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)
Showing posts with label tiredness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tiredness. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Short progress report
Today is weigh-in day, having started my newest regime last Wednesday. In my first week of using an online food diary I have lost (drum roll please):
2 1/2 lb.
Which is good as I am aiming for a 2lb per week weight loss to get to my first target (10% weight loss).
On the down side I'm back to X-1 stone 2 1/2 lb, which was what I had been static at for ages... Ok, so this had gone up to 5 lb over a few weeks, but I feel like I'm back where I started and it's taking quite a lot of motivation to see it as positive weight loss at the moment and not some sort of fluctuation. Only next week will really have me believing that this is working...
Being tired today probably doesn't help. Ah well. Roll on next week.
2 1/2 lb.
Which is good as I am aiming for a 2lb per week weight loss to get to my first target (10% weight loss).
On the down side I'm back to X-1 stone 2 1/2 lb, which was what I had been static at for ages... Ok, so this had gone up to 5 lb over a few weeks, but I feel like I'm back where I started and it's taking quite a lot of motivation to see it as positive weight loss at the moment and not some sort of fluctuation. Only next week will really have me believing that this is working...
Being tired today probably doesn't help. Ah well. Roll on next week.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
2010 - Hit the Ground Running
What a start to the year! I’ve barely had time to do nothing, let alone the time to blog about it…
We started with one of those sorts of weeks that should make your head spin, if it weren’t that things would never get done if your head was spinning all the time. After Christmas and New Year were over with, it was a hasty finish off of packing for Flâneur and then pick up the van, drive across to his parents, realise the screen-wash in the van isn’t working properly, get very frustrated as the slush on the road made the windscreen filthy and then drive down to Manchester. The latter of which would have been fine if it hadn’t been freezing cold, mucky roads and no working screen-wash. It was pretty hairy at times as I found my vision seriously impaired while driving and I was very thankful (a) that the motorways were quiet on the first Monday after New Year and that (b) it started to snow on the outskirts of Manchester, just as the traffic was building up and that meant my windscreen cleaned itself for the first time ever!
We did get there in one piece and the flat wasn’t so bad (not as nice as our Edinburgh flat) but the snow unfortunately did not stop. It was pretty at first, until we woke up to 4 inches of the stuff the next day and a rising panic about how I was going to get to Sheffield for a job interview!! (Oh, yes, nothing like packing it all in in one week!). A hasty call to my colleague to get her to check the railway websites and a phone call from the people in Sheffield to see if I was going to make it and reschedule if not (very nice of them!) and I was on my way. It was very very pretty, but I just didn’t feel like I could really appreciate it while I was worrying about whether or not I’d get to Sheffield, get back or get stuck!!
As it was, it all went ok. I got there, I got the job and I could then relax a bit. Well for a couple of days until the drive back north! I kept scouring the sky for more snow and examining the roads for signs of ice and checking the van would actually move again… The drive back was no less terrifying as this time the screen-wash was actually frozen, not just broke. We got pretty far without having to stop and splosh screen-wash directly onto the windscreen, but after that we stopped at nearly every service station to clean the damn thing. Freezing fog (and no idea where the fog lights were) made things even more ‘fun’ and by Hamilton I was ready to give up and stay the night in a travel lodge, anything that meant I didn’t have to drive anymore. But I pulled myself together and we made it home (with one or two more stops) and I have never been more glad to see my flat as I was then…
I did manage to fit in a swim when I was down in Manchester, in their lovely Aquatic Centre – the first swim in a good few months! In fact probably the first proper exercise I have done in a good few months… (so much so that I am surprised that I only put 2 pounds on over the festive period and that they have gone away again – hurrah!). It was lovely being able to go mid morning for a swim, so quiet, I could really get used to that! It was at its full 50m (and took some getting used to that there was no shallow end) and I managed my usual 1km in a very respectable 33 minutes 33. I was very happy with that. I had time to kill so I did a few lengths of backstroke too, timing myself to see which I was quicker at. Surprisingly the breaststroke beat the backstroke by a good few seconds. I’d always assumed it would be the other way round…
Now we are firmly in January, Flâneur and I are also firmly into our weeks apart. I managed to fill my first week without him to the full, seeing my dress maker (she’s starting on the sewing now!), teaching my class, trying to build a new bed with HMcM (who I think surprised herself with how straight forward it was), and then a FABULOUS night with my FABULOUS friends at Hotel Missoni, where we drank cocktails, ate lovely food, drank nice champagne and wine and generally appreciated what greats friends we are.
