I had a real crappy Christmas/New Year this year, lot of pressure from work, and then 2 weeks into the new 2007 I lost my job. Not a major problem, nice payout and I was ready to start looking for something else anyway.

When I first got out I thought, this is going to be brilliant, I'll have all the time in the world to do the things I want, get to the gym, do a bit round the house and garden, oh and obviously look for a job.

However the whole thing has thrown me completely out of sync and any attempts at a healthy lifestyle have been hindered. It's a struggle to get out of bed in the morning when you think "why should I, not as though I have to go anywhere", and dipping into the cupboards for a snack is so easy when you are at home all day.

Well not anymore, from today I'm taking control again! No more unhealthy snacking, laying around in bed is not an option and I will be up and out and in the gym in the morning or out running/biking/walking on non-weight days.

i think this may be because I look like getting a job offer in the next day or two and I'm dreading looking back on this time as being wasted... ah well!

OK so goals, luckily my weight has remained the same over the past couple of months whilst not sticking to any of my normal training or nutrition, so no worries on that score.

For now I just want to get back into a routine again, minimum 2 cardio sessions a week, 30 minutes sprint sessions either on the bike or cross trainer. 3 Weight sessions a week 2 upper body and 1 lower. Eating clean and 6 times a day. And absolutely no smoking, although I have been saying that for the past... OK pretty much since I started.

I've got the 3 Peaks Challenge in a couple of months, it would be nice to finish without feeling like I've just died. And after that I would like to get ready for a 10k before the end of summer.

That about covers it, let's see how it goes...

And off to a flying start, woke up this morning with a stinking cold, no gym today, just plenty of rest.

And off to a flying start, woke up this morning with a stinking cold, no gym today, just plenty of rest.

Exercise will make you feel better, I promise.

Get your ass in the gym and stop making us Brits look like wusses :spank: :)

Get your ass in the gym and stop making us Brits look like wusses :spank: :)


I'm going, I'm going. But yesterday it was real man flu and everything, I could have died, honest... :whistle:

I've an interview in Manchester this afternoon, so an hour in there should take my mind off that, and stop me laughing at the offer that I've just received, I still can't believe that someone would think I would be tempted by a 55% reduction in my last salary.

Anyway, breakfast and off!

So managed to get in an Upper Body session on Friday before my interview.

The weekend has been a bit crazy with dashing about for Mothers day, but I've managed to keep my eats pretty clean. Now looking forward to getting a full week in of good food, sticking to my schedule and hopefully getting the call back for a second interview :tu:

Upper body session this morning, clean eats all day. Struggled with biceps but feeling really strong with the Chest Press and Flyes :bb:

And in other news, spoke with a recruitment agent again this afternoon, sounds like a good position and based in my town so no need for commuting which is brilliant. However I am getting fed up with these guys, they sing your praises and couldn't be anymore helpful, and then manage to disappear without another word. Ah well, what ya gonna do.

Workout
=====

Warmup 1000m Row
DB Chest Press
Front Raises
Tricep Rope
Lat Pull-down
Concentration curls
DB Flyes
Upright BB Row
Skullcrusher
Back Extensions
Preacher Curls

30 Minutes on the cross trainer for todays cardio session, the recent numbness I've been feeling was no more all through not tying my laces too tight. The simple answers are always the best.

More time on the phone with recruitment agents today, which is helping with my general mood.

Leg session tomorrow morning.

Lower body session at the gym yesterday, and I'm starting to feel it this morning.

However right now I'm concentrating on the fact we have no hot water or heating in the house due to a broken boiler. And how difficult is it to find a plumber? Bloody difficult! Where is all the cheap East European labour :D

We'll see ho today goes before I commit to doing anything, I could do with a speed rope so I could do something on the back in these kind of times.

Yesterdays Exercise
============
Warmup Bike Sprints
Leg Press
Split Squats
Deadlifts
Leg Extension/Curl Superset
Calf Raises

Ab work

Spent all day yesterday shivering and phoning round for a plumber so didn't get my cardio session in. And today I shall mostly be sat around again waiting for the plumber to turn up, so bang goes my upper body exercises. Will try and get in some body weight exercises round the houses, but boy is it cold in this place right now!

