Tag Archives: Keep Fit

What I Love #1

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I think I can include this next post under the LOVE heading.  It is, after all, something I love…..It could have fitted in nicely with last month’s theme too though, of motivation.  But I wasn’t actually doing it then so it will be fine here…..

What am I on about?

EXERCISE

Those people who know me well may have had to read that a couple of times to make sure they hadn’t misread it.   You didn’t. I said EXERCISE.  I love EXERCISE.

For years, I have found it hard to keep myself motivated to do anything physically taxing.  I have been known to park as near as possible to anywhere, to avoid walking and I positively hated the gym.

But, something happened last month. I saw the light.  And now, I am a keep fit convert.  

A Born Again Exerciser.

I’ve had phases of doing different types of exercise, it’s true.  I enjoy badminton and I don’t mind swimming (apart from the getting changed and the getting in and out of the pool. Oh, and the swimming). But recently, something has changed.

I took up a new hobby, burlesque dancing.  I’ve only been twice but I’ve found my ‘thing’.  I love it because, not only do you prance around in a provocative way, looking alluring and sexy (in my head, in my head, ok??) but you also get to wear frou frou outfits, with feathers and lace and SPARKLY bits.  What could be more fun??  I don’t really care about the dancing bit, I just LOVE the attire!  But the dancing is the exercise.  So I’ve cracked it.

However, the more surprising thing, for me, is that I LOVE the gym now.  Well, maybe not the gym exactly, but my personal training sessions.  This love of training was sparked by a television series that is on currently, Fat Fighters (not Fat Losers as I previously wrote. Oops!).  Prior to this, I paid to have a trainer but I dreaded going.  Watching the programme, I was suddenly inspired.  And I texted my trainer to sign up again.  I now go religiously every Saturday morning, a time that suits me.  I realised that planning to go after work was the reason I hated it.  It’s too late for me and the traffic meant I was always stressing about making it in time.  I now get to have a little lie in on a Saturday before going to the gym and waking myself up properly.  It’s great!

But the main point of this post really is that I have a totally different attitude towards exercise.  Instead of being something I HAVE to do to be healthy or lose weight, it is something I do because I WANT to….

I love that

(That’s not actually me in the cocktail glass.  But it could be, one day!)

2012 so far….

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Buona Sera (practising my Italian)

Well, it’s the end of a very interesting and pleasant week.  I have taken up a new challenge , the Italian class, which has given me something to focus on and it reminded me how much I love languages and learning new things, which made me feel good.

I have had a very rewarding week at work with some lovely, positive outcomes for the young people I work with.  Which makes me very happy.

This morning, I saw the most wonderful sight on my way to an appointment.  I drove past a field of horses, probably about a dozen and possibly a mixture of ponies and horses (I’m not really a horsey person so I can’t tell the difference – ponies seem a bit fluffier to me and smaller but that’s all I know).  Anyway, I had to pull over and watch them as they were so entertaining.  They were chasing each other, frolicking, playing and just generally having fun.  I wished I had my camera with me and I will definitely go back there to take some photos or film them at play.  That made me happy too.

I have also decided to give up on going grey.  I have been growing out HALF my hair for a while now, to see what it looks like ‘au naturale’ (blimey, she speaks French too!).  When I say half, I don’t actually mean left vs right.  I have a (dyed) pink/purple fringe and I used to have dark brown for the rest of it.  This bit, I have left to grow naturally.  After several trims, it is pretty much its natural colour now.  Which is a rather unattractive mish mash of brown, grey and silver, in no particular pattern.  There are just ‘clumps’ of different colours.  It isn’t a good look.  The grey isn’t healthily glowing either.  It’s matte.  So, today I have decided to end the experiment and revert to dying the lot again.  It may not look natural but it certainly looks better than the current faded effort…..

Tomorrow I start back at the gym and get myself back on track there.  I’ve just made enquiries about a Burlesque dance class too so that may well be another on my list of projects this year.

And I get my new car radio fitted.  It has been awful with nothing to listen to other than the sound of the engine this week.

So far, I’m liking 2012 🙂

I expect I shall look something like this when I am doing the burlesque dancing…..

Boot camp – day two

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I have just returned from the second boot camp session.  Well, for me anyway. 

I was supposed to go on Friday but, since I still had difficulty walking upstairs I felt it wise to leave it another day or so before punishing myself again.

That extra day or so made all the difference.  This morning I woke up early, pulled on my gear and drove up the road for the hour of training

The trainer had a word with me about pacing myself and gave me some low impact exercises to do while the others were doing star jumps and BURPEES

I didn’t know what burpees were before this, I thought they were just the result of eating your dinner too fast! 

As it turns out, they are hideous exercises but, like I said, he told me to leave those for today.

I managed to last the whole hour, working at my own pace, today.  I feel very pleased with myself!

The best thing though, is that now, an hour later, I actually feel GREAT! 

I can feel I’ve done some exercise but I feel energised, not ill, like I did on Thursday!

I think I’ve cracked it!