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)

My current routine

Day 1 - (2x per week with at least a day between repeats)
-----

Warm up - 10-15 minutes L5 on the cross-trainer or 1km on the rower

Squats with 6kg dumbbells - 3x15
Pec deck machines (pectoral flyes) at 14kg - 3x15
Stepper machine L9 for 2 minutes
Lunges with 6kg dumbbells - 3x15
Shoulder presses with 4kg dumbbells - 3x15
Stepper machine L9 for 2 minutes
Crunches on Bosu, alternate legs - 3x15
Side crunches - 3x15
Stepper machine L9 for 2 minutes
Lat pulldowns at 21kg - 3x15
Tricep pulldowns at 14kg - 3x15
Stepper machine L9 for 2 minutes

stretches (which I always forget!)


Day 2 - (2x - 3x per week with at least a day in between repeats)
-----

EITHER

Exercise bike:-
Warm up L10 80-100rpm - 5 mins
Pace L15 100-120rpm - 5mins
Sprint bursts L8 - (30s at 120+ rpm, 30s recovery) x5
Pace L10 100-120rpm - 5 minutes

OR

Cross-trainer:-
Warm up L5 10kph - 5 mins
Pace L10 12kph - 5 mins
Sprint bursts L8 - (30s at 15kph, 30s recovery) x5
Pace L10 12kph - 5 mins

AND

Standing side crunches with 8kg ball - 3x10
Reverse crunches - 3x10

New home

In order to avoid boring my LJ friends who are disinterested, plus keep this all a bit quiet (I dunno why, but I just like to keep this kind of hing quiet until there are blindingly obvious results), I've decided to set up my nutrition and fitness journal here. Mostly for my own records, but if anyone else is even vaguely interested that's good too.

This month sees the 3rd anniversary of me finishing losing about 30kg. I've kept almost all of it off (though I did go through a phase of getting a bit too light and then swung back from here a bit too far again) and am now moving into a new phase where I'm including structured exercise. I lost the weight without exercise because I was worried that regular exercise would be something unsustainable for me as it takes time out of your day to acheive, whereas eating well doesn't. I know it wasn't the best idea as I lost a lot of muscle mass as well as fat - quite graphically illustrated to me when I tried to move some furniture by myself and found I was too weak to do it without massive amounts of bloody-mindedness and application of physics. So, having always been one to walk rather than take the car and starting cycling a bit last year, I joined a gym just over two months ago...

Well, the gym offered a "free" set of 3 personal training sessions (you pay up front and if you go to the gym often enough in the first month, you get your money back) which I took up. The first session was one where my measurements were taken and my goals assessed. I wasn't sure of my goals then, other than to improve my basic fitness levels, so that's where we started from. The next session set some basic exercises for me to do and I did them 3 times a week, along with my own cardio in between. The next set some horrible exercises that I couldn't complete by myself and I started to wonder what was the point. That said, I religiously went to the gym every weekday and noticed my general fitness improving - instead of my heart rate going up to 180BPM within 1 minute of getting on the cross-trainer set to level 1, I could now go for 15 minutes on the cross trainer at level 2 or 3 without my heart rate going above about 165BPM. I still didn't really see the point but carried on going every weekday. And then decided to try adding in jogging home from the penultimate station instead of walking.

Reluctantly, I agreed to a regular monthly session with my trainer (with a view to saying "thanks but no thanks" after a couple of those) and set the first one for a Monday morning. So, I showed up and she measured me all over again (except the body fat monitor was broken so we couldn't check that) and we went to work with the new routine she'd drawn up for me. Wow, what a difference! This new routine was two routines, one mostly cardio (with a choice of bike or cross-trainer), one mostly weights and I was to do two of each during the week and maybe three of the cardio if I felt up to it. The weights routine was -hard- and I felt it in truckloads the next day. The cardio included intervals, which was pleasing as I'd read a lot of good things about that and the bike option was so hard I had to reduce the intensity of bits of it so I could actually finish it! I was so happy with these new routines that the doubts ran away. I also started in on a "couch to 5K" running training programme at the 5th week (as I'd already managed to do a lot more than was in the programme for the first 4 weeks) which added another 3 cardio sessions to the week.

So. Now I'm doing 3 runs, 3 intervals cardio sessions and 2 weights sessions per week and my body is changing shape; visibly! I'm getting a bit heavier, but that's par for the course when wasted old muscles start to build back in a bit. Yes I am sure that my body fat percentage has dropped, but I won't know for sure or the exact amount until my next session with my trainer (and only if the machine is fixed! *whimper*). I've started participating in the WLR (http://weightlossresources.co.uk/ - the site I used to help me lose weight in the first place) forums a bit and come across a few really inspiring and interesting people and have taken an interest in altering my nutritional balance to assist fat loss and muscle tone/build. It's a new beginning...