Blimey. it's been a while!

What a couple of years it's been! I did my Personal Trainer qualifications, although for one reason and another, I'm still finishing off my specialist course. I've set up business training clients in their own homes and running two exercise classes a week for beginners. My clients are all a lovely bunch of ladies and they say I am an inspiration to them, which is amazing! They've all seen my "before" photo's and know my journey, so they know that I know their struggles.

I've been doing lots of cycling and happily cycle 30 miles at a time now. I've got involved with a British Cycling scheme called Breeze, where I lead short bike rides for beginners, which is very enjoyable and rewarding. I've also qualified as a walk leader, but haven't had the time to lead any walks yet. These ventures led me to meeting a lady called Nadjie who is a Breeze area coordinator. Recently I worked with her on a separate venture leading social bike rides and walks at Fairlop Waters, which was amazing. I hope to work with her on another project next year.

Although my fitness business is growing, it's taking time and so I looked at other ways to bring in income on the side. I knew that I wanted to keep within my goals of staying active, being my own boss and having flexible working hours. I found two similar jobs that suited my requirements; parcel deliveries for Hermes, which involves lots of walking and Just Eat deliveries, which involves lots of cycling. This has kept me very active, along with the Personal Training work, on some days I've burned over 4000 calories according to my Garmin watch!

In the last 12 months I've lost 2 stone, bringing me back down to the lightest weight I've ever been. I'd like to lose another half a stone, but I'm more than happy, right now. Yesterday I was doing a workout and did some step ups on to a high bench. I surprised myself with how easy I found it and remembered back to when I started, when I couldn't step up even half that height without holding on to something for support. It feels great to be able to move my body with speed, power and stability and without pain (most of the time). 

I ran another half marathon a couple of months ago. The last one I did was awful as I was full of injuries and ailments and I wasn't sure I ever wanted to do another one after that. I talked myself into doing another one as I didn't want that to be the lingering memory. I ran a good race and felt great through most of it (well as much as one can in these things). I absolutely smashed it and knocked nearly 15 minutes off my PB!

I've learnt so much about nutrition since starting my PT training, although not from the course itself, but through my quest to broaden my knowledge. My Personal trainer eluded to the fact that I would eventually find out that everything I learned on the course would get tipped on it's head but I didn't really understand what he meant at the time. He was spot on though. Wow, what a can on worms the world of nutrition is! Especially in relation to public health and government guidelines for healthy eating. It led me on quite a journey of discovery, which I'm still on, but it's changed the way I eat a lot. Annoyingly, my qualifications only allow me to give nutrition advice in line with government recommendations, which is incredibly frustrating, so here's my disclaimer: I'm not advising anyone to follow my new diet without first seeking guidance from a medical professional or registered dietitian. Knowing what I now know, I've switched to a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet. I've stopped snacking between meals. I've recently introduced extended overnight fasts (between 12-20 hours). I feel so much better eating this way! I don't feel hungry every 3-4 hours like I used to, I don't get energy dips, in fact I have more energy, even when I do long bike rides and runs. My pains are much less. My skin is much better too. As I said, I can't and I'm not recommending you try this way of eating, but I would definitely advise you to look into it and see if it might benefit you as it has me. Let me just say that fat is not the demon we were led to believe it was, it does not "clog the arteries" and lead to heart attacks, nor does it turn straight to fat in your body.

New Challenges

Following on from my last post, I suffered a nasty spell of sciatic and femoral nerve pain, which both my Physio and PT believe was brought on by over training. It meant I was unable to do any training for a few weeks. My PT focussed on helping me stretch out my piriformis muscles as well as my hip flexors and glutes. My Physio helped with those too, but also worked on releasing the tension in my back. Thankfully all the nerve pains have gone now, but I still need to work on stretching the muscles. Other health issues meant I had to take the focus away from weight loss for a while, so we have been working on strengthening my glutes and back. Now I am under Doctor's orders to refrain from strenuous exercise, and running for the next 4-6 weeks (this is to do with other health issues and a small operation which are not, in any way exercise related). After 6 weeks, hopefully I will be "back in the game" as they say. I will need to be, because guess what is next?

I am going to start a training course to become a Personal Trainer! It's something I've thought about doing for quite some time and it feels like the time is right now. The nerve and back pains have been a wake up call that sitting in a car all day is not good for me. I want to improve my knowledge about the body and training for my own benefit, but I'd also like to use that knowledge to help others in similar situations to me. I will be specialising in helping clients with obesity and diabetes. I really want to help those who, for whatever reason, don't believe they can do it. I want to be more than the Personal Trainer who turns up once a week to make you sweat a bit. I want to be a constant support and mentor. I'll be looking at ways to be on hand via social media, Skype, FaceTime etc. to help with the day to day challenges of getting and staying healthy.

Of course, I need to get my body into good shape, so that I can be a positive role model for my clients, but I want them to know that this has been a long and hard journey for me too. I hope that they will appreciate and be inspired by my successes. I don't care if I never have a 6 pack, but I will be fit and healthy and have a body which allows me to do the things I want to do to be happy. That's what I want for my clients too. Personal Trainers are not just for people who want to look like The Rock or The Kardashians, I'm here for the people who just want to be able to get up a flight of stairs without being out of breath, who want to play with the kids in the garden, without having to sit down for a rest.

So I've signed up for the course and I start in a few weeks. I have received some of the training books in the post and My God I've got a lot of reading to do! It's funny because I considered going into the fitness industry when I was at school but I was scared of having to learn all about the body and muscles and stuff. Now here I am 25 years later, doing what I should have done in the first place! Maybe the journey was for a reason? Maybe I've built up a history of personal experience which will help me better empathise with my clients? I think so.

New phase: rebuilding the body!

Ok I've reached critical point!

