Since I last posted my weight has stayed fairly even. I say that, actually it went up a bit over christmas, as I new it would, then I lost the excess again. I have not been too strict with the diet and have been having lots of treets like chocolate, pizza, roast dinners, cider etc so I am happy that by eating well in between these treets I am managing to keep my weight steady. I am now trying to be a bit more controlled to lose a couple of pounds before we go to France in a few weeks time.
We have now moved in to our new home and much to my delight we have enough space to turm one of the bedrooms into a gym so now I dont even have to walk down to the shed like before and I dont have to work out in the cold with the spiders. I have left the old gym in the shed so I have borrowed Lee's weights bench and some of his weights. My gym has the bench which has a chest press bar, squat bar, pec fly arms, leg curl and bicep curl. I also have an Ab lounge which helps with sit up type movement. I have a little stepper machine, yoga ball, step, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, "six second abs", mini trampoline, pull up bar, and some floor space with gym mats. (and also a new addition this week - read on)
Although my weight has stayed much the same, I have been focusing on getting fitter and stronger. I mentioned last time that I have been doing press ups. When I started them I had to do lady press ups (on knees rather than toes) then graduated to doing about three man press ups. I am pleased with my progress and can now manage ten man press ups with reasonable comfort. I have recently also bought a pull up bar as I know that pull ups are great not only for back and shoulder strength but also for core strength which I am trying to improve. (My core strength and balance is greatly improved from a year or so ago). At the moment I can not do a single pull up (which is to be expected when you start) so I am starting by practising hanging and also by jumping up and then lowering slowly. I can do a couple of chin ups but they dont appeal to me so much as they focus more on bicep strength.
As I mentioned, I am trying to improve my core strength. The reasons for that are:
1. To improve muscle tone (get a flat tummy)
2. To improve strength (to prevent problems with re-occuring back pains)
3. To improve body alignment (to hopefully ease joint pains)
4. To improve posture (to help with back pains and to look slimmer)
To help with this, as well as my usual exercise routines I have started to introduce Yoga and Pilates. I have a couple of exercise DVD's which I am practising from. I am really enjoying the challenge and its also helping to relieve stress too.
I mentioned before that I had started to introduce kettlebell exercises using dumbbells, well, Darren got me a kettlebell for Christmas with an exercise DVD (not everyone's idea of a good present, I know!). It is really hard work and kills your glutes (arse) but again, I am loving the challenge! I do this workout in bare feet to help with the core stability too and I can already see a real difference in my strength and balance when doing exercises such as lunges which really require it. I am also still doing Davina's 30 minute workouts particularly the boxercise (again in bare feet). I can really notice the improvement in my fitness when I do this one as I remember really struggling to keep up when I first started. Now I am (almost) disapointed that it's only 30 minutes!
We find ourselves at that time of year again when its time to start prepping for the Race For Life which is at the end of May this year. I went for my first run of the year a couple of weeks ago. My aim was just to complete the 5k at a jog (without dropping down to a walk) and hopefully not upset my joints too much. I was really pleased to find that my stamina has improved dramatically since last year and I actually found it quite comfortable to keep jogging. I completed the 5k and when I checked later I realised that I also matched my personal best time too, which is awesome considering I wasnt trying to push myself! My hip played up a little during the run but not so much that I had to stop and it continued to hurt for a week or so after which was obviously a bit disapointing. Last year I didn't do as much running as I would have liked as the weather seemed to continually conspire against me (and I am definatley a fair weather runner!) I have overcome that problem this week by finally getting a treadmill which I have always wanted. I am so happy to finally have it, it's a bit sad really! I still hope to do a lot of fresh air running when the weather permits but now it means I dont have to rely on good weather and can start to get a bit of a routine going. I want to use the treadmill in two ways, mostly I want to use it to build my speed and stamina by doing short interval running (sprint then jog then sprint again etc) but also I would like to build my endurance (and hopefully condition my joints) to be able to complete 5k runs comfortably and perhaps ultimately build up to 10k.
So to summerise, I am more than happy with how I am managing my weight at the moment but would still like to drop another half a stone or so this year. My main focus now is on improving fitness, strength and body shape which is going very well. I am trying new exercises all the time and enjoying challenging myself (that's not to say I dont still have to haul my butt into the gym most days!)
