Gym time :)

Blogging at the gym :)

This week im off work to use up my holiday days and get all the stuff I wont get done for a couple weeks after my operation on weds 4th Dec.

I caught up with my lovely Nikki yesterday and a friend and her cute baby boy this morning.  Ive been to my mums to nose and help with her decorating and have been out for a 3.3mile run too.

I get back home after my run to a message from my sister Emily saying "gym 4:30 be there or be square" it made me giggle :)

So here I am up at the gym doing some steady cycling and in a second im going to just do my resistance workout as I think ive done my quota of cardio today right? ?

Anyway training is going well for my first 6k run for charity and im really looking forward to it :)

For now bloggers ;)

Running again

Being back out there is great :) I really enjoy it when I go but where I have been unable to go for a while its really set me back... im slower and cant do the distance.

Yesterday I set myself the target of 6k in preparation for my sponsered run on 1st Dec.  And I did it :) 3.77 miles in 48 minutes is quite slow im aware of this but its my pace and ill get it faster when I want to.....

Tonight I start night shifts again so no running for me again until sunday.... this is what I find sets me back.... but its ok I have ALL of next week off so I can get plenty in :)

Heres a couple of up to date running gear pics and a before and after :p

All work and no play

Working life of a nurse.

Nurses are a special breed of people.They get up in the morning and go to work with one simple, yet profound purpose in mind: “I will care for you.”When asked what the most important tool in their workday is, every great nurse would surely answer, “My heart.”

All work and no play has made me a bad dieter and blogger. Im sorry.

I had been offered the chance to interview for a better/more stressful job within the same ward for a 6month secondment.  I interviewed but didnt get it but a good friend of mine did. The work up to it was stressful and I didnt log my food or get much exercise in.

Along with that my stomache pains have gradually got worse every month and cant wait to see whether this operation on the 4th December will help with any of that!!!

So here I am back again with a lot less stress hanging over my head. I will make more time for blogging running and logging on MFP ;) a set if nights abd then a week off for me will certainly do the trick  :)

I went out for a run/walk today.  well actually 2. I needed a wee... and my gloves it was a bit chilly.... so I did one walk/run then the second I went round the block. You see im in training :) I will be running a 6k dressed as santa claus in order to raise money for our local hospice who helped care for many local people some of which were very close to me.

Out of the box

Today I decided to do something that as I had said on MFP; I hadnt done in years.

Thats right I broke out of my normal exercise patterns and dug my swimming costume out of the bottom drawer. I braved the local swimming pool and all by myself at that.

Currently the schools are broken up for holidays so the pool was open during the day. I braved it at lunchtime when I knew it would be quiter.

Ive always shyed away from swimming for many reasons. Two being that I hate my 'not so bikini body' and im not the best of swimmers. Im not very fast at swimming and not very good in a busy pool when there is people to contend with.

It was nice to have a lane to myself and for the pool to quiten down. At one point I was the only one in there (not for long but still). I really enjoyed by swim and racked up 70 lengths in 1:30 hour I was going to stop at 50 but I kept going and didnt want to stop :)

This is a real first for me and I think im going to try and make it a more regular thing :)

My gosh do my arms ache this evening though. What with going to the gym for the first time in a week yesterday due to my hectic schedule and then my birthday and then swimming today.  Ah well no pain no gain :) and strangely I love it :0

Back to work tomorrow so a rest day for me it is.

Birthdays

Hello Blogisphere

This month has been a busy ol' one.

Weekends of work extra shifts and most importantly. Birthday celebrations

I have recently turned 23 :) and feel no different there's a surprise.

I spend the weekend with my lovely man and my two most favourite people in the world. Nikki and Sam :) we went to Birmingham sealife then into the Bullring shopping centre, It was an amazing weekend with plenty of fine food and giggles. I had a lovely Sunday at home and now its back to it

I have been back on track with MFP and although my fitbit isn't working. I have still been trying to walk everywhere. The weather has certainly not helped with this however. we have had flooding and winds that make going for a run difficult at the best of times let alone with all this celebrating :P

but back to the gym yesterday and I did my whole program even though Mark had finished before me.... its at this point I say fine I'll finish now because otherwise he is waiting for me but nope! I stuck it out and he got involved in helping me with motivation to do that extra sit up or press up :)

The operation I am waiting for finally has a date attached. 4th December. So it is now my mission to be in the 14 stone bracket before my surgery :) because after that I wont be able to do ANY exercise for 2 weeks. just light walks it is :(

Im not far off the 14 stone bracket but every time I get to it I seem to just creep back over again. this morning I sit at 15stone 2 so fingers crossed this time I will stay under and get further below again :)

I know that I feel like this journey is slow but in the last year I have lost nearly 2 stone!! I never would have imagined that as I know how difficult for me it has always been to lose weight.

So heres to the next few weeks getting on it :) gym eat well and live healthy :)

Love you all :)

Keep going

Those of you on MFP will have seen me post this earlier today.

I found a photo that really summed up my journey.