I shall miss them very much when I move south. Even though we don’t all get together that often, I like having them nearby, just in case an emergency night out or dinner is needed… ;o) But there will be fabulous weekends to be had in the future, and I’ve not gone yet…
I’ve had my first weekend trip down to Manchester (arriving late on Friday and leaving early on Monday), which was lovely – it’s a bit like dating again. Only with fewer meals out because we’re very poor having to run two flats in two expensive cities! It was nice to wander round the shops – Manchester is cracking for shops – and generally hang out with F. With a realisation that the wedding is only two months away now we also got a lot of the little niggly things sorted, on paper at least, if not in reality!
I find myself exhausted now though and looking desperately forward to the first weekend where I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything in particular. A real bum-about weekend with no travel!! I think I’ve got just two weekends to wait, maybe??
We started with one of those sorts of weeks that should make your head spin, if it weren’t that things would never get done if your head was spinning all the time. After Christmas and New Year were over with, it was a hasty finish off of packing for Flâneur and then pick up the van, drive across to his parents, realise the screen-wash in the van isn’t working properly, get very frustrated as the slush on the road made the windscreen filthy and then drive down to Manchester. The latter of which would have been fine if it hadn’t been freezing cold, mucky roads and no working screen-wash. It was pretty hairy at times as I found my vision seriously impaired while driving and I was very thankful (a) that the motorways were quiet on the first Monday after New Year and that (b) it started to snow on the outskirts of Manchester, just as the traffic was building up and that meant my windscreen cleaned itself for the first time ever!
We did get there in one piece and the flat wasn’t so bad (not as nice as our Edinburgh flat) but the snow unfortunately did not stop. It was pretty at first, until we woke up to 4 inches of the stuff the next day and a rising panic about how I was going to get to Sheffield for a job interview!! (Oh, yes, nothing like packing it all in in one week!). A hasty call to my colleague to get her to check the railway websites and a phone call from the people in Sheffield to see if I was going to make it and reschedule if not (very nice of them!) and I was on my way. It was very very pretty, but I just didn’t feel like I could really appreciate it while I was worrying about whether or not I’d get to Sheffield, get back or get stuck!!
As it was, it all went ok. I got there, I got the job and I could then relax a bit. Well for a couple of days until the drive back north! I kept scouring the sky for more snow and examining the roads for signs of ice and checking the van would actually move again… The drive back was no less terrifying as this time the screen-wash was actually frozen, not just broke. We got pretty far without having to stop and splosh screen-wash directly onto the windscreen, but after that we stopped at nearly every service station to clean the damn thing. Freezing fog (and no idea where the fog lights were) made things even more ‘fun’ and by Hamilton I was ready to give up and stay the night in a travel lodge, anything that meant I didn’t have to drive anymore. But I pulled myself together and we made it home (with one or two more stops) and I have never been more glad to see my flat as I was then…
I did manage to fit in a swim when I was down in Manchester, in their lovely Aquatic Centre – the first swim in a good few months! In fact probably the first proper exercise I have done in a good few months… (so much so that I am surprised that I only put 2 pounds on over the festive period and that they have gone away again – hurrah!). It was lovely being able to go mid morning for a swim, so quiet, I could really get used to that! It was at its full 50m (and took some getting used to that there was no shallow end) and I managed my usual 1km in a very respectable 33 minutes 33. I was very happy with that. I had time to kill so I did a few lengths of backstroke too, timing myself to see which I was quicker at. Surprisingly the breaststroke beat the backstroke by a good few seconds. I’d always assumed it would be the other way round…
Now we are firmly in January, Flâneur and I are also firmly into our weeks apart. I managed to fill my first week without him to the full, seeing my dress maker (she’s starting on the sewing now!), teaching my class, trying to build a new bed with HMcM (who I think surprised herself with how straight forward it was), and then a FABULOUS night with my FABULOUS friends at Hotel Missoni, where we drank cocktails, ate lovely food, drank nice champagne and wine and generally appreciated what greats friends we are.
I shall miss them very much when I move south. Even though we don’t all get together that often, I like having them nearby, just in case an emergency night out or dinner is needed… ;o) But there will be fabulous weekends to be had in the future, and I’ve not gone yet…
I’ve had my first weekend trip down to Manchester (arriving late on Friday and leaving early on Monday), which was lovely – it’s a bit like dating again. Only with fewer meals out because we’re very poor having to run two flats in two expensive cities! It was nice to wander round the shops – Manchester is cracking for shops – and generally hang out with F. With a realisation that the wedding is only two months away now we also got a lot of the little niggly things sorted, on paper at least, if not in reality!
