ITB meet foam roller

Not feeling too amazing this morning. Feel quite chesty, prob shouldn't have gone the gym tbf but I wanted to get as much pre festival workout as I could!

Managed 30mins on the treadmill before I decided my aching body couldn't take any more, finished off with some stretching and the v-plate. Whilst I was in the v-plate, one of the guys I chat too from time to time was exercising downstairs, he suggested I try the foam roller instead of the v-plate as it is much more effective. He showed me how and away I went.. OMFG the pain, oh the pain!! He assures me it will get better if I keep doing it. That remains to be seen.

I think I am actually getting ill now though, which is not what I need. I will have to go and stock up on lemsip and get to bed. Unfortunately, we are having issues at work so I can't go home just yet and I am having my back done at one, so I need to hang around until 1 anyway.

That was tough

What an afternoon, I hit an exhaustion wall and just couldn't get past it! I had that aching head feeling where you know the only cure is lovely, lovely sleep! Unfortunately, I had to keep myself going so I could go and ride!

I had half a Nature Own bar and that revived me a little. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ride on Breeze and Lara, this did not happen. There is a girl on the yard who I can only describe as a buffoon and she is so loud and disrespectful around the horses, it drives me mad.. Most of my time riding was spent trying not to let her distinctive personality ruffle my feathers. I managed to keep a kind of detached serenity, but this in itself is an exhausting task, as I am still working on this side of my personality.  I aim to eventually be in a place where this sort of behaviour just washes over me, but as of yet, I am still working on it.  I am definitely improving though!

I have just had a geeky moment, I have done a bit of fidgeting with my new phone so that I can install an interface that allows me to use twitter properly! Tom promised me £20 if I could do it, but it appears that this was an empty gesture as he has claimed that he pointed me in the direction of the instructions.. Although, he didn't give me opportunity to look for it myself!

Early night is most definitely in order. I am still really, really low on my protein intake, unfortunately MFP doesn't want to allow me to set a specific measurement, it does it as a percentage instead.  I need to remind myself how much I should be having. I worked it out as 1.2 my lean body mass.. which is 51.5kg, so that equates to 61.8g of protein. I went for 1.2 as this is the lower end of the recommendation if you work out regularly.  I have just read again and it says that you can do it by percentage, on review, this may be more useful as it will fluctuate along with my calorie intake that fluctuates depending on workout, I just need to see what my settings are in MFP and work out what percentage gives me a min of 61.8g of protein on my maintenance calories of 1200.

So, to do this (I need this bit to help me get my head around the calculation, so I can then ask Tom how to work it back ;-) )

1200 x .15 = 180 calories required from protein
1g of protein = 4 calories
180/4 = 45 grams per day

So, to work it back

62 * 4 = 248 calories requires
(248/1200)*100 = 20.67% so around 21%  (I couldn't have worked that back without +Tom Burgin as I a dreadful at maths!) Makes up for him being an Indian giver!

I have made my changes in my goals of mfp and I am only a little way behind now.  I have had 63g and it is suggesting 75, so at least I am happy that I have consumed enough for what I want my minimum protein intake to be.  Doing this also ups my fat to just over the recommended min for someone of my age, fitness level etc.  One thing that I have learnt from this fitness quest is the importance of good fats in weight loss and it is an area very often neglected during dieting and it is so important not to do that.

Anyway, I have so much to do and wanted to be in bed by 9.30.  That isn't going to happen at this rate, I still have lunches and smoothies to make as well as packing my bags for tomorrow!! Never ending

Another looking good PT comment

Martin, the PT who suggested the lower intensity exercise for me, commented that I looked like I had dropped some more fat this morning.  Its great when the guys who know their stuff start commenting, makes me feel really good about what I am achieving.

Since switching to the low intensity, strengthening cardio, I have gone from 149.8 lbs to 146.8 lbs. Pretty impressive, I had been stuck at 150 lbs for ages before then.

Today's workout was meant to be upper body only. All will become clear..

I started off with a warm up on the elliptical trainer (I hate that machine, couldn't tell you why, just feels so uncomfortable) Felt really quite weak in my back doing dead lifts, the last two times I haven't felt great. I can feel my form failing me and I can feel it in my lower back, so I have dropped my weights back.  Not sure what's gone on there, my form is the same, so there must be a weakness letting me down somewhere, but I cant quite decide where.  It could be linked to me not taking in enough protein recently, so a simple strength issue. Or, it could be down to the fact that I haven't done one of Martin's core sessions for a couple of weeks.  One thing I have discovered over the years, it takes you many, many months to build up strength and only a few weeks to lose it!

I tried to do a body weight pull up again, big fat FAIL still.. Damn it! I'm determined to get that down, in fairness though, I haven't really been doing them since I hurt my shoulder.

Thought I would finish off with some low intensity treadmill for 10 or so mins and then do some stretching off.  This all went to plan, but I messaged Tom complaining about how weak I felt on the dead lift and how it could be linked to a weaker core and that I am missing doing Martin's core session.. He suggested something ground breaking!! Keep doing the abs blast class that Martin does in a morning.. Brilliant plan, can't believe I didn't see that option, I was half way down the stairs at this point, it had only just gone 7.30am, so I hot tailed it back upstairs and joined in Martins class..

It was typical Martin annihilation, the best one was the crunch circuit.  Normal crunches x 10, knees at 90 degrees and crunch x 10, same angle but legs apart x 10 and then the piece de resistance: drop one leg to a hover and keep the other at right angles and crunch, then switch... wow, BURN!!!  oh, and then repeat.

+Nicola Renshaw has got on it now! Cycle to work scheme has commenced, good work Nic! I messaged her this morning saying that it was perfect biking weather and I hope she enjoys it, I didn't tell her that I had checked the forecast and it is shocking for the time she is meant to be cycling home! She was telling me the only problem is that now she feels shattered, I suggested nipping to her car for a lunchtime nap.. ooops

I'm sure I had more to say, really busy in the office so my thoughts keep skipping between all the issues I have got to resolve and this.. so inevitably, I forget what I am doing! That claim about women multi-tasking.. utter rubbish

Ah, I have remembered; I have asked the gym if they would be able to house a Bra Bank for Breast Cancer. There aren't really any places around here and I figured that the number of women going to the gym  must be quite high and if they are all losing weight, then their bra's will be shrinking!

Its a great scheme, it addresses 3 a number of issues at once.  it reduces textiles in landfill, it helps small businesses in Africa and raises funds for research.  They collect for free and provide the banks for donation too, what's not to like???  We shall see what comes back.