I'm somewhere around half way between my lightest weight and my heaviest. I don't want to get any bigger! My pains are getting worse again and I have a lot of pain in my hip. I've been to the doctors about my hip and they referred me to physio. In the mean time, I have found a good sports therapist who has also been giving me physio. He does therapy, massage, stretching and acupuncture. He's also a personal trainer although he doesn't train me as he only does it in the city. I've given him the full low down on all my pains and asked him to help me bring my body back into alignment, as I'm sure many of the problems are synergistic. He has helped a bit and has given me some acupuncture , which I've never tried before. I have not been doing much exercise or stretching between visits though.

The NHS physio, tried a couple of exercises and put an insert in my shoe as he said I was pronating on one side. After three visits, he said he was all out of ideas and didn't understand what the root cause of the pain was. He said he couldn't really help me and that I should just carry on with exercises and stretching. (He didn't know I was seeing a private physio).

I have now decided to get a personal trainer on board. I was hoping the physio would be able to do that too, but as I said he does physio in Brentwood, but only does PT in London. I did a little bit of research and found someone who specifically has good  knowledge/qualifications in biomechanics. That's the study of how the body moves and how one part affects others etc. All PT's claim to be able to help you with imbalances, but I'm looking for more detail than that. The guy I have found, got into his profession due to his own pains and trying to resolve his own issues, so I feel he's walked a similar path of discovery to me. He is also in to using foods rich in anti-inflammatory properties, which is something I was hot on in the past. He is looking forward to the challenge of trying to "fix" me. He has sat and done a very comprehensive questionnaire with me and I've had to send him photos of everything I've eaten this week (food diary). The next step is that he will do a full body survey, checking movement and range of motion through a series of tests and exercises. He will then give me a nutrition plan and an exercise plan. I'll see him once a week.

This week, my hip pain has got really bad and turned into severe back pains. The pains were so bad on Saturday that I was almost in tears and nearly throwing up with the pain. My physio thinks it might be Piriformis syndrome and having looked it up on the internet, it seems to fit. So at the moment, I'm just trying to get the inflammation down and sort that out.

I'm supposed to be doing Race For Life Muddy this weekend, but at the moment it is looking highly unlikely.

I'm really looking forward to starting my new plan with my PT. I feel like I'm really ready to knuckle down and do it right again. The pain I've been in this week has also served as a timely reminder of what happens when I don't look after myself.

Watch this space!

Onwards and upwards. Keep on keeping on. #FasterHigherStronger

New year, new me?

Well, as you can tell, I've been neglecting my blog for quite some time. As we entered into 2017 I did a bit of  self assessment, as I'm sure many of us do. I logged on here to see what I'd been up to last time we spoke. As it turned out, my last post was around this time exactly a year ago and reading through it, I was struck immediately by how similar it was to what I was planning to write this year. In fact I'd go so far as to say it was almost word for word what I was going to write! Had I not moved forward at all in the last twelve months? I certainly had some note worthy achievements, as always, there were plenty of races and I did really well with my cycling, increasing my mileage from around 15/20 miles up to 30 miles. All that aside though, I did not improve my running times significantly, I did not improve my upper body strength and I most definitely did not lose any weight! For all of that, I cant help but be disappointed with myself.

Where did it go wrong and what am I going to do different then? I did a few sessions with a personal trainer but its a paradoxical situation; either work is so busy that I'm not able to fit sessions in or work is quiet and so I cant afford the luxury of personal training. Looking forward, money will be tight as we need to save for a mortgage, so personal training is off the menu for a while. I have everything I need at home anyway, I just need to keep myself motivated. Last year I tended to skip the weights sessions in favour of running or cycling, so this year I must make sure I'm not taking the easy option every time.

I've decided not to enter a half marathon in 2018, so March 2017 will be the last one for a while at least. I've come to this decision because training for it takes up so much time and effort that I cant do the other things I want, like the weights workouts. Its difficult to schedule a heavy legs session when you need to be fresh for a 10 mile run a few days later! It also hurts my joints quite a lot, which is no fun. Therefore I have decided to focus on 5 and 10km runs for the next year at least and really work on beating some PB's. On the subject of joint pains, I've been referred to a muscoskeletal clinic with particular reference to my hip, which is giving me so much pain lately.

This year we are doing two Nuclear races (mud obstacle), one in May and one in September. I'm doing two Race For Life's, the 10k and the 5k muddy. I'm also doing the winter run, hopefully the Tough 10k and the Rudolph Run again as well as the Brentwood half marathon of course. Besides all those official events, I'll be challenging myself at cycling again. Last year the goal was to cycle to Southend (30 miles), this year I want to double it, there and back. As a side show for motivation, I am doing a virtual race throughout the year; Lands End to John O Groats. I log my weekly mileage from running and cycling with the race organisers until it totals the distance (605 miles) they post on Facebook and send me postcards from where I would be so far.   

Diet wise, its pretty much everything I said I was going to do last year. I'm feeling pretty good about it this time. One of the lifestyle changes I want to make is to not spend as long in the evenings watching telly and drinking cider. There are so many little things on my to do list that I never quite have time for, the silly little things, from tidying the sock drawer to putting up new pics in the gym. I don't have time because I come home from work, eat, then watch telly (even when there's nothing worth watching). So now, if there's nothing worth watching, I'll go and find something to do. Hopefully this will result in me drinking a bit less and make me a bit more active. If nothing else,  I'll be ticking off all those little jobs!

Hopefully I'll speak to you a little sooner than last time!

Breaking out of the rut.

Let me first start by making an amendment to the last post; it turns out I didn't reach a PB and finally break the 30 minute 5k. My app was off as the new phone case I had was disrupting the GPS signal. Bit of a bummer but it didn't come as a surprise.

So this post is about 'breaking out of the rut'. For a while now I feel like I've been talking about various goals and not really achieving them for one reason or another. One of my very own motto's is "If you are sick of starting over, stop quitting". I need to take my own advice. There have been too many 'treats' and 'cheats' and all too often they have outnumbered the good stuff. I have been fairly active but not pushing myself the way I should in order to get the results I want. I don't really do New Years resolutions because I think resolutions should be made whenever necessary, not just once a year, but I have taken this time to re-assess what I am doing and get focussed again.