I find myself exhausted now though and looking desperately forward to the first weekend where I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything in particular. A real bum-about weekend with no travel!! I think I’ve got just two weekends to wait, maybe??
Friday, November 20, 2009
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...
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...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Happy happy...
Back after a fabulous weekend away I was a little trepidations at getting on the scales this morning. We arrived up at the house on Friday night to lovely cooking smells as Wastrel was cooking up a delicious chilli. There were 10 of us for dinner and it was no mean feat considering her family had just departed that morning and both her and SAM were a little hungover and exhausted for entertaining a different 10 people the night before! I was mightily impressed with them both, I must say. Dinner was delicious and there was good chat and wine. I have become something of a light weight when it comes to alcohol as I don’t drink so much or so often any more, so I made sure I only had a couple of glasses so as to not over do it. (There are also a large number of calories in wine, which is not good for those of us watching our weight!). The chilli and rice was very filling so I didn’t feel that I was being virtuous when I had just a small slice of cake and single spoon of ice cream – I’m not sure I could have fitted more than that in! More chat and gift giving made for a very lovely evening and as we were all pretty knackered a fairly early night as we all toddled off to bed around 11:30-midnight! Oh, so old…
On the Saturday we were all up fairly breezily and out of the house by about 11 to go for a walk. We wanted one that was around the hour/2 hour mark and coincided with a pub for lunch. We had been recommended a pub (the Meikleour inn) by one of the neighbours and it had been suggested that there would be two walks for us to do – one to a Neolithic dyke and the other down to the river. When we got there, we found the first walk and set off. It was very flat and fairly pleasant, but nothing much to write home about. We did walk for about an hour, but it wasn’t quite the sort of walk we had been expecting. On enquiring at the pub we found that there was no second walk as you couldn’t get down to the river due to it all being private property. Bah! We had a little wander round the village (including taking in a very odd little craft fair that, in Flâneur’s words, smelt like a jumble sale). In the end we decided just to cut our losses and go to the pub instead, and get lunch earlier than intended.
It was a perfectly pleasant pub, with a nice local ale (which, to the scorn of some of the others, I had in a half shandy!), and the food was nice enough. I think those of us who went for the more traditional pub grub – the fish, the scampi, the burger – had a better eating experience as the meat for the others wasn’t quite cooked how it was requested. I had the battered fish and chips, which was very lovely, but a little naughty while I’m trying to lose weight!! Saturday afternoon and evening was then spent playing games before eating yet more food. They had got a lovely big bit of pork in to roast, and it was delicious (especially the crackling, hmm….). Having had a fairly big lunch I did make sure I just had a little of dinner, rather than a greedy amount, but I think I ended up not applying this to the roast potatoes. Which were yum. Ah well, in for a penny… HMcM had made a cake – her first – so we had that for dessert with yet more of the ice cream (which I passed on. Not the cake, I had cake and very nice it was too).
The real killer of Saturday night though was the booze. I haven’t drunk that much wine for a very long time… We were playing poker (10 of us again!) and my glass just kept getting refilled. And then there was whisky… Oh my poor head. I did not bad in the poker, getting in to the final four with Coco, HL and Wastrel. Coco and Wastrel had A LOT more chips than HL and I, who were down to our stake and about a pound. I had decided that I was going to just play with the winnings and not my stake when I got up to that amount, but a fit of bravado, a stupid thought and too much wine made me go all in on a pair of 9s and I lost it all to Wastrel… Ah well, it was fun and I don’t regret it! We didn’t get to bed until around 3, 3:30 and even though I had stopped drinking wine around midnight and had been drinking plenty of water all night, I felt pretty dreadful yesterday. It didn’t help that I barely slept due to alcohol headaches and period pains, but I have not been hungover for a while and yesterday I remembered why not. Urgh. Last night Flâneur and I went to bed at 9 (asleep by 10:30) and boy was ever an early night needed! I also haven’t slept through the night for a few months now, and it was bliss! If only I didn’t need to be totally exhausted to do that…
But, as yesterday was supposed to be a weigh in day on this challenge but I was away from my scales, I did it this morning. As I said, with a little trepidation after the excesses of the weekend. I was more than delighted when I saw the results:
X-2 stone, 9 lb and ¾
Hurrah! Happy happy happy… This officially means that I have lost a grand total of 1 & ½ stones over all so far, since starting all this in March/April of last year. Woo hoo! It’s taken me ages to get to this point, but it’s great to see it finally drifting down rather than the dreadful plateau I had been used to of late. It also means that so far in the challenge, after 2 week, I have lost just over 3 pounds, which whilst not being as much as I would like, is a really good start.
