Oh and...

...hah! 0.2kg lighter when I got back from being away :)

Gym on Boxing Day

I still can't believe I went to the gym on Boxing Day (and I'm still aching in the arms, butt and chest now!) but I'm soooo glad I did. We went to a fabulous hotel for Christmas, which has an amazing spa attached to it with what looks like a very pretty but "form over function" type gym in it. But oh no it wasn't... it was a very very serious gym. No barbells less than 20kg and when I couldn't find anything with which to do assisted pull ups, the gym manager popped out to help (who just happens to be Chris Young - biiig power lifter!) with some resistance bands and some advice. It was great! He was so motivational and helpful I felt absolutely fabulous afterwards and did the biggest weights workout I've ever done - getting my heart rate right up to 98% of max! I even ended up doing double crunches and medicine ball throws on a Swiss Ball alongside one of the Team GB Ladies rowing team doing a long old erg session. Very serious gym!

Of course, I got absolutely trashed at the big dinner in the evening and spent the day after with both a ridiculously bad hangover -and- some pretty bad DOMS.

Not ideal, but ready to re-set.

I've over-indulged just a tiny bit (really, not being sacrastic for once!) in the last 2 days. Under maintenace kcals 2 days ago but had lots of wine and then over maintenance yesterday with a potato wedges and pizza dinner. This has resulted in 1.2kg gain in 2 days! I know it's not real weight and my weight on the day before that was unrealistically low (I think, though I was very hydrated, so perhaps it was real). I know with sensible eating choices and keeping hydrated that that 1.2kg will fall away again.

BUT

3 days of all-inclusive, gorgeous, gourmet food and wine and champagne starts today. There -is- a gym and I -have- packed gym kit and swimming togs and HRM. I -fully- intend to do weight training once and swimming at least once.

But I feel afraid that I will put back on fat that I keep working very steadily to lose (at a rate of roughly 0.5-1kg per month). 1kg can take me 1-2 months to lose at the moment because training hard makes me hungry so I need to eat 5-7 times a day (not equal meals, but 3 meals and 2-4 snacks of fruit, nuts, carrots, celery, houmous etc.).

I don'd do New Year's resolutions because I feel they're just so false. You can resolve to change something at any time, why pick New Year why not just do something when you've decided you want to do it? This year, however, I feel the need to just relax a bit for a couple of weeks - keep up the exercise of course, but lay off beating myself up about not being at least 250kcals under maintenance every day. Until the New Year.

4th January I start a new plan to fine-tune the strenght and body fat. I'm looking at some of the Rachel Cosgrove stuff and some of the Maxitone stuff and will ponder over the next few days the exact plan. Until then, I'll try very hard not to panic about getting fat from a few days of rich food and drink. Honest. I'll try.

I may have over-done it on Wednesday

I did my new routine in full for the first time on Wednesday and had to guess some of the weights as the markings are different on the machines in my new gym compared with the old one. Two days later and my shoulders are still really quite sore, even to the touch. I did get a sports massage yesterday but it didn't get to the sore bits on the tops and fronts of my shoulders. However, the knots around my shoulder blades are a lot better than last time.

Anyhoo... too sore to swim yesterday and too ill to do anything today (which is good as my shoulders are definitely too sore and weights training would have been a bad idea). My throat is sore and partially closed, making me feel queasy a lot of the time, but eating seems to quell the vileness so I've been eating all blimmin' day. If my throat improves tomorrow, I'll go to the gym, if not, I might go for a gentle swim, but the showers at the local gym aren't all that warm so it's not an enticing prospect.

I think I need to go back to posting my food and nutrition stuff here as it's been slipping and I've been convincing myself that I've been eating non-trivially less than maintenance calories (including exercise calories) and it's simply not the case. I'm hoping being more public about it will make me see that better and maybe get some hints from people on alternative foods to help even out the hunger throughout the day. I've got very used to my breakfast, morning snack, exercise, chocolate milk after exercise, lunch, early afternoon snack, late afternoon carrot and houmous, dinner and sometimes supper. I've got very used to eating pretty much every 3 hours throughout the day and on plain maintenance kcals with no exercise, that's pretty hard to do.

I -have- been losing fat, slowly, but I'm keen to get to my target, dammit! 1.3% to go and no access any more to the fat monitor that I've been being measured with for the last 5 months. I have tried to compare it with the one I bought - a "proper" full body analyser, 4 point bio-impedance jobbie - but I can't tell whether it is simply offset at 1.8% higher than the one at my old gym, or whether it's more complicated than that. I suspect the latter, mostly seeing as bio-electrical impedance is very sensitive to hydration levels and electrode positioning, but what can I do? As long as I'm consistent going forward, that's what matters. So, I will assume a 1.8% offset and work from there.

Wah!

UK Fitness Challenge mini-challenge results won't be out until earlyish January as there's another 3 days of it happening at the start of the New Year.

Wah!

No idea whether I'm still in the lead or not!

Virgin Active anyone...?

Anyone else seen the 10 minute challenge at the Virgin Active gyms this week?

I noticed it while I was doing intervals on the cross-trainer (having done 10 minutes on the wave machine - oh my god that hurts my thighs!) and cut them short to have a look. And I'm -so- glad I did!

Choose 2 out of 4 fitness challenges; bike, row, run and cross-train (different intensities and distances for each, e.g. 1.5km scramble on the bike or 100m climb on the cross-trainer); and either an easy (takes 15% off your total time if you get it right) or hard (takes 30% off your total time if you get it right) mental challenge. A trainer sets up the machine and times you, you answer the mental challenge whilst slogging away. Total time minus any bonus from the mental challenge enters you into a competition for Amazon vouchers and a bicycle.

So I did it. And picked bike, cross-trainer and hard mental challenge. In 05:05! And I got the mental challenge wrong (oh the shame of it!); it was weird, my brain just refused to work while my body was being punished so hard. No idea if that was a good time or not until the trainer looked up "the next fastest woman"! (who did it in 07:25 so I was over the moon!) Plenty of week left for someone to beat me, but still WOOOOOO! It was FUN! (and I had to slow right down at the end of the cross-trainer challenge 'cause I was going so hard I was about to barf!)

So, if you're a Virgin Active member, check out your local gym to see if they're doing the challenge and HAVE A GO! Its brilliant! (and you get a free t-shirt for having a go anyway)

New routine (and numbers rollup)

Warm up - 1km rower

Prone leg curls - 20kg 3x10
Assisted pull ups - 35kg 3x10
Cable lunges - 20kg 3x10
Seated row -21kg 3x10
Overhead throw on Swiss Ball - 10kg 3x10
Cable bicep curls - 20kg 3x10
Twisting woodchop - 15kg - 3x10
Double crunch on Swiss Ball - 3x15
Bosu leg lowers - 3x15

Cool down - 10 minutes cross trainer

Numbers...

This week:-
Exercise Count: 5
Exercise Time: 02:52
Exercise kcals: 1,644

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise Count: 161
Exercise Time: 88:36
Exercise kcals: 48,604 (minus a few times I forgot my strap and/or transmitter)

*beam*

Body fat down another 0.8% to 26.3% I wasn't sure it'd be more than tiny drop this time because I'd let go a bit on the food front, so I'm really really pleased with this drop. *happy dance*

I also have the full data from when I started with my trainer; all the measurements, weights and fat % for the last 5 months... graphs to follow.

Pleased for all of 5 minutes

I dragged myself to the gym today, unexpectedly as I hadn't planned on it. Did the nasty current routine that I'm not keen on (but have modified - changed the dumb bell flyes for pec flyes on a machine 'cause my arm doesn't work right/I can't get my form right) and added in some assisted pull-ups 'cause I like those. I started doing assisted pull-ups about 2 months ago, with a couple of weeks break in there somewhere, at an assisst of 45kg. Today I did 3 sets of 8 reps at 30kg assist. :)

Woooo! :D

And then I looked it up in the Internets. Apparently beginners are supposed to start at 50% assist (which would be 33.5kg for me) and work up from there. Meh. I only managed 44.8% assist today. So that's not as cool as I'd thought. Way to bust my bubble.

Still, I did do 3x5 full press ups, upped my lunge dumb bells to 9kg each and managed to burn 465kcals (normally I get 445kcals for this routine), so I must've been working it harder. Small victories.

Yeah, well, it's just not working right now

OK, so there's stuff in transit so yet another increase in weight this morning is not unexpected. However, it is still demoralising. Apart from last night, I've stayed under maintenance on average for pretty much 3 weeks now so it's getting me down.

Also, I'm crashingly tired; though getting to sleep is easy, staying asleep is hard and last night's cute kitten event at 03:38 meant just over 3 hours sleep last night then light dozing with purring and stalking and pouncing and snuffling. So I'm way too dead to exercise today; I just desperately want to go home and back to bed.

Gym-tastic week

3 hard gyms this week, one run and one swim. Pretty good going compared with the last few weeks. Feeling very "used" right now (just got back from today's 70 minute gymming about an hour ago and had a nice hot bath since). What's annoying is that the 89p chocolate Yazoo from the local corner shops is £1.30 at the cafe in the local gym. Cheeky or what? Could really do with a nap now though...

This week:-
Exercise count: 5
Exercise time: 03:42
Exercise kcals: 2,131

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 150
Exercise time: 82:30
Exercise kcals: 45,723

Meh

I've been being good. Weights 3x a week last week and this week, staying under maintenance a tiny bit last week and lots this week and I'm slightly heavier than I was 2 weeks ago. I am officially sulking about this as It's Not Fair.

I can do pressups now too, almost proper ones - just not going down quite as far as a 90° bend in the elbow. I did 5/8/8 yesterday in my weights routine.

