Fitness Camp!

So I’ve been busy, hence why I’ve not been updating this blog.

I’ve been very busy with a new regime, one that I want to take as much from as possible and make some new habits out of. The regime is sort of broken into 3 different stages, food, exercise and supplements. I’ve been trialing out a new regime for Mike Bach of ABC Fitness – http://www.manchesterbootcamp.com/manchester-bootcamp.htm

1. Food is probably the most important thing to get right (unfortunately). To lose weight it seems that you really do have to reduce your carb and sugar intake. So basically anything that tastes nice, I should probably think twice about! It’s been a bit tough, especially now I’m in the 3rd week and the novelty has worn off and I’m craving my regular food so bad! Now I’m no stranger to the kitchen, so I’ve enjoyed doing some new and different meals, yesterday for example I made some chicken and tomato skewers served with homemade guacamole and salad. It was delicious and Chris loved it , though admittedly he had some pitta breads with his. Other popular meals I’ve had are burgers and the classic steamed fish and vegetables.

2. Exercise-wise, it’s all about high intensity exercises in relatively short sessions. It’s a lot of exercises that use different parts of the body at the same time.. and they all seem to be related to insects! Spiderman crawls, Inchworms, Froggies etc.. Most are down on the ground in push up position and then doing various jumps! Hard work but you feel every muscle working whilst you’re doing them. These are supplemented through doing stretches morning and night to loosen the body up.

3. Supplements. Ewwww. The hardest bit. Alkaline salts in the morning, Greens drink, Cod Liver Oil, Probiotic tablets and Vitamin C drink. Yuck yuck yuck, though 3 weeks in I’m getting used to them.

So results wise, my starting weight was 11st 9lb – not totally my heaviest ever but not my happiest weight. After 2 and a half weeks I’m already down to 11st 2lb with more to come off! (I had a cheeky weigh-in over the weekend at 11st so here’s hoping I’m going to break the barrier) Mike is more interested in the inches lost so I’ll post them up when I’ve done them on Friday, hopefully we will be able to see the tangible difference.

Weekend roundup

Thought I’d give you a weekend roundup of what I’ve been up on my quest! Friday night we hosted chris’s sister and brother in law round for tea. This gave me an opportunity to try out some new recipes on them that I wouldn’t normally have time to do. I originally wanted to do a haggis recipe for a burns night kind of feast but couldn’t find a haggis anywhere in tesco, the one shop I tried on a Friday afternoon! So after a slight panic and indecision later, Chris fancied a curry. I decided to push the idea with homemade naans and pilau rice, complemented with a lamb passanda. Gorgeous if I do say so myself! The naans were the surprise, not difficult to make and tasted spot on! Chris’s family are wonderful so we had a good laugh with them about the things they used to get up to! The story about the two of them twatting each other round the head with oars in the middle of a lake whilst their dad was screaming at them to stop from the lakeside particularly tickled me! We finished off the night with a bit of Articulate, proud to say that me and Chris dominated throughout!
Saturday was Sian’s hen do, it started off rather stressfully as I helped Danielle get the final bits and pieces planned for the evening but once we got to Sian’s it was time to relax. We’d hired a local mobile beautician to do out nails, eye makeup and adorn us with fake eyelashes! It was a really chilled out afternoon, which was a relief especially as Sian was full of cold bless her! We then met up with Sian’s other friends and family at Grinch for some pizza- I had to break the diet as we got through bottle after bottle of wine! After a few awkward moments over the bill, when certain people didn’t quite contribute enough, we moved onto revolution and had a bit of a boogie! I danced for a bit but then all the wine made me feel quite reflective and whilst I was looking around at all the tarted up girls wearing nothing and men ogling at them, suddenly felt really lucky for my group of silly dancing girls and lovely boy waiting for me at home! We had a bit of a sleepover at Sian’s, where in the morning we all piled onto the sofa watching hour after hour of Gok Wan whilst nursing our poorly heads with bacon sarnies and strong coffee! I decided that I fancied a really lazy Sunday, so I had to earn it by walking home which is about 2.5 miles. Not such a long walk but with a hangover…
The boy had cooked up a beef casserole for me coming home already (well trained) and I’ve just been lying on bed reading and listening to xfm. And that is where you find me now, and where I will leave you for today!

Spark/Confidence?

Ooo just worked out how to blog from my phone which will make things easier!
Over the last couple of days I’ve been thinking hard about ‘the spark’… I’ve tried to equate it to confidence in the most part. Confidence in my self has probably been slowly diminishing for a while under the radar. I’m going to take the stance that although I can probably blame a few people and situations for affecting how I feel about myself, I can’t change others. I can only change myself and the way I react to these situations, which in turn will affect how others may treat me. I’m choosing to look forwards, rather than back and tracing my journey to a renewed confidence.
I took the opportunity to speak to my head of service about how I’ve been feeling at work which although totally awkward, hopefully helped bring some awareness to what I’m going through. It was really unnatural for me to open up to someone else, especially a senior manager, however it’s surprisingly good how it feels to being a bit more honest about my feelings. I’ve also opened up to some friends too, which has been great. Everyone has been really supportive and kind, and recommending things to do! I’ll certainly be filling this blog out soon!

Hello world!

Sometimes in life coincidences happen. Sometimes it sparks a smile at the random-ness and other times it can really make you think. This blog is the result of the latter and it’s all to do with the choice of words.

“You seem to have lost your spark…”

On the third occasion I heard this little phrase since 2012 began, the cogs in my mind started up, choked, started again and then slowed down until they settled on a quiet murmur, which isn’t bad seen as it’s quite clear they’ve not been used in a while! I’m choosing to take some comfort on the fact that some people thought I had a spark once, least I’ve something to aim for, but what it was and where I found it or lost it I’ve no idea.

In this blog I’m going to document my search for the missing piece. My disclaimer is that this blog is written mainly for me, and for the most part is going to be completely about me. I’m not normally this indulgent, self-centred or … lost!

I’m going to write about the experiences that I come across that invoke a reaction within me, starting with the things I already know I enjoy, food and music, and letting it develop from there. Wish me luck!