Annoyed!

I'm pretty annoyed with myself. My weight was coming down, my fitness was improving.....to be honest I never really 'noticed the difference' but other people did.

However; work for the last 2-3 works has been mental, as such I havent trained and I have eaten crap for the last couple of weeks......Now I realise there WAS a huge difference in me. Prior to the not excersising and eating crap I never really appreciqated how much energy I had (I guess you just get used to feeling a certain way) I never really paid ettention to the fact that I was getting muscles where I hadn't had them before.

Now...I feel like shit. I have zero energy, I'm craving sugary food and todays kettlebell class (the first in weeks) made me almost throw up.

I WILL NOT let that happen again. Thats it, I don't care what else is going on in my life I AM GOING TO MAKE THE TIME TO MAINTAIN MY FITNESS AND EATING WELL!!!

It's my own bloody fault and I'm pretty f'ing annoyed with myself.

Perspective

Been a while since I posted. Work has been very busy - eating well has fallen by the wayside and had my first training session in over a week tonight. Expected it to kill me, however; it was fine.

Pat said something to me this evening that really struck a chord. He said that when he was training with me he noticed I'm not very relaxed and I'm a bit (and I quote) 'a bit 'Raaaaar!''. Pat compared this to how I might have felt when I first started out in IT...How I may have been nervous and unsure, not very experienced and hence not very relaxed....which was right on the money. nowadays, I don't get flustered, I know what needs to be done and how to do it.

I need to get into this same mind set with my training. I need to understand that this will be a life long learning experience and that I need to slow things down and learn the nuances of the movements, the subtle body mechanics. I have to accept that with time and practice will come confidence and competence.

It's amazing how perspectives differ and hearing Pats started a train of thought that has allowed me to reconcile something in my own mind - and that is simply to relax, enjoy it and not to expect to pick this stuff up in a heart beat. It's taken me 14 years to get as good as I am in my job (I'll be even better in another 10) - and it's the same with martial arts.

So, I'm going to relax more, I'm not going to worry about my mistakes...but I will learn from them and I'll be a better fighter for it.

Bob Spour

Found out on the Friday kettlebell class that Bob Spour, all round hard ass, author and ex-SAS member was running a seminar on the Sunday.

Thought it would be awesome exposure to improve some techniques in Muay Thai.

The seminar was awesome, I was expected a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, which was totally off the mark. Bob is a twisted man and some of the excersies we were doing could only have come from the depths of hell.....I exagerate of course; but it was fucking tough!

My technque has certainly improved, I see where I was going wrong with some of my body mechanics, and while I have not 'perfected' the movements, I am taking steps closer to becoming at least competent.

A nice surprise was being awarded 2nd Khan in Muay Thai!

You can visit Bob's website here: http://www.bobspour.co.uk/

finding good food

I'm starting to become more aware of what foods I should eat (and when) and what not to eat. In order to cut fat but maintain my lean weight I need to up my protein intake (especially on work out days) and lower my carb intake.

I am having some oats + protein powder + semi-skimmed milk (will drop this to skimmed, cant take it with just water!) and a thumb full of flax oil. Tastes quite nice and really keeps me going....not only that but the oats give me my carb intake and ensure a slow energy release during the day.

Lunch I'm still eating porridge and a protein shake and for supper it normally consists of grilled turkey / chicken and lots of greens. I estimate my calorie intake to be around 1600kcals a day with around 120g of protein and 30g of carbs. I don't know if this is effective....but I'll see how I feel / look in a few weeks and the adjust as neccesary.

If I'm out and about, it's near impossible to find good food - thats to say, contains the protein and fats I need.....it's all fast food crap in boxes, with loads of sugar.

I understand why there is so much conflicting info on the web now, it's because no two bodies are the same and activities / stress etc differ - what works for one, might not for the other.

As such, I'm going to work on a trial and error basis- I'll know myself by how I feel and how I look if it works for me.


One thing I have noticed with the protein is that when I sweat it smells weird, I don't know if this is normal or not but it's almost as if you can smell the protein!! lol, time to get a Lynx bullet and some sugar free gum!!

Finding the time

Well the last week or so has been a pain in the arse. Trying to find the time to get to my classes has been proving a struggle. I'm on call this week as well, which meant I had to skip tonights classes and miss out on one of my favouries.

As such, I have bought myself a weigh bench and a selection of weights - so even if I get stuck in the house on my computer (I work in IT remember!) at least I can work out! Looking forwward to getting my kettlebell from ray as I know that the kettlebell work outs are going to make a huge difference to me.

Feeling a bit down and guilty about not being able to attend class, but not a huge amount i can do about this right now. Saw Pat on Tuesday and he was looking a little pale, and after reading his Blog I understand why. The bloke is a total inspiration and just rock solid. His approach to training / life / medical issues is a real kick up the arse when I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Weight loss...or lack of it

Well I got some news that was a little disappointing. Even though my sugar levels have stabalised greatly and I am feeling healhier than I ever have, I have been told that I have a problem with my thyroid gland.

Essentialy my thyroid is working harder than is considered normal to produce a low level of thyroxine. I'm not sure what all of this means yet and I have some blood tests tomorrow so that the Dr can properly see what is going on.

Bit of a bummer, but hey ho, could be worse!

Excellent class tonight, really have to practice the sectors in kali, I really love the stick stuff :)

Pat has a brilliant way of explaining things and makes it seem easy, he said tonight that he is guide, his intention is to show you the way and let you find your own path. I like that.

Kettlebells

Well spank me with a haddock and call me Susan, these kettlebell things are awesome. Had the Kettlebell workshop today which is run by Ray - http://www.kettlebellsaberdeen.com

The workshop is designed to introduce you to the workouts and some basic movements and mobility drills. I was clenching muscles I didn't know were there. It's hard work, to be honest I wasn't expecting to be as knackered as I was! Looking forward to seeing the results in 3-4 months time and how this affects my other training. If you have not tried Kettlebells before, I can highly reccomend it and if you are in the Aberdeen area then get onto Rays blog and get signed up.