Day 210 - 12 weeks to Christmas

Day 210 - 12 weeks to Christmas - GANGNAM STYLE!


I've been gone quite a while it seems - oops..got told off about that at the weekend - sorry Rob! Didn't realise you were waiting for an update!

For two weeks of my recent absence, the old man and I went on holiday to Austria. A cycling holiday no less! We decided (I decided) to cycle from Passau in Germany to Vienna and covered a total of 194 miles over 6 days. It was amaze balls! (Mum - that means 'great'. You should totally use that phrase, especially around Nan).

Him indoors was very much against the idea at the beginning but over several months of gentle persuasion, he finally came around to it and he enjoyed it too! Even said he would go on another cycling holiday in the future.  Ooooooooo get us, all active 'n stuff. Proper grown ups now.
He gets to choose next years holiday.... the cycle holiday has turned into a fly drive already in the land of gigantesque portions and drive through restaurants because walking into a restaurant from the car park to then sit down again for two hours is just TOO MUCH WORK DUDE.

Anyhoo, I would thoroughly recommend Austria and cycling alongside the Danube. Austria is really really beautiful and it helped that we had fantastic weather the whole week.

But now we're back to work and back to working out with Gareth and Lottie. Boo and Yay in that order.

I've come to the conclusion that both of them have decided to punish me for my absence from the blog/studio. Lottie's session last week left me almost unable to walk for three days! Gareth's session today resulted in the usual purple face and bent over double trying to catch a breath. Oh how I've missed this.

Weight loss update: I've lost 2 stone with Gareth since we started in March and that's stayed off. I'm not losing it anywhere near as fast as I'd like but I have had to admit that Gareth is right when he insists that dress size doesn't come just from the scales.

I've gone down 4 dress sizes since starting this project with Gareth and feel so much more confident from not only losing weight but getting fitter and learning what my body is now capable of and dare I say it, I look forward to pushing it to achieve more.  I'm so delighted from going down dress sizes that I almost don't mind not losing weight as fast as I originally wanted (I said almost).

I'm back on the project properly after my holiday and the next 12 weeks to Christmas (argh!) are going to be:

fat free
sugar free
alcohol free
bread free
pasta free
rice free
white potato free
crisp free
cake free
chocolate free

have I missed anything out? oh yeah, LIFE FREE.......

Nah, it's all good because Lottie has agreed to this regime too.

HahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahCatchABreath..hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahaha!

Who will crack first? The Personal Trainer who likes her little Cadbury's Freddo each day or me who wants to cry when I realise it's Friday but I'm not allowed a G&T.... The heat is on.

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Why GANGNAM STYLE? because I went to South Korea a few months ago and loved the country. Would go back in a heartbeat so I just fell about laughing at this song/video that is now number one as of this week. Yes I might be old, Gareth, but I still listen to the charts... just don't try to tape it all anymore.

If you haven't already been converted to the horse riding dance style and have a few minutes spare, take a look at what the UK thinks is the best of our charts....GANGNAM STYLE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Oh and I almost forgot to say. I GOT CHATTED UP! Woohoo! Was out with some friends (the old grey haired man was at home) and I got chatted up. In a bar. Thanks Nathan, whoever you are!  I appreciated that! :-)

Day 151 - Inspired by the medals

Who hasn't been inspired by the Olympics? I've already chosen several sports that I intend to compete in at the Brazil Olympics - Archery and Swimming. Don't laugh! Not sure I'll make the cut but I'm inspired to exercise more and get fitter by all this sport on the TV! You know, once I get off the sofa and turn the TV off. I'm thinking of changing my name to Missy too.  [Or maybe emulate the USA female volleyball player, Destinee Hooker - Ed]

I haven't posted much recently and I'll remedy that by posting more from now on promise (Sorry Gareth). But the work is carrying on despite the lack of posts. WARNING: bragging ahead.

I've lost pretty much* 4 stone (56 pounds) since last October, 2 of that with Gareth. Woohoo! (*pretty much means I've put on this week which is really getting me down but it's also a good kick up the proverbial to get back to basics).

My fitness tests each month keep getting better and better - I can now run. Full stop! If you'd asked me if I could run even for a few seconds before I started this challenge, I would have told you 'No, absolutely not!'

