Hands looking rough after some more parkour with Luke :)

he jumped the gun a little today, calling me saying nobody showed up to the scheduled thursday session and i should come down again :P to my horror as i rounded the corner i saw a few other guys jumping around. I am intensely intimidated by these people xD i’m not sure exactly why, i think it’s just because it’s a big group of guys who are all gathered to get/be strong and agile and do amazing impressive things…..and here i come, this clumsy, not-very-strong noob girl tagging along with my talented boyfriend :P i considered just continuing to cycle by…but of course i couldnt do that xD

it ended up being okay though. i was really jittery and hyperaware of all the other people at first, but luke took me to a less see-able spot and got going, after which i quickly (mostly) forgot about the other people and happily attempted all that he set me :)
today we re-visited kicking up walls again (which i’m still not great at but oh well :P) and then he had me doing arm jumps. Basically, you sorta jump at a wall and hang off it rather than getting on top of it. The goal here i’m assuming is eventually i should be strong enough to pull myself all the way up on top of the wall- but i’m quite far off that xD better work on my pull ups. They were quite fun, kinda weird because it just happens instinctively and you dont really know if you’re just gonna smash into the wall or not until youre hanging off it happily…that’s how i felt anyway!

i just jumped from the ground onto the wall at first, and then we moved to a window-sill and jumping to a high-ish wall (by lacey standards :P it was a good foot or more taller than me when i was on the ground) i made it pretty easily, so we moved to another window will that was further away from the wall. i really genuinely enjoyed this jump the most :D it was just far enough that i actually had to push a little bit for it, yet close enough that i could make it fairly comfortably. I did it a few times and eeeee it was cool :)
he had me try a climbup after and lol complete failure. to be fair my arms started aching reallllly quickly once we started arm jumps so by the time he showed me that i kinda knew my arms probably wouldnt have it in them. When i get a little stronger (e.g.not in agony for 3 days after a session :P) i’ll have to give it a try first thing and see where i’m at.
we tried a further jump from the ground but i couldnt quiiiite commit to it/jump far enough. another day maybe :P

we moved on to another spot after this and he got me working on my jumps. i find it quite awkward to jump off two feet but it started getting easier while we were here. in fact they were feeling really good for a while! :) it’s becoming clear that i have quite a large mental barrier that stops me from reaching my full potential for some of these things. i guess the only way to improve that is to practice :P
we did some other jump drills on the stairs and had a mini attempt at a cat pass which went ok. speaking of stairs and cats, Luke told me about the conditioning they do ‘cat crawling’ (on all fours basically) up and down this massive staircase at the spot we were in. i was like ehhh i’ll give going down a shot. owch. :P i was happy i made it to the bottom without stopping!

we wrapped things up with a short jog around the area, going up  and down the massive staircase as well. bear in mind my legs were erring towards jelly from all the jumping so this was particularly painful but not too bad in the end :P massive stretch off after, cycled home and i proceeded to consume a bowl of paste …i mean….oatmeal. basically i put in two scoops of protein powder in a desperate attempt to limit my muscular suffering and there was so much that it just kinda glooped up and got pasty. not super pleasant, but edible. And i figured it was worth any taste discomfort if it lessened my muscle pain xD

overall it was a really fun session! i find myself really looking forward to these excursions with Luke :) i like learning the new stuff he has to teach me and it feels good when i get stuff right. And when i get it wrong it’s not so bad either, cause it’s funny and still good for my muscles :P  guess the lesson i took from today (lol) is that i’m stronger and more capable than i give myself credit for sometimes. Luke says i’m catching on fairly quick and he’s impressed, which makes me happy :D just cause i look up to him in all his strength and agileness so when he says stuff like that it’s extra good :P i want to make him proud!!

it’s time for sleep. sorry fo rthe long rambling post! i just really like this stuff :D so much more fun than my usual workouts!

sleep tight :)

peace

Me before rollerblading this morning :) going for a run now. And then riding after and that’ll be me sorted for the day ::D 20 days till my birthday and I wanna be the best I’ve ever been to kick off being 21 :)

yay! basketball was really fun and it’s crazy warm outside :D (in comparison to how it has been , anyway!) i came back and rather than coming straight back to my room i hit the gym for a short stint on the elliptical and a long stretch.  extra credit woop

tomorrow’s morning adventure: cycle down to platt fields and do some roller blading :D finally!!
and then i’ll have riding later that morning andddd then who knows maybe i’ll go for a run or hit the gym :)

do need to plan a rest day though :L my legs are struggling to take on this sudden exercise load. they be burnin out quickly these past couple days. i’m thinking i’ll probably do something Friday morning but take the rest of the day off +saturday. Think i’ll be biking into town on saturday and walking around so that’ll be good anyway :) planning on getting some new (NOT BLACK,NOT TIGHT) sweatpants and maybe a new sports bra :D all of m y bottoms are black and only one pair are proper sweatpants. the rest are leggings and yoga pants :P and yeah i dig the whole tight bottoms loose top workout gear but with weather warming i’m wanting to work the loose bottoms + vest top look :D

that’s my little ramble for today. Time to have my mid morning snack (high carb day woop woop) and make my lunch for another long day at the lab :P have a nice day everyone!

