Is the ham all gone yet?

When will this holiday season be done???  I had the best intentions to have a day or two off and then get back into the training to work off the excess turkey, ham and trifle.... I followed the portion control rules so I didn't over do it, shame I didn't stick to the five small meals a day I should have!!! Kind of lost count some days... Dam all the yummy food screaming out at me every time I walked past!  Next year I will try walking around the house with ear muffs on so I can't hear that food begging me to fulfill it's life journey and devour it!!  

Having my sisters at home also didn't help, who wants to go to the gym to work out when you can fully get into holiday mode and cruise with them??  Unfortunately I took that one step too far and forgot to go to work... Oops!!  (I did go in after a wake up call asking where I was....)  Speaking of work, the extra hours over Christmas completely messed me around with the Christmas gym hours.  I hear you say "why didn't you hit the hills again or do stuff at home??"  The honest answer to that is... I'm lazy and I was pretending to be on holiday!!

I had this mad idea that shopping with the sisters could be a good way to get in some walking during one of the many rainy days we have had... Yes, I did get some extra walking in I normally wouldn't have done but I got bored really quickly and ended up in a cafe drinking an iced coffee (with no cream!!) so not sure if I really achieved anything!!  

Mark my trusty trainer emailed me too, just to see how things were going.... I need to publicly apologise for the little fib I told him.... I did intend on going to the gym as I had told him in my reply email, it's just that something came up which I couldn't say no to.... it's not often one's sister offers to shout lunch!! 

Starting this little journey before the holiday season was a little bit stupid of me but I think what I really wanted was to get a feel for how things would go when I knuckle down in the New Year and start losing some serious weight!  I can say that I have that feeling now, I know what I'm in for in the New Year and if I'm honest I'm a little bit excited and scared all at the same time for what is coming!!! 

Have a great New Years and I'll check back in soon!!

P.S Don't tell them, but having both sisters around was pretty cool, and I have no regrets about spending time with them instead of slogging it out at the gym!!! (next year might be another story! lol)

My bad...

Ooops, I missed doing an update yesterday... and no I didn't miss my workout (even though my calf muscles were screaming at me to give it a miss!!!) I didn't get home until late last night by which time my fingers were too tired to type let alone have my brain string enough words together to make sense!!

But I did go to the gym and do an hours worth of cardio... dam it was hot!!!  And that is when the confusion began to set in!! I could go for half an hour non stop on the treadmill without a problem (well other than struggling to breathe and dripping with sweat!!) Yet when I attempt to walk outdoors I start dying and begin looking for a resting place after about 5minutes...  I think that dam treadmill has been luring me into a false sense  of security!!  The helpful staff at Bay Bodyfit helped clarify what was going on... I'll confess, sometimes I'm a little dumb and it never occurred to me that the dam treadmill kind of helps you along when walking!!  Apparently if you make sure the treadmill is on an incline of at least 2 then it will feel more like walking outside.  I'll try that next time but not sure if my calves will like me for it because an incline sounds like hard work!!

Today was another weights session at the gym... I think it went to plan...  I was in bit of a rush when leaving home and left my program on the table so had to do it all by memory, which could have been a disaster but thank goodness I have been taking those fish oil pills, they must doing wonders for my brain!!!  Made it through everything OK, up'd the weights on a few of the exercises which is awesome... gets me a little further away from the Nana weights I started with!!!

Not sure when the next update will be, got to get through the next few days with family and food around!  So will need to try and fit in some walking and hopefully the food police will be at home to keep an eye on what's going on my plate!!!

So, Merry Christmas!!! Enjoy the day and don't over indulge.... if you can help it!!!

And one last note, my thoughts go out to all those in Christchurch today.  Not the best timing for another earthquake...  Hope it all settles down for Christmas!!!  

Week 1 done & dusted!!!

Wahoooo!!! The first week is done and I'm still alive! Well, I think am... body is a bit sore, muscles are aching a little, feeling a bit tired (actually that could have been the late night TV watching!!) but I guess that is a sign of progress??

Went into the gym today for a little mid afternoon workout... Going in the afternoon is awesome, feels like my own private gym because all the other members are out working!! (I should be too but part time hours allows this kind of craziness!)  Not having to wait for equipment is great and not having to worry about too many eyes watching me is even better!  Especially as the curse of the short t-shirt reared its ugly head again today!  Nearly died of embarrassment as I sat up from doing my incline dumb bell flyes and there to great me was my puku staring back in the mirror!!!  Can't wait for that to shrink and the abs to appear.... dam I hope they appear!!!