But now I can run solidly for 12 minutes and can do 1.5 kilometres in that time. I know that's not amazing to the rest of you but for me, it's great! I used to hate running but now I see it as a challenge that I want to keep beating. I can do more push ups than before and hold a plank for much longer than my pathetic first attempts. (I'll get the actual numbers after the next fitness test).

I've added a third PT session a week with Lottie, another trainer at Physio2Fit. She pushes me really hard and shows me each session that I am capable of so much more. She makes me run faster on the treadmill than I would ever have tried myself on a fitness test. So now I know I can run that fast and I won't fly off the end of the machine, the next fitness test is going to be even better!

My measurements have changed so much that most of my wardrobe doesn't fit. My top half has gone down 5 dress sizes and my bottom half has gone down 4 dress sizes. THAT'S NINE DRESS SIZES!  Sort of.

I've lost:

11 cms around my bottom
10 cms around my waist
2 cms around my chest

BMI has fallen by 4.2%

Body fat has fallen by 4.7%

I'm very happy with my progress BUT I did set myself the goal this last March of losing 10 stone in 12 months... Now that 5 months have passed and I've consistently tried each week, I realise now that the goal of losing 3lbs EVERY WEEK may be a little unrealistic. Some weeks I stick to everything but I 'only' lose one pound. Despite the effort applied, sometimes, you can't control everything.

Gareth keeps reminding me that I took years to get here (overweight, not the South of England...) so it may take a couple of years to lose it all and get fitter... so annoying when he's right.

So this week I'm going back to basics: filling out the food diary, scaling down all the little extras that have crept in.

GOAL FOR AUGUST: I want to lose 14lbs by 1st September.

I have to do this. We're going on holiday on the 3rd September to Germany/Austria and it's a cycling holiday. We're cycling 30 miles or more each day from Passau to Vienna, following the Danube (that's a river donchaknow). I want to go on holiday one stone lighter than today.

And I leave you with my dog, Bailey getting in on the sport action at our local park:

Day 113 - Looking for a kick..

 

I'm a self-proclaimed winner then! I'm struggling to follow the nutritional advice but I'm not going to quit. I don't want to quit. I'm just struggling at the moment. Getting it wrong more than getting it right which means I've 'only' been losing 1lb a week.  I want to lose more each week but can't find the willpower, the motivation or the inspiration.

I 'fessed up to Gareth today and he gave me a right old talking to (a.k.a. "Inspirational pep talk") while making me hold a plank for at least 10 million minutes, each one.  Thanks Gareth - I needed that. The straight talking, not the plank.

Who needs to put the effort in? Me. Who gets the benefit out? Me. 

Nicola, a friend who has lost several stone recently, gave me one amazing piece of advice that's been rattling around in my brain (not much there to hit against - hubby a.k.a. editor) ever since.

'If you eat something you are trying to avoid, you will regret it the next day but how often do you look back and regret not eating something'.  So far, I can't think of a time where I regretted not eating something! I just felt in control and that the previous day had been a success. I'm trying to think of this each time I'm tempted. Do I want to regret this tomorrow?

I'd love to hear any good advice on how you kicked yourself back into shape and found the willpower again?

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The one thing that isn't needing any inspiration or improvement is the fitness side of my grand action plan. I've gone fitness mad! I'm working out with Gareth twice a week and I've added a third session a week with his colleague, Lottie. Fellow Laydieeees - if you'd prefer to work out with a female trainer, Lottie is great, tough but fair.

Add to that, swimming a mile 5 days a week (that's 5 miles people, 5) AND I've started doing a workout DVD with a friend once a week (yay! thanks Jo!) AND Hubby and I have been cycling 8 miles each Saturday in preparation for our cycling holiday in Austria AND we've been cycling on grass in the week for a couple of miles. No, not THAT sort of grass.  Mainly to walk the dog but also to get us out on the bikes. As I said, I've gone fitness mad! I don't recognise myself anymore. I seem to be wearing my trainers on a daily basis and constantly washing gym clothes or towels or swimsuits... This is from the person who used to hate exercise. I used to do it because it was one of things that had to be done like cleaning the toilet but I never enjoyed it. [Editor's note:  I quite like cleaning the toilet.  Prefer it to exercise.]