Weekly round up

Numbers numbers numbers... I'm starting to wonder what happens when my total exercise time goes over 99:59:59 as there aren't any more digits on the watch to display 3 digit hours. 80 hours in 5 months so I should find out some time in January.

Weekly numbers:-
Exercise count: 5
Exercise time: 03:08
Exercise kcals: 1,819


Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 146
Exercise time: 79:37
Exercise kcals: 44,307

Went for it a bit hard

There's a branch of my new gym about a mile from the house (well, actually there are two, but...) and I decided to give it a go. Initially the plan was to go for a swim, but I wanted to gym a bit first. Ended up doing 50 minutes of weights, then only 15 minutes of swimming, but a total of 650kcals of exercise (560 after taking off background, bleh). And lo, I was ravenously hungry. So having had muesli with a banana for breakfast, there was chocolate milk on the way back from the gym, followed by a bacon stuffed bagel, then the craving/eyes-bigger-than-belly really kicked in and we had potato wedges and pizza for dinner, with beer. 500kcals over maintenance. Not too bad had it been only the once this week, but... it happened once already this week on Wednesday. Once, I have pretty much no problem with, but twice... not happy about it.

I just seem to get unmanageably hungry after a hard gym session and choose things that are way too big. I could have stopped after the potato wedges last night, had none of the pizza and been satisfied, but nooo... I crammed the 1/2 (medium) pizza in as well. Lack of self-control to the max. And this morning I'm paying for it in weight (transient I know, but still I will suffer later in the week for it) and muscular ache that is stopping me from going for a swim (I swam the day after a hard gym session earlier this week and oh boy did it hurt afterwards, I can't swim gently it seems and I get competitive if there's someone else in the pool). So. No exercise today to even slightly make up for yesterday.

I'd made it down to 66.7kg earlier in the week but now I'm up to 68.2kg. I'd stayed under 68 since the beginning of the month so I'm pretty annoyed with myself now. Not in my happy range, dammit. Gonna have to put in the effort next week to keep things sensible.

Bugger me, -another- good exercise day!

THREE in a row now! I really didn't want to do anything today; waaay too tired still and a bit hungover as well. It took a bit of effort but I forced myself down to the gym. 50 minutes of routine later (including a 5 minute chat with one of the trainers) and 435kcals burned, biceps feel weird, legs were good for 8kg dumb bells on the lunges though which was good seeing as I've not done heavy weighted lunges in a while.

Did go a bit nuts with the overhead tricep thingies on the Swiss ball and picked a 9kg medicine ball for those. That exposed the same weakness/problem with my right arm as the dumbbell flyes did the other week. My left arm just goes funny and can't take any load at all at a certain point. I think I'll bring it up with my new trainer when I take one on at the new gym in January (I still have a December session with my old trainer at the old gym). My left shoulder certainly looks weird when doing side shoulder raises so that may be related. Definitely worth a check out.

Good exercise days

Two of them in a row. 450kcals of weights yesterday and 285 in swimming today; it's so nice having a swimming pool 2 minutes from my desk! I do have a bit of back ache though... worse after swimming. So I think I need to be a bit more careful with form on the squats and presses, and with the assisted chin-ups. My triceps are loving the new mixed-up routines though... getting really firm and defined!

I really really must not swim in that pool without goggles though. I look like something out of a horror film at the moment!

Undeserved loss

Having not been particularly good for the last couple of weeks, I've -still- managed to lose a bit more fat. I'm trying not to let that affect my willpower and get even slacker.

Last week's exercise was low again, 1 training session (new routine etc.), 2 weights sessions and a medium run. The second weights session utterly ruined me though, so I took a lot of rest in the latter part of the week. My arms and back were still aching yesterday and my shoulder still aches today; 5 days later! Anyhoo, the overall result is bulging biceps and triceps and a little bit of weight loss. I'm not complaining, but I'm certainly going to take it a bit easier this afternoon in the gym.

Here are the numbers...

Last week:-
Exercise Count: 4
Exercise Time: 02:32
Exercise Calories: 1,335

Totals since 15th June 2009:-

Exercise Count: 140
Exercise Time: 75:40
Exercise Calories: 41,773

Ow.

So this 'ere new gym is very nice. Definitely. Better looked after, cleaner, stuff is tidied up very frequently, there are towels and bathrobes and the trainers plentiful and helpful. Showers are lovely and the toiletries veeery nice.

All of that is well and good, but if you're not familiar with the machines, it's a bit daunting. Still. I have the cross-trainers (these ones - http://www.technogym.com/gb/viewdoc.asp?co_id=2728&target=commercial - which have a much bigger vertical travel than I'm used to and a shorter horizontal travel, so it's a very different action to the ones in the old gym) sussed now and the rowers are the same as the ones at the old gym. The assisted chin-ups/dips machine, however is not one to kneel on *cough* (thanks to a trainer for pointing out it's for standing on - I did wonder why the travel was so short!) So caught up in the new assisted chip-ups/dips machine was I that I got overly keen and set the weight to 35kg (last time I used 40kg and remember this machine assists against your bodyweight so lower weights are harder). My arms are now made of jelly.

New routine

....and I don't like it. I loved the last one. This one is just icky.

Warm up - 1km on the rower

Ski lunges - 6kg dumb bells - 3x12
Straght arm pulldown/tricep pushdown combo - 20kg - 3x12 + 3x12
Bosu single-leg bridges - 3x12
Dumbell flyes/push up combo - 6kg - 3x12 + 3x12
Bent-over cable row with reverse grip - 25kg - 3x12
Crunches on decline bench - 3x12
Roman Chair crunch - 3x12
Swiss ball oblique crunches - 3x12

Cool down - 10 minutes on cross trainer, 8 at L8 12kph, 1 at L4 10kph, 1 at L1 10kph

Numbers and figures

I've lost 16cm since my last PT session. More than usual. That's surprisingly not all that pleasing and I'm not sure why. Body fat is down 0.5% to 27.1% now. Slowly slowly going down. I may well be putting in the exercise (though not so much the last two weeks) but I'm definitely not in kcal deficit by 500kcal per day so I'm not on target by any stretch of the imagination. The thing is, I'm not in a hurry. As long as things are going down even slowly, I'm content.

I'll go better once I move to a closer gym to work. Soon soon.

Last week's numbers:-
Exercise Count: 4
Exercise Time: 02:18
Exercise kcals: 1,431

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise Count: 137
Exercise Time: 73:43
Exercise kcals: 40,625

Fame! I'm gonna live forever. Or something.

I got vox popped yesterday lunchtime by City A.M.. About M&S selling branded goods. Didn't actually expect to end up in print, but there you go. I wasn't in town today so didn't see a copy of what they say I said.

Today I was interviewed by The Daily Mirror (please don't spit at me!) about my "success story". It was a bit odd and the journo was extremely hyper. Lord knows what he's going to write, but I'm getting a draft before it gets printed towards the end of the year. The photographer is coming next weekend to take some snaps as well. Cue frantic "I have NOTHING to WEAR!" panic. And "OMG the STATE of the HOUSE!". Thankfully, kittens will be arriving in the afternoon to soothe and fill me with "awwww!". I so want copies of the photos, whatever happens.

Ran a bit today, just as it got dark, in mostly new gear. New capri trousers (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/run/8/Ronhill_Ladies_Aspiration_Powerlite_Capri/5360045993/), the same make and style as the other two pairs I have and the same size but these new ones are horribly loose at the knee sleeve bit. Not sure I'm happy with them. New socks (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/run/8/Ronhill_Ladies_Cushion_Socks_3_For_2/5360038625/ and yes, if you order one of these you get 3 pairs of socks *cough*) are -lush- as are the new trainers (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/run/8/Nike_Ladies_Zoom_Structure_Triax_Plus_12_Shoes_SS09/5360043531/) which are Nike+ footpod compatible so when that arrives I will be playing with it ad nauseam. New undies too (http://www.sweatybetty.com/shop-by-department/sweat/underwear/all_sports_shorts.asp), specifically for getting sweaty in and they are also rather lovely so I shall be getting more to avoid the serious cold arse problem I get when running in less than 20C.

Boring numbers

Nothing to see here today, just some totals and stuff. We did go for a run on Sunday though, 10.3km in heavy rain (not a problem, I like running in the rain) but it was also very windy in places and that made it quite tough going. An hour and a minute running time with a couple of road-crossing stops, averaging out at 10.1kph including the stops. Not bad overall.

Low exercise count for the week last week, but then it was birthday zone, so. This week will be limited as well due to working from home on a day I'd usually do weights and the gym still being too far from the office to be comfortable going for cardio work on the alternate days. Bit of a bugger when I see my trainer on Monday for a measure and new routine. I really wish HR would get the info from the closer gym about corporate discounts, but the gym are insisting that she goes for a visist and to be honest she's too busy for that so it's stalemate at the moment by the looks of it.

Last week:-
Exercise count: 3
Exercise time: 02:30
Exercise kcals: 1,550

Since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 130
Exercise time: 70:33
Exercise kcals: 38,878

Need to rein it in

It's been a touch silly the last week; champagne teas, lunches out, dinner out, lots of wine etc., very little gym attendance (partly due to being made to feel guilty about it at work, but that will get fixed soon) and it's no surprise I'm back over 68kg consistently.

I've been over maintenance kcals about 3 of the last 7 days but some of that is due to lack of exercise kcals as well as special occasions. It should be a lot easier to "keep it real" for a few weeks and get back into at least 2 weights and 3 cardio sessions in a week (including 1 outdoor run) now the birthday season is over. My current weights routine is so much fun so I am keen to get more of it in and hopefully the nearest gym to my office will get back to HR about corporate membership discounts soon so I can move to that gym and go more often during the week.

