One week done but not an easy one

So a week has passed since our first proper meeting and exercise but it has been so busy at work I have to admit that I haven’t put 100% into my efforts. Naughty me!

Tuesday evening was a huge success with our big event at the Gherkin in London – we took over the restaurant at the very top of the building and organised a party for our client Atlantic Canada. As I predicted though, tottering around on 4 inch heels and having to walk up and down a spiral staircase was a challenge – especially with my complaining thigh muscles after the resistance training on Monday evening. But the views from the Gherkin were incredible – we were lucky with a clear night so you could see for miles and miles and Tower Bridge and the Tower of London were like tiny little toy town buildings down below us.

To be honest I didn’t think my legs would complain as much as they did as I have been horse riding regulary every couple of weeks for years – and I can promise you that a rising trot and fast canter use every single muscle you have in your body to stay upright, control the horse with your hands and legs and not fall off. As I learned a couple of years back, falling off is not good at my age as I don’t bounce anymore, however rotund I may be.

I went riding again on Saturday which was great fun, although a bit cold up on the Forest. We got in some good long trots and canters which got my heart rate up – and I guess lots of resistance training in handling the horse too!

I think over the past week, the only tool I’ve really been successful with has been to walk at least 30 minutes a day. I’ve upped my dog walking in the morning from 20 minutes to 30 and that has worked well. It just means I’m a bit later into the office than normal – I also have to remember to take my wellington boots as the park is so muddy that my shoes would be ruined and my legs filthy.

Drinking all that water every day has proved a HUGE challenge. I really get fed up with going to the loo so often! I must admit that on Tuesday and Wednesday I didn’t do it at all – what with the party on Tuesday and spending Wednesday shopping at Bluewater, the last thing I wanted was to be running to the loo every 30 minutes. Getting caught short on the M25 is not something I plan to experience!

After Wednesday I did make more of an effort to drink more and have bought some refreshing new fruit teas to replace some of the cold water as I really don’t find water inspiring to drink! I’m also switching to caffeine free coffee, although I only have one coffee a day anyway. Wierdly, I seem to be going off regular tea and just want to drink Chai tea all the time.

My third tool is to eat more slowly and I have to consciously remind myself of this every time I sit down to eat. I try to chew everything 21 times but have found that my high fibre breakfast cereal has turned to sawdust by then and almost chokes me when I swallow it, so a little less mastication is required – yes MASTICATION, a wonderful word . Confuses the hell out of my children!

I did start blogging on the Pete Cohen site too and got back some really nice comments from people – very supportive and friendly – but I admit I need to do more work on that. Finding time is hard but I guess I’ve got to treat this whole experience as a training exercise, and just like when I was learning the piano all those years ago, need to do 20 minutes practice a day until it all comes naturally.

So I know what I’m supposed to do – it’s just making sure I do it that’s the problem.

We have our next meeting tonight – hope the snow melts quickly as I don’t want to get snowed in again. Russell was great last week – very motivational during the exercise class which I think I can say we all found challenging in one way or another. We had 7 stations for different exercises using weights – some were squats, others lifts and one piece of torture equipment that’s like a giant elastic band that you stand in the middle of and have to pull each end up. It was agony! But as we only had to do each station for 30 seconds and then 40 seconds it was manageable but not easy. It certainly warmed us all up!

I’ve now got to try and catch up on some of the daily emails I’ve received from Pete this past week and need to get myself more organised to do them every day. Little and often is much better than all in one go.

I’ll update you tomorrow, I hope, on how things go tonight – not that I’ll do much as I’ve got a horrible head cold that’s making me feel a bit woozy.

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