*Linzerellos Blog

I was having a discussion with someone at work about what motivated me to start exercising if it wasn't about weight loss, his wife is desperate to do something, but, like me so many times before, she starts on a Monday and by Tuesday has given up and then gets herself into this cycle of self loathing for not being able to stick with it. Here I am, 10 months down the road, still exercising regularly for probably the first time in my life. I've come a long way from the girl who would actively avoid any kind of movement all.


The thing is, your head has to be in the right place. You have to do it for the right reasons. I've tried to lose weight for ever, I've joined gyms, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, I've done the 5:2 diet, had personal training sessions, taken laxatives and diuretics (scary stuff). I've tried to be teetotal, I've spent my entire life (since the age of 14) on one diet or another. My aim was always to lose weight. Even though my weight itself has never actually bothered me, it bothered other people and I thought that was enough. It wasn't.

The turning point for me came when I was on holiday last September and had walked down a hill from our villa in Tenerife. It was hot, it's a big hill and the entire way down I was panicking about how I was going to get back up. I genuinely thought I might collapse if I even attempted it.

I made an excuse to make sure we got a taxi because the thought of walking up a hill in the heat, terrified me. It was a huge wake up call and finally I was choosing to exercise for the right reasons - my health.

So that brings me to the present day. I am very much enjoying how much better I feel and the lack of general aches and pains I used to feel before I had any strength at all. My back was always painful, my knees would hurt, I couldn't sleep. I am by no means fit now, but I am a hell of a lot fitter than I was.

I am seriously rubbish at this blogging malarkey these days, I must get back into it. I thoroughly enjoy writing it and keeping up to date with everyone (thanks for the nudge Beth) and it keeps me on the straight and narrow when I bother to post regular updates. I am going to attempt more regular posts from now on.

So what has been happening since I last managed to post? Well last week I turned 40, which was nowhere near as horrific as I'd imagined. I don't feel adult enough to be 40 and the thought of it is really quite depressing but I am not focusing on the number.

I spent the week in New York which was amazing. Lunch at 11 Madison Park was possibly the best meal I have ever eaten. I've never done New York in the Summer and it was ridiculously warm but a bit more pleasant the freezing temperatures I endured in January. We were there for 9 days in total and I expected it would be too long but it felt nowhere near long enough.

In other news, I am still partaking the gym on a regular basis, dare I say I am even enjoying it. Spinning, Yoga, Insanity and Circuits, sometimes I even add in extra classes. There's a definite improvement in my fitness but my weight hasn't really moved too much. My eating is still very much hit and miss and drinking has crept back in too regularly. Since I came back from NY (on Sunday!!) I am making more of an effort to eat well and I am attempting to cut out the booze during the week. Let's see how that goes!

This weekend I am having a party with friends and family so there will be food and booze aplenty, but no major hurdles before that should trip me up.



I've lots more planned over the next few months so it's all go here. I will endeavor to post more about it all!

Oh dear, I have been AWOL forever again. Thanks for the nudge Lesley. I am having a bit of a crazy time of late. Work is pretty awful - we're in the midst of a massive migration and it's very full on and I'm mostly dealing with the stress and fall out from that by eating crap or drinking too much. Some things don't change...

On the positive side, I've had lots of lovely trips already this year.

A long weekend in New York with the girls
A weekend in Leeds with the girls
A night in Madrid to visit the Alinea pop up restaurant (amazing)
10 nights in Dubai

So really, it hasn't been at all bad.

I'm still working my butt off at the gym and there are a lot of improvements there, spinning on a Monday, Yoga on a Tuesday, Insanity on a Wednesday and Bootcamp or Boxercise on a Saturday. I am very much in a routine and very much enjoying it - something I never thought I'd say! I think it's helpful that it's always the same group of girls and we have fun. My fitness levels have improved massively, I've toned up, I'm sleeping better, my back is no longer killing me on a weekly basis. It's all good. I even took my gym kit to Dubai last month and hit the gym 4 times.... I'm a changed woman (sort of).

