This statement made Mr WLB chuckle earlier on today…”I’m quite lazy really when I’m not at the gym…I mean, I’d rather sit down than stand up!”, I said.
He found this rather amusing, but also agreed with me! We were chatting in the car on the way to the horses following our gym session. Unfortunately for Mr WLB, his session today lasted just over half an hour…mine is three times as long…he doesn’t drive and so ends up waiting for me in the car. This obviously means that when I get into the car, all hot and sweaty and tired, he immediately wants to get going. So today I got a bit of lecture about whether or not I am doing too much at the gym and spending too much time there.
My arguments in favour of my exercise are numerous. For example my mind feels fantastic when I exercise…and this feeling lasts quite a while! The rather obvious argument I have is that I spent so much time not being able to move my body properly, that it is a joy to do so now – I can feel my body working as it should – getting stronger and healthier…and it feels bloody amazing. And my main point was the one I made to Mr WLB that made him laugh – other than the gym, my life is fairly sedate. Yes, I am moving more around the house in general and am not chair-bound as I once was. However, I still do prefer to sit down than stand up! 
I don’t have children to run around after. I don’t particularly like housework and so am not running around cleaning all of the time – we tend to have one massive cleaning spree each week and let it go to pot in between times! I am not someone with a manual labour or physically active job. I make my dinners quite quick and simple and so don’t spend hours standing in the kitchen either. And nor are my horses stabled at the moment…so no mucking out or yard duties.
When I say lazy, it’s not that I make a conscious choice to be lazy…it’s just that my life isn’t as active as that of others. So when people hear how much I do in the gym on a weekly basis, they look shocked. My new PT wants me to cut back, as does my Slimming World consultant…but I am currently doing that age old thing that I do when someone tells me what to do…sticking my fingers in my ears and not listening!
It’s not that I feel that I know best – or maybe it is…it is my body after all – but it’s just that I am so excited to be participating in life rather than sitting on the sidelines wishing that I was doing stuff. I don’t see the gym as a chore, I see it as a pleasure. It is helping me to get my life back…what’s not to like? And why on earth would I want to slow it down?
I do understand that my body needs recovery time between sessions. It needs time to replenish…but it does get a lot of time in bed at night…and I do like a bit of TV time in the evening on the sofa too! 
In the interest of transparency though, I thought that I would lay it on the line for you. I will share with you my weekly workout schedule. Now, this is a bit awkward, as my PT sessions kick in next week and are buggering up said schedule. And I have just started my pilates sessions, so they need adding in too…but here goes…
So this was what my workout week looked like…and it has been this way since October 2012…
Monday: 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical.
Tuesday: 30 minutes aquafit.
Wednesday: 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical.
Thursday: 45 minutes aquafit, 30 minutes swimming.
Friday: 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical, 90 minutes swimming.
Saturday: 60 minutes aquafit.
Sunday: Total rest day.
Which is a grand total of 435 minutes, or 7 hours and 15 minutes (if my maths is correct!)…so more than the recommend 30 minutes of activity a day…but not drastic…is it?
My PT wanted me to cut out an activity, so I decided to cut out my Friday night swim…but then I have just ‘found’ pilates and added that in. I am not a very good PT student, am I?! This is kind of what my new training week looks like. A bit hard to understand, as sometimes my PT session is on a Wednesday, and sometimes it’s on a Thursday – so the days around it look a bit different as he has warned me that I won’t able to, and shouldn’t try to, complete my usual workout the day after. It might not make sense…but if the PT session is on a Wednesday, then aquafit and swimming is on the Thursday – if the PT session is on the Thursday, then my usual Friday workout is ditched in favour of a swim…have a look and see if you can make sense of it!
Monday: 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical.
Tuesday: 30 minutes aquafit.
Wednesday: Either – 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical – or 60 minute PT session.
Thursday: Either – 60 minute PT session – or 45 minutes aquafit, 30 minutes swimming.
Friday: Either – 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical – or 60 minutes swimming.
Saturday: 60 minutes pilates, 60 minutes aquafit.
Sunday: Total rest day.
So on Wednesday PT days, my workout week will be 465 minutes, or 7 hours and 45 minutes long. If my PT session is on a Thursday, my workout week will be 450 minutes, or 7 hours and 30 minutes long.
As I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a lot to me. I am aware of HIIT (high intensity interval training) sessions, which mean that I could spend far less time in the gym. For someone of my weight though, it could well mean that I spend more time in hospital after fecking my body up! So all of you HIIT fanatics who look at the time I spend in the gym and laugh, can bugger off. I have read the pro’s and con’s…and for me, it’s not an option at the moment. For true HIIT work you need to be fairly fit and healthy – and that’s not just my opinion but that of a lot of professionals out there!