Being exactly one week since my last meeting with Mark I was curious to see if any progress had been made.... I stepped onto the scales and waited and waited, the screen went blank, bugger I broke them!! Oh hang on a minute I can see some kind of flickering... I think the scales were in shock and doing some recalculations to be certain the number it was about to slam me with was the right number as it came back 2.4kgs less than last week!! WAHOOOOO!!!  Now I would love to share with you what the starting number was but it's still bit of a sore point at the moment!!  I'll reveal that number later... maybe about the time those 'before' photo's get released!!

This next week is going to be a hard one, Christmas is plonked in the middle of it, family are coming home to visit and I'm going to be surrounded by food.  I'm putting it out there now.... You can not keep me away from the Ham, Turkey & Trifle!!!!  I will try and eat responsibly but I can't promise anything....  Looks like I might be spending more time at the Papamoa Hills this week!

Anyway, of to pack my gym bag for tomorrow's torture session!!

The hills are alive with the sound of....

Heavy breathing!! Yip, today I decided to miss the gym and take the workout to the streets!  Well not really the streets more like the Papamoa Hills.  I thought it was going to be a fantastic idea, getting my walk on in the sunshine, breathing in the fresh air, being at one with nature.... um, I was mistaken!

I hadn't done this walk before so was not to sure what to expect.  Arriving in the car park I was greeted with a bank of stairs.  Hmmm, that can't be good... how am I meant to do a gentle walk to warm up before hitting some of the hilly bits?   So I took a swig of water and started the climb up the stairs, and then some more stairs, and then a couple more stairs before the track turned into a steep slope.  I wasn't sure if my lungs were going to explode or if my heart was going to bust out of my chest and then it happened.... I could see light at the end of tunnel.... Some awesome council people had installed a seat!!!  Needless to say, I hauled my ass onto it and tried to calm my breathing down while wiping the sweat out of my eyes and trying to look cool just in case anyway walked around the corner and saw me!

While sitting there I decided it might be best if i didn't continue walking up the hill, should I have a huge coronary getting me out of there would have been a mission and I didn't want to put those ambulance officers through the pain of dragging me down the side of a hill!!  Actually if I was conscious I would have told them to chuck me on the bed/gurney (not sure what its called!!) let the brake off and I'll meet them at the bottom!

Anyway, instead of slinking off home because it was all too hard I decided I would continue walking up and down to the seat until I could hack it no more.... only took just over half an hour before my legs started shaking I figured that was the time to head home.  I didn't think about the driving part though, have you tried to push the clutch in to change gears with a leg that is nearly uncontrollable?? I can confirm its not easy and the poor car was only seconds away from bunny hopping down the road!!

But that wasn't the end of physical activity for the day... the sun was out so I thought I would mow the lawns.... I'm sure your wondering what crazy thought process would lead to making such a dumb decision after walking myself into pain.... Well to be honest it was an easy decision, we have a ride on mower so I could sit back and relax!!!

Anyway, back to the gym tomorrow for some weight training...  ouch!!

Is that a spy???

Another day in the gym sweating it out... ok, it was only the 2nd official day but it feels like I have been going for months!  The sweating it out is right though, dam I was hot today, must have been the humidity because the sun wasn't out for long today!!

While I was doing my workout today I noticed one of the staff members from the gym doing her workout.  I know I have a slightly over active imagination at times but I couldn't help but wonder if staff members doing their own 'workouts' are planted their to keep an eye on people and report back to the trainers with what's been going down without them around....  Turns out they are just there getting/staying fit themselves, they are probably hoping we aren't watching them!  However I think I have to keep the 'spy' theory alive in my head because I noticed I tried a little harder when I thought I was being watched!!

Also watched some guy doing this crazy balancing act on these things which look like large blue M&M's but instead of being full of chocolate its full of air.  Anyway, he had one of these things under each foot then proceeded to do squats and lifting dumb bells above his head... I held my breath as I watched, he was concentrating hard trying to keep his balance, then I noticed a couple of others in the gym had stopped what they were doing to watch as well, I didn't feel so bad for staring then!!  I think we all had the same thought.... "this guy is going fall, it's going to be messy.... dam, where is my phone to video this?? I hear You Tube calling!!!" I'm sure it would have gone viral!!  But when he finished without falling off I felt that we needed to clap to celebrate his success... I didn't do it though, shamos!! And I felt a little let down because watching weights go flying through the air while he hit floor would have been entertaining!!  Of course I would hope he didn't get hurt though...  However this is a good example of why you should not be a show off and do this kind of craziness in front of people, hide in the quiet part of the gym so if it turns to custard no one will know!!!

