Saturday, 28 November 2009

A balanced diet

A balanced diet... a cup of green tea in one hand and a doughnut in the other? I wish! Wouldn't it be great if one good food choice cancelled out one not so good?

I had a good gym session this morning and was pretty healthy with my eating yesterday so I'm not going to feel guilty about my doughnut which for the record was disappointing.

The weather has gotten pretty cold the last couple of days, I'm just about to start some work on my computer and am seriously considering getting my hot water bottle.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend who is back for this weekend for lunch, I'm not sure what I'll have but I'm not going to worry overly as I don't eat out very often.

Then this week I will be busy with working and exercising and don't really have any other plans so far.

Christmas is just around the corner, it seems to have crept up on me and I am not very organised yet!

Thursday, 26 November 2009

The incredible shrinking Sophie

I am getting smaller! My tummy is getting smaller, my face is getting thinnner, the numbers on the scale keep going down.

Long may it last.

:-)

Saturday, 21 November 2009

I WILL go to bed at a sensible time

I am super tired. I really wanted to go to bed at 6.10pm! I have decided to go to bed at 9pm as that makes it likely I will sleep through to the morning. Hopefully I will wake up feeling refreshed.
I remember one of our lecturers when I was at uni saying to us that people who get less sleep are more likely to be overweight/obese. Me I just get grouchy when I'm overtired and hey if it might help me lose more weight then I am happy to have that excuse for a lie in!
I am working the early tomorrow then have a whole week and a bit of working lates before my next early. So I'll be getting lie ins, but also will be back to square one by the time of my next early shift.
In other news I worked out my BMI the other day to be 29. I guess I want to get it down to below 25 which is in the healthy range. But I am not that massive so don't really know how much I need to lose. People are always surprised when I tell them how much I weigh as I don't look it. Yes I have a bit of flab that I could do with losing but not enough for people to expect me to weigh that much.
That's one of the faults of BMI it doesn't take into account your muscle mass etc. Either way lets hope it will get smaller soon.

Friday, 20 November 2009

New hair, shopping and I possibly overtrained!

So on Tuesday I was in Tesco and walked passed the hairdyes, they were calling out to me, in the end I bought one and my hair is now a different colour. It is a dark red colour, I like it. I have also learned to do my hair a certain way that never worked before as I was talking to someone at work who had their hair clipped like it and she told me what to do. It wasn't exactly the same as hers but it worked and looked good yay!

I had the day off today as I'm working the weekend and went shopping, I bought a new sports bra, some running 3/4 lengths and my Dad's birthday present. I was pretty tired (and still am) so wasn't really that into the shopping.

Yesterday at work I suddenly felt ill, I seriously thought I was going to faint, I had to go out of the room I was in and into the toilets, then I didn't really know where to go or what to do. Someone else came in who works with me and helped me but I just kept feeling worse and ended up having to lie with my feet raised! I'm wondering whether I overdid it at the gym the night before, could that have been affecting me the next day? Did I drink too much water at the gym and not have enough salt afterwards? Was it just one of those things and not related to the gym session. I had eaten breakfast and altho it was lunchtime wasn't feeling hungry. I had a drink of water and something to eat and eventually felt better.

I used to faint an awful lot when I was 18 and taking the pill, I had to stop taking it for that reason. I would faint 2-3times per week. Since I finished taking the pill I have only fainted twice. Yesterday was a rest day from exercise. Today I decided I would still go to the gym but only for 20minutes and not too intense. That way I didn't feel too worried about not exercising but also was unlikely to make myself worse. I am having the weekend off exercise due to working and then being busy afterwards. Then Monday I will be back on it exercising well. My muscles should be feeling tip top by then.

Nothing much else to report, I am currently watching Children in Need on TV, I'm sure it will make me cry at some point when they show the clips of children who are in need. I'm going to get an early night tonight ready for tomorrows early start at work.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

You go girl!

I went to the gym straight from work today after much I can't be bothered to go type complaining.

I went on the cross trainer for longer than I ever have, On the treadmill I carried on running even though my muscles were screaming at me like never before, I persuaded myself to go on the exercise bike for 5mins when really I wanted to go home, I ended up staying on it for just under 35minutes. Overall in my session I had 'travelled' 14 and a bit kilometres. Pretty good considering I couldn't be bothered!

I am super tired now due to my early morning and all that exercise, I will be going to bed very shortly. Eating hasn't been too bad today.

I'm going to ache tomorrow and I can't wait! Odd as it is its satisfying.

:-)

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Swings and Roundabouts

My healthy lifestyle has been swings and roundabouts lately. Exercise is going well whereas my eating is kinda can't be bothered meh-ness right now. It's not super awful eating by any means but I am kinda apathetic to eating healthily at the moment.

I decided to do some training in the gym, I think at the moment I am going to do gym twice a week and run outside once a week with other lifestyle stuff like walking places etc in between.

