So for those of you following my posts (both of you) you'll remember it's been a few weeks of ups and downs. Particularly down last week. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong. Even my chair broke on Sunday night, throwing me across my lounge. Had to just laugh. The diet hasn't been going so well, this much I hold my hands up to. It's been down to stress mostly, lack of time quite a bit, and general apathy through negativity/pessimism about life in general.
It's Easter Break at University now, and that means 3 weeks away from the place that's the source of most of my stress. I do still have a huuuuuuuuuuuge assignment to do for my postgrad studies, but for some odd reason I've stopped worrying about that. I've 90% made a new career path choice due to start in the Autumn, and to top it off I think I may even have found myself a new lady friend (I think they're referred to as "girlfriends", it's been a while). After a horrific week or so, this week has everything starting to look shinier.
They say when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up, right?
I used to do my tracking Wednesday to Wednesday, and guess what, today is Wednesday! Once I get to the office it's going to be a new set of measurements, new photos and a new weight.
I know my weight is going to be up, and I'm fairly sure my measurements are going to be up too. This doesn't worry me if they are, as I know now I can beat them. Going to speak to one of the trainers at the gym and get a proper workout routine tonight instead of deciding I know best. The diet is going to be a slow-and-steady transition back into good food, mostly because the constant switching between good and bad lately has played merry hell with my digestive system (the phrase 'backed up' is very applicable here, so much so I'll be off to see my doc soon).
I know it'll be tough to get going again, but I've done it once, and know I can get back there. Will update this post with measurements etc in an hour or so, once I get to work.
Onwards, and upwards! :)
Stats:
Weight: 18st 3lb (-3lb on previous weigh-in)
Chest: 44.5" (unchanged)
Stomach: 44" (-1.5")
Waist: 41.5" (unchanged)
Collar: 16.5" (-0.5")
Have to say I'm very surprised! Was expecting my weight to be around the 18st7/8lb mark, and was definitely not expecting my measurements to be down/unchanged. All in all, not bad at all.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Friday, 22 March 2013
Week Off
After kicking off the week with a cracking Monday, the world decided to take a dump on me the next day.
This is Daisy, a rescue cat we adopted in 2005/2006. My sister found her in a very bad state while working in London one evening and took her to a local RSPCA rescue centre. As you can see from the photo the outcome was the amputation of her rear right leg, but as with most cats she learned to overcome this and lived many happy years with us and our other cats.
On Tuesday evening we heard meowing from the back of the garden and found her severely injured. My mother and I rushed her to a local vet where they spent the evening trying to stabilise her from what they described as critical condition. The prognosis was not a hopeful one, but she was given the best care available at the time.
The damage was this time to her back left leg. Every bone in the leg had been broken in multiple places, with the vet assuming it was from a collision with a car. It's a miracle Daisy had managed to drag herself as far as she had to make it home, using her front paws only. If she'd not previously had an amputation then this was the logical course of action. Sadly due to her history the vet placed a less than 50% chance of recovery from attempting to repair her remaining leg, with months of surgery involved.
Noone wanted to put her through any more pain than she'd already been in and the decision was agreed to put our little lady to sleep. We returned to the vet to see her later in the evening and be with her during her final moments. It felt at the time as if she knew her time had come, and she rested calmly despite the pain she was clearly in, as we sat with her at the end.
After she joined our family Daisy seemed to take quite some time to adjust. It was obvious she'd been abused by her previous owners and she was distrusting and cautious around everyone. Everyone except me, for reasons I'll never know. She'd run and hide from my family, guests, the other cats, anything that moved. However if she even caught a glimpse of me she'd come running to me, purring, chirping and happy.
While she relaxed around my family over the following years she still stayed particular to me. Whenever my mother was calling the cats in for the evening, Daisy would quite often sit just out of reach, unmoving. Food, treats, calls, she'd ignore them all. All it would take is one call from me and she'd come running in, every time.
She also loved the rain, and would deliberately run out into it to get soaking wet. This was down to me again, I realised fairly late on. During her earlier days with us when she was still adjusting to her 'tripod' way of life she found it difficult to wash her torso, she'd always roll over and fail. I used to pick her up and wrap her in a towel, drying her off, which of course lead to a cuddle and purring. After a few such occurances, she'd go out of her way to get wet, just so I'd pick her up wrapped in a towel!
I've lost pets before, but it was a particularly close bond with this little lady. It's been one hell of a week adjusting to her not being around, and I've simply had no energy to keep up with the gym or the eating this week. Drained, both physically and emotionally.
Shall pick up where I left off soon enough.
