Gym last night

Normal stuff - X trainer, bike & weights...

And the feeble excuse of the day is.....

Headache and achey mouth due to having just had the dentist yank my mouth around into revolting positions to take photos of it, local anaesthetic followed by lots of prodding and measuring. This is all in aid of the plan to replace my denture with screw in tooth. Starting to wonder if it's worth it as I feel very drained & fed up this evening.

I shouldn't be really as today has gone well - good conversation re. my career this morning & purchase of a fab new casual shirt.

Made it to gym last night though - 30 mins on cross trainer followed by 10 mins interval jogging and a few weights machines.

Yay - back in my cycling trousers again!

Just completed a 14 mile circuit from the house.

Went with Husband, M, S & X. X has a lovely new shiny bike, S has just bought MS's and M was showing off lots of shiny new parts on his bike that he got 4 his birthday as well as new cycling shoes. So I would have felt a bit left out of the "exciting new stuff" conversations - except I am just as excited about achieveing my first Big D objective - back in my cycling trousers again!

Route was pretty good fo the first half - skirted stoke woods and took bridle pathsup to Owslebury then up towards Morestead. Not so good for the second bit as we stuck to road so that S & X could get back in time fo the football. Apparently there's a game on today....

Nature stuff - hedgerows are still loooking good with dog roses in bloom. Poppies are in full gorgeous red bloom atm in the fields. Apart from that, not much out of the ordinary. However, I did see a striking red moth whilst jogging yesterday that I must look up.

And more exercise is planned for later today - only a 35 minute walk down into Eastleigh to pick up the car but every little helps.

2103 calories of exercise this week - well up on the 1313 last week. I feel smug!

Another blister....

Went jogging for the first time in ages on Saturday. As we were due to go to M's beer fest 40th birthday thing, I was really keen to do some kind of exercise so that I could drink lots of beer without jeopardising the big D. We were going to go to the gym but the pool was timetabled to be a kids' session so Husband would have had a bad time. Instead, I figured I should try running again. 45 slow slow minutes to do 5km - 3X1 mile circuits from the house. Nice blister on my left foot.

I stopped running alone outside as I got very wound up about people yelling stuff at me from their cars. First 2 miles were good - but I got a car honking me on the 3rd mile - really don't understand why people do that - it tends to be young-ish blokes in rubbish cars. I'm on the pavement - not in their way or affecting their driving in any way.

So the jury is out as to whether I go out again alone. 1 car honking doesn't sound like a big deal but I'm nervous about getting yelled at again...

Blisters on my feet

Not as good as going to the gym, but I did a fair amount of walking yesterday - office to station, tube to go to another office, extra 2 mins of walking up & down the same bit of road failing to find the right building, back to tube, station to office to pick up car.... carpark to M&S to pick up lazy dinner...

Anyhow, I have blisters on my feet as all of this was done in heels, so I figure it counts!

Did make it to the gym!

30 mins cycling, 25 on the cross trainer and some weights - all this despite extreme boredom brought on by all the TV channels showing the "build up" to the football at 8. I've discovered that there is one thing worse than watching football - watching/listening to people talk about it as it seems to take much longer than 90 mins to discuss future game & then dissect it afterwards.
Still, it meant that the gym was nice & quiet!

Lacking Motivation Today

Not feeling like going to the gym tonight - I have no good (or even any rubbish) excuses - I have my kit with me, I have my card, I have a strong desire to shift vast quantities of fat off my body.....

I looked at baby sister's blog - she managed to fit in physio in Oxford and a GOSH visit and still found time to do her health walk yesterday - I really don't have an excuse not to go.

Still, it's the gym or an evening alone in the flat with only Big Brother for company - so it'll be the gym...... now, if I was looking at demolishing a bottle of wine with a buddy, it would be a very different proposition! Must find out if A will be up for that post her exhibition.....

Beach & Spa

Not a hugely energetic weekend in terms of exercise - but a very enjoyable one.
Went to the beach on Saturday for barbecue and boules. I did swim in the Solent but I don't think that really counts as exercise as I was only actually swimming for about 10 mins tops! Husband & I agreed it was one of the best evenings we'd had for a while - great company, beautiful setting.

On Sunday, I had a day at the spa - and swam for 40 mins. The fitness pool at Nirvana is lovely - rarely more than 3 people in it and immaculate.

Last week, did 1313 calories worth of exercise - 500 down on previous week. Should focus on squeezing some more in this week, but it's going to be a busy one for me, so we'll see!

Walking done

About 40 mins walking last night & 30 mins this morning. Counteracted any possible benefit by going out for drinks & dinner - but I did stick to G&T (all slimline bar one), a brandy & some v.tasty pasta with seafood. Last week's hangover when I opted to drink instead of eat was not something I wanted to experience again...

Had my first "have you lost weight recently?" comment from a colleague at work yesterday - very gratifying!

Gym last night & some walking planned

Gym last night - cross trainer & bike. It was 9pm by the time I finished so I skipped weights.

