Be healthier from Wednesday

Plan for the week was:

• Wed: 30 min early cardio, 1 hour tai chi done!
• Thurs: 30 min early cardio, 30 min weights done, well only did about 5 min weights but I hammered it
• Sat: 60 min cardio done!
• Sun: 60 min cardio done! and did some more weights
• Tues: 30 min early cardio done!

Very happy that I managed to do all that, and I’m now pretty much back to the pre-Burgundy situation after a month of faffing about getting nowhere.

This week, more of the same.

• Wed: 30 min early cardio, 1 hour tai chi
• Thurs: 30 min early cardio
• Sat: 60 min cardio
• Sun: 60 min cardio + some weights
• Tues: 30 min early cardio

Am also tracking cals in and out religiously on Fitday, and maintaining Biscuit Resistance. I was planning to do an Intermittent Fast tomorrow but strangely the will to do that has evaporated – I think I’ll stick with the current plan and see how it goes. Flashpoints this week are Thursday (sandwich lunch + wine tasting in the evening) and Saturday (dinner with TR) but there’s no reason why I can’t be quite good the rest of the time, although Nanowrimo does require a certain amount of breakfast martini consumption purely for research purposes ;)

Exercise-wise the plan was:

Wed: tai chi and Bodypump done!
Sat: 1 hour cardio not done but walked for 2 hours
Sun: 1 hour cardio done!
Mon: 30 min cardio not done but did it this morning

So almost there! Although I love BodyPump and it makes me enjoyably high for the rest of the evening, the suffering for 3-4 days after isn’t so great, so I’m going to try to do weights myself this week and then hopefully build up to doing BodyPump with less achiness in future. Also it’s relatively easy to get up early at the moment as 6.40 feels like 7.40 and it’s quite light outside, so I want to take advantage of that.

• Wed: 30 min early cardio, 1 hour tai chi
• Thurs: 30 min early cardio, 30 min weights
• Sat: 60 min cardio
• Sun: 60 min cardio
• Tues: 30 min early cardio

As regards eating, I’m Biscuit-Resistant at the moment (since last Thurs in fact) and am doing well at not eating refined sugar, although I probably need to give up my pre-prandial pastis as G pointed out it is quite sweet. Might move on to manzanilla instead (one small glass only)...

I’m also planning things on Fitday in advance which enables me to see beforehand that I shouldn’t be guzzling pistachios when I get home after work, rather than finding out after the event when it’s too late. Am aiming for a deficit of around 4,000 cal for the week which hopefully might translate into some weight loss. You never know!

after my last almost-giving-up entry on here, I suddenly got back on track, god knows where that came from. Went to the gym Saturday, Sunday and yesterday – a total of 2 hours 15 min on the incline thingy = 2200 cal _{probably actually about half that, but nothing wrong with a little self-delusion ;)}

Today I had to go to a meeting and was sitting next to the gym manager who asked me if I was coming to Bodypump this week so I’m now committed to going tomorrow. He said more people are going now, which to be honest was the thing putting me off, I didn’t like going by myself, although I suppose it was a bit like a personal training session for a fraction of the price! Looking forward to it actually, although I know I’ll be in pain afterwards till at least Saturday argh. Must remember to use the wussy weights ;)

So the plan to next Tues is:

• Wed: tai chi and Bodypump
• Sat: 1 hour cardio
• Sun: 1 hour cardio
• Mon: 30 min cardio

I’ve also been making soup – very nice and comforting for lunch during the cold weather. No fingers were harmed in the making of the soup, which is also progress.

it’s Wednesday tomorrow and I’m doing really badly with this goal. I went to the gym on Sunday but that is all the exercise I have done this week.

I’m tempted to make excuses… with the nights drawing in, I’ve been sleeping a lot and finding it impossible to get up at 6.40. And things have been manic at work and the last thing I feel like when I get home is exercising. So that rules out the morning and the evening. Hmmm.

I’ve been eating quite well though, and am planning to make soup to take to work for lunch in the near future. I was on the verge of getting a cold when I got back from France but it has not materialised (yet) and I attribute that to the avoidance of refined garbage since I got back, although I have succumbed to the odd biscuit at work.

