13,484 steps & active burn 645 kcal. Seeing those numbers pop up on my UP were definitely a very welcome sight after a somewhat slacky week last week. No gym at all last week because of tight schedules and me being ill over the weekend, I definitely gave my body hell tonight! Upper body as usual on a Tuesday, lots of shoulder & arm work paired up with a few core exercises and stepper to get my heart racing for 15 minutes (192 bpm to be exact). And another personal record beaten, hit speed 10.5 on the treadmill today. :)

And yeah, our dresser is quite cluttered. Limited space, apologies.. :p


And just because I'm proud of my guns, a bit of flexing once we got home. ;) Just need to get rid of that fat under my arms and I'll be perfectly happy. Shouldn't take me too long in all fairness.


Uni (and work) really has limited my blogging time for the past few weeks. In a way I'm really happy that I've got plenty of things to do again, but it's also taking time away from a very dear hobby I've kept going since January. I love having my little space to talk about things that matter to me and to track my progress through pictures and stories.

Anyways, yesterday's uni outfit on the left and a very tired me from earlier tonight on the right. Still managed to draw enough energy to go gymming, though!


Oh and did I mention, my other half actually cooked us dinner tonight! In the actual cooking sense, usually him saying "Oh I'll cook tonight" means that he will ring up an Indian and order us dinner. But he went through a lot of effort to cook us a delicious steak dinner, he actually cooked it all a lot better than I do! Was very nice to just sit down for once and relax while he did the cooking. :) Unfortunately didn't have the patience to take a picture of this wonderful meal, I just wanted to tuck in!

And time for some post workout food now. :)

Apologies for the long gap between posts. Real life has it's ways of interfering with things. :)

I've really been able to find some kind of serenity by the sea in the middle of everything that's been going on. I've just automatically gone to the beach instead of somewhere else when I've gone for a walk. It's just so beautiful and quiet over there.


I've had a bit of a hair crisis for a while now. The colour just didn't turn out to be as even as I wanted it when I coloured last time (a month ago?), my fringe ended up being two shades darker than the rest and I had this layer of red mixed in with the brunette. So I had a master plan of buying hair colour stripper and a hair colour a few shades lighter than what I have currently. The stripper worked wonders like it always has before, but unfortunately I didn't have time to add the new colour (and I also ran out of hot water...) before going to the gym. So I went to the gym looking like a carrot!! Was a bit embarrassed, but had no other option than to suck it up and focus on my workout instead of worrying about my hair. :p

A very uni filled day again. Been fighting with one of the tasks pretty much all day and I am finally getting somewhere! This task was about a person in either film, graphics of typography who has had a big influence on the medium. We were assigned to design a "hero page" for them and write a little something about the person. I've seriously struggled with inspiration, I'm still not exactly happy with what I've done but at least I've still got three weeks to perfect everything. I chose Angelina Jolie for this task for various reasons - she has had an incredibly succesful career in film (she has proved that you don't need to be an Arnie to be good at action films), she is an U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and she has raised breast cancer awareness by having double masectomy done earlier this year. She is an absolute inspiration.

I am very self critical, as you can see from the rubbish pile and all the markings in the current version of the design... :)



As I was so busy with my design task, I kept lunch very simple again. Spaghetti, tomatoes, basil, a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, a heaped teaspoon of creme fraiche and an egg mixed in with the spaghetti for a bit of protein (what I do is I pour the water out of the pan, crack the egg in there and mix until the spaghetti is kinda evenly coated with the egg and the egg has cooked). It was so filling that I didn't actually feel hungry at dinner time!



Everything was a bit delayed tonight. We only went to the gym at seven and had dinner around 8.30pm. Didn't really bother me as I honestly wasn't hungry in the slightest, but I thought that it's better to eat something.. ;)

Anyways, arm and shoulder day at gym tonight. Just ended up pottering around on a few machines, a bit of ab work with a single dumbbell (side bend 10x3 with 5kg for both sides) and bicep curls (15x1 and 10x1 with 3kg and 5x1 with 5kg for both arms) to finish off the weight side of the workout. Also did ten minutes on the stepper to finish off the workout + stretching at the end.

Was rather busy at the gym tonight so you'll just have to settle for the usual outfit / progressish pics.



Dinner! My other half requested for something "big" for dinner and then mentioned pasta to me. As I wasn't hungry and already had pasta for lunch, I just made myself a delicious chicken salad. The other half had pasta with chicken and bacon + peas & sweetcorn mix. My plate consisted of lettuce, beetroot, cucumber, red peppers, a teaspoon of pesto on the lettuce as a dressing, chicken and peas & sweetcorn mix. I ended up eating quite a bit despite thinking that I wasn't hungry! Oh well.