For me, at least for now, there will be no cheats, no treats. I'm an all or nothing kind of girl and one thing leads to another so I'm best just saying no, full stop. That includes my meals too, I tend to excuse a little sauce or a little bit of cheese or an extra spoonful of something and it all adds up. I have long since given up eating any kinds of 'diet' food or 'low fat' options, for me it's all about eating good 'clean' food. That means whole fresh foods rather than processed packaged stuff. I will get back to basics with that and keep a check on portion control. I have in the past tried to cut down on bread with limited success (back to the all or nothing problem) and so, for now, it is off the menu. Simple carbs (potatoes, pasta, rice) are limited and larger portions are reserved for heavy workout days. I am also trying to cut down on drinking indoors and laying off the cider. Since reading about the possible link between Aspartame (artificial sweetener) and cancer, and also its negative affect on weight loss I have tried to avoid Diet Coke and therefore my alcoholic drink of choice at the moment is vodka and soda water. I am going to see if I can make it through January without drinking indoors (and since we don't have any nights out planned, possibly not drinking at all).

I have realised that I have not been pushing myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to exercise. I am also struggling to workout effectively to work towards all of the different goals I have. I want to work on strength and power (especially upper body) in order to perform better in the Nuclear Rush (6km mud obstacle race) but I also need to train for the Half Marathon which I am doing again this year. I also have a 10km race at the end of January. I have used a personal trainer (Ben) twice, who I met through the bootcamps I used to go to. The training is exactly what I am looking for, lots of squats, lunges etc. to work those big muscles and burn fat as well as strength and endurance work. He works me so hard that I want to puke, which is what I need but it leaves my legs too knackered to do long runs if I don't get a few days recovery. Also it is difficult to fit in the sessions around work and not to mention expensive. I think I would like to do a session once a fortnight. I need to do a long run at least once a week at the moment. I would also like to do a bootcamp style session. I could either do that with my personal trainer who now runs his own fitness camp or with Mike who used to do the bootcamps and now has an indoor venue called Hurtlocker which offers a similar style of training but without the mud and rain. Darren also bought me the Insanity Workout DVD's for Christmas which I want to do, but same problem occurs with legs being too tired to run. For now the running needs to take priority and I will try to do at least one strength session per week.

The main things for now are to eat right, drink less alcohol, and to train effectively and with a purpose. I want to lose around two and a half stone by holiday in August. I'd like as much of the weight gone as possible by the Half Marathon in March, as excess weight will only make it harder. I say two and a half stone as a goal but that is simplified. I am more concerned with what I look and feel like so body composition is a bigger factor for me than weight loss (fat loss vs muscle gain). I feel like I'm back in the zone, which I haven't been for a while, so I've just got to stay there.

Personal Best

If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that for a few years I've been talking about getting my 5km time under 30 minutes. My PB stood at 31 minutes, so near and yet so far! Today I beat it. Not only did a beat it, I smashed it! New PB stands at 29.44

I haven't been doing a lot of running lately, throughout the summer I've been spending most of my workout time on my bike. I'm trying to build up my distance again as I'm finding 5km a chore at the moment and I have committed to the Rudolph run and Half Marathon again. My aim today was to increase my distance a little. I was going for around 6km, maybe a little more. I wasn't really concerned about the time and figured on recent performances it would be a bit of a plod.

I set off surprisingly well and felt comfortable at a good pace. A couple of km in and the app in my ear told me I was still holding a good pace but then came a km of steady uphill, which has been a challenge in the past. I expected to slow but was determined not to stop. As I turned the corner into the uphill road, I was greeted by an unwelcome headwind. Though unwelcome, it served to increase my determination and I started to pump my arms a little more. As I turned the corner back on to a flat road at around the 4km mark, the app told me I was still doing well and I started to think about the PB. At 4.5km I knew I was on and that spurred me on to pick up the pace a little bit more. Ironically, in the back of my mind I was thinking that the objective of today's run was to increase my distance and it would be a shame if I ran so hard that having hit the PB I would then want to rest and recover rather than keep running. At 5km the app told me I'd done it in 29.44 and a smile spread across my face. I wanted to do a fist pump but in fear of looking like a poor shadow of Rocky, I held it in. I resisted the urge to walk and revel in my glory, and kept running. At the risk of sounding like Forrest Gump, I just kept on running. At this point I was still a couple of km from home so if I stopped to walk it would just be a long walk home. When I run for distance, I do this deliberately so that even if I quit early, I still have to walk home. I made it to 7km leaving a short cool down walk to finish. On checking my stats I discovered that my fastest pace was the sixth km, the one straight after I hit the PB. Perhaps I flew it (or more likely it was the tailwind)?

I'm feeling so good at the moment, if a little perplexed that of all the times I ran with the PB in mind, the time I wasn't aiming to challenge it was the one that did the business. I'd also like to give a little shout out to the new trainers I got for my birthday, Some top quality Asics. I'm sure they helped.

So now the 30 min 5km is no longer the challenge, so what now? For me, it feels like Roger Bannister cracking the four minute mile. Of course, I will continue to try and better the PB, but shall I set 25 mins as a new goal? Could I do that? Or do I focus on maintaining the pace over a longer distance to better my 10km PB? Well that's one for me to ponder for a while, I think. For now I'm just happy with today. That's one in the bag for "Faster" #FasterHigherStronger

I am officially a "runner"!

I did it! I completed the Rudolph run and even more impressively the Half Marathon.

Both were blighted by ill health annoyingly. I have only had two colds all winter, the first was a week or so before the Rudolph run. I made a good recovery but was still struggling a little with a blocked up nose. It was a bitterly cold day down by Southend sea front, about 5 degrees, as I recall. I was nice and warm once I started running even though I only had a vest top on. Darren on the other hand was nigh on frozen standing waiting for me to finish. I completed the 5 miles in 50:47 which I was quite pleased with considering the breathing issues.

