I went to Zumba last night and got talking to one of the instructors who asked me about my pedometer. She’d noticed me wearing it and fiddling with it before the workout and asked me how many steps it records me doing per class. I wasn’t sure but told her I usually stick it on moderate activity and see how many activity points it earns me in an hour. To my surprise she said that I should actually be putting my pedometer to record high intensity activity as we’re always putting in lots of effort and getting a good sweat on.

Weight Watchers use the following as a guide to activity intensity levels;

and I can completely agree with the ‘High’ box. After each song/routine, we break for a very quick drink then carry on. Usually I can have a swig of squash and then regain my breathing composure to carry on with the session so I probably am working quite hard for that hour.

A few people who seem to have more success in actually losing weight on a more consistent basis have recommended that I use some of my weeklies and my activity points because my body is probably burning off fat when I work out but then storing it when I’m not exercising because my metabolism isn’t in full swing as I’m not eating enough to keep it going.

I’ve eaten more than I would normally done tonight, I’ve treated myself to a bag of Heston Blumenthal’s Salted Caramel Popcorn which is a massive 15pp per 125g. Definitely worth the blow out. So that wipes out my activity points earnt yesterday and I’ve just devoured 3 WW digestive biscuits which equates to the 3 activity points I’ve recorded today.

I’m really looking forward to this weekend. It’s my friends wedding and i’ll be wearing the dress. I can’t wait to get ready for it and feel comfortable in my own skin. I can’t wait to see my friend looking totally amazing in her dress and for all her dreams to come true. I’m going to scour the net/YouTube shortly for make up tutorials so I can have a practice tomorrow night. I want to make sure I look dolled up enough but not look like a drag queen! I’m embracing the girly-ness that’s arrived with the confidence of losing weight but trying and experimenting with make up isn’t one of my talents. I guess that’s why I’m really excited to wear a dress. I’m actually enjoying seeing my body change shape into womanly curves rather than a big wobbly blob.

In other news, I’ve not had chance yet to fit in another C25k session so am planning to do that tomorrow before I walk the woofers legs off. I’m hoping it’s not going to rain as I don’t dig the drowned rat look whilst running!

Here’s the stats… (apologies this is going to get boring but without writing it down it’s not making sense!)

Wednesday 9^th May
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 32
Weeklies allowed: 49 / used: 0
Activity points earned: 6 / used: 4
Total points allowed: 41
Total points used: 36

Thursday 10^th May
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 32
Weeklies allowed: 49 / used: 0
Activity points earned: 5 / used: 2
Total points allowed: 40
Total points used: 34

Friday 11^th May
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 32
Weeklies allowed: 49 / used: 0
Activity points earned: 4 / used: 2
Total points allowed: 39
Total points used: 34

Saturday 12^th May
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 35
Weeklies allowed: 49 / used: 0
Activity points earned: 0 / used: 0
Total points allowed: 35
Total points used: 35

Sunday 13^th May  
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 35
Weeklies allowed: 49 / used: 5
Activity points earned: 9 / used: 9
Total points allowed: 44 plus 5 weeklies  
Total points used: 44 plus 5 weeklies

Monday 14^th May
Dailies allowed: 35 / used: 34
Weeklies allowed: 44 / used: 0
Activity points earned: 5 / used: 0
Total points allowed: 40
Total points used: 35

Tuesday’s don’t count as I eat as little as possible before weigh in, in the hope of them being favourable to me! ha ha

So all in all,  there were 21 dailies/activity points not eaten plus 44 weeklies not eaten = 65 points not used!! How can this equate to gaining 0.5lb? Have I not eaten enough, eaten too much, exercised too much (ha ha) or exercised too little, who knows! Answers on a postcard please!

New tactics are in play for the new week ahead. I’m back to eating my full daily allowance (35 per day), I’m not going to use any activity points earned through the week and I’m hoping not to use my weeklies (although I’m off to my friends wedding on Saturday for the day so will be treated to the 3 course Wedding Breakfast, wine and evening buffet so who knows!) I’ll continue with my Zumba, C25k sessions and walk the dog and see where it gets me next Tuesday! This weightloss game is a right one to comprehend sometimes and even this far down the line I’m still confused when it doesn’t go to plan!

We had a rather eventful and expensive weekend. Woofer decided to eat something rather unpleasant on Friday evening resulting in a trip to the emergency vets. An hour and a couple of hundred quid later we are back home nursing a poorly dog who has been given liquid charcoal, anti-inflammatory injection and some antibiotics for any infection. Looks like our lovely Westie has a fancy for pebbles from the garden! Friday evening’s sleep was disturbed by a rather distressed doggy pacing the length of the bedroom whimpering in discomfort so being the incredibly kind ‘Mummy’ I got up with him at 2:50am only managing to fall back to sleep at 5am on the sofa. Managed to snooze until 8am then crawled off the sofa to make an appointment with our vets for 9am. Luckily we are covered for treatment at our own vets under the Pet Health Scheme so no more nasty shocks bill wise. Mikey is now back to normal but we’re having to watch his every move in the garden so he doesn’t pick up something he shouldn’t.

The rest of Saturday was spent at the Hairdressers getting my hair cut and coloured for next weekend’s Wedding of the Year and baking my Dad a yummy chocolate Birthday cake. He had a slice of hubby’s birthday cake in last month and loved it so thought I’d make him one of his very own. He did have to share it with another 8 of us at his birthday dinner yesterday but we left him with plenty for the rest of the week.

I managed to squeeze in my 1st session of my 3rd week  of #C25k on Sunday morning. I actually ran for 3 whole minutes. Quite unbelievable really. I’ve bought an armband which I wore and it’s brilliant. Didn’t have to hold my phone and I could still see the timer if I needed to. Managed to clock up 9 activity points yesterday. Who says Sunday was a day of rest!

I’ve been to Zumba tonight and I’m shattered now. Haven’t got a clue how it’ll go on the scales tomorrow but we’ll see. I’ve been good all week and have only used a few of my weeklies so it’s all up to the weigh in gods now!

I actually found myself wanting to run that extra bit longer (we’re talking seconds here not minutes, but i’m hoping that time will come!) so I’m looking forward to the next week which includes longer intervals of running and less intervals of walking.

I’m a bit frustrated by the app I’m using though, I set it up (with Mapmyfitness running in the background so I can keep track of the distance) and then put it in the top pocket in my jacket. It seems when I do this the voice over on the app doesn’t tell me when to run and then walk so I end up running for longer and wondering when the next interval is going to kick in. I’ve taken to holding my phone whilst I run which isn’t ideal so I’ve invested in one of those arm bands that holds your phone and a key whilst running so hopefully that will help.

I’m also looking at buying some new running gear as my trackie bottoms that I’m wearing at the moment are a little baggy and feel quite heavy. Don’t worry I’m not thinking lycra leggings just yet but some better fitted running trousers of some sort. I’m also looking for a new sports bra too as the two of the three I own aren’t very supportive now I’ve shrunk.

C25k Week 3 consists of a 5 minute warm up then 2 lots of this… jog/run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes, jog for 3 minutes then walk for 2 minutes. Eeeeek, running for 3 minutes! I’m planning on starting this tomorrow morning so fingers crossed I can do it.