Half Way!!

Or in other words you have to be willing to move outside your comfort zone... we all have them, even those of us who run or take regular exercise and whom some others may think of as "fit", we still all have our comfort zones.
It's easy to stay safe inside it, you can dot along at a steady pace, feeling good about the world and pretty righteous that you're doing your bit to stay fit and healthy - and you are, you're just not pushing yourself.  I can write that last bit quite confidently because I have been there, it's only in the past 3 months that I have started to step outside my comfort zone and do things that make me uncomfortable, but I like the results, so I'm no longer afraid to keep on pushing the boundaries.  Starting the PT sessions with PinPoint Fitness was a big step outside the comfort zone for both of us yet we have both seen some great results - we've lost weight, we've lost inches and our race times have got faster, there are lots of reasons you could attribute this too, but it's about doing something different, something you've never done before, it wakes your body up and it starts to respond.  Then you get the payback for the hard work :-)
Guess that's a bit sermon-ish cos it's Sunday - sorry folks!  That's the thing though about a blog it's about putting your thoughts and feelings down on virtual paper.

Today is the halfway mark in the destination fat loss program and I'm pleased to report that I have lost another 2.5lbs so that's 4.5lbs and another 6cm which is 16cm in 2 weeks :-)
The next 2 weeks are going to be interesting as they include 2 Fast days - I'll update you on these when I do them...

I had a "long lie" this morning, despite wakening at 5.30 I managed to dose until 6.30 and didn't actually get up until almost 7!  At 5.30 I did seriously contemplate getting up and going for a run, but by the time I got up at 7 the notion had gone!  Instead, we watched the start of the VLM and then I did a mega ironing - still watching the marathon :-)
Back to watch the finish screens to look for friends who were running today and I did manage to see one, James come across the line.  He looked strong which was good to see as he heads off to USA in a day or two to run the Big Sur marathon next Sunday!
Shopping and lunch were next on the agenda, then it was time to put a roast in for dinner, make a batch of muffins and a pot of soup.
In between times I took 5minutes out to ice my knee as it's been pretty sore past few days, but seems to be on the mend...
Sunday night we have an hour of pilates and have just changed to the Summer timetable so it's 8-9pm, it's a bit of a late start, but it does stop us slothing in front of telly or on the computer and it gives us a good stretch.  The only thing I don't like about the time is that we need to eat before we go and in order to digest it, dinner is earlier than usual which is ok but not my choice.  However it's too late when we come home.

Today's menu:
Breakfast:  scrambled eggs with a thin slice of nutty bread
Lunch:  Roast turkey with a salad of mixed leaves and tomatoes.
snack:  Apple and half a muffin when they came out the oven :-)
Dinner:  Roast beef, celeriac mash, broccoli and carrots (only a few)

I made Broccoli and watercress soup so that will be tomorrow's lunch.

Well done to everyone who ran the VLM today, especially our friends, James, Pete, Graeme, Lindsy & Owen, and a special Congratulations to Lindsy & Owen as next weekend they get married!

10/28 OW! & WOW!

Thought I'd post the guinea pig eating the dandelion again today as we spent a fair bit of this morning's workout with our faces dangerously close to the grass! (it did smell sweet and fresh though)
This morning's session was titled "24" this meant that we did 8 different tabata exercises 3 times, 45 secs work, with 15secs rest in between. It was a toughie but goodie, but like I said before... I love tabata training :-)
There had been a lot of rain here last night and early morning so I was expecting it to be a fairly soggy morning, but it wasn't too bad and although it was cold when we started it wasn't nearly as cold as Monday and we soon warmed up. We had a potential new recruit this morning, a runner had his retriever pup with him and passed us, the dog couldn't decide whether to come join us or carry on with his run... he gave in to temptation and went off with his master eventually.

So what were the OW! and WOW! of the title?
If you are a friend on facebook you will already know the WOW as I was so pleased I posted it earlier today. I have a dress I wear for work when I want to feel important at meetings (only kidding!) a classic black shift dress which I like and feel smart in but I have always had to squeeze into it and would only wear it with a cardi or jacket so you didn't see the lumpy bits round the back/bust arms etc.
I decided to put it on today as I had to go to a meeting which I wasn't really wanting to go to but which I knew I'd feel better and more confident at if I was dressed smartly. I literally "slipped" into it - it was an awesome feeling and while wearing the dress helps me feel confident, knowing how easily it went on was an even bigger boost! I now need to take the skirt of it in about 2 inches as well :-)
so that was the WOW... the OW which I didn't think about til later on in the day was when after my shower this morning I went to dry my hair, and the hairdryer in one hand, the brush in the other, both held above my head made the triceps go OW!!
However the one thing that these both have in common is that they really prove to me the benefit of getting up early to do the sessions, and also the healthy eating - thanks again to John and Pamela at PinPoint Fitness!!!!

I think I've eaten a bit better today:
Breakfast: raspberries half a banana and yoghurt with some 4 seed mix
snack: apple
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs with 2 thin slices of nutty bread
Dinner: salmon fillet with roasted veg - red, yellow, green peppers, baby tomatoes, courgettes

I had two cups of licorice tea today - it's not unpleasant to drink but it is a bit sweet for my taste, however I will persevere with it if only for it's reputed benefits and have drunk about half of my daily water intake so I might make it up before bedtime, though that will mean I won't have an unbroken sleep!

As well as the exercise session this morning I had a 4mile run with friends after work, we ran up Dumyat ( a wee hill near us) I found it hard going getting up the hill, this morning's session took it's toll on my legs, but I had a flyer of a run downhill, I love running downhills and I was going really fast tonight :-) It was brilliant!
have a good evening folks and tomorrow's Thursday so it's nearly the weekend!

A Brief Introduction

In January of this year myself and my husband started a course of personal training with John and Pamela from Pinpoint Fitness. We have followed their eating guidelines and the structured weight programmes which they devised for us as well as our 'normal' running training. We've both lost over 1 stone in weight and have seen huge improvements in our strength, fitness and general health. This has helped us achieve new PBs in each of the races we've run so far this year!

I am about to embark on a new 4 week programme with Pinpoint Fitness and I'm going to blog about my journey here...

come back regularly for updates :-)