Whilst on this subject, H&M take clothing donations and they recycle the fabric and you get a £5 off voucher for your trouble, so as your shedding your pounds, you can replenish your wardrobe with a little help!

I love the feel good factor in this sort of thing, I have so little spare time to contribute to charity that I feel the need to do what I can, when I can!   Anyway, I really need to try and copy my contacts off my iPhone onto my Nexus, I don't know what numbers I should ignore at the moment!

Nice little morning sky pic for you, break up the text a little!

Jezper Söderlund - I love you...

.. well, I love what you do with your music anyway ;-)

Did another low intensity burn session yesterday, walking on the treadmill for 50 mins, accompanied by one of his Touchdown Airbase podcasts! It was great, I felt pretty good too. I made sure I started off slowly and warmed up nicely before increasing the incline and speed, just to try and avoid the knee pain, it seemed to work.  Finished off the session with a load of stretching, I think on my cardio days, I want to try and incorporate some proper yoga moves to try and sort out my stiffness once and for all.  I have never been supple and would love to be as I think it will help me no end with the issues I struggle with.  Just another goal to add into my really quiet schedule...

Finally, my new phone arrived yesterday, so I get to battle with a change of operating system and routine.. Might not sound too bad, but when you're a control freak like me it really is quite stressful!

Means I should get some better pics on here too! Finally!!

I'm sure I had loads to tell you all, but yesterday evening got eaten up with washing and working out my new phone.  Once I got back from the horses I had very little time to do much else!  Had an amazing tea though, Tom made a mix of Quorn burgers in a special sauce he had manufactured which was super yummy, had that with salad so had plenty of calories left for some eggs and cottage cheese as I am way under on my protein at the minute.  I need to get back on top of that as I felt so much better when I made a point of hitting my targets.

I am sat here with my face melting currently, I decided after my recent, accidental dalliance with chilli, that I could handle it.  Well, I cant.  1 birds eye chilli in my lunch today and I am actually a write off.  My  nose is running, my gums and tongue are on fire and there is nothing I can do!!! I think I am having palpitations and my stomach is officially on fire! Must power on through though, capsicum is good for metabolism apparently!

Was a little bit naughty and put chilli sauce on my lunch as the avocado wasn't quite ripe so, needed sweetening up a little.  Obviously, it needed some more heat too! 

That's a pic off the new phone, hopefully the difference is vast!

The ongoing drama around eating healthy meals on the go!

Started the day off with the usual banana smoothie, I have found that adding a few frozen strawberries not only gives my blender a massive workout, it also means that I can get away without adding any honey or agave syrup.. which is good.

Totally disorganised about lunch, we stopped on the way to the neddy's to get an alternative to burger van crap that is available at horse shows.  In fact, that isn't true! Tom actually got up before me and went to Tesco! ooops.. he got me some little snack pots, one had crispy bread pieces, feta cheese and tomatoes and the other had crackers, beetroot and cheddar.  I can have bread if it toasted within an inch of its life as it is the doughy texture that ignites my reflux!

They were fairly high in calories but not a rubbish sandwich or million calorie pasta salad that would kill me! So I felt quite good about that.  Unfortunately, I got to the competition and felt STARVING! I was incredibly naughty and had a portion of chips, and not just any chips, cheesy chips! 

Then my class was sooner than expected and it felt like lead! Its a good job she a gentle soul or it would've been returning! 

I am already excited about eating my lunch.  

This consists of olives, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes (naughty but oh so tasty) mushrooms, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and yellow pepper.  I will take some egg whites with me and scramble them up too, all of this comes in under 300 calories and will taste amazing!

And my tea tonight

We had Turkey stir-fry with peas, broccoli, mange tout, baby sweetcorn, onion and curly kale.  The only naughtiness was the sweet and sour sauce that was on it, but I didn't have any rice.  422ish calories.. If I hadn't have been a little lightweight, I would've been merrily in my calories!  Oh well, I didn't have anything else bad this weekend and I didn't drink, so that is an improvement!

We avoided the rain!! Unbelievably!

Today was a toss up as to whether to take Lara (one of my horses) competing or not  The forecast was for heavy showers all afternoon, around the time that she would be competing.  I decided in the end, that no matter what, I should take her as I was away last weekend and I am away next weekend at Y-Not festival and then she has the Irish Draught breed shows coming up, so I need the practice.

My exercise for today consisted of turning this

Into this

This last picture quality isn't even my phones fault, its my mothers!  But you can see that Lara is now considerably cleaner.  Getting the stains of her is such hard work on the shoulders, it is a case of scrubbing and scrubbing until you get her (almost) clean!

We got to the show and the rain had held off and I thought I had got my ahead around what classes were on, but I changed my mind once I had entered as the ground was insanely slippery from last nights deluge on rock hard surface and Lara has problems with her legs, poor girl.  She snapped her hock when she was a week old and then when she was in the horsepital, she sustained some sort of impact injury that set up an intra muscular haematoma and the swelling pinched the nerve that runs right down to her foot and she was paralysed from the fetlock down for a few months until the swelling subsided.  We spent day after day massaging her and ultra-sounding the site of the impact to reduce the swelling, so for her to be where she is today, is nothing short of miracle and we are so proud of her.

Anyway, as usual, I have been distracted.  We were merrily sitting there waiting for the classes before her to conclude and I heard someone say something that made me realise I had got my classes wrong and hers was due to start.  Massive sprint back to the wagon (my breathing was shite, so a way to go yet with my Ultrabreathe!) Just as I got there to tack her up and change, the heavens opened! We did what we could in the wagon and waited, by the time we were ready, the rain had stopped! You can see how angry the weather was in this pic that my friend Amy took of Tom holding Lara whilst I was sprinting around the course to find my route! 

We managed to do both of our classes, 6th in both and jumped beautifully, and not get a drop of rain on us!  We got home and the heavens once again opened! Lucky day! 

So, it appears I needed my sleep!

Tom left me sleeping this morning and I don't think I stirred until I got up at 9.30. 10 hours of beautiful, beautiful sleep!

We spent the day at the horses and then Tom took one step deeper into the dark world of horse ownership.. he bought his first pair of jodhpurs!!! Looks mighty fine in them too I might add, his leg work is really paying dividends! ;-)

I made us a smoothie this morning, but as we had no milk, I used juice instead and it was still super yummy and a few less calories.  I have started putting ginger and cinnamon in all of my smoothies now, I wasn't sure that it would really go with the forest fruit mixes, but it does,  The ginger just gives it a nice zing, rather than a strong taste of ginger.