On holiday in Antigua a few years ago, I wondered why some crazy people would work out in the gym ON HOLIDAY. They didn't have to work out. Their children were in the kids club so they had every opportunity to sit by the pool, sip a (very strong) cocktail and read a book. In fact, now after seeing my friends parenting young children, they had earned that right!

But instead they headed to the gym... and ran on these moving carpet machines... and bounced up and down on plastic skis that didn't go anywhere... why? WHY? I honestly couldn't see the attraction of working out while on holiday. Surely, 'On holiday' is just another way of saying 'Eat, drink, be merry, be lazy, sleep in the middle of the day, go ahead! You're ON HOLIDAY' right? 'On holiday' is just a quicker way of saying all of that which leaves you more time to slurp on your cocktail and read another chapter. It's a win, win.

Thinking back, it was a very well equipped gym, big, hardly anyone in it (!), air conditioned, loads of different machines to use. I would love it now. And no doubt once bored with reading for 4 hours straight, I would now hop off to the gym for a quick hour of peaceful burning (Muscles that is. I wouldn't try to burn the gym down. Not with me in it anyway. I'd wait until I'd left. Leave a slow burning device or something that couldn't be traced back to me. I've been watching too much Jason Bourne).

Anyway... exercise has become fun. All of it, whether with Gareth, Lottie, swimming, on a bike or jumping round a lounge with Jo - it's all good! Who'd'a thought it?! 

Day 98 - On the ball...

See that blue ball in the picture? That is the image of HELL ON EARTH. You've probably used one. Maybe sat on one in the past? Difficult isn't it... well try doing a plank on one...

(picture is pixellated to protect the identity of the ball)

Two seconds into the plank, every muscle in your stomach tells you that something is seriously wrong and you need to stop whatever you are doing IMMEDIATELY. But as someone (no names mentioned) won't let you stop, the muscles in your back and then legs start screaming at you to stop...soon you can't breathe properly and the ball is wobbling all over the place. I am certainly not smiling like this lady in the top picture. Not sure what she's just done on this ball but it wasn't a plank.

This is my new daily exercise and I absolutely hate them! I foolishly purchased one from Gareth thinking I could sit on it while watching tv in the hope that just sitting on it each night will give me Britney Spears' abs...

But no such luck - every night I'm doing planks and bridges on the ball. It'll all be worth it if I have a stomach like this at the end.... (Gareth gulps as he realises that Claire has very unrealistic expectations).

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So far I've lost 21 lbs and am very happy with that! I've gone down two dress sizes and my new clothes, only bought about 5 weeks ago, are loose  - MORE SHOPPING REQUIRED. Whoop, Whoop [Permission denied-Editor].  Last week I bought some new t-shirts for working out in, as my old ones can now fit at least two people simultaneously.  The people lunching at the Common were glimpsing WAAY too much of my sports bra. Gareth breathed a sigh of relief at that purchase.

Another fitness test and measuring session has come around quickly and we will post the results at the end of this week. For once I'm not worried about the running bit because last week HE made me run around the Common. At first he told me that I was going to run an entire lap of the Common. At which point, I contemplated running off in the opposite direction through some trees when he wasn't looking, or hiding behind a tree trunk, but I couldn't find one big enough.

Thankfully he was just joking... H I larious! We only ran half way round but at least now I'm not worried about the treadmill part of the fitness test. I'm going to run the whole 12 minutes! That's a huge difference for me when I think back to my first fitness test when I didn't even trust myself to run, wasn't sure I could run at all, let alone for a few minutes or 12 minutes.

AND I've got another personal best at swimming my mile... 47 minutes 33 seconds. This is down from over an hour.  Gareth (and I) have improved my fitness in such a short space of time, it's really quite incredible.

Moral of this story - Don't waste your money on a gym membership that you never use - get a personal trainer and see some real progress fast!

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P.S. While running around the Common last week, an older lady finished chatting with her friend, bid farewell, walking off into the park. Her dog didn't follow her so she called to him - 'Come on you, hurry up'.

At that exact moment, I looked over to her, for no reason. Just did. Don't know why. She chuckled and shouted 'Don't worry dear, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to that dog'... Did she just call me a dog?!