Also for extra protein, a handful of walnuts for "dessert". I don't know what it is with walnuts, but I just love the taste of them! The initial taste you get when you put them in your mouth is kinda cardboardy, but after a while you just get this amazing creamy taste. I could probably eat an entire bag of walnuts in one go.. At least I'm thinking like that about walnuts instead of chocolate or sweets!

Yup, despite having a terrible weigh in this morning, I didn't let that stop me at the gym. On the contrary, I pushed myself even more. Spent about an hour at the gym today, had a leg day today! Quick warmup on the treadmill (3min walk - 5min job - 2min walk) followed by two different leg machines, a quick ab set, squats, backwards lunges and stepper to finish it all off. My heart rate absolutely sky rocketed on the stepper, I hit 190 at some point.


It was wonderfully quiet at the gym as well! Barely anyone there, was very nice to be able to do your sets without thinking that somebody is waiting to get on the machines and so on. Also managed to snap this picture during my cooldown, my (very blurry) other half in the background. :) I find it so incredibly important to stretch properly after doing a workout, I just end up being stupidly sore the next day if I don't.

It's been such a pleasant day in other ways, too. :) We had some family around and I got a chance to take pictures of all five dogs of the family again. I can't say it enough, photographing animals is such a rewarding thing to do. You can't tell a dog to pose or sit still, you're forced to think very quick and be ready with the camera or the moment is gone.

Yeah, last night's workout definitely did it's job. Sore leg muscles and stairs just don't mix well... :D Everything has been a bit of a challenge today!

I wanted to see if going for a gentle walk would open up my muscles a bit more and make the soreness better. It did actually work quite well, granted I was still very sore after the walk but I felt better! Now, I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, I love it that the workout actually affected my legs the way it should!


As we didn't go to the gym last night, my other half was very excited about going tonight! I focused on my arms tonight to give my poor legs a bit of a rest and it really sank in well! Towards the end I had to do shorter sets (at the start I could do 10-10-10 but the last set was 10-5-7) as my arms were just so drained out, but I'm very proud of myself for giving it all I got! I also did some core work to strengthen my abs and back muscles. This paired up with 10 minutes on the treadmill start and finish as warmup and cooldown. I'm gonna sleep well tonight.


And now to get all you readers involved! I'd quite like to do a special post about some random thing, please do comment on this post with your ideas! Can be about anything life related (as long as it's you know, within good taste), I will pick the best idea and make a post in the next few days. :) Anonymous commenting is enabled.

It has been a very workout filled day! I can definitely get used to a schedule like this. ;) Of course today's routine is more a one off thing than something I'll be doing more often.



I was meant to have a PT session at the gym last night, but due to a medical emergency my PT had to rebook me for today. I didn't really mind, I just had to replan my evening's workout so I don't absolutely kill myself. My normal schedule will look like this (gym days have been agreed with my other half when we signed up):

Monday: out of gym cardio
Tuesday: gym
Wednesday: pilates
Thursday: rest
Friday: gym
Saturday: out of gym cardio
Sunday: rest


But yeah, about the PT session! I spent 20 minutes cycling to and from gym again, the weather was absolutely miserable before I left (we actually had a thunderstorm this morning), it kept raining on and off so I was quite worried that I'd get absolutely soaked on the way to the gym. Thankfully the rain stopped for the 20 minutes I was out so it's all good!

My PT is such a firecracker, she's got such an amazing way of motivating her clients and I really enjoyed working out with her. I'm not gonna go too much into detail, but it was a very core focused workout. It's given me a very good base to work with, I'm a lot more comfortable with all the machines now and know what kind of weights to start with. I also got a very nice compliment from her, she said I'm a natural with weights and my technique is spot on.

She helped me with some stretching and she was simply amazed of how flexible I am. It became more and more apparent as we went along, she did also point out that I might have loose joints (which would make a lot of sense with my back). That gives me even more reason to train with weights, as it makes everything that little bit tighter and may prevent discolations and such.



I've decided to have a one hour session with her about once a month just to check where I'm at and to make sure my technique's still in check. I will no doubt bump into her at the gym every week, but I really want that one-on-one time with her every now and then. It'll also keep me focused until then, it's nice to go back to a PT and show them how much you've developed. :)

I focused my evening workout on cardio. A quick warmup on the treadmill and after that I just went nuts on the stepper. I absolutely love that machine, I was able to go on for half an hour without any kinds of pain. Towards the end I was slightly aware of my back but nothing major so was extremely happy with how well it all went. :) Finished off with a bit of core work and lots of stretching so I'm not completely handicapped in the morning.