The second cold was actually Flu and kept me in bed for two days. It struck around 6 weeks before the Half Marathon. I had got up to 18km in training (the race would be just over 21k - I train in km even though this race is measured in miles, a bi-product of doing 5k's for so long). I didn't do any running for about 3 weeks as breathing was tough. I tried a couple of bike rides just to get something in but it was a struggle. By the time I felt well enough it was getting close to the race and I didn't want to over do things or risk injury so I just got in a couple of 5k runs. I was really hoping to have gotten in a couple of 18-20k runs before race day but it wasn't to be. I would just have to hope that adrenaline and pure determination would be enough to get me to the finish line.

Race day was very favourable with the weather. It was colder and wetter than it had been the weekend before but thankfully the rain stopped and the sun came out shortly before I started and didn't change until we were in the car and well on our way home. For that, I am eternally grateful. I don't know how I would have faired in worse weather, especially if it were windy.

We had a ten minute walk from the stadium to the start line (which I was not impressed with). Olympic medal winner Mo Farrah sounded the horn at the start line and we all set off. It felt like literally every single runner was passing me, but I had my tracker app feeding information through my ears and I was very conscious of my pace. I knew I must not get tempted in trying to keep up with them. I saw some official race pacers who were labelled as "2:15 pacers". I knew I would be 2:30 or over so I was happy to keep them in my sights for a while. I know that my pace slows towards the back end of the race (which is something I'm working on). Before too long I could see the soaring arch of Wembley and we weaved our way towards it. As we came into the underground car parks of the stadium there was a thunderous roar dwarfing any sounds coming through my headphones. Just as I wondered what it could be, I turned a corner and there were a whole bank of drummers and I imagined that I was a player getting ready to run onto the pitch to the roar of the crowd. And then, there it was, the pitch in front of me, the seating surrounding me like an all encompassing hug. I was smiling, which the race photographers managed to miss it seems. Within seconds it was over and it was all about the homeward slog. The trouble now was that I had made a note of a couple of the hills I had enjoyed running down, knowing full well that I would now have to run up them. As I approached the worst one I tried to clear my thoughts, get my head down and power on up. As I did so one of my very favourite songs "Mr Brightside" came through my ears giving me just the boost I needed. I started to think about the 2:15 pacers, who were now long gone into the distance. That was not an issue but it occurred to me that I had seen faster pacers but I had not seen any slower pacers. Were there any slower pacers? Perhaps they didn't bother with anyone slower than 2:15? As I passed the 10 mile marker my question was answered and I watched 2:30 pacers pass me. I was ok with that. I had 3.1 miles to go and I wasn't too far off the pace. I knew though that I was only going to get slower and hoped I would not grind to a halt. By the time I got to 12 miles all I wanted to do was walk. I knew if I walked though that it would just be longer until the pain was over and it would only get tougher and tougher. I tried to walk for a few seconds once or twice but my muscles were so tight I actually couldn't straighten my legs enough to walk properly. I stopped to stretch a couple of times then cracked on with it. As I came back round into the Saracen's stadium towards the finish line the course took us across some grass which was a little muddy and uneven. Within seconds of setting foot on it my left foot went into a painful cramp, unable to deal with contouring to the bumps. Thankfully I managed to shake it off. What bad luck it would have been to have to limp over the finish line now! As I came towards the finish line I looked up to the clock which was reading 2:45. I knew my chip time would be a little under that. Then I looked for Darren and found him. I found a little energy for a wave and a smile as he filmed me then over the finish line with my hands in the air. I was aware that there was a rubber bump across the finish line hiding wires and it was an effort to lift my feet over it. Having readjusted my stride, I found myself slightly off skew for a second rubber strip. I nearly tripped over it and as I corrected myself I could feel another cramp shooting up my calf muscle. I managed to walk and keep it at bay, again fearful of an unglamorous ending to my race!

And that was it! Done! The official chip time was 2:43:20.

When I was younger, and going for job interviews, I would always struggle if asked "what is your greatest achievement" or "tell me about something you are proud of". Now I can answer easily. Despite Doctors telling me not to run if it hurts, I took control of my life and my destiny. I didn't need gym memberships, personal trainers or anyone else to motivate me. I got off my butt and done it by myself, for myself. Now I am a "runner" and this runner ran a Half Marathon!

Remember: its not a "Half" of anything, its a "Whole" 13.1 mile race.

New Challenges

Well my focus has changed since I last posted. I have signed up for a Half Marathon! I can't believe I'm going to do it! Having decided I can do one, I was looking for one next year in the summer, giving me plenty of time to train. Then I saw an ad on Facebook for one in London. It starts at the Allianz stadium (Home of the Saracens rugby team) and runs down to Wembley stadium, through the grounds of Wembley and back up to the Allianz. The idea of running through Wembley really appeals to me so I signed up. The down side is that its in March. This means I've got about three months less than I'd hoped for to train and also that the weather will be more unpredictable. Hey ho, minor details.

And so, with that in mind, my training is now more focussed towards running. I am still looking to do runs of varying lengths including sprints and hills but now I am looking to increase my max distance in preparation for the 21km (13.1 miles) Half Marathon. After a couple of months of training I am able to run 16km now (that's just short of 10 miles) and my 3,5 & 10k times have all improved. I have also signed up for a 5 mile Santa run in a couple of weeks. It's in Southend and raising money for Action For Children. I recently came across a deal on Groupon for the gym I was looking to go to and got 10 sessions for £13.95, which is fantastic. I must admit I'm a little nervous about working out in a gym and looking silly on machines I don't know how to use, I've got so used to doing my own thing indoors.

My diet has still not changed (regrettably). Like everybody, I find it harder to resist the comfort food in the colder weather, but I really must make more effort. If you want any more proof of how important diet is, I can tell you that I have run nearly 45 miles this month and I have not lost a single pound!

My joints are coping admirably with all the running. The pain kicks in around the 8k mark in my knees and hips. I tend to be in a lot of pain in the evening after a long run and some pain the next day. Runs of 5k or less do not bother them too much anymore, which is a great improvement. I am still not taking any full term medication. I take Co-codamol before long runs and then Ibuprofen gel usually suffices afterwards, though occasionally I still need Paracetamol or Co-codamol in the evening.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going. Obviously, Christmas is coming so I need to limit the mince pie intake. I'm bulk cooking some Mediterranean chicken and a Turkey sausage casserole so I have some healthy, low fat meal choices in the freezer.

