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.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
A New Challenge
I’m going to be a bit more realistic this time. I think I set myself unrealistic goals by setting the bar too high! Basically I have an appointment with a dress maker on 21st September (very very exciting!). While I will not have to be at my slim point for the dress at this initial meeting, I figured it will give me a nice goal to work towards. By my calculations, that is exactly 1 month from today (that’s the sort of maths I like). Just over 4 weeks. I had initially thought it was 5 weeks, but that’s just stupid, so had initially been thinking, I’ll aim to lose 5lb. So a nice round 1lb per week, which really shouldn’t be so challenging, (but clearly is or I’d be a waif by now!). While it’s not actually 5 weeks, I’ll still aim to lose just over a pound a week as I like the idea of losing 5 of them.
I weighed myself this morning and came in at:
X-2 stone 13lb and 3/8.
Really, that was quite a relief because for some unknown* reason I had been back up in the early X-1 stone bracket for a good couple of weeks. Finally it’s gone back down (I don’t care if that’s only by a few ounces, those ounces are important!). So by 21st September I will attempt to reach the heady heights of X-2 stones and 8 pounds. A mere 5 pounds off my 2 stone point, 2 pound below the 1 ½ stone point, and a bloody good kick start.
*Not really that unknown, I spent one weekend pretty much doing nothing but eating…. I am a glutton, a greedy person and a lover of food. I am very sure that it’s only gone back down again because I have been pushing myself quite hard on the exercise front. This I intend to keep up. Last night I went out with Flâneur for a run, and we upped our run walk ratio to 2.30 : 1 (ish), which was ok. Actually it was pretty hard for me as I feel like my chest has been constricting all week and I was wheezing something rotten on some parts. Poor Flâneur can easily run at a quicker pace that me and probably could have kept up walking! So long as I don’t have some sort of chest infection or other malady, we will go out again at the weekend. The pool re-opens on Monday and I am rather taken with the gym. So hopefully I might exceed my target. That or use it all as an excuse to eat more. ;o)
I weighed myself this morning and came in at:
X-2 stone 13lb and 3/8.
Really, that was quite a relief because for some unknown* reason I had been back up in the early X-1 stone bracket for a good couple of weeks. Finally it’s gone back down (I don’t care if that’s only by a few ounces, those ounces are important!). So by 21st September I will attempt to reach the heady heights of X-2 stones and 8 pounds. A mere 5 pounds off my 2 stone point, 2 pound below the 1 ½ stone point, and a bloody good kick start.
*Not really that unknown, I spent one weekend pretty much doing nothing but eating…. I am a glutton, a greedy person and a lover of food. I am very sure that it’s only gone back down again because I have been pushing myself quite hard on the exercise front. This I intend to keep up. Last night I went out with Flâneur for a run, and we upped our run walk ratio to 2.30 : 1 (ish), which was ok. Actually it was pretty hard for me as I feel like my chest has been constricting all week and I was wheezing something rotten on some parts. Poor Flâneur can easily run at a quicker pace that me and probably could have kept up walking! So long as I don’t have some sort of chest infection or other malady, we will go out again at the weekend. The pool re-opens on Monday and I am rather taken with the gym. So hopefully I might exceed my target. That or use it all as an excuse to eat more. ;o)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
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!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Update!
Have been neglecting the blog for a bit too long... And as always I am prompted by recording the efforts of some exercise!
Since the last post I have spent a week in Perthshire looking after two of my favourite pooches, who were absolutely adorable the whole week (despite a bit of whinging from Baff...). We walked quite a bit and read and it was generally very relaxing. The only annoying thing being Flâneur having to work the whole week. His boss is the most annoying man I have ever come across, he really is... When we got back from Perth though we had approximately four hours before being descended upon by my parents and two of their friends (who I've known forever, not just random friends of my parents). I had a nice week with them too, but was grateful that their stay was only til the Thursday so I could prepare myself for going back to work!
