Getting My Mojo Back

After 3/4 months of hell at home I have been feeling all a bit crap. I would say I almost came completely off track and almost gave up. The gym (well all exercise) came to a stop, well at least a slow limp, for a little while as when problems with my son really kicked off I took my frustrations out at the gym and gave myself a groin injury which hurt and niggled for quite a few weeks, in the end the only thing I could do was to rest. During this time I also, for the first time since my early 20’s brought and wore some heels for work. These gave me a problem with the arch on my left foot, which combined with the pain in my groin (mainly on the right) caused me to have a very strange walk with a lot of discomfort and made me feel very sorry for myself for quite a few weeks. After that I had just got out of practice and would rather be out with a friend or sitting at home watching tv because I was too exhausted both physically and mentally to deal with walking into town let alone going to a Zumba class or heading to the gym.

Food wise, over the last few months with everything going on at home I was quite proud of the fact that I had not reverted back to all my bad habits. But I had noticed that I had slipped quite a bit more over the last month or so. I had managed not to binge on packets of crisps, my biggest and main downfall of the past. I would be lying if I said I had not had any, but instead of a 6 pack in less than 12 hours I had had one packet (and no not one of those sharing packets) in a week. Over the last month or so I have slipped quite a bit and have enjoyed a shared a plate of nachos with lots of lovely chilli beef, guacamole, sour cream and melted cheese on top with a friend on more than one occasion. I am most definitely a comfort eater. I craved nuts, salted nuts, plain nuts, mixed nuts and raisins. In fact I ate a lot of nuts. Perhaps I was turning into one in more ways than one. I ate out quite a lot, as I wasn’t wanting to go home. I also seemed to have for some reason become rather fond of a scotch egg which I would buy from a local farm shop that was made with rare breed pork and a goose egg. I have never been a fan of scotch eggs but those have been a delicious, yet unhealthy treat on more than one occasion. I haven’t binged on chocolate, I have never really been a big chocolate eater with my favourite food type being the savoury kind.

But when last Wednesday, I was flicking through photos on my phone and I came across a photo I had forgotten about that I had taken on the 1st January this year. Right at the start of my journey. For the first time I could see the difference between then and now. I could see how much bigger I was. (It was my reflection in the patio doors by the way because I couldn’t figure out a different way of doing it, and as I was still being quiet about doing it I could not ask someone to take the pic!).

So last Thursday I went for my first weigh in for 2 months. I knew it wasn’t going to be great, but I also knew that it wasn’t going to be as bad as it was when I stood on those scales for the first time back in January. However the same fears were there and it wasn’t good. It was bbbaaaadddd! I had put on 9lbs. NINE FUCKING POUNDS!! Balls.

After looking at the pictures and seeing the weight loss an now gain it made me realise that now is the time I start to get my head back in a more stable place. Time to get my mojo back!!

I hit the ground running, well walking quickly, well dancing actually, after all it was Zumba night!! So I did Zumba on Thursday night, gym on Saturday morning, Sunday went for a walk up on Beachy Head, then on Monday and Tuesday after work I did an hour in the gym followed by 40/45 minutes of Zumba. It took a few days but I have definitely started enjoying get back into the exercise.

This week has also seen me trying to get back on track food wise. On the whole I have done well apart from today where I have been awake since 2.30am, was at work at 6am, did my usual 10hr day, then went home, vacuumed throughout, washed the floors and then went to Zumba and weigh in. After only having had 3 hours sleep last night by 9am I was definitely starting to lag. So the day was spent drinking diet cokes and coffee for much needed caffeine fix and I ate a lovely dark chocolate Bounty bar for a sugar fix after nearly falling asleep at 2pm ish. Apart from today I think I have been pretty good. I made my fabulous butternut squash curry into which I had flung some chickpeas for an extra boost of fibre, protein and iron. It lasted me 5 days, the last day of which I flung in some cooked chicken that I had to use up. I had also made my spicy root veg stew.

So tonight it was weigh in time again. I hoped that despite it being early days and still trying to get fully back on track that I had lost something. And I was pleasantly surprised. I had lost 2lbs!! TWO POUNDS!! Thank god for that! Such a wonderful boost after a long and horrible summer. So the Mojo is coming back, slowly but surely its coming back.

Help!!!

Back a few years ago a friend of mine said I was never going to be thin, and I was just one of those who was born to be fat.