Onwards and Upwards!
#FasterHigherStronger

What Next?

I'm on a mission again! I'm reasonably happy with how I look and how I feel but my weight is starting to go in the wrong direction again and I need to reign it back in. I need to lose between two and two and a half stone to get back to ideal weight. I also want to be stronger so I can smash up next years Nuclear Rush (mud obstacle race).

In terms of my diet, it's really about going for the less healthy options less frequently and cutting out the bad snacks. I eat healthy most of the time but tend to favour cheese on toast for lunch when I'm at home so I'll be swapping that for an omelette with salad. I favour pasta (wholemeal) in the evenings because its quick and easy and I've usually already pre-prepared mince (often turkey mince) to go with it. I'll be trying to eat more lean meat and fish with vegetables when I am home in time to cook. Lastly we have got back into a bad habit of having snack nights with crisps and chocolate which needs to stop.

When it comes to exercise its difficult for me to commit to a three times (or more) a week kind of plan as my work hours vary. Some weeks I may only do two or three workouts but another I may do five. So with this in mind I develop my plans over a monthly basis. I have designed 3 weights based workouts which I plan to do 3/4 of each per month. I also plan to do various running programs including hill sessions, short speed intervals, longer (6-10k) runs as well as some outdoor plyometric training (preferably without tearing muscles this time). I hope to do one of each type of run over the month.

I am contemplating visiting a gym as well, maybe once a week or fortnight. Although I am happy working out at home and can get good results, there are a couple of things I would benefit from in the gym. I don't have a proper squat rack at home which means whatever weight I squat, I have to pick up and lift over my head first. As the weight is getting pretty heavy now , this is getting difficult to do safely. I am struggling (like many people) to do pull ups and although I can find ways to compensate, for example doing incline pull ups at home, if I went to the gym, I could use an assisted pull up machine. They also have a good climbing simulator machine which looks interesting. There is a good gym quite local which offers a PAYG membership of £5 per session.

I started the first workout this week and somewhat overdone it. My legs were quite achy but not too bad but my arms were really bad. Three days on, I still cant straighten my arms properly! I think the incline pull ups were the biggest culprit. I may need to knock a couple of reps off next time. Even with achy legs, I still did the hill session which went really well. I was surprised by how comfortable I found it considering even a year ago I would have run out of steam half way up even the shortest hill and would have walked. Now I barely even flinch at a short hill. Lots of hill running on holiday probably helped too.

Today I should really be doing a weights workout but as I said I still have quite bad DOMS in my arms, therefore I will be going for a run instead and perhaps some core exercises too.

The goal for now is to get back into my skinniest of jeans by Christmas.

Life's little trials and tribulations

So this is really an update to the last two posts. In the post "Then and now" I talked about my joint pains and how I am on full time medication to manage the pains. I also spoke about how the pains are not as bad as they used to be. Some other health issues caused me to discuss my tablets with my doctor. The result of the conversation was that I agreed to try and manage without taking them. I could still take other painkillers as and when required. That was over two months ago. I have managed better than I ever thought I would, and in fact have only needed painkillers on a couple of occasions. I recently returned from my holiday to Menorca. This is often a painful time due to the hilly terrain, not to mention the beach steps. Previous years I have taken painkillers almost every evening. This year I ran up and down those hills, I trekked up and down the rocky coastal paths and I even knocked fifteen seconds off my time for running up the beach steps, clearing 181 steps in 100 seconds flat! I didnt take a single pill! What a turn around! Definitely nailed the "Stronger" part of my mantra.

What about my other goals for the year? Well its not gone quite to plan. I completed the obstacle course in a respectable time of 1hr 30mins. We finished 411th /12th/13th out of over 1000 participants (despite me suffering an excruciating calf cramp on an obstacle near the end). We were happy with that and Darren and I are looking forward to doing it next year.

Having done the course though, I identified where I need to improve for next year and so I started working on my strength and explosive power. I had until recently confined my efforts to the house gym but decided to make up the anti and take it outside. I found some things to climb and jump over. Unfortunately I didnt even survive one session! I tripped and fell whilst jumping over a small fence and ended up tearing a muscle just to the side of my knee. That was the week before the Race for Life! I somehow still managed to run it but was not able to go for a record breaking time, finishing in something like 43 minutes.

That injury as well as other health issues had caused me to scale back my efforts somewhat. I'm on the mend now though and intend to set new workouts and a running plan within the next week. Watch this space!

Then & now

I thought I'd do a little update on how my fitness has developed over the last few years. One of the key factors for me losing weight was how I felt, probably more so than how I looked to be honest. If you know me or you've been reading this blog, you will most likely know that I have a chronic joint pain disorder. Due to the pains and several mis-diagnosis over the years I became very sedentary. I took expert advice that I should refrain from "high impact" exercise, particularly with regards to my knees (the worst affected joints). I was told to avoid; running, jumping, squats and lunges amongst other things. I was advised to keep exercise non weight bareing, such as cycling and smimming. I didn't realise at the time but that was actually making the condition worse as my joints became weaker and less stable. My knees became so weak and painfull that I was unable to step up on to something knee height without holding on to something or someone, and getting back down was worse. Jumping of any kind was out of the question.

Dont get me wrong, this is no miracle story, I'm still in pain. I'm still on full time pain management medication. But the pain is less frequent and less severe now. I can not claim this to be purely down to my fitness, as my medication is better now, and also I have learn't over the years how to limit and manage the pains better. But what I want to talk about here is what I am physically capable of doing now compared to three or four years ago when I started this blog. And so I am just going to give you examples of what I used to do (or not do) and what I do now.

