I was so tired last night that I went to bed at 10.30pm. So tired that I was going to post quickly before I went to sleep but it never happened. Just a solid 9 hours of sleep through to 7.30am this morning.

That's what 4 and a half hours sleep on Friday night followed by a day at the office will do for you.

Friday was this week's indulgent meal, but curry without the alcohol isn't so bad. I dipped into my flex points and it was fine.

Yesterday's eating was a bit of a jumble a banana grabbed from the boy's flat as I left because there was no time for anything else, a Double Decker grabbed at the garage on the drive back to Bristol from Malvern as I was beyond starving and it was what there was (rural garage). I did stop and make myself a proper lunch to take to the office once I was back at the flat though. We get lunch provided when we work weekends but it's rarely healthy, so I took a sandwich and a yoghurt with me.

The Rules for April go something like this:

• take your lunch at the weekends - save yourself.
• if you're going to have an ice-cream in the unseasonably warm weather make sure that you just have what you actually want - don't bother with unnecessary cones etc, and savour your treat.
• walk in the sunshine. A little bit of exercise is infinitely better than none at all!

After work I watched the Grand National - my horses didn't win, but I was glad to see them both finish safe and sound. I found myself so sad that this was one of the bad years when two didn't make it - I know that there's always a risk with big races but it's heartbreaking when it happens. Such big, beautiful creatures and they give everything to the race and then there's just ... nothing. All over for them so quickly.

I wasn't terribly hungry last night, which was probably a good thing as there was absolutely bugger all in my fridge. After a quick wander to the local supermarket, I had a nice light stir-fry and fell into bed.

So not much to report really.

- Posted from my iPhone

Helloooooo Friday!!!

Helloooo lovely people of the blogging universe, and may I just say, a Very Happy Friday to you all!

It turns out I love Friday's, even when I will be working Saturday, Sunday, and all the days thereafter.  For some reason, they just feel like a better day than the others.

First things first - the obligatory Friday weigh-in:  1.6lbs down on last week.  Yesterday was lower, I'm heading in the right direction (again), and as previously mentioned I'm at the start of a long period of all-work, all-training, anti-socialness, so I'm pretty confident that things will continue to head in the right direction.

Last night was my last personal training session for the time being, which was a bit bitter-sweet, as I get on really well with Rob, and he has a knack of pushing me.  It was a good session - nice to finish on a high.  We did a long rowing sprint (2km at pace, and a new best ever time for me of 8:39), hill intervals on the treadmill, and then circuits.  Rob was really understanding about me not being able to continue, but we've agreed that I can book one-off sessions as and when I've got a bit of spare cash for a bit of goal-setting and fresh ideas for training.

Up early this morning for spinning and abs at 6,45am, and like a muppet my inability to pack for the gym struck again.  This morning's moment of genius?  45 mins of very sweating cycling, 15 mins hard floor work, a lovely fresh shower .... and the realisation that I'd not packed a clean bra to put on afterwards.  Ewwwww!

So I had to put my wringing wet sports bra back on and walk back home to get changed again.  D'oh!  Fed up of walking, I decided to be a bit different and bike back to work.  Yes, I realise it's only a 12-15 min walk, so barely worth getting the bike out, but so lovely to be pedalling across the square and the bridge for a change!

Tonight, I'm bombing off back to Malvern (in the shiny new car!) for a birthday dinner for my friend Alex.  I'm really looking forward to it, as I haven't seen Alex or his wife Sarah for aaaaaaages, so it'll be really good to catch up with them and the other folks going.  Then back to Malvern first thing in the morning for work.  Ah well.

And totally the best thing about working my tail off in the morning, is that I've had a dirty baguette for lunch (bacon, blue cheese and caremellised onions if you will - oh my god, it was good!), and I'll have curry tonight, and still only put a fairly mild dent in my flex points for the week!  Love it! 

Right kids, the sun is shining, it's 5.01 and time I biked home, grab a change of clothes and shoot off to be a social animal for the last time this week!  Mwah - see you later! xx

Looking Forwards

Yesterday was a great day for eating, although it was a rest day so no exercise other than walking between the office and home.  It was lovely enough to risk some more bare legs to work too - I'm loving that I can wear skirts and no tights comfortably from the start of the Spring / Summer this year!