Got some not-terribly-exciting walking planned tonight & tomorrow - meeting a friend in Paddington later on so will be walking from office to station (10 mins) and later on, walking from tube station back to my rabbit hutch of a flat (about a mile). And tomorrow morning, will be tubing it to the office - so another mile plus 10 mins. Which all sounds moderately virtuous until I explain that all this is to facilitate a little drinking tonight!

Finished the WS book mentioned in my profile last night. Great little thought to keep myself going - as Gwyneth Paltrow probably doesn't compare herself to me, why should I compare myself to her? OK, so she isn't really in my list of "women I would like to look like" (Angelina Jolie & Natalie Imbruglia sadly!) but it's an admirable sentiment.

Does boogying count?

Got to the Dungeon on Saturday for the first time in ages - Arrived at about half 10, left at 2 and I seemed to be dancing most of the time. SF is great coz he tends to dance by default - like me - as opposed to MS who saves his energy for his faves. Music was good - no idea what most of the recent stuff was - but enjoyed it - older stuff that included AC/DC and Blondie. SF and MS had curry afterwards whilst I tried to pretend that waiting to eat rice cakes later on was of comparable gastronomic pleasure....

No bike ride today coz Husband haas been bombarded with pollen and has been struggling with his hayfever - poor lamb. Instead, we hit the beach and went to the gym later on. Husband swam whilst I did 30 mins on the X trainer, 20 on the bike plus some weights.

Tenuous excuse to include a gig....

I promised myself this wouldn't be a general diary as such - I really was going to focus on exercise...... but seeing as it did include about an hour in total of walking followed by much bouncing up and down with my arms in the air, I've decided I can include the Bon Jovi gig I went to last night in St Marys Stadium. He still is one of the sexiest men on the planet. The set was close to 2 hours 20 minutes and included considerable quantities from the old days - Bad Medicine was a particular highlight! And so was Keep the Faith, Dead or Alive, Runaway, Livin on a Prayer etc etc. Weirdest bits were a cover of Rocking all over the World and working Jumping Jack Flash into Bad Medicine. I didn't know if they would be good live, I'm not a huge fan of big stadium venues, but it was one the best gigs I've been to recently.

Gym last night

Cycling, Cross Trainer, Weights. They had "10 years younger" on the TV whilst I was there - quite motivating really. She had the dental surgery I'm planning to have - and it did look to be a gross process. Didn't realise that for a few days I should not have my denture in at all - v.scary prospect.

I tried on a black blouse last night that Husband doesn't know I own (it was in a sale....) that didn't fit. Still doesn't fit but the buttons do actually make contact with the buttonholes now! It feels like I've been on the big D forever, but as I only started on 22nd May, I shouldn't be expecting to see results for a while! Husband reckons my middle is looking less spare tyre-ish though - and he is not one for saying stuff to make me feel better...

Using my big D website, I can now track calories expended through exercise - which look quite impressive:
w/c 22nd May: 1674
w/c 29th May: 2293
this week so far: 571

If I had a brain, I'd be dangerous...

AKA feeble excuse #2 for not exercising
Managed to leave my gym card at home this week so am unlikely to make it to gym tonight. I'm not good at remembering to pick stuff up at 6:30am - so i must remember next week to pack properly on Sunday night!

Virtuous Weekend - mostly

Gym on Friday night pre pub - normal bike/x trainer/weights routine followed by only 1 G&T and 1 bottle speckled hen.
Gardening on Saturday - planting and watering.

Highlight was bike ride on Sunday - 10.8 miles from Butser hill. Route was odd - serious downhill at the start folllowed by a mix of up & down, then a seriously uphill bit where even Husband walked, finishing with a level/ gently rolling section.

Track was in a very dodgy state in some places - as you can see from the photo of Husband stuck in the mud! One bit would have been more aptly named a bridle ditch than a bridle path. Bikes got caked in mud - so lots of digging out mud with sticks at break points. Pity that Husband did such a good job at cleaning them on Saturday (which was much appreciated)....

I did wimp out on one uphill (the serious one) and on some of the downhills - in one place, in order to enable me to get off the path to let some dirt bikes past - I'm glad I don't cycle with an ipod as the path was narrow, bendy with sightlines obscured by trees - I heard their approach so could get out of the way.

Went with Husband and M. M insisted on telling me about how his bottom ring was claggy and his underhang was smeggy - I do feel sorry for his wife at times - but apparently, he was referring to his bike...

Fab views from Butser hill - south down to Portsmouth and the sea, north over rolling downland.

Not very much nature noticed - the ragged robin and cow parsley are now dominating the hedgerows. I heard a blackbird at one stage - no it's not unusual, but no more gorgeous to hear for that.

No gym today - but did go Tuesday

30 mins on the bike, 15 on the X trainer plus 2 weights machines - all fine except my headphones were only half working - must get a new set.

Very brief bike ride yesterday - took my spare bike over to A's as she's decided to try cycling to work, her mountain bike doesn't have a rack and her hybrid isn't very comfortable. M was on about how he was going to service it, so I think it's gone to a good home!

The big D is going well so far - apart from road rage on Saturday, I've not felt serious hunger pangs and sticking to it is made easier through being away in the week. Apparently, I wil reach my target weight on 17th February 2007....

I'm starting to feel less lethargic - I'm even missing running which is very unexpected!