You know what? I am starting to believe her, don’t get me wrong, I don’t ever want to be a skinny bitch, but just one fitter and slimmer than I am now. 2 months now, and I am back to just a weight loss of 4 stone. Yesterday, at weigh in, again I have put on, this time 1lb. I have spent the last 2 months fluctuating between losing a pound or two, putting it back on or not losing anything. I really am getting so frustrated. I have never exercised so much, I have never kept an eye on what I am eating so much, I have never kept to something so long. And yet, nothing is happening. Nothing is going the way it should.

Is she right, am I destined to be a fat old bird? They say your size should not define you. Thing is it does. I might for the first time in a very long time be starting to feel more confident, more capable more willing to do different things, but the longer this stagnation goes on the harder it is to keep the momentum and good feelings going. I had a long weekend off, and have been back on the rails for over a week, but  I do feel myself slipping.

This week I haven’t been to the gym once before work but I have caught up and been after a couple of times. I have been to most of my zumba classes, and those I didn’t make have only been because 1, something else came up (The Boy) that needed my immediate and rather urgent attention or 2, It was cancelled.

My birthday is 6 months away, and for the first time this year I am doubtful if I will achieve anywhere near what I wanted to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been fitter for many years, my resting heart rate is only 75bmp, which for a woman of my size is pretty fantastic. My heart rate is decreasing rapidly after exercise which means my body is recovering faster than ever before and my fitness levels have increased. I am pressing up to 80kg in the Gym. I don’t look at hills with dread, and take a quick breath on my inhaler in preparation when I know I have to walk up them. But I still have a stomach the size of a pregnant woman who is 5 months overdue!

I thought going to the gym would give my body that kick it needed, but after a month of going I don’t feel I am seeing any great difference if any at all. I am worried I am slipping into the mentality of looking at my alarm and snoozing it because I can’t be bothered to get up and be at the gym for 6.30, or I think I will do it tonight and then when I am there not “feeling it” as much as if I went in the morning. I wonder if I chose to have the long weekend off/away at the wrong time.

Out of everything, the first weigh in, the first cardio class, the first zumba class, the first time at the gym, the strict calorie counting, this mental side right now has to be the hardest part. I am really struggling right now, which is so annoying. No matter how many pep talks I give myself and no matter how many times I tell myself some good is being done somewhere in my body, I can’t help but doubt I will ever get to where I want to be, and I certainly don’t think I will be anywhere near where I want to be in 6 months. 2 months now seem wasted, 2 months where I could have lost at least another stone, instead I have put 4 lbs back on and am back to just 4 stone weight loss. Agggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!! So frustrating!

Right I need to get this going, I need to start losing lbs again. Helpful suggestions, advice, and encouragements all gratefully received (don’t bother with the fad diets, fad ideas, fad pills, fad anything). If you haven’t guessed by now I am following a calorie counting diet, which is worked out correctly to my height, weight, age and sex. That side is fine. I am eating lots of lean meats, veggies and fruit. 99% of the food I eat is less than 5% fat. I also do cardio exercise in the form of Zumba and Kardy’O classes 3 or 4 times a week, and I try and do the gym for ½ hour on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, an hour and 20 mins normally on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday followed by a quick swim and sauna. At the gym I am doing resistance training and weights after a warm up on the cross trainer ending with ab curls and stretches.  So.. What the Fuck am I doing wrong?!?!?!?!?!

Long Weekend Off

Well hello. Yes this blog is a little late.

So first, a weekend away. It consisted of over 700 miles driving, no exercise (unless you count walking around Hulls shops), erratic eating, and naughty foods. This coupled with great friends, relaxation and manic large family life resulted in a fabulous time had. While I have my routine at home where my meals and snacks are planned and organised, almost regimented, this is normal for me now it is a bit more difficult when you are staying at someone else’s house. So for this reason I decided from the start that I would not worry about sticking religiously to my new way of eating. I would enjoy the treats I haven’t had for 7 months, and just try not to go overboard.

I did have ice-cream with chocolate sauce and sherbet, I did have as much as you can eat Chinese, and I did have some lovely chocolate bar things from a little shop in Leeds. Oh and there was the small case of a KFC half way through my 5 ½ hour journey home. Despite these foods, there was at least one day I did not eat my quota of calories. I did miss the gym and Zumba (never thought I would be saying that a year ago), and Monday afternoon after work I was glad to get back to both.  

When I got back I was surprised the boy had kept his word and tidied the house. The washing up done, the floors hoovered and he had even done some washing.

I showed my appreciation via a text.