Its not going to be the greatest end to the week, I am meeting with some friends this evening for drinks and a meal and the wife and I are off to stay with friends tomorrow, which will mean more drinks and crappy food. So this weekends word is RESTRAINT :tu:

OK, as I could have predicted restraint isn't actually in my list of qualities. Diet for the past two days has been made up of junk and a little bit more junk, way too much drinking on Friday and a little more than I should have last night.

The only thing I have planned in the next week is a party for my cousins engagement, so the rest of the week is going to be a perfect picture of health and fitness. Plus I'll be spending a fair amount of time in the garden getting some extra activity into my life.

I think I'm coming down with something again, last night whilst I was just finishing off a small bit of dinner I was uncontrollably sick, no warning and since then I'm feeling really tired and well just a bit off it.

Went to the gym this morning for my usual Monday upper, but had to call it a day early as I just didn't have the energy. Going to take it easy for the rest of the day and hopefully get over it.

In other news, interview scheduled with Fujitsu for next week.

Workout
=====
Warmup Row Sprints
DB Chest Press
Front Raises
Tricep Rope
Lat Pull-down
Concentration curls
DB Flyes

Still got the dicky stomach, but at least I have my strength back now. Played a gentle 18 holes yesterday and kept my food on target. Today back in the gym for my lower body session, most things felt good, weight up on most exercises.

Just taking a quick break from gardening, can't believe the other week we had snow and today I'm out in my T-Shirt with a bit of a dab on :cool:

Right back to it before the missus is back and I have to get dinner ready.

Todays Workout
==========
Warmup Bike sprints
Leg Press
Split Squats
Romanian Deadlifts
Leg Raise/Curl superset
Calf raises

Plank
Crunches/rev crunches

After a day in the garden yesterday the wife and I went for a walk last night, we've lived in this area for nearly 5 years, yet last night we found a completely different world just 5 minutes from our house, we could have been anywhere, rolling fields farm land and woods, we knew they were there but it was just like stepping into a new country. Normally when we go to the village we walked to we would take the car, and it's like you've never really left the city.

With my time in the gym yesterday, the gardening and the work my legs have been feeling it today, but I still got down for 30 minutes on the bike, took it relatively easy but still had to push myself to finish.

I've started taking some photos to track progress, I might get the confidence to put them up here someday. Apparently the missus has foundd some pics I took about 2 years ago when I was at my heaviest, going to have a look at those hopefully for a bit of inspiration.

In to the gym tomorrow morning to complete a good week, apart from the illness on Monday and a game of golf tomorrow afternoon before going to see 300 for a little bit of motivation, oh and to see if the film is any good of course. For some reason the missus seems overly interested in seeing the film, can't understand what that is all about.

Played golf last Friday, but had to miss the gym due to helping someone catalogue a load of Sun servers a friend had managed to acquire :( but got a session in on Saturday morning instead :tucool:. Apart from the sickness last Monday thats the first time in ages I've been able to get a full session in.

Food over the weekend has been to plan, apart from one too many drinks on Saaturday night for my cousins engagement.

Good session this morning, being unemployed is great for the gym, not having to get up at stupid o'clock or going when the gym is packed is amazing, although I'm now at the point where I need to get back into some serious work for my own mental well being, house husband isn't the life for me.

And to wrap it up for today, 300 rocks, The Sounds are great for the MP3 player at the gym, and I've got a telephone interview with HP on Wednesday (finger crossed this sounds like it is right up my street).

Saturdays Exercise
============
Warmup Row sprints
DB incline chest press
Lat Raises
Tricep Bench Dips
Assisted Pullup
Cable Crossovers
Rev Flyes
Back Extension
21's
Plank

Todays Exercise
==========

Warmup Row sprints
DB Chest press
Front raises
Tricep Rope
Lat Pulldown
DB Flyes
Upright DB Row
Back Extension (Twist)
Concentration Curl

Food has been on track this week and got my 30 minutes on the cross trainer in yesterday.