Off to the gym tonight, got to keep up the good work! (Especially as the weekend’s calories are probably just taking their time to distribute round my body!!).
On the Saturday we were all up fairly breezily and out of the house by about 11 to go for a walk. We wanted one that was around the hour/2 hour mark and coincided with a pub for lunch. We had been recommended a pub (the Meikleour inn) by one of the neighbours and it had been suggested that there would be two walks for us to do – one to a Neolithic dyke and the other down to the river. When we got there, we found the first walk and set off. It was very flat and fairly pleasant, but nothing much to write home about. We did walk for about an hour, but it wasn’t quite the sort of walk we had been expecting. On enquiring at the pub we found that there was no second walk as you couldn’t get down to the river due to it all being private property. Bah! We had a little wander round the village (including taking in a very odd little craft fair that, in Flâneur’s words, smelt like a jumble sale). In the end we decided just to cut our losses and go to the pub instead, and get lunch earlier than intended.
It was a perfectly pleasant pub, with a nice local ale (which, to the scorn of some of the others, I had in a half shandy!), and the food was nice enough. I think those of us who went for the more traditional pub grub – the fish, the scampi, the burger – had a better eating experience as the meat for the others wasn’t quite cooked how it was requested. I had the battered fish and chips, which was very lovely, but a little naughty while I’m trying to lose weight!! Saturday afternoon and evening was then spent playing games before eating yet more food. They had got a lovely big bit of pork in to roast, and it was delicious (especially the crackling, hmm….). Having had a fairly big lunch I did make sure I just had a little of dinner, rather than a greedy amount, but I think I ended up not applying this to the roast potatoes. Which were yum. Ah well, in for a penny… HMcM had made a cake – her first – so we had that for dessert with yet more of the ice cream (which I passed on. Not the cake, I had cake and very nice it was too).
The real killer of Saturday night though was the booze. I haven’t drunk that much wine for a very long time… We were playing poker (10 of us again!) and my glass just kept getting refilled. And then there was whisky… Oh my poor head. I did not bad in the poker, getting in to the final four with Coco, HL and Wastrel. Coco and Wastrel had A LOT more chips than HL and I, who were down to our stake and about a pound. I had decided that I was going to just play with the winnings and not my stake when I got up to that amount, but a fit of bravado, a stupid thought and too much wine made me go all in on a pair of 9s and I lost it all to Wastrel… Ah well, it was fun and I don’t regret it! We didn’t get to bed until around 3, 3:30 and even though I had stopped drinking wine around midnight and had been drinking plenty of water all night, I felt pretty dreadful yesterday. It didn’t help that I barely slept due to alcohol headaches and period pains, but I have not been hungover for a while and yesterday I remembered why not. Urgh. Last night Flâneur and I went to bed at 9 (asleep by 10:30) and boy was ever an early night needed! I also haven’t slept through the night for a few months now, and it was bliss! If only I didn’t need to be totally exhausted to do that…
But, as yesterday was supposed to be a weigh in day on this challenge but I was away from my scales, I did it this morning. As I said, with a little trepidation after the excesses of the weekend. I was more than delighted when I saw the results:
X-2 stone, 9 lb and ¾
Hurrah! Happy happy happy… This officially means that I have lost a grand total of 1 & ½ stones over all so far, since starting all this in March/April of last year. Woo hoo! It’s taken me ages to get to this point, but it’s great to see it finally drifting down rather than the dreadful plateau I had been used to of late. It also means that so far in the challenge, after 2 week, I have lost just over 3 pounds, which whilst not being as much as I would like, is a really good start.
Off to the gym tonight, got to keep up the good work! (Especially as the weekend’s calories are probably just taking their time to distribute round my body!!).