This is Daisy, a rescue cat we adopted in 2005/2006. My sister found her in a very bad state while working in London one evening and took her to a local RSPCA rescue centre. As you can see from the photo the outcome was the amputation of her rear right leg, but as with most cats she learned to overcome this and lived many happy years with us and our other cats.
On Tuesday evening we heard meowing from the back of the garden and found her severely injured. My mother and I rushed her to a local vet where they spent the evening trying to stabilise her from what they described as critical condition. The prognosis was not a hopeful one, but she was given the best care available at the time.
The damage was this time to her back left leg. Every bone in the leg had been broken in multiple places, with the vet assuming it was from a collision with a car. It's a miracle Daisy had managed to drag herself as far as she had to make it home, using her front paws only. If she'd not previously had an amputation then this was the logical course of action. Sadly due to her history the vet placed a less than 50% chance of recovery from attempting to repair her remaining leg, with months of surgery involved.
Noone wanted to put her through any more pain than she'd already been in and the decision was agreed to put our little lady to sleep. We returned to the vet to see her later in the evening and be with her during her final moments. It felt at the time as if she knew her time had come, and she rested calmly despite the pain she was clearly in, as we sat with her at the end.
After she joined our family Daisy seemed to take quite some time to adjust. It was obvious she'd been abused by her previous owners and she was distrusting and cautious around everyone. Everyone except me, for reasons I'll never know. She'd run and hide from my family, guests, the other cats, anything that moved. However if she even caught a glimpse of me she'd come running to me, purring, chirping and happy.
While she relaxed around my family over the following years she still stayed particular to me. Whenever my mother was calling the cats in for the evening, Daisy would quite often sit just out of reach, unmoving. Food, treats, calls, she'd ignore them all. All it would take is one call from me and she'd come running in, every time.
She also loved the rain, and would deliberately run out into it to get soaking wet. This was down to me again, I realised fairly late on. During her earlier days with us when she was still adjusting to her 'tripod' way of life she found it difficult to wash her torso, she'd always roll over and fail. I used to pick her up and wrap her in a towel, drying her off, which of course lead to a cuddle and purring. After a few such occurances, she'd go out of her way to get wet, just so I'd pick her up wrapped in a towel!
I've lost pets before, but it was a particularly close bond with this little lady. It's been one hell of a week adjusting to her not being around, and I've simply had no energy to keep up with the gym or the eating this week. Drained, both physically and emotionally.
Shall pick up where I left off soon enough.
Monday, 18 March 2013
And relax
So following on from my previous post, I've knocked things down a peg or two and gone back to basics. No idea on results just yet, but certainly feel a lot more relaxed about it all and feel better in myself. I'm not stressing about what the scales will say this week, and I'm not judging myself every five seconds about what I'm eating or drinking (ironically, I'm eating & drinking better since I stopped stressing about it).
Fantastic gym session on Friday night and an amazing session this morning. The jogging/running is really picking up and I'm starting to feel gains on the weights, ready to up a notch or two on some of the exercises.
All in all, feeling better!
Fantastic gym session on Friday night and an amazing session this morning. The jogging/running is really picking up and I'm starting to feel gains on the weights, ready to up a notch or two on some of the exercises.
All in all, feeling better!
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Week #14 (13/03/13)
Not done a proper weigh-in for a few weeks now, but have at least been updating with progress (or more importantly, my lack of it).
Soooooo....
Weight: 18st 6lb (given up tracking +/- these last few weeks, it's been all over the place)
Chest: 44.5" (-0.5")
Stomach: 45.5" (+1.5")
Waist: 42" (+0.5")
Collar: 17" (+0.25")
A little along the lines of what I expected. Not so great. Seems I'm not alone with tough times at the moment either, two blogers I follow (FogDog and Candi) are both in similar positions, albeit slightly differing reasons for each of us.
My problem? Just overstretched at the moment. I've got just over 1 month left of my University teaching, then term ends on April 20th. April 22nd sees the final hand-in for my Masters for this year, so that ends too. That will take away two very large sources of stress and timesinks from my life, and I can't wait. My average work day at the moment is 5/6am through till midnight/1am. It's exhausting, I'm exhausted. I can never do anything but work without a guilty, borderline panicking conscience because I know I should be working.
My sleep situation hasn't improved despite the surgery and weight loss either. I was back at my Sleep Specialist this morning and I've got a list of new tips and tricks to try, but I'm also being referred back to a medical consultant in the near future for a new sleep study.