peace

check!
goodness it was a struggle. i’m always in poor form in the mornings but today was prettttty bad :P my lymph node has swollen up again and my lungs felt at 50% like they did over easter break…i was gasping like a fish out of water after the first half :L despite having taken my inhaler before leaving. dread to think what things would have been like if i hadnt. genuinely think i woulda had an asthma attack xD

Luke was very good the whole way round though. Very encouraging and patient despite my sluggish pace :P i’m heading to the doctor shortly to get my blood taken again, so i’m gonna let them know about the re-swelling and the lung difficulties. finished my antibiotics on saturday and i was feeling great up until yesterday night so i’m wondering if i just need a longer course of AB? we’ll see anyway.

have a good day everyone :)

peace

solid but chilled out session at the gym tonight :) just a half an hour on the elliptical because my muscles still need a litttttle more time to recover, especially left calf!
had a good long stretch afterwards :) i dont know what’s come over me but suddenly i’m thoroughly looking forward to workouts and getting more fit and eating healthy! going on a morning run with Luke tomorrow at 8:30, hopefully the earliness of it wont kill my motivation/resolve xD
i think my muscles will be in pretty decent shape tomorrow so maybe i can stick in some pushups and handstands in the evening :)

also gonna aim for a high protein/low carb day tomorrow, a la chris powell. tofu salad for lunch + fruitski for snack + maybe i can try to make some sort of chickpea burrito deal for dinner but use a spring green leaf as the ‘tortilla’… i know chickpeas are blatant carbs but i let it slide because i’m vegan and plants are carbs so oh well :P

gettin more blood taken tomorrow. yeeeep. have a good night everyone :)

peace

first- hey new followers!! :D 

i’m walking around like a crippled grandmother today :P it’s bad!
but good :)
slight increase on the scale this morning, but i experienced the same thing when i ripped my body to shreds at that one circuit training class i went to so i think it’s just water retention to help repair my poor little muscles :P 

despite that, i actually feel quite good :) i know if i carry on for the next couple weeks and remain consistent with my healthy eating and exercise my body will definitely start to change and that scale will go down. i’m finally back in a head space where i want to consume whole healthy foods and turn away yucky greasy/sugary ones. and i want to exercise and improve my general fitness. I’m not bothered about the scale right now because i know i need to give my body some time to adjust from how i’ve been the past few weeks. cant expect it to go from leisurely exercise and mediocre eating to fat burning fit machine over night :P

so i think today will be a rest day considering my soreness (minus some light yoga, and maybe a quick spin on the exercise bike to warm my muscles for more comfortable stretching/get blood moving…) and i’m going to have a good long think about how i want to plan out my eating in the coming weeks. This is the final week of lectures and then it’s exam time, so i’m going to have plenty of time around revision to feed myself the way i want and exercise however i want to.

plans will be under the read more so i dont bore those uninterested! :)

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^ shocked face getting back from run, having ran the whole 2 miles without stopping :o :o :o
and then mirror pic after feeling good :D

so yeah i went for a jog this evening, with full intention of making it easy and relaxed since i’m pretty sore from yesterday’s antics. lo and behold for the first time i actually ran the full two miles :Oit was slow, about 20 ish minutes, but still! big deal for me!! i dont know where this random fitness came from because i havent run in ages but i’m happy to embrace it :)

planning on keeping to this 2 mile route and improving my time a bit for the next week and then i’ll look into adding in a third mile :)

that’s all anyway! 

peace :)

So i did something a bit different today, in an attempt to reboot my motivation for working out. Originally i had plans for an easy run. Luke went off to parkour and in the midst of eating my soup he rang me and said nobody showed up, and proceeded to invite me down for a bit of fun :) i happily obliged!

off i went, biking into town (getting slightly lost but i was then retrieved :P) and we got straight to work! The majority of the session was spent learning/practicing how to kick up onto walls quickly and efficiently. if you look at that awkward picture of me, i started off at a wall that was shoulder height (without that top bit) and then, feeling confident when i finally started nailing the technique, the higher wall pictured. That one was definitely a challenge!!!! i did manage it a couple times, once quite well and the other times a bit meh and struggling. i think it will be nice to go back there in the future and see if i cant get myself up properly more than once! 