As we were out and about today, I was stuck when it came to something low in calories and good to have for my lunch.  So, I thought I would try out a slim fast shake.  What I didn't think to do though, which is very unlike me, is read up on exactly what is in them until AFTER I had had it.  It tasted pretty good, malty and quite a pleasant texture, however, sooo full of sugar!! I was amazed tbh and will not be wasting my calories on anything like that again! I cant believe they sell that product as such an amazing way to lose weight when you quite simply should just count your calories and make good healthy food yourself! It does frustrate me that it is so difficult to find good, low calorie food on the go, when crappy food is so readily available at every place you go.

I also had a packet of smoked turkey slices as they were reduced from £4 to 89p and it was insanely yummy! It did bump my calories up of course, but I ate them late and was incredibly full so assumed I could cope without tea.  I needed to nip to the supermarket and get myself a shirt that actually fits me for competing tomorrow (all of mine drown me now I have shrunk somewhat!) Whilst we were there I got a crazy craving for a Yop.. This is undoubtedly full of crap too, but it does say no artificial colours or flavours, so I stop reading at that point! Woman's prerogative and basically hypocrisy at its best!

Unfortunately, this meant that I didn't have very many calories left over by the time I realised I was actually hungry so I rustled us up a tasty little stir fry.

I made it from broccoli, baby sweetcorn, yellow peppers, leeks, chilli, sesame seeds, soy sauce, garlic, ginger a drizzle of honey. It all weighed in at 177 calories! perfect and yummy and I am still just in my calories!

Lots of exciting stuff going on with the wedding plans, we are furiously trying to secure ourselves a yurt that we can actually fit in my parents garden and isn't going to cost us a billion pounds to transport! 

Did I mention I can feel my abs???

Its incredibly exciting! I have never had great abs, EVER! I was sitting up in bed this morning and complaining about the fat on my tummy and proceeded to prod it.. and what did I feel!?....... aarrrgggghhhh, defined abs, I could feel that ripped line you see guys with between each row of the muscle!! I could feel two rows in total. woohooooo!

Now, to reveal them to the world... somehow... Have you noticed how easily distracted I am? If this works out well, I think I will be getting married in a bikini, let alone a backless little number! Gotta show off all my hardwork

Ultrabreathe update

Thought this should amuse people! And the shite picture situation is soon to be resolved as my new phone should be here on Monday! Woo, Nexus 4 world, here I come

As you know, I got this funky little device on Wednesday, so 2 days ago.  I forgot to do it this morning, but other than that I have done it morning and night, so 4 time so far.  I can feel the difference on this resistance already! I will be adjusting it in the morning I think, so something is definitely working..

A side note, I noticed tonight that I felt so much more supple when I did my stretching routine.  The only difference is that I haven't been doing my classes, just working out by myself. So, all is going well so far it would seem! I have NEVER been supple, so this is a novelty for me.  I can sit flat on the floor now, legs flat out in front of me, knees together and have my fingers folded at right angles behind my feet. And that is without flexing my ankles, which I find makes it easier! (cheating basically!)

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I was talking to my friend +Nicola Renshaw yesterday lunch, and it was great to hear that my determination in my quest has spurred her on to get back into exercise and health once more.  I felt really proud, and that doesn't come along very often for me! So thanks for that Nic x

We got to talking about pushing yourself through the initial barriers, I always think that no matter what I am changing in my life, it takes me about 3 weeks to get over the mental drudge of it all.  So, when I do my non drinking session in the new year, it takes me 3 weeks to not want to hurt people every time I see a beer pump, glistening, with condensation seductively chasing rivers down that beautiful, silvery temptation and calling me to quench my thirst! When I first started going to the gym in the morning, it took me about 3 weeks to adjust and sort out my routine.

I still have mornings where my first thought is to not go, they don't happen very often, but they do still happen.  How do I deal with it?  I think about the times that I'm carrying an injury and how much it gets me down that I can't do something, so I know, when I can do something, I just need to get it done!

I do get asked all the time how I cope with getting up at 5am every weekday, this is a really, really simple trick... I don't think about it, I don't even let myself acknowledge it.  I quite simply just get up! So basically, its classic burying your head in the sand technique!

Its so easy to quit at things, I have spent my entire life quitting something when the going gets tough, as I have always thought its better than being a failure. What a total idiot! I have spent the last 10 years or so, trying to change this attitude and it is only since I have found the love and support of +Tom Burgin that I have really found the strength to go through with it.  I had come a very long way before I met him and he has given me the confidence in myself as a person, rather than what I can offer everyone else, that has enabled me to really progress.  He has taught me that if I want to do something then I should just go and do it, why even think about failing, that's just a stupid thing to think about, just do it.. If people want to watch over you negatively, let them watch, that is their problem and you shouldn't even entertain that sort of energy.  Its truly, the most empowering realisation I have ever had.  It is still a work in progress and I really have to condition myself constantly, so as not to slip back into my old mindset.. I do have many, many years of negative thought to undo!

Anyway, I digress... so basically, what I am trying to say is that my motivation is to just do it, don't think about it, just have your goals and go out and get them. Anything is possible if you want it enough, I can feel my newly conditioned abdominals, now I want to see them... so that is what I am going to do!

I suppose I should explain

I was thinking about my flippant comment that I knew that the knee pain was different and decided that I should share with people just how it is different.

When I am having problems with my ITB, which is a fairly recent issue, the pain is all around the outside of my knee.  It hurts more, the more my leg is compressed and I have to bear weight whilst straightening it. So, for example, walking upstairs, when my left leg is in front and I need to bear weight to move to the next step, I have to do this with my foot totally flat on the step and not just on my toe.

When I squat, it hurts on the way back up from the squat if I squat too deep and the same with the leg press.  It also hurts when I step off the step and my left leg is left behind, so I have to drop off the step so that there is no weight in the leg behind.

The pain is also a different sort of pain, it is like a vice and it feels like something is going to snap.  The best way I can think of it is as if it is like a chicken leg and when you snap if off from the thigh part of the leg, that's what imagine is going to happen with my knee! The chicken being a dead chicken btw, I'm not some kind of crazy person!

