At one point we were renting three flats at once, and I couldn’t recommend that less! This was all very stressful and expensive, but at least we now live in one flat together.
• I got a new job. And now commute for 50 mins by train every day… Ah well, at least I’m not spending every other weekend travelling up and down the country anymore.

All this has not exactly made it easy to keep off the weight and keep up the exercise. I can’t remember the last time I went to the gym and my weight has crept back up to X-1 stone and 5 lb! Not good. Not good at all.

But now things are settling down I can finally start to sort this out. Finally I can try and get things back on track! Thanks to RF mentioning it in an email, I have started to watch what I eat by keeping an online food diary with Nutracheck (http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/). I have toyed with doing this before, but hadn’t found one that was as easy to use or as cheap. It took a while to get used to, but they give you a five day free trial, which was enough for me to realise that it could work. It’s quite an eye opener if you give it a go. You may sit and think (like me), I eat quite healthily, I don’t over eat, why am I not losing any weight? And then you write it all down (you have to be very honest) and you realise that actually you eat far more than you thought, calorie-wise, don’t exercise nearly enough, and that there are definite areas where improvement could be found! The things I like particularly about this online food diary are:

• You can easily create your own recipes. So if, like us, you make most meals from scratch, you can find out how many calories they contain based on the ingredients, rather than guessing. We even did it for some oaty biscuits Flaneur makes (which are quite calorific it turns out…).
• If gives suggested Food Swaps. So you can find similar things that have fewer calories and fat. For example I like a biscuit or two with my morning coffee. This week I have ginger snaps rather than bourbons, thanks to the food swap! (this feature can be amusing however, when what it wants to swap is already pretty low in calories and fat, and what it suggests instead is something with the same number of calories!)
• It shows you (very clearly) how many portions of fruit/veg you are eating.
• It lets you copy stuff easily into another day.
• It lets you easily add in exercise from a very comprehensive list of options (including exercise DVDs and the Wii fit!)

One downside might be that the database doesn’t contain a lot of foods from M&S, which is unfortunately where we do most of our food shopping (not because we are posh, but because it’s closest and we don’t have a car). There are probably some other plus/negative points too, but those are the ones I’ve got so far.

So that’s the eating getting under control (hopefully). I’ve done my first full week using it and I have lost 3lb. So far so good.

Now onto the exercise! Taking the train early every day doesn’t help. Living where we do doesn’t help (not great for running outside as there are no green spaces nearby and not really gyms that close by). Gyms being very expensive also doesn’t help (the nearest one to us is a Virgin Active, and tragically I cannot afford their prices). I did try and run outside with Flâneur a few weeks ago (ok 6 weeks ago), but to get the right distance I had to work out a very convoluted route that took us through some dodgy looking areas, so we abandoned that. He has since worked out another route that involves running round the block 3 times (the block in question being about a mile). Me, I don’t enjoy this so much and always feel like I’m holding him back when we go together as he’s quicker and fitter than me. And then it hit me. I was actually missing going to the gym. Missing it! I didn’t realise it had had this effect on me, but I realised that I had to go back. So I did a lot of looking around and found that my best option was Pure Gym. There’s one in town that is only 10-15 mins walk from one of the stations and then only 20 mins walk from our flat. They’re quite good as it’s only £15.99 a month and there’s no contract to tie you in, so if it doesn’t work out I can quit whenever. So on Sunday, I joined. And then last night I went. And I must say, it was great to go back. It was hard, very hard, and I didn’t do a lot (don’t want to push it on the first go after such a long gap), but I did enjoy it and now today I don’t ache (very much) and have a great desire to go back. What I did was:

Treadmill:

2 mins walk at 5.5 kmp
5 mins run at 8 kmp
2 mins walk at 5.5 kmp
5 mins run at 8 kmp (oh. my. god. this hurt.)
2 mins walk at 5.5 kmp
2 mins cool down at 3.3 kmp
Total: 18 mins, 2.2km.

Cross Trainer:

20 mins on manual setting, going around 6.5kmp, swapping from level 1 to level 4 and back every 2 mins. Around 3km total.

A good slow build up. I had wanted to do 30 mins on the cross trainer, but it hurt too much and I thought it best not to over do things. It also took me about 6 mins of relentless movement on the one setting to realise that it would be better to chop it up into chunks of different levels, and that really made the time past.