I have been finding it really hard to keep active and eat well lately. You see with these pains every 4 weeks I get struck back. I cant exercise and I put on weight thanks to the meds I take ( all water weight bit still)

So yes I have been distant from the blogisphere but I have still been tracking on MFP and watching what I eat within reason.

Now that im back on my stride  on the workup to Christmas im hoping that the operation comes soon and I can really get myself going on!!! :)

So heres the picture. Dont give up on me friends but more importantly on yourselves. I believe in you all :)

As promised

Yes I promised once a few weeks back and yesterday. So today I did as promised. I took some new pictures :)

So for october; im not really sure I can see a difference :/ I understand I am my own worst critic.

The way I see it is I'll look back on the first photos and can see a definite difference but from August to October I can't.

I know that my clothes fit better and I had to buy smaller size jeans :) so the photos dont say it all but here they are anyway ;)

Back and on it!

So im done with nights :)

This morning was weigh in day :) and hell yeah I loved it :)

With all the stuff I had going on with holidays weddings work stress I had put weight back on but this morning the scales said 15stone :) or 210lbs. I havnt been that for a while and the lowest I have got through my journey is only a couple more pounds away :)

So that started my day off amazing and what with knowing I has a couple of days off work too made it much better.

When im on night shifts I cant really get in any exercise so to get back on it feels ace :). So after my shopping trip with my Mum today; I came home and made some dinner for me and mark and then as soon as he got home we could go to the gym.

A good session at the gym and a lovely meal to come home to :) then ive had an evening of catching up with a friend before her wedding on saturday. Yea you heard right ANOTHER WEDDING. I feel so refreshed and relaxed its great :)

Today on MFP I had a good day :) a great logging record.  Not as great as some of my MFP's who deserve a mention :)

Adamalle :) thanks mate you really keep me motivated with your great comments and you are doing so well and great competition on fitbit :p.

Jonesdav254 always an inspiration with travelling and dohnut slaying with no excuses. Like the Daddy of MFP :)

Jgirl511 and Msclairuk you girls are doing great :) love helping keep you going and seeing what you girls are up to :)

Skinnygeek :) my blog friend :) I enjoy reading your blog and seeing how fantastic you are doing :)

Obviously I cant sit here and name you all (this time) but I think you all are doing fab and every day logging in and seeing how well you all do day to day is so inspiring x massive love :)

So here is just a couple of standard pics from the weddings and MFP updates.

Tomorrow I have said I will take some updated pics. I love seeing the difference from the firat ones. I know ive said this already but I get so busy and distracted. Remind me if I forget again.
The plan is to do a time line soon so look forward to that :) x

For now bloggers x

Night shifts

Again yes I am on night shifts. 

But these so far have been quite nice as far as nights go.

The first couple were so busy I couldnt wait to get home and sleep but last night and tonight have been nice. Nights like these dont normally come very often let alone two in a row.

So I have had chance to catch up on my training reading up on all sorts even heaven forbid..... answering my emails.

So its quite nice.... but I have veen more rubbish withy wating this time. Snacky bits just seem to lure me in :(

Fingers crossed for a good rest of this shift then a few days of gym and running :)

Night all x

exciting new role

Hiya all :)

So I've had a good few days :) I've been really trying with my shakes :) and healthy eating :)

I've been to the gym and been for a run too this week.

So yesterday I had a day off to myself. For the last few months really my days off have been all about weddings and catching up with friends who are moving away (selfish :(! ) but today was just a ME day.

I got up late and had my shake and some fruit and then did a bit of work :P I know I know you are going to say "but its your day off and you choose to do some work". Well here's why!

I have been nominated a position within my job already to be a lead nurse about..... NUTRITION.
I'm on my healthy eating journey and people have noticed how I'm doing it. Its not about helping patients to lose weight or improve their healthy eating per se; its about anything with nutrition from obesity to anorexia and how the lack of adequate nutrition can impact on healthcare. Patients who are malnourished actually stay in hospital longer. My aim is to help the staff on our ward notice malnourishment or to help patients notice the benefits of a healthy balanced diet. It also involves helping those who cant help themselves :)

Ok so the role means extra work for me and I don't get paid for it but it means all my colleagues will come to me for help with any problems and I will get offered extra training and study time to present to all of my colleagues how much of an important part of health is the diet!!!!

So anyway enough about that yes I did some work on my day off but after id done that. I lazed around :) to the point that I had done 2000 steps by 5pm. Normally on a ward day I would have reached my steps goal by then for sure. I knew I was going to go to the gym that evening so I wasn't too bothered :)

At the gym it was my night to have a real workout in my own time :) I went to the gym quite late as Mark was playing football at the sports centre where the gym was so we could walk there together and I didn't have to walk on my own in the dark :). So at 20:15 I was at the gym ready to take on my cardio session.

A few months back I worked out that if the day before I start night shifts I do a mammoth cardio session I can actually sleep the day after in preparation for the first night shift. And that's what yesterday was.

I warmed up on the bike even though I had walked to the gym :P then I did half an hour on the treadmill doing interval training and then 40 minutes on the cross-trainer/elliptical. by this time I was sweating buckets and was actually the last person left in the gym :P I felt cool :P

Once I had cooled down again on the bike I went out to finish watching Mark play football and stretched out my muscles :)

I felt amazing after burning what MFP said was around 1000 calories.

