This is the week where it all went wrong.
After an extended visit to the gym where I just got a little too enthusiastic with some of the weight machines, I managed to pick up a nasty shoulder/pectoral injury. For most of the past week I've been in excruciating pain and needless to say the fitness regime is on hold until I'm feeling better.
I didn't weigh-in this week as I've also struggled to eat healthily, for various reasons.
This week has been a shocking and sad week not only for this country and for the world, but also on a personal level. Dark times.
The summer 2016 fitness regime is on hold for now, so I won't be posting updates on here until it resumes, whenever that will be.
Saturday, 18 June 2016
Saturday, 11 June 2016
Summer Fitness Plan 2016: week 6 recap
So that's another week over, and more success to report in spite of working not too hard (and having a few treats).
After last week's brilliant weight loss I didn't expect another successful week - so it was a bigger surprise to learn yesterday that I had lost another pound, making it a 5½ lbs weight loss over 2 weeks. Which I'm delighted about, but I still can't really see where it's happening as I don't feel thinner, really.
Where it is having an impact is in my fitness levels. I'm slowly getting back to pre-2014 levels of fitness, and I can't describe just how important it is to get through every day without constant pain in every step I take.
I returned to the gym this week and my confidence is continuing to grow. It's fascinating to watch the "fitness junkies" do their thing but I just wonder how they remain motivated if they achieve all their goals? I guess they just set the bar higher. My goals are much smaller though, but that will do for me. I doubt if I'd ever become one of those gym-obsessives, like that woman I see regularly at 7.30 am, hammering the hell out of the treadmill :)
There is a limit to all this, though. I'm going to cancel my membership at the end of September, by which time I'm hoping to have got back to "the old me" with a sufficient level of fitness to continue my efforts at EuropeCrazy HQ over the winter months and beyond. That's the plan.
There is less good news to report on the swimming front though: going swimming before work seemed like a good idea, but one of the "oldies" put me in my place yesterday and told me in no uncertain terms that this was the time for the "real swimmers" and I was taking up valuable lane-swimming space by hanging out at the side of the pool doing my aqua-aerobics. (Bearing in mind that half of the pool is already closed-off for lessons/lane swimming - AT 7.30 AM!) Which is very disappointing, as in last week's post I was very positive about the older people frequenting the pool; unfortunately they turned out to be more exclusive and elitist than I could ever have expected. I replied by stating that this was the only time I could go to the pool as I-WORK-FOR-A-LIVING-AND-THIS-IS-THE-ONLY-TIME-I-CAN-GO-FOR-A-SWIM-BECAUSE-THE-POOL-IS-OFF-LIMITS-IN-THE-EVENING-FOR-SWIMMING-LESSONS-AND-CLUBS (subtext: you can swim here anytime....) but to be honest, I've had enough of it really. Apart from the comments of the oldie-swimming-mafia, the practicalities of fitting in swimming before work are, well, not very practical. So if/when I do return to the pool, it will be at the weekend when all I have to worry about are kids splashing around - my pet hate, and the reason I went pre-work swimming in the first place - but hey, that's as good as it gets. Unless of course someone comes up to me and helpfully advises that I am taking up their splashing-space. Whatever.
So in the meantime I am devoting all my efforts to the gym, where no-one's going to come up to me and helpfully advise that I am in their treadmill-space.
After last week's brilliant weight loss I didn't expect another successful week - so it was a bigger surprise to learn yesterday that I had lost another pound, making it a 5½ lbs weight loss over 2 weeks. Which I'm delighted about, but I still can't really see where it's happening as I don't feel thinner, really.
Where it is having an impact is in my fitness levels. I'm slowly getting back to pre-2014 levels of fitness, and I can't describe just how important it is to get through every day without constant pain in every step I take.
I returned to the gym this week and my confidence is continuing to grow. It's fascinating to watch the "fitness junkies" do their thing but I just wonder how they remain motivated if they achieve all their goals? I guess they just set the bar higher. My goals are much smaller though, but that will do for me. I doubt if I'd ever become one of those gym-obsessives, like that woman I see regularly at 7.30 am, hammering the hell out of the treadmill :)
There is a limit to all this, though. I'm going to cancel my membership at the end of September, by which time I'm hoping to have got back to "the old me" with a sufficient level of fitness to continue my efforts at EuropeCrazy HQ over the winter months and beyond. That's the plan.