My patellar femoral pain is in a whole different league and worries me considerably more.  I first experienced an issue with this when I was 24.  I started running around the quays in my lunch break to try and get fit for nothing and I stupidly purchased some really cheap trainers without a second thought.

After a while I started to experience some pain behind my knee cap and it gradually got worse and worse, it was like a constant pain behind my knee, pain in the form of how I imagine it would feel if someone was constantly grating away at your tendon with a cheese grater.  It got to the point where the pain was so intense, I remember sitting on my bed in my old house, shooting and aching pains radiating from both of my knees and down my shins and also all the way up into my groin. I felt like I just needed to take a hammer to my knee caps and smash them to smithereens to release the pain.  It was truly, one of the most debilitating pains I have ever experienced.

Obviously, at this point I knew that nothing was going to help that I could do, so I went to see the doctor.  I had private medical with my company at the time so I have no idea why it took me so long to do anything about it.

They diagnosed me with patellar tendinitis (just realised I have been spelling that wrong in my other posts!) I was prescribed Diclofenac Sodium and referred to a physio.  I wont go into the ins and outs of it as it will take a million pages.  However, I learnt to manage it with support taping and lots and lots of ice and now when I do an activity that may bother it I immediately ice my knees and take some anti -inflammatory and it seems to keep it at bay!

I think what has set it off this time is the prolonged walking on the treadmill, I am not the lightest on my feet so I think the impact has upset it a little.  It is caused by my quads having built incorrectly from only ever riding and then my kneecap is pulled out of line.  It becomes more apparent when it is prolonged activity as my muscles become fatigued.   I haven't experienced this type of pain for a long, long time so I am just hoping that it wont be an issue and I can still do the low intensity cardio exercise. I was also hoping that I had started to balance out some of my weaknesses, we will see.

I iced it last night and used my Pernaton and it has been pain free today, I haven't done any walking since yesterday though.

Almost forgot!

My breathing trainer arrived too, so I have been using that. It's quite a strange sensation and I could really feel it this morning, right between my boobs! It felt like when you breathe in really cold air!! You have to do it 25 times morning and night for two months, watch this space!!

I have also just tried my first batch of quinoa, not mightily impressed with the volume for calories! I do however love the texture, it reminds me of tapioca pudding! I did 35g dried which is just over 100 calories

That is it perched on top of my prawns! #healthyeating #fitness

I appear to have become a bit of a Hashtag whore since starting on twitter, soz about that!!

Day 2 of dried bean usage too. Butter beans were pretty low labour and super yummy, pinto beans are a little bit more of a faff so only time will tell if its worth it. They are currently keeping me from my beauty sleep, as they take an hour and ten mins to cook! Along with requiring a massive amount of water so I've had to dig out my biggest pan ever, which is obviously a massive problem ;-) 

Injury update: left knee is kicking off, it's more the patella femoral tendon that's not happy today though, totally different pain to that from the ITB tension I get. This is from walking for an hour on the treadmill the other day, and exacerbated by lunges in my routine this morning. Very frustrating. Very typical. Ice packs away!! 

Fitness tracker

I've been looking at these for some time now, unfortunately, no single device so far has fitted the bill as far as form and function goes and I also have a really crap iPhone that doesn't have Bluetooth 4.0 on it so would have to buy an adapter, which I didn't want to do!

So, I have just purchased the Nexus 4 mobile phone and decided to revisit!  I have found a new one that never appeared on the radar before and it looks to be amazing. Unfortunately, they are pre-manufacture and have 4000 pre orders to fulfil before anyone else can get a look in!

Go and have a look for yourself, looks good and seems to produce some amazing stats that I can merrily wallow in!

http://amiigo.co/ Unfortunately,  they have every account other than a google+ one so I cant tag them!

Still feeling it!

I can definitely still feel the affects of my heavy weekend.  My body just feels so tired and weak! It doesn't help that my mind is constantly buzzing around with ideas for the wedding and I am struggling to get to sleep at night.

It was about 12.30am on Tuesday night before I got to sleep and then slightly better at 10.30pm last night.  I know it still probably sounds reasonable to most people but I just cant survive on that amount of sleep, I feel my best when I am in bed and sleeping by 9.30pm! Getting up at 5 really takes it toll otherwise, not generally in the morning but I get an even bigger lull than normal around 3.30pm

Hit the treadmill yesterday, was desperate for another session like I did on Thursday but I just couldn't get into it the same.  My right foot kept going numb, I think it is because I can't get the factory insole out of my new trainers, so have to put my insoles on top and it means that the top of the shoe just sits a little close.. not really sure what to do about that one! #firstworldfitnessproblems

But they sure are good looking trainers!

Only managed 40 mins on the treadmill and then did a load of stretching.  Shoulder felt good though, so that's a bonus.  It has been aching quite badly at night after I have ridden and aches quite a lot whilst riding if the horse is going heavy.  Its further down the muscle though, rather than up in the join itself.

Rode for a couple of hours last night, went out with my friend and I took my semi-retired mare.  I have decided that I want to bring her out of retirement so that she can start jumping again.  She retired due to something in her hocks, we never investigated it and just accepted it as she isn't insured and is 16 anyway.  I think I am going to try medicating the hocks so that she can start having fun again, she was loving her little canter across the field! I know how she feels! Looking forward to that, one more horse to get fit and keep me busy anyway!

My Pernaton gel and supplements arrived, started on them yesterday.  The gel smells amazing and I don't know if it is a coincidence or not but my shoulder does feel considerably better, I abused it quite heavily this morning and it felt great.

My friend Joanne who is a trained PT and general bad ass when it comes to exercise, has set some routines up that she is getting people to try.  Mine this morning was as follows

5 mins warm up full body

2 mins- press up into burpee into 5 jump lunges Rest

3 minutes pressup into squat thrust into burpee as many reps as possible Rest

3 minutes shuttle runs one end 20 skips return 10 crunches, then one end 20 m'climbers other end 10 press ups keep rotating exercises Rest

3minutes each exercise 20 seconds full on 10!seconds rest then move to next exercise Press up Squat Lunge M'climbers Squat thrust Burpee Spider plank

10 mins to finish off tonne ups.......

Run 10 press ups

Run 10 press ups +squat

Run 10 press's ups, squats +lunges

Etc etc all way to spider plank ( use exercise list from list above) 

Oh, +Tom Burgin also treated me to some new workout pants, which are schamazing!

Back on track

Back to healthy eating now! We are still off work today so our exercise is consisting of horses, house work and dog walking! 