I shall try and ramp it up each time I go, but it certainly feels good to be back.

Hibernation Season

So, it's November again and getting darker by the day. Well, it's really been November for a while now, but it's hit me really this week with the wet blustery weather and my deep desire to stay in bed until it gets light and then crawl back to bed when it gets dark again. Which at present would see me getting up around 8, 8:30 and going to bed at 4, 4:30!! Not good... November (plus my cosy comfy duvet) makes it very hard to get up when the alarm goes off. Hibernation season. The wet blustery weather I don't mind so much, but only if I'm inside, curled up listening to it happening outside. Alas I more than often have to be out in it, either coming to or going from work. Bah!

I have been pretty lazy this week and have managed to go to the gym a total of zero times. I brought my stuff to work with me on Monday, I took it home again. I brought my stuff with me to work on Wednesday, I took it home again... I cut my losses the rest of the week and figured it wasn't going to happen and I would just have to be extra extra specially careful with what I eat instead (which I pretty much have, well I do anyway at the moment). I'm not sure I'll lose any weight this week, but I don't appear to be putting any on at the moment, so that'll do me for now.

I did go to the gym last Friday, which I've not blogged about, and did a pretty good work out:

Total work out time: 70 mins
Total calories burned: 818.9
Total distance walked/run/strode: 8.6km

Not bad, eh?? Best yet in fact, and I really didn't think I'd do that well. Perhaps I should have gone this week after all... I always seem to surprise myself the most on days when I think I can't be bothered.

In defence of my laziness this week, I have been extremely tired. Partly the darkness, partly the weather, partly not sleeping well and a small part not feeling great. Another 'non-cold' with some symptoms that never develop. Tired and achy pretty much cover it. I'm still feeling tired today, but a little better. However, as Flâneur and I are taking a trip to London this weekend, I couldn't really have gone this evening anyway. Our train is at the hilarious time of 6:15 tomorrow morning, so a quiet night and early to bed is all I can cope with, to ensure I'm able to get up at 5 tomorrow. Urgh... It seemed like a good idea when we booked the tickets...

Gym and shopping

Phew. Back from the gym and exhausted! It was a tough old session tonight and I questioned several times whether I shouldn't just give up. I didn't, which is a good thing in the long run, but I might pay for it later (or tomorrow!). And at least I went, which is better than not going, which is what I did on Monday! I had had a pretty exhausting weekend and I just needed to go home on Monday after work.

On Friday RF and I flew down south to spend a day and a half at my parents', essentially to go shopping! We were up bright and early on Saturday morning and along with mum and my sister we headed off to go bridesmaid dress shopping at Bluewater in Kent (picking up bridesmaid number 3 on the way). We got there by about 11 and I think by the time we left at 4:30 around 20 dresses had been tried on by the 'maids. With varying degrees of success... In fact, it was the very last one, that we ended up getting. Which is nice because it was nearly the first one! What fascinated me was the variations in sizing. T is a size 6, R a 10. T has a similar (but opposite) problem to sister and me in that a lot of shops do not do clothes in her size. So she was trying on a lot of 8s. Some of them fitted very well (the dress she ended up getting was an 8 as the 6 was too small!), others looked like they would fall down if it weren't for the straps... And yet, I don't think R had the same problem with the 10s... I still don't really get how sizes can vary so much not just between shops, but within shops.

Anyway... We had a brilliant, if tiring day, getting all that we had gone for (sister's dress was bought online when we got home). We had a nice lunch, with fizz, coffee and cake (much needed) and some great chat. We also had a terrifying experience in Hobbs where T and R were pretty much bullied into trying on some items (and looking like 'I'm going to a glamorous funeral' - R). But also very excitingly - I found my shoes!! They're fabulous and gorgeous and I'm very very excited about them... Would love to post a piccie, but that will have to wait until after the wedding. Can't believe I have to wait 4 and a half months til I can wear them. Pout.

;o)

Eek! Four and a half months!

On Sunday one of Sister's friends (who is a qualified hairdresser) came over to play with my hair, the intention being that she would show my sister the technique so she could do it on the day. The outcome, however, was the friend very seriously considering coming up and doing it for me herself. How nice is that? I'd love it if she did as I think she'd do a great job. I promised her an invite if she did. ;o) We then had to hightail it to the airport to fly back North, and so I was exhausted come Monday. On the plus side I managed to not eat too badly at my parents' (which is a miracle) and weighed in at X-2 stone, 8lb 3/8 on Monday morning. Hurrah, a little spot of progress...

