Fitness plan 2015: week 3 round-up

...oh don't even ask :(

I will hold my hands up and admit that I just couldn't be bothered this past week.  No other reasons.  I will try my best over the next few days, although the temptations of Easter and that long holiday weekend are approaching, therefore I'm expecting progress to be very limited in the coming week!

Fitness plan 2015: Week 2 round-up

Two weeks into my fitness regime and it's going very well indeed.  I am even beginning to lose inches, and clothes which haven't fitted me in ages are now beginning to fit.

My general fitness is gradually improving.  As with last week, I had some intensive aerobic and toning work at the beginning of the week, but I avoided last week's leg exercises which left me unable to walk for a couple of days!

All is not so good on the healthy eating front though....oh well there's always next week I suppose :)

My mood is slowly improving, although there are still some puzzling aspects of life which continue to confuse me and make me sad.  But I have decided to stop focusing on bad situations which are only pulling me down.

So it's onwards into week 3 of my fitness plan.  This week I'm going to build on what I've achieved so far.  I bought a new pair of running shoes yesterday ....

....but no, I won't be taking up running (!) however as I do a lot of walking, then I hope these are going to help my little feet happy while I'm out there pounding the pavements.

I'll be back next Sunday with another update.

Eclipsed

(above picture courtesy of the European Space Agency)

You would have to reside on Mars not to have known that this morning, there was a total or partial solar eclipse going on, depending on which part of Northern Europe you were either (a) residing in or (b) spent wads of cash to go on holiday to sleep in a tent in the snow.  Svalbard and the Faroe Islands were seemingly the place to be; however there was to be disappointment in some parts of the UK due to cloudy skies.  

Up here in Scotland meantime, the skies darkened in more of a dusky rather than a 'totality' kind of way, despite Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" apparently trending on Twitter - she hasn't had this much attention since her Eurovision appearance! - and the whole experience turned out to be a bit of a damp squib, mainly due to the unavailability of those all-important glasses.  Despite a few enthusiastic colleagues trying to jolly us all into going outside for the big event, I decided to give it a miss this time round.  Getting in touch with my 'health and safety' side (a rarity!!) I didn't think it was worth the risk to look up at the sky!

Of course it was probably the missed opportunity of missed opportunities, as there won't be another one for another 75 years and we'll all be long gone by then. 

Meanwhile I am quite happy to keep my memories of the last solar eclipse which took place in 1999. We had only been in our new office for a few months when the big event took place.  In those more carefree times it was also easier to get your hands on the eclipse glasses, as magazines and newspapers were giving them away more readily in those days.  So I was well equipped for the eclipse on that August morning, and it didn't disappoint.  There are very few people left in my office who were there on that fateful day, and even less who remember it.  But I do, and that memory will be sufficient for me.  

Blogging for life

Last Wednesday, my first born blog EuropeCrazy celebrated its 8th birthday.

I could never have imagined all those years ago where blogging would take me: that through it I would find new friends who share my interests, something which is virtually impossible in the 'real' world; that it would give me confidence to write about the things I loved; and that I would end up going on to produce three blogs and meet my all-time favourite singer twice.

The last 8 years of my blogging life have also been an accurate reflection of my real life: the glory days from 2007 to 2010, and the downward spiral from 2011 onwards.  With little exceptions (relationships, holidays and Eurovision) it would be fair to say that since the end of 2010, life has been pretty crap.  I get frustrated at not having the time or energy to blog more. I'm 8 years older, the demands of day to day life are often overwhelming, everything has just become tougher to deal with, and my time is more limited than ever.    

Yet the alternate-reality of blogging has always provided an escape from the 'real world'.  That was why I initially started EuropeCrazy, to give myself an outlet to write about my interests, about all the things which no-one else in my daily life knew or cared about.  Perhaps now, more than ever, I need that again.

The one thing I am sure of is that blogging is now such a part of my life that I cannot imagine it not being there.  It has not just become a fad or a temporary hobby - it's as much a part of me as everything else in my life and therefore I can't see it as anything other than a lifetime commitment. And for those who think blogging belongs to the past with the rise of Twitter, Facebook, vlogs, Instagram etc, then there is still a lot of life left in the blogging hobby all over the world if these statistics are anything to go by: http://aci.info/2014/12/27/the-state-of-blogging-in-2014/

So I'm in it for the long haul! :)

Fitness plan 2015: week 1 round-up

So the first really serious week of my new 9 week fitness regime has gone pretty well, although it inevitably plummeted thanks to last night's drinks and snacks which accompanied the final chapter of 2015's Eurovision national finals season.  As I previously said, I have a lot of posts on the various national finals to write up and publish over the next few weeks, and really need to get on with these!  

I had seriously considered taking up a gym membership but quickly reconsidered due to the hefty monthly fees.  And besides, what's the point of joining a gym if I have an exercise bike, a mini stepper, hand weights and numerous other fitness items at home?  The money which I'd have spent on that gym membership can now go straight into the holiday fund.  Talking of which, we are taking our spring city break in Brussels this year, and are pretty excited about that too!

Therefore I decided that I'm getting fit at home, for free.  The week started with some pretty intensive aerobics, which I used to do regularly.  Surprisingly I coped pretty well, although some of the leg exercises seemed to have the opposite effect and proved just how unfit I am.  Yet on the other hand, I felt as if my general fitness levels had increased dramatically after just 3 days, and it also had a very positive impact on my mood too, towards the end of the week.  

The one thing I've decided not to do is to weigh myself until the end of the 9 weeks: my main focus is on losing inches, toning up and improving my physical and mental fitness, rather than becoming too focused on what the scales say.  

Onwards to week 2!

Taking stock

Beginning the third month of the first quarter of 2015, and only three weeks away from the start of British Summer Time - yes! - although that feels like a long way off, as it's just been bitterly cold for weeks, and thanks to that very chilly wind it feels even colder than it was at the beginning of the year.  I guess that's nothing though, compared to the outrageously cold winter weather which affects many countries at this time of year.  

My last post on here was pretty hopeful: I'm settled into my part-time working routine and making it count as I'm continuing to tackle the decluttering and neglected jobs at home, and even found myself in the garden yesterday!  

Unfortunately my fitness regime crashed after about a week: I pulled a muscle in my back/shoulder area after carrying some very heavy shopping and was in a lot of pain for a while.  And then a lot of other stuff in my life just spiralled out of control over the last fortnight, with the result that the fitness plan was replaced by binge/emotional eating yet again to cope with it all. I don't really want to write about all that stuff, suffice to say that the strain of the past couple of weeks has left me feeling upset and exhausted and I just want to get my life back on track again.

Anyway, some good news as faithful travelling companion and I are now planning our spring holiday (expect an announcement in the next couple of weeks) so this will be my target to get fit and shed a few pounds.  What I am most looking forward to is improving my walking fitness, and not feeling so tired/lethargic all the time.  I have a mountain of draft blog posts to finish/post but have been too tired lately, so I will get round to posting them eventually :)

In the meantime, there's an exercise bike calling my name....