Monday I went into the cupboard under my stairs and I found the fairies and my son had some explaining to do.

Weigh in on Wednesday I definitely wasn’t expecting to have lost anything, and I did expect to put something on, even though naturally I was really hoping I had stayed the same. Arriving for the weigh in and Kardy class it was fab to find the new village hall we use now had working air conditioning. What a difference!! Stepping on the scales it was revealed I had put on 2lbs. Bugger, oh well could have been worse considering what I was or wasn’t eating and the total lack of exercise for over half of the week. 

So now I am back on the proper foods, and exercise. Looking forward to an hour in the gym and a swim after work today.

Oh and I read this really good article today. Give it a squiz.

Myths And Facts About Weight Loss

I really like the end bit (considering my last 2 months) that says;

“But consider the bright side: A true weight loss-plateau is your svelter new body’s way of telling you this: “I’m so much smaller now that I need far less energy to keep my leaner self going.” It also means you’ve mastered the dietary patterns required to maintain a slimmer new you. That’s a major milestone worth recognizing and celebrating. Pause for a moment and enjoy the new skin you’re in before setting off on the next leg of your journey!”

It’s good to be reminded that actually I am smaller than I have been for a very long time, and while I still have a long way to go, I have also come a long way and I have achieved fabulous things.

Lbs and Inches

Today I head up north for the weekend leaving the boy in charge of the house and cats (god help them). So no gym, a weekend of giving my body a rest. It will probably appreciate it. I have made a point of leaving my gym stuff at home so I can’t seek out, find a gym and squeeze a session in.

I’m really looking forward to seeing friends I haven’t seen for aaaaggeeessss and I have decided if I don’t stick strictly to the diet then thats fine. Its the first break I’ve had away (apart from going to the parents), for years and it might only be oop norff, but thats good enough for me! I’ll keep making sensible choices food wise (hopefully most of the time), and I will keep logging what I eat on myfitnesspal.com so I can keep an eye on it.

So, to yesterdays weigh in.. another busy week of gym and zumba completed and a small bit of hope still remaining. Had I lost anything?

Well, yes, yes I bloody well have! 1lb! One whole bloody pound! Whoop!! Now in the past I might have been gutted at just the pound, but right now I’ll take any loss! And 1lb is better than the last 3 weeks.

I have also decided it is time to do the inches again, and perhaps keep a stricter more regular eye on them.

In total I have lost these inches.
Bust 6″
Waist 8″
Hips 7″
Widest part 7″
Left arm 4″
Right arm 4″
Left thigh 4″
Right thigh 4″
Left knee 4″
Right knee 4″

Thats 52″ in total.
Or 4’4″
Or 1.4 yards
Or 1.3 m
Or 132.08 cm
Or 1320.08 mm – thats a lot of millimeters!

Now thats not bad huh? So I just have to keep reminding myself the weight might no longer be dropping off quickly, but I have lost over 4 stone and over 4 foot!

Peace

Last weekend I found peace. Not in my garden, or on a beach or even in my bed. No, I found it in the noise, sweat and pain of the Gym.

I spent quite a bit of time at the gym weekend just gone. Friday evening I was there for an hour and half until 9pm. Saturday morning I headed to Portsmouth, arriving at 9 with one sole intention. To buy a swimming costume! I haven’t owned a swimming costume for about 8 years and I haven’t used one for about 10. The reason being I used to go a lot but then the boy started expensive hobbies and mine (including the gym and swimming) were unaffordable. As the years have passed I have put off buying one as I haven’t had the confidence to wear one in public. And as I have yet to earn enough or win the lottery, I have not been able to have my own swimming pool in my back garden, there didn’t seem much point in owning one.

So anyway by 9.30 I was done and heading back to Littlehampton. After a small parade around my living room in the new reduced size addition to my wardrobe. I decided I would go to the gym and then possibly have a swim. The gym session was fab. An hour of sweat and pushing my muscles to the point of them imploding, after which I went for a swim. It was lovely. I also hit the Hydro Pool, Sauna and Steam room, just for the hell of it. 3 hours after going in I finally came out, relaxed and feeling rather happy. I left there and had tea and spent a lovely evening with 2 good friends chatting and just generally relaxing.

On Sunday I again went in, an hour and half in the gym, followed by a lovely long swim, a dip in the hydro pool and a sauna. It was while my shoulder muscles are screaming at me in pain while I was trying to finish my 3rd set of shoulder presses that I realise I was quite at peace with the world. I felt happy. Happier than I have been for a very long time. I realised I am actually in quite a good place (at the moment).

