Upon opening my eyes this morning I appreciated just how hard I had worked yesterday. My legs felt heavy and sore. I knew that the best thing I could do would be to go for a walk, but I didn’t want to.
At the start of this hare-brained scheme I promised myself that at the end of every 4 weeks, provided I stuck to the plan, I would reward myself with something nice; something that I wouldn’t otherwise buy myself.
My end of week 4 treat had been a pair of black Sweaty Betty cropped leggings. My week 8 ‘treat’ was another pair of Sweaty Betty leggings but this time with a little more colour.
Prior to my adventure in fat loss I had never purchased expensive sportswear before, T K Maxx has always filled the need admirably, and I didn’t understand why friends would rave about Sweaty Betty. However, I’d been given an “introduce a friend” voucher which was £25 off a £50 purchase and, quite honestly, it would have been rude not to use it. After I’d made my first purchase I became an unashamed addict.
Sweaty Betty make their leggings in three lengths: ordinary, 7/8ths and cropped. Being slightly lacking in the leg department, the 7/8ths ones on me are full length, and the cropped (for non-hobbit people) are, on me, 7/8ths. This was a revelation – no longer would I have to live with pools of stretchy fabric around my ankles.
I ordered the most beautiful splodgy black/blue/green pair of cropped power leggings. Guaranteed not to be ‘see through’ when you do a squat. They had been hanging in my wardrobe for a couple of days waiting for the right moment. Today was that moment.
I coaxed my aching legs out of bed with the promise of these new, glorious, leggings. And I have to say that they made all the difference to my walk. Instead of trudging along in my £14.99-you-can-definitely-see-my-pants-when-I-do-a-squat-leggings my legs were, with each step, elevated by a hoard of muscular, semi-clad, oiled men giving me a leg massage as we went along.
I’m sure I’ve seen a video where a singer wearing a red dress stands on podium whist a large group of bare chested men surround her, reaching their hands up towards her. Well these leggings felt like that.
On reflection, if there isn’t such a video then I have just put one of my own daydreams out there.
Lunchtime brought another training session with Luke, albeit a short one. I was in a flattened mood before I trained but was absolutely bouncing afterwards. My legs were so grateful that we were doing an upper body session that I didn’t even tell Luke that he was evil (which I usually do at least twice per session).
Lunch was a delight. Once a week through lockdown I have ordered a vegan recipe box for two. The intention behind it is that Lovely Girl #1 (who is heading off to Uni in October) will expand her cooking skills and at the same time make her mother a lovely meal – it’s a win/win.
The white rice brought mixed feelings. I’ve been so conditioned to avoid anything ‘white’, as a result of various diets, that I had to take a leap of faith that nothing catastrophic would happen to me.
I thought about it during the afternoon – if, due to obscure food rules, I couldn’t eat food that my daughter has lovingly cooked for me then something is really wrong. I want freedom from these random food rules which don’t work anyway.
I cannot wait to be at my end goal when I can eat what I want, within reason, safe in the knowledge that I have the skills and a level of fitness to be able to work it off.
Today’s food and exercise journal:
