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I’ve got some good motivation in the next few months to stay focused on all my goals:

Chevron 7.8 is the last weekend of February. Amanda Tapping – need I say more? <3

I’m seeing Florence + The Machine with my lovely, gorgeous princess of a friend the first weekend of March! I have been listening to Ceremonials nonstop since she gave me the CD for my birthday and can’t wait. Flo is amazing live <3

The next big thing after that (for now) won’t be until July – LFCC! I’m sure we can fit something in between now and then… maybe a mini-holiday…

Chevron is the biggie and I’m determined to complete Insanity before we go. It’s just under 5 weeks – the perfect amount of time to not lose motivation and determination.

I’ve decided I’m going to try morning workouts this week. If I don’t want to leave my lush bed tomorrow at 5:45am I will remind myself that I have 33 days to make a difference, so am I going to snuggle in bed or am I going to work towards my goal?!

Ugh, I am going through withdrawals!

Exercise, definitely! With the exception of a hike and a walk last weekend I haven’t done any and I’m missing it – big time. Monday I’m back to it thankfully. I have an annoying pain in my neck right now which makes it a bit difficult to do anything properly

I’m thinking of getting up and doing Insanity in the mornings before work. I have a huge problem with this because, well, it’s the morning. I hate mornings, they are the devil. It’s a struggle for me to get up and go to work 99% of the time. It’s not that I mind getting up early… it’s the having to get ready and be somewhere by the ungodly hour of 9am. If I could get ready at a more leisurely pace (WITHOUT having to get up earlier) and get to work for say, 10am, things would be peachy. I would be much happier and so would the people around me. I am one grumpy bitch in the AM!

For me to workout in the morning I would need to be awake and doing it at 6am. The thing is, I know I would feel better if I did. I find exercise much easier in the morning and it wakes me and gives me an amazing amount of energy for the day. Plus it’s good for you.

As far as Insanity goes, I’m going to finish it this time around and then give myself a month to do something different. Change is good with these things! Then I’d like to do it again, with no 2 week break in the middle this time!

I also haven’t played any games for a whole week! The world must be ending. I don’t count playing Mirror’s Edge on my iPhone during my flight to/from Belfast, either. Tomorrow I might need to set aside some gaming time after I do some chores around the house…

Hubby is ill so we are in separate rooms and as much as love having the bed to myself, I don’t like sleeping on my own anymore – weird(er than normal) dreams and lots of tossing and turning going on lately.

Good news on the monthly goals for this month – I’m working my way through my CDs faster than anticipated! I’ve gotten through the full folder and am now working my way through the las 50 or so CDs in the second, before I do all the loose ones I have lying about. Then it’s on to organising them again!

And I’ve re-written my CV and started applying, so fingers crossed… I’m sure that will be a loooong process.

My, my this week has been a killer. It certainly didn’t go as planned for me.

I spent Monday night and Tuesday in Belfast with a few colleagues for our annual meetings, which thankfully all went smoothly. But once I landed at Bristol and was enroute home at 9pm… that’s when things start going badly. The road I went home on was shut half way there so I had to come back the way I had come and then go a different, longer way. I didn’t get home until an hour after my original planned time!

Wednesday and Thursday were spent working from home and, aside from a few work things coming up, I was doing OK and on track to finish everything I wanted to… until about 2pm Thursday. My stomach decided it hated me and I was violently sick the rest of the afternoon. So much for getting work done!

Today has actually been okay, I would even go so far as to say good. I was in the office today, thankfully my stomach decided it was a one time only deal and didn’t do another show last night or today.

But I’m home now and thankful that this week has gone by very quickly and I can rest (and clean the very neglected house) this weekend.

All this excitement has meant I haven’t gone back to Insanity, yet. I’m disappointed I haven’t gotten back into it, I am looking forward to it! Monday I will go for it and, seeing as I’ve had a 2 week break now, will skip the recovery week and just barrel through the last week of month 1 and go straight into month 2. I’ll still finish by the end of Feb – should be right before Chevron, which I’m getting excited about!