Hmmm, speaking of custard must be dinner time... dam, no custard on the menu tonight, got to wait until Christmas for that!!

First day of pain...

Today I managed to put myself through some pain... I tried to delay the inevitable by talking to Mark & Lisa (owners of Bay Bodyfit) for as long as possible but the time came when I had to suck it up and start my workout.

It all seemed to go to plan, doing a few dynamic lunges, some hamstring curls, lat pull downs etc... look at me spouting of the names of exercises as if I know everything about them!!  I managed to remember everything Mark had told me yesterday which surprised me because I'm sure I glazed over a few times while he was talking yesterday wondering what the hell I was getting myself into!!

However, I did find out today that I have trouble counting and lifting weights at the same time. '1,2,3... was that 5 or 6? hmmm... 8,9,10, why is breathing so hard right now? 9,10,11... shit am i doing 12 or 15 reps? 10,11,12,13.... crap I think my legs are going to buckle... 15... that must be enough???'  So I think I did enough, maybe one or two extras every now and then or maybe I came up one or two short every now and then but I do know there is no way I could have done anymore!!

Also ran into bit of a problem today.... while doing my lateral raises I discovered a major flaw in clothing design... t-shirts are not long enough!! Its not cool to be standing in front of a mirror (to be honest it's never cool to look in a mirror!!) struggling to lift your arms up to shoulder height and then noticing a puku peeking out!!  Maybe I could get some velcro and attach some extensions to my t-shirts??

So that was pretty much my first session at the gym by myself.  I must have done something right because my muscles are sore already.  Need to find a crane to come around and get me out of this chair, my quads are killing me!!

Will update again soon....

First meeting with the trainer...

So, today was my first meeting with my Personal Trainer, Mark Woodgate from Body Blueprint.  I had a fair idea I knew what I was getting myself in for, just a casual meeting to go through what my new routine is going to look like...

Well, that's what I thought anyway.... after some chatting and discussion on what the plan of attack would be I was dragged (kicking and screaming) into the gym to be shown a few of the exercises, you know to make sure my posture was correct, the weights were right and the most import thing... that I was breathing!! Turns out I hold my breath while lifting weights, not the best idea I have come up with!! I knew I should have taken a change of clothes but ended up doing this in my work uniform... oops!

But I have to say I learnt a valuable lesson today...  If Mark asked if that weight was enough, always say yes and say it quickly.  If you pause to think about it or say no, he adds more weight, I noticed while he did that he had one of those grins on his face, I can't decide if it was a cheeky, friendly or evil grin but I'm sure he was thinking "Gotcha now sucker!! We are guna make those muscles burn!!"

I forgot to mention, because its one of those horrible things that one tries to forget, that I was put through the horrendous task of stepping onto the scales and getting measurements taken.  I was about to head off to the truck stop to use the big scales but Mark assured me the gym scales would handle the jandal... I gingerly stepped onto them and waited for the breaking sound which to my surprise didn't come, the only thing that happened was a rather large number showed up.... that number will be kept under wraps locked up in a safe until further down the track (along with the before photos!!)  Once I recovered from the shock of what that number was Mark pulled out some funny shaped tongs and started pinching me with them.  I hate those calliper things, the numbers that come from them about body fat are depressing!!  Then Mark measured my waist, chest, biceps (yip I have them!!) calves etc, is there no end to the pain???  Nope there isn't next up was my blood pressure not good but fingers crossed it will improve as time goes on.  After all this depressing news all I wanted to do was sit the corner curled up in a ball and rock, actually no I didn't, I wanted to go to KFC to recover!!  But I didn't!

So the plan in a nutshell is to ease into the gym routine over the next couple of weeks then in the new year it's on like donkey kong!!  No holding back, I'm on a mission!!!

I think that is enough for my first post on this blog thing!!

Catch ya next time :-)

P.S I need to put a disclaimer thingee somewhere on here... I'm not a trained writer, journalist or literary genius so I apologise in advance for all spelling and grammatical errors!!!

Hello world!