Day 78 - Do not disturd!

Wow, where does the time go? One minute it's day 48 and the next it's day 78. Sorry about that. Ahem.

I haven't given up, honest. I've been in Korea, eating fermented cabbage and then I was ill. Not due to the fermented cabbage. And then I had no wifi.

Korea was amazing... I will add some photos tomorrow. (I left the SD card at work, d'oh). In the meantime, here are a couple of gems for you....

Excellent name for a bar.. just not sure if Steve Jobs would have approved...

The only negative bit was picking up a bad cold and cough on the flight home which floored me for a week.

I'm now back on track but I do need some inspiration please! Turns out it's hard to get going again after being away...

I would love to hear about any good paleo recipes or any inspirational stories!

Disappointingly, I'm currently behind in the weight loss and that really annoys me. I was ahead of the overall target but due to going away and being ill, I'm lagging behind and need to quickly catch up. Any suggestions other than laxatives??

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Today, Gareth decided that I was going to work hard at the Common! I came back to the office with a very purple face. I'm going to say it was from the sunshine (it reached 30 degrees today - woohoo!) but it probably wasn't the sunshine. I'm sure he does it deliberately.

I was running a lot with crunches and squats at intervals. I thought it couldn't get harder until Gareth made me carry the ViPR running to each interval. All this in front of crowds of people at the Common. It felt good to get some proper exercise though after being ill. Yes, you heard that right, Gareth - IT FELT GOOD.

I also bought a new swimsuit just before I went to Korea. As you may remember, the old one was showing off a little too much to other swimmers. I love my new one. So much so, I'm going to show you a photo of it! You're welcome y'all.

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On a sporting note, I saw the Olympic Torch in Babbacome (Devon) at the weekend. Proof below:

I felt an urge to run into the road and try to touch the torch.. just to see what would happen! I even dared my cousin to do it and promised several hundred pounds if he did. Weirdly, he wasn't up for it, having recently witnessed what happened to a nutter who tried it further up the road in Torquay.  It involved multiple security guards (people in grey in the photo) and hitting the floor very hard.

But even better than the Olympic Torch, it's Eurovision this weekend... yee haw! Bring on the euro pop and cheesy costumes - I luurve me a bit of Eurovision - Come on Humperdinck, bring it on home!

Day 48 – Winning and losing

We walked briskly across the Common towards the children’s play area. Well, Gareth was walking briskly, I was lagging behind looking upwards. The sky was threatening to rain and with every passing second, I was regretting the decision to stick to working out on the Common when I could have chosen the studio. Bad decision, Claire, bad.

The children's play area was completely deserted. It’s usually packed with young children, mums and older teenagers who should be doing more productive activities elsewhere. Today, there was no-one, not a soul.

Overhead we both noted a police helicopter hovering over us. Ruh-roh, somebody’s loose. The police car may have been out just having a laugh on a boring Friday lunchtime but it was a bit of a coincidence…. The po-po drove around the children’s playground slowly then back to the main path round the Common.

Me: They’re looking for someone.. (my deducing skills are finely tuned).. but I’m not worried.. I’m with you and you’re a black belt Taekwondo.. aren’t you?

Gareth:  Yeah.. but I’m not worried because I can run a hell of a lot faster than you.

THANKS VERY MUCH GARETH!

Husband tells me that’s the law of polar bears. You don’t have to be able to run fast, just faster than somebody else. Not sure why it’s the law of polar bears. Surely that’s everyone’s law?!

I had a flashback to my 11 year old self one sunny summer afternoon, the fuzz told everyone in Cho Fo* to stay inside and lock their doors until an all-clear. A prisoner had escaped from the law courts and was attempting to make a getaway through the Ford. A few hours later we heard that he’d been found, hiding under a small sailing boat in my friend Karen's garden, which backed up against ours. A scandal, so close! It was the gossip of the week at school.

Anyhoo, I was weighing in, in the middle of the play area when the po-leece came back around and then moved off the Common. Lost or found? Who knows. I lost, however: 1lb, disappointing but add that to the 4lbs I lost last week and it’s not so bad. Total so far = 17lbs. Not too shabby.