I keep debating about cutting my hair but it’s taken me so long to grow it out again and it’s not nearly as long as I want it so I think I’ll wait on that. Might go for some highlights though, you know I can’t leave it the same for too long! I ordered some bright pink and turquoise extensions today. Need to have a think about possible outfits/costumes for the themed parties at Chevron, too. I really, really want to do something steam punk. We’ll see.

This post is really random, but that’s my brain lately!

Hope you all have had a better week than me! Happy Friday

I’ve been quiet this past week, mostly due to migraines. Both Tuesday and Wednesday it was all I could do to come home from work and get straight into bed: no lights, no sound, just rest and hope the migraine goes away! I’ve been extremely exhausted this week, too. Possibly from overdoing … everything, which just made the week very hard and me very grumpy.

So I’ve had a bit of a break.

The last day I did Insanity was Monday, but I will be returning to it right where I left off on Wednesday – after my trip to Belfast with work. I did make it to the gym on Thursday for a workout and Abs class, went hiking with a friend in the freezing cold yesterday and dragged poor Hubby outside for some fresh air today along the canal as well! So I am getting exercise.

One of the views on our walk today

I came home Friday night after this crappy, crappy week and decided screw it and ignored the cleaning and washing that had to be done and instead had a drink and played Dragon Age 2. I really do enjoy DA2 and I haven’t even played the Mark of the Assassin yet, which was the whole reason for wanting it.

I was up early this morning, it’s rare for me to be out of bed before noon on a Sunday, so took advantage of that time to completely re-write my CV. I’m glad that’s now done and I am not thinking ‘Oh, I still haven’t done that!’.

So now, I’m off to make dinner – pork tacos yummy! – and then pack for my trip. I’ve had a nice restful few days this week, recovering from life, the universe and everything and can’t wait to come back from Belfast and then get back into Insanity. I’m now a week behind, but I will still complete it before the end of February!

Having Chevron 7.8 at the end of Feb is certainly motivating me to be active and eat right, to get as good a result as I can before I meet Amanda Tapping! *fangirl squee*

I hope all my readers have had a nice restful weekend!

Happy Saturday!

With my exhaustion yesterday, I was glad to be able to push through my workouts. Once they were done I managed to crawl upstairs and collapse in a heap on the bed and didn’t move for about an hour! I half slept, half rested, but was really grumpy from being over tired and dealing with a over hungry Hubby who was grumpy as well.

After a small dinner and some telly, we are working our way through the first series of Lost Girl – it is fantastic and I love Kenzi – I was off to bed for a proper sleep! I woke up around 9am this morning and decided it was not time to get up, so went back to sleep. Both of us slept through until noon, you know Hubby is tired when he sleeps that late!

We ventured out today to see if we could find some clothes for Hubby… after a bit of lunch we headed to Next but he didn’t see anything he liked. The choices weren’t that inspiring I saw a few dresses for work I’d like, but decided not to get any clothes and only bought the snood I have been lusting after for weeks. Talk about willpower!  We finally found a small filing cabinet which should allow us to put our mountain of filing away, and the rest can be shredded.

Food shopping was quick, I love skipping the snack/crisp/alcohol aisles so I’m not even tempted. Only meat, veggies, fruit, juice and necessities! I don’t know why all the healthy food has to be so much more expensive than the crap, though. I am going to have to look into cheaper options for good quality veg and meat this year I think…

Today’s Insanity workout is now done, only the one today! While they are getting a bit easier, my legs suitably ache from this week’s workouts and I’m really going to enjoy my rest day tomorrow! Only one more week and then my first month is done, it’s gone by quick! Looking forward to the recovery week and then seeing what month 2 brings, I’m sure things will be stepped up quite a bit.

Now we’re off to wait for our Indian to be delivered and watch Sucker Punch!! I’ve been wanting to see it since it was in the cinema but we didn’t go.