But I did manage to go to the gym tonight (as I said) despite being tired, and (again as I said) it was bloody knackering. I came close to quitting a number of time on the treadmill, but managed to keep it up with a number of psychological games: must run for at least a mile, might as well make it to 14 minutes, can't walk to this song (Gold!) etc... I did have to take a break to stretch after 14 minutes as my legs were getting sore. I then walked for a minute and intended to run for the remaining 14 mins (this is what I did last Wednesday). It was just too hard though and I had to pause it again after 7 mins for another stretch. Better that than an injury though. And I did go straight back to running (all this at 7.7km/h). But I did only manage 6 minutes, not the full remaining 7 as, frankly, that last minute really would have been just a step too far. Urgh. I had a better session on the cross trainer, so wasn't so far off the totals I hit last Wednesday in the end.

Last Wednesday:

Total work out time: 68 mins

Total calories burned: 792.3

Total distance walked/run/strode: 8.38km

Today:

Total work out time: 68 mins

Total calories burned: 780.1

Total distance walked/run/strode: 8.3km

Which when I view it like that, doesn't look so bad today. Not so dissimilar to last week. Phew!

Latest update

After a slightly rubbish week for exercise last week, I am determined to make it better this week. After a good start last week at the gym, my life then ran away with me and I managed no other time to do any serious exercise. On Tuesday evenings I teach an evening class in Palaeography, so no chance for doing anything on a Tuesday night. On Wednesday I had an appointment with my dress maker (very very exciting. Fabric is all chosen, design is being finalised, and she wont really start work on it until the new year, giving me loads of time to shift a bit more weight). On Thursday there was a do on a work, which netted me some much needed flexi time. I had considered running home from the office as I had all my kit with me and it's nearly 2 miles, but after a couple of glasses of wine that was so not happening (did help me power walk home though)!! I suppose I could have done something on Friday, but I was way too knackered by Friday... ;o)

On Saturday Flâneur wasn't really up to going for a run as he's still pretty bogged down with a hideous cold. It was a beautiful day though (at that point!) and he had promised to get cheese for Wastrel and SAM who we were visiting that evening. So we decided what the hell, we'll walk to Waitrose. It's a good 5 mile round trip from our flat, but it was a really nice walk and we got some lunch in a coffee shop on the way home, so it wasn't so bad. And the walk will have done us both the world of good!! When we got home I spent the afternoon making apple chutney with apples from W&S's apple trees. There were about 2 or 3 different types of apple and it made a lovely sweet and tasty chutney. I was very pleased with it in the end. The last batch of chutney I made (with apples from their last house) I thought was a bit too vinegary, but this stuff was much much better, in my opinion!

Chutney made we then headed on up to The House (W&S's place) with BC and HH, armed with two jars of said chutney and a truck load of cheese. It was Halloween and Wastrel and SAM had done a wonderful job of making their house spooky and full of creepy things! It was really superb! A warm welcome and a tasty green drink (orc's blood, apparently) greeted us and a good crowd of guests. I was pretty tired and flakey and headed to bed around midnight (but did appreciate the brazier and toffee apples before going). Flâneur slunk into bed around 3:30, having joined in apple bobbing and poker and more wine, and declaring my friends a bad influence before snoring away... I'm sure he needed no influence or arm twisting to stay up! To say he didn't look so great on Sunday would be putting it mildly and he was nearly entirely responsible for us going to bed at 9:30 last night! Yes, I know, 9:30!

So, back at work today (boo hiss) and then was off in the gym this evening. Oh, and today was my weighing day... I was X-2 stones 9lb 7/8. Which is ok. Not great, but better than last week! And means I'm back to having lost 3lb in four weeks. Which is not so good... But hopefully it will pick up from now on. And if I really am going to keep weighing myself on a Monday (rather than Sunday), well I was actually X-1 stone 0lb on the Monday (the day after the official start day when I weighed X-2 stone 12lb and some). So that would mean I've actually lost 5 pounds, which would be much better. Who's adjudicating this thing??