I will definitely go to the gym on Sunday. It’s not wholly inconceivable that I might have time to go on Saturday too, if I get my act together.

Meanwhile I shall not beat myself up about my shortcomings on this goal but rather remember that part of health is psychological health and it’s important to relax and be kind to myself ;)

This goal should be very easy this week as it would be impossible to be less healthy than last week ;)

But seriously I am feeling quite blobby and immediate action must be taken to restore Iron Leopard status. So this goal is going to be my priority for October.

• Wed: 1 hour tai chi
• Thurs: 30 min rowing
• Sun: 1 hour cardio
• Tues: 1 hour Bodypump hooyah!

Will also try to eat well and lay off the cheese – that can be facilitated by eating it all tonight ;)

It’s Wednesday again… I’ve been so stressed with moving house that I’ve been eating quite badly the last few days so this goal is quite relevant this week.

This afternoon I will buy salad vegetables for tonight and milk for tomorrow’s breakfast. I will also go for a run between now and Friday.

So last week the plan was:

• Wed: 30 min cardio + tai chi if it’s on, not sure as there is a special open day at the gym not done
• Thurs: 60 min cardio as I have the day off and don’t have to get a train until 11.30 did 30 min
• Sun: 60 min cardio done! and got personal best!
• Tues: 30 min cardio not done, simply can’t be arsed ;)

Not quite the kickass week I was planning…. on the other hand Sunday was pretty good and yesterday and today I haven’t eaten too much. I’m eating small lunches at the moment which a) take about 2 min to eat so I can go back to my desk and 43T/emails/Guardian website etc. instead of having to sit in the kitchen making polite conversation and b) are only about 250 cal which makes quite a big difference to overall daily intake – previously lunches were around 600 cal.

I also haven’t weighed myself for ages and have found that it’s making me happier and as far as I can tell from my clothes / the mirror I haven’t turned into a hippo either! Result! As a spreadsheet wonk I used to track on a daily basis, but maybe this slightly less obsessive approach is ok after all.

The plan for this week:

• Wed: 30 min cardio + 1 hour tai chi
• Thurs: nothing
• Fri: 30 min cardio

Am going to France on Saturday and we are going to be doing some serious eating and drinking including a 3* restaurant, which should be amazing. So health goals will be on hold for a week, but I will get right back on the case afterwards!

That was quick!

I was a bit naughty on the weekend but I’m regaining my groove again now. I went for a run today.

Tomorrow, I plan to attend a yoga class and my WW meeting.

Last week my plans were:

• Wed: 1 hour tai chi, 1 hour Bodypump done!
• Fri: 30 min cardio not done, too achey after Bodypump
• Sat: at least 30 min something, or possibly go for a long walk walked for about an hour altogether
• Sun: 1 hour cardio done!
• Tues: 30 min cardio not done, didn’t have time this morning without stressing myself out over parents coming

Not really as good as I had hoped, but BP whacked me out for 3 days which I hadn’t expected – I hadn’t done it for 3 weeks and it really felt like it. The other quite entertaining effect of BP is the sudden emergence of my biceps and shoulders. G and I compared biceps the other night and he thought mine were bigger, then started comparing me to Madonna ;) But despite the Gladiator Leopard thing, I have no desire to be the Incredible Hulk, so I may reduce BP to every other week and concentrate on cardio in the intervening weeks.

So, the plan for this week is:

• Wed: 30 min cardio + tai chi if it’s on, not sure as there is a special open day at the gym
• Thurs: 60 min cardio as I have the day off and don’t have to get a train until 11.30
• Sun: 60 min cardio
• Tues: 30 min cardio

That would be 3 hours for the week which would be pretty good really. As for other things, it’s not going to be brilliant as I’m going away with Dad for a couple of days in Suffolk which may involve big breakfasts and the finest fish-and-chips in the land!

I only managed one booze-free day this week although last night was moderate. Really I should be counting units but that’s far too scary ;) so I’ll try to have a no-booze day tomorrow and two out of Sun, Mon and Tues, not sure which yet.

It’s Wednesday again and actually I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my momentum since last Wednesday.

Tonight I’m planning to go to a yoga class, which has been on the list for some time.