Back onto the smoothies for breakfast as the banana's had gone super ripe over the weekend. Also chopped up the remaining ones that were perfect and have frozen those.

I am having the first experiment with preparing beans form scratch, rather than using tinned ones. Today's choice is butter beans and they are ready soaking. I have used 160grams as that should provide enough for us both to have 100grams cooked weight for 2days. I have never used them like this so it will take some experimenting and forced routine! 

As I am writing this I am preparing some butternut squash and apple soup. Sue made some over the weekend and we both loved it!

I found the recipe online on elana's pantry and just added the quantities that I had available! 

What's the damage?

Not only have I neglected my blog for the past few days, I have totally neglected my diet and myself! 

I was out with Nic and Lisa from work, we were doing some pre Y-not festival planning, unfortunately, copious amounts of Pims and cocktails later with a few Guinness in to boot; I can't actually remember if we planned anything! Cheesy chips were also the order of the evening, not a good addition but very, very yummy!

Tom came and picked me up at 7am! As we were off for breakfast with his family in Lincolnshire for engagement celebrations and wedding discussions, exciting stuff.

I was careful to manage my recovery to avoid the usual acid issues so no bread, no sausage and plenty of chewing and water! Mission accomplished, however we then went out to a big party and carried on drinking, which did nothing to please my stomach and we left fairly early after consuming copious amounts of hog roast supplied by Dunx, Tom's mate who runs Groovy Foods and rears his own free range pigs! Delicious 

We did manage to get some exercise in on the Sunday though. We cycled 18miles around Rutland water on this little beauty 

Was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be as the bike hire guy said that he didn't recommend it if you've been in a relationship for over 5years!! 

The only downside was that Tom has such a long body and broad back, that this was my forward view the whole way

Meant I got I merrily Tweet away whilst biking though! What a geek 😎

In conclusion, I gained 2lbs, not too horrific I don't think! 

23.7% body fat! Oh yeah

Popped in to boots with Tom after PT to see what his bf was and did mine too. I've lost 3% since the 1st of the month! Awesome

PT went brilliantly. Did a pb of 50kilos on the deadlift and basically no shoulder pain other than on close grip lat pull down!

Time to celebrate in the sun with a nice cold bit of naughtiness! 

Conclusion.. Not so frozen shoulder

Went to see John and he says its not frozen shoulder, I have to be careful with it or it could get that way but for now, I've  quite simply just hurt myself! 

I should carry on working out be not lift really heavy weights and if it hurts, stop! 

No need to rush to physio, he has agreed to just rest it and see. I'm going to stick with the new workout I am trying, good to shake things up a bit! 

Banana na na na

Just in case you haven't already seen it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNie6hVM8ZI

Anyway, the point of the post is to say about my latest smoothie and I didn't want it to be lost in the midst of my Trance rant!

It was an easy one, but my favourite so far.  +Tom Burgin was not keen!

2 x Banana na na na's ;-)
1 x tbsp Meridian Almond Butter
A fair sized chunk of ginger
A good puff of cinamon
1 tbsp Agave nectar
almost 1/2 pint skimmed milk
2 tbsp of fat free Greek Yoghurt

I think the finished product tasted like Gingernut biscuits and was under 500 calories, so burnt that space up in the gym first!!

Music is my remedy...

Took on the start of my new workout routine today, tbh, this was the part I was dreading the most but I absolutely loved it!!

Sorry about the pic quality, I was walking when I took it! I managed an hour on the treadmill, had my Trance blasting and had a right old groove to myself! Today was courtesy of podcast 54 Touchdown Airbase  It turns out you can dance whilst walking on a treadmill, who knew!? What people must think I really don't know!! 

That really boosted my spirits about the change of plans anyway, which is obviously a good thing! And I burnt almost 500 calories too.

Gillian, PT, told me about a product called Pernaton. It's made from green lipped muscle extract and helps with basically everything on me that is broken.  The growing of the muscles is none damaging to the environment, they are carefully managed and farmed and checked for safety.  No Gang lords are created from the manufacturing of this product, from what I can tell! I will be ordering it in a few moments!

Tonight I am going to see John, the orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in shoulders..Will see what he thinks of the newly diagnosed broken part, I'm still not convinced its as bad as the doctor clearly thinks, so will be good to get another opinion.  He has a physio he can recommend too! bonus.

Just had a nice little walk and sit down outside in the blistering heat! Which I love!!!

Damn you broken body

I say that.. it could be worse! Managed to do spin, was guarded on my shoulder though for squats and push ups on the bike as I could feel it, but I shouldn't complain really.  Its not painful as such, I am just aware of stiffness around it.

Spoke to Martin, one of the PT's, and he has said that he is concerned about how my body is coping with what I am putting it through.  He thinks that I should drop the classes like LBT and xfit, so that I can concentrate on my technique, lower intensity and flexibility.  I need to do exercise that encourages fat burn and circulation, he thinks that I need to improve the blood flow to my joints, tendons and ligaments as its just not right how often I injure myself and in so many different places.

He has suggested that I go on the cross trainer, walk on the treadmill with an incline, low resistance on the rowing machine and all for sustained, long periods of time but without pushing myself so hard.  My body needs to work better basically and he thinks this will help.  Either that or I will die of boredom before I break anything else!

I can do all my core strengthening and he has said I should try to do that everyday, I can also do strengthening on my legs and lower back whilst this shoulder improves.  I have to concentrate really hard on doing it well and slow down the movements.

He has said that I can do my spin if I'm really desperate to, but no more than twice a week.. which is fine as I tend to only do it once a week or I cant fit anything else in. He really wants me to stop riding but that is not going to happen, competition season and for once, I am actually competing!

So now, I need to come up with some new routines and inspiration. I get what he is saying and I am going to do my best.  I have a PT with Liam on Friday morning and he is aware of what's up with me so will tailor my workout around that.  I am also going to book in for another session with Martin and the thera band/balance stuff as I enjoy all that and I can really feel the benefit from it.

Really gutted, I love the progress I have been making on my arms/shoulders and strength but I just have to suck it up I suppose.  Means I should technically drop more fat, which is good and also get my abs stronger and more defined and hopefully shift the muffin top I love so much!

I am waiting to hear back from my parents friend who is an orthopaedic surgeon and he specialises in shoulders, handy! I have also contacted a physio that has been recommended to me and I can use my cash plan whilst I am working out how to bully my doctor into referring me sooner.. by work out, I mean pluck up the courage! I'm such a baby.