On Saturday the weather was awful so I decided to go to the gym instead of a run, it was much better as on a treadmill you can pace yourself. I know I need to do actual running outside too as I will have to pace myself in the actual race, but for now when I am working on my fitness levels ready to start the training plan (27th December is the date I need to start it) the gym will do me good. I went to the gym yesterday too and spent just over an hour on the treadmill. 15 minutes of running and the rest brisk walking. To start the training plan I have to be able to run for 30minutes without stopping. I am on my way to this. To be honest I was on the treadmill for so long because I got chatting about running with somebody in the gym and didn't realise I'd been on there for so long! I am going to go to the gym again tomorrow after work, and this time try to do more running. I will probably go on the cross trainer and things as well after the treadmill. I need to make sure I run for at least 15mins. I feel positive about the training at the moment. the thing I find hard is getting into a routine of this day I go for a run at this time etc, because I work different shifts each week its hard to get into a habit. I will always work Monday lates tho so Monday morning is deffo an exercise time.

After the gym yesterday I also walked the dog for 30mins.

My weight has stayed the same for the last few weeks. I am looking slimmer though. I think I haven't lost because I have been a bit meh about things and also my outdoor runs weren't very intense. I think the gym will be for building fitness and the outdoor runs will be for practising pacing myself and getting used to running on different surfaces etc. At least for the timebeing. I think nearer the time of the marathon I will be going running outside much more often. I got rained on plenty of times when training for my half marathon so I guess I'll have to get rained on plenty of times training for the marathon.

Other things I need to work on at the moment are going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Like seriously go to bed! I am working earlies the next 2 days which will be a shock to the system as I haven't done an early for at least 2 weeks! I have to start work about an hour and a half before the time I've been getting up lately! Ah well, I'll survive and hopefully I can then get into the habit of getting up a bit earlier on days I work the lates. I realised earlier that I have the next 6 evenings off! woohoo!

Here's to a week filled with exercise, fruits, vegetables and earlier nights.

Thursday, 12 November 2009

Pistachio Muffins

I made the pistachio muffins, they were disappointing. They weren't sweet, I suppose when I saw how little sugar was involved in the recipe and thought thats not much I should have realised. I can't work out if they were supposed to be savoury or not. Surely if they were savoury then the sugar wouldn't have been bothered with. They were kinda in between neither sweet or savoury. I will eat them but its one of those won't make those again thoughts. They were pretty healthy as muffin recipes go. Hardly any fat.I have my eye on the chocolate cherry brandy muffins next! Very naughty!

My friend came round earlier and we looked at holiday brochures for going away sometime next year, I can't wait. It will be my first holiday in 4 years :)

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Musings on life

I'm not sure how I am doing on the healthy thing.

I am starting to get a little nervous about the marathon, I have a minor ankle injury at the moment but tonight it has suddenly got more painful. So I am torn, I feel like I must exercise and work on my fitness levels as I haven't really made much progress so far. I also feel like if I make my ankle worse then it won't be beneficial. I guess I'll have to see how it is in the morning, I figure I may continue going running on it and then if in a weeks time it is still bad I should probably rest if for a few days. I just need to feel like I am doing something to make progress with the fitness/training. I am considering tomorrow or Friday may be better, going somewhere else for my run which is a flatter place and doing some intervals for a longer period of time rather than a short run with a bit of walking. I just want to make progress!

I was reading a blog earlier and was in awe of the blogger and thought I wish that could be me able to run that far etc etc, but then I thought about it and realised that can be me with enough training, it was really inspiring :-)

Eating healthily seems to be swings and roundabouts really, some days this week I have done really well, others not so well. It is again a case of being busy a lot, I'm at the stage now of needing to go shopping due to lack of healthy foods to take to work. I'm in a motivated mood right now so things should improve.

Tomorrow I have the day off which is great as at one point I was going to be working 6 days this week as I am covering on Sunday and then we realised I could have tomorrow off as there would be someone else in. One of the benefits of this new job is that I will be doing full time hours but only working 5 days a week, with the occassional extra days overtime. whereas before i often worked day after day with no days off but not necessarily many hours each day.

Plan is run either tomorrow or Friday, right now Friday seems more sensible, gives my ankle an extra rest and means I can sneak a bit more of a lie in tomorrow. Then my friend is coming over for coffee late morning before she starts work in the afternoon. Once she has left I will probably have a relaxing rest of the day, maybe pop on a girly dvd (mamma mia or sex and the city probably) or go food shopping. I realise now I have time for both as I have the whole day off so I have after 3.30pm free too! duh! I am so used to squeezing in all my days activities before work that I forgot I could do both those things! Yay for days off. If I do go food shopping I will get the ingredients to make pistachio muffins out of my new recipe book and I will make sure I ration them!

Have a great week all x

Sunday, 8 November 2009

Remember, Remember the 5th of November gunpowder, treason and plot, I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot!

Wow that was a long title for a blog post huh?

