Blogging at work again

This week at work has been a stinker. Everything going wrong and nothing going right. Sigh. This job has weeks like that, and we just look forward to better times next week. That being said, if I don't get organised and get the crappy stuff finished and off my desk today, I'll still be facing it next week, and that's not tempting. Better keep the blog short today then!

While I'm on to negativity... guess how much exercise I've done this week? None. Nada. Zero. The call of the warm comfy bed has alas been too great every morning this week. BUT! I bit the bullet and rejoined a gym last night, so all this is about to change. It's a much less fancy gym than my last one, but then it's not full of posers and beautiful people either, and it's also less than half the price. I have paid $375 upfront for my 12 month membership, so it's time to get some good use out of it.

The thing I like about this gym is that it has some later group fitness classes, which I will be able to get to, even with my stupidly long working hours. There are classes at 7.10pm 3 days a week, and one at 7.30pm on Thursdays. They also have "Xpress" classes (30 minute circuit classes, a bit like Curves and Contours I gather) at 6.15am 2 days a week. I think I'd like to try that, and couple it with 20 minutes or so of my own cardio. There are separate cardio and pin loaded weights areas where you can do your own thing as well - I plan to use these in conjunction with the classes, but at the moment I think I need the motivation of a class to get me back into the swing of things.

I'd really like to get back into running and cycling properly as well. I have done a few runs in the last couple of weeks, and my shins are complaining a bit (I have had stress fractures from shin splints in the my very distant gymnastics past, so I know not to push through that too much). My theory is that if I combine some running with some other gym work, my fitness and muscle tone will build up again, and my weight will drop, and this will make things much easier on my shins anyway. I can then increase the running side of things at a point down the track.

My plans are all pretty flimsy at the moment, but I'm tossing around some running goals in my head - maybe a 10km fun run in December, but not so sure about that one. I'd like to do the 12km city to bay again in September 2011, and somewhere down the track I'd like to be in a position to do a half marathon. All pie in the sky with my current physical conditioning, but you have to have dreams right? I am also giving some thought to preparing a more general "101 in 1001" list (101 goals to complete in 1001 days), as I have seen on Kylie's and some other blogs this year. My running and fitness goals could form part of that.

On a final note - dietary. Yay for me! I've been awesome with my eating this week, including a dinner out at a buffet (always a troublesome thing for me, given portion control and binge eating are my main vices in life). I possibly ate too much volume at the buffet, but made all fantastic choices - loads of steamed and stir fried vegetables, plus some roast meat and vegetables, and the smallest of small (like a tablespoonful!) of noodles. No sweets!

I am approaching the eating side of things so differently this time around, and I'm sure I'm much healthier for it. The last couple of days I've barely made it to 1200 calories, and not because of a conscious effort to stay under that limit, I actually think it's too low. I just haven't been hungry for more, which is something I could NEVER have said last time I was "on the wagon" - I was entirely fixated on food every hour I was awake in those days.

I honestly think the biggest difference has been giving up artificial sweeteners and processed crap "diet food". Don't get me wrong, I still use light options of some things (low fat milk and yoghurt etc), but for the most part, I'm using unprocessed, fresh food in appropriate portion sizes. I don't own a microwave, so the temptation for pre prepared, processed-to-within-an-inch-of-their-life weight watchers/lean cuisine type meals is gone. All that Diet Coke in all it's chemical laden glory is gone. A much healthier way of life.

I still think that to some degree, I will suffer from disordered eating for the rest of my life. I'm too much of an "all in or all out" person to ever think I'm going to be any different. But I am actively working on strategies to manage it better, and who knows, maybe some day I'll be cured :o)

OK, time for some work... boo!