16th April This isn't football

So I've left it much longer than usual to write this so I'm ashamed to say I don't remember everything that we talked about.  Dairy and non-dairy protein I seem to remember. And how many calories alcohol has (oops, don't go and read my other blog... well at least I dance some of it off).

And then to the activity, which someone mentioned in passing was football. Well not a ball to kick in sight which made it a bit frustrating.  We just did an agility exercise involving footwork in the rungs of a ladder laid on the floor. Doesn't sound inspiring? Well, I can't lie, it wasn't really.  And it made my feet hurt, more to do with ill-fitting shoes I think.

And I was really looking forward to circuits next week, but since it's St George's Day I will be celebrating elsewhere (probably check the other blog...).

And the week after is May Eve, another date to celebrate, so I may be away for two weeks.  I haven't left and will be back for more.  Really looking forward to doing some more different activities as tennis and football didn't live up to their full potential.

9th April Lights out

In a rush to arrive on time I forgot my trainers and water bottle, duh, rookie mistake. And we had the excitement of not knowing what activity we would be doing...

Tonight we covered sugars, fats and salt. The idea is that naturally occurring sugars (fructose and lactose) are better than added sugar (glucose), with the exception of honey which is also glucose so is the balsa wood of the sugar world. Vegetable fat is better than animal fat, but here there is another balsa wood, it's coconut oil which is not from an animal but has more saturates so that's best avoided too.  And then salt which is generally bad for you although like all these things, you do need a little.

And I was able to ask my question about last week and it turns out that pre-prepared carbohydrates meant refined as in wholemeal, so at least one of my suggestions was right.

Then it was time for the activity which turned out to be tennis.  Ok, I thought.  It was large, sponge tennis balls and junior sized racquets which seeing as we were playing in the small hall, was just as well.  We did some warm ups bouncing the balls around and then took it in turns to hit the ball over the net. It seemed a shame for such a small group that we could only play one at a time, but as there were only four of us (the same four as last week), it didn't take too long for the turn to come around.

Then the inevitable happened. One of the group (ok it might have been me) hit one of the (very soft) balls into a wall light bulb. It flickered... and got brighter, strangely. We all had a little laugh. Then a few minutes later the bulb gave up the ghost and fused all the lights. While I was feeling particularly embarrassed I did at least have the presence of mind to go and find the fusebox and flick the fuse back on. Everything then carried on as before. Except I felt a bit sheepish.

I enjoyed playing but was expecting us to end up playing together, so the session ended suddenly when it became clear we'd run out of time and this wasn't going to happen.  And as we were leaving I again forgot to ask what we will be doing next week. Staying well clear of the electrics I hope.

2nd April A walk in the park

We had quite an interesting discussion about carbohydrates this evening. We had to categorise them into "processed" and "unprocessed" but I don't think I really understood what this meant. Some of the time unprocessed seemed to mean wholegrain, sometimes low GI, sometimes not pre-prepared, sometimes low sugar. We took a long time on this and the outcome was that if it's brown, it's good and if it's white, it's bad. Apart from Basmati rice which looks white but is as good as brown. [I'm bizarrely reminded of balsa, the soft hardwood.]

We were the same three as last week until a new person arrived. A man, no less. That should change the dynamic a little and hopefully mean with four on the course, a teacher and an activity leader, we have two teams of three for more exciting sports. I'm not thinking anything too way out, just something like the one where you stand on a bench and try to catch a ball.

But today it was a walk in the park. It didn't live up to the heights of boxercise but we were set a good pace and to my surprise walked all the way around the edge of the whole of Horsham Park in a touch over twenty minutes. It made a difference having a pace setter I think as apparently we were going 3.5 miles an hour.

The best part of the session was setting some goals for the course.  I've chosen to go for at least two twenty minute walks a week, on top of what I usually do, average at least 4 portions of fruit and veg a day and to drink at least 2.5 litres of water a day. I can't believe that this little will benefit me very much at all, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised.  I couldn't, however, think of any rewards to give myself for achieving my goals so I'm supposed to come up with these for next week.  Everything that springs to mind costs either time or money I don't have.  Or it's so good I'm going to do it anyway.

26th March Returning for more

First thing in the morning I was dealing with the ominous quandary of what an overweight person should wear to work that could also be worn for "boxercise" as this was the activity we had been told to expect. I was more than a little apprehensive.  However I remained enthusiastic about the class and managed to get home, change my shoes, grab something to eat and feed the baby, without being too late.

One of the four participants was clearly less excited about "boxercise" than I was, and this week we were reduced to three.  I'm not sure this bodes well for the continued existence of the class.

We had the requisite talk about healthy eating (what is overweight, why do people get overweight, problems with being overweight, benefits to losing weight, what is healthy eating). A particularly amusing moment occurred when, after discussing the problems with being overweight we moved on to a topic beginning "benefits to..." and one of the class thought we were now discussing the benefits to being overweight. Our minds wandered, and many giggles ensued.

Then the moment arrived when "boxercise" started. A few short exercises to warm up and then we were put into pairs. With only three in the class I drew the traditionally short straw of being paired with the "teacher".  The only downside on this occasion was that I was very aware I was considerably heavier than she. After some slightly tentative punches I began to trust that I wasn't going to knock her over and then some extremely therapeutic thumping ensued.  It was fantastic and although I could feel I was using muscles that hadn't had much demand recently, I didn't feel that I was going to be a wreck in the morning.

I had an absolute whale of a time, would totally recommend this to anyone and would have no hesitation in doing it again. Brilliant.

Next week we're going for a walk in the park. Sounds a little tame after all the excitement, but I'm keeping an open mind.

19th March The first class

The class on 12th March was cancelled because of the snow so it was another week down the line before anything happened.

Four of us turned up, were given an introduction, plastic folder, forms to complete and were weighed and measured. I was expecting the scales but was hoping for more people.

Then having completed our forms suddenly it was the end. I suppose that was all we could achieve although it felt a bit of a wasted opportunity to not actually do anything.  Roll on next week.

Background

Ok. So I am not a health freak. I've always been overweight but I used to be quite fit. But since I've had two children this has changed. Having spent six months sitting on the sofa with the baby I'm now more overweight and very unfit. So now my youngest is over six months old, I'm doing something about it.

I have given myself a year to get fit and then another year to get to a sensible weight. Not sure what yet.

And while wandering in Horsham a couple of months ago I came across someone with a clipboard who invited me to a weight management course (I clearly look like I need it!) so I'm giving that a go to see what happens.

It's twelve weeks long and every Tuesday evening we have a talk about something health related then do some kind of activity.  The woman with the clipboard gave examples of table tennis and, oh, something else, and that didn't seem too offputting, so I'm happy to give it a go.  Ideally I'll meet a fellow-minded non-super-fit person to continue doing some exercise with, once it ends.

The course is free which is a bit suspicious as it's run by the council, the same one that's about to start charging for green waste collections, so I reckon there must be some funding for it from somewhere.

After a few weeks on the course I'm also going to seriously consider Weight Watchers. My GP is going to send me a letter as a referral so this won't cost anything either, although I've never been on an official diet and don't particularly want to go down that road.