Friday, October 16, 2009
Roundup
Well, it's Friday and I haven't quite managed to do as much exercise as I had hoped this week. Which is annoying. As well as going to the gym on Monday (good), I managed to not swim all week (not good), and take the bus to work (not good), but I have been walking home (good) and I did go for a run with Flâneur on Wednesday (good). It is getting increasingly difficult to get up in the mornings at the moment as it is dark out when the alarm goes off and I just want to curl up and sleep sleep sleep for at least 2 more hours. I feel like I'm constantly fighting the urge to hibernate! Not good when you have a job to go to that inconsiderately wants you there by 9 and not good if you want to go for a swim before said job starts.
But, as I say, I did managed to go for a run on Wednesday. I was pretty tired when I got home but had already made Flâneur put off his run so I could go with him so there was no way I could back out of going. I had a drink and a banana to try and perk myself up and decided we'd do our usual 2.4mile route backwards. I always hate the end of it because it's a steady uphill through people trying to get on and off buses and thought it might be more pleasant downhill. It started out ok, with a 4:1 ratio, and a steady downhill (hurrah), but when we reached the park I was fit to drop. I hurt, I was tired and I did not want to be running. The grass looked pretty inviting and I could have easily lain down on it and gone to sleep... So we had a faltering 2:1 and 3:1 before I got my stamina back to go back up to 4:1. On the 3 minutes running I had to keep chanting 'You CAN do it, you CAN do it...' over and over to keep me going. I think it kind of worked as Flâneur thought we were running a bit quicker at that point. I definitely picked up after that and our downhill(well, it's sort of downhill) back to the flat was done at top speed - I just got this sudden splurge of energy. Shifting my stride used different muscles which probably helped. And this sprint finish definitely must have helped our over all time come in at just under 30 minutes (29:42), which is some sort of record for me!
So while it blipped in the middle, it ended up being a pretty good run all in all... For me at least - I think I'm still a bit slow for my dear beloved...
I had meant to go to the gym again on Thursday as I wont be doing anything so strenuous over the weekend, but a mare with timing on a project I had to finish meant I had to go straight home instead. We're off up North tonight to celebrate Wastrel's birthday and we have been instructed to bring walking gear, so there should be a nice long walk on the cards that should help (yes, I know I could take my running gear and go for a run, but it's in the wash - I really need more than one set of everything...).
I have been very good with my eating all this week (like last week), but still sitting at a weightloss total of a couple of ounces for this week so far, so I shall have to be careful (but not in a boring way) whilst away. Don't want to find myself undoing all the work I've done so far... This weightloss malarkey is hard enough as it is! Honestly I exercise my butt off and I eat a lot less and a lot more healthily and what happens - 1 measly pound, that's what. That doesn't seem fair to me...
Anyway, I don't actually 'weigh in' for the week until Sunday so we shall see what the scales say when I get home.
But, as I say, I did managed to go for a run on Wednesday. I was pretty tired when I got home but had already made Flâneur put off his run so I could go with him so there was no way I could back out of going. I had a drink and a banana to try and perk myself up and decided we'd do our usual 2.4mile route backwards. I always hate the end of it because it's a steady uphill through people trying to get on and off buses and thought it might be more pleasant downhill. It started out ok, with a 4:1 ratio, and a steady downhill (hurrah), but when we reached the park I was fit to drop. I hurt, I was tired and I did not want to be running. The grass looked pretty inviting and I could have easily lain down on it and gone to sleep... So we had a faltering 2:1 and 3:1 before I got my stamina back to go back up to 4:1. On the 3 minutes running I had to keep chanting 'You CAN do it, you CAN do it...' over and over to keep me going. I think it kind of worked as Flâneur thought we were running a bit quicker at that point. I definitely picked up after that and our downhill(well, it's sort of downhill) back to the flat was done at top speed - I just got this sudden splurge of energy. Shifting my stride used different muscles which probably helped. And this sprint finish definitely must have helped our over all time come in at just under 30 minutes (29:42), which is some sort of record for me!
So while it blipped in the middle, it ended up being a pretty good run all in all... For me at least - I think I'm still a bit slow for my dear beloved...
I had meant to go to the gym again on Thursday as I wont be doing anything so strenuous over the weekend, but a mare with timing on a project I had to finish meant I had to go straight home instead. We're off up North tonight to celebrate Wastrel's birthday and we have been instructed to bring walking gear, so there should be a nice long walk on the cards that should help (yes, I know I could take my running gear and go for a run, but it's in the wash - I really need more than one set of everything...).
