12 January 2011 - 2 down 1 to go

Morning body, did you sleep well? You did, great! I didnt, every-time I moved in the night I felt everyone of you muscles twang.I cant stand up out of bed, maybe I can call in sick. Again. Nope Ive got meetings today I cant avoid.

I laughed my way through today, amused at the increasing pain in my thighs and tummy and wondering who that smart arse was who coined the "no pain no gain" phrase. I would like to have a few words with that cheeky monkey. Thank you please!

This morning, I had a few chores to do before work - chores being "find the cat pee" challenge, always good fun and I can sense my kitties watching me amused at my failings. I start with the top of the kitchen cupboards (dont ask...) and I remove the boxes and sniff out the "pee" like a professional, spraying cat smell deodorizer. The great part was it involved a ladder, and steps and climbing up and down them several times. I found the pee. 2 of them!! Thanks for asking.

You see, I woke up knowing I had to move and stretch, and my work day was not going to offer me this. I had to be creative. I cleaned and moved and stretched my muscles,AND well before 7am I may addl! When I got to the office, I climbed the 3 floors to the office, I started to count then gave up as the number of steps was irrelevant. I was proud when I reached the top and was thankful the receptionist was not on duty, she avoided some heavy breathing and may have called 999. Or is that 911 here? I really should learn this!

Im going to use the step climbing and my out of breathness as a measure. The only safety issue I discovered with this was the downward walk in the evening, the light switch only stays on for a short period of time, and I dont like the dark, so I worked out to press the light switch on every floor and I certainly moved faster than I had planed from 1st to ground.

And it was followed by Day 2 of boot camp with OFC. The lovely Zaid again. And "LL" was with me. Thank you both. I felt I was the worst in the group, was unable to complete the tasks and was utterly useless tonight. But I did it, and as Zaid says, I turned up. The people in the group are lovely, bizarrely there are at least 2 other HR people, nice to know Im not alone! I already ache in places I never knew existed. My legs still feel like 10 tonne weights. I cant say I love it, I cant say I hate it, but its somewhere in between but less than like. LL says give it 2 months! OK ......

Tomorrow is BC Day 3. Then its the weekend. Then I can sleep. The interesting part will be what will I do on Friday and Saturday ... will I reach the gym, or the pool, or try one of the gym's classes? Only 2 days to wait and see.

Emirates Towers Vertical Marathon now being considered for 2012 ........ anyone?

11 January 2011 - Fly fly away ...

The day after the night before. Boot camp Day 1. I didnt sleep, no surprise there really. But I think this was more due to the fact I didnt want to miss my 8am flight. However, I can only describe today by using a timeline, otherwise Im just going to ramble.

530am - alarm wakes me up. Either I havent slept or Ive dreamt I was awake, cant quite work it out. Regardless, Im knackered, frazzled and its dark outside. Not bad, I dont feel in too much pain. Better than expected, marvelous. Now Im awake. OK lets get moving.

8am - sat onboard a Gulf Air flight (even though I would have preferred Emirates to get my miles up), thinking about the carb overdose they usually serve for breakfast. In flight - Great news, I can have the fruit salad (4 chunks of) and the orange juice. Left the carb overdose, thats got to be a first! Well done me : )

9.15am (Dubai time) - arrived in Bahrain, got some steps to walk down. Right, starting to feel a bit more pain in my thighs than I felt a few hours before. These steps are definitely killing my thighs. 

10am (Bahrain time) - arrive at the office, struggled to get out of the Pajero elegantly, half way through disembarking my legs decided to not be connected to the rest of my body (reminds me of a French and Saunders skecth - one for my sis to laugh at - "... then her legs fell off, along with her kinky boots"). Oopsa

1pm - morning training done, well done me. Time for a bathroom break and some of "LL's" recommended stretches. How funny doing that in a small toilet, good job they are nice and clean in Bahrain not like Dubai. Must get new office cleaners .... Anyway, my thighs pretented to function even less, practically threw my bum cheeks on the toilet seat, now I had to work out how to stand up and walk again too. I wonder if I would be missed if I just sat here for a few days while the pain went away?

4.30pm - lost my voice as a result of the days training, cant sit up or stand up or anything in between, wish I could just go home and relax, but oh no, I have at least another 4hrs before I even leave the country, another 6hrs before I can think about my head hitting my pillows. Sigh. Im going to have a Quality Street. Magic, my voice is back! 

5.45pm - leave Bahrain office, cant climb into the Pajero, have to hold my breath and just throw myself in before our driver thinks Im drunk and/or stoned. Just get me home!!