Anyway, yes the gym. It was a bit quieter tonight (perhaps the students are away?) and I got to do both the treadmill and the crossramp without any waiting around. I was extremely pleased with my treadmill performance tonight. I didn't think it was going to be that great as the going was pretty tough at the beginning. I thought I was going to have to stop and walk at one point and decided I should at least try and do 10 minutes before walking, and as I wasn't sooo bad at that point, I just kept going. So after my initial 1 min of walking while I fiddled about with the settings on the machine I managed to run for a whole 25 minutes, straight! Go me! Over two miles... I was doing it at 7.7km/h too - gently upping the speed. I'm looking to get to 8km/h soon, but need to do it gently rather than ramp straight up to it. I think that's sensible. I don't want to go up in speed but loose my time in doing it...

So my stats for tonight are:

Total work out time: 68 mins

Total calories burned: 767.6

Total distance walked/run/strode: 8.18 km

Woo hoo! Better than last Monday, just, and when you add the fact that I walked to work this morning (in a good 35 mins), hot footed it to the gym (a good 20 mins) and then home again (another 20 mins) I ended up having exercised off a lot more calories than I had eaten today (before dinner). Which is good for weight loss at least!

Right, I'm off to stretch again now before my legs seize up!

Most bizarre

When I stood on the scales before my shower, after the gym, I mysteriously had lost those two pounds I was whinging about earlier. How did that happen?? This morning I weighed X-2 stones, 11 lb and 3/4. That was at 7am. This evening, I weighed X-2 stones, 9 lb and 7/8. That was at 7pm. How does one drop 2 pounds (or thereabouts) over the course of the day? Weird. I have eaten:

Breakfast:

1 muffin with poached egg

Mid-morning snack:

1 bag of Pret-A-Manger salted popcorn

Lunch:

1 Pret-A-Manger Italian chicken salad (which was delicious)

1 apple

1 pear

Pre-gym snack:

1 banana

Post-gym snack:

About a dozen mini twiglets (a great whole-grain snack!)

So it's not like I've eaten nothing today. I have, on the other hand, drunk over 2 litres of water. Perhaps, as I said earlier, this is the key. Maybe gone now is any water retention I had. Perhaps whining and getting a supportive boost helped? I suspect not, but I should look on the bright side that I am back where I was, and I suppose I should just be pleased.

Gave myself a pretty tough work out at the gym tonight. I wanted to see if I could run a distance this evening, rather than an amount of time. The answer? No. I am better trying to run a certain amount of time on the treadmill I think. I was trying to run for 2 miles, as I nearly did that last week. I managed 1 mile before I had to walk for a bit. It was too tough. I probably hadn't stretched enough when I got to the gym though. As I've said before, it's not a short stroll to the gym! But I did manage 16 minutes flat out at 7.6km/h, 1 minute of walking and then another 10 minutes of running, which is still pretty good (and 1 minute more of running, technically, than last week). With a five minutes walk at 5.5km/h and at 3% to cool down, it was tough, but good. I even managed the cross trainer too. And ramped that up a bit. Again it was a tough work out, but I felt I needed it and it felt good to do. Here are the stats (the boring bit):

Total work out time: 68 mins

Total calories burned: 753.4 (marvellous!)

Total distance walked/run/strode: 8.13 km (astounding!)

I'm pretty pleased with that, and generally feeling happier. Baked potato and salad for tea and today has turned out to not be so bad after all!

Is this the start of something??

Last night I was at the gym again after work. That makes twice this week, which isn't bad. Probably seems like more because that's all I seem to talk about on here at the moment! A curious thing happened to me when I was both on the treadmill and then on the cross trainer though... I actually started to enjoy it. Properly enjoy the exercise, not just endure it because I know it's good for me.

Not sure what has come over me. I suspect it was the endorphins. It certainly was them when I practically skipped home (if my legs would have coped with that I might have!). I was very happy in that I ran for 24 minutes straight on the treadmill at 7.6 kmph with just 1 minute of walking to warm me up (note to those who believe in more warming up than this - it is a 25 minute walk to the gym from work that I do not stroll). My legs coped pretty well with this and where I usually detest running on a treadmill I found it not unpleasant. I still prefer running outside, with company, with some sort of pretty scenery to look at, but I found it not so bad last night. My ideal clearly for the treadmill would be to have some sort of screen in front of me with pretty scenery scrolling by. That would make it much much better. But alas, the ones in my gym don't have that. Do any?? For my cool down I walked for 5 minutes at 5.5kmph, on a 3% gradient. I figured just because it was the cool down didn't mean it had to be too easy. Pretty good stuff. I was quite surprised when I switched from metric to imperial (US) measurements near the end of my run to see that I had run around 1.9 miles. Good lord! Quite something. I'll be up to running 2 miles and doing about 30 minutes straight before I know it!

