Personal Training and OCD tendencies......

Morning all!

Ok, so first things first – let’s get the boring food thang out the way…..

Monday 23rd March:

B – smoothie – 4 points, milk allowance 1,
L - salad, sweet potato, 2 ryvita (1) and 2 laughing cow (1)
D – 60g wholewheat pasta (3), 1 tbsp low fat pesto (1.5), courgette, mushrooms (0)
Snack – 2x Roberts the Baker bread (2) toasted plus Flora Light 10g (.5)
Water – 1 litre
Exercise – 30 lengths in 20 mins quick swim
Total for Monday – 14/20

Tuesday 24th March:

B – strawberries (1/2), grapes (1), tea, milk allowance (1)
L – spinach salad (0), 4 wholewheat crispbreads (2) and 2 laughing cow soft cheese thingies (1)
D – stir fry veggies, chow mein sauce (2) and noodles (2.5)
Snacks: 2 more crisp bread midmorning (1), ww cake bar (1.5), 3 segments of Terry’s chocolate Orange (3) - I know soooooo bad but it’s my absolute FAVOURITEST chocolate EVER and I think I showed excellent restraint at 3 segments….usually I’d have eaten the whole thing! Also 2x Roberts the Baker toast (2) plus 10g flora light (.5) – seem to be craving bread this week?
Water – 2 litres!! WOO!!
Exercise – 40 lengths in 30 mins swim, one hour avec le personal trainer
Total for day: 18/20

Wednesday 25th March:

B – 60g porridge oats made with water and skimmed milk(3)
Plus tea and a caffe nero single-shot-skinny-latte-grande-to-go(2), milk allowance (2)
L – baked potato (2.5) plus cottage cheese (2.5) and a salad (0)
D – going to Garrett’s (lovely local eatery) with the girlies so have opted for chicken, veggies and new potatoes plus a sorbet thing for dessert. I’m still off the vino so that makes the damage minimal (Though one quite fancies a G&SLT…) I reckon 3 for chicken, 3 for spuds, God knows what the veg will be roasted in (I’ll check) - so I might be a few points over today BUT I really needed a hearty breakfast today because of all the exercise I’m doing….one thing I am DEFINITELY learning is how to listen to my body and discern what is actual hunger versus emotional hunger. Cool hey!?
Plus I will quaff the (now) usual 1L of agua and swim at lunchtime, all of which will help with being a few points over…. – though I have to say, today’s swim is purely for relaxational/medicinal purposes because, quite frankly, my poor body is cream-crackered!!!!!

Which brings me nicely on to a review of last night’s Personal Training Session., or PTS (or, Post Traumatic Stress…..co-inky-dink? I think not…)

First things first: OH DEAR GOD I CAN BARELY WALK OR LIFT MY FREAKING ARMS OR GET DRESSED OR BRUSH MY HAIR OR PUT ON MY COAT OR WALK DOWNSTAIRS OR WALK UPSTAIRS OR LIFT ANYTHING OR CROUCH DOWN TO FILL MY WATER BOTTLE OR A MYRIAD OF OTHER THINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Right, now that’s out the way, let us begin.

After a quick warm up on ye olde treadmill I was off into a world of Resistance and Core Training. Chris (that’s the slave driver’s name) took me through my own personally designed hell, er…I mean workout.

I did all manner of things, squats (very attractive) on one leg holding weights, push ups on the damn blow up ball thingy, leg raises, reverse crunch thingies which were like in Pilates so I could do them, this rotator cuff affair which I swear nearly made my arms fall off, tricep exercises on the bench, pull down thingies using the weight frame (which in my gym is a man only area used by the ‘roid rage gang, so that’ll be interesting hahaha), the dreaded plank with which I am entirely familiar BUT ON A BALL, 2 point lunges (I promise I will learn the proper names).

So all in all it was GREAT! I felt really comfortable with him and feel like he ‘gets’ my personality. He wasn’t dead ‘American’ (sorry USofA pals!!!!) and cheerleadery, seemed like he knew when to encourage me and when to let me get on with it. Obviously I am tired and a bit sore and I can feel muscles that I’ve worked that I haven’t been aware of in a lonnnnnnnnnnng time but I find that strangely satisfying. I know I’ve WORKED and that each exercise I did had been specifically tailored to help me get my body back in shape. It’s a feeling I’m familiar with and one which I’d forgotten how much I love and buzz off. It was a challenge to me to get the exercises right and to target using the right part of the body like abs rather than lower back etc.

I came away with my plan and file all ready to got to work in the gym on my own with another session in 2 weeks with Chris – it feels…….positive? I dunno if that’s the right word but it kinda captures my vine this morning.

That said, there were 2 things I was aware of throughout the session that made me snigger/reflect on/want to blog about…and they are the following:-

- I don’t know if this guy is a genius/psychic/expert psychologist or just plain lucky BUT the ENTIRE plan he has put together for me involved repeating each exercise 3 times with 15 reps each time. Now, probably many of you won’t know this about me (especially not to look at me now!) but way back when, I was a VERY SERIOUS BUN HEAD, that is, a classical ballet student. In ballet the whole ethos is that you don’t become ‘one sided’ so every exercise is repeated on either side of the body an equal number of times, a whole number of times!!! This has led to some very OCD-like behaviour in me, such as when I am swimming I have to alternate the way I turn (ie to my left or to my right shoulder) and have to complete the same number of turns each way, also I cannot swim an odd number of lengths, it has to be an even number and at best a whole number. If I do not do this, I feel all......squiggly.And when I gym it myself, I do 4 sets of 12 reps each which makes me feel calm and un-one-sided. Yes, I know it’s weird and I am a freak but hey I’ve learnt to embrace my oddness. So, the idea of repeating an exercise 3 times and doing 15 reps really freaked me out - so as well as training, I’m getting some behaviour modification thrown into the mix! HILARIOUS!

- Second thing……IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WEIRD HAVING SOMEONE WATCH YOU WORK OUT. Dear Lord, I REALLY had to put my pride in my gym bag and leave it zipped tight. Honestly, some of those exercises are so ungainly and he kept moving around me to check I was doing it right from all angles….good grief! You know how when you’re in the gym, if you’re anything like me, you’re all about zoning off into your own world and going about your training without being watched, well – let’s just say this was a whole new world. A while back I think I’d have let that feeling of not being in control and being watched stop me having a PT – but not this time!!!

And finally, hopefully this will make you laugh. My office is a big building with a lot of people working in it. So, suffice to say the toilets are used by a lot of people. Thus, I am a hoverer….if you get my meaning. NOT TODAY! There is no strength left in my thighs for THAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Right, really MUST do some work now.

Laters fellow fat fighters! xxxxxx