Then: 5km run/walk (pains in hips & knees for a week)
Now: 10km run (Pains for 2-3 days)

Then: Squats holding on to something for support (2 sets of 5)
Now: Squats with over 20kg on a barbell (20 sets of 20) OR squat to press with 2x 3kg dumbells on a Bosu ball (unstable platform)

Then: 5 lunges (each leg)
Now: 2 sets of 15 lunges (each leg) with 2x 5kg dumbells OR 2 sets of 10 jumping split lunges

Then: Need assistance to step on/off box
Now: 2 sets of 10x jumping OVER the box

Then: 20  second plank (because shoulders hurt too much)
Now: 1 minute plank on upturned Bosu ball (unstable platform)

Then: 5 Girly press ups (because wrists  and shoulders hurt too much)
Now: 2 sets of 10 Men press ups

Then: Unable to run at 6mph on treadmill
Now: Able to do sprints of over 9mph

Then: Unable to wear healed shoes for more than an hour or so due to knee pains. Take a week to recover
Now: Able to stand all night in heels (not 6 inch though!) Able to make short walks in heels. Able to repeat two or three nights in a row before needing recovery.

All of these acheivements, I never thought possible. I believed I was destined to be in pain and discomfort for the rest of my life. I honestly believed there was a fair chance I could be wheelchair bound by the time I was 50 and that scared the Hell out of me!

Whilst reading stuff on the internet about joint pains and arthritis (which a was told I had) I happened across a couple of articles about building joint strength. There was stuff about jogging, about how, contrary to all the hype about it being "high impact" and bad for the knees, if it was done right, the benefits of building joint strength and bone density far outweighed the effects of wear and tear. There was stuff dismissing the historic claims that squats are bad for you and actually saying that weight bareing exercise can help ward off bone degeneration (osteoarthritis). To cut a long story short, I thought it was worth a go! So here I am, hitting the big 40 this year and I can honestly say I feel younger and fitter than I did five years ago and maybe even ten years ago. This year I am Running the Race For Life, yes RUNNING! Not jogging, not run a bit/walk a bit. Running, you know, like a fit person! I'm also doing a mud obstacle race and I sure as Hell dont see myself in a wheelchair anytime soon!

I am so proud of myself, I can't begin to tell you! But what I want to say to you is that if you can identify with my story even a little bit, if you can empathise on any level, you don't have to have the medical condition but maybe you have pains or old injuries? Maybe the future is not already written for you? Maybe you can take control and be who you want to be?

Faster Higher Stronger!

Faster Higher Stronger!

I don't really do New years resolutions bit last year I kinda gave myself a Mantra of "just keep on keeping on". My thinking was not to go through any processes of quitting and then starting again but rather, when you get that feeling of 'I'll start again next week' or after this event, you just start again straight away. Don't stop, just keep on. It was also about just keeping pushing with workouts and such things. So this year my Mantra is "Faster Higher Stronger". I want to take focus away from my weight and more towards my fitness, so everything I do is building towards those goals now.

One of the measures for this is the Race for Life. I am really working towards a sub 30 minutes finish this year. My stamina is quite good now over the 5km but I am struggling to increase my pace. I have added some things to my workout schedule to help with "fast twitch" muscle fibre development which is responsible for speed and power output. This includes some plyometric (explosive) exercises and some sprint interval training.

So that covers "Faster", so what about higher and stronger? I've signed up for my first obstacle race! It's on 11th May 2014. It is 6km of cross country running through mud and water and obstacles like rope climbs, monkey bars, underground pipes etc. I don't know how my joints are going to cope with it, particularly the instability of the mud and hills on my knees but I'm going to give it my best shot. I've dragged Darren in on it too and my cousin so we can help each other through it.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is our holiday in Menorca which is in August. I have my time recorded for running up the beach steps two years ago and I know I'm going to thrash that this year!

So 2014 is the year that I will "Keep on keeping on" and become "Faster Higher Stronger"!
,

Still going!

Well hello!
So, it's been nearly a year and a half since my last post. How time flies!

The big question is, am I still staying fit and healthy? The answer is not straight forward though I'm afraid. I have not been so strict with my diet for a while and dont really count calories or make food plans now. However I've been doing it long enough to gauge what I'm doing within reason. Since moving into our new place we don't tend to go out drinking so much although a have reverted back to drinking cider mostly rather than vodka. We do tend to have more comfort eating sessions though with sundays often consisting of an evening on the sofa with crisps and chocolates. In between these pitfalls though I still eat mostly stews, soups, turkey mince and fish dishes. Breakfast is usually porridge (made with water), lunch is usually a ham salad wrap. I have now changed jobs and become a driving instructor so meals are a little more awkward in that lunch needs to be handheld and not messy and evening meals are often later and so usually pre-cooked, reheated one pot stuff rather than say chicken breasts, rice and veg. I try to cook a proper meal if I'm home in the evening though. My job also means that my workouts are less regular and less structured. So the result of all of this is that I am around 18lb heavier than my lowest weight. I am a size 14 bottom and 12/14 top.

My fitness however has gone from strength to strength. Last year I ran the Race for Life without any walking and scored a PB of 33 minutes. I was really trying to get a time under 30 minutes but just couldnt make it. Since then I have been doing more running, both outside and on the treadmill indoors. I can now run 5k quite comfortably (and with much less pain during and after) and have been increasing my distance on occassion. I have even done a 10k run without needing to revert to a walk (although that one hurt my kness and hips much more).

In April this year I decided to join a Bootcamp training club. I was really worried I wouldnt be able to keep up and that my joints would hurt too much. I figured I'd turn up and do my best and see how I went. As it turned out, I just about kept up although I felt like my heart was going to explode that first time! I have been going once a week ever since. We do between 3 and 5 miles of running broken up with boxing, sit ups, press ups, squat jumps running with tyres and harnesses and that kind of thing. My fitness has improved massively as a result as has my strength. I'm by no means the best person there but I'm usually not the worst either. I can do a few squat jumps now and have even started doing some jumping split lunges! To think, a few years ago, I couldnt even do one squat! I can also jump over a knee height box now where I would have struggled to even step up on to it before!