I'm not crushingly down about any of this excess, just a bit annoyed that I let it get a tiny bit out of hand. A tiny bit more self-discipline is all that's needed. I think I'm most peeved about how much I'll weigh when I go for my next PT session (which could be my last with that trainer if I get to move to the more local gym to work) and thus how little fat % I will have lost, if any!

*waddle*

Bit on the lardy side this morning and after the weekend I just had, it's no surprise! Last week ended around the lower 67kgs and this week starts around the lower 68kgs.

Felt coldy on the back half of last week, head cold and finding it hard to get enough air in to run up stairs etc. Still. Saturday we went out shopping a bit and ended up having a wee drinkie in Claridges bar while waiting to see if we could get afternoon tea in the tea room. 3.30pm deadline for that possiblity came and went so we carried on drinking and decide to get a bottle and some sarnies sent through from the tea room. by 7pm we were a touch sozzled and decided to nip home, via one of the local Italian restaurants for a bit to eat in the evening (having agreed we'd just get some toast when we got home *cough*). 2am, I woke up feeling iffy. After half an hour went back to sleep. 4am; woke up with cold sweats and dinner decided to make a swift exit via all available routes. 5am; back to sleep. 6am woke up for another half an hour then back to sleep. 8am,;woke up and considered breakfast as I was starving. Had porridge made for me and ate it with gusto. 9.15am we were changed and off out to the Clapham 10K.

Ran the 10K (furthest I've ever run) in 57:37! Having said I'd like to do it in under 60 minutes and I'd be chuffed with a time in the 58s. Cue huge grins and a race back home to get showered and changed and back out into town to run an errand before heading for lunch at the nice French place in the village. A nice, extended lunch with wine and then home to snuggle and snooze in front of the TV.

Last week's numbers:-
Exercise count: 4
Exercise duration: 03:02
Exercise kcals: 1,883

Numbers from 15th July 2009:-
Exercise count: 127
Exercise duration: 68:03
Exercise kcals: 37,328

Gentle week

Only 2 gym sessions this week (Tuesday and Thursday) - partly due to the office move and partly due to wanting a gentle week in advance of my race on Sunday. I did, however, up the weight for my squats with shoulder presses today to 15kg. Which was nice.

I'm hoping this burgeoning cold doesn't actually develop or if it does, not before Sunday 'cause i want to put in a good time (for me), dammit!

Belated stats

67.3kg this morning. Protein counts getting better due to non-exclusively vegetarian lunches.

Having done a test run from the new office to my local gym, it's a teensy bit far to get things done in the "lunch" hour. I am now contemplating the phenomenally expensive gym at the end of the alley where our new office is. More than twice the monthly fees, but it has a small pool, you get towels etc. But still, twice the monthly fees is pretty extortionate. And I'd need to get a new trainer. I dunno.

Last weeks numbers:-
Exercise count: 6
Exercise time: 03:37
Exercise kcals: 2,189

All time figures since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 124
Exercise time: 65:43
Exercise kcals: 35,860

Hard run and some shopping

Phew! We (me and hubby) went shopping, like real serious proper clothes shopping, for the first time together yesterday! We spent a whole 7 hours at it and boy was it fun! Hubby bought a stunningly beautiful winter coat and an everyday casual jacket for work and I bought an evening/dinner dress and some lovely lipstick as inspired by http://geekyweirdochick.blogspot.com/ . Lippy looks great, dress looks all grown-up and sophisticated (and gloriously purple :o)).

About half-way through shopping, we stopped for a little refreshment in the John Lewis food hall wine bar. Well, we kinda had to as there was a 20 minute wait to buy a new fridge/freezer (ours has finally started to show real signs of imminent death in that the compressor makes a horrible noise when it's running). One tiny little glass of Pelorus (Cloudy Bay's sparkling white wine) and we were very happy and giggly... it was about 4 hours since lunch so not a totally empty stomach, but ohboy were we grinning and feeling warm and fuzzy. So we bought a half case which will be delivered on the same day at the new fridge (plus half a case of real Cloudy Bay, which we just had to buy as it's really hard to come by).

After a little more fizzy wine last night and crashing to sleep around 1am, we went for a 9.5km run this morning. 55:55 and 630kcals, but I had to stop at the top of the really hard hill as I thought I was going to throw up - mostly from the car fumes I think. Good run I think. Hopefully indicative of a good run in the 10K next week.

Back to work tomorrow and to our new office!

Loving the new routine

I'm averaging 460kcals per session with this new 45 minute weights routine. This is great. And since the first full outing of it, I've not had killed muscles the following two days.

I'm going to up the weight on the squats/shoulder presses next week from 12.5kg to 15kg. There's nothing in between so there's not much I can do about that. However, the overhead tricep raises are proving very very hard with 9kg so I dropped down to 8kg and managed 2x 10 then 1x 9 reps before I couldn't get it over my head any more. (I also find it really hard to grip the dumbbells for this exercise, partly in general and partly due to sweaty hands. I wonder if gloves would help at all.)

I'm quite glad I'm doing a combination of weights and cardio. I notice there are quite a few people firmly in one camp or the other, but I'm enjoying both and I'm finding it's nice to interleave them on alternate days. Definitely enjoying both.

Not ow, again!

The day after the second go at my new weights routine and my legs are not sore -at all-! Last week when I did it in full for the first time, my legs were destroyed for two days afterwards, but today.... nothing at all! :oD AND I did the routine harder this time, burned more kcals etc. So that's really pleasing.

There's a week and a half to go before the 10K so I'll keep at it this week, then ease off next week so I'm all fresh for the race. I'm really hoping to get a good time, of course, but we'll see how it goes on the day; hopefully the thing that everyone says (basically, you go faster in a race than normal) is true and I'd really really love to get a time in the 58:xx, though anything under 60:00 will be OK.

My macro counts are totally off, especially today as it'll be popcorn for dinner (going to the cinema to see UP!) and a late evening supper of beans on toast, plus I'm trying out one of thos Innocent Veg Pots for lunch so not a lot of protein in any of that lot. I don't really mind as I'm not getting hungry and I am having chocolate milk after exercise to feed the torn-up muscles.

And finally, I'll be getting a call from the Mirror today for a feature they want to do on my weight loss success. So that'll be... interesting. I'm hoping to get at least a photo shoot out of it (the photos I have are just not great for an article, so) if nothing else - thankfully, nobody I know reads the Mirror :o)

Not ow!

After watching my beloved haul around the Royal Parks Half Marathon in the morning on Sunday in a very respectable 2 hours, I dragged my own ass out for a run in the afternoon. 9.5km route planned (3 hills, one of which is a real doozy) and a light drizzle started as soon as I left the house. 56:48 later (10.03kph average speed) I was at the end of the route, soaked through the top layer of clothes by the persistent drizzle and a little bit pink, also choking a bit on the flies I'd inhaled in the last little bit of the run as they tend to hang around in clouds under the trees in that area.

Not bad; and it looks like I'll be able to do the 10K in 2 Sundays' time in under 60 minutes :oD (it's flatter and apparently one always goes a bit quicker in a real race anyway). So, having been so righteously killed by running, we stuffed our faces with Chinese takeaway and beer *beam*

Also, no pain in my legs today at all. Chocolate milk and a hot bath worked a treat!

Aaaand here are the stats...

Last week:-
Exercise count: 5
Exercise time: 03:19
Exercise kcals: 1,922

Totals since 15th June 2009:-

Exercise count: 116
Exercise time: 61:20
Exercise kcals: 33,215

Ow

My thighs are very sore today, Burning fires down the fronts of them when I walk down stairs etc. So, I'm going to lay off the cross-training that I'd planned for today and have -another- rest day today. So this week now looks like this:-

Monday - learning the new weights routine
Tuesday - 8.6km run
Wednesday - hard going at it on the cross-trainer
Thursday - full new weights routine (inc. cardio warm up and down)
Friday - rest day
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - 9.5km run

And it'll no doubt be a rest day on Monday after that run. So next week looks like this:-

Monday - rest day
Tuesday - full weights routine
Wednesday - cardio at the gym
Thursday - full weights routine
Friday - cardio at the gym
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - some sort of long run (prep for 10km on 25th)

Ohyes

And when I was doing the squats with the bar, watching my form in the mirror, I thought I looked rather good. Lunges less so, due to wobbly flab just above my knee wobbling due to the effort. But still fiiiiine during the squats. Might change 2 sets @ 10kg with 2 sets at 12.5kg for 1 set @10kg and 3 sets at 12.5kg. Don't think I really need 2 sets to warm up, especially after 1km on the rower first.

Eep!

I've signed up for the Clapham 10K. I've got 2 weeks to get ready. What on Earth have I done? Furthest I've run to date is 8.6km (and there were two short stops for road-crossing in that run) and I was very very red and hot and maintained by max heart rate for a whole minute right at the end!

I have fear that I won't make it 'round for a whole 10km.

Today, however, I did my new weights routine. I'm utterly scatty today though so kept losing count of how many sets I'd done of things, so I'm not sure if I did the whole thing properly or not.

Squats are "fun". But it -is- fun being in the free weights pen at the gym. The only down side was being almost laughed at when I asked guy who was leaning over the bar-weights rack if he was using the 12.5kg bar 'cause I'd like to use it please. Meh! He was only in the way of me getting it, I didn't -really- think he'd want anything that blimmin' light.

*zoom*

Down 700g on yesterday, which was only to be expected after a cakey birthday celebration weekend (my mum, my dad and I all have birthdays in this month; it gets cakey) which was nice. So, I decided yesterday that I'd get a run in today seeing as I wouldn't be gymming (speaking of which, blimey that one set of everything for my new routine yesterday with my trainer sure made my muscles wake up this morning!) and I planned an 8.6km route. Ambitious, seeing as the furthest I've gone before was 7km.

