A gymbunny, I will be

I am shy.

Or rather, it takes me awhile to warm up. I hover in the background, go for classes that I'd be able to be least noticed at, stand at the back. This morning, I went into an AM Muay Thai class after a long break – vacation,illness, excuse, excuse etc. All males – lithe, toned, muscular even. And me, dwaddling in. Sigh. I paced myself this time and did not want to faint once. That said, it was definitely less than 100% but, I rather that than faint unglamourously, not that there's a glamourous way to do it.

The AM class is perfect for me. Truth be told, it's a pricey membership to own so I better be there more often. I can barely tell my left and right jabs from each other. Need to get better. Last weekend was the 2nd tennis lesson and I can feel myself getting better. Next week is the third and, we get an extra hour to practice after. Awesome.

This week looks really good, activity wise. AMs on Monday, Wednesday, Friday – Muay Thai. AM Saturday, I signed up for cycling with the cycling group I wanted to try. I need more road confidence, PM Saturday, 2 hours of tennis.

One of the first things that struck me about Evolve MMA is their family spirit. Everyone who trains there treats their trainer with the utmost respect. Fight hard, play hard mentality. Moving from Genesis is tough, it felt that I was leaving the nest. A nest responsible for my weight loss progress thus far which is no mean feat. More than that, I built friendships with people whom I adore – K, J, E, A, (yes, my gym friends have a second career as scrabble tiles)

I feared going to a cold gym where no one really cared but I know that I absolutely need a kick up the behind right now. I have stagnated for all eternity and, if I don't pick myself up and get on with it, I will revert to Jabba The Hut. I had been delaying my first class for the last two weeks – It was a myraid of excuses: back ache, the time of the month, the sale of my home, the purchase of a new home, J's wedding et al.

This morning, I made plans to go. SM was sick of my whinging and told me to *just* go so he would not have to hear me talk about it again. Pfft! So, I went. Barely made it through class, legs and hands all over the shop, had to stop TWICE otherwise I would have fainted on the floor. The teacher, N was very patient with me. At some point when I had executed a proper kick, he stopped and clapped. I swear! He wasn't even insulting me, he was truly happy. *smacks forehead*

The AM Muay Thai class is tiny and, it was very easy for him to go 1 on 1 with me. Even the other two students helped me out tremendously. They told me to breathe in and walk around when I felt faint. Summary?

I loved it. I can't wait till I actually complete a class and not feel like I want to hurl out my left and right lung. That's my goal right now. Like M says, it isn't the kicking and punching that gets you, the ALL the other stuff.

Trying something new this week. Going to try and have weekly goals to achieve. A single step in the right direction is all I need. A lot of small steps for the journey that I want to look back on in pride.

1. Sign up for new gym

Officially have left and I need to sign up with the new place I want to train with. Exciteddddd!

2. Continue with W3 of C25K

I am certainly taking longer than 9 weeks to do this! Acks!

3. Be sober for one month

With my illness, it is tough to drink and deal with the repercussions the next day. That and it impends my weight loss. Those glasses of alcohol are chock filled with empty calories and studies have shown that there's a halt to weight loss up to 3 days after drinking alcohol.

Tuesday

• Couch to 5K running programme (Intervals) (more…)

< 5 days to my first triathlon, and I am absolutely worried to the core. I have not run enough, I have not done bricks, effectively "I have nots" are piling up. CP's last advice to me was that I should lay off all activities by Thursday which leaves me Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to run and cycle (I'm going to wing swimming).

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do – Epictetus

I will finish the OSIM tri in under 50mins. thegymbunny.com has just been renewed for another year, this journey has been so amazing and encouraging with my gymbunnies behind me (all two of you!)  It has been absolutely key in my success and will be crucial for my progress.

For all your aspiring tri bunnies, I've made a list which I will expand after I complete/kick ass at the OSIM Triathlon 2010

Image courtesy of Matt Coats (Flickr)

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We all know that sleep is crucial for weight loss. It is in rest that your body has the time to repair itself so, I've included a sleep count into this review. I get my fish oil next week, so this week I have to tide myself over with less than ideal fish oil intake.

Day 1

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Resolutely sick with my plateau which is a result of not working out at full intensity and not being 100%. Deeper down, it is a loss of focus. E was such a great trainer in that he knew exactly how to motivate. We started bets, he checked on me regularly, he gave me reasons to be better, to want more.

Unfortunately, his departure coincides with a failure in getting back to my workout routine. In this bid for fitness, I have earned the desire to learn new things – I started a running programme, signed up for a 5K, a mini triathlon, went climbing and completed it!, woken up more mornings in 2009 than I have ever had all my life, I work out without fail at least x 1 a week (not sufficient for weight loss/fitness) which is not what I can say about most people.

MB started a biggest loser-esque bet with me and right now, he is at -7kg and I'm at -2kg (even this is doubtful because, I've started eating carbs so  my water weight retention averages 2-3kg). Aside the need to win this, I also have to break out of this and here comes in the crazy part. After hearing it from K, I've done some research and decided to give this a whirl. 28 days and my commitment. The hardest part of this, should be in the social aspect of this. I have 1 healthy meal a week to eat. 

What is it?

The Velocity Diet is for all intents and purposes, a liquid diet based on supplements to provide the nutrients that the body needs. The diet is four weeks of protein shakes x 5 times a day with one healthy solid meal (HSM) a week. Uh huh, not a day. A week. The purpose of this diet is to lose as much fat as possible without losing muscle. (more…)

Monday

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Drafted out my training schedule over the weekend and it looks pretty brutal. It involves me working out x6 days a week, that's a new level of commitment. Especially for me. I cannot afford to work out every day after work, I own a very needy dog named Chutney who whinges to the high heavens if he hasn't seen me enough. Which brings me to working out before work. So out goes sleeping after 10.30pm.

Wasn't familiar with the running routes within my estate so I drove the car out to Bedok Reservoir which has a running route of 4.5KM which is just 0.5KM of my running plan. I have known for awhile that running on a threadmill and running on pavement brings out relatively different results with the latter being that much more difficult.

Set my iPhone on the C25K app and off I went. For once, my blasted Nike+ decided to work and, it tracked my distance and speed. With running, alot of it is a mental game, it is pushing yourself when you want to stop or slow down. I recall being able to run 5KM effortlessly at some point of my life, and I had nary a gadget. I determined how hard I worked out on how wet my t-shirt was and, stopped only when I had a stitch. That was caveman goal setting 101, make a goal based on lamp posts. Now, I listen to some stranger telling me how well I'm doing and I'm somewhat on the fence as to if it is indeed better.

CP made a comment about not having music while I run which apart from security reasons, had practical and psychological reasons too. I did not have to lug equipment along, I could just run and, running lets you clear your mind. The last 1.5K was done without music and it was tougher not to have something to pound the gravel to, but I see his point. It does let you unclutter your mind which is key if you've had a glimpse in mine.

Suppose it is a matter of getting used to. 1 down, 5 to go! :) Have a productive Monday!

On CP's advice, I decided to log my training for the tri. It makes natural sense, to track progress and the likes. So, the training plan is to do a tri activity at least twice a week on top of what I'm doing for gym which honestly sounds like more than I chew off but, I need to make a schedule to make this work.

Wednesday

200m swim – 7mins 10 seconds

I wasn't really pushing myself, my elbow hurts when I stretch and was feeling sorta of punched out.