Flâneur and I will be going out for a long run on Saturday (weather permitting) so it will be interesting to see how I get on with running outside, with hills and people and all sorts...

I also decided I ought to work a bit harder on the cross trainer last night, so upped the ramping and resistance from 4 and 2 to 8 and 4 on the easier bits, keeping it at 10 and 8 on the hard bits (it's a 4 minute, 4 minute split between easier and tougher on the weightloss programme). It was tough, but I persevered. And find myself pretty pleased with my overall stats from last night:

Total work out time: 63 mins
Total calories burned: 709.6 (woo hoo!)
Total distance walked/run/strode: 7.62km

No wonder I was so pleased with myself! I think that's why I'm enjoying it at the moment - really seeing improvement and progress. Let's hope it helps me with my challenge and goal!

I was bloody knackered when I got home though. It's another 20 min walk home from the gym, during which time the endorphins wore off a bit. I still had the feeling of having enjoyed it, but just wanted to collapse and sleep when I got in! I suspect I hadn't eaten enough by that point for the amount of exercise I had done (I roughly worked it out as the gym having cancelled out everything else I had eaten during the day, which probably isn't good). I felt a bit better after dinner (Thai green chicken curry and rice, yum), but got increasingly tired and grumpy as the evening wore on. Having had to do dishes, make dinner and then sort out the washing when I just wanted to collapse probably didn't help! Poor Flâneur had to deal with my grumblings all evening. He's very good humoured about it (thankfully!) - I think he finds it funny. Thankfully I know it's just grumbliness so I don't mind. Otherwise... well, you can all imagine! ;o)

Today I started off tired, but am now feeling that joy of having exercised yesterday. For the sake of my health and my figure, long may this continue!

More Gyming...

Was back at the gym on Monday night, so I thought I should record my work out here, so I can keep track! It was pretty heaving and I had to wait a few minutes before a cross trainer became free. When did students get so health and fitness conscious? Even fit people I knew at uni didn't go to the gym as often as these lot seem to. Sign of the times I suppose, there wasn't necessarily the same gym culture back in the late 90s maybe... Does that make me sound old?

Anyway, on Monday I managed to do:

Total work out time: 63 mins
Total calories burned: 672.2
Total distance walked/run/strode: 7.43km

Damn. Not quite as many calories burned (ok, so only 4 less isn't so bad) despite doing the same time and same distance. And despite running for a whole 23 minutes without a break on the treadmill at 7.6kmph. Bah! Clearly I was working less hard on the cross trainer and I must rectify that this evening when I head off to the gym again. It's non stop! But it is giving me results so what can I do?! ;o)

On the plus side I ran a whole 23 minutes on the treadmill without stopping! Go me! I was most chuffed as I don't think I've done that since I was training for the GNR. And that was 3 years ago. If only I could replicate that sort of achievement when running outside... One day maybe!

More exercise (no wonder I'm knackered)

Was at the gym again last night. This is getting to be a habit (no bad thing!). Tried to push myself a bit, but didn’t quite work out – I think I was still recovering from the long run on Saturday! Rather than doing a full 22 minutes of running on the treadmill (which I was aiming for) I did 11 minutes, then walked for a minute, then did another 10 mins. All at 7.6km/h. Which is still pretty good. Had to stop and walk as the muscles at the back of my legs were seriously burning. A short walk and a pause to stretch them and they were back in fine fettle for the rest of the session. I also upped my resistance/ramp levels on the cross trainer. I don’t know what I was thinking! ;o)

I’m bloody knackered today though – was asleep by about 10:30 last night, and then vaguely awake by about 7:15, but I felt like I could sleep for at least another 2-3 hours. Not quite sure what’s up with that! Meant I missed my swim this morning (there was no way this carcass was being dragged anywhere at 6:20 this morning!), but there is always tomorrow…

So last night’s gym episode resulted in:

Total work out time: 63 mins
Total calories burned: 678.6
Total distance walked/run/strode: 7.43km

Which is an improvement on last week at least!