Anyway, once the sofa was delivered and assembled, I headed out. And discovered that my route had not one, not two, but three hills in it! I was sure that my target of 50 minutes was totally unachievable and the 52 minutes that would have meant 10kph average speed was looking iffy too. I did it in 50:29 :oD So, an average of 10.2kph which is great. It looks like I can keep extending the distance and say at the same average speed as I have done from 5km to 6km to 7km and now to 8.6km. I'm hoping for 10km now. Nutter? You decide!

Playing with the Big Boys

So... new routine puts me in the free weights area with the beefcake! I get to use the bar weights and benches and stuff. So cool!

Body fat is down to 27.6% from 28% last time. Waist has shrunk by 3.5cm(!) but my butt is bigger :oD Considering I've been less than ideally working out and eating over the last month, that's pretty good!

New routine:-

Warm up - rower 1000m

Squat and shoulder press - x12 with 10kg bar - 2 sets
Squat and shoulder press - x12 with 12.5kg bar - 2 sets
3 minutes stepper
Lunge with side shoulder raise - x10 each side with 2x3kg dumbbells - 3 sets
3 minutes cross trainer
Overhead tricep extension with bench pressups - x10 each with 9kg dumbbell- 3 sets
3 minutes rower
C-crunch - x10 with 3kg medicine ball - 3 sets
Side planks - x10 pulses each side - 3 sets
Pilates roll-downs - x5 20s each

Cool down - 10 minutes cross-trainer

A bit behind

Not updated much this week as it's appraisal season. Missed gymming yesterday as there was just no time, but hopefully I'll make it today.

Not making huge progress on the fat loss, but having hurt my leg on Monday I've been laying off the step ups and lunges and not been running. No biggie really. Should be back to it next week.

Quite pleased - again

Having wussed out of a Park Run yesterday (I got all weird about running with lots of people and being self-conscious about it) I decided to run today instead. Seeing as I'd taken it easy last week; 2 weights sessions and 2 cardio; I really had to justify that by taking a reasonable run at the weekend. Last night, I sorted out a 6.3 km route to push my distance a bit further. This morning, however, I re-jigged it and made it 7km instead. And I ran it. At an average of just over 10km/h. This is pleasing :oD

Exercise - 7km run

B - scrambled egg (1 whole, 1 white) on a toasted multi-grain bagel
*run*
S - Chocolate milk (Moo!)
L - ham & philly sarnie
S - banana
D - roast chicken with roasted exotic squashes, sweet potato, parsnip and carrot, followed by hot summer fruit compote over crushed meringues

Calories (kcal)	1963
Protein (g)	128.4 (26.7%)
Carbohydrate (g)	263.7 (51.4%)
Fat (g)	46.7 (21.9%)
Fruit & Veg	10.9

Totals since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 106
Exercise time: 54:44
Exercise kcals: 29,657

Totals this week:-
Exercise count: 5
Exercise time: 3:22
Exercise kcals: 1,573

Not awfully focussed

...and no real incentive to be. Just not feeling awfully driven on the losing fat front at the moment. Enough of my clothes fit, I don't feel -too- wobbly and I'm being generally active, doing weights and cardio and not eating crap, so. *shrug*


Tuesday:-

Excercise - really rubbish cardio at the gym
B -Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Nakd Bar (berry cheeky)
*gym*
S - Strawberry milk drink (Moo!)
L -Wild Forest Mushroom soup (from EAT)
S - banana and tangerines
S -mango yogurt (Nom!)
D - stir fired veg and chicken in black bean sauce with noodles
S - home-made gwholemeal granary toast with Philadelphia Extra Light

Calories (kcal)	1738
Protein (g)	102.8 (24.5%)
Carbohydrate (g)	235.6 (52.6%)
Fat (g)	42.9 (23%)
Fruit & Veg	5.3

Wednesday:-

Exercise - rest day 'cause my legs are really complaining
B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk and a banana
S - banana
L - pea, spinach, tomato and walnut salad with lime juice and black pepper
S - sweet pepper slices with lemon and coriander reduced fat houmous
S -tangerines
S - strawberry yogurt (Nom!)
D - fish pie (skinless pollack fillets in white sauce with broccoli, topped with sweet potato and potato mash)

Calories (kcal)	1504
Protein (g)	70.9 (19.3%)
Carbohydrate (g)	227.6 (58.1%)
Fat (g)	36.8 (22.5%)
Fruit & Veg	13.2

Back

...from t' Lakes. And it didn't rain even once!

3 runs got squeezed in last week, two on the beach which was nice, one 45 minutes over sand and pebbles and one 6km run on Sunday (9.9km/h avergae :o)) when we were back home again. I was exactly the same weight the morning after we got back than the morning before we left (though I did spike upwards by a whole kg in the 3-4 days before we went, which was odd). 6 days of beer and wine, 4 nights of eating out, the odd cake and biscuit and some eggy bread breakfasts and I didn't put on a single pound. That said, I have got a lot softer around the middle.

Last week's totals:-
Exercise count: 3
Exercise Time: 01:52
Exercise kcals: 1,250

Totals since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 101
Exercise Time: 50:43
Exercise kcals: 28,084

Today I are be mostly feeling a bit ow after yesterday's 6km run and today's weights session after a week off it.

Exercise - weights plus warm up and down cardio

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmmed milk
S -Nakd bar (cocoa loco)
*gym*
S -strawberry Moo milk drink
L - pea, tomato, spinach, walnut and fake feta salad with lemon juice and black pepper
S - Spicy Basil and Tomato soup (from EAT!)
S - tangerines
S - banana
D - sausage casserole with home-made wholemeal granary bread and 1/2 bottle wine

Calories (kcal)	2055
Protein (g)	100.2 (19.8%)
Carbohydrate (g)	224.4 (41.6%)
Fat (g)	55.4 (24.7%)
Alcohol (5 units)	40.0 (13.8%)
Fruit & Veg	9.7

Slightly better

I just went to the gym having really really not wanted to, weighed in almost a kg heavier than yesterday and feeling generally rubbish about myself having drunk mixed beers last night and ended up morose because of it and eating chinese curry when we got home. And I feel better for havig done so; gymmed that is. It was really the first time I've had to force myself to do it and I don't like having to do that. I even forced myself to do weights for a 3rd time this week (cardio days in between all of them) when I really really didn't feel like it.

And now I have a tiny smile and a chocolate milk moustache. But only a tiny one. Which is a lot better than this morning.

Exercise - weights plus a little cardio to warm up and cool down

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - 4x rice cakes
L - EAT chicken and egg noodle soup
S - 1x nectarine
*gym*
S - Goodness Shakes chocolate milk thing
D - beef chilli with potato mash and sweetcorn topping

Calories (kcal)	1532
Protein (g)	93.9 (25%)
Carbohydrate (g)	222.5 (55.5%)
Fat (g)	31.5 (18.9%)
Fruit & Veg	6.7

's all just rubbish

Yeah, so the scales put me at back over 68kg again this morning, despite having had 2 days down around 67.7 and staying under maintenance and exercising. Fed up with this stuff. I keep thinking "I've been so good for ages" then I look back at my food diary and see all the days when I was almost up to maintenance and get so down about it. I want to be normal and not have to count and weight and not have to think about food all the time so I end up wanting food all the time, sometimes food that I can't let myself have because I will get fat again. I just can't do having a plate of chips for lunch and then not having anything else for the rest of the day to make up for it, I Get Hungry.

So tired of it all. And then I'm on holiday next week and will end up fatter when I get back as I'll be crap and eat and drink all week and not go out running or cycling 'cause it's so bloody hilly around there. Can't nature gimme a break please? Let me hang loose for a bit and not have to worry about getting fat again.

Definitely better

As in, my stomach is. Still no recurrence of the burny-belly sensation or the lower-guts grumbling etc. and still off the protein bars 'n' shakes. So. I think we have a winner.

Woke up this morning with arms still sore from Monday's weights session and really felt like having a rest day. But. I did my weights session anyway. Almost forgot planks & reverse crunches at the end, but realised about 1 minute into my cool-down on the cross-trainer, got off and did them. Not the best gym session; I don't think I worked as hard as I could have, but then it wasn't the worst either and faaaar better than none at all. Also decided to have all of the strawberry milk left in the carton today at work as I know there's 500ml left in it but have no way to measure 250ml out so I may as well have the whole lot :o)

Yes, I'm not hitting my protein targets, but as I'm about to go on holiday, I don't feel that now is the time to be messing about with that sort of thing plus I feel quite fine, if a little achey (but only a little).

Exercise - weights session and 15 minutes cardio

B - bounty porridge! :oD
S - banana
*gym*
S - strawberry milk
L - lettuce, tomato, caper, fake feta and walnut salad with lime juice and black pepper
S - banana
S - strawberry milk
D - beef chilli with couscous, peas and sweetcorn

Calories (kcal)	1754
Protein (g)	96.3 (23.5%)
Carbohydrate (g)	211.2 (48.2%)
Fat (g)	50.6 (27.7%)
Fruit & Veg	8.9

*pleased*

Last weather observation for the area said 28C and I still decided to go out for a run. Thought it would either be slow or I'd take the usual, slightly shorter route.

However.

I did 5.01km in 29:03! Furthest and fastest ever! I'm so pleased :o) I thought I'd knock it on the head at 4km 'cause I was feeling quite rubbish by then, but kept going. Then I thought I'd stop at the usual place I stop, but kept going! And did the extra loop at the end to get to 5.01km :oD

1 working car...

...and I wasn't charged anything to fix it! :o)

's too hot to run about today until later, so I'll be running in the evening to work up an appetite for dinner.

