Trying something new - Mk1

In my NY resolutions post, I said I wanted to try some new forms of exercise, and I'm pleased to report I have. I've tried a few classes, but the one I'm going to talk about just now is Spinning.



Spinning was the class I think I was most excited to try. People I know who've done it rave about it. Online reviews say it's fantastic. Apparently, you can burn up to 800 calories in an hours class. 800 CALORIES?! Sign me up!

In case you're not familiar with spinning, it's basically indoor biking. You sit on a stationary bike and pedal like hell for however long your class is!

Before I went to class, I had a different idea of what went on. I thought that you pedalled, but I also thought you did upper body exercises. It seemed a bit mad to me that you'd just pedal for an hour. I'm sure every class is different, but in my class we basically just pedal. There's no upper body exercises at all - save for a couple of stretches.

The bikes are pretty basic - no digital displays. Just a wee notch on the bike you use to control the resistance/tension. We're told at the beginning of the class to move the resistance to where our "ten" is and then we set off at a five. You bike in time to music that is blasting out - to me, that's the best part. And there's some good tunes on ours! Once we start pedalling we literally don't stop til the last few minutes when we're doing cool down. You don't stop when the music stops, you don't stop to change resistance, you just go, go, go.

The instructor will shout out to increase or decrease the resistance, and instruct you to pedal along in time with the music - there can be a fair bit of difference in the tempo, and I actually find it harder going slow!

A few times you crank the resistance right up and then get up and pedal standing up. Hooooly moooooly. When I was a kid I'd never think twice about pedalling like that - especially uphill! I find it SO hard at spin. I can't stay up the whole time (it's probably less than a minute), so I just do what I can and then sit back down and pedal sitting down. I have noticed in the short time I've been going that I can manage it longer now though.

My first impressions were that I hated it. I've never come out of a class hating it, but I downright hated it. I felt terrible when I came out of the class. I was tired, my legs hurt and I was actually grumpy. And even though I was tired and sore, I didn't actually feel like I'd had a good workout. Plus, the first time, your undercarriage will hurt. And hurt BAAAAAD! I'm not just talking butt cheeks, I'm talking everything that touches the seat. I was in agony - it was so bad that I couldn't sit up in bed that night and I had to sleep on my side. I could also still feel it painful (no joke) four days after I took the class. I was sure my foof was bruised and I was actually worried that I'd hurt myself until another first timer said she felt the same, phew!

I wasn't sure whether to go back or not. My friend who went along liked it and was definitely going back, but I wasn't sure. So I talked to another couple of friends who did it and also posted on the WW message boards. The response was overwhelmingly positive and everyone encouraged me to stick with it so after that feedback I decided not to shoot it down after class #1 (plus, rememeber - up to 800 calories!) so I decided to give it a month (which would be four classes) and see how I feel before looking for an alternative if I still don't like it. Also, everyone said ass-wise, the first class is the worst!

One of the other issues I had is that I am pretty short (5' 1") and I found the bike very uncomfortable. I felt like I could barely reach the handlebars (even with adjustments) which make the whole experience even more uncomfortable for me.

I went to the next class and I'm pleased to say I found a much more comfortable bike and although you could definitely feel your butt bone hurt a bit, it wasn't even a fraction as bad as the first time. But, in all honesty, I still found the class boring. Cycling to music in the dark, and not going anywhere. I bet I could cover miles on a real bike at that intensity for an hour. It doesn't energise me or excite me. I'm sure it's a good workout but because from the waist up nothing moves, it doesn't feel like it to me. I'm also worried, having little legs, that it could build up muscle in my legs and I'd end up with pins like a rugby player, no thanks!

Tonight is going to be my fourth class, so I will see how I get on after class tonight (if I make it, I might not make it to gym in time, in which case it'll be next week).

I'd definitely recommend trying it. Everyone else I've spoken to who does it loves it and finds it a fantastic workout. And if you do try it and like it and plan to keep it up, I'm pleased to say you can invest in gel seats or padded shorts to save your lil cheeks from pain! I'd also recommend taking a towel in to wipe your face (You. Will. Sweat!) and a full bottle of water.

My health & fitness inspiration - Part I

There are two people I can credit with getting me into the whole exercise and health and fitness thing, and I am about to introduce the first lady who motivated me to get off my fat ass and do something!

Name: Danielle Hampton
Blog: www.sometimessweet.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/danihampton



I discovered Danielle's awesome blog through her Flickr photostream, and I can't actually remember how I found her Flickr. Probably through a tattoo group on there (as you will see if you visit her blog, Danielle has some of the most beautiful tattoos I've ever seen!).