I have been very good with my eating all this week (like last week), but still sitting at a weightloss total of a couple of ounces for this week so far, so I shall have to be careful (but not in a boring way) whilst away. Don't want to find myself undoing all the work I've done so far... This weightloss malarkey is hard enough as it is! Honestly I exercise my butt off and I eat a lot less and a lot more healthily and what happens - 1 measly pound, that's what. That doesn't seem fair to me...
Anyway, I don't actually 'weigh in' for the week until Sunday so we shall see what the scales say when I get home.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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??
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??
Friday, August 28, 2009
Week One
Well, this week has not gone very well at all. I stood on the scales this morning and they declared:
X-1 stone 0 lb 3/8 oz.
I believe that is a total of having put on 1 lb, not lost one. Boo hiss. I thought I was doing quite well with the eating this week, but clearly not. Yes, I had a few lapses (the entire bag of microwave popcorn on Tuesday night was not exactly necessary), but generally I thought I did alright. God damn this is difficult…
Ok, so I pretty much did no exercise this week, except walk home from work a few times (which we must remember is 1.9 miles and does take about 35 mins). Oh, and I did a massive 5.5 mile hike to Waitrose and back last Saturday with Flâneur, which actually really only meant that we didn’t put on anything from the lovely dinner he made that night…*
Even so, it’s still pretty depressing to have not even lost a measly ounce or two and to have put on instead. Harumph. I will now have to work doubly hard in this coming week to lose 2lb to make up for having put one on and not lost anything. Damn, actually to catch up I need to lose 3 don’t I?
Crap.
*My excuse on the exercise front is that I have been feeling pretty rubbish all this week. Really tired and a bit coldy. I haven’t actually got a cold, but from time to time I suffer from these really annoying cold like symptoms – stuffy head, exhaustion, slight blocking of the nose. Never really come to anything and never bad enough to stay off work (more’s the pity), but annoying and a bit disruptive none-the-less.
X-1 stone 0 lb 3/8 oz.
I believe that is a total of having put on 1 lb, not lost one. Boo hiss. I thought I was doing quite well with the eating this week, but clearly not. Yes, I had a few lapses (the entire bag of microwave popcorn on Tuesday night was not exactly necessary), but generally I thought I did alright. God damn this is difficult…
Ok, so I pretty much did no exercise this week, except walk home from work a few times (which we must remember is 1.9 miles and does take about 35 mins). Oh, and I did a massive 5.5 mile hike to Waitrose and back last Saturday with Flâneur, which actually really only meant that we didn’t put on anything from the lovely dinner he made that night…*
Even so, it’s still pretty depressing to have not even lost a measly ounce or two and to have put on instead. Harumph. I will now have to work doubly hard in this coming week to lose 2lb to make up for having put one on and not lost anything. Damn, actually to catch up I need to lose 3 don’t I?
Crap.
*My excuse on the exercise front is that I have been feeling pretty rubbish all this week. Really tired and a bit coldy. I haven’t actually got a cold, but from time to time I suffer from these really annoying cold like symptoms – stuffy head, exhaustion, slight blocking of the nose. Never really come to anything and never bad enough to stay off work (more’s the pity), but annoying and a bit disruptive none-the-less.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sometimes you just can't plan...
Things didn't quite go to plan this week...
It started off well enough, getting up and going to the pool on Monday. It was another nice quiet morning in there and I had my lane to myself for most of the time. I started off ok and tried not to do those dreadfully slow lengths of last week and got on ok. Not brilliant, but ok. If the lane had stayed empty of all but me, I would have done my backstroke at the end again, but with about 4 or 5 lengths to go one of the Chinese girls I sometimes see in the pool joined me so that option went out the window. On the plus side, she's very nice and always waits so as not to hold me (or anyone else in the lane) up. She's a fairly new swimmer so starts off just swimming up and down the part of the pool before the floor slopes away. About 10m I think. If you're coming down the lane towards the shallow end when she's about to turn, she hangs by the side and waits for you to go past, which is really very lovely and considerate! This then makes me swim this bit faster as I don't want to hold her up for too long... On Monday this proved to be something of a revelation as I got considerably more hot and out of breath with my heart beating faster. Hmm... I thought... I should perhaps be swimming at this pace more often! The knackering sort of pace, rather than the comfortable one. That way I might actually lose some more weight as it will be having a better effect!!