The first week back after time off is always the hardest!

I kept up with Insanity workouts and even made it to the gym for a workout and an abs sesh on top of it. I am super exhausted today though, and work was a bit of a struggle I must admit.

I have a workout tonight and then I’m going to collapse in a little tiny heap and not move until tomorrow morning much. Oh, and sleep. Lots of sleep.

Hubby wants to go shopping (!!) tomorrow and we have a few things to do around the house but Sunday… man Sunday is going to be EPIC. Bed, duvet, and lots of them.

I have two goals this month. Start (and hopefully complete) ripping all my CDs so they are on the server and re-write my CV and apply, apply, apply.

2012 Inspiration Board

Here is my Inspiration Board for this year.

There’s a lot LESS on it this year compared to last year’s board.

I decided insteading of just making a collage of everything I want to do EVAR… I would focus this year on a few things that are important.

Complete Insanity – If you’ve been reading lately you know this is a biggie with me right now. I’ll complete the whole thing on Feb 19th and I can’t wait to see the final results! And I look forward to doing it again (and again and again) possibly throughout the year. I’ll wait and get through it once then see what I want to tackle next.

Spend more time outside – This is a no brainer. I know I watch way too much telly and sit at my computer or stare at my phone far too much than is needed. I want more fresh air and less screens this year.

Spend more time with Hubby – This goes hand in hand with spending more time away from screens, we watch telly and game together all the time, but I want more time away from that with him. To enjoy his company and if I can get him more active then that’s a big plus!

De-stress and avoid breakdowns – While this isn’t something I have complete control over, I want to acknowledge when I’m feeling headed towards something bad and I need to learn to talk about it with someone so I don’t meltdown.

Saving & paying off debt – This is a biggie for both me and Hubby this year. Our focus is on getting as much paid off as possible this year and being in a better financial situation for things to come.

Find a new job – Self explanatory really! I haven’t been happy in my current company for a very long time and this year I’m going to change that. Would I like a lot more money? Sure. Would I like a dream job of flexible hours and hardly any travel? Sounds great. Unfortunately those things probably won’t be happening this year. I just want something I can be happy doing in a friendly environment. A bit more money would be nice too, to help with all that saving, of course!

Bike – I so so so want a bicycle. Santa didn’t bring me one, which is fine. I will have one ready for the Spring to go riding when the weather isn’t threatening to blow me away in a gale.

Build up Fitness, lose fat & build muscle – I want to feel strong and fit. I know that if I focus on that I will be healthier and happier and the weight will drop off as a result.

Eat clean, more fresh fruit and veg, protein – This year I’m going to re-vamp our diet to include a lot more fresh, local and seasonal foods where possible. I’m also going to crack down on my sweet tooth, instead of giving in every time I want something sweet, I need to find fresh, healthy replacements to satisfy my craving with.

Basically this year is all about preparation. Financially, physically and mentally preparing for the future. I’m done being hung up about my body and I am going to work on things that make me happy and give me confidence in myself. I’m going to need it

Today I had my 15 Day Fit Test! I was really pleased with the results. I did at least the same, if not better on every move.

Suicide Jumps are a killer, I still can’t do them and Power Jacks are just EVIL.

In the measurements department I did pretty good too. I lost a total of 15 inches and 0.8% body fat. Not bad going for 2 weeks of hard work!

This is the BEST example of a non-scale victory as well. With the great inch and body fat loss, I was up weight wise by almost 4lbs, due to water weight. I’m still motivated because I’m seeing amazing results overall and that is the most important thing.

Happy New Year’s Eve!

I love this time of year and looking forward to what the next year will bring.