On the exercise front I managed to go swimming twice when I was on my holidays, on both Mondays, and again had great swims. In fact on the second Monday it was my fastest swim ever clocking in at about 31:15 (can't remember the exact figure now). I have subsequently not been swimming, partly because I was just knackered last week... I'd been working over the weekend and suffered two very annoying migraines, so I was left pretty tired during the week. I did try to go this week, but was scuppered by the pool being closed! Which is the most annoying thing when you've made the effort to get up and are quite psyched about going for a swim. I stood there for ages trying all the doors, perplexed about why I couldn't get in. There were no notices anywhere, and I didn't remember having seen any when I was last there, admittedly two weeks before, but even so. I had no choice but to just head to work and grab a shower there and start my day an hour earlier than intended. I was pretty cross by this point. When I got to my desk I immediately went online to see what was going on and found their website declaring the pool shut from August 3-23. They are apparently improving the reception area to make it more accessible, which is a good thing, but it's annoying that that causes the whole pool to be closed! Gah! So that's it, no swimming until the end of August... I'm not sure what I'm going to do... And I know I could go to the local council pool, but it's just annoying and expensive, particularly when I've already paid for a gym membership! It works out at about £6 a go, once you take into account the bus fare to get there...
So I might try out their gym, try the cross trainer first thing. I don't think it will compare at all favourably with swimming, but it's worth a shot. Can't do no exercise just because the pool is closed.
Since the last post I have spent a week in Perthshire looking after two of my favourite pooches, who were absolutely adorable the whole week (despite a bit of whinging from Baff...). We walked quite a bit and read and it was generally very relaxing. The only annoying thing being Flâneur having to work the whole week. His boss is the most annoying man I have ever come across, he really is... When we got back from Perth though we had approximately four hours before being descended upon by my parents and two of their friends (who I've known forever, not just random friends of my parents). I had a nice week with them too, but was grateful that their stay was only til the Thursday so I could prepare myself for going back to work!
On the exercise front I managed to go swimming twice when I was on my holidays, on both Mondays, and again had great swims. In fact on the second Monday it was my fastest swim ever clocking in at about 31:15 (can't remember the exact figure now). I have subsequently not been swimming, partly because I was just knackered last week... I'd been working over the weekend and suffered two very annoying migraines, so I was left pretty tired during the week. I did try to go this week, but was scuppered by the pool being closed! Which is the most annoying thing when you've made the effort to get up and are quite psyched about going for a swim. I stood there for ages trying all the doors, perplexed about why I couldn't get in. There were no notices anywhere, and I didn't remember having seen any when I was last there, admittedly two weeks before, but even so. I had no choice but to just head to work and grab a shower there and start my day an hour earlier than intended. I was pretty cross by this point. When I got to my desk I immediately went online to see what was going on and found their website declaring the pool shut from August 3-23. They are apparently improving the reception area to make it more accessible, which is a good thing, but it's annoying that that causes the whole pool to be closed! Gah! So that's it, no swimming until the end of August... I'm not sure what I'm going to do... And I know I could go to the local council pool, but it's just annoying and expensive, particularly when I've already paid for a gym membership! It works out at about £6 a go, once you take into account the bus fare to get there...
So I might try out their gym, try the cross trainer first thing. I don't think it will compare at all favourably with swimming, but it's worth a shot. Can't do no exercise just because the pool is closed.
And in this vein, I went for a run today. To be fair, I only went because Flâneur made me. He'd just had the all clear from the physio to do any type of exercise, provided he started off slowly, and so decided that he might try this running malarky, if it made me go out... He ruptured his achilles many years ago, which had always put him off most exercise, but having just, finally got some physio and being good at actually doing his exercises he can now give it a go. I must say it was a great thing for me (let alone him!). It was lovely to have someone to go out with, to motivate me, and to keep me going!! We did my usual route and my usual 2:1 jog to walk ratio, and did really well! Despite not having been out since June (really, this is just the third time this year that I've been out 'running'), we did the 2.4ish mile route in 31 minutes 14 seconds. I think that the fastest I've ever done it. God, I love that man.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Holidays!
Yippee... I'm off work for two whole weeks. Whatever shall I do with myself...
Well, this morning, I still got up and went swimming. I know, on a day I didn't have to get up and everything! ;o) I did have a lie in, the alarm going off at 6:55, rather than 6:20, but I'm glad that I went. Quite often I get out of the pool, knackered, but energised (the way that you often do after exercising), and want to be going off and doing anything other than going to work. So today I did. I did my 40 lengths (1KM), got out, showered, got dressed again and then headed home for breakfast. Lovely. (I did make sure I had a banana before going to the pool in case anyone is concerned that I exercised without eating). It was a good swim again today too, despite some very annoying people again. I'm beginning to suspect that all other people in the pool are annoying and that I will only be happy if I get the place to myself, or at least the lane! I don't want to constantly moan about other people at the pool, but there was this one guy who always seemed to wait, wait and then go off just as you were about to turn. Thankfully he wasn't a slow one, but the second time it happened I just turned and shot off, forcing him to hold back. Ha!