I also have some exercises that I can do that I found on the internet that are supposed to help.  Ollie, one of the lads I work with, also knows a physio and he has said that I need to get a check for diabetes and thyroid issues as they are very common in people with frozen shoulder around my age! hmmm, I'm not convinced but I am going to book in for a full health screening anyway, cover everything off!

Plenty to think about, arm is aching now but I have done the exercises and iced it loads today, so not surprising really!

Diagnosis frozen shoulder

Starting me off with 3 weeks of anti inflammatories then review. I say that's a little passive, let the research commence! 

Beautiful sunshine workout

Well, the active rest workout didn't quite pan out the way it was meant to! I went and did my 100 abs workout as planned, but as I was finishing, the usual Tuesday class was starting and Gillian was taking it as Martin is graduating today.  She was taking the class outside and I simply couldn't resist a morning enjoying the sunshine whilst exercising. I did avoid anything that was too intense on my knees though, but what I did do felt pretty good... apart from my crazy sore calves which meant I could barely do any jumping.

Hit the v-plate with the calves afterwards and this felt amazing, there is a strange satisfaction that you get from massage pain on sore muscles... well, I do anyway.

I also treated myself to some carbs for lunch, I do get cravings periodically and I just give in.  It tends to tie in with hormones, and if I don't respond, people get hurt. I went for M&S Atlantic Prawns as Tiger Prawns are now on my no no list because of the environmental impact and unethical farming methods used to produce these beautiful creatures.  Its been really hard for me (first world problems!) as they are on the top of my favourite foods list, but its vile what goes on and every little helps as far as I am concerned and I will change what I can from my side as it only takes a few people thinking this way to make a difference!

Anyway, as usual, I digress! I had these, with a fresh baguette and reduced fat coleslaw.  It was super yummy but now I feel sooo full and sleepy I do wonder if it was worth it!

Off to the docs after I have done the horses, lets see what they have to say about my rubbish shoulder.  I'm hoping to just get a referral, we shall see. I do know that they are going to be hugely impressed with my horsey attire! not sure I thought that one through too well

It also appears that I am officially too cool!

Spades of naughtiness!

Sorry about the title, just some random chatter that Tom, Sammy and I find amusing! 

The calf muscles are still horribly painful, Tom massaged them yesterday and he could barely apply any pressure at all. They have always been the same after cross country riding, as you stand in your stirrups and there is a lot of pressure down through the calf, and clearly mine need some strengthening! I don't do it regularly enough to improve though, so should incorporate calves in more to my routines really.

Today I'm going to go and do abs, this is the only area NOT hurting so I might as well bring it into line! I'm missing Martin's xfit class unfortunately but if he splits it (sometimes he combines) I will finish off my abs session with his half hour abs blast. I am also going to attempt the workout I posted on Friday and couldn't do as I had probs at work. I'm looking forward to listening to the latest Above & Beyond podcast at the same time!

Today's research, should I get the time, is into breathing trainers. My breathing has never been strong, my mum swears that it's because I was a month premature and my lungs hadn't done all their developing yet.. She also adds that she has no scientific backing on this theory. 

Anyway, we have an hereditary 

Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency that can cause breathing problems in later life along with a host of other issues. My Aunty is quite poorly with it but its not as horrific as it sounds if you do your best to keep your lungs healthy.

 What you can do to help it is improve your lung capacity, so I am looking into breathing trainers. Starting with the ones you use whilst sedentary and moving onto the ones used whilst exercising, you're basically treating your lungs like any other muscle and training them to be stronger.

I can feel how much my breathing restricts my stamina, I have taught myself in spin to concentrate on my breathing and there is a marked improvement so far, I just would like to improve it some more. There are no chemicals involved, just increased resistance to airflow! 

Wow, waking down stairs hurts sooo much!!!  

The BPA issue continues

On rooting around on-line a little more on the BPA issue, I have found an article from the Independent that states even BPA free plastic may not be 100% trust worth as it still contains materials with Estrogenic Activity.. which is where the problems come from.

This article also gives some good ways to avoid the potential threat. The article has a link to the research that is backing up these claims, so I am looking forward to a good read here, although I did notice at the top of the research it seems to only have been researched on animals.  I know there are potential dangers in absolutely everything around us, however, I also know that it is relatively simple to avoid this particular threat, so I am going to try.

One of the biggest inconveniences that Tom and I will face is that we eat loads of tinned beans and the lining of tins contains BPA.  We are going to switch to preparing the dried ones ourselves, I am sure once we get into the habit then this will no longer seem like an inconvenience and even if it does, its far more convenient that the issues it can bring to your life.

Share the pain.. and the pleasure

I thought I would venture onto the discussions on the +Fitocracy site today.  One of the groups I am in is called The Right Mindset, I thought this would be a great place to start as today is not a good day for the body pain issues!

It really helps to get other peoples views on situations and how they work their way around their own personal challenges.  Having input from positive people really helps switch the mindset to a positive outlook, rather than getting myself down! Tom is always really great and supports me, its good to give him a break from my issues sometimes!

What has been concluded is that I really need to adjust my thought process behind rest days.  Currently I feel guilty about it, someone has suggested that I take this opportunity to do a low impact routine so that I still feel like I have done something.  I think I will work out a really good stretching routine for these days, target all of my problem areas.  Tom constantly tells me I need to rest, sometimes it takes more than one person to convince you, plus, he knows what a massive stubborn pain in the ass I am!

Had am amazing smoothie for breakfast, fresh strawberries from my sisters neighbour and they were incredible! shop bought doesn't even come close.  She also provided me with her home grown raspberries and they too were awesome.. you don't get much more organic than that, shame I don't have my own cow and beehives, I'd have got a full house that way!

Music makes the world go round!

I have just added a new page for workout music and links! I find it makes me work extra hard and definitely makes the workout even more enjoyable! Check out the links and join in the party!!

Let's see if I can fix this

Love this product, just not sure if I can cope with massaging my calves myself!! 

New page - not so obvious on mobiles!

I've added some stats and pics to a second page. I've noticed it's not very obvious on a mobile so make sure you click the home tab and you'll see the new page. Shredding Stats.. Stole that off Tom! 

The after affects of rubbish coordination!

We used knee pads in the boxing session on Friday, clearly, I'm not very good at it!

Sooooo sore!

