Week 6-Over and Out.

It's hard to believe that the 6 weeks are over, although this week has definitely been a bit of an anticlimax. I'd hoped to finish with a flourish and instead I'm sort of limping off, exit stage left. As planned, we went to the gym on Tuesday and I did 40 minutes on the cross trainer, then 6 long rounds of boxercise and weights. I'm learning that it's all about keeping the mind distracted while you're on  the treadmill or cross trainer-a good ipod mix and not focusing on all the numbers on the machine does it for me. It's somehow easier to make it to the end of  a great Adele or Scissors Sisters song than go from minute to minute.For me the downside of the gym, apart form the wall to wall mirrors (Why!!), is the sheer boredom-don't look in the mirrors, don't look at your time, don't look at someone else working out (at best rude, at worst pervy) so 'what till do'? It's actually given me a real appreciation for going for that walk or run outdoors-fresh air and a changing landscape (even the most familiar) can't be over rated. That's not to say the gym doesn't have it's place...just not in my life at this time.
Well, I went as planned to Damien D's new boxercise class in Lisburn on Wednesday evening, and very popular it was too. It's a great workout, a mixture of circuits, boxercise and skipping  and as tough or easy as you make it.. Unfortunately , as soon as I started to run, my right leg (sport's injury, y'know) begin to really hurt. It's been painful on and off for about a week now, and running really aggravates it. Now, 6 weeks ago, I would have been only to happy for the reprieve, but it's actually really pissing me off now. So  Thursday's gym session with Damien D was put on hold, and I'm reluctantly resting it until next week. I CANNOT believe that I've just written that and meant it!  I think that now I've got this momentum and enthusiasm going, and am beginning to see results( more later) , I'm frightened that I'll just slip back into my comfort zone again. Time for a plan Stan-so I downloaded the 'Couch to 5k' app on my iphone and I'm slotting in about week 5 of a 9 week regime,( which would even get Stephen Nolan running  that 5k in 9 weeks). I'm  going to do Damien D's weekly boxercise class  in Lisburn (while continuing to actively lobby him for a class here in the sticks too!) I'm also seriously thinking of investing in a cross trainer or treadmill for the house for those nasty wet mornings. (a little birthday surprise for Loverboy perhaps-I can hear his gratitude already..)
So on to results- well can I  just preempt this by saying to anyone who hasn't seen me for 6 weeks.....I look the bloody same, no big dramatic before and after pics here,-I wish there were! I'm a bit more toned up and I'll let you feel my muscles if you like (be afraid, be very afraid!,) but that's about it.  That's not to say, however, that there haven't been changes .Some are physical, some mental but all are positive. Like every woman on the planet, I suppose,  I measure success in terms of weight loss and if  that's the only criteria, then the last 6 weeks have been a waste of time. What I can say is that my clothes are fitting better, I've now a few muscles that weren't there before, and my fitness and stamina have increased quite dramatically (well I think so anyway!). Most of all, it's started something in me-I won't say a 'love' of exercise, that would be way too much, but definitely an appreciation that I didn't have before. Mentally it's powerful-let's just say that I haven't met an endorphin I didn't like! I make healthier food choices more of the time too and hopefully that will continue. Most of all,  I don't feel like the fat girl at the back of  PE anymore and that's a revelation for me. So thank you Damien D (Tel: 07858 519213) - I definitely couldn't have done it without your boot up my backside. If anyone has a notion of getting a PT themselves, don't think, just do it. (OMG I'm a Nike ad!)
So, onwards and upwards-I'm leaving my thirties (scarily soon), a lot fitter than I started them...and if you see me huffing and puffing round the (hilly) Glenavy roads, you'll know that I'm doing my best to keep 'er lit. Over and Out, Emmaxxx