On the weight-loss progress front, I can report that after week 1 of the challenge I have managed to loose approx. 1.5 lb. not a bad start, but not quite the start I had hoped for! I should look on it a bit more philosophically though as I’m sure I put on a pound or two at the beginning of the challenge, after weighing myself on the Sunday, so actually I must have lost more like three last week. Or something… Hoping not to put any on this week and just lose them – otherwise why I am putting myself through all this??

Gym

Mini extra post...

As I said, I went to the gym this evening. I had a good work out (despite it being so busy). I did my usual treadmill/cross trainer routine. Here is my run down:

Total work out time: 60 minutes

Total calories burned: 639 (according to the machines)

Total distance walked/run/strode: 7km

Not bad. And I managed a full 20 minutes of running at 7.6kmph, which is great. Creeping it up every time, little by little. Oh and this doesn't include the walk to work this morning and the very quick walk to the gym and home again, which totals around 4 miles. Woo hoo!

Knackered now. ;o)

Motivation

I was thinking today (as I sat unmotivated at my desk and then as I ran on the treadmill in the gym) about what motivates me, in particular to do exercise. In no particular order I came up with:

1. New kit - there is nothing like a new pair of running shoes or a new sports bra or other item of exercise clothing to make you want to get out there and try it out. In my case I recently bought some new running leg wear (Ronhill's Powerlite Capri, in the pink), which I tried out on Monday on my run with Flâneur and at the gym today. I must say, I love them. So light you barely notice you're wearing them, no chaffing, and just brill. It was nice not to feel the fabric against my legs that I would get with joggers. I am also awaiting a new sports bra, which will make me want to do more too. Hurry up Bravissimo...
2. Encouragement - the sort that comes from friends and Flâneur and comments on the blog. Today, for example, I knew I wanted to go to the gym, I had all my kit with me, but I was having a crappy day and by 4pm I just wanted to go home. Flâneur had been encouraging me all day, telling me I should go (even when I was saying that I'd do some desperately needed food shopping on my way home instead) and it was a great boost. Then I checked the blog and found an encouraging comment from Wastrel and I thought, right, sod it, I'm going to the gym no matter what. So I did. Yay! Thank you both. :o)
3. Guilt - if Flâneur went out for a run and I stayed at home and sat on the couch, I would feel pretty dreadful. He doesn't make me feel guilty, I hasten to add, I do that all by myself... If he's going to go out, then I'm going to go too as he only started running to encourage me!! There is also the guilt that comes from eating something not so healthy too...
4. Progress - seeing improvement is a powerful motivator, although you have to be careful that it doesn't make you complacent!! But starting to see improvement in my time when I run and in my swimming I am motivated to go again and keep improving it. Honest...
5. Music - I have a collection of upbeat cheesy and not so cheesy toons in a playlist on my ipod (labeled 'running') that just make me feel great and pick up my step and get out and do stuff. I have also used them to just dance around my living room on a Saturday night. They are great whenever I am feeling the need of a little pickmeup or boost in motivation. I recently rediscovered my ipod shuffle so that I don't get them all in the same order every time too. ;o)
6. Seeing other people doing stuff - I watched the World Swimming Championships when they were on and boy did it make me want to get in the pool and swim. I watch Strictly Come Dancing and just want to dance (and sometimes even do, see (5) above). I have even kept going and kept going because someone next too me was too, in the gym, on the treadmill. I get a great surge of joy and motivation to see other people doing active things and it makes me want to do them too.
7. And at the moment - Not wanting to lose TV for 3 months!!

Getting there...

Well, today is the day I see the dress maker and how have I done in my challenge?? Ultimately not brilliantly. I did not get rid of the 5 pounds I had hoped. Boo hiss. I did however, put on a pound, lose it, put it on again, lose it again and then finally by today lose another two. So since I started just over four weeks ago, I am now:

X-2 stones 11 lb and 3/8.

Which, while not my target, I'm pretty pleased with, particularly I have essentially lost 3 pounds in the last week!! Or there abouts... That's what happens when you actually exercise I suppose. And eat reasonably too. I don't think not eating very much helps me very much - I think my body just hangs on to the fat and calories it is storing to compensate for not getting very much. Or something...