There is less good news to report on the swimming front though: going swimming before work seemed like a good idea, but one of the "oldies" put me in my place yesterday and told me in no uncertain terms that this was the time for the "real swimmers" and I was taking up valuable lane-swimming space by hanging out at the side of the pool doing my aqua-aerobics. (Bearing in mind that half of the pool is already closed-off for lessons/lane swimming - AT 7.30 AM!) Which is very disappointing, as in last week's post I was very positive about the older people frequenting the pool; unfortunately they turned out to be more exclusive and elitist than I could ever have expected. I replied by stating that this was the only time I could go to the pool as I-WORK-FOR-A-LIVING-AND-THIS-IS-THE-ONLY-TIME-I-CAN-GO-FOR-A-SWIM-BECAUSE-THE-POOL-IS-OFF-LIMITS-IN-THE-EVENING-FOR-SWIMMING-LESSONS-AND-CLUBS (subtext: you can swim here anytime....) but to be honest, I've had enough of it really. Apart from the comments of the oldie-swimming-mafia, the practicalities of fitting in swimming before work are, well, not very practical. So if/when I do return to the pool, it will be at the weekend when all I have to worry about are kids splashing around - my pet hate, and the reason I went pre-work swimming in the first place - but hey, that's as good as it gets. Unless of course someone comes up to me and helpfully advises that I am taking up their splashing-space. Whatever.
So in the meantime I am devoting all my efforts to the gym, where no-one's going to come up to me and helpfully advise that I am in their treadmill-space.
Thursday, 2 June 2016
Cleaning out my closet 2015-2016: the results
As part of my ongoing decluttering exercise at EuropeCrazy HQ - now on hold for a little summer break - over the past year I filled a number of bags of perfectly good clothing which was either too small/too big/too 'what was I thinking'? and took them to our local Cancer Research charity shop.
I never thought any more of it until today when I received those letters, which advised that the sale of my clothes had raised just under £150 (including Gift Aid) for the charity. Although I still have many reservations about how various charities are unnecessarily wasting money, I can only hope that this little contribution will benefit someone, somewhere, battling this horrific illness which touches everyone's lives.
Summer Fitness Plan 2016: week 5 recap
Everything comes to she who waits.
Well, it's only Thursday and I'm a few days early with this one, but...when the news is this good, you just have to share it.
I weighed in today instead of tomorrow, (as I'm off work tomorrow) to discover a very happy shock indeed - I have lost 4½ lbs this week! No....I didn't believe it either! I can't ever remember losing this much weight in a week. We are doing these informal weigh-ins at work until September - and I was advised that I was "slimmer of the week" so far. All this is completely new to me and you'd have thought I'd won the lottery with my reaction to that news! What an amazing way to start my long weekend :)
So what happened this week?
On Monday and Tuesday my legs gave up, as they struggled to recover from that intensive gym-and-swim workout on Sunday. Some serious muscular pain going on, which prevented me returning to the gym until yesterday for yet another before-work session. It's quite surprising just how busy the gym is at 7.30am, and I wasn't too happy to discover that my newly-discovered spinning bikes and rowing machine were being monopolised by other gym-goers!!
But that aside, there were some small victories yesterday. I managed a little more time on the Arc Trainer, which, to the uninitiated is a more do-able variation on the cross trainer, which remains out of my league. For now, anyway :)
This morning I tried something new: I decided to try a pre-work swim. A few weeks ago I bought one of those "swim dresses" but it wasn't very practical in the pool if I'm honest. So I found something else a couple of weeks ago which proved to be an alternative solution for my self-consciousness about wearing a swimsuit....This is something called a "boyleg swimsuit" which doesn't really sound too appealing - but it absolutely does the job.
I mentioned a "swim" but my new strategy in the pool is actually more improvised aqua-aerobics in order to build up my upper body and leg strength before moving on to, hopefully, bigger and better things.
So 20 minutes in the pool gets me leg and arm stretches, star jumps, bounces, dog-paddles, leg kicks and all kinds of variations on the aqua-aerobic theme. Between the pool and the gym, what has really surprised me is that my confidence is growing by the week. That initial "walk of doom" from the changing room to the gym or the pool is now just the most natural thing. Since I took out my membership, what has particularly fascinated me is the number of older people at the gym and the pool. I had worried it would be full of the young, fit, "beautiful people" who would leave me feeling more intimidated, inadequate, overweight and well, just plain "old". But that's not the case. Instead, I've found myself among a whole new set of role models, possibly 10/15 years older than I am. I ended up chatting to an older couple this morning in the pool, who would have put much younger swimmers to shame. They, and many of the other people I have encountered in the past four weeks, inspire me to do so much better. In a very youth-centric society, they should be an inspiration to us all.
