How many steps do you do in a day?

I'm looking forward to celebrating the end of my first week of my new job

I've been sleeping so much better now that I'm eating healthily again - I also think it's got something to do with having more exercise. No, I'm not going to the gym, however I'm having to walk a lot more to work.. just by walking to the train station, walking to the tube, walking to work - it's over 3,000 steps each day! That's pretty awesome and much better than what I used to do - unless I walked into town with my work friend, I'd never make 3,000 steps a day.

Thursday was another working from home day and I already feel productive, despite still not having access to all of the systems I need access to! I even went out food shopping at 8:30am and got back before 9:00. My shopping bags were full of vegetables and fish - not a chocolate bar, or unhealthy thing in site! A complete 180 degree difference from this time last week when I was in Harrods, celebrating my youngest sisters birthday by having afternoon tea in their Georgian restaurant. I've been to a number of different hotels in London for 'Afternoon Tea' - the Ritz, The Savoy.. all of have been really enjoyable, however Harrods was stunning. The service alone was just brilliant and we had so many sandwiches and cakes - I don't regret it at all as I've got great memories, but I'm so glad I'm back on the healthy eating road.

Lunch was another BBQ chicken salad as I had half a pack of mini chicken fillets to use up and more lentils. Today I didn't have cucumber, but had red onion instead and also sprinkled some cheese over the top. I tend to buy the ready grated cheese - 1. As I'm lazy and 2. As I find it's easy to portion control as you don't grate too much.

I also managed to feed the birds and clean my bathroom at lunch time - I don't know why, but I thought when I started a new job, I'd be so busy I wouldn't be able to do the 'normal' chores, however I seem to be coping really well.. partly, I think it's because I'm only doing 3 days in London, I have respect for people who commute a long way 5 days a week.. How *do* you do it... I think I'd be so tired!

Dinner was another chicken breast, but this one was wrapped in bacon and courtesy of Tesco's (Quite low in calories and fat). I decided to serve it with rosemary roasted potatoes and some steamed veg - Absolutely delicious. I know there's a lot of veg on my plate, however I want to try and 'bulk up' and stop being hungry by eating healthy things, rather than craving chocolate or pudding an hour after I've eaten. So far.. so good! :-)

Spinning - getting back in the saddle

Normal service has been resumed.

I hate running. It seems so pointless, especially when you have such amazing devices called ‘cars’ who can get you to where you need to go a lot quicker than you can run, with the added advantage of being able to turn up to your destination completely fresh and non-sweaty.

I appreciate that’s a very contentious view, however it’s just not for me. I’ve done it before and I’ve never enjoyed it, neither when I start, or a few months later, when I can run further and faster – it’s just not my thing. I think it’s because I’ve got a rather large chest and the sports bras I have to wear are robust, to say the least. Added to which, I’m not a team player – I don’t think I’m an evil person or a loner at all, after all I have a lot of lovely friends who I care for, amazing sisters and amazing boyfriend, however the thought of doing team based sports holds no attraction for me.

So why would I put myself through that? It’s the same as eating things you don’t like when on a ‘diet’, it’s a temporary thing, a ‘quick fix’, that you’ll never sustain as, in the end: You just don’t enjoy it.

So, about 2 years ago, I decided I’d try spinning – Rather than running from one place to another, instead of using a car, I thought I’d cycle on a bike for miles, whilst remaining in the same place – equally as pointless :-), but in my opinion, 100% more enjoyable. Why? Well, I guess it depends on your instructor and the class, however for me, it fitted my ‘exercise criteria’:

1. I could sit at the back of the class and no one seemed to look at me – Unlike aerobics, where you jump around and people inadvertently are behind you and you’re paranoid about them seeing your butt jiggle. You don’t have that in spinning (especially if you’re in the back row)

2. It’s done in the dark – Hurrah, yet another plus point is that once the lights are off, there’s even less emphasis on my jiggling and I feel much less self conscious

3. You can go at the speed you want – I hate being told what to do, it’s like a massive thing for me. If someone orders me to do something, I’ll do the opposite. In spinning YOU work as hard as YOU want to work, so I get out, what I put in, without feeling out of place.

4. It’s got good music – This is more of an instructor thing, however I like dance music and things that get me enthusiastic. Listening to the music in a spin class is enjoyable whilst I’m doing exercise.

5. It doesn’t hurt my back – I’ve got a lower back injury which can flare up from time to time. So long as I’m careful and bend properly, it doesn’t aggravate it at all. 