Thursday was bonfire/Guy Fawkes night. Every year in my town the local rotary club hosts a fireworks display and bonfire the Saturday night closest to bonfire night. Which was last night. We went to the display as a family. I wasn't going to go and then changed my mind at the last minute. I'm so glad I did. It was foot stompingly cold, the weather seemed to really change yesterday and it has become more wintry. It has been unusally warm so far this autumn. It was kinda nice to feel the chill last night. Once the bonfire was lit we could feel the warmth. The 'Guy' on top didn't have a head or feet or anything but was a general body shape. From my childhood I never remember there being a Guy on top but I'm sure there must have been.

The fireworks were delayed slightly but once they began they were definitely worth the wait wow! Once they finished we walked home and I was so glad to be inside, my toes were painfully cold so I put an extra pair of socks on. We then had chilli and jacket potatoes for dinner as well as hot dogs. It was yummy and just what we needed after 2 hoursish out in the cold.

I will definitely be going again next year!

I also went to the cinema with some friends yesterday and watched 9 I really enjoyed it although I thought it was a touch scary and pretty dark to be rated a 12a.

In terms of the healthy you challenge I currently have an ankle injury so exercise is pretty much non-existant which is annoying! I'm starting to get a little nervous about marathon training so could really do with a few good runs this week to reassure me. I think I will try to go for a run tomorrow and see how my ankle does.

I have work later on so am not up to much before then. This week I am working 6 days so will probably not get up to much outside of work.

Finally today is Remembrance Sunday a day when we remember those lost at war, I have thought about them today and hope that many others do to.

Tuesday, 3 November 2009

A non-scale victory

I have a non-scale victory. I fit into a pair of jeans that has been too small for over a year! yippee! They button and zip up. I am not going to start wearing them just yet as they give me a massive muffin top which is not attractive! I shall be smaller soon though and then I will start wearing them.

This morning I have been for a run and mere moments after I got back it started to rain, good timing huh? It was so nice to have a hot shower afterwards.

I have work later on and have yet to decide what to take for my dinner. Yesterday I took wholewheat pasta with mixed chopped peppers and tuna, it was lovely. I also had an apple, a carrot and a chocolate mousse as a treat.

For lunch today I am going to have homemade turkey curry with broccoli and cauliflower and either a wholemeal pitta bread or a little bit of rice.

I am wearing a cardigan that can only be described as my big cardi, it is long and thick and warm. It's not that cold yet but I was looking for something to wear whilst my work stuff washes/dries and it is a bit chillier. I have had this cardi for years and it is not exactly very fasionable but is just what you need in cold weather.

I would like to do some baking tomorrow before work so I will have to have a think what to make.

Thursday I have the day off and intend to go for a long walk/run. If I don't meet up with any friend or anything then I think I will try to tackle the mess that is my bedroom and sort clothes out a bit better.

Have a good week x

Sunday, 1 November 2009

Hello November

Wow, it's November already. Seriously when did the whole rest of the year so far happen? I have achieved so much this year. A half marathon, a 5k, graduating university, getting a full time job, losing a stone since last year (8lbs since on HYC), becoming a more smiley happy person over the last few months, getting a place in the London Marathon, trying new things outside of my comfort zone. I'm sure there are also many small victories. This year has been one of my happiest so far. Yes final year of university was hard and stressful, but I'd say this past year I have really become at ease with myself and life in general. I think I am older now and more mature and able to deal with things. When things go wrong I think about what I can learn and do differently in the future and then move on. When people may be horrible I give them the benefit of the doubt and think everyone has a bad day sometimes and think back to times I have got the wrong end of the stick or been a bit bitchy.

Today was the official start date of my new job/promotion. I am working lates this week with Thursday off. I plan to go to the supermarket tomorrow and get some ingredients to make healthy cooked meals to have for lunch before work, I also need to get some more fruit and bits to take for my evening meals at work. I feel more settled now I know which shifts I am doing and can plan ahead. I want to do something fun on Thursday as over the last couple of months I have had barely any social life. Most of the time I just work and relax at home. I don't think I want to do anything wild on Thursday just something to get out the house.

Yesterday I ended up working as someone was off sick, this was fine but I was a very tired chicky afterwards. Last night was my cousin's engagement party, it was really great fun. I did have an energy slump about an hour before the end though, I managed to wake up a bit to start dancing again to the last few songs.

I have to say last night I did think to myself I need to do more stuff like this, you're only young once and I think sometimes I am acting old before my time. The problem a lot of the time is that everyone is so busy all the time you have to plan in advance and it's hard to be spontaneous. My solution is to book things in for days/evenings off in advance. Not for every single evening/day off obviously but for more of them. Whether it be having a friend over, going for a walk with a friend, a day out, the pub, shopping, it would be nice to let my hair down a bit more. It was great to see my cousins and their partners who we don't see very often last night and to get to know my cousin's fiancee a bit more. I'm looking forward to the wedding-I love weddings!

I'm feeling pretty happy right now as you might have guessed. I hope you all are too, have a great week.