More sore than a sore thing on sore day! That's my calves! I have been forced into an impromptu rest day, both my calves have tied up from cross country schooling yesterday. I suppose I could've gone and done abs, but I'm feeling a little bit sorry for myself! I rolled over in the night and felt my knee tweak, and I can't walk upstairs on my toe as I get that lovely vice like pain in said knee. That started yesterday though and I'm sure that's related to the tight ITB. 

Tom even ran round with me and jumped the jumps on foot, yet he isn't sore!! 

And, worst of all... The sun has gone in and I have awkward things to deal with at work! I think I should just go back to bed. Happy Monday 

It pays to have a red hot, none drinking day!

I've just weighed in at my lightest yet! 147.8lbs!! My left knee is also doing its best to complain today, it feels like the pain I get from ITB tension. Really could do with soaking in a nice hot tub, but what I'm actually going to do is put it under yet more strain and do some cross country schooling with Moo. 

Moo is one of my horses. She isn't actually called Moo, she's called Millie but, if you are one of our animals, you never get to keep your christened name! 

It's a tough life

As much as I am loving every single second of thus amazing weather, it's tough taking part in any form of non air conditioned exercise. 

Today we have mostly been bathing 3 horses and competing on one! Well worth the effort as we came home with a sweaty 1st and 2nd place!! 

We are now enjoying a hard earned pub tea whilst waiting to bring the girls (horses) back in! I am being good and resisting the temptation of a cold one, but I am having a quiche!

We are being Accompanied by none other than our very own adventure puppy! (A name he has earned himself from our excursions) 

 

I even injure myself cooking tea!

Couldn't pass the opportunity for a BBQ, thought I'd behave and cook some salmon on it and went and cooked my finger too!! So, to make up for it, Thomas went and bought me some pralines and cream Häagen Dazs!! 

First world problems at their finest!! 

Wasn't quite the workout I was hoping for

Due to the issues I was having with the servers at work, I didn't get to do the abs workout I had planned.  I did manage to do about 40 min boxing session with Adam.

My coordination is dreadful, how he has managed to get away without being punched in the face is beyond me tbh!  We were working on knees and elbows too today, so he could get a complete picture of how dreadful I am coordinating more than 2 limbs at a time! It is only about the 4th time I have done it and it has been quite a while since the last time so I think I can cope.  Stupid shoulder was feeling it though, along with my weedy little wrists and bony old knees!  I kept my mouth shut and stuck with it though!

I messed up on lunch AGAIN!! I have double up on ginger and garlic and, as I thought that the lunch I had yesterday actually wasn't very hot.. I have extra chilli! +Tom Burgin unfortunately, has a very bland lunch!

I thought I should share this lovely little training video with the world, and there are some nutritional tips in there too.. Bonus

Damn work getting in the way

Emails are down, no gym for me until I've fixed that! Always a Friday morning too! 

Pre workout fuel..

This area has always caused me problems. For most on my adult life, I have suffered with acid reflux. If you have ever had it you will know how debilitating it is!!

Since counting my calories and cutting done considerably on alcohol, it's been an improvement but pre workout fuel is still a tough one.

I have tried banana's and cereal bars and cereal and all variations really but they all give me shocking heartburn. I have settled on a spoonful of meridian nut butter now. I end up famished after but there are enough calories without the volume to help me through.

Today's choice is hazelnut butter. It has a lovely bitter tang and a vile murky brown look... But it's yummy!! 

  

It's 100% hazelnuts so none of that nasty  palm oil muck!

Anyway, I need to get ready!! 

What gets you out of bed at this stupid hour?

I love not wasting a day, but I've always been a little displeased with the 5am's of the day.. If its a work day anyway.  

When I'm struggling to find the energy to lift my sore and aching self up and out to the gym, I think about the times when I'm injured and I can't go. I make myself remember how annoyed I feel that I can't exercise and I soon pull my finger out!

100 abs workout this morning followed by a boxing session with one of the guys from work. That should finish me off just nicely for the weekend 

This is my current abs workout, courtesy of Liam, my PT's Facebook page. I'm working on managing all the big sets without breaks. It's not pretty.

Happy Friday! 

Little things!

I've literally spent the last 2 hours looking forward to the other half of this! My pre horse riding boost... Any excuse really

A big thank you to drop sets..

Well, I took it upon myself to do some leg press drop sets in my routine yesterday, knowing full well that Martin was taking legs, bums and tums this morning.  You may all be chuckling away to yourselves and thinking that lbt is nothing but a half assed class for girls who like to say they've worked out rather than actually working out!

This lbt class is not for the feint hearted, or the physically infirm (me today basically)

With my lovely stiff quads and ever resistant to change, illiotibial band, I dutifully dragged my sore ass out of bed and along to Martin's class... Oh the joy of squats and lunges whilst nursing my poor, poor knees.  The PT's at the gym have got used to me now, Martin claims that I am fragile, I think he might be onto something there; either that or I'm just a massive baby! I tend to be nursing some sort of pain in every class, unless I have had a few days off for whatever reason.

Martin is really keen on technique and bio-mechanics and I have seen a vast improvement in my stability and general strength since doing his Tuesday classes of X-Fit and abs blast and he has given me a number of exercises and a theraband to help with my squatting technique. .  he is covering for another PT who is away, hence him taking this class.

To add insult to my already 'injured' legs, he is a massive fan of front jump squats too.. Not sure of the proper name, but you jump up and have your legs in the position they would be if you were sitting down, land flat footed and absorb the impact down into a squat.. and repeat!  I tend to go at it like a crazy thing to start and then end in a horrible mess on the floor.  I have to pay special attention to my land and squat, as my instability is really apparent at this point.  If i can, i do it in front of the mirror and monitor how my knees are tracking and this helps no end.

Although my legs were sore, I am used to this issue, its my latest shoulder joy that marred my efforts today.  Whilst away in Scotland, where +Tom Burgin proposed to me, I slept funny on my left hand side and woke up with a very stiff shoulder girdle area (I think that's what its called), this is over a month ago now.  It affects me when I do side planks, downward dog push ups, soldier push ups etc. I can do normal push ups fairly pain free but I notice it.  I have a docs appointment on Tuesday to see about it as its over a month ago now, although my injuries do tend to take about 6 - 8 weeks to heal i have noticed.. I need to get using my health insurance cash plan though, so now is as good a time as any.. knowing docs though, they will just prescribe me some anti-inflammatory or other and make do!