My son is 18 and responsible for himself. I am free to do what I want when I want. I have no young children I have to be back for or worry about (obviously I still worry about The Boy but there is not much left I can do about him unless he asks me for help). Even though I work long and hard hours, I can set my own hours. I can afford to take time off if I want. I can pay my bills and not stress as much about whether I have to not pay one to pay the other (1st time ever). If I want to spend all day at the gym I can. If I want to just swim up and down I can. Despite the fact I am no way a slim person, and I am in no way happy with my body, I felt comfortable in my swimming costume and wasn’t doing the towel shuffle to get into the pool. I just generally felt happy. I felt calm. I felt relaxed, yes at the gym even though I was working out I felt relaxed.

Not sure how long this will last, but I rather liked the feeling.

Yes I feel I have found peace at the gym. It’s like I walk through those doors and the world slips away.

Now, I guess on to the weigh in. I was not looking forward to it today. In fact the cat was more keen than me.

I have gone down with a filthy cold so I feel like crap and my energy levels are very low, I keep going hot and cold and I am sure I retain water when I’m ill. So what has happened this week? Well I have put on 2 lbs.. Bollocks. Why?!? That’s just so not fair. I’ve been to the gym on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Swam on Saturday and Sunday. I did zumba on Wednesday and Monday. I have stuck to my calories. Surely I should have lost something! Why???!!

Humph!!!! Not feeling so calm or peaceful right now.

Just a Bra and Cardi To Work?

Thought yesterday was bad? Let me talk you though this morning!

5:45am – alarm goes off
5:45am to 6.00am – hitting snooze
6:00am – get up get dressed (so far so good)
6:15am – make sure towels are in bag – Check!!
6:17am – can’t find gym card – panic
6:18am – think sod it and run out the door
6:18:30 – run back in through door and upstairs to find water bottle
6:19am – run out the door, get to car realise hairbrush is still on mantelpiece
6:19:30 – run back through door to retrieve hairbrush and pick HRM up off the table
6:20 am – Run back to car, sink into seat and drive to the gym
6:30am – arrive at gym, deposit stuff in locker dash through to gym to find PT guy for a session.
7:15am – finish session with new routine sorted and aching abs.
7:17am – strip off in changing room – yes I saved it till I got back in the changing room – grabbed both towels and headed to shower
7:25 – showered and smelling lovely get to bag take out clothes, (Bollocks).. left my top for work at home.
7:25am to 7:30am – swear at self, try and decide what to do, realised my options were:
1. Drive home and get a top.
2. Drive to Asda and hopefully pick a top up there
3. Go to work in my bra and cardi (it is a pretty bra and does make my boobs look fabulous)
7:30pm – opt for Option 1 despite the fact I have since been informed by a guy at work that they wouldn’t have objected to option 3.
7:40am – arrive at home, run in, grab top, promptly catch top on door handle and rip top.
7:43am – Run upstairs again and get another top.
7:45am – Leave for work…
8:30am – arrive at work, no parking spaces, an hour late because of horrendous traffic..
8.35am – arrive at desk sobbing quietly to self

I feel I’ve had a really good week, despite the last two mornings balls ups. I’ve joined, as you probably know, a gym, and since my last weigh in I have done 3 zumba classes, 1 kardy class and 4 gym sessions. I have discovered that after a gym session if I am feeling achy and sore that a good zumba session in the evening loosens the muscles right back up. Now I’m sorry but by anyones standards that is a fair bit of exercise for a woman of my size (well any size) to be doing. I have kept to my calories, I have not eaten out at all, and at work in the resturant I have had salad every day for lunch.

And so to the weigh in.

Oh boy, I wasn’t really looking forward to it tonight. But I had also come to the conclusion that because of my added exercise, (the gym) and what that type of exercise is, that I should not be surprised if I stayed the same or put on weight, even if it is a bit early in the new routine for it to have a real effect.

After 5 weeks of virtually no movement I wasn’t that keen all the same.
So what have I lost? Anything? Nothing??

Stepping on the scales tonight I was informed.I had lost 2lbs!!! That is the best 2 pounds I’ve lost in a while. Phew, moving the right way again.
Bring on the Next Week!!

Today? Oh Today is Just Fine!

