I am not 27...I have decided I am in my mid 20's still, and if anyone asks me, I'm 24 and 36 months. I know that 27 is not old, and I certainly most of the time still feel like I am 17, but, it really bothers me to think that I am creeping closer and closer to 30 year old!
Anyway, lots planned over the next few days, including a trip to TGI Fridays and then off to Bonny Scotland!!
Gym was good yesterday but busy and full of the sort of people that seem to like to stand around and hog machines so I got a bit frustrated, but thanks to Mr Geutta and his Little Bad Girl, managed an extra .02km taking my personal best now to 6.79km in 15 minutes!
Oh well means I can justify that Chocolate Fudge cake tomorrow?!
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Monday, 24 September 2012
Failing to Plan is to Plan to Fail
Another cracking gym session today, no records broken, but then I wasn't trying to, just get a good consistent session in the back of the net as today marks the start of my annual leave!! Yes, they railway god's have decreed that I can have 2 weeks off!
Anyway, holiday times are always a difficult one to keep this sort of momentum going especially given some of the things that I have planned over the next few weeks, especially as it's my birthday, which is a blog post in of itself.
So let's start with what I have planned, two trips to Scotland, a night out in London and a day trip to Cardiff, a few days back in the North East...oh an a Birthday House Jager Party!
I have a cunning plan to make sure that I get gym sessions in every other day, and making use of FitnessFirst's policy of letting you use all of the other clubs in their chain! To make sure that eating is adhered to, I'm planning out in advance were we will be going.
Anyway, holiday times are always a difficult one to keep this sort of momentum going especially given some of the things that I have planned over the next few weeks, especially as it's my birthday, which is a blog post in of itself.
So let's start with what I have planned, two trips to Scotland, a night out in London and a day trip to Cardiff, a few days back in the North East...oh an a Birthday House Jager Party!
I have a cunning plan to make sure that I get gym sessions in every other day, and making use of FitnessFirst's policy of letting you use all of the other clubs in their chain! To make sure that eating is adhered to, I'm planning out in advance were we will be going.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
I think a treat is in order...
Well this week has been quite a good one, certainly a lot better than I had expected.
Whilst the gym had taken a back, seat, eating healthily didn't, so I don't feel like I lost a lot of progress, but I do think that generally, this has been the first week after the para's to really crack on with the physical activity.
One of the tools that I'm using is an app that a friend of mine, Simone, recommended, and its turning out to be incredibly useful. Its called MyFitnessPal and basically you log everything you eat and physical activity and gives you targets based on your Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR), it asks for underlying assumptions to pin this on, as well as your general lifestyle type. For example in the job I do, I am very rarely just sat at a desk I'm on my feet doing inspections of stations and visiting staff, so it builds all of that in.
Anyway I'm hoping this is going to be a graph that I'm going to be able to show on a week by week basis. This is my net calorie consumption for the week, as you can see, the really low days, Tuesday, Thursday and today at the days that I was at the gym, so calorie in take is offset against expenditure:
So hot on the heels of that success came another!!
I mentioned last night about hitting 6.72km in 15 mins! Well look at todays result!!
So next week is going to be the challenge to keep the momentum up, but as for tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a great big Raspberry filled KrispyKreme!! Everything in Moderation!!
Whilst the gym had taken a back, seat, eating healthily didn't, so I don't feel like I lost a lot of progress, but I do think that generally, this has been the first week after the para's to really crack on with the physical activity.
One of the tools that I'm using is an app that a friend of mine, Simone, recommended, and its turning out to be incredibly useful. Its called MyFitnessPal and basically you log everything you eat and physical activity and gives you targets based on your Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR), it asks for underlying assumptions to pin this on, as well as your general lifestyle type. For example in the job I do, I am very rarely just sat at a desk I'm on my feet doing inspections of stations and visiting staff, so it builds all of that in.
Anyway I'm hoping this is going to be a graph that I'm going to be able to show on a week by week basis. This is my net calorie consumption for the week, as you can see, the really low days, Tuesday, Thursday and today at the days that I was at the gym, so calorie in take is offset against expenditure:
So hot on the heels of that success came another!!
I mentioned last night about hitting 6.72km in 15 mins! Well look at todays result!!
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Positive. Mental. Attitude.
The problem with being a successful railway professional in a high
flying managerial role is that life just never easy, someone's ringing
you, you always have to go somewhere, there is always another meeting,
jesus, believe me, there is ALWAYS another meeting to go to!
I used to think, before I was a manager that meetings were fun, that they made important decisions in said meetings and change the way the railway runs - not quite, you normally sit there, debate the problem for a few hours, decide you don't have the money to fix it, and decide that we'll "see how it goes" and hope for the best.
It's frustrating!
Anyway, the demands of the job are such that it's so difficult to work out where you are going to be at a given time, and that's made as I said yesterday, planing the gym difficult.