So, what are my goals now? I would like to get back down to a size 12 although I am focusing more on body composition than weight these days. I am really trying to build my speed and dynamic power now. I'll be doing Parkour before you know it (lol)!

I am pushing to get that sub 30 min Race For Life and I'm much happier (no that's the wrong word, lets say, more at ease) with running in the cold and damp weather. I am also determined to do a mud obsticle race next year although I havent yet decided if it will be 5k or 10k. Who would have thought I would be doing that as I edge towards 40?

Is Healthy eating expensive?

People are always asking me if I find it more expensive to eat healthy foods. The honest answer is I don't really know. I suppose there are valid arguments for both sides. There are so many variables such as whether you buy premium brands or own labels, whether you bulk buy, whether you focus on the deals etc. I could argue that to eat healthy I could live on rice and beans which would be cheap enough but you could also argue that on the unhealthy side you can pick up microwave meals for £1 (and sometimes less).

I decided to do a little bit of research picking out some fairly standard foods and have tried to match up like for like so where an unhealthy food is branded so is the healthy option and so too for the own brand labels. Obviously you could go cheaper on both sides of the fence by buying only own brand stuff. Another factor for me is I tend to buy almost all of my fresh meat and fish from the reduced shelf and make it go further by making stews etc.

We could argue the finer details all day long but I would say this is typically Representative of what I used to eat and what I eat now. I have picked out a couple of options for a main meal (excluding accompaniments) and a few snacks. I would say there is not much difference. I have also omitted drinks where I would save a fair bit because I don't drink any fizzy drinks or juices, only tap water. (Prices taken from leading supermarket website and does not include offers or multi-buy savings.)

Unhealthy:

Chicken breasts in breadcrumbs (4 pack) £2.99
Battered cod fillets (4 Pack) £2.00
Mars bar (one from multipack) 25p
Pack of crisps (one of branded multipack) 23p
Mr. Kipling apple pie (one from 6 pack) 23p
Aero chocolate mousse (4 pack - 236g) £1.29
Chips (Basics range frozen price per kg) 55p

Total: £7.54

Healthy:

Whole fresh chicken £3.00
cod fillets (plain 450g) £3.25
1 apple (granny smith or similar) 27p
1 banana 12p
Hard boiled egg (one from 6 pack large) 24p
fat free natural yoghurt (500g) 55p
potatoes (basics range price per kg) 59p

Total: 8.02

So to summerise, I would say its all about making wise choices. When chosing to eat healthy, don't be suckered into buying exotic foods (did you know strawberries have roughly the same amount of antioxidents as blueberries and are probably about half the price!) or branded diet/low fat options.

Self sabotage!

Ok so as you know. I went on hols to france. Over that period  I put on about 5lbs. This was what I expected and so was not too bothered. After that, we had some friends staying with us from America. We went out quite a lot sightseeing and stuff and so pretty much ate burgers and takeaways for a week. We had a few fried breakfasts too and to top it all off it was easter and so lots of chocolate was also consumed. This resulted in me gaining a further 5lbs. Now we have a problem!! Our friends left 2 weeks ago to the day, and since then I have shifted 6lbs back off, which I am pleased about.

Last week I started a new exercise routine and found out a little too late that I had made it a bit to hard, resulting in about 4 days of DOMS (Muscle aches). I was somewhat impeded in the rest of the weeks workouts but did as much as I could anyway. This week I dropped a few reps and it seems so far that the DOMS are at a much more managable level.

Its about 5 weeks until Race For Life. I havent done any outdoor running as the weather has been awful. I have designed a 20 minute HIIT (High intensity interval training) routine on the treadmill to help build my cardiovascular powers, (this is where you do a short burst at fast pace and a short recovery period and keep repeating). I tried it on monday and nearly died after about 13 mins! So my aim now is to do a little more each time. Tonight I did 10 mins of bare foot running on the treadmill at a light pace which I hope is going to help with ankle strength and stability. I hope that will make running across the uneven ground during RFL easier.

So, priorities at the moment are cardio/stamina training to prepare for RFL, then once that is out of the way, its full steam ahead to get into shape for summer holidays. The target is to lose another stone (almost half of which is the excess easter weight). I am just a little concerned that it may involve dropping another dress size and thus require buying a whole new summer wardrobe (again). I suppose there are worse things in the world.

Onwards and upwards............

Getting fitter

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!)

Happy days! Sep 26th 2011

Ok so its the september and its been a six months or so since I last posted an update. Back then I was welcoming myself to the world of size 12 and had about a stone left to lose to reach my target. Well I am still a size 12 (top and bottom) but it is fitting a lot more comfortably now. I have gone from X-Large jogging bottoms to Small!! I had a few set backs along the way, what with the wedding and then the holiday and stuff but I am now at my target weight. I have lost 11 inches from my waist, 7 inches from my bust (somewhat dissapointingly lol)and 5 inches from my thighs. I am very happy with that! I still have some wobbly bits and the weight has gone from all the bits I'm least bothered with first but now I think there is not much more to come off in those areas so other areas should start toning up pretty soon.

I am still following a mostly weights based exercise plan and I get new inspiration from magazines including Mens Health, Mens Fitness, Body Fit, and many others. I do a lot of squats and compound moves (exercises that use more than one muscle group such as press ups). I have recently introduced some kettlebell moves such as swings and windmills although I do them with a dumbbell. (You can see videos of how to do all these exercises on You Tube, it's like having your own trainer!). I have been trying to do a bit more cardio and have been doing more jogging. I ran a personal best in the race for life which I was pleased with. I managed to do quite a bit of running on holiday too, even running up the dreaded beach steps! At the moment I am keeping the runs short but including hill sprints to really work my heart.

Food wise I am operating around 1500/1600 kcals on workout days and trying to keep it lower at around 1350 on rest days. I have introduced some new foods such as Greek yoghurt to help with protein levels and I've also been really good at swapping iceburg lettuce for some leafy salad and spinach. I have not been as strict for the last few weeks and have been having a few large sunday dinners but I am holding steady and still losing the odd pound here and there. I would still like to lose another half a stone or so, that way I have room for error over christmas and such like. My goal now though is more about toning up than losing weight and I think that even though the weight loss has slowed a lot I can see improvemnets all the time in my shape. I guess I am swapping the fat for muscle as they say.