Today I definitely feel tired so its obviously a good thing for me to do the day before my nights :)

So that's you up to speed with my new role and my ace session at the gym before I start a week of nights.

I remember writing that I would take some pictures yesterday but I didn't get round to it so once I have finished my night shifts these will be done :) speak to you all then bloggers :)

Ward work

A nice day at work today despite the stress of the hospital I just wanted to say to all my colleagues how much I love how much of a team we are :)

Don't get me wrong.  I love my job but boy I miss having a social life. I quite enjoyed having 2 weeks off lol.

Weigh in tomorrow and im going to take some more pictures in the morning :)

For now im having an evening of time to myself whilst my man plays GTA5 lol im a playstation widow!!

Training day

Back to work today after a nice 2 weeks of very little work and lots of wedding fun.

And what to I come back to but an overfull hospital. Lukily for me im on a training day so once again I find im going to have to work extra hard to get my steps in today!

Sitting in a classroom and having someone talk at me for 8 hours..... I thought I was done with this when I left uni :/

So bloggers. Hope you are all keeping well and on track :-)

Opinion

So today I saw a consultant regarding the pain ive been having in my stomache.

After 2 ultrasounds and pain relief prescriptions they have decided that the best thing to do is for me to have exploaratory surgery to see what is actually causing it.

So the cyst I have been told I have will be looked at and they will look into any of the other problems.

This will all be done under a general anaesthetic by doing a laproscopy.

Im not sure how I feel about this at the moment as im nervous and unsure of what this will mean for me in the future.

But its going to take time. Its a 10 week wait list.

In that 10 weeks I aim to really work on my weight to reduce risks of the general anaesthetic and the other symptoms may be helped by weight loss.

! After tge surgery im not allowed any strenous exercise or to even work for at least a week :/ god knows how im going to cope with that :(

So that was their opinion so lets wait and see now.

Today I went to the gym with Mark. A welcome workout to relieve the tension id been feeling before my appt.

I havnt been able to get to the gym in around a week because of work and weddings  but now I should be able to get out more often again :)

More weddings and hair cuts

I went to post this the other day but it wouldnt let me.

Its amazing how much better you can feel after a bit of a pampering and a hair cut.

I didnt have much cut off like id wanted because of having another wedding requiring my hair longer.

The wedding of my best friend :) it was amazing :) I got far too drunk and ended up in bed early but s good evening all the same :)

Looking forward to getting back on it after all these weddings :)

Weddings and Tenderness

Why hello there

Its been a few days but I've not been far away. My fitness pals haven't heard much from me but I've been casting a beady eye on them making sure they are still there :) and thank you to them for keeping me on track by commenting and keeping me with the faith even when I'm feeling poorly :)

As you all may know I am having a few issues with TOM and having to see a consultant regarding this. Well this weekend it took a step up to Painful!!!

It was my sisters wedding this weekend and all the planning of dresses photographers and flowers worked out well and it was a fantastic day. She had a fantastic day and I felt great having lost nearly 2 stone from when she first asked me to be her bridesmaid.

But when the evening reception was in full swing things took a bump with the abdo issues. I suddenly became very pale and exhausted; I then had really acute tummy pains that bought me to tears. My sister took one look at my face and saw something was up and came up and asked me. I couldn't even speak in full sentences I was in so much pain. She called my Mum over who panicked as soon as she saw me. She thought that the cyst I have had burst and wanted to take me to hospital. I insisted I was fine and said all I needed was to take some pain relief  and go home with a hot water bottle.

I went home but really had an awful time with it frightening my poor other half Mark. I didn't really have any sleep and suffered a lot the day after. It was like having cramp in a leg muscle after intense gym session but the pain the day after was just so uncomfortable. Id had a week off work and was not looking forward to going back to working 28 hours in 2 days.

I went in on the Monday for my 14 hour shift and my senior nurse asked how I was and how the wedding was. I explained about what happened and they took me off of the afternoon shift for the Tuesday (today) and put me on light duties. I got home from my long day yesterday and had obviously done a bit too much still as again I was in a lot of pain; not as much as Saturday admittedly because I made sure I kept up with pain relief. I have been referred to the occupational health so that if I need to take time off with it I wont have an appalling sick record and that it will all be related to the same issue. This settled my mind a lot and I had a much better day at work today :)

I cant wait to get back to the gym and with TOM this week I have literally wanted to eat everything in sight. Its not been good on the diet front at all.

but  once this second wedding is out of the way and I don't need to worry that the dress won't fit if I do too much or too little. I will get back on it and really concentrate on hitting my 3 stone target :)

So there we are all up to date with my issues this week and I will be back to you soon :) hopefully on top form :)

Annual leave :)

So I officially have a week of work :)

Ive walked to my sisters and back and been to the gym today :)

♡ being at the gym at the moment I feel so energised ♡

This week im going to be getting some real workouts in an ticking all thecstuff off my to do list :)

Had a good workout today and planning on a nice long run tomorrow :)

Hope you are all well

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