Lately I've been waking up in the 4-6am region, no matter what time I go to bed or what time I need to be up. My office hours start at 10am though, so I've been filling the morning with working from home. My late 10am start means a late finish though, often not getting in until 7-9pm. Gym means not eating dinner until 9-10pm at the earliest, and then I'm rushing to unwind for bed at midnight. My sleep guy today pointed out that 3-4 hour gap each morning from waking up to work and stated that would be a much better time for me to exercise.
I also read another blog recently written just before New Years, and noted my propensity for his reason #2. I was doing my own gym/diet, then I spoke to one friend and tried another diet, then I did Weight Watchers, then a gym tech advised me another way, then a friend told me another thing, then I changed my Weight Watchers, then I tried another new routine..... all over the shop. I've decided I'm going back to basics and just doing things my way, which worked well back at the start. Simple food, simple exercise, and plenty of exercise at that.
One more month though, and my free time (and hopefully, energy) will increase tenfold, and I can start putting me first again.
Soooooo....
Weight: 18st 6lb (given up tracking +/- these last few weeks, it's been all over the place)
Chest: 44.5" (-0.5")
Stomach: 45.5" (+1.5")
Waist: 42" (+0.5")
Collar: 17" (+0.25")
A little along the lines of what I expected. Not so great. Seems I'm not alone with tough times at the moment either, two blogers I follow (FogDog and Candi) are both in similar positions, albeit slightly differing reasons for each of us.
My problem? Just overstretched at the moment. I've got just over 1 month left of my University teaching, then term ends on April 20th. April 22nd sees the final hand-in for my Masters for this year, so that ends too. That will take away two very large sources of stress and timesinks from my life, and I can't wait. My average work day at the moment is 5/6am through till midnight/1am. It's exhausting, I'm exhausted. I can never do anything but work without a guilty, borderline panicking conscience because I know I should be working.
My sleep situation hasn't improved despite the surgery and weight loss either. I was back at my Sleep Specialist this morning and I've got a list of new tips and tricks to try, but I'm also being referred back to a medical consultant in the near future for a new sleep study.
Lately I've been waking up in the 4-6am region, no matter what time I go to bed or what time I need to be up. My office hours start at 10am though, so I've been filling the morning with working from home. My late 10am start means a late finish though, often not getting in until 7-9pm. Gym means not eating dinner until 9-10pm at the earliest, and then I'm rushing to unwind for bed at midnight. My sleep guy today pointed out that 3-4 hour gap each morning from waking up to work and stated that would be a much better time for me to exercise.
I also read another blog recently written just before New Years, and noted my propensity for his reason #2. I was doing my own gym/diet, then I spoke to one friend and tried another diet, then I did Weight Watchers, then a gym tech advised me another way, then a friend told me another thing, then I changed my Weight Watchers, then I tried another new routine..... all over the shop. I've decided I'm going back to basics and just doing things my way, which worked well back at the start. Simple food, simple exercise, and plenty of exercise at that.
One more month though, and my free time (and hopefully, energy) will increase tenfold, and I can start putting me first again.
Monday, 11 March 2013
No sense at all :)
Just a quick one on an amusing situation.
So I wrote a long, rather despairing post last week. Lots of effort and reverse results.
I know it's not Wednesday but I had a fun, relaxing weekend (which of course involved some degree of alcohol, not a huge amount but it was there) and I couldn't resist hopping on the scales this morning.
So I had a bottle of red wine on Friday night, and in a somewhat intoxicated state ended up eating some chinese food too (not my old style gluttonous amounts though, glad I still managed to exercise some willpower). I went out into London on Saturday night and had a good few drinks, followed by a burger and some chips on the train home at 1am in a decidedly drunk state. On Sunday I went home to see the parents and had dinner there, beef wellington with all the trimmings, gravy, and a home made rice pudding to follow.
I think we can all agree it could be better. I also didn't make it to the gym on the weekend (I'm doing a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday pattern at the moment).
The outcome? I've lost 5.5lbs since last Wednesday. Given up trying to understand it, just going to keep trying and see what happens in the long run :)
So I wrote a long, rather despairing post last week. Lots of effort and reverse results.
I know it's not Wednesday but I had a fun, relaxing weekend (which of course involved some degree of alcohol, not a huge amount but it was there) and I couldn't resist hopping on the scales this morning.
So I had a bottle of red wine on Friday night, and in a somewhat intoxicated state ended up eating some chinese food too (not my old style gluttonous amounts though, glad I still managed to exercise some willpower). I went out into London on Saturday night and had a good few drinks, followed by a burger and some chips on the train home at 1am in a decidedly drunk state. On Sunday I went home to see the parents and had dinner there, beef wellington with all the trimmings, gravy, and a home made rice pudding to follow.