So for now, the goal is to get into the best shape possible in the run up to Christmas so that I can really enjoy it when it comes. I know I will definately feel much better than last year about how I look and I'm looking forward to wearing some nice clothes. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, a few weeks ago I bought a couple of pairs of skinny fit jeans and Darren thinks I look great in them! Oh and I bought two pairs of heeled boots too. Not so long ago I thought I would never wear heels again because they made my knees hurt so bad. Now they dont really hurt at all unless I am standing or walking a lot in them.

So as the title says, Happy days! I'll probably post again on the other side of Christmas. Oh, and we are moving in to our own place in a few weeks too so I will be able to do a lot more cooking and will definatly not have the temptation of biscuits and things in the house, which we do at the moment. Also wont have to smell my Father-in-law cooking steak at 10pm!! And if I want to do silly exercises in my living room or run up and down the stairs I can without anyone asking me what I'm doing! Again, Happy days!

Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie Ingredients: 500g lamb mince 1 onion 3 sticks of celery 4 carrots 1 tin of mixed beans (or baked beans if you prefer) 350g potato 350g sweet potato splash of milk 1 tbsp tomato puree 1 packet of shepherds pie mix paprika thyme parsley rosemary Method: Dry fry the mince to brown. Season with salt & pepper. Add paprika and tomato puree to mince. Remove mince from pan leaving the fat. Chop the onions carrots and celery and fry in the meat fat until softened (about 5 mins). Add mince back into the pan. Make shepherds pix mix according to instructions and add to the pan. Drain the beans then add. Cook on low for 5 minutes. Peel chop and boil all the potatoes until cooked. Mash the potatoes with the splash of milk and the herbs. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer the mince to a shallow ovenproof dish. Top the mince with the potatoes. Cook on medium heat for 20-30 mins or until the potato starts to brown. Serves 6 406 kcals 42 Carbs 21 protein

Final furlong

It feels like I'm nearly there now. I am less than a stone away from what I call my "realistic target" and another 1/2 stone on top of that from "over the moon" target. I am fitting in to target size jeans but still larger than I would like on top. I still have more wobbly bits than I would like but I am expecting to see some improvements on that score as I get closer to my targets.

I bought some new knickers in my target size today as my old ones are hanging off me! They all fit very nicely. I also bought two swimsuits in my target size. I didnt expect them to fit at the moment but I hate shopping for swimwear as I can never find anything I like, so I thought I should buy them as I saw them. I tried one on when I got home. It was a bit of a struggle getting in to it and as expected my top half is still too big at the moment but I got into it and I was amazed! They should look lovely by the time I go on holiday in august (just hope they are not too big by then lol). I still can't get my head around being in my target size even if it is only the bottom half.

I had a bit of a sticking patch with the weight loss recently where I only lost 2lbs over four weeks. I decided to try dropping the calories to kick start my body again. I try to be careful not to go too low (never go below 1200) and also need to consider making sure I have enough fuel for my workouts. I decided to go to around 1300-1350 to see if it made a difference. If it didnt I would try upping the calories and doing some more exercise. As the week draws to an end I have lost 2lbs. So with that result in mind, I will do a similar thing next week and then come back up to around 1450 calories. Here are a couple of examples of a day's food from this week.

Porridge
10 almonds & 10 grapes
turkey casserole & 2 slices wholemeal bread
clementine
egg sandwhich made with 1 wholemeal bread, 1 egg (white only), extra low cal mayo
Cuppa-soup & 2 wholemeal bread
1 low cal hot chocolate
2 vodka's
(1281k cals, 163g carbs, 63g protein)

porridge
1 ryvita, 1 slice of edam (the ready sliced stuff) & 5 cherry tomatoes
veg soup & 2 wholemeal bread
clementine
low cal cereal bar
2 sausages, medium potato (mashed), dry fried onion, dry fried tomato, peas, gravy
ryvita & humous
(1351 kcals, 181g carbs, 62g protein)

You notice there's still quite a lot of food there even though I've cut the calories down a lot. Still not eating "rabbit food" and still shoveling something into my gob every couple of hours!

I have started to train for this years Race For Life and I'm already putting in some good times. The best thing is that I dont feel as knackered at the end as I used to and my recovery time is much much quicker. The down side is that it does take its toll on my knees and hips, especially the day after.

I checked my "resting heart rate" yesterday, (indicates how hard your heart is having to work to keep you alive! The lower, the better). Last year it was over 80bpm, now it is around 73bpm. (Check yours by litterally counting how many times your heart beats in 1 minute).

So as the title of this post says, it feels like the final furlong now. I'm expecting good things. I am looking for my stomach to get less wobbly and looking forward to fitting back into some old tops (many of which still have the tags on them because they didnt quite fit when I bought them, then I went the wrong way with my size!)

Just a quick one

Just thought I'd add that I bought 2 pairs of size 12 jeans at the weekend. One pair I can get into but just a little too tight for my likeing, The other pair (although the same brand) are a little bit smaller. Hopefully I will be able to wear them in a few weeks. In the mean time I also bought a smaller belt to hold up my old jeans. Lol. (I ran out of holes on myb old on and you cant make any more due to the design). I also managed to wear two tops which I have owned for about 3 years and never worn because they came up small at the time.

I am really kicking into overdrive now and am excited about looking good for Helen's wedding and also for my holiday in the summer. I am thinking about how I can squeeze in more workouts (never thought I'd say that)! Problem now is I want to do too many things. I want to continue with the weights to tone my body overall, but then I want to do squats to help fat burning and improve strength and stability in my knees, and I want to do stuff to improve my core strength and posture. Then there is my bike which I keep telling myself must see more daylight this summer. Lastly I must start doing some running to get my stamina up ready for the Race For Life. Too much, too much!