Exercise - 3.1 mile run

B - porridge made with water, raisins and a splash of milk (and oats of course!)
S - banana
L - roast chicken leftovers with avocado and walnuts in a lettuce and pea salad
S - slice of granary toast with Philadelphia Extra Light
*run*
S - strawberry milk :o)
D - baked potato with tuna, sweetcorn and baked beans

Calories (kcal)	1632
Protein (g)	86.6 (21.8%)
Carbohydrate (g)	215.3 (50.7%)
Fat (g)	48.7 (27.5%)
Fruit & Veg	7.5

5 working days...

Thing is, a week isn't going to be enough to really relax and recharge and then its a bloody long time with no more breaks until Christmas. I'm also already worried that I'll put on a kg or so while on holiday due to just not being strict enough with food and drink. Bleh. Also weight is 200g higher than this time last week despite being 2200kcal in deficit over those 7 days. I know I'm not trying very hard to stick to -500kcal every day, but if I'm under on average for a week I do expect to go down a bit, or stay the same at least, not go up. *sigh*

Exercise - weights and a little cardio

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Nakd bar (banana bread)
*gym*
S - chocolate milk
L - leftover roast chicken salad
S - banana and tangerines
D - chorizo, chicken, chick pea, sweet potato etc. stew and a wholemeal pitta bread

Calories (kcal)	1530
Protein (g)	91.2 (24.5%)
Carbohydrate (g)	188.7 (47.6%)
Fat (g)	46.1 (27.9%)
Fruit & Veg	9.7

Holidays are coming... holidays are coming...

Got up early to support hubby at his 10K today and he absolutely smashed his target, which was really nice :o) Felt rubbish when we got home, grumpy and morose for some reason, so had some lunch waited for it to go down then went for a run. 4.65km at an average of 10.4km/h was very very pleasing, especially given the little hill involved, and I felt a whole lot better after that and a gallon of chocolate milk, er, and a hot bath then a nap :oD

Exercise - 2.85 mile run

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - banana
L -ham, philadelphia light and lettuce sarnie on wholemeal granary bread
*run*
S - chocolate milk
S - slice of wholemeal granary toast with Marmite
D - roast chicken with sweet potato, potato, carrot and peas (and 1/2 bottle Prosecco)

Calories (kcal)	2007
Protein (g)	117.1 (23.8%)
Carbohydrate (g)	239.8 (45.6%)
Fat (g)	44.8 (20.5%)
Alcohol (3.6 units)	28.5 (10.1%)
Fruit & Veg	3.1

So here are the week's numbers' round up:-

This week:-
Exercise count: 6
Exercise Time: 03:24
Exercise calories: 2,057 (though 28 of those won't make the totals due to me cocking things up)

Since 15th June:-
Exercise count: 93
Exercise Time: 46:11
Exercise calories: 25,015

Bit feeble still

But went for an intervals session at the gym today anyway. Wasn't my best performance TBH. Stopped caring about macro-nutrient balance for now as I'm convinced that the protein shakes and/or bars are causing my stomach troubles. So, no more of those for now at least.

Exercise - various crunches plus intervals on the treadmill

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - banana
L - tomatoes and prawns with garlic, capers and lemon juice (cold)
S - Nakd Bar (berry cheeky) and 3x tangerines
S - Nakd Bar (cocoa loco)
D - beef fajitas with guacamole and salsa

Calories (kcal)	1458
Protein (g)	97.1 (27.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	196.2 (51.8%)
Fat (g)	32.8 (20.8%)
Fruit & Veg	10.6

Hm.

So I feel like crap and have a temperature. Felt wobbly during gymmage earlier too. Went home and crashed out asleep on the tube for 30 minutes only just waking up for my stop (very much not normal for me to not wake up before my stop if I do sleep). Very gurgly innards, bloaty and feeling sick. If it's vile in the morning, I'll re-visit the doc again. So don't want to be sick on holiday!

And today, for contrast....

...highest (absolute) protein count evar!

Experimenting with the protein supplements part II; yesterday was part I and I didn't have any and felt fine, today I shall be having a bar and a shake and will see how my stomach goes. If my gut (heh) feeling is right, I'll feel quite gurgly, bloaty and a bit sick. If that happens, I'm chucking the stuff.

Exercise - weights plus 2.5 mile run

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - protein bar
*gym*
S - protein shake
L - pea, tomato, spinach, caper, fake feta and walnut salad
S - 3x tangerines
S - Nakd bar (cocoa loco)
*run*
S - 1/2 carton Moo Choc'o'nana milk
D - prawn, lime, tomato thing with couscous

Calories (kcal)	1833
Protein (g)	160.3 (35.5%)
Carbohydrate (g)	200.6 (41.7%)
Fat (g)	45.6 (22.8%)
Fruit & Veg	8.4

I shall call today a carbcycle

Utter fail on the macro count today so I'm calling it a carb cycle day :o) (that said I'm blimmin' hungry all the time because of it *grumble*)

Exercise - some twisty crunches and side crunches and intervals on the cross-trainer

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Nakd bar (berry cheeky)
*gym*
L - Toulouse sausage, butterbean and lentil soup
S - 2x cheesy rice cakes
S -Nakd bar (cocoa loco)
S - banana and tangerines
D - lamb tikka with brown rice, sweetcorn and peas

Calories (kcal)	1575
Protein (g)	66.4 (17.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	199.7 (49%)
Fat (g)	57.1 (33.6%)
Fruit & Veg	6.1

*wobbly*

Hard weights today, I'm still wobbly 2 hours later and my biceps are whining at me. Really want to nap now...

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - protein bar
*gym*
S - protein shake
L - pea, spinach, olive, caper, fake feta and walnut salad
S - Nakd bar (cocoa loco)
S - banana and tangerines
*run*
D - beef chilli with root veg mash topping

Exercise - weights and a 2.5 mile run

Calories (kcal)	1751
Protein (g)	127.6 (29.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	204.2 (44.4%)
Fat (g)	48.7 (25.4%)
Fruit & Veg	8.9

Weekly round-up

Forgot this on Sunday...

Weekly:-
Exercise count: 7
Exercise Time: 03:35
Exercise Calories: 1,873

Since 15th June:-
Exercise count: 86
Exercise Time: 42:40
Exercise Calories: 22,958

Filthy little...

So I went for a run this afternoon and a couple of teenaged boys thought it would be funny to grope my bum as I ran past them. Oh -boy- did I give them an earful of abuse for it; kept running though and learned that yelling at the top of your lungs for about 10-15 seconds whilst running really gets you out of breath quickly.

Anyhoo. Did 5K in 30 minutes, which I'm quite pleased with. With a hangover too!

B - toasted onion bagel with scrambled eggs
L - curried butternut squash soup with home-made wholemeal bread
*run*
S - half a carton of chocolate milk :oD
S - 2x oat cakes with Pie cheese
D - salmon fillet with spiced courgette, pepper and potato

Calories (kcal)	1820
Protein (g)	102.0 (23.2%)
Carbohydrate (g)	181.8 (38.7%)
Fat (g)	74.5 (38.1%)
Fruit & Veg	6.1

GOOD gym!

Very very good session. Hard. Felt good. I accidentally had an extra 5kg on the assisted chin-ups machine and didn't notice until my 3rd set on it :oD Wondered why it'd been really hard for 7.. 8...... .....9...... *gnnnnngh* ..... 10! Raaar!

HRM says 451kcals burned for 5 mins x-trainer warm-up, 32 mins weight and 10mins cool down on the x-trainer. I was expecting around 350 :oD (WLR says 282kcal - hm, OK I'll use that number then) I am, however, covered in bruises on my knees from the medicine ball with the leg straightening crunch things. Eh, no pain and all that.

No running today; race tomorrow morning!

Exercise - weights

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - protein bar
L - chicken and egg noodle soup
S - banana and tangerines
S - protein shake
D - chicken salad with lettuce, pine nuts, low fat dressing, boiled egg, sweet pepper and home-made wholemeal bread
S - strawberries with low fat yogurt

		Calories (kcal)		1549
		Protein (g)		51.5 (40.1% :o))
		Carbohydrate (g)		154.3 (38.3%)
		Fat (g)		36.2 (21.6%)
		Fruit & Veg		8.2

Little run.

As part of making sure I don't knacker myself ahead of Saturday's race, I did decide to do the optional fast, short run today. I did 15 minutes (rather then 30) and at just over 1km/h faster than usual. Heart rate went pretty high, but I didn't feel utterly dead for more than a couple of minutes afterwards - when I do 28-30 minutes I tend to feel crap for at least 5 minutes afterwards. It was a bit hot to be running, but nice to be out without a stupid rucksack on. Still not 100% confident about doing 5K on Saturday, mostly because I've not really got accurate measurements for any of the runs I've done to date so I'm worried they've all been shorter than I think they are.

My arms, stomach, chest and shoulders still ache from yesterday's first full run-through with the new weights routine. This should make me feel good and that I worked hard enough, but the scales are making me think otherwise. I'm almost tempted to go back to what I know for a couple of months to get a grip on my weight to where I want it to be; 1100kcals a day and no structured exercise (walking about a lot, but no gym or running). I know from experience that works for me. I'm not confident that anything that's estimating my exercise calories is even remotely right; I've been erring on the side of the lower numbers in WLR compared with my HRM and still I'm not losing anything so I'm not sure about eating my exercise calories at all. I'm not happy about all of this water retention post-exercise etc., I don't understand it and I don't know if that's what's happening with me or not. I don't understand what's going on with my will-power at weekends and this coming bank holiday is going to be a total write-off.

I have to think about my options: go back to what I know about losing weight (not ideal, but it works); stop recording exercise in WLR and thus not eat exercise calories (but make sure to fuel at the right times, which means not eating an evening meal with my husband which does distress me a little, or modifying my evening meal by cutting out the carb part) or something else.

A little encouragement please?

Please scales, just be nice to me? 50g heavier than yesterday and I've been 450kcal under maintenance for the last few days so it'd be nice to get back to the weight I was only just last week. I do know that little variations in the day-to-day should be ignored, but the moving average has stopped moving downwards. I have just changed exercise routines, so it's not that, and I am recording everything I eat (and drink if it's not zero-calorie).

Exercise - 1.5 mile fast run

B - porridge made with water and a splash of semi-skimmed milk, raisins and a banana
S - tuna and soft cheese with sweetcorn
S - cocoa, banana and peanut butter milkshake
L - ham, spinach and tomato salad
S - slice of wholemeal granary toast with houmous
S - tangerines
D - lamb biryani with courgette, onion and toasted pine nuts

Calories (kcal)	1834
Protein (g)	116.7 (26.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	217.6 (46.1%)
Fat (g)	54.0 (27.5%)
Fruit & Veg	11.3

Yay for WLR forums

Thanks to the lovely people on the WLR forums, I have a plan of attack for the running for the rest of the week, having made a hash of it. Hoorah for sensible and experienced people! (Also, I feel a lot better about it now.)

No movement

50g lighter than yesterday (which really doesn't count). Got my first solo session with my new weights routine today... bit worried about it as it's a bit complicated in places. Also I have a dilemma with running due to being foolish yesterday. Running this week should have been Mon, Wed and a 5K "race" on Saturday, but I was dim and ran Monday and Tuesday but Tuesday was a shorter run than I shold be doing at the moment. So, I'm too fatigued to run the full 30 minutes today and I desperately want two days off before the race on Saturday. Not sure what to do about it.

Exercise - weights plus 15 mins cardio to warm up and cool down

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Banana and Strawberries
S - Protein shake and some roasted red pepper and tomato soup
L - tomato, spinach, black olive, caper and tuna salad with lemon juice and black pepper
S - Nakd bar (Berry Cheeky) and tangerines
D - warm goats cheese salad (with lettuce, tomato, walnuts and sweet pepper) and a slice of granary bread

Calories (kcal)	1609
Protein (g)	122.7 (31%)
Carbohydrate (g)	161.4 (38.3%)
Fat (g)	53.9 (30.7%)
Fruit & Veg	11.6

Still a slave to the scales

The weekend saw a large increase in my weight - 1kg - and I felt pretty awful about it. I know some of it is transient, but some of it is just because I ate badly and it will end up as fat. I was down and miserable when I saw the numbers on the scales. This morning, I'm 400g lighter and resultingly happier. Weight is so ingrained in my brain that it is very difficult to separate it from my mood and mental health, yet I know it is not the only indicator of healthiness. Yes, I'm 1% less fat than I used to be, but that's not tied into my brain yet and probably won't be until that number goes down lower. -If- that number goes down lower.

Exercise - intervals on the treadmill, plus some core work and a 2.4 mile run

B - porridge made with water and a splash of semi-skimmed milk, with raisins
S - almonds and brazil nuts
*gym*
L - Beef Pho (I really wish this was less expensive, dammit!)
S - nectarine (forgot my tangerines today, booo!)
S - protein shake
*run*
D - pork meatballs in a tomato sauce with fresh tagliatelle

Calories (kcal)	1774
Protein (g)	124.5 (28.7%)
Carbohydrate (g)	196.6 (42.4%)
Fat (g)	55.8 (28.9%)
Fruit & Veg	5.5

Limbo

Still not had a chance to think about what I want to do. So, I'm sticking to aiming for a 250g per week loss and 5x gym (3x weights, 2x intervals) plus 3x runs per week (on the non-intervals days) and not trying too hard around the macro-nutrients especially on days like today when the exercise is a bit odd.

Exercise - learning new weights routine (so, that's 1 set of everything), plus 3 mile run

B - Cheerios with a very squashy banana and semi-skimmed milk
*gym*
S - Nakd bar (Banana bread)
S - Bacon and lentil soup
L - pea, caper, tomato, fake feta and walnut salad with lime juice and black pepper
S - banana and 3x tangerines
*run*
S - possibly peanut butter on toast
D - beef chilli with couscous, peas and sweetcorn

Calories (kcal)	1738
Protein (g)	97.9 (23.2%)
Carbohydrate (g)	220.5 (49%)
Fat (g)	52.2 (27.8%)
Fruit & Veg	10.9

None the wiser

So, in 2.5 months of going to the gym I've lost 1% body fat. Big whoop. Not impressed. Lost a few more cm around the measurements on last time, but some of that felt rather like the tape being pulled too tightly. Of course, I don't have the data so I'll have to ask for it again. I'm glad my trainer took the time to find a bio-impedance body fat measuring machine as that made me a bit happier about comparing consecutive results. Still. I want the full data and I need to have a think about what I want to do with this stuff.

New routines...

Cardio/intervals (treadmill :o( ):-
5 mins slow jog
5 mins running pace
5x 1min sprint, 30s recovery
5 mins running pace

Twisting crunches 3x10
Reverse crunches 3x10


Weights:-
Warm up - 1km rowing or 10 mins cross-trainer L5
Step ups with shoulder press 3x10 (5kg)
Lunges 3x10 (7kg)
Straight arm pulldown 3x10 (21kg)
Assisted chin-ups 3x10 (45kg, work towards 40kg)
Over-head tricep extensions on swiss ball (7kg medicine ball)
Crunches with leg extensions with 3kg medicine ball 3x10 each leg
Plank 3x 1 minute
Straight leg raises 3x10 (arms overhead with ball)
Cool down 10 mins

Right!

OK. After a bit of a stern talking to to myself. I've decided to stop moping and whining until Ive got the current state of play from my trainer. Once I know where we're at (mostly body-fat-wise) I'll have a proper think about what I want to aim for. I need to be able to enjoy myself and not be miserable every Monday morning because I've blown it all over the weekend (to be honest the last two weekends are atypical, but I really don't want that to become a trend).

I have one goal at the moment (5K run next weekend) and the others can come after I know the state of play.

Falling by the wayside

I've not had a great grip on nutrition over the last few weeks. As a consequence, I lost a kilo, then put it back again. I should be around 67.5kg on a gentle, slow fat loss but I'm still at 69kg. I'm seeing my trainer today and she'll be doing my measurements. They're not going to have changed a whole lot since I was last measured 5 weeks ago, which is totally my own fault but still disappointing. I think I'm a bit lost at the moment, not sure what my goals are or what they should be or even if I want to have a goal. Losing just body fat is very very hard after having gone through a massive weight loss in the past and being generally happy with life so I don't need something to obsessively focus on.

I need to re-assess where I want to go with this and what I want out of it. Starting to exercise was only ever supposed to be about getting fitter, not about losing weight or looking different but because some of that has happened and I see other people who do have strong goals with that and who are succeeding, I started to want it too. Definitely need to have a proper think about my motives and sustainable goals.

Last week's statistics:-
Exercise count: 6
Exercise time: 03:15
Exercise calories: 1,904

Cumulative since 15th June:-
Exercise count: 79
Exercise time: 39:06
Exercise calories: 21,085

Bad bad bad weekend

Went to visit parents yesterday and ate and drank like a pig. 3 meals, far too much cheese, bit too much wine (I was expecting a reasonable amount); but the cheese was the killer, just couldn't keep my hands off it :o( I think I'm a bit nutrition fatigued at the moment.

Saturday:-

Exercise - 20 minute walk

B - 2x granary toast with Marmite
S - Nakd bar (cocoa loco)
L - smoked salmon, pot roast beef, tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper, lettuce wholemeal bread
D - champagne, spicy pork slow casserole, red wine, new potatoes (only 3), cauliflower (4 tons of it), carrots, stilton and cheddar on toast with port

Calories (kcal)	2723
Protein (g)	141.4 (21.1%)
Carbohydrate (g)	209.4 (29.3%)
Fat (g)	96.1 (32.2%)
Alcohol (8.3 units)	66.7 (17.4%)
Fruit & Veg	7.6

Sunday:-

Exercise - none (was supposed to run but it's too hot. again.)

B - 2.5 rashers bacon, 2 fried eggs, 1.5 slices of toast, honey
S - 2x fig rolls
D - pork and beef kebabs with too many finger rolls and too much fizzy wine
S - 2x toast with Marmite

Calories (kcal)	2303
Protein (g)	122.7 (21.7%)
Carbohydrate (g)	172.0 (28.5%)
Fat (g)	69.9 (27.8%)
Alcohol (8.9 units)	71.2 (22%)
Fruit & Veg	0.0 (not true)

End of the week and end of the current routines. I get a new set on Monday with my trainer. *fear* The gym scales like me again, let's see how that goes after the weekend, shall we? ;o) Really really hoping for a lower body fat measurement on Monday too, but I don't know what to expect with calipers, how different that might be than the bio-impedance monitor and whether I've just been eating too much to reduce my body fat at all. I've certainly put the exercise in since the last measurement fest...

Exercise - intervals on the cross trainer, reverse crunches and side crunches with an 8kg ball

B - toasted onion bagel with Marmite (still off milky brekkie due to medication)
S - Nakd bar (Banana bread)
L - Beef, ginger and chilli Pho (from EAT)
S - banana
S - protein shake
S - 3 tangerines
D - lettuce, tomato, pine nuts, cous cous and red pepper salad with pork and apple sausages

Calories (kcal)	1781
Protein (g)	117.3 (27.1%)
Carbohydrate (g)	187.1 (40.6%)
Fat (g)	61.9 (32.2%)
Fruit & Veg	6.4

Oops

So those 1/2 sized weights I added in on the machines are actually 5kg, not 3.5kg, I bothered to look on the side as I noticed there were 3 different sizes of them :o) So that makes my pec deck and tricep pulldowns go from 14kg to 19kg and the lat pulldowns up from 21kg to 26kg. *grin* only an extra 1.5kg on what I previously thought, but it all adds up.