I’m actually quite a wimp when it comes to trying new things – Despite being a ‘grown up’, I actually find it quite scary to go to somewhere, on my own. That’s why I’m thankful that my brilliant work friend offered to come with me for the first few lessons. After all, I find things are a lot less scary if you go with someone else. She’s massively into the gym, so going with someone who already knew the ropes, so to speak, was very reassuring.

After not going to the gym for 3 months, I went tonight and now I feel really, really good about myself. I’ve eaten healthy food today and I’ve exercised – that’s despite having a massive stress-out about my job and the meeting with my Boss earlier today.

Dinner was grabbed from Marks and Spencers, but even then I tried to be mindful of what I was eating and went for a tomato and basil chicken breast with some peas and some parmentier potatoes. With a little salad cream on the side, it was really nice and very filling :-)

Stress, Anxiety and Healthy Eating

Stress is one way to lessen your hunger - Not sure if that's a good thing, though..

Apparently stress and nutrition are strongly linked - Someone with a healthy, balanced diet is allegedly supposed to be far less stressed than someone who shoves all manner of junk into their gob.

Unfortunately, despite eating healthily for a month, that doesn’t seem to stop me being incredibly stressed when it comes to work and no amount of healthy eating seems to change that, which is not good from either a mental perspective, nor a physical one.

Mondays are doubly painful for me at the moment. Not only are they the start of the week, but they’re also the day that my Boss and I have a scheduled ‘catch up’ meeting which is in our diaries for just after lunch. After glancing at his calendar, there are a number of private appointments in it (which is unusual) and a number of meetings booked with the person who I believe, he is lining up to take over my role. This sent my paranoia into complete overdrive and at once I was imagining being homeless, being out of work for months, my meeting with my Boss being one of terror – him telling me I’m awful and giving me lots of grief.

I think I react to stress in a ‘normal’ way, although I do believe I’ve got massively high anxiety levels in general. When stressed, my stomach constricts, I feel sick and if it’s really bad, I tend to visit the toilet on more than one occasion – When stressed, I’m not hungry at all and apparently that could be because my stomach produces excess stomach acid, which tricks my body into believing it’s fuller than it actually is and the chemicals that tell my brain I’m hungry, aren’t able to reach it.

Additionally, Serotonin (a neurotransmitter that regulates mood) apparently plays a role in both anxiety and the feeling of hunger. Since people with anxiety can sometimes have a serotonin balance issue, it's possible that this is one of the reasons that I don't get hungry when experiencing high anxiety.

Dreading my meeting with my Boss, I walked into town at 12:00 and bought some lunch. I was going to go for a low fat sandwich, however remembered my June goals, one of which is ‘Try and eat less processed food’ so I opted for my default lunch of tomatoes, pepper, pitta bread and hoummous (I’m going to think of something else to eat next week, as I’ll get bored of it pretty quickly). It was lovely going into town – I think you forget that the place you work is not ‘the world’, that it’s actually such a small part of the world, but to you, it’s massive. It’s like that for me, at any rate – After being at the company for over 5 years, it’s really sad to think that I’m not going to be there any longer, that I won’t see the nice people I work with every day and that the Manager I trusted and worked alongside, is making decisions that affect me, without consulting me.

I usually eat lunch as soon as I get back to the office – after all, I had 30 minutes until my meeting. However, I just didn’t feel hungry at all. Despite only eating porridge with Blueberries for Breakfast at 8:00am, I couldn’t feel even the smallest pangs of hunger, so I decided to wait until after my meeting.

I went in…. and 45 minutes later, I came out. Massively relieved that the worry I had was not realised this week – My Boss didn’t have a go at me, he didn’t moan or admonish me, there was even praise and a Thank-you for something I had picked up. Like so many things in life, what was in my head was 100 times worse than what had happened in the meeting. Do I think my paranoia is unfounded? Sadly not, however maybe the time I have left in the company won’t be as dire as I’m believing it to be.

It was as if someone had flicked a switch, my anxiety and stress lessened and

my stomach started rumbling really loudly, so I finally settled down to lunch at 14:00. It hit the spot and I now feel a lot more energised and happy that I’ll be able to get through this week without being asked to leave. It’s hardly a state I can remain in for long, however I’m hoping I can find a fantastic new opportunity before too long.

Tonight, I’m going spinning – My other June goal is to ‘go to the gym once a week’ will be achieved if I go every Monday, which works for me in regards to my busy social life. After not going for over 3 months, I’m a little apprehensive about going, but there’s no substance to that – I mean, what am I apprehensive about? Just a change in my routine I guess, and the sooner I get back into the gym, the better I’ll feel and the better I’ll be able to cope with stress. NO EXCUSES!