And my new technique must definitely be working, even though I'm not sure I am swimming any faster on my fifth lengths. But yet again, today, I was under 32 mins. Yay! Having been under 32 mins on each swim last week (I went on Friday as well and clocked 31.57.81), I was not convinced that today was going to be as good - there was no way I could keep that up consistently. But for some reason, I'm not entirely sure what (!), I did. And not just that, my time was practically the same as last Monday, just 3 milliseconds slower at 31.28.70. Woo hoo! I was very happy.
And then it was home to pack the hire car that we picked up yesterday. We're dog sitting this week for Wastrel and SAM in the countryside, so it was goodbye city, hello the gentle sounds of not so far off gun fire... Ah, the countryside! Am looking forward to a nice relaxing week, perhaps a spot of antiquing, some walks, some reading, and possibly even some sewing (yes, I brought the sewing machine with me, when else am I going to get the time to start anything new?) Bliss.
Well, this morning, I still got up and went swimming. I know, on a day I didn't have to get up and everything! ;o) I did have a lie in, the alarm going off at 6:55, rather than 6:20, but I'm glad that I went. Quite often I get out of the pool, knackered, but energised (the way that you often do after exercising), and want to be going off and doing anything other than going to work. So today I did. I did my 40 lengths (1KM), got out, showered, got dressed again and then headed home for breakfast. Lovely. (I did make sure I had a banana before going to the pool in case anyone is concerned that I exercised without eating). It was a good swim again today too, despite some very annoying people again. I'm beginning to suspect that all other people in the pool are annoying and that I will only be happy if I get the place to myself, or at least the lane! I don't want to constantly moan about other people at the pool, but there was this one guy who always seemed to wait, wait and then go off just as you were about to turn. Thankfully he wasn't a slow one, but the second time it happened I just turned and shot off, forcing him to hold back. Ha!
And my new technique must definitely be working, even though I'm not sure I am swimming any faster on my fifth lengths. But yet again, today, I was under 32 mins. Yay! Having been under 32 mins on each swim last week (I went on Friday as well and clocked 31.57.81), I was not convinced that today was going to be as good - there was no way I could keep that up consistently. But for some reason, I'm not entirely sure what (!), I did. And not just that, my time was practically the same as last Monday, just 3 milliseconds slower at 31.28.70. Woo hoo! I was very happy.
And then it was home to pack the hire car that we picked up yesterday. We're dog sitting this week for Wastrel and SAM in the countryside, so it was goodbye city, hello the gentle sounds of not so far off gun fire... Ah, the countryside! Am looking forward to a nice relaxing week, perhaps a spot of antiquing, some walks, some reading, and possibly even some sewing (yes, I brought the sewing machine with me, when else am I going to get the time to start anything new?) Bliss.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
So far so good...
This should have been written yesterday, when technically that was true. I had a great start to the week, getting up both Monday and Tuesday to go swimming before work. I got up this morning too, but ended up fannying around too much that it was quite late when I was due to leave the house and I would have ended up making myself late for work. I got as far as the front door onto the street intending to go to the pool, but so harassed and reluctant was I to go that I turned back round, went back upstairs, showered and went to work instead. Not so good, but at least I have managed two great swims this week despite this morning’s hiccup.