I've got a personal training session this evening, and tonight marks my last session with Rob.  I'm kind of gutted, as these sessions really push me, and especially to do stuff I wouldn't try on my own.  I mean interval sprints on the treadmill?  Any interval training, in fact?  And kettlebells?  I'm going to miss our sessions.  But the truth is that I just can't justify £70 a month on top of my gym membership, right now.  Money's tight, I'm in debt, and I need to be practical about my expenditure.  Shopping for frivolous stuff like clothes has already been cut.  Holidays have been cut.  I've downsized my car.  I can't downsize my flat because of my contract.  My weekly budget is already squeezed, so it just doesn't make any sense to be paying £70 for 2 hours a month, when I'll do a workout of my own in that time anyway.  I just need to make more use of the classes like circuits and the gym floor classes where the numbers are small and you get a bit of individual attention.

No regrets though - it's down to me to make the best use of what I can afford.  And that's the gym, and running, and even biking.  There are clubs near me for both running and mountain biking, that are either free to join or £5 a year.  There are dance classes that are £36 for a 6 week term.  Surf clubs for £5 a year plus subsidised trips.  We're getting zumba at the gym later this month.  There's bikram yoga 10 mins from my house.  Lots of options, and all of them cheaper than personal training for the moment.  Hell, I could go and do British Military Fitness on Clifton Downs for cheaper than my training, and that would certainly give me a total beasting.

They say you regret the things you didn't do, not the things you did .... in that case I'd best get off my ass and go and try some stuff out!

Mmmmm ... sunshine!

Afternoon all - and are you not loving the glorious Spring sunshine and warmth outside??? Amazing!

Yesterday was pretty good for eating - bang on, in fact, aside from helping myself to some Cadbury Buttons from my friend's share-size bag at the cinema last night.  Nothing too catestrophic though.  Other than that, it was all groovy and well controlled.  We opted for an evening of supremem girliness and went to see Chalet Girl ... seriously - the option of taking a season out and being a chalet-bitch (once I get my finances back on track) is uber-tempting.  I'm not afraid of hard work and cleaning, and I can definitely cook - I nearly took time out from my career to go and do a season abroad a while ago, but plans change and I ended up in Costa Rica last summer instead ..... I am seriously, seriously still considering some adventures though.

Yesterday lunchtime, saw Liz and I dragging our unwilling backsides outside for a slow 5km round the harbour - ploddy and comfortable (and hence the non-panic over the Buttons last night), and another day's exercise ticked off.  I'm very tempted to walk home from work the long way round tonight (go right round the harbour instead of along) and get some evening fresh air and sunshine, since I haven't got any other activity planned for the day.

Keep on trucking in pursuit of healthiness, sunshine and fun! :O)

Ticking Over

There's not too much to report at the moment, as it's all ticking over quite smoothly this week.  Yesterday was bang on track with eating and pointing, and I went to a Body Balance class at lunchtime, so felt fabulously stretched and relaxed in the afternoon.  We even got to do the new release a week early - aren't we priveleged!?  (It's good by the way).

Work's just starting to hot up now for the busy period, so I planned my meals for the rest of the week, and did a quick provisions shop after work this week - my fridge is now stocked for the rest of the week, and I have a selection of quick and healthy meals planned to take me through til Friday - no excuses for poor choices in the evenings for me!

I also managed to stick to my water challenge for the whole day.  Good things - I drink a lot more than I thought I did - I'm very well hydrated :o)  Bad things - water is just so boring!!!!  So, ok, I did the challenge for one day, but I'm not sure I'm quite prepared to give up my squash and diet Coke just yet, although I did ditch my morning fix of diet Coke this morning.  Maybe a reduction in the amount I have is more manageable?

Just been for a run at lunch, so my activities banked for today - just an afternoon of work stretching ahead of me now ...