i’m going to note that at this point DOMS was already setting in on my arms. they were turning into trembling jelly XD but we pushed onwards, taking a small break from climbing to go over a lazy vault which was then incorporated into a short run . shoulder height wall, vault down off the wall, run up to big wall. it took a few tries but i managed it in the end!
we did a little bit of jumping which i kinda sucked at but oh well :P after which we got back to practicing the climbing technique until my arms could take no more. ended with a few situps and a little rail walking and then stretched :)

there are a few things i really loved about all of this. Firstly, it didnt feel like a workout- it just felt like learning something new and fun and hanging out with my lovely boyfriend who is a great teacher :) Secondly, despite not feeling like a workout, i can already tell that i am going to be in sweet agony from head to toe tomorrow morning. Lastly it made me feel good and strong and agile and coordinated, even though i messed up countless times :) i have so much admiration for what Luke and many others can do, so even managing little bits like i did today made me feel really good about myself and  put gas in the motivational fire to get stronger and fitter so that one day i might be better ^_^

Luke seemed to enjoy himself as well, so judging by the successfulness of this evening we will hopefully attempt to fit it in from time to time in the coming months :) it definitely is going to be good for my body because it’s very different to the workouts i’ve been doing. But i think it will also be good for my confidence and motivation in general :) it’s especially nice to have Luke there and getting to share a bit of what he’s so passionate about. 

the other picture is me with this cat that hangs out around my flat some evenings. i always let him come sit on my lap and we bond.

hopefully you guys will hear from me again soon with more happy things :D for now, i’m gonna head off to sleep!

peace 

i think my brain out ate my body today…if that makes any sense. 
i was feeling peckish after breakfast so i ate an apple and another banana :P (breakfast is oatmeal with soya milk, a banana mixed in and a  teaspoon or two of jam)
i kept thinking “oh i’ll pick up an extra snack ” when i went into uni but it turned out i forgot my wallet. i was in uni until about 2:30 so i only ate what i packed, which wasnt much :P brown pitta bread stuffed with spinach, an apple and some sunflower seeds. i got home and ate some broccoli with salt and pepper yum yum yum
and for dinner, tofu pasta <3
and then later a nakd bar and an orange. It seems like so much less than i thought i ate…i feel like i’m forgetting stuff but i’m not. hm.

i havent been tracking my food, which is relaxing for me, but i’m wondering now if i’m not getting enough calories in :P the weight is coming off so i’m doing something right, i just gotta make sure it’s not coming at the expense of my health!
speaking of which…i’ve had a very swollen lymph node (think ping pong ball) under my collarbone. Blood tests were done, etc and i was slightly anaemic (no thanks to the easter holidays and pre easter stress eating ) i’m on antibiotics now but they dont seem to be doing anything :( on top of that they have gelatin in them so that sucks balls. it’s really starting to stress me out because i’m worried there’s something more serious wrong with me and i’ll have to go through more intense treatment of some kind…=/ meh. seeing doctor again on thursday and possibly getting xrays done.
i have no other symptoms besides this stupid node! which is good because i’m glad i at least FEEL healthy but it’s unsettling because something is clearly wrong. ugh.
uni has been really busy since i got back. I’m sad i havent been able to make another video as of late, i wanted to keep up with that and make it a normal thing but between my random node swelling and spain and easter and being sickly when i got back from all that and uni work…its all getting a bit on top of me :P on the other hand i’m settling back into my healthy lifestyle , modified in a way that’s keeping me much happier than i was. aka i’m not treating bread like the enemy :P i got so used to avoiding it during lent that it feels really naughty now to grab a bagel or a breadroll from the store… but so satisfying xD
plus i’m feeling really motivated to put more into my exercise, as i’ve definitely been lagging! the gym was temporarily closed, which was a good thing for me in the end. the weather is warming and if i really want to smash out a good workout outside is where i ought to be for 80% of them. We’ve got more daylight now so it shouldn’t be too hard to stick a run on the end of my day or something similar! that said i’m also starting to get back into videos and whatnot so that will be good when it’s dark/i cant bring myself to face the rain.
ironically, now that i’m eating more bready things the weight is still coming off swiftly. My aim is to be at 125 by may 1st, which is very ambitious seeing as i weighed in at 129.4 this morning, but i’m gonna keep it as a goal just to make sure i work hard every day this week and next :) I’d love to be dipping under 125 by my birthday, if not at 120!

so yeah, apologies as always for the lack of personal posts. I really do enjoy writing personal things on here because it’s nice to look back on from time to time but sometimes things just get hectic and the weight comes back on and i dont wanna come and admit it to you guys so i say i’ll blog again when i’m back at my listed “current weight”……yeah. no good, right? plus with the weird lymph node thing weighing on my mind i’ve been looking for distractions :P writing about it =/= distraction.

hope all of you are well and have a nice evening/good day tomorrow!

peace

it’s probably sad that a 13C overcast day in manchester and i’m getting excited for summer xD
feeling good today :) boy is coming over soon!
and i had an amazing amazing jumping clinic on my favourite horse :D