The answer to this question, short version:
I had a lot of work to do for my course, and then I collapsed in a heap for a while.
Actually, I wasn't totally collapsed. I seem to have done a few things in the past month or so:
* I knitted a pair of fingerless gloves
* My friend C came to stay for a few days and we visited castles
* I learned to make pastry from scratch (it's easy: what was I afraid of?)
* I bathed the guinea pigs on three occasions (they had a skin problem, poor little crumbs)
* I found a pair of comfy shoes I can wear with skirts
* I read a lot of books
* I ate tomatoes and peas that I grew myself
* I planted a lot of bulbs
* I watched several episodes of Firefly, and - only three months late - the series finale of Doctor Who
* I had my 29th birthday
What's that you say? None of these have anything to do with fitness? Oh.
I have to be honest (or what is this blog for?) The fitness isn't going well at the moment. I've been working hard, and am tired, and there's also been worry about J's health (nothing new, but no clear improvement in sight, either). Although I know I need to get back into the swing of eating healthily and exercising harder, the will has not been there. I went out running twice with my new trainers back in July, and that was it. I'm still cycling, but that's about it.
The tiredness is something of a concern to me because I know it's probably because I haven't been exercising enough or eating the right things. On the days when I'm at home, it's not too bad, but work tends to have Bad Foods sitting around the office. I don't even really want to eat them; it's just... they're freely available, and it's an excuse to get up from my desk, I suppose.* And I have no self-control, especially when I'm a bit stressed. I haven't quite got to the stage where I ask my workmates to put the biscuits somewhere I can't see them, but nearly.
My weight is a good bit higher than I'd like at the moment, but again... I know what I need to do, but the will isn't there. The next module for my course has just started, so I feel that if I start anything now, I'll soon become so busy that it'll be hard to stick to it. Which is rather silly, because you could use that excuse for not starting things in almost any situation.
There are two minor bright sides to the situation. Firstly, this is my last module (assuming I passed the previous one, that is), so I'll have a bit more flexibility from late November onwards. The end is almost in sight.
Secondly, although the numbers look bad, I'm clearly in better physical shape than the last time I was at this weight. My bodyfat percentage is lower by 7%, and I can still get into my jeans, although the Annoying Jeans are slightly more annoying than usual. And my thighs still look a lot more toned than they were last time. I've never been terribly convinced that cycling makes a huge difference to my physical fitness, or not at the level of intensity I usually manage; but I think it has had some damage-limitation effects, for which I'm duly grateful.
Despite the lack of any new content for almost two months, Sitemeter tells me there were 60 visits to this blog last week. Again, I'm grateful if anyone is still reading! It's a bit late to answer individual comments on the last entry, but I do read them and appreciate them.
We are going away for a few days tomorrow. I'm planning to go for walks (if it doesn't rain all the time - and it might not) and catch up on my sleep. And do some reading for my course, naturally. See you when I get back.
*I've tried going to the watercooler more often instead, but it only works up to a point.
