Week 1 of Round 2 of 12WBT

Well, this week has a been a bit of a write-off. I came down with a bug on Mother's Day on Sunday which I tried to ignore until I couldn't any more. Now have a nasty cough and still have a headache and a bit of a temperature. And no exercise since Sunday. I probably shouldn't have gone to the pool on Sunday when I wasn't feeling "quite right" but I was worried about using it as an excuse and I followed the mantra of JFDI.

This is the first time I have been sick since I started on my exercise regime and started eating more healthily. And you know what, after nearly 8 months I thought I was immune. Wrong, wrong, wrong. But it has given me cause to think about why I got sick now (and not doing any exercise for 5 days gives you time for that!).

I think it was more related to stress than anything else. The physical stress of my mega swim together with my mum who has been a bit of hard work this past week, and getting organised for an overseas holiday, combined with knowing I needed to have a scan for a lump in my breast has taken its toll (scan yesterday, have lump, not a cyst or anything worse - still waiting on the formal report but appears to be okay).

I KNOW that stress is a problem with me.
I KNOW I get anxious.
I KNOW that if I get anxious I get sick.
But I still repeat it over and over and over.

And ever so closely related to that is that I don't sleep well at the best of times. And when I am stressed I sleep even more badly. Quite simply, for the past few weeks I have not been getting any where near enough sleep.

My old habit of going to bed really late - really, really late - has crept back in. And I need to fight that. I know what I need to do - I need to put my iPad away by a reasonable hour (which as I write I am trying to work out what that would be - but I am going to say 8pm) and then relax and go to be BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Prefereably well before midnight. Then I won't wake up in a fog - but more importantly, I won't get sick. Sounds so easy ...

One week until the start of Round 2 of 12WBT

Round 2 of the 12WBT starts next Monday. I have been thinking about a few things, particularly what goals I need to set for the next 12 weeks and also how I am going to handle weeks 2 to 4 when I am in Singapore and Thailand.
I have put in my diary all the necessary reminders and I will take a print-out of the exercise plan and do some of those exercises every day in my room as well as planks and push-ups.

I have also made sure that each hotel has a swimming pool. The only problem with that is hotel pools are usually quite short which makes it practically impossible to do any good distance. I am thinking that the way to get around that is to do butterfly which is more intense that freestyle. That should scare the neighbours and clear the pool pretty quickly. And I will try water running.

Each hotel also has gym equipment but they are usually pretty ordinary and I really don't want to be locked away in one. The hotel in Chiang Mai also says it has free bicycles for guests to use. Given that I have only ridden a stationary one that might be an interesting experience. And of course there is also walking - not my favourite exercise but tolerable when combined with shopping! I am just going to have to mix it up.

It won't be as easy as it is now when I just go to my gym class or swim squad and an hour or so later it is done and dusted. I also need to try and eat clean and healthy as much as possible and that is going to be a big challenge as when I travel I go into mad holiday mode and eat pretty much everything!

I am also have to hunt down scales each Wednesday. I hope each hotel will have some I can borrow. And I hope that they will let me take them to my room. I am not sure that nude and after a wee would be appropriate viewing in a hotel foyer!

New dress

I have just purchased this Trent Nathan dress (Speckled Ponti in Emerald and Black) for when I hit my goal weight.

Will take while which is why it is a winter dress - planning on fitting into it in winter 2014!

Slow and steady ...