Put off my leg session today and had my cheat meal as well. The reason being I've had a couple of telephone interviews so been stuck next to the phone all day and for some strange reason been really stressed out about it, normally I'm really calm about interviews. Not sure if it is because of the whole not being able to see the person interviewing you, or because it's a job I'd really like...

So lower body tomorrow morning, plus a round of golf in the afternoon, not sure if that was the best idea, I can see me stumbling round on Friday unable to lift up my legs :lol:

Oh bugger, looks like I never posted this yesterday... doh!

I knew it was a while since I updated this, didn't realise it was 2 months! Where has the time gone :confused:

Well to start with April was a flurry of activity with a number of interviews, culminating in me taking a job with HP as Capacity Manager, which I started 3 weeks ago. There was a weeks holiday in Malta. And there was tree chopping and fence building in the garden.

All that just to say, I've done jack for the past two months at the gym and my diet has been poor.

Scale weight over the period has stayed roughly the same, but I can physically feel the difference, I'm much more lethargic at the minute, although that could be to do with having to work again, or rather sit around doing very little every day.

So it's time to start getting motivated again, goals for the next month are:
* Stop Smoking, started today, fingers crossed this time
* Lay off the booze, I seem to have been going to a lot of parties and meet ups recently and it's time I curbed the amount I drink when I'm out. I'm abroad for a week soon on a golfing trip, that could be a bit of a killer for this and the smoking, we'll see.
* Regular eats, starting with the new job I've been lax with my eating and have been missing my mid morning/afternoon eats, leading to snacking when I get home in an evening.
* Back to the gym, back into a routine, back to do some lifting and maybe even some running :bb:
* More water, again with starting the new job I've got out of the habit and have been drinking far too much coffee and not enough water

That will do for not, let's see how i get on with that little lot.

Potential problems coming up that may knock me of are the aforementioned golf trip, potential interviews, I'm already looking to get out of the new job, and 2 birthday parties.

Quick update for today;

Still not smoking! Busy weekend coming up so should be quite easy to get through, but it's so damn tempting to nip out for one at work, especially with very little (read nothing) to do.

Thought I would use the time at work to do a little more planning on evening meals for the next few weeks, to try and spice things up with a bit of vairety whilst keeping to 40/30/30 (p/c/f), Moroccan style chicken and lentils tonight :drool:

Sort out my workouts for next week and then I'm going to sneak off work I think.

Have a good weekend,

Busy weekend this weekend, helped a friend move house, went to a retirement party yesterday, worked on getting the bike back on the road and watched Lewis storm to his first F1 win in Canada!

Diet has been off track, with too much booze to boot, but it could have been a lot worse, so I'm not going to kick myself too hard.

Time to get my bags packed and get ready for the gym tomorrow morning, going to be the first serious session for over 4 weeks, will be interesting to see how my strength has changed over that time.

Plan for the week is to get 3 good weight sessions in, plus at least 2 HIIT, if I can get 3 in I'll be well chuffed! Food I'm aiming on getting 100% nailed, I have a meet up with a group of friends on Friday so I know I'm going to end up going slightly off the rails, but as long as the rest of the week is good then I'm cool with that, not sure if my liver will be :nope:

Laters,

Hey man. Good luck :)

Hey man. Good luck :)

Thanks buddy.

Today didn't quite get off to the start I wanted. I have a 20 minute drive to the gym in a morning, got 2 minutes from there and realised I had gone without my card. The girls on the front desk are real strict on this and there is no leeway, well there is if you are willing to pay a fiver admin fee, and being a yorkshireman there is no way that's going to happen.

So after a trip back home, scaring the wife half to death as I ran through the house, I managed to make it back to the gym with about 20 minutes of actual gym time left, so got in a HIIT seesion rather than the planned weights.

Food has been spot on today so far and no reason why that shouldn't be so later today also. One strange thing I've noticed, whenever I have gone through a period of eating not so great, to eating properly (as far as I'm concerned :whistle:), there is a couple of days where my body seems to want to do a self clean, thats as far as I'm willing to paint that picture. But surfice to say it's happening again.

