An update on the fitness regime.

Once again, I thought I’d give you an update on the fitness regime.

Sadly, over the last fortnight, not all has gone to plan and my exercise regime has suffered somewhat from busyness and can’t-be-botheredness.

We have had a fairly social fortnight, so there has been lots of nice food in the house and lots of sinful stuff.  Cakes, puddings, far too much carbohydrate and far too much wine. Although I haven’t put any of the weight I lost back on, in the past fortnight I haven’t lost any more. Which is disappointing.

I haven’t been back to the gym or used my Zumba dance thing on the Wii either.  The gym I do have a semi excuse for, in that I’m skint and also each night I have had a commitment to do something which needed me to be at home. But I don’t really have any excuse for not doing the Zumba beyond knowing that I couldn’t be arsed! Those of you that know me will be aware that exercise has never been something which has stimulated me, and I have failed to get motivated and excited in what has been a very busy period to even find half an hour to do it. My bad!

This week I don’t really have an excuse. I have a commitment tonight, but after that the week is blank in the diary. Yes, there are the usual household chores to do and we still have the bathroom floor to finish off completely, but I don’t actually have any commitments with other people. And The Hubby is out a lot for work in the evenings this week (or at least that’s what he tells me he’s doing) so I have one or two completely free evenings. I have been paid again (amazingly the Royal Borough keeps shelling out for my services) and am not yet totally skint, so I suppose the gym is beckoning. It will be difficult to put it off any longer.

I am still aiming for supermodel status by the summer, but it might have to be a curvy Sophie Dahl style supermodel instead of a skinny Kate Moss style one. Nothing wrong with that, is there? My trouble is that all my weight sits on my belly (nothing else is fat – much – I still have a nice pert bum and shapely legs and from the back I have achieved my ambition already) and if I don’t lose it and tone up a bit soon there is a danger people will give me their seat on the tube because they think I’m six months gone! I also have a horrendous double chin which is purely weight related and which looks appalling on photos.

My initial target is to lose enough to look good when I play Titania in mid May, since the stage lighting is harsh, drapey fairy costumes reveal every lump and bump and the camera is very unforgiving. Then I have about a month to slim down further for my hols.

I will do it, I will, and I will go to the gym this week. I’ll let you know how I get on again in a week or two’s time!

Getting fit - at last

Regular readers of my blog will know that I committed to getting fit once the panto was finished. I've said it before, and been a dismal failure. However I am now such a lardy-arse that I really have to do something or I will have to start buying clothes where the size starts with the number two, and that I refuse to do! So, good as my word I have really cut down on what I eat, started using some very odd but as far as I can see harmless herbal appetite supressants and stopped snacking or drinking booze Sunday to Thursday.

I've been doing all that for almost two weeks (well, 10 days) and in the first week I lost the grand amount of 5lb! OK, you can stop clapping! However after the initial success things do seem to have stalled and I'm not losing any more. I suspect that is because, very pleased with myself, I have relaxed a bit and had the odd sweet or glass of wine and I did have a Mcdonalds the other day because I was out and about and there was nothing else conveniently available.

Clearly, I need to stay strict and what's more, do some exercise. I've been a bit nervous about that because of all the issues with my knees and back, but its obvious I can't delay any more if I want to be super model sized by June.

So I went back to the gym and did a refresher induction with someone who understands injuries which was fine. I have even been back and done another session myself. Trouble is because of the knees in particular and my general state of unfitness, I can't do much more than half an hour, which makes it bloody expensive each time and as things are a bit tight, I can't afford to do that too often.

So I have dusted off the Wii console and bought myself a Zumba exercise disk. Once I remembered how the machine worked (and after half an hour of frustration discovered that something was unplugged out of the back and that I'd put the disk in the wrong way round [dur!]), I tried it out. It's great fun!

I can see myself dancing away of an evening when I get in from work much to the derision of my daughter and occasionally my step son, to great Latin music and in the process sculpting myself into the body of a 20 year old. When she finds out I've got it, she'll be furious (yes, old panto joke, but still a good one!). Seriously, I do think I might stick at it because the brief bit I tried yesterday, I really enjoyed. Unlike going to the gym, which is torture.

So watch this space for update reports. If you don't see any, you will know that I am thoroughly ashamed of myself and have given up like I have done every other time I have tried to do anything like this. If it's going well, I won't be able to avoid bragging! Wonder which it's going to be?