So our routine today was

• Sumo squats with side leg crunch (I am basically making these names up, I'm sure there are technical terms for them!)
• Squats to front kicks - making sure you are extra aggressive with the front kicks
• Backward lunges to leg crunches - I have to take extra care here as lunges are brutal on my knees, mirror is a must.  I have only recently started doing lunges again
• Press ups with a two second pause at the bottom.. At risk of blowing my own trumpet, I rock at these now as I have been working hard on my technique.. nose to the floor and perfect body position! I take every opportunity to boast btw, as i have put so much blood, sweat and tears into my progress so far
• Tricep dips of a step with a 2 sec pause at the bottom.  Shoulder tested my patience here so I was pretty pathetic!
• Soldier push ups. The less said about these the better
• Jump squats
• Jump lunges - These are way too dangerous for my fragility currently, I did deep lunges with 2 bounces at the bottom instead. oooo, feel those flexors (another previous injury!)
• Lateral raises with 3k and 2 sec pause. Feet together and arms lifted no further than 90 degrees to body
• Front raises with 2k and 2 sec pause. Feet together etc
• Burpees with a medicine ball and raise over head instead of jump. I have a love hate relationship with burpees and my knees, today was quite hateful so I had to do my best around the twinges.
• Spinal roll to standing - looks easy - isn't!! its taken me a few weeks but I've just about got it nailed. I couldn't even come close to being able to do it at first but I refused to let it beat me and now.. bingo! 
• Downward dog push ups - agony of all agony today with this stupid shoulder injury. I tried different arm positions and everything, in the end I just had to not go as deep. 

This was done 4 times, starting at 30 sec on 30 sec rest, 40 sec on 20 sec rest, 50 sec on 10 sec rest, 55sec on 5 sec rest.. beautiful. 

On a plus note, Martin said I was looking stronger than ever (ignoring my gammy shoulder) and my press ups kick ass! (ok, made the last bit up.. but they do!)

Now, I just have to get that into fitocracy.. seriously need a way to have it integrated onto this page.. Will get super geek Thomas onto that one. 

Teeth are overrated!

After purchasing a lovely new blender the other day, my teeth seem to be somewhat redundant now!  This could save me a fortune with the dentist...

Joking, I'm not that bad. I did try blending up some vegetable concoction at the weekend, but I think its safe to say that the carrots in my house will remain intact a little while longer.. Even Sammy (the cutest dog in the world) wouldn't eat it, so that says it all for me.

We bought the blender to try and get +Tom Burgin eating more fruit, as he hates the texture but loves the taste.  I went out yesterday and purchased two BPA free containers (I haven't read much into this, its on my list, but I thought if I can do my best to avoid it where possible until I pull my researcher stint on it, I will! Always happy for other peoples thoughts on these sorts of claims) I now make us both a smoothie in the morning and I have it after the gym, along with half a pack of the amazing, but probably horribly bad for me, Nature Valley bars.  I haven't got round to putting myself off these by reading about them just yet...

So, the jury is still out for me as far as protein shakes and meal replacements go.  I am struggling to find scientific research to substantiate claims made by fitness pro's and the producers. The one thing that is totally clear is ensuring the quality of the protein contained, along with the quality of the other ingredients.  In which case, I don't see why I cant do that through my diet for the same sort of financial outlay... I'm going to stick with good old fashioned fruit smoothies.  My current favourite is

150g mixed dark fruits - frozen (a quest for the future is to find better quality ones)
1 banana
1 pint of skimmed milk
2 tbsp of porridge oats
1 tbsp Agave nectar - I have taken this product on face value for now, I'm sure I will find some reason not to buy it soon enough.

This serves two of us and is only 249 calories, without the bar of course.  And this keeps me satiated until lunch.. Which I am now eating tentatively as I mixed mine up with Tom's and he can withstand thermonuclear chilli better than me!

check out that bad ass piece of chilli!

I am going to create a new page for stats and pics as i think it is good to see the progress all in one place, rather than root through all my blathering.

My lunch, in all its un-blended glory today, is pretty much what I regularly have but with the odd variation.

100g Leeks
100g Peas
100g Haricot beans
100g chicken thigh
100g Mushrooms
Loads of ginger and garlic
1 apple
and a whole damned chilli!!

this comes in at about 486 calories.. I say about, who knows how accurate my sources are but at least i can have a consistent way to monitor it.

And on that note, teeth really are overrated; I just chomped down on the inside of my lip!!!

And so it begins.. for you lucky readers anyway

Although the title of my blog may be somewhat misleading; this isn't a blog about finding the perfect princess wedding dress at all.. That couldn't be further from the truth!! It's about my quest for what I class as my perfect body through a good diet and regular exercise!

It just so happens that +Tom Burgin  recently asked me to marry him and I want to wear a sleek, backless number that's almost as unforgiving as being naked in public! If I can find one!

I want to blog about it in a hope to keep me motivated and hopefully get plenty of input from other, more experienced fitness addicts! Oh, let's not forget the wedding.. I want a diary of the developing ideas for +Sarah AndThomas' special day, thats where half the fun is!! 

 

I couldn't decide how to explain how I have got to where I am at today, so I decided not to bother.. If you follow this, you'll quickly get to know me and what's going on. I will however give you a few little bits:

 

• weight lost this year 18llbs - total weight loss since Jan 2012 28llbs
• Current weight 149.8llbs and have been stuck here for a little too long now
• Height: 5'6.5"
• Body fat roughly 26.1% started this year at ~32%.
• Tom - total weight loss since Jan 2012 49llbs - yes, we were little porkers, also known as beer monsters
• Have 3 horses and teaching Tom to ride
• Seriously got into the gym from January 2013
• Started concentrating on weights around May 2013
• Constantly injuring myself, just badly put together I reckon
• Love hard core spin sessions
• Love nothing more than totally obliterating myself when my body isn't broken!
• Love stats and apps that make tracking them fun.  Currently use MyFitnessPal, Fitocracy, waterlogged, Endomondo (latter on hold until I have found the best activity tracker band/monitor). 
• Love it even more when they interact
• Massive Geek
• Massively impatient - think I should be looking amazing after 1 weights session
• Insists on researching everything to death and still being undecided!
• Lover of everything bad for you food wise and a massive pig - on-going battle there!
• Tom had my engagement ring made out of the shoes of my horse that I lost last year after owning him for 15years.. #HugeBrowniePoints!!

well, so much for a few.. got a little carried away there!

 

 

Thought you deserved a pic of the cutest dog in the world for making it to here!