7.45pm - walked into the departure lounge (lounge -  a very loose term to be used in Bahrain airport, it feels more like an Iraq prison or a Timbuktu market to me, crazy chaos), trying to find a seat in the corner. My luck is in. Now. I. Just. Need. To. Try ... To .... uffff .... sit ....dowwwwwnnnnnnn ..... aaaaaa .... with.Ooooout.looking. Like.I. Just ....Learnt. To....Walk. BUMP. Im sat : ). Lets just try to cross my legs. Nope. Lets not. Ok I will just pull myself up a bit. Nope. im just going to sit right here. For a few minutes.

8pm - Ooops. HUGE Ooops. I forgot I had to step onto a bus. Ive just realised I also have to climb some stairs. Im in row 29 aisle seat. Now Im wishing I had opted for row 8 middle seat, regardless of the fact I would be tensed the whole journey, and feel trapped, and start panicking about how I would get out quickly in an emergency, but least it would be a shorter walk, a sideways walk too! Im off the bus, looking up the steps to get on the plane. I know I just need to get one shot at it, one sprint up those steps and Im on. But no, there are people in my way. So I endure the one step at a time method. My legs hurt. Now my stomach hurts. And whats thats? Muscles under my arms and at the side of my boobs. Come on just move up the bloody steps you over done up flirty ladies, in fact carry your own bags, in fact no your bags shouldn't even be allowed on the plane. Grrrrrr, move and get out of my way!

8.05pm - Im sat on my 29D aisle seat (whatever happened to seat B?). Dont think I can stand up again and get off the flight. I wonder if they will clean around me and just let me sleep? I ate the in-flight carb ..... hey, I left the choc biscuit, come on!!!!

10.40pm (Dubai time) - Im standing, I dont know how. Maybe the pretty man who is holding up the rest of the passengers to let me go has something to do with it. Yeah thanks, watch me struggle to reach above and get my pretty pink case down. Ufffff, ouch. Thank goodness there are no stairs. Elevators - I need to walk down them, its a struggle but I do a few steps. Travelators (that doesnt appear in my spell check, but you know what I mean) - I often wondered what kind of people DONT use these inventions. People who have just done boot camp thats who!! People who need to walk and kick their legs out to stretch the muscles before complete paralysis sets in, thats who! Erm, that be me then.

11.30pm - home, bed. Tired is not the word. Night night nasty painful muscles, now go to sleep. x

10 January 2011 - I did it!

OK, it wasnt Olympic medal material, and there were a few viral wheezing issues (yep, that old excuse is not going to last long now is it!?), but I turned up for Boot Camp. Yes, I stood at the entrance to Mirdif Park wondering why it was actually closed for so long last year. And back to the purpose of being there ...

Boot Camp. There were no boots and there were no tents, nor any camp men thinking about it. However there were a few people who want to get fit the same as me. Too many skinny people for a big girls liking, but I had "LL" by my side. Thanks, big thanks.

It wasnt easy, in fact it was bloody hard and the upsetting and frustrating part was that there was and is no need for me to be so out of shape. Im 38 but I feel like 88. Even stretching and moving was a chore tonight. As much as I could use the word "hate", thats possibly a bit too strong and OTT for a first session. It was just tough on my body that is not used to moving as much. Im looking forward to the big bright light switching on and suddenly realising in a few weeks that I have actually improved compared to today.

AND the t-shirt didnt fit! Well it could have gone over my head and stretched around my 2 bellies and bum shelf, however, I would have been more worried about how ridiculous and appalling I looked rather than doing the exercises. Im hoping for a XXXL (Im now thinking Vin Diesel) or maybe XXXXL (4 is my lucky number) on Wednesday.

But Wednesday is time to meet Corey from Original Fitness Co (OFC). Today we had Zaid, nice man, very nice man. Thank you very much .... aaagggh now Im thinking about Cadburys Roses chocolates!! 

And back to boot camp. Im already stiff and feeling the pain and its only a few hours since boot camp ended. Tomorrows 5.30am alarm call to get to Bahrain for the day is not looking appealing at the moment. Neither is the 10.25pm landing back into Dubai. All I can say is "thank you (without the chocs) for e-gate. Im already shattered, I hope I sleep well but not too well I miss my flight.

But before I go, BP was up again today - not good, and looks like work stress as all the other tests came back. New healthy eating, new fitness regime, new me, new job. Why not, I was more an all or nothing kind of gal anyway.

Im off to sleep. Is there some scientific research that says if you eat more fish you sleep better? Uff, now Ive got The Chemical Brothers "Sammy the Salmon" song in my head. Easily distracted, I need more Michael McIntyre to empty my head.