Let me tell you about my early morning…

5.45am – Alarm goes off
5.45 to 6am – hit snooze
6.00am to 6.20am Debate with self as to whether to go to the gym before work
6.20am – Decide yes, get dressed grab things and shoot out door.
6.33am – Arrive at gym
6.35am to 7.05am – Do work out (only able to do about 90% of work out due to time constraints and arms dropping off)
7.06am – Enter changing rooms – get stuff from locker and realise (oh shit) I had left towels at home.
7.06am to 7.10am – Faff about debating if not sweaty enough to just change and go to work with ample deodorant sprayed, OR to shower and dry off with small hand towel – Opt for shower.
7.10am to 7.20am – Shower, knock gym stuff on floor of shower and proceed to soak. Grab tiny hand towel and attempt to dry hair and body with said item and fail. Struggle into work clothes that have got a bit damp due to steam in shower.
7.25am – Head to work with clothes sticking to soggy body and hair nearly dry after a blast of a very good hair dryer.
7.40am – Arrive at work late, apply make up in car, pick up punnet of raspberries to go with fat free yogurt for breakfast, and tip bright red raspberry juice all down soggy shirt and trousers.
7.45am – Arrive at desk and sob quietly to self.

Fat Attack

My weight has been a bit of an arse lately. Its not shifting, 2 weeks running it has stayed the same after 3 previous weeks of it going up and down. Now before you say it, I have already done the tape measure, that hasn’t shifted either. So I’ve done it. I’ve done the deed, (not killed The Boy contrary to popular belief). I’ve joined a gym.

I had my induction on Saturday. I told the PT bloke that I wanted to do resistance and weights training as I get plenty of cardio doing zumba and Kardy at Rpsemary Conley 4 or 5 times a week. So he set me a routine for starters. On Wednesday at 6:30am (yes that is an am! must be bloody mad!!) I am having another session with him to sort another one (more legs, lower body and core muscle areas) so I have a bit of variety.

Sunday I did my first full session.

The routine so far goes:

5 to 10 mins on crosstrainer (I have always loved this bit of kit) as warm up
3 x 15 leg presses
3 x 15 chest presses
3 x 15 lat pull downs
3 x 15 shoulder presses
3 x 15 free weight biceps curl
3 x 15 something else I can’t remember the name of
3 x 15 something involving a double ended rope handle and my biceps.

After I felt good, but a wee bit tired and the old muscles were definitely feeling it. By the evening it felt like someone had injected concrete into my thighs and my pectorals (yeah I have some). Despite the pain (which in a perverse way was rather pleasant), last night I decided I might head to the gym this morning before work. This would mean being there for 6.30 and squeezing in a 30 min session.

When I got there a queue was forming by the doors, most of which were what I will call the older generation who were obviously up with the larks. The doors opened and in we went, the majority of the others headed to the pool for a nice swim. Some others (younger gym goers) headed to  a class of some sort.

I went into the gym ready for a session. Only 1 other person in there! Win! With muscles still aching from yesterday I started the work out. Managed to get through most of it, but by the time I got to the ‘3 x 15 something else I can’t remember the name of’, I was struggling. I did complete the session, but instead of 3 x 15 reps I did 1 x 15 reps, 6 x 5 reps.

A quick shower, hair dry and war paint on I got to work just 15 mins later than I normally do. Hopefully over time I will get into a routine this will be quicker.

I’m not sure I will go tomorrow morning, as I don’t want to over kill the body. Being able to move is quite important to me and I will be there Wednesday morning anyway.
Anyway thats the latest. I have zumba tonight and tomorrow night (if I can move that is) so I will still be exerciseing tomorrow. Now I have some questions:

1. Because I am starting so early in the morning, should I eat breakfast before I go or after? Or do as I did today, eat a banana on the way and have another with a cereal bar after? (this might well change to something different as I get more organised)

2. If I am doing these extra sessions on top of my zumba classes, do I need to alter my calorie intake?

3. When will it stop hurting?

4. When will I be able to use my arms again?

5. What is it about gyms that people seem to think you have to get changed in front of everyone else, and wander around naked?? Why can’t they use cubicles?!?

6. What is the etiquette for getting someone off a piece of equipment when you want to use it and they are sat on it chatting on their phone?! Is walking by glaring in their direction the way to go? or do i have to be brave and ask them to shift?

7. The pain is my muscles burning fat, right?!?!?

8. I’m not doing too much am I? Too much exercise can be bad for your body I am sure.

Always keen to hear from others what they do in the gym. I don’t want to “bulk up”, just keep my metabolism up and get back to loosing weight. (oh and I am aware I might well put weight on as muscle devlopes so I am prepared for that). Got to keep up that fat attack!