Flâneur and I were out for another run yesterday, geeing each other along. It was pretty tough for me as I'm not so good first thing in the morning. I'm better a little later in the day once my legs have warmed up a bit. But we went and we did our route in just under 31 mins, which is still a good time. He ran on on the home straight (the last 20 secs or so) as he likes to sprint the last bit and I'm just about fit to collapse and am lucky to still be running at all! It still felt pretty good though and we were basically doing our 3:1 run:walk ratio. We're slowly getting better! We then walked to the cinema (a good 50 min walk) to see 'Away We Go', which was a lovely little film I would thoroughly recommend. We also walked back, so yesterday was excise tastic!

Today is a random local holiday in Edinburgh that randomly we get off at work (I'm wondering how many customer type people turned up at the building not knowing today...), so I took the opportunity to have a bit of a lie in and then go to the gym. I think I'd do that more in the mornings if I didn't have to work. Great way to start the day. I did my usual treadmill then cross trainer routine, but was very pleased with myself getting up to 17 minutes of running at 7.5 kmph. I'm slowly adding a minute here, a minute there, but have already added 7 minutes since I started going to the gym. All good stuff and I'm sure the reason why the pounds finally appear to be shifting!

Not achieving goals...

Yup, I am officially rubbish at them. The appointment with the dress maker is on Monday coming and I have failed to lose five pounds (and am unlikely to do so by then). In fact, I've pretty much failed to lose any and mostly put one on. Harumph. I have now lost that one again, putting me back at my start point, and if I'm very good I may loose another one by Monday (finger's crossed) but that will mean I have lost a grand total of 1 measly pound in 4 weeks.

Ok, so I wasn't trying my hardest, I must admit, so have no-one to blame but myself. In fact even after the lovely meal Flâneur cooked for Wastrel, SAM and me last week (stilton stuffed pork wrapped in Iberico Ham with little boiled potatoes and aspargus cooked in butter, followed by lots and lots of cheese, wine and port), I managed to be 1lb lighter the next day. How does that happen?? Delayed reaction, I know, but even so... I have been pretty rubbish on the exercise front, failing to get up and swim, failing to go to the gym after work, even failing to get up in time to walk to work most days...

That was until this week! Ha ha! I realise it's only Wednesday, but even so, this week is already going better than the last two-three put together I think!! Admittedly I've had a bit more energy this week and not been quite so dog tired, but I also made sure that I just did stuff anyway as it always makes me feel better in the long run. So on Monday I managed to walk to work and went to the gym after work. At the gym I managed to run a whole 15 minutes on the treadmill without dying (at 7.5km/h), walking for 2 minutes at the beginning at 4km and 4 minutes at the end for 4. I was most impressed with how quickly I managed to recover, not just my breathing, but my heart rate too. The gym had great equipment that has integrated heart rate monitoring bits (I realise lots of gyms probably have these, but it's still fairly new to me for them to either work or be anywhere near accurate). I get a bit obsessive at checking my heart rate, partly to pass the time, and by the end of the run it was way up in the 160s. But after a couple of minutes back down to walking it went back down to the 120s. I was pretty pleased with this. Then it was on to my usual routine on the cross trainer. (See previous posts, it never seems to change!). In total I exercised for about 53 minutes and burned off around 550 cals. Pretty cool.

Tuesday was a bit of a wash out as I managed to neither walk to, nor from work, but we shall gloss over that... Tonight, however, was a lovely sunny evening. The sort that cannot help but put a smile on your face and a skip in your step (got to love September sunshine). So I thought we should go for a run. When I got in Flâneur was in the process of running a bath, but I managed to persuade him to come out for a run with me anyway (he could always put more hot water in when he got back). I'm glad I did as I think it probably did us both some good! He's still not had any holiday this year (I'm sure that's not legal) and it's really getting to him, so anything I can do to distract him helps. Even if it is going for a run! I felt really great on the run tonight and think all the gym work is helping. I certainly felt much much better than last time we went and we managed to up our run/walk ratio to 3:1 for most of the run. Hurrah! At one point we even did 5 mins of running. This is a big deal for us, so I'm very chuffed! I did nearly want to die on the next stretch of running (which is up hill in a gentle but steady and killing way), but who cares, I had just run for 5 whole minutes!

Yes, I know I can do more than that in the gym, but it's entirely different having your pace regulated and running on an entirely flat surface that is the treadmill. Anyway, I am extremely pleased with myself (and with Flâneur, who came out despite not really wanting to) and now just waiting for these endorphins to stop flooding my brain with that post exercise euphoria so I can collapse on the sofa in peace!!