So that will be my challenge for next week. I might start just by doing one power length every five or something, see how I get on with that. It means only 8 power laps (if I've got my maths right), but that might prove to be 8 too many!! It'll have to be a challenge for this week coming because I managed to fail to do any exercise the whole rest of the week just gone. And I had planned to try and go as often as possible last week, hoping to make it to the pool four or five times...
Alas on Monday at some point, I'm thinking in the evening some time, I ate something that should by all rights have been in the bin. I suspect it was some hummus I had bought the week before that smelt and tasted ok, as that was the only think that I ate that Flâneur didn't. My gut started grumbling after dinner, but I thought it was just a general grumble as I'd eaten healthily that day! It woke me just after 3, however and refused to let me get back to sleep. By morning proper I was sick as a dog, knackered and there was noway I was going anywhere. Thankfully the sickness only lasted one day, but I was off work again on Wednesday with exhaustion, and probably should have stayed off on Thursday too (it's not like I managed to do anything and everyone kept telling me I still looked ill!). So no exercise for the rest of the week while I carefully looked after myself so as not to overdo it while I still recovered from being sick. Bleugh.
So that will be my challenge for next week. I might start just by doing one power length every five or something, see how I get on with that. It means only 8 power laps (if I've got my maths right), but that might prove to be 8 too many!! It'll have to be a challenge for this week coming because I managed to fail to do any exercise the whole rest of the week just gone. And I had planned to try and go as often as possible last week, hoping to make it to the pool four or five times...
Alas on Monday at some point, I'm thinking in the evening some time, I ate something that should by all rights have been in the bin. I suspect it was some hummus I had bought the week before that smelt and tasted ok, as that was the only think that I ate that Flâneur didn't. My gut started grumbling after dinner, but I thought it was just a general grumble as I'd eaten healthily that day! It woke me just after 3, however and refused to let me get back to sleep. By morning proper I was sick as a dog, knackered and there was noway I was going anywhere. Thankfully the sickness only lasted one day, but I was off work again on Wednesday with exhaustion, and probably should have stayed off on Thursday too (it's not like I managed to do anything and everyone kept telling me I still looked ill!). So no exercise for the rest of the week while I carefully looked after myself so as not to overdo it while I still recovered from being sick. Bleugh.
On the plus side (or not) I got down to X-2 stone 10 lb and some ounces by Wednesday... That's a nice and unhealthy 3 1/2 pounds in one day!! Oops... I have managed to put most of it back on again (shame!), but was still at a respectable X-2 stone and 12ish lbs by the end of the week. Not so bad...
Being off did mean I got to watch more of the tennis than I would usually, even if I did keep falling asleep at key moments. It's slightly disconcerting to be watching an Andy Murray match one minute and then waking up to see Hewitt and Roddick playing without a scooby about what happened to Murray... But it's been a pretty good Wimbledon, from what I've seen.
So it's back to the grindstone tomorrow and I'll have to make sure I make this week really counts. We're off up to Perth the week after to house and dog sit so there will be no swimming for me. Hopefully lots of nice long walks instead, but it's all so easy to just eat when you've got a week off and not exercise it off as you go along! I will have to be careful of that.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Bad week(s)
After that good start it's all gone downhill in the last two weeks. At the beginning of last week I started feeling really tired, lethargic, exhausted even, my concentration at work started to wain and I even started feeling a little lightheaded every now and again. I refer to it as being post-viral because that's all I can compare it to, but I've not had a virus lately (that I know of!) :o( I can't explain it very well, but it's been very annoying.
It's meant as well as not feeling able to exercise, I've missed SAM's 30th birthday (which I was quite upset about, I was just going for drinks, but was still looking forward to seeing her on her birthday), I've been going to bed really early as I'm feeling so tired, and I missed my Japanese class last night. I slept for nearly 12 hours on Saturday night, not uninterrupted, but even so.
I haven't necessarily been sleeping very well, as I am a borderline insomniac at times, so it's probably linked to that. But I have obviously been on the internet and have considered several other options - you should never let a hypochondriac near the internet!
By the way, I'm not the traditional sort of insomniac. I get to sleep ok, I wake once or twice a night, and get back to sleep again reasonably ok, but the quality of sleep I get when I sleep is not good.
Anyway, this has carried on in to this week, albeit a little less than last week, so I've booked myself a doctors appointment. We'll see what they have to say - I expect not very much. I've also been off the last two days from work as I was sick yesterday, so no doubt the doctor will think it was some kind of virus...
Hopefully it's just been a short term thing and I'm already feeling better today - perhaps I'm actually allergic to work!
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