Gorgeous day here today, England have won another test and the series and only 11 days till I have a week of golfing in the sun... smashing! :tucool:

Thanks buddy.

Today didn't quite get off to the start I wanted. I have a 20 minute drive to the gym in a morning, got 2 minutes from there and realised I had gone without my card. The girls on the front desk are real strict on this and there is no leeway, well there is if you are willing to pay a fiver admin fee, and being a yorkshireman there is no way that's going to happen.

So after a trip back home, scaring the wife half to death as I ran through the house, I managed to make it back to the gym with about 20 minutes of actual gym time left, so got in a HIIT seesion rather than the planned weights.

Food has been spot on today so far and no reason why that shouldn't be so later today also. One strange thing I've noticed, whenever I have gone through a period of eating not so great, to eating properly (as far as I'm concerned :whistle:), there is a couple of days where my body seems to want to do a self clean, thats as far as I'm willing to paint that picture. But surfice to say it's happening again.

Gorgeous day here today, England have won another test and the series and only 11 days till I have a week of golfing in the sun... smashing! :tucool:

That's a bit harsh. What gym do ya go to?

That's a bit harsh. What gym do ya go to?

It's Virgin in Sheffield, very strict no card no entry policy, I think there may have been one or two people taking the pish.

I used to (jeez thinking about it, it's nearly 10 years ago, where did those years go :confused:) go to a small gym where everyone knew each other and cards weren't even thought about, I really enjoyed that place and would have looked for something similar last time I changed gyms, but Virgin offers me a bit of a one stop shop, with climbing wall, pool etc so I put up with the little annoyances.

Oh right. Now if you'd have said "Fitness First" I would not have been surprised... :lol:

Oh right. Now if you'd have said "Fitness First" I would not have been surprised... :lol:

The wife used to use Fitness First, so I can relate to that. When I say used, I mean she paid whatever quid a month so she could sit in the sauna :rolleyes:

Managed to drag myself out of bed this morning, although I had an awful nights sleep due to the heat and suffering with hayfever.

It's been something like 4-6 weeks since I've done any lifting of any kind so I wasn't expecting to be breaking any records, but I was surprised at how much I did struggle, maybe it was compounded by the bad nights sleep. I'll update this post with what I did later, don't have my log with me at the minute.

<high_horse>
I've been planning on catching the bus into work and leaving the car at the gym since starting the new job, it's only 20 minutes door to door and the idea was it would save me driving through the city centre and the cost of parking. Tried it yesterday it was fine, but why would I bother doing it when the cost of a weeks pass is £15 against £19 for parking and the journey time is identical, I'm already driving to the outskirts of the city centre to get to the gym, because it would take me 90 minutes to get their by bus from my house (20 in the car). I'm all for getting people on public transport, but it needs to be more effecient and a hell of a lot cheaper.</high_horse>

Food is on track for the day and I'm feeling much better for getting plety of water down me, instead of the bucket full of coffee I've been drinking recently.

The wife used to use Fitness First, so I can relate to that. When I say used, I mean she paid whatever quid a month so she could sit in the sauna :rolleyes:I have a mate that does that. He pays £30 a month, does a few BB Curls, then sits in the sauna for 1 hour 30mins. Then he comes back to class dripping in whatever it is, sweat?

I have a mate that does that. He pays £30 a month, does a few BB Curls, then sits in the sauna for 1 hour 30mins. Then he comes back to class dripping in whatever it is, sweat?

Wrong is what it is! :nod:

Short update for today, not been to the gym yet, breaking the general morning gym session rule as I've been turfed out of the house whilst the wife has friends round tonight. So will have to battle with the usual evening crowds rather than being able to freely move around :( Only doing a legs session tonight so it shouldn't be too bad, unless I find someone in the squat rack doing curls (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=37276) :lol:

Food is still on track, although I'm not sure I've eaten enough today in preparation for a heavy leg seesion tonight, we'll see when I start flagging. Had to finish the garden fence of last night, which meant giving the missus a quick tour of the kitchen, all credit to her, she managed to rustle up some fantastic pork schnitzels, but I'll be happier when I'm back in control of the kitchen!