And my worries about doing exercise as a solitary activity when everyone has an exercise-buddy with them, have proved unfounded. Stick your iPod on, with a playlist of dance bangers, and you quickly forget how self-conscious you feel about being at the gym on your own.
Most importantly: I'm enjoying this new fitness regime, to the point where I'm perfectly happy to change my whole routine, get up early and go to the gym before work, and eagerly planning my next gym/swim session.
My plan in the coming week is to build on what I've achieved so far and try and fit in some extra sessions. Eventually I am hoping to do some exercise classes, which will be another mountain to climb, battling the fear of going to a group-activity on my own, but I won't go down that road yet until I have reached another level of fitness where I'll be confident enough to participate at a decent level.
In the meantime...onwards to another week of healthy eating and exercise! Although there will be some interruptions along the way :)
Well, it's only Thursday and I'm a few days early with this one, but...when the news is this good, you just have to share it.
I weighed in today instead of tomorrow, (as I'm off work tomorrow) to discover a very happy shock indeed - I have lost 4½ lbs this week! No....I didn't believe it either! I can't ever remember losing this much weight in a week. We are doing these informal weigh-ins at work until September - and I was advised that I was "slimmer of the week" so far. All this is completely new to me and you'd have thought I'd won the lottery with my reaction to that news! What an amazing way to start my long weekend :)
So what happened this week?
On Monday and Tuesday my legs gave up, as they struggled to recover from that intensive gym-and-swim workout on Sunday. Some serious muscular pain going on, which prevented me returning to the gym until yesterday for yet another before-work session. It's quite surprising just how busy the gym is at 7.30am, and I wasn't too happy to discover that my newly-discovered spinning bikes and rowing machine were being monopolised by other gym-goers!!
But that aside, there were some small victories yesterday. I managed a little more time on the Arc Trainer, which, to the uninitiated is a more do-able variation on the cross trainer, which remains out of my league. For now, anyway :)
This morning I tried something new: I decided to try a pre-work swim. A few weeks ago I bought one of those "swim dresses" but it wasn't very practical in the pool if I'm honest. So I found something else a couple of weeks ago which proved to be an alternative solution for my self-consciousness about wearing a swimsuit....This is something called a "boyleg swimsuit" which doesn't really sound too appealing - but it absolutely does the job.
I mentioned a "swim" but my new strategy in the pool is actually more improvised aqua-aerobics in order to build up my upper body and leg strength before moving on to, hopefully, bigger and better things.
So 20 minutes in the pool gets me leg and arm stretches, star jumps, bounces, dog-paddles, leg kicks and all kinds of variations on the aqua-aerobic theme. Between the pool and the gym, what has really surprised me is that my confidence is growing by the week. That initial "walk of doom" from the changing room to the gym or the pool is now just the most natural thing. Since I took out my membership, what has particularly fascinated me is the number of older people at the gym and the pool. I had worried it would be full of the young, fit, "beautiful people" who would leave me feeling more intimidated, inadequate, overweight and well, just plain "old". But that's not the case. Instead, I've found myself among a whole new set of role models, possibly 10/15 years older than I am. I ended up chatting to an older couple this morning in the pool, who would have put much younger swimmers to shame. They, and many of the other people I have encountered in the past four weeks, inspire me to do so much better. In a very youth-centric society, they should be an inspiration to us all.
And my worries about doing exercise as a solitary activity when everyone has an exercise-buddy with them, have proved unfounded. Stick your iPod on, with a playlist of dance bangers, and you quickly forget how self-conscious you feel about being at the gym on your own.
Most importantly: I'm enjoying this new fitness regime, to the point where I'm perfectly happy to change my whole routine, get up early and go to the gym before work, and eagerly planning my next gym/swim session.
My plan in the coming week is to build on what I've achieved so far and try and fit in some extra sessions. Eventually I am hoping to do some exercise classes, which will be another mountain to climb, battling the fear of going to a group-activity on my own, but I won't go down that road yet until I have reached another level of fitness where I'll be confident enough to participate at a decent level.
In the meantime...onwards to another week of healthy eating and exercise! Although there will be some interruptions along the way :)
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