The problem is always that I am always rushing, trying to sort all of my gym stuff in the morning, then to get out of work, and then getting there, getting changed. Well I tried something different today, simply going home first! Not taking my kit with me, just going home, having a drink, a shower and getting changed and mentally prepared.
Well I am proud to say that worked a treat, the metric that I keep an eye on during CV work is distance, its furthest away from time, so I don't look at the countdown, my previous best in any one session (of 15 min bouts) was 6.55km, today, I did 6.72km, so am one very happy bunny!
I basically but this down quite simply to mentally preparing myself!
Key Lesson Learnt I think!!
I used to think, before I was a manager that meetings were fun, that they made important decisions in said meetings and change the way the railway runs - not quite, you normally sit there, debate the problem for a few hours, decide you don't have the money to fix it, and decide that we'll "see how it goes" and hope for the best.
It's frustrating!
Anyway, the demands of the job are such that it's so difficult to work out where you are going to be at a given time, and that's made as I said yesterday, planing the gym difficult.
The problem is always that I am always rushing, trying to sort all of my gym stuff in the morning, then to get out of work, and then getting there, getting changed. Well I tried something different today, simply going home first! Not taking my kit with me, just going home, having a drink, a shower and getting changed and mentally prepared.
Well I am proud to say that worked a treat, the metric that I keep an eye on during CV work is distance, its furthest away from time, so I don't look at the countdown, my previous best in any one session (of 15 min bouts) was 6.55km, today, I did 6.72km, so am one very happy bunny!
I basically but this down quite simply to mentally preparing myself!
Key Lesson Learnt I think!!
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Olympic Legacy...
So the past few months I have been quite quiet, and to he honest, my training has felt like it's almost been on hold, there is quite an irony to this though its all due to: The Olympics!
Yes, the major sporting event due to "Inspire A Generation" has in fact knocked me off course but in the process have actually ended up learning quite a lot.
One fact, which has really spurned me on is that I'm not getting any younger, and I write this with about 9 days left till I turn 27. You see when I was 18, the point when I lost all of my weight before I was literally like a little dynamo, 6th form during the day, work till 2300 every night, and then at the weekends, in fact almost every weekend of that year, I use to have to go to Stockport.
Not once did I feel tired, or worn by it all.
Now, 9 years later, and with a job that places a massive demand on my time, and which can be intellectually and physically demanding at times, I find myself just not having that same level of energy and enthusiasm that I once did.
I think the time has come where I need to be more regimented in my approach to work. I have little doubt that this will provide benefits in other ways, but for now, I see it as vital to ensuring that I am getting my gym sessions in at least 3 times a week!
The other issue, work related was the Olympics, I volunteered (well half demanded!) that I be given the night shift to the duration. Now in the line of work that I do, our business can be subject to extreme disruption, and managing that safely is something that is paramount. I regard myself as being one of the best at doing that, so when it came to volunteering for these night shifts, I thought it would be exhilarating, demanding and a real challenge.
Well it wasn't.
All of the preparations we had put in for the Olympics worked fantastically, and so my role ended up being little other than directing people, or getting bored that nothing was happening. Good for the business, but I don't do "bored" very well so I ended up going stir crazy, not to mention the affect that night shifts for 6 weeks had on my sleep pattern.
Anyway all back sorted now :)
Yes, the major sporting event due to "Inspire A Generation" has in fact knocked me off course but in the process have actually ended up learning quite a lot.
One fact, which has really spurned me on is that I'm not getting any younger, and I write this with about 9 days left till I turn 27. You see when I was 18, the point when I lost all of my weight before I was literally like a little dynamo, 6th form during the day, work till 2300 every night, and then at the weekends, in fact almost every weekend of that year, I use to have to go to Stockport.
Not once did I feel tired, or worn by it all.
Now, 9 years later, and with a job that places a massive demand on my time, and which can be intellectually and physically demanding at times, I find myself just not having that same level of energy and enthusiasm that I once did.
I think the time has come where I need to be more regimented in my approach to work. I have little doubt that this will provide benefits in other ways, but for now, I see it as vital to ensuring that I am getting my gym sessions in at least 3 times a week!
The other issue, work related was the Olympics, I volunteered (well half demanded!) that I be given the night shift to the duration. Now in the line of work that I do, our business can be subject to extreme disruption, and managing that safely is something that is paramount. I regard myself as being one of the best at doing that, so when it came to volunteering for these night shifts, I thought it would be exhilarating, demanding and a real challenge.
Well it wasn't.
All of the preparations we had put in for the Olympics worked fantastically, and so my role ended up being little other than directing people, or getting bored that nothing was happening. Good for the business, but I don't do "bored" very well so I ended up going stir crazy, not to mention the affect that night shifts for 6 weeks had on my sleep pattern.
Anyway all back sorted now :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)