I shouldn't like Danielle. She's the complete opposite of me. She's sweet (sometimes, according to her blog!), focused, positive, happy, healthy, clever and so pretty! So really, I should dislike her, or at the very least she should bug me, but she doesn't. I think she's an amazing young woman and she inspires me so much. Her blog isn't a health and fitness blog per se, but it features a lot because health and fitness is such a big part of Danielle's life.

Danielle was the first person I encountered who was young, cool, trendy (cool and trendy, OMG, that sounds so square!) who actually enjoyed exercise and talked about it and how beneficial she found it. I never came across ANYONE online or IRL who did that. I knew people who went to the gym or went running, but they all moaned about it. The fact that it was something you could enjoy, well that was a revelation to me.




Danielle has recently had a gorgeous baby boy, Henry, and she stayed fit and healthy through her entire pregnancy. She looked amazing (as always) and I even read that she exercised right the way up to her due date. This is definitely something I aspire to do should I ever fall pregnant. Before I'd have used it as an excuse to sit on my backside with my feet up and be waited on with plates of chips and chocolate bars and coffee for nine months. Now I would like to have a fit, wholesome pregnancy like Danielle.



After reading her blog for a while, maybe a year or so, I decided it was time for me to try out exercise to see if it was a good and fulfilling as Danielle said it was. And with that, I joined Curves.

After going to Curves for a few months, I felt like it wasn't really the gym for me (I'll go into this in another post) and I joined a "real" gym - the gym I'm at now, which has machines, weights, classes, pool, showers, changing room etc - and I have never looked back! I now LOVE exercising and I understand exactly what she means when she says its a natural anti-depressant.

Check out the blog for motivational hints and tips and info on what type of exercise Danielle does.

Danielle also posts super tasty recipes from time to time. Always nutritious and delicious and generally with ingredients that are easy to source (something important to me being in the UK and not always being able to get super exciting healthy foods like you can in the States), with nice easy to follow instructions and pictures, which is great for me since I'm not the most accomplished cook you'll ever meet (but I'm trying to learn!). She also knows how to treat herself so you will get the odd cookie recipe in there as well! :) Again, I think she takes a very balanced approach to her health and she isn't afraid to have a slice of pizza or pie every now and then.




Besides the health and fitness aspect of Sometimes Sweet I love it for the positive and happy outlook she has on life, as well as for her super cute outfits and general life updates!



All in all I genuinely don't feel I ever would've joined the gym and discovered what a joy exercise can be if I hadn't read Danielle's blog, so for that I'd just like to say a huge THANK YOU to Danielle for being so awesome and inspirational and if you haven't been there before, check out Sometimes Sweet!

Its been a while....

...and not much has changed.

I've been coasting with WW. Put on 1lb. Take off 1lb. Put on 3lb. Take off 3lb. Put on 0.5lb...oh, you get the idea!

I've really fallen out of love with Weight Watchers recently. I've been finding a brilliant new sense of resolve only to fail the next day. Or I've been sticking to plan (in my mind) without tracking and then been surprised when I've put on weight. I've been using exercise as an excuse to eat more than I probably should be.

This week I put on 0.5lb. I really wasn't expecting it and I was downright pissed off when I stepped on those scales and they said 11st 8.5lb. I pretended it was okay, then stormed off in a huff, wondering why yet again I'd put on. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Wispa, bag of chips and can of juice I'd consumed the day before. Course it didn't - I worked out at the beginning of the week! Yeah, I hadn't done anything since Wednesday night, but eating shit the night before weigh in wasn't going to have any negative impact, was it? FML, I'm an idiot.

Anyway. This week. Ugh, I dunno whats going to happen. I decided to track ALL WEEK - something I've never done in my entire time on WW (I always gave myself a Saturday off) so I did and go back to trying ProPoints. I ate 58 points on Saturday by my estimations (29 dailies and 29 of my 49 weeklies) and on Sunday I vowed to stick to my 29 dailies. Which I did, until I was offered a Mars Bar ice cream (which I initially turned down, then gave into) and a shitload of cider! I didn't track and I can't remember what I had.

Today, I've been studying and been filling myself with coffee and sweets. So much so I didn't eat my pre-packed lunch because I was so full from sweets. I've decided today is a right off and that I'm not going to plan the rest of the week. My head's obviously not in the right space for this and I'm just going to fuck up whatever plans I make. So if I'm "good" (God, I hate that saying!) then it's all good. But if I'm not, then I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

I do know that I need to get this shit back on track though before I lose all control. I am defintely, DEFINITELY going to do that.

As I need to remind myself of why I started Weight Watchers and in the spirit of Lurve Day, I'm going to (FINALLY!) post my 'Inspirational Bloggers' posts tonight. Even if I have to stay up all-effin'-night to do it, so stay tuned for a coupla downright awesome ladies!

(PS when did this blog become a TO blog, it was meant to be for me and now I feel I'm writing to people. Hmm).

xoxox