Last update before I fly off for a weeks golfing in the sun :D

This past week has been fairly hectic with getting ready for going away and some successful attempts at empire building at work, hey at least I have things to do now! :cool:

Ended last week no quite on track with my plan, but that was only due to the fact the roads around my gym were flooded, so I don't feel so bad about that.

This week the gym has taken a back seat whilst I've been spending a fair bit of time at the driving range, food has been ok but not great due to the wife working late and it's only going to get worse while I'm away, because I have about this much (little to none) willpower.

I've been smoking again, probably due to the aforementioned will power, but I'm putting it down to getting stressed over a sudden lack of golfing ability a day before I fly out. Whilst I'm away I'm with nonsmokers so it should be easier for me to get back on track.

Right thats it, I'm about to shoot off from work, finish packing and clean up my golfing gear!

Well that was an interesting week! The executive summary is along the lines of, too hot, rubbish golf, too much beer, terrible diet, good time! :D

41 in the shade, touching 50 out in the open and there we were playing golf during the hottest parts of the day, "mad dogs and Englishmen" indeed!

And then returning back to England to find my city in the middle of this lot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6240184.stm). Some more pics (http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php?topic=196.0)from some ex work mates are even better. It's so hard to believe that something like this has happened here, sure there has been localised flooding in certain areas, but nothing to this degree. And this is nothing compared to some of the problems around the world of recent times.

Things are still quite chaotic at the minute around the city, roads have collapsed after the water has abated, bridges fallen and general debris is all around and more bad weather is predicted for the weekend. At least it appears that some of the local reservoirs are now not in danger of collapsing and taking out villages and power lines.

I'm supposed to be helping a friend move house this weekend, but instead I may be helping him move sandbags.

Personal goals seem insignificant at the moment with everything that is going on around us, going to just make sure that we stay dry over the next couple of days.

So we managed to make it through the weekend dry, the rivers are returning to normal things are looking up for most, although there are still a lot of areas in the County under a few feet of water and a lot of people in temporary accommodation.

The roads are clear once more so it's time to head back to the gym. Diet is back on track after my week away. Plan for this week, 3 weight sessions (tomorrow, Wed, Fri), one interval session, probably Thursday and my other cardio session will be a long walk with the wife on Sunday as long as the weather stays good

So last night I decided it was time to start being honest with myself. I've been finding myself drifting into some kind of fantasy world recently where everything is just "fabulous darling".

The truth is that as a whole my diet for the past several weeks has been poor. Sure there have been good meals during that time, but not nearly enough. On top of a bad diet coffee has become the new water at work. Getting to the gym has become the exception rather than the rule, yes there have been some valid reasons recently with roads flooded etc, but I've not exactly been cut up about it and instead I've relished the fact that I don't have to get off my ass and do something. :spank:
The net result of the above is that I've been tired almost all the time, not the good tired either, and I've let it impact on my home life by slowly becoming a bit of a bum. Also the recent purchases of work trousers, bought snugly on purpose, are now trying to cut off the blood to my lower body :cry:

I think I know the reason why I've been letting myself slip into this way of being, and that is my new job. For the past six weeks or so I've found myself in the most mind numbing position and it has been sapping my will to live.

Well enough is enough, I'm not going to let it bring me down anymore :flex:

Preparation is the key... In my last job I was extremely busy, 10 hours a day in the office, a couple of hours at night and on call every other week. Yet I still managed to get myself to the gym, I still made sure I cooked a healthy meal for me and the wife every night and we made sure we had time together to enjoy the things we love. So I asked myself how I managed it then and yet can't now I seem to have much more time on my hands, the answer is simple. Because I was so busy I was forced to prepare for the day/week ahead, I had my meal plans done and shopped accordingly, each night I made sure gym bag and clothes were laid out ready for the morning and exercise plans were worked out so I wouldn't waste any time in the gym.

So that's where I am right now, I know I need to get my ass in gear otherwise its back down that slippery slope.

[Last night I sat down and worked out a 4 weekly weight training rotation, I've based it loosely on the body for life challenge as it gives me some structure to work around which is much needed at the minute and I’ll be doing it in line with the challenge, so I’ll measure my success over a 12 week period.

I also worked out what I need to do with my food, I've made sure I've brought in plenty of good healthy food with me to work today so I don't slip and start raiding the wife’s snacks when I get home. Evening meals for this week are going to be plain and simple to get back on track and I'll start spicing it up a little from next week. I've also brought in 2 750ml bottles of water with me along with green tea to replace the coffee.

I still have my smoking demons to overcome, but I truly believe now I have my head straight that shouldn’t be too much of a problem to overcome.

Right that’s me cleansed and ready for action :tu:

Today’s exercise
==========
Totals are currently sat festering in my gym bag, I’ll add those later.
DB Bench Press
DB Fly

Front Raises
Lat Raises

Tricep Pushdown
Tricep Dips

Wide Grip Lat Pull Down
Straight Arm Pull Down

Alternate Bicep Curl
BB Bicep Curl

What a difference a day makes!

Yes, for the past two days I’ve been out of bed 40 minutes earlier, yes I’ve been physically pushing myself… but I feel more alive than I have in weeks! :jumping:

I’m not yawning every 5 minutes and when I got home yesterday evening I didn’t have the urge to start pigging out on crap.

Ok, so I have some soreness in my shoulders and chest, but it’s the “good” soreness ;)

It feels at the minute like I’m starting out all again, I’m putting more effort into things that I’ve always done, just half heartedly in the past. I’m using a bit of the spare time I have at work to setup a tracking spreadsheet which I can use through google docs. I’ve got fitday updated for food tracking. I’ve always used these tools before, but I’ve never “used” them (well it makes sense in my head), and yes I know it’s only 2 days since my new found since of realisation.

With regards to using the BforL training, I’m finding it quite strange, good but strange. It’s probably only because of the fact I’m not doing a standard 3 or 4x*, and understanding what I can left for each set is taking a little bit of getting used to, hence keeping the spreadsheet updated properly. But I want to keep working to something to keep my in line and this seems as good as anything to do just that.

As always there are a couple of things coming up that could knock me off track. This weekend is my cousins 18th birthday and there is a big family get together. My birthday is in 2 weeks, there will be the usual meet up with friends, plus meals with my family and the in-laws. But hopefully with planning I’m going to make sure I minimise the impact, except on my birthday… that would just be wrong :nope:

Speaking of birthdays the wife dropped in to conversation that I need to keep the last Saturday of the month free, my mind is now going mad trying to work out what’s happening. I hate surprises, when I was a kid I used to always go and find my presents whilst my parents were out and then quite skilfully unwrap and rewrap them, they still to this day are quite proud of the fact that I “always had a surprise on your birthday and Christmas”.

Legs Today
========
- Leg press/Leg Raise
- Rom Deads/Leg Curl
- Calf raises/Seated Calf Raises
- Crunches/Rev Crunch

Managing to keep everything pretty much on track, HIIT session on the stationary bike yesterday and upper body session this morning.

Really need to quit the ciggies! The past few weeks I have been hitting the harry rag a bit too much and I noticed it yesterday on the bike. I guess it's due to the boredom factor at work, but I need to get rid of that as an excuse and do something about it:spank:

Food intake has been pretty good this week, looking at fitday I've maintained a 45/35/20 /p/c/f split each day, although a quick change to this evenings dinner is required after meeting a friend for lunch this afternoon.

The weather looks like it's going to hold up over the weekend, so hopefully will be able to get some good hill walking in on Sunday. Especially now the wife is getting a little more interested in keeping herself fit.

Goal for next week is to grow a pair and put up some pics so I can start seeing progess.

Today at the gym
=============
- Incline DB Chest press/press ups
- Reverse Flyes/Upright BB Row
- Skullcrusher/Tricep kickbacks
- Assisted Pullups/Seated Cable Row
- Concentration Curl/Cable curl

I'm shattered today! Felt awful for most of yesterday with some kind of stomach bug and today I just feel drained.

Still made it to the gym this morning and managed to get through my planned upper body session, although on some areas I was noticeably weaker then last week. On the flip side I was stronger on Biceps and Triceps

Food hasn't been that great over the weekend. There was the planned birthday meal on Saturday with associated drinks. I stuck to mussels and venison, which apart from the mussel sauce was relatively healthy. Yesterday was not so great, started off ok, but ended with comfort food towards the end of the day when I finally felt like eating.

What a great weekend for sports on the TV, Wimbledon final, le Tour and the British Grand Prix, if only I hadn't been rushing to the loo every 10 minutes.

Today at the gym (BfL upper body)
=============

DB Chest Press/DB Fly
Front Raise/Lat Raise
Tricep Pushdown/Bench Dip
Lat Pulldown/Straight arm pulldown
Alt DB Curl/BB Curl

Scale weight = 182lbs (stable)
More measurements - coming soon

Physically - still feeling rough today, stomach giving me gyp, but feeling a little better in myself. Still managed to get up and get 25 minutes of intervals on the bike in this morning.

Mentally - my mind is currently all over the place due to a phone call yesterday from a recruitment agency about a job with a mobile telecoms company. The position is a contract role for an intial 3 months period. The job from what "little" I know sounds good and the money is fantastic, but I'm going to have to commute about 40 miles each way. which will take anything between 30 minutes on a good run to 2 hours in rush hour traffic. The other downside is that it is a contract position, something I've not done before, and I'm not sure how I would feel without the "supposed" security of a permanent role. I have an interview on Friday so I'll be able to weigh things up properly then and besides I have to get offered the job yet!

Today at the gym
=============

HIIT - Bike 25 minutes

Starting to feel a little better in myself, although still a little under the weather. There are a few guys at work suffering with similar stomach bugs, so obviously something is doing the rounds.

Food is all on track this week so far, obviously Friday is going to be a bit of a killer with meeting friends for birthday related drinks. I do love it when a birthday falls midweek, it means you can spread the celebration out much more :D

I think I have my head round the interview later this week. I've decided that right now I don't think contracting is the right thing for me to do, however I'm going to go anyway and discuss why they want a contractor instead of a permanent position; in the long run it will save them financially and give me the stability I'm looking for. If you don't ask, you don't get!

Today at the gym
=============
Leg Press/Leg Curl
Rom Deadlift/Leg Ext
Standing Calf Raise/Seat Calf Raise
Crunch
Rev Crunch

Well it's my birthday... yay, I think. Working on birthdays is never good for the soul :(

I knew the past few days would take me off plan and sure enough they did. Managed to keep the damage to a couple of skipped gym sessions, one night on the booze and a few unhealthy options at meal times.

Scale weight is at 182, so pretty happy with that.

Plan for the week ahead, food back right on track from today, cheat meal planned for Saturday evening. Back in the gym from tomorrow. :tu:

Even though you're working, I hope you get to enjoy your birthday. :)

Even though you're working, I hope you get to enjoy your birthday. :)

Thanks, but sadly no. Spent most of the evening on my own as the missus was trapped on the motorway for two and half hours coming home.

But never mind, it's only one day, it's what you do with all the other days that really counts. That's going to be my mantra for the next year, Mr Rossi is fostering a positive outlook from here on :tucool:

Well after a bit of "down" week last week (always happens around birthdays, up before and down after), everything is back fully on track.

25 minutes HIIT yesterday, upper body this morning and food on track, although I did manage to keep food on the right track last week anyway.

I'm coming to the end of the first 4 weeks of using the BfL training and I'm due to change the exercises round based on my plan, but right now I'm thinking of trying something totally different. I can't really put my finger on it, but I just dont feel that I'm really getting anything out of it. Maybe I'm not really doing things right, but I'm not coming away feeling like I've had a great workout. Need to think about this and see if I stick with it for the 12 weeks and then make a decision then.