So the only thing (well the biggest thing) that needs attention is my food/drink. I've definitely cut down the alcohol, but the food has become a bit of an issue again. I'm still very much in the mindset that I can have a treat if I've had a bad day and that usually involves something not overly good for me.

I'm following SW again as I know it works for me, but I am not sure that I have the discipline if I don't attend classes. Let's see how it goes.

I'll leave you with some photos of my recent trips to remind myself that even though work is a horror show at the moment, life really is quite good.



Oh and as part of my imminent mid life crisis (I'm 40 in June) I have dyed my hair pink.....

Another prolonged silence from me, mostly due to a bit of a manic time. I got promoted at work (v. unexpected), I've been away a fair bit and I've had friends come to stay over the past few weekends. I also had a prolonged bout of what can only be described as dysentery which was a lot of fun...

However, I'm still here and still hitting the gym regularly. My eating is going pretty well, I'm avoiding gluten as it seems to have a massive effect on both my stomach and my urticaria and I am generally feeling a hell of a lot better in so many ways.

I seem to have formed a habit now with the gym so I am not even thinking about going any more, my routine currently looks like this:

Monday 0615 - 45 minutes of Spinning
Wednesday 1900 - 30 minutes of Insanity/Burpees/Bear Crawls/Some other kind of hell
Saturday at 0845 - 60 minutes of Boxercise/Legs, Bums & Tums.

I've lost nearly 2 stone now - but a lot of that came off when I was ill and I haven't put all of that back on. Even though I don't feel like I've lost that much weight, it massively hit home last weekend.

We went to Copenhagen for the weekend and I've not been able to fasten the seat belt on a plane for at least the past 3 years. I didn't even try it this time as 4 weeks ago when I flew to Amsterdam for work, it was at least 4 inches off me.... but lo and behold, it fastened! This feels like a massive victory given I am not being totally strict on the food front (other than trying to eat clean) and has spurred me on to continue with the sweaty stuff.

Copenhagen was wonderful, if not bloody freezing. We had dinner at Geranium which was a delight, drank gløgg & cocktails, visited the Christmas markets and general tried to stay warm, I will definitely go for another visit in warmer times.

So, we're nearly in December and I need to keep up with the gym, avoid the temptations and see where it takes me. I'll try and bit a bit more regular here too!

So after another particularly hectic week Chez Linz (several social occasions and a work trip to Amsterdam), I'm still ploughing on with the gym and healthier eating. Since I last blogged, I've done several more exercise classes, each one resulting in far more pain than is normal. I am such a calamity, it's a wonder I've not done myself some serious damage already.

Insanity again last Wednesday - slightly less horrific than the first one, but a killer none the less. I was already sporting a bruise the size of a banana on my thigh thanks to a run in with the spinning bike, but after insanity, my legs pretty much gave up on me sand I had to get down 2 flights of stairs with straight legs. That's not easy, I can assure you.

Friday morning I did a kettle bell session and got very cocky with the amount of weight I was swinging around (12Kg) which resulted in my lower back deciding to give up on me for most of the weekend. I honestly thought I might need a wheelchair at one point, I couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes and sitting down was equally painful. This was excellent given we'd traveled up the Midlands to watch the husbands beloved West Brom in action. I'd dosed up on ibuprofen and purchased some stick on heat patches to ease my pain. All very well and good if the heat patches had stayed in place and didn't keep falling off looking very much like sanitary towels as they landed on the floor next to me. Embarrassing.

With the agony of my back very much in mind, it was with trepidation that I attended Spinning on Monday morning. It hurt like hell but did work wonders on loosening up my back. It didn't work such wonders for my coccyx however. At one point my saddle tilted backwards and as I scrabbled around to remain seated, I very forcefully hit my bottom on something metallic and lets just say, it now feels like a very horny elephant has had it's way with me. Ouch indeed.