I’m making a huge pot of spaghetti for tonight, the sauce has been on since this morning and is in the slow cooker bubbling away. Spaghetti is one of my favourite foods, but only if I (or my dad) make it. I don’t like any other kind. I don’t use beef since Hubby can’t have it so today it’s pork mince and sausages with red caramelised onion, some onion and green peppers and a mixture of tomato and basil and tomato and garlic sauces. I’ll make the pasta later and add it to the pot, cook up some garlic bread and om nom nom. We also have a black forest gateau thawing away in the corner for dessert and the wine and champagne chilling in the fridge to ring in the new year!

I’m eager to take down all the decorations, but Hubby is adamant it be done tomorrow. So I worked out – the last one of the year. Still going strong with Insanity (2 days of double workouts this week to catch up) and today was Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.

Pure Cardio is fast becoming my favourite one, it’s a killer but sooo good and only 15 moves of 1 minute each, for me it’s an endurance test more than anything. Each time I do it I can do more. Today was the first day I’ve done the Cardio Abs workout and I thought my core was strong… wow. It definitely challenged me but I loved it!

Tomorrow is a rest day, which I will relish then Monday is my first Fit Test since the start. I haven’t weighed (and honestly, not expecting that aspect to have improved – for a few reasons) since I started, and I’ve decided I’m only going to weigh with the fit tests. I want my progress to be measured, yes, but not solely on the scale. Improving my fitness overall is my ultimate goal – weight loss just happens to be a side effect of that.

Unlike a lot of the stuff you see about weight loss online, my sole purpose is not and never has been to be skinny, have a thigh gap, flat stomach, collar bones, hip bones sticking out etc.

All I want is to be fit, healthy and STRONG. To enjoy my life longer because I’m not at risk for disease from being overweight or obese. I want toned, firm muscular limbs, not skinny bony ones. That’s never been my motivation and I am not saying it shouldn’t be anyone else’s! I think if it works for you then do it. What works for me is knowing I’m improving my health and strength.

Ultimately I don’t care about what size I am or what I weigh, as long as I’m healthy and fit. That’s what works for me and that’s my focus for 2012. To be in the best physical (and hopefully mental) state a year from now so that 2013 can bring amazing things.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I bet yesterday was the most unproductive work day for people who actually had to work. I spent the majority of my time in the office doing some testing on our newsletters to get the spam score down. Not a very easy task when your content is all sales, finance and money based!!

Hubby even managed to leave work early and was home not long after me after I spent an hour in the pub having a Christmas drink with a few colleagues. We then delivered all of our Christmas cards (finally!) and had a little walk along to look at the (famous) Melksham Longford Road Christmas lights.

I had a super early night last night and didn’t get up until 10am this morning. It was heaven not having an alarm! Poor Hubby had to venture out to the shops to get some last minute stocking stuffers for me while I did my first round of Insanity of the day. I just finished my workout and he was home, a quick outing – especially on Christmas Eve to do shopping!!

I was then confined to the kitchen while he wrapped everything (apparently 3 stockings worth!!!) and I cleaned the kitchen while listening to Michael Buble’s christmas album. I do love his voice, so timeless!

So everything is wrapped and under the tree, waiting patiently for tomorrow morning! The kitchen is clean waiting to be filled with the smells of Christmas dinner (gammon, not turkey) and after a few episodes of telly, I did my second round of Insanity for the day.

Why on earth would I subject myself to TWO Insanity workouts in one day?

I didn’t do it last night because we were out and then I was too full from dinner to do it and I want tomorrow to be my rest day. So today was last night’s workout and today’s workout so tomorrow I can rest and enjoy the day.

This morning I did Plyometric Cardio and then this afternoong Cardio & Resistance. What I found with both of them is that they are easier the second time! Not by much, but I found I could do more of the warmup non-stop, more of the moves in the circuits without collapsing and I am definitely more flexible during the stretches.

One move I just can NOT do? Moving pushups. I have trouble with normal pushups, let alone adding to them with complicated things like that!!

But I’m still in it, I haven’t weighed or measured or anything and I’m tempted to just wait until the fit tests to do any of that. Being able to do more of the workout is a good thing, so I’m happy I’m progressing.

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday, whatever you may be celebrating.