As I prepare for another IVF cycle I am keeping out of the hot room, and have just found a More Yoga studio near home that is going to be a good option for a while.
I signed up on a 20 days for £15 tester pass and went to a few classes the week before last to see how I liked it.
The studio is clean and conveniently just a 15 minute walk from home (a nice warm up before class). There is no reception so lacks a bit of the community spirit which I like, but this is reflected in the price.
That week I did a 60 minute flow class there on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday morning. I particularly enjoyed the class on Saturday as it was a great way to start the day.
I also went running with G one evening. He is a quick runner but slowed down a bit for me, and I sped up a bit for him. We ran 6Km in 35.46.
Other than that I didn’t get any more runs done which was a bit lame but I had some long working days and travel which made it tough to fit in. Particularly as I hadn’t made a robust plan.
Last week I have been in Ireland; travelling out Monday and back Wednesday evening. As per usual I travelled with all my gym stuff only to discover there wasn’t a gym on site but there was one the hotel guests could use about a 10 minutes walk away.
I arrived at dinner time on Monday so didn’t get to the gym. I should have worked out on Monday morning so that it was already done but I procrastinated and avoided it and then it was too late.
After dinner I decided to do an arm workout in my hotel room following week 1 of Kayla Itsnes’ Bikini Body Guide (BBG).
I completed the 12 week programme earlier in the year but once that was done I stupidly didn’t keep it up. So I decided instead of moving onto the next 12 weeks I’d repeat the programme again.
On Tuesday morning I woke up and did 20 minutes of vinyasa in my room before breakfast. My colleague and I agreed that we would make an effort to go to the gym in the evening, but after a long day of teaching our motivation was waining. Then on looking outside there was torrential rain and the idea of walking to the gym was a hard no. Instead I did the leg and glute workout from the BBG in my room before dinner.
On Wednesday it was all work and travel so I rested. I also had really achy muscles from the BBG workouts so a rest day was fitting. I was at home on Thursday so I started the day with a 45 minute LISS walk before breakfast and then took another rest day on Friday as I was really exhausted. The travel was finally catching up with me.
On Saturday morning I went back to the More Yoga studio to do the 60 minute flow class, and it felt quite hard compared with the previous week. Largely because I hadn’t done much since the BBG workouts to stretch my muscles out and because I was super tired from travelling.
It’s just 4 weeks to go now till I go on a yoga retreat so I am really going to try and use this time to tone through yoga and weights, with just some shorter distance running including intervals and hills.
Today I’m going to make a 4 week workout plan to do based around my diary and travel so that I am more likely to stick with it.
I want to be able to go on holiday feeling good about my body in a bikini. Last time I went on this same yoga retreat I was in the middle of taking Quetiapine; a drug for bipolar affective disorder that stunts your metabolism causing horrendous lethargy and weight gain. I am now the same weight as I was before I started that medication having last just over 2 stone. The medication also didn’t work and it was realised I don’t therefore have bipolar so really it was just all the side effects and none of the benefits!
I feel good for the weight loss I’ve made and I am much happier with how I look. Ideally I’d like to tone up a bit and maybe lose a few more pounds before I go, and this is very achievable without being extreme.
And even if I don’t it’s important to remember that being back at my pre-Quetiapine weight is a huge achievement.