Pump up the jam

As i mentioned in the last post, I tried out a body pump class and loved it. Well this week I have done three !!!!! total addiction. Luckily I did get tickets for the Olympics but had I not, then there is a fair possibility that I would be trying to gain access as a competitor in the weight lifting. Its great and is as hard or easy as you make it yourself. If you don't know what body pump is I will try to explain. Basically its an hour long weight lifting class, proper weight lifting moves. Not just a few bicep curls. Multiple reps working out the chest, back.triceps, biceps and abs with lots of squats and lunges thrown in for good measure. Sounds hard doesn't it. That's what I thought and that did put me off slightly but I started with a low weight on my bar and kept that weight on for the whole class. Now I have a slightly heavier weight and gradually add more or take some off depending on which muscle group we are working on. I see some women in my class with their bars fully loaded and some who seem to just use a very light weight every time all the way through so it is suitable for varying abilities and fitness levels. At the end of the class we do a quick cool down and it is then you realise how hard you have worked as my arms were shaking so much i couldn't manage a press up. The next day I do feel a bit achey, but I have to say I do kind of enjoy this feeling. It means I know I have worked hard and that makes me happy. So that's the class for me,. Who would have thought it eh, I'm turning into (shock horror) a bit of a gym bunny ! I cant help it though and I do find I am having to restrict myself from talking about it too much as I don't want to become boring. When I'm talking to people now and they start saying how they want to lose weight and diet etc I do find it hard not get too pushy about how the gym can help them. As I know from being that person who talks and thinks endlessly about doing it, I know nothing will make you do it unless you really want it and have reached the point where you are ready to. I cant believe how much my life has changed since I started writing this blog. At times the thought of giving up has been almost overwhelming but nothing is as overwhelming as the thought of going back to the place I was in before. Being afraid to go out the house because of being fat is just not going to happen to me again. I am aware, I'm not there yet and I am still overweight, but I am doing it. I will continue to do it. Even when I stage where I am happy with my body (if anyone ever is) I will still do it. The gym has become my way of life now and I feel a bit special about it. The staff all know me, There are people I pass in the corridor who I say hello to, and yes there are women, who I talk to, in the changing room, while I am getting dressed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although not in the nude, I still get changed behind closed door. Life hasn't changed that much !

Things are starting to shrink !!!!!!

Ok first off, again. Big sorry I have been a little slap dash in updating. I had some laptop troubles. I am not the most technically minded person and I had to re-install windows and then try and get everything back to how it was. Absolute nightmare but I think its all done now. Apart from I cant seem to turn the sound on, but I'm sure I will work it out somehow. I am rather proud of myself though as I never thought I would see the day where I  was going all technological. It had to be done as I was waiting on an email from a job I had applied for. Its a week past the closing date for applications and I haven't heard anything so I take it I haven't even managed to get an interview, again. Cant help being majorly upset about this one. it was a job I really wanted, working with care leavers. So its something I feel very passionate about. Oh well I will keep trying. I have decided now that this is the path I want to take for work, having spent nearly all of my working life teaching riding and mucking out/grooming/ feeding etc horses I feel its time for a change. I do feel really lucky that I have been able to do a job that I have loved but now I have the two children and I am not getting any younger, its probably time to stop playing with ponies. The only thing though is that I really struggle doing jobs that I don't love. Don't get me wrong I am not in a position to be turning down work, and at the moment I will take anything that comes my way. I also need to think of the future. We still have no savings, no pensions and desperately need to move to a bigger, non damp house. Would be great if  the kids didn't have to share a room anymore as the girl is finding it increasingly difficult to get any privacy and at her age now its important for her, and a job on the till at tesco isn't going to fund all that. One night just before the laptop packed up I applied to do the first part of a degree course haven't heard anything back yet but its focusing on the areas I want to end up working in and getting the chance to achieve a qualification in this field will be brilliant. I do worry that when I do eventually find something that I wont find the time for the gym anymore. See I have been a working mum before full and part time and there is no way I would have found time then and that was only with one child not two !!!
  Back to the actual topic, this week I'm really feeling a change in my body. I am so happy that the tummy is finally starting to shrink, its so funny all my stretch marks (there are alot and very wide ones too) are starting to fold in on themselves. I am really hopeful that I wont be left with too much saggy skin. After watching embarrassing fat bodies for the last few weeks and seeing what people have to go through to get the skin removed makes me worry that I will end up with skin hanging everywhere. I feel so much better than when this whole thing started and I have a bit more of a spring in my step. This week I tried out a body pump class, which is basically aerobics but with weights. It was brilliant and will definitely being doing it again ( on Monday in fact) I have only been doing a little bit of running and the ankle was a bit twingy the first few days but is feeling ok now so I am starting right from the start again with just a few mins walking then a few running. I'm using the elliptical cross trainer alot. Its so much better than the normal ones and gives such a good workout that I'm just not as worried about the running as I was. I have also been doing alot on the bikes in preparation for a 45 mile bike ride in September that I have signed myself up for. its for the princes trust, which is a cause I feel strongly about. So that's all for now and I absolutely promise to keep on top of this blog now.