Not going to get 3 weights sessions in this week, with being at home yesterday and away at the weekend, so that was my last session with that routine. I fear the next one as I tend ot get to see what it might have in it when I see my trainer working with other people in the gym. I see planks in my future ;o) (I tried one the other day when I was actually a bit ill and managed 01:34, which I thought was quite good really - see, I can do positive!) Oh and the excess from last Sunday is almost gone, so I might have lost another kg when I get weighed and measured on Monday on the gym scales. Shame the bio impedance body fat machine is -still- broken so I won't be able to compare properly with the last measurement, but my trainer said she'd use calipers this time. Seems a bit random to me, three different measurement methods in as many assessments; I can't compare any of them! Does she not -understand- my need for proper statistics!? I am a numbers nerd, dammit!

BTW, still feel soooo much better than I have done for the last 2.5 weeks *bounce* Yay for antibiotics!

Must remember, no cereal for brekkie!

The anti-biotics say no milk up to 6 hours before taking them and 2 hours after. So no cereal in the morning for me for the next 4 days. I'm sooo going to forget, I know it! But.. I feel -so- -much- better! I can't believe how much that infection wiped me out.

Exercise - full weights and a 2.75 mile run

B - toasted onion bagel with Marmite
S - Nakd bar (cocoa loca)
S - protein shake
L - spinach, tomato, peas, capers, fake feta and walnut salad with lime juice
S - banana and tangerines
S - protein bar
D - beef chilli with root veg mash

Calories (kcal)	1834
Protein (g)	133.6 (29.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	218.0 (45.2%)
Fat (g)	50.7 (25.2%)
Fruit & Veg	10.2

Back to high carb today

No exercise because I'm too feeble and it's too hot (for me) to run in any case... *ring*ring* and I just got a call from the doctor to say I have a bug and I should have some anti-biotics to fix it and that I shouldn't prepare food for other people until it's cleared up.

Edit:- Aaaand now I have the pills - big ol' things they are!

Exercise - none

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - banana
L - ham, philadelphia extra light and lettuce on wholemeal granary bread
S - 2x fig rolls!
D - salmon fillet with couscous, peas and sweetcorn
S - Haagen Dazs "Summer Berry Smoothie" on strawberries

Calories (kcal)	1538
Protein (g)	85.3 (23.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	199.9 (51.4%)
Fat (g)	40.8 (25.2%)
Fruit & Veg	5.0

Laid low again

Not quite as badly as last time though, I can actually straighten out my torso properly this time. I had to force dinner down last night, having already felt crap for a couple of hours beforehand. I even didn't drink any tea after about 4pm - unheard of for me. Got very little sleep due to stomach vileness throughout the night and woke up at 05:50, unable to get back to sleep, very tired and frustrated. I really hope the doctor got something useful from the tests and has something to suggest when I see him later today.

*yawn*

Tired. Fed up with all of this, but soldiering on.

Exercise - cross-trainer intervals plus reverse crunches and side crunches with an 8kg ball

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Nakd bar (Banana bread)
S - protein shake
L - spinach, pea, tomato, avocado, caper, fake feta and walnut salad
S - protein bar and 3 tangerines
S - banana
D - 2 whole eggs and 4 egg white omelette with onion, mushroom, ham and tomato, and Philadelphia extra light smeared on top

Calories (kcal)	1710
Protein (g)	150.7 (35.9%)
Carbohydrate (g)	140.6 (31.4%)
Fat (g)	61.1 (32.7%)
Fruit & Veg	10.4

Running coming along

...though I felt terrible afterwards yesterday. Up to 2.76 miles now, 5 weeks after never having run before so that's pretty good I think. It took 29 minutes, but then it was -hot- and I was carrying a rucksack with about 3kg in it. Sunday's run was better in many ways; 25 minutes for 2.6 miles (no rucksack and cooler). *ramble* Anyhoo, got another two 2.75 mile runs this week, then up to 3 miles next week, which is pretty much 5K and I'm there.

Really really need to see my body fat % measurement at the moment, but only if it's gone down of course. Need -something- to tell me I'm doing OK with all of this. People don't count at this stage, because they've always got some agenda for saying whatever they're saying; nobody is 100% objective. I emailed my trainer last night to ask if the machine at the gym is fixed yet, but I guess she won't see that until tonight.

Thinking about what to have for dinner...

Cross with myself

That Chinese and wine mess on Sunday has made a mess of me. Almost a kilo up yesterday and the same still today. It should just be "more stuff in my innards", but that should sort itself out a bit in 24-36 hours. It hasn't. :o( Why couldn't I just lay off the food and booze a bit? I don't even -like- cake, dammit and I had two fairy cakes as well as dinner.

So, I'm not going out with hubby and his best man tonight; even though it's dinner in a place that serves lots of really good meat (ostrich, various different antelope etc.). I'm going to sit at home and have a small portion of home made chilli or an omelette. And sulk. Because it's my own stupid fault.

Final week of routine

For the final week on this weights routine, I've decided to up the weights and drop the reps a bit just for a little bit of interest. So, 6kg on lunges and squats at 3x 15 is now 7kg at 3x 12; 4kg on dumbbell shoulder presses at 3x 15 is now 5kg at 3x 11; and I've added a half weight (I think it's 3.5kg) to the pec deck and lat pulldowns machines to up from 14kg to 17.5kg and 21kg to 24.5kg for those exercises and gone from 3x 15 reps to 3x 12.

I'm feeling it already. Raaaar! :oD (though my arms were -still- sore from Saturday and feeling rock hard!)

Exercise - weights and a teensy bit of cardio (10mins x-trainer, 10 mins stepper), possibly a 2.75 mile run later.

B - cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - banana
L - Beef, chilli, Ginger Pho (from EAT; sooo nice but sooo expensive!)
S - protein bar
S - left-over fairy cake(!) and 3 tangerines
S - protein shake
D - rib eye steak (trimmed), salad (lettuce, tomato and cucumber) and wholemeal granary bread

Calories (kcal)	1826
Protein (g)	155.8 (35.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	184.3 (39.2%)
Fat (g)	49.6 (25.4%)
Fruit & Veg	6.1

Ohdear

Yesterday ended up being a total disaster, food and drinks-wise... guests brought tasty (and oh so pretty!) cupcakes, of which I had two; then Chinese... 2 small spring rolls, 4 dry spare ribs, half a chicken curry, 1/3 of a large egg fried rice, oh and a bottle(!) of Cava. Then, just before bed, nibbled on a little bit of leftover crispy chilli beef. 3,100kcal (yesterday's loss quota, inc.exercise, 1,588kcal, maintenance inc. exercise 2,088kcal) :o( and 7 units of alcohol!

I should feel terrible, but I'm just tired having woken up at 6am and not been able to get back to sleep. I weigh 40 gazillion tons, but that's mostly 'cause my body has a lot in it from yesterday. My biceps -still- hurt from carrying a huge bag of soil on Saturday (no trolleys in B&Q). My belly is sticking out and wobbly. *whine* Yeah, I know it's all my own doing.

I'm off to the gym for a weights session today. So, I'll weigh -even- -more- tomorrow. Hey ho.

Totals so far

No excuses, but I have been ill and took 2 days off which would normally be gym days...

This week:-
Exercise count: 6
Exercise time: 03:04
Exercise calories: 1,845

Total since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 73
Exercise time: 35:50
Exercise calories: 19,181

Muuuch better!

Just back in from my run and it felt really good :o) 2.6 miles in 24:45 - fastest and furthest ever!

Got friends coming over this evening and there'll be takeaway for dinner. Oh well, swings and roundabouts.

B - scrambled eggs on toasted multi-grain bagel
S - chocolate, banana and peanut butter shake
L - tomato, lettuce, raw pea, black olive, avocado and fake feta salad with black pepper and lemon juice
S - ? (probably no snack)
D - chinese takeaway!

Exercise - 2.6 mile run (WLR says 279kcal burned, my HRM says 260kcal, not far off!)

Partly bad food day

My stomach wound right up last night and left me a bit wiped out again today; I had two snoozes on the sofa and did bugger all (just a quick trip to B&Q in the morning).

B - muesli and semi-skimmed milk
L - toasted multigrain bagel with Philadelphia extra light, mustard ham and lettuce
S - low fat yogurt with honey
S - Nakd (Banana Bread) bar
D - pan seared sea bass with sweet potato wedges and broccoli
S - Haagen Dazs Summer Berry Smoothie (nom!)

Exercise - none (rest day)

Calories (kcal)	1860
Protein (g)	83.6 (18.4%)
Carbohydrate (g)	235.5 (46.8%)
Fat (g)	66.6 (33%)
Fruit & Veg	6.6

Oh...

...also the gym scales appear to be in love with me today ;o) (weighing 800g lighter than on Monday though the home scales say 600g heavier - go figure!)

Bit spaced

Bit gurgly still, but at work today; which is good as my new Gore Sunlight III shorts (OMG they're -so- -comfortable-!), new sports bra (not tried it yet as the new top has a built-in bra) and running top (Adidas racer back Supernova in blue, very very nice) had arrived and I got to try them in the gym this morning.

Did my intervals training and am feeling good for it, though generally still a bit spaced and finding concentreation difficult. Gonna veg in front of the TV tonight with the hubby and share a bottle of wine - hence alcohol count below. Tsk, naughty, I know.