Back To The Crazy

Today marks the start of The Quarterly Crazy at work. Oh joy. For the next 18 days straight I'll be in the office and working long hours. My social life is officially cancelled for the next couple of weeks. Time outside the office will pretty much be limited to eating and sleeping. Oh, and exercising, because I refuse to sacrifice that to the Gods of Work.

However, there is a potential bright and shiny side to this impending workathon. January's Crazy shut down my social life in a similar fashion, and it may well be no coincidence at all that I lost 7lbs in that same post-Christmas period.

It's a well-known fact that my dietary trip-ups mostly occur on a weekend, so it is a logical conclusion to draw that no weekends = better losses.

This weekend has been spent near Northampton celebrating Bridget's birthday amongst friends. It was a lovely weekend including a walk through the nearby woods (and more giant wood-ants than you've ever seen before!), an afternoon in a beautiful pub garden and some overly competitive games in the evening (mostly after a considerable volume of alcohol).

For my part, I'm still going strong on the not-drinking-for-Lent resolution, so I was hangover free, and I also tracked every lovely bit of food and managed to retain something approaching a semblance of control, meaning I've actually had a rather respectable weekend on the eating front.

The first road-trip in the new car also turned out very successful and proved ludicrously economical - 2 people plus a weekend's worth of luggage, 250ish miles and near enough £20 of petrol! Bargain!

And finally: just for amusement value, I've challenged myself to just drink water today - no squash, no fizzy drinks, no Starbucks. A little detox after all the Diet Coke and Sprite I've drunk the weekend. So far so good - just coming up to midday and I'm on my third 500ml bottle of water.

- Posted from my iPhone

Keeping Going

This week didn't go entirely to plan.  Having managed the seemingly impossible task of a weekend of pretty much on-track eating, I then made a few mistakes, and the result is that, yet again, the scales have bounced back up again.  No surprise there.

But rather than sobbing into my zero point soup about it (or worse still, a big bag of chocolate), I've looked on my mistakes as lessons learned.  Mistakes I will now try and avoid making again.  OK, so I bought popcorn for the cinema on Tuesday night but ended up having the most extravagent dessert instead at the cinema's restaurant.  Fine - don't let it happen often, but more importantly, stop when you've had enough and don't keep going just because there's some left.  And ok, so I ate the popcorn on Wednesday after my run, and then it turned out to be 12 points when I tracked it, not the approx 6 points, I thought it would be.  Well, now I know.  And it's another reminder why working out the points first is a good idea.

On the good side of this week, I didn't wait til today to start repairing the damage.  The week might have been a write-off in terms of the weigh in, but that didn't mean I could just discard yesterday as last day of the week - it will just count towards this week instead.  And away from the scales, I'm still amazed at the changes in myself.  Apart from the fact I'm a size 14 now, when I started at a solid 18-20, there's the fact that after my run on Wednesday evening, one of the girls working late asked me how far I'd run when I got back to pick up my bag.  Somewhere along the line, I became the kind of person who can reply casually-ish that I just ran 6 miles.  In not a lot over an hour.  An hour of running??  And on a week night, just because I felt like it.  I never thought I would be that person.

Also achieved this week has been a new car!  Yes, I have finally gotten rid of that unreliable heap of junk they call a Corsa (although not without some sadness - you can't help but feel a little nostalgic for a car you've spent 4 years commuting over 70,000 miles in), and now have a shiny new Citroen C1 sat in my garage!  It's been a bit stressful, but it's all done, and with a chunk of money to put towards my credit cards too. And after several phonecalls and a lot of time on call-waiting, I've managed to track down and recover a chunk of change that the AA owed to me too.  Not a bad week on the money front - just got to make sure it all reaches the intended destination, otherwise it'll be rather like doing all the hard work of the run, and blowing it on popcorn afterwards ... oh no, wait a minute ... I already did that! :o)

Off up to Northampton this weekend for my friend Bridget's birthday - should be nice and relaxed with some gentle pub walks  (yay!), and much cake (to resist ... booooo!).  It's a good job the walks are going to be gentle though - I went to Fitball class at the gym yesterday, and after 45 mins of toning and strength exercises with a Swiss ball, I can't flaming move today!

Happy weekend, folks!