Night night Day 2 x

Week 1, Day 1 - 9 January 2011 - The Night before the night after tomorrow

I'm tired. Very tired. So tired that I'm in bed at 9pm writing this when I'm usually on the t'internet and watching TV or DVDs simultaneously until midnight. Its as if I have to always do 2 things at once all the time, sometimes more. Life seems so hectic and rushed and I'm constantly tired and frazzled. Yet I've always known I've needed more sleep. Now I've got "that", I cant go to sleep easily, I don't sleep deep and I wake up just as tired as I was when I lay my head on my pillow a few hours before.

Now 2 things come to mind. One - people who sleep 8 hours or more each night are more likely to be slimmer and/or lose weight more easily than those who don't. So science and magazine articles keep telling me. Therefore I'm going to have to improve the quality and length of my sleeping. Meditation - again? Yoga - again? Hot baths? Or go the whole hog like "LL" and have a blood test to find out my food intolerances. Expensive? Yes! I'm only jealous as she is now sleeping, dreaming and for 10hrs a night at the weekend! But I don't do needles .... and Im not sure I'm ready to limit my food choices at this stage of the game, maybe later.

The second thought - Exercise. The cheaper option - maybe. Again, back to the science and everything I have taken in from the reading material over the last few years. Read it yes, put into practice, never. Anyway, apparently those who exercise regularly sleep better AND have more energy during the day, i.e they don't feel tired and frazzled. I'm going to have to get some of that exercising lark for myself. It might be the answer to my frazzeldness and insomnia.

Good job boot camp starts tomorrow then isn't it!? On my doorstep. 7.30pm. No excuses as I can try to make sure work wont keep me later than 7pm too often. Actually, make that 6.30pm - I don't want to be late and given a military punishment. I've got the new Aasic trainers (check), sport socks (check), comfy 3/4 joggers (check x 3), Big baggy T-shirt (checkety-check). I've even got new sweat bands, head bands, wrist bands - check check check! I just hope those boot camp T-shirts are big and long enough to fit me!

Right I'm off to read before I attempt snooze land. A little bit of Michael McIntyre will distract me from worrying about my performance tomorrow evening.

Night night Day 1 x

The beginning - 6 January 2011 - In the words of the Gibb Brothers "Staying Alive"

Well not in the "woman's man" kind-of-walk, more the you can tell by the way I use my walk Im in need of losing weight and getting fit kind-of-walk! But literally I need to STAY ALIVE. 

Im at the end of an exhausting week of doing not a lot, except recover from a nasty virus - who to blame, there are so many to choose from? The UK in winter is not good for the weather OR the generous tradition of sharing germs, even if they are from loved ones over the festive season. The good news is I found a great female (girl power) local Doctor which takes me 3 minutes to reach them rather than 33. But getting to know the medical staff so well that Im automatically included in their staff parties was not the social life I had hoped for in 2011, lovely as they are.

However, discovering my blood pressure was 159/99 last Sunday was a frightening realisation which resulted in daily monitoring and today it has reduced to 135/91. The monitoring continues for the next 10 days, and tomorrow I start taking medication for (hopefully) one month only, to reduce my BP further, to enable me to start boot camp from Monday onwards. A "hope" I also had was that I wouldn't need any form of medication at the age of 38 to ensure I was still alive and kicking tomorrow morning, but on this occasion I have had to give up my stubborn nature and agree to the advice of my Doctor. As much as I am optimistic that the increase in BP was due to the virus I have had, if Im brutally honest with myself I do also know that it has increased due to my current weight.

So here I am again, another New Year, making a NY Resolution that I feel I have made on too many occasions before, to lose weight and get fit and lead a healthier life.... again. Only this year I dont have the opportunity to opt out. Its also no coincidence that my best mate I met here is super-fit and super-energetic, so thanks to my super-trouper LL (she knows who she is!) I will lose the 30kgs I need before my 40th birthday in 2012. Thats 17 months, an average of 1.8kgs a month. That feels do-able. I can do it.

Im not saying I wont lose my sense of humour at times .. ok many times, or cry like a baby, or have immature tantrums or naughty moments - Im not perfect and Im a completely different type of person to my super-trouper, but I will have to continually keep reminding myself of the whys and not the why nots, my resolution is now a lifestyle change, it has become more than vanity, its actually about avoiding a stroke or a heart attack or worse. My biggest hurdle will be to overcome the black-outs when eating the unhealthy foods I will no doubt crave. Yes black-outs .... OK thats one for later!

You can tell by the way I use my walk Im in need of losing weight, getting fit and lowering my BP ... Yep, Staying Alive.

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