Exercise - cross-trainer intervals (20 minutes) and trunk work (side-crunches with 7kg ball and reverse crunches)

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - Banana
L - bacon and lentil soup
S - protein shake
S - protein bar
D - baked chicken fillet with lettuce, sweet pepper, low-fat caesar dressing and a hard-boiled egg, with couscous and toasted pine nuts on the side
S - wine *cough*

Calories (kcal)	1800
Protein (g)	139.1 (31.6%)
Carbohydrate (g)	163.5 (34.8%)
Fat (g)	39.3 (20.1%)
Fruit & Veg	6.6
Alcohol (4.3 units)	34.1 (13.6%)

Rumbly evening

So I pulled myself together and went to the local gym (not anywhere near as nice as the ones, yes three of them all within 5 minutes walk of my office, near work) and did my current weights routines while the blokes in there looked like they were a mixture of fascinated and horrified. I don't think women do weights in that gym, just cardio and classes. And then, like a total idiot, instead of getting the tube home, I ran. 2.5 miles in 26 minutes with no stopping and at a pace of 9.3km/h which is pretty good for me, though it felt slower. Max heart rate 185BPM, average 179BPM - it was quite hot outside.

Scarfed some chocolate milk when I got home and felt fine after my shower.

But now my stomach is doing its thing again. Hey ho. Back to school tomorrow as it looks like things are fine during the day but deteriorate through late afternoon to evening.

Still on relatively high carbs and bland foods until I see the doc again next week.

Exercise - weights and a 2.5 mile run

B - muesli and semi-skimmed milk
S - peanut butter and banana milkshake
L - salad of peas, green beans, black olives, fake feta, lemon juice and black pepper
exercise
S - chocolate milk drink
D - baked potato with tuna, sweetcorn, baked beans and low fat Leerdammer (nom!)

Calories (kcal)	1942
Protein (g)	101.9 (21.7)
Carbohydrate (g)	265.9 (53.1)
Fat (g)	52.5 (25.2)
Fruit & Veg	7.6

Hate not knowing

At the risk of a little TMI, I just carted the final "sample" to the local hospital for the rest of the tests the doctor wants done. I've got a follow-up appointment next week to go through the results and see if he can figure out what's going on. I just hate not knowing, it's frustrating and I just want to get on with getting it fixed. On the up side, I appear to be a bit hungry today, which is yet another improvement on yesterday when I just had no appetite and kept leaving half my meals and coming back to them later.

I'm still off work 'cause my brain is mush and I'm still getting pains every now and then (don't want that happening at work or on the tube) but debating going outside later to get some fresh air and maybe a little exercise if that's not a dumb idea. Hard to tell.

Going "normal" carb under instruction

The doc saw me this morning, prodded about a bit and sent me for some blood tests etc. He's recommended bland, carb-rich foods for now. Poot.

Laid low

I have some sort of digestive tract thing going on. Off sick today. No exercise as I'm A. ill, B. in quite some discomfort and C. exhausted due to very little sleep.

I've had something odd going on for just over a week and it went nuts last night, I ended up huddled in a ball in bed with a vest, fleece and socks on because I was cold as well as in significant discomfort such that I couldn't straighten out my torso. So I called the surgery this morning to get to see a doctor today, but no, of course not, I can't see a doctor today because there's only one GP in today and it has to be an emergency. How do I know if it's a non-A&E kind of emergency and what the heck would that be anyway? Surely an emergency is something hanging off or suchlike and you really should go to A&E? I feel tired, miserable and in pain (but because it's stomach pain I don't dare take anything for it due to most things being quite harsh on the stomach).

Gonna try some Cheerios now to see how they go.

Quite pleased

2 minutes warm-up walk, then 25 minutes continuous running. Without feeling like crap. My HRM is what saved me this time; I just kept my heart rate under 185BPM and all was good. It did mean I was reasonably slow (quick for me though!) at just over 9kph. But I can improve on that later.

*shake*

My form in the lunges is much better now, but I'm still much weaker on the right than the left, which is not odd given that although I'm right handed, my left leg is dominant. Lat pulldowns form is also much much better. That said, I have the shakes after that little session in the gym. Yes, I had a proper breakfast (21% of today's calories!) and I had a high protein/carb snack 45 minutes before I went to the gym. I just had a protein shake now that I'm back from the gym, so maybe that will help. That or the mug of tea I'm about to get ;o)

My heart rate monitor says 373kcal for the session; WLR says 209 (10 minutes x-trainer - no intensity specified, 10 minutes stepper - no intensity specified and 20 minutes "toning exercises"). The latter is clearly wrong even with background calories taken into consideration, but I'll stick to that to calculate exercise kcal for the day (running should be another 250kcal or so later).

Had a little chat with my trainer (not seeing her for a session for another couple of weeks yet) and mentioned I'm up to pretty much 25 minutes running now, so she's now going to add a running intervals option into my routines for next time. Heh. I can't run fast; my legs turn into wobbly piles of jelly almost instantly! (Yeah, I thought I couldn't use the cross-trainer and now look at me! :oD)

Monday's plans

Exercise this week will change a bit, more weights less intervals same exercise count overall:-

Mon - weights and run
Tue - intervals
Wed Weights and run
Thu - intervals
Fri - weights and run
Sat - rest
Sun - rest

I had a bit of an experiment with breakfast this morning, which wsn't so good. I toasted some oats last night and mixed in raisins; this morning I chopped in a banana and added yogurt. It wasn't particularly nice. I don't think the oats were toasted long enough and the yogurt was too thick. Hey ho, you live and learn.

B - toasted oats, raisins, banana and low fat yogurt
S - 1/2 protein bar
Exercise
S - protein shake
L - sliced green beans, capers, butter beans, tinned tuna, lemon juice
S - 1/2 protein bar and 3 tangerines
D - lamb tikka (Jamie Oliver chicken tikka recipe with 2/3 oil removed and low fat coconut milk) with brown rice

Calories (kcal)	1802
Protein (g)	135.8 (31%)
Carbohydrate (g)	195.3 (41.8%)
Fat (g)	53.1 (27.2%)
Fruit & Veg	8.2

Exercise - full weights, 2.5 mile run

Totals (*yawn* yes, just numbers)

This week (when I read the correct week *cough*):-
Exercise count: 8
Exercise time: 04:17
Exercise calories: 2,337

Total since 15th June 2009:-
Exercise count: 66
Exercise time: 32:44
Exercise calories: 17,336

*sweat* *drip*

(Edit - added in a couple of tangerines as an afternoon snack to up the F&V count to 6.2; much better Aziz!)

Just back from my longest run to date; 3 minutes walk, 22 minutes run. I ran out of route, it was supposed to be 25 minutes of running to cover 2.25 miles (plus 0.25 miles of walk at the start to warm up). I had to slow it right down 'cause I hit my maximum heart rate (measured, not guessed from a formula) and it wouldn't come down again. I have run faster before, so I guess it may have been the heat that didn't help. Time for a quick shower and then lunch when hubby gets back from his 70 minutes run(!)

B - muesli with banana and semi-skimmed milk
S - granary toast with peanut butter
S - protein shake
L - probably a ham, philadelphia light and lettuce sandwich on granary bread (e: yep, had that)
e: S - couple of tangerines
D - beef fajitas with salsa and guacamole

Exercise - running more than I ever have before!

Calories (kcal)	1839
Protein (g)	134.3 (30%)
Carbohydrate (g)	212.7 (44.8%)
Fat (g)	49.9 (25.2% - oops)
Fruit & Veg	4.9 (bit rubbish!)

Probably for the best

No running today for various reasons. I was supposed to do a 25 minute one for the first time, but it's probably for the best that I'm not... woke up ravenously hungry, dropped all 4 eggs that were supposed to be for breakfast all over the kitchen when the jug fell over in the microwave during the making of scrambled eggs. I sat on the floor and cried! I was that hungry and frustrated! So, it was just bagel and tea for breakfast as there are no more eggs in the house.

Slobbed about for hours and only just got up properly for lunch... 's gonna be a carb day today and no exercise. We'll run tomorrow.

B - toasted onion bagel and tea
L - sarnie; peppered ham and quark with lettuce on granary bread
S - peanut butter on granary toast
D - beef chilli with sweet potato and carrot mash

Calories (kcal)	1472
Protein (g)	84.9 (23.7%)
Carbohydrate (g)	215 (56.3%)
Fat (g)	32 (20%)
Fruit & Veg	6.3

Managed to shovel an afternoon snack in there, but not feeling the 3xmeals + 2/3snacks feeling today.

Wooyeah!

There's a GNC in the shopping centre near where I live -and- they carry a huge range of stuff that I'm at least trying out at the moment. Not the cheapest way to get it, but handy nonetheless. Right, off to cook some chickie and try out this quark stuff.

Friday feeling fiiiiiine

Today was a cardio/intervals day and I picked the cross trainer after a bit of a fail on the bike with jelly-legs after 1 minute! No running today.

B - Cheerios with semi-skimmed milk
S - banana
S - protein shake
L - salad; peas, spinach, butter beans, fake feta, capers, walnuts, lemon juice and black pepper
S - tangerines and a protein bar
D - chicken fillet with quark and mushroom sauce, with brown rice

Exercise - cardio cross-trainer routine

Calories (kcal)	1648
Protein (g)	150.1 (37.3%)
Carbohydrate (g)	178.1 (41.5%)
Fat (g)	38.0 (21.2%)
Fruit & Veg	8.3

Baseline

I bought a heart rate monitor on 15th June (a couple of weeks after I started going to the gym) and so far:-

Exercise count - 65
Total duration - 32:19
Total calories - 17,058

Sometimes I am dim and forget to start it up though ;o)