And, as previously mentioned, I actually love being in the gym. I keep an eye on my heart-rate, I work at a decent intensity, I don’t stand around chatting or trying to make myself look pretty on the machines…I sweat like a bitch. I work my arse off and I love it…it’s not a chore.
The only thing that is giving me a bit of concern is my intent focus on going to the gym. I do love it, but I feel that I have to be there too if that makes sense? Take yesterday for example – I had a meeting with a Director and Trustee of HOOP which fell smack-bang in the middle of my usual aquafit session. Now, on this occasion, I had had a private pilates session the day before in addition to my usual workout…so I was 60 minutes up this week, and used this to justify my exercise absence yesterday. Yet I still felt a bit jittery about not sticking to my schedule.
I realise how crazy this sounds. If a meeting is taking place and the gym is not doable for one day, this is fine. But it didn’t feel fine to me. I am trying to make my health and fitness a priority – finally, at the age of 32! – and I don’t want anything to get in the way of it. Whilst I don’t want it to become an obsession, I do need to keep the focus. So I am trying to ensure that I am not replacing an unhealthy obsession with food, with an unhealthy obsession with the gym. A balance needs to be found.
On that note, I am going to wrap up tonight’s blog post as I want an early night to give my body chance to rest for tomorrow’s activities!
Other than the gym, we saw the horses – who seem in fine form. We are lucky to be keeping them on a decent hill field for the winter, so the ground is holding up well to this wet weather. I spoke with a lovely woman this morning about coaching, and I spoke with a lovely guy tonight about a great website they are launching…which is ironically enough linked to exercise! Then I took some baby clothes that I had bought over to my Mums new foster placement…and it was the baby’s mums birthday today too, so I took her a card and some chocolates to make her feel welcome in our family. I saw my sister, niece and nephew too – and watched my brother in law cleaning what he felt was out of date food out of his fridge…I would happily have taken most of it home with me! My nephew was encouraged to eat his dinner by me…squeezing and checking his biceps to see if his healthy food was helping them get bigger…he finished his rice, fish and veggies eventually. And then I saved the day by donating bath bombs for them so they could have a relaxing bath!
Breakfast: Banana porridge (5 syns).
Lunch: Tuna, cottage cheese and baked bean potato.
Dinner: Chicken and veggie curry (4 syns).
Snacks: Thai seeds (4 syns), two cheese and veggie toasties (HEA and 2 x HEB), and cherries with 0% Total Greek yogurt.
A nice food day! My usual banana porridge…which you must be fed up of seeing now?! Lunch was grabbed quickly between the gym and various visits today…so no superfree, but just a lovely mixture of plain tuna (no mayo), cottage cheese and baked beans on a jacket potato. Dinner was lovely. Chicken with garlic, madras powder, chilli flakes, tomatoes, courgette, peppers and onion, with wholemeal rice. And my lovely Greek yogurt and cherries to finish. I also tried these today…
…8 syns for a packet and a great post workout snack which I shared with Mr WLB. Actually, I didn’t share them…he ate half the bag and decided that he didn’t like them, so left me half a bag for when I had finished my workout! I really liked them…but not many people would like to spend their syns on ‘bird food’ as Mr WLB called it.
Exercise: 5 minutes treadmill, 55 minutes weights, 30 minutes elliptical machine.
Thank you for reading,
Weight Loss Bitch xxx
WeightLossBitch
On a health and fitness driven journey to lose over 32st / 448lbs / 203kgs – yes, it is a considerable amount – I am committed to losing my excess weight without the aid of weight loss surgery, diet pills, or quick fixes…as there aren’t any! Changing my eating habits and building up my fitness levels, along with addressing the ‘head issues’ will be crucial in order for me to achieve my goal. Living in England as a 31 year old super morbidly obese woman can be challenging to say the least. I have been shouted at in the street and verbally abused far too many times to mention; hence the name ‘Weight Loss Bitch’…the day I am just called a ‘bitch’ instead of a ‘fat bitch’ will be the day that I know I have cracked my weight loss! With many reasons to lose this weight I am documenting my journey for a number of reasons. Firstly, I would like to keep a record of the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and the challenges I face with such an enormous task to tackle. Secondly, I would also like to inspire and encourage other people who are in a similar situation and to show them that significant amounts of weight can be lost naturally…with a bit of motivation, hard work, dedication and will power. Thirdly, all of the blogging, Facebook-ing, Tweet-ing, Pinterest-ing and YouTube-ing keeps me occupied and keeps my fingers out of the fridge!
Join with Google
Join with Facebook