The pool has been pretty busy this week, which is annoying, and on both days I found I had to switch lanes during my swim. Perhaps I am getting faster after all… I have been trying my new approach of swimming a bit harder every 5 lengths, and with two great times this week, I think it might actually have worked. It’s pretty difficult to do, particularly on length 5 as I’m always sluggish in the first 10, and I’m not sure I was swimming that much faster… But I did break a few personal records over the two days… On Monday I managed my Fastest Average Time per length (47.22) and my Fastest Overall Time (31.28.67) and then on Tuesday I managed my Fastest Fast length (38.30). Not bad at all. And sooo sooo chuffed with the 31.28 overall time on Monday! Sometimes I think it’s just swimming in the other slow lane – it motivates me to swim faster and harder because psychologically I think it’s a faster lane… I didn’t expect to do so well on Tuesday because I was feeling it from Monday, but again managed a pretty fast overall time: 31.42.06. Hurrah! My second fastest time…
I did get stuck behind some pretty annoying people on both days and wonder if I would have been faster if I hadn’t been. The one who annoyed me most was a man I refer to as ‘Saggy Pants Man’. He wears a pair of black trunks, which I can only describe as looking like big pants (any girls out there should know what I mean by big pants, we all own a pair somewhere). They’re (thankfully!) snug around his waist and at the tops of the legs, but sag around his arse – too much fabric in them I think… Anyway, we swim at a very similar pace, although I would say that generally I swim a little faster at times than him. Mostly he swims in ‘the other lane’ so I don’t encounter him much but on both Monday and Tuesday when I had to switch lanes, I got stuck behind him and his saggy pants. And I mean right behind him. I kept creeping closer and he could see I was getting closer, but still every time he came to the end of the length he turned without letting me pass. Miserable sod. Grr… He’s a very inefficient turner (which is saying something coming from me), so I just kept getting closer. Eventually I was practically on top of him and just had to overtake – for my own sanity if nothing else! I always hate doing that, especially when it’s busy, and I had to swim for my life as there was someone coming towards me. Thankfully for all his other faults, he did slow down a bit to let me pass, but I don’t think he was very happy that I passed him. I suspect it helped with my overall time because I pushed off very fast after that to make sure there was plenty of water between the two of us for the rest of the time, so I felt justified in overtaking! He didn’t look very happy when I switched lanes and fell in behind him again yesterday… And I wasn’t very excited at the prospect of staring at his saggy pants while I swam either.
I am very tired now today – all this vigorous exercise is just knackering me!! But it’s probably good to have the odd day off. I’ll be back there tomorrow, fingers crossed!
The pool has been pretty busy this week, which is annoying, and on both days I found I had to switch lanes during my swim. Perhaps I am getting faster after all… I have been trying my new approach of swimming a bit harder every 5 lengths, and with two great times this week, I think it might actually have worked. It’s pretty difficult to do, particularly on length 5 as I’m always sluggish in the first 10, and I’m not sure I was swimming that much faster… But I did break a few personal records over the two days… On Monday I managed my Fastest Average Time per length (47.22) and my Fastest Overall Time (31.28.67) and then on Tuesday I managed my Fastest Fast length (38.30). Not bad at all. And sooo sooo chuffed with the 31.28 overall time on Monday! Sometimes I think it’s just swimming in the other slow lane – it motivates me to swim faster and harder because psychologically I think it’s a faster lane… I didn’t expect to do so well on Tuesday because I was feeling it from Monday, but again managed a pretty fast overall time: 31.42.06. Hurrah! My second fastest time…
I did get stuck behind some pretty annoying people on both days and wonder if I would have been faster if I hadn’t been. The one who annoyed me most was a man I refer to as ‘Saggy Pants Man’. He wears a pair of black trunks, which I can only describe as looking like big pants (any girls out there should know what I mean by big pants, we all own a pair somewhere). They’re (thankfully!) snug around his waist and at the tops of the legs, but sag around his arse – too much fabric in them I think… Anyway, we swim at a very similar pace, although I would say that generally I swim a little faster at times than him. Mostly he swims in ‘the other lane’ so I don’t encounter him much but on both Monday and Tuesday when I had to switch lanes, I got stuck behind him and his saggy pants. And I mean right behind him. I kept creeping closer and he could see I was getting closer, but still every time he came to the end of the length he turned without letting me pass. Miserable sod. Grr… He’s a very inefficient turner (which is saying something coming from me), so I just kept getting closer. Eventually I was practically on top of him and just had to overtake – for my own sanity if nothing else! I always hate doing that, especially when it’s busy, and I had to swim for my life as there was someone coming towards me. Thankfully for all his other faults, he did slow down a bit to let me pass, but I don’t think he was very happy that I passed him. I suspect it helped with my overall time because I pushed off very fast after that to make sure there was plenty of water between the two of us for the rest of the time, so I felt justified in overtaking! He didn’t look very happy when I switched lanes and fell in behind him again yesterday… And I wasn’t very excited at the prospect of staring at his saggy pants while I swam either.
I am very tired now today – all this vigorous exercise is just knackering me!! But it’s probably good to have the odd day off. I’ll be back there tomorrow, fingers crossed!
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.
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