Catch up

After a two week exercise drought due to my non-cold, I have been back at it with avengeance this week.  A fairly cultural weekend, reasonable weather (with the odd down pour to keep us on our toes), and our general propensity to walk everywhere in this fair city, saw me walking around 6 miles on Saturday and a further 2.6 miles on Sunday.  Then on Monday I was at the gym after work (the usual 12 1/2 mins run on the treadmill, with some walking either side, then the cross trainer), and on Tuesday I was finally back in the pool.  Very happy about this.  Having not been since 20 July (eek!) I was expecting terrible things.  While I was not doing my under 32 minutes that I had been in July, I did do my 40 lengths (1km) in 33 minutes, which I was pretty pleased with.  Yay!  This is not to mention walking to and from work (all but twice).

As for the culture at the weekend, this was great.  On Friday night we went to see the new dance production from Michael Clark (who I shall pretend I have heard of!) that was on as part of the Edinburgh International Festival (proper culture like).  Flâneur was quite keen to go as it was a mix of ballet and contemporary dance to Bowie, Iggy and Lou Reed tracks, all of which he is interested in.  I must say it was really really good.  In fact, as someone who is generally not interested in seeing ballet etc, I really liked it!  I think the contemporary mixed with the ballet helped here (not to mention the music).  Some of it seemed very yogic to me - a flow of strong movements - and it was quite hypnotic.  

Saturday saw us at the cinema in the afternoon to see 'Broken Embraces', the new film from Pedro Almodovar with Penelope Cruise.  It was also very good.  Almodovar's films really give Penelope Cruise a chance to show the world that she can actually act, or at least I think so, and I like them for that.  It was also an engaging story.  I am no film critic, so all I can say was I enjoyed it and would recommend it. 

After the cinema we were out at the book festival (festival season!) to see Raymond Blanc talk about his life and his passion for food and cooking.  I think it was supposed to be questions and answers with the guy chairing it, but Raymond was just too enthusiastic to talk and talk, so we'd get a question and then a massive long answer that was rambling, engaging and making some serious points all at the same time.  He couldn't sit in his seat, he was itching to get up and talk and gesticulate and show us his passion.  I loved it and could have listened to him talk for much longer than the hour we were given.  The three audience members who got a chance to ask questions all asked sensible ones (inlcuding: is there any food you don't like?  Mostly the answer was: well in Japan I had... this made me giggle).  Obviously he was there to promote his autobiography and on the strength of his talk, I really look forward to reading it sometime!  :o)

So, fairly cultural all in all.  But that's the festivals over for another year, the nights are drawing in again, the weather is turning and we're getting our city back from all the thousands of tourists.  Hurrah, I will be able to walk home again without getting stuck behind the meandering visitors.  Don't get me wrong, they are good for the economy and what do I expect living in a prime tourist destination, but during August it gets a bit much when you can't go about your usual business without wading through them.  But I shan't rant about this, I shall go back to the gym, back to the pool and hopefully, hopefully get fitter and healthier, and maybe even a little bit slimmer...  

Gym Bunny

With the pool closed (boo!), I have been hitting the gym instead. Well, I say hitting - does three times count?? I went twice last week (once early in the morning, which was great as there were only 4 other people there, and then again on a day off, which was great because 10:30 is a good time to go to the gym for me, if I didn't work...). I mostly just wanted to use the cross-trainer because I like the low impact cardio element, but when I went on the Monday I couldn't work out how to make it work at first! So I had to try the treadmill, which was more obvious. I was very very pleased with myself that I managed to run on the treadmill for 10 minutes straight. Go me! This was just at 7km per hour (super slow) on the first go, but I got it up to 12 1/2 mins at 7.5km today. :o) And it didn't cripple me the next day...

I did eventually work out the cross-trainer (when it looks like it's off, it's not obvious that it will come on when you start moving your feet) and did the 'weight loss' programme. It was good and I enjoyed it. 4 minutes of a low resistance, 4 minutes of a higher resistance, etcetc for 28 mins. The whole gym experience was actually great and I felt great. I think it helps that it's a really nice gym with tonnes of equipment, so even this evening, when I was there around 5, it didn't feel too busy. I may even keep going after the pool re-opens, to supplement my swimming! And seeing as I've put a few pounds on lately and am trying to get an appointment with a dress maker I think that's no bad thing!