And just to make myself feel even better today, here's a comment from a friend who I don't speak to that often anymore. :) I never even realised he reads my blog so the positive feedback lifted my mood even more!

"I find it really admirable! You write very honestly, and open! I know ive not spoke to you in a while but i just wanted to encourage you a little further.. keep going because your life is changing for Awesome with the Op and Studies.. very cool! go you :)"

 Thank you, comments like this really keep me going. <3


And steak dinner to finish the day off. Yum.

I feel amazing. I'm so glad I signed up.

I kinda wanted to make a post last night after our first trip to the gym, but I didn't really do much. The initial signing up process took about 15 minutes, getting the membership cards active and so on. Small tour around the gym and after that I met up with my lovely PT, Elaine. We only had 30 minutes yesterday so we just basically spoke about what my goals are, what my diet is like and how my back affects me.


After our quick meetup I met up with my other half who was getting right into it. He's been a member of FF before so he knew how everything works and so on so I just ended up shadowing him for another 20 minutes. I joined him on the treadmills for his cooldown, I just messed about for 10 minutes while he jogged.

Right, today! I have a feeling I won't be able to move tomorrow after everything I've done today! :D I'm also trying to get into the habit of eating breakfast, the fuel from it was very needed today at least.. (no, I'm not a Southampton fan before someone asks... :p) Had zero idea of the sugar content of the yoghurt this morning but I'm sure it won't kill me if it had a bit more than I wanted.


As the gym isn't too far away from where we live, I decided to be proactive and cycle to the gym. In hindsight, I probably should've taken the bus. Sure, it's the lazy way but the traffic was an absolute nightmare and it ended up taking me nearly just as long cycling there as it would if I took the bus. Curses.

Anyways! My routine today looked like this:
Cycling to gym, 25 minutes
Pilates, one hour
PT session, 30 minutes
Jog, 10 minutes
Cycling home, 20 minutes

Pilates in one word: amazing. A lot of people seem to think that it's just stretching and listening to soothing music for an hour, but it's so much more. Even if you're not using weights, you constantly use your own body weight as resistance and you suck in your bellybutton to keep your core engaged the entire time. Definitely something I'll keep doing every week, such a fantastic form of exercise for my back.

The PT session was mainly filled with going through all the equipment to get me comfortable with it, all with a few reps just to see what kind of weight and resistance I'm OK with to start. Booked a full workout session with her for tomorrow evening to get started properly.


Oh my god the jogging! I have always wanted to jog / run to keep myself fit but it's way too high impact for my back so it really starts to hurt after a few minutes. But having a low impact machine for it.. I'm in heaven. Ten minutes straight with no pain whatsoever. I didn't want to stop!!

I was absolutely soaking wet by the time I stopped. I don't understand how some girls can come to the gym in full makeup and not smudge it! I'd definitely have it all over my cheeks..

Anyways, time to enjoy this well deserved cup of coffee. ;)

Yay girly stuff today! I do shopping very rarely so a bit of retail therapy was very needed. I ordered a gym bag, some sports bras and workout trousers & shorts. I'll show them off once they arrive, hopefully I'll get them before Tuesday. More about that in a bit. ;)

I also ordered myself a Jawbone UP today. I've wanted something like this for a very long time and was reading into all these kinds of fitness bracelets when I was in Finland. The Jawbone one seemed to be most suited for my own needs, as the sleep tracker on it seemed to be the most detailed and advanced. I struggle with my sleep quite often, so it'll be so handy to know how much I actually sleep during the night. I will do a nice, extensive review of this bracelet once I've been using for a while. ^^

I spent my lunch with my friend today. We marched into Boots to get some food (two meal deals for £5, amazing offer in my opinion!) and walked across town to the beach. It was incredibly busy for a Friday afternoon, wasn't quite expecting that in all fairness! Was a lovely day so didn't mind it as much, was just nice to sit down and relax for a bit with some good food and good company. :)


I also decided to spoil myself a bit and buy hair colour. Funny thing, two months ago I bought the same colour as I got today (so a cold, dark brown colour) and over the past two months it has faded to this gingerish shade. I don't really mind ginger hair, but right now it's not the look I'm going for so wanted to cover it up.


Anyways, about Tuesday! We finally got around to signing up to Fitness First earlier today and we are going there for our first workout on Tuesday evening. Or well, it'll most likely be just induction (going through equipment etc) and me talking with a personal trainer about my back, but you've got to start somewhere right? :) I will definitely start taking advantage of the free classes right from the beginning.