I think we can all agree it could be better. I also didn't make it to the gym on the weekend (I'm doing a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday pattern at the moment).
The outcome? I've lost 5.5lbs since last Wednesday. Given up trying to understand it, just going to keep trying and see what happens in the long run :)
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Adversity
So we're into a new month, spring is arriving, the sunshine is occasionally here and all is good. Right?
No.
I haven't posted in a while I know, but today I'm thoroughly cheesed off.
Following last weeks panic post I was advised by a friend to not worry, between dehydration/rehydration and a sudden calorie influx it was normal to face what I did and that the weight would fall off rapidly. It definitely did, with last Wednesday seeing me at 18st 1.5lb, only a 2lb gain on the previous week. Given I'd had two drunken nights out and three lots of terrible food, 2lb wasn't all that bad.
Since last Wednesday I have been on it, big time. The healthy eating is 100% in force, I'm walking/biking everywhere I go, and I've been hitting the gym hard. I've been starting to feel back on form. So you can imagine my anticipation and excitement when I hit the scales today, right?
18st 7lbs. Yes, 18st 7lbs. 5.5lbs up on last week. "Don't worry!" someone shouts, "you've been doing weights at the gym, check your measurements instead!" they said.
I left the bit of paper at the office, but from memory it was 16.5" collar/neck, 45" chest, 44" stomach and 42" waist. So no loss anywhere, and in fact gaining size on the waistline.
Five and a half pounds gained, and half an inch to go with it. That's following a week of the tightest eating control I've done in ages, the healthiest I've ate since I was sick, and the most exercise I've done in nearly 2 months. And I've gained, in every area.
My mother is adament it's down to stress. My life has been chaotic since my sickness and I'll admit I've found it incredibly difficult to get back on top of things. I'm on the verge of a complete career change decision, having become completely disengaged/jaded towards my teaching. My sleep (remembering I have both Narcolepsy and Severe Sleep Apnoea, for those that haven't read my intro) has been horrific. Last weekend I managed only 5 hours sleep in 4 days, whilst remaining in a near-catatonic non-wakened state the rest of the time. Only the gym seemed to help get out of it. I'm seeing my sleep specialist again next week down in London, so that should help at least.
Someone, throw me a bone here. Tell me not to worry, man up, and get on with it. All I want right now is a beer and some chinese to round out the night. Instead I've got a fat pile of work to get ready for tomorrow, knowing I won't be finishing work until at least 10pm tomorrow night though. Bleh.
No.
I haven't posted in a while I know, but today I'm thoroughly cheesed off.
Following last weeks panic post I was advised by a friend to not worry, between dehydration/rehydration and a sudden calorie influx it was normal to face what I did and that the weight would fall off rapidly. It definitely did, with last Wednesday seeing me at 18st 1.5lb, only a 2lb gain on the previous week. Given I'd had two drunken nights out and three lots of terrible food, 2lb wasn't all that bad.
Since last Wednesday I have been on it, big time. The healthy eating is 100% in force, I'm walking/biking everywhere I go, and I've been hitting the gym hard. I've been starting to feel back on form. So you can imagine my anticipation and excitement when I hit the scales today, right?
18st 7lbs. Yes, 18st 7lbs. 5.5lbs up on last week. "Don't worry!" someone shouts, "you've been doing weights at the gym, check your measurements instead!" they said.
I left the bit of paper at the office, but from memory it was 16.5" collar/neck, 45" chest, 44" stomach and 42" waist. So no loss anywhere, and in fact gaining size on the waistline.
Five and a half pounds gained, and half an inch to go with it. That's following a week of the tightest eating control I've done in ages, the healthiest I've ate since I was sick, and the most exercise I've done in nearly 2 months. And I've gained, in every area.
My mother is adament it's down to stress. My life has been chaotic since my sickness and I'll admit I've found it incredibly difficult to get back on top of things. I'm on the verge of a complete career change decision, having become completely disengaged/jaded towards my teaching. My sleep (remembering I have both Narcolepsy and Severe Sleep Apnoea, for those that haven't read my intro) has been horrific. Last weekend I managed only 5 hours sleep in 4 days, whilst remaining in a near-catatonic non-wakened state the rest of the time. Only the gym seemed to help get out of it. I'm seeing my sleep specialist again next week down in London, so that should help at least.
Someone, throw me a bone here. Tell me not to worry, man up, and get on with it. All I want right now is a beer and some chinese to round out the night. Instead I've got a fat pile of work to get ready for tomorrow, knowing I won't be finishing work until at least 10pm tomorrow night though. Bleh.
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