Get fit and stay fit

Why aren’t I a gleaming model of human perfection? This fitness thing is a gip. If i havent lost a stone and a half by tomorrow i’ll be mad as hell. Above is the spot where i do my jogging. I dont know why i put that on the message…guess i must be bored.
I made it through to song 9 today, which as it turned out was ‘Caring is Creepy’ by the Shins. My calfs (calves?) and thighs were very tight but i kept going and now feel flooded with energy. As a result I got loads of house jobs done, which made me feel better again. Hurrah for exercise.

..from my last entry that it is over a month since i last did the ‘half hour running on the spot’ thing. I did it again this morning but once every six weeks really isnt going to get me very far. And once again it was merely a moment of panic at feeling huge. During the summer i lost a stack of wieght but its all going back on. I’m going to try the stationary jogging thing every day this week, see how that works out.
I have what i think is a pretty cool system; i dont so much time myself as see how far i can get through a cd. I did 7 songs today. Starting with “speed of sound” by Coldplay i got through to “How Come” by Ray LaMontagne – maybe i can get to song 8 tomorrow.

I did a 40 minute work out today as an emergency reaction to suddednly feeling like the fattest man in Ireland. I put on a cd and jogged on the spot for 30 minutes. It was slightly disconcerting to realise that with each landing of my feet the whole room shuddered. I also did a couple of weight ‘things’. I dont know the technical term and there was no plan as such; I just hoiked them up and down till i got tired.
Afterwards my arms were like jelly and i found it hard to walk in a straight line. Nor did i notice any discernible difference in bulk. I blame a week of garlic bread and a halving of my workload. Curses on you Garlic Bread!!

In my current job i have to lift women from the floor dead-weight (dont ask!) and its killing me. Im at home now, absolutely wrecked from an afternoon of it. Seven weeks of woman-lifting lie ahead so i should be half way fit when that ends. And with all the tennis action i’ll be a buffed up superhero by christmas.
Hmmm, is woman-lifting an olympic sport? It should be.

Today i went playing tennis with my friend Gerry. I havent played tennis for years and there were some pretty funny moments as i got the hang of my arm being 2 feet longer than i am used to. But i did ok nad you know what?...I had a really good time. I was a wreck afterwards but i enjoyed it. I had to sit down for a while and i didnt stop sweating for about an hour but i feel good. When we got back to Gerrys house I looked in the mirror and my whole face was bright red…Gerry reckoned it was purple. We’re going to do it next week too.

I am playing a cricket match on Sunday. Not the most athletic sport in the world but it will a nice little stretcher. I swore to myself that i would start a fitness regime this week but i have been disgracefully lax in that department. I am punishing myself by not having a pizza tonight, even though i really want one. I am sooo hard on myself.

..to the dentist this morning ( I know..running away from dentists is the norm ) and though i arrived sweaty and somewhat out of breath it was very apparent that i am carrying less wieght. I was quite pleased with myself. Of course this doesn’t mean I’m fit. Not by a long shot but it augers well. In about two weeks i switch from working days to nights and i will be able to work on a few of my goals in a more concentrated way, one of which will be aquiring a basic level of aerobic fitness. i cant wait till i’m fit and beautiful….well, MORE beautiful.

Spent the weekend digging my brothers garden and by God it made my body hurt. I reckon if i could do this for a week or two id be fit as a proverbial fiddle. Two things mitigate against this; firstly my brother lives three hours away which makes it somewhat impractical and secondly I never want to see a shovel again as long as i live. If only darts got you fit. I like darts.

While i am still clinging to my new slimness, excercise is the key to actually being fit. Well, i played cricket on sunday for the first time in about a year. we played at a beautiful place in Kilkenny called Mount Juliet and were duly thumped by a pretty good team but the next day i was in pieces. For those of you unfamiliar with cricket, it is a posh version of baseball where the actual effort expended is low enough to allow all ages and shapes to play well into the twilight years. It is a mark of how unfit i am that i spent the following day dragging my crippled body around and moaning like a cartoon ghost. i’m playing again tomorrow. Bring on the pain, baby!

Went back to a job today which i hadnt been on since last summer. Loads of people commented on my wieght loss which was cool. “How did you do it?”, they asked. “Did you have a special diet?” “Yes”, I replied. “The too much work, too much stress and not enough sense to eat properly diet”. If i dont get fit and healthy its a waste of a good opportunity! Where did i put those damned dunb-bells?