Quitting?!?!

Hitting a plateau is rather soul destroying. For a second week I have neither lost or gained weight. Out of everything I have had to do since January this has to be the hardest. It’s a bit like running into a wall. I keep banging myself against and it doesn’t make it any easier to get through.

(Now if that’s true I shall note it down under exercise in my myfitnesspal app!!)

I read a quote the other day, no idea who said or wrote it but I rather liked it. It was “our biggest obstacles are the ones our mind sets” (or something to that effect).

Right now my mind and body have set a big one. And I guess my mind and body are the only things that will get through it.

I refuse to let this get the better of me. In the morning and when I am feeling a bit shit I try and remind myself of these things:

1. How far I’ve come. I have lost 4 stone 3lbs. I lost 4 stone in 4 Months. That’s like wow!
2. I do feel better in myself, I feel more confident and I do have more energy.
3. My fitness levels have gone up. I do between 3 and 5 exercise classes a week. I am considering joining a gym. And this all started from just taking 1/2 hour walks during my lunch breaks.
4. Next year I am jumping out of a plane (hopefully with a parachute and a fit bloke attached to my back!).

So I might have ground to a bit of a halt, but it is just a rest period. I will continue eating what I should, I will continue exercising, I will not let this mind or body get the better of me. It’s stuck with me for as long as I get on this planet and if it doesn’t like it then it’s tough shit. I am in charge, I am the one who will decide when enough is enough and 4 stone 3lbs is not enough.

I am going to join the gym, I am going to do that resistance training and weights and burn those calories. My health and future is worth £1080 over the next year.

I WILL NOT QUIT!!!

How Much Is It Worth??

What shall I do? I have been thinking to myself. Currently things are not going to plan, and I it ain’t half bugging me.

Firstly…. I have noticed how great people are while I lose weight, but as soon as everything goes a bit haywire I get not such great and I have to say potentially damaging comments like, “well I think you’re just getting bored of it now”, “I don’t think you are trying very hard anymore”, “I don’t take much stock in this diet” and “I don’t think you need to eat as much as you are”.

I am not bored of it
I have been trying very hard and I am very frustrated about the last month.
The diet has worked up till now.
If you read the science, (look at my blog BMR and TDEE ) it works and has done.

Anyone who knows me should also know that telling me I am bored of something or am not even really trying anymore normally results in me going “meh you’re right, I can’t be bothered lets go to KFC!”

I am very much the sort that says ok if that is what you think I might as well prove you right, rather than the no I’m not like that and I will fight to prove it. I can’t help it, it’s the way my brain works. After 4 months of brilliant weight loss and increasing self esteem, to have a month of ups and downs really does affect me, and with life generally giving me a mixture of positive and negative things to deal with, the old self esteem and self worth does take a bit of a battering.

So please keep the negative thoughts to yourselves. You can’t be praising the route I have taken when its going well and then slate it or disagree with it as soon as it goes a bit wrong. Again I repeat NO, I have not got bored with it, NO I am not giving up, YES I am trying as hard. I am frustrated and angry with myself and the situation. It is not what I had planned, or the way I wanted to see things go.

Now at the end of my last blog I said I was going to have to have a rethink and regroup. I have been thinking that I might join a gym. There are quite a few around here, and after a few weeks of discussing it with friends and family I decided I would take myself around them and see what I fancy.

Now I’m not giving up the RC classes, but I’m looking at going to the gym before work during the week and poss on the weekend to do resistance training and weights.

When did gyms get so bloody expensive!?! OMG!! I looked at a couple of the big names in Gyms. One told me I would eligible for a corporate discount. Gosh I thought that’s good, and what wonderful low price would I have to pay??? £71.50 a month! SEVENTY ONE POUNDS!! Just for a month!! To use a gym that seemed over run with kids. I couldn’t think of anything worse! David Lloyd I will not be joining you!

The other and most likely one I might join is still £65 a month, and I would be tied into a 12 month contract. I could do a monthly rolling contract but then I would be paying an extra £10 a month for that privilege.

So my questions are why is losing weight and keeping fit so bloody expensive? Can I warrant spending just over £90 (gym & Rosemary Conley membership) a month? Is it really something I can commit to? Am I ready to? Is my health, wellbeing and dreams of a future I dared to dream 5 months ago worth £90+ a month? Will going to the gym make £65 a month difference to my body?? What price do I put on my goal?