So onto last night when I did a resistance band session. Who knew that an oversized elastic band could inflict so much pain? Today it is the turn of my arms. I cannot even lift up my cuppa this morning and washing my hair this morning was nigh on impossible.

What on earth am I doing to myself?

Anyway, despite a couple of very boozy days (Friday and Saturday) the scales showed another 5lb loss. That's 12lbs in 2 weeks. Clearly this is not sustainable and probably not even real, but it's spurring me on to continue with the torture of exercise for now.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've signed up for a programme at my local gym in an attempt to get fit before I turn 40 (8 months and counting, gulp). We had our first meeting on Tuesday to go over the programme and what it would
 entail and I left feeling very enthusiastic about it all.

Our first exercise class was Wednesday night, I was assured I could ease in gently having done no exercise of any worth for about 2 years so I wasn't too worried about it.... Oh how wrong I was. One word. Insanity. Has anyone ever tried this? If not, I don't suggest you do unless you're currently in training for the next Olympics. Oh my days. We did a 30 minute class, of which I managed probably 20 minutes tops. I thought I was going to be sick (thankfully there was a bin strategically placed next to me) and at one point, I got down to do a press up and my legs point blank refused to get me back up again. Cue me lying on the floor in a distressed heap.

Needless to say, Thursday and Friday were fun in that any form of movement was an impossibility. I'd forgotten how painful muscles can be when you use them...

On Friday afternoon we headed over to Suffolk to visit one of my besties for her 40th birthday, much booze and food followed so my first week attempting to be good was someone foiled, but I realise this is life and I cannot be swayed by a few bad meals. A lovely weekend was had and that is the most important thing of all.

So, the 2nd class of my 'programme' was at 0615 this morning. What sort of God awful time is that to be out of bed on a Monday? As if I didn't hate Monday's enough. Spinning today - I used to be an avid spinner, back in the day, so again I wasn't overly concerned. Again I was naive. How painful are bike saddles?? You'd think with my excessive ass cushioning, I'd find it relatively comfy, heck no! I can think of several ways to describe the pain in my under carriage right now, none of which I should probably publish, needless to say, I feel bruised in places I didn't know existed. My legs are also protesting some what. I am struggling to get on and off the toilet which is a tad embarrassing. Still, it can only get better, right?

My 'clean' eating hasn't been completely on point, but I'm definitely doing a lot better. I've not managed to (and I don't intend to yet) eliminate gluten from my diet and the odd Diet Coke is still creeping in (Aspartame is the work of the devil by all accounts) but it's definitely better. I was rewarded with a 7lb drop this morning but I suspect that is a false reading given I got weighed when I'd just got back from holiday and bloat was in full flow...

Anyway, Insanity again on Wednesday and a PT session on Friday. God help me and my nethers.

It has been forever, life has just totally gotten in the way of late. Work has been super busy, I have been away lots and needless to say, my weight has not been a priority in the slightest.

Since I last posted, I've spent time in the US and Canada for both holiday and work, spent time with friends in various parts of the UK (Liverpool, Hull, Gleneagles, London) and had a weekend with my family for my parents 40th wedding anniversary in the Lake District. Healthy eating has always been in my mind, but clearly not enough for me to stick to any kind of plan.

However, I am back from a week in Tenerife, feeling like the porkiest of porkers after too many crisps and a lot of Cider. I was so uncomfortable on the plane that I decided it was time for action. My weight has never bothered me massively, but feeling unhealthy has and that's where I am right now.

So as of today, Slimming World has restarted (I've put 1.5 stone of the 2.5 stone I previously lost back on, go me.... ) and I have signed up for a health programme at my local gym. 3 classes a week plus various seminars on nutrition, decluttering, osteopathy etc. Let's see how that goes given I've done zero exercise for approximately 3 years.

I won't ramble on any longer but I am going to try and get back into the habit of blogging more regularly in an attempt to keep me on the straight and narrow. I'll leave you with some photos of the past few months instead of attempting to describe all of my escapades.