We started the workout with some running up and down a section of tarmac. The heavens opened but it shortly stopped. Phew! Not too wet. As we lunged back and forth, it started to pour down. Gareth looked at me with his ‘whose idea was this?’ face and I felt guilty for texting ‘It’s sunny, let’s stick to the Common’ only 50 minutes earlier.

As we did push ups, the rain turned cold and starting bouncing on the grass..huh, hail. Nice.

Gareth had brought along the ViPR again so I did lots of ‘lifting it above my head’ (I’m sure there’s a proper name for that) as the clouds perfected their aim and hail hit me in my left eye. On we continued with our hair white from hail. Good look.  We were both soaked through and the workout had turned into an impromptu wet t-shirt competition. I TOTALLY WON! Whoop! Whoop!

For an hour we worked out in the rain and the hail. For the last ten minutes, the hail got heavier and heavier until the whole thing just got ridonkulus. All we could do was laugh!

Back at work, someone asked me if Gareth let me stop at any point as it was raining so hard… HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…   no.

(*Chandlers Ford)

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As I’d only lost 1lb, Gareth asked me to reel off the reasons for doing this project again to get me focused.

One reason is aircraft seat belts. I’m flying to Korea (South, not North, obviously) at the end of this week for work.  Normally with any flight, I start worrying that the seat belt won't do up without an extension piece for about a week before the flight, all the way until I’m actually seated in the aircraft with the seatbelt done up and then would breathe a sigh of relief followed by swiftly ordering a G&T.

On a flight a few years ago, I was seated in the emergency exit row with loads of lovely leg room. Only problem was I couldn’t do up the seat belt. I asked the stewardess for an extension.

You can’t sit in the emergency exit row with an extension apparently… so I had to move. She moved me to the front of the plane away from my family and had to ask another passenger to swap with me. I’ll let you imagine how humiliating this was… She then proceeded to  bring the bright orange extension down the cabin holding it aloft and making it quite clear it was for me. THANKS LOVE!

This week with three stone off overall since last October, I’m pretty sure I won’t be needing the extension so I’m trying not to worry.

I am however worried about the ‘love motel’ that we’ve been booked into in Seoul. As Koreans generally live with their parents until they marry, couples use love motels to have some time to themselves.. ahem! You can book overnight or you can also book it by the hour... I'll let you imagine what kind of clientele frequent the motels.

Apparently, on check-in, you get handed a package of 'protective equipment' for your stay...Nice.

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I started writing this post in the car on the way to a family wedding in Torquay – hello 1970’s! how’ve you been? I feel so young in Torquay…. (Only joking, Aunty Jill, I luurve Torquay! It’s got all you need… cream teas, clotted cream, fudge, beaches and most importantly my family!)

I've been to the wedding (it was great!). It's now Sunday and I'm nursing a hangover. Ugh. I regret that wine. Can I rewind please?

Month One Review. Is it worth it!?!?!?!?!

Good afternoon all,

Once a month it will be my chance (Gareth) to let you know about Claire's progress, and what a month it has been!

Claire has set the bar very high with what she wants to achieve. Great from a goal setting point of view but tough for us to follow. There is no room for error, which is normally what I call month one.

Month One is a chance for my client to try and fail with various things- new foods, exercise routines, daily habits etc. It's all about finding out how my ideas and plan fit into each clients routine, lifestyle and habits. Therefore, I generally don't expect great results. I expect 'I tried but didn't like it', 'I don't have time for that', 'yuk that breakfast you suggested was awful'. I expect old habits and comforts to still be a large part of my clients routine.

However Claire has taken this project head on. She has tried so many new things, it has kind of amazed me. This really shows me that she wants this - making my life a lot easier.

So (drum roll please) we have month one results! (Measurements are taken around the body at certain points on the body).

Weight: 12lbs lighter

Bottom: 4cm smaller

Belly Button area: 9cm smaller

Chest: 4cm Smaller (sorry Claire)

BMI: down by 2.

Cooper Run test: Up by 220m = Vo2 Max up 4.42 mls/kg/min

Plank Hold: Up by 12 seconds

Modified Press Up Test: Up by 2 press ups

Squat hold Test: Up by 24 seconds

Wow! Massive well done Claire!
If we keep this up you'll be fit as a fiddle in no time. Congratulations!

 

Just in case you think all the hard work has been done!!!