HappyFitHealthy

A banana, one white slice of peanut butter toast, one oat/choc cookie, 1 granary roll with chicken and a teensy bit of cheese with salad garnish. And that's it so far. Managed to do 3 minutes of boxing against hubby holding the pads. Tired.

Should do more but am too lazy.

I'm planning to make a stirfry tonight with chicken, possibly rice, and lots of veg and maybe a dried chilli. Depends how brave I'm feeling! Dessert will not be large, maybe some fruit or a fruit smoothie.

Day 6 - Wednesday 14th May am

(I apologise, these seem to be getting longer!)

Today the whistle went even earlier - 5.20am as we were starting stretch at 5.45am! I was already awake so I took my temperature and plotted my temperature. It was above the guidelines on the chart paper which concerned me some. Then I checked the other girls were awake and got myself dressed.

When we went downstairs I was surprisingly chirpy - I wished Sian a cheery 'good mornin' before she even spoke to me, when previously my eyes would need peeling open! Stretch & Move seemed to pass very quickly. Could it be that my body is getting used to this torture? Am I getting fitter? Only my thighs ached, and only dully despite all the exercise. Maybe the swimming session helped take my aches away? Today is the day of the NINE mile walk. I actually didn't feel any enthusiasm for it, my MP3 player is virtually dead so I will not have music. This means I have to focus myself. I will do my utmost to finish this walk as this is the furthest they will push us now. Tomorrow is the fitness assement again so only 3 miles!

One of the larger ladies who had struggled with some of the walks had yesterday come to dinner triumphant after completing the 7 miler. It took her 4 hours but she was elated that she had done it. Then in our team games last night she took a tumble, spraining her ankle, yet she was still cheerful. That gave me courage and strength. Actually, seeing the range of other women who had not quit made me even more determined to finish the week.

Isn't it strange though, how no matter what your shape every woman has body hangups? Some ladies looked perfectly proportioned, but obviously didn't feel it, I hope I do reach a weight/shape I am comfortable with, not just continue to diet for the sake of it.

Breakfast time. Oh boy, it was delicious. Scrambled but watery eggs, grilled tomatoes and a slice of homemade wholemeal bread. I didn't think I'd like grilled tomato, and I initally missed the tomato sauce I would normally have with a breakfast, but obviously I don't actually need it. I'm thinking I could use sliced tomato in my bacon sarnies at home and more pepper. Especially with how much sugar is in ketchup.

We got into the mini bus and drove forever. Well, to Exmoor in Somerset. It felt like forever anyway. We started walking at about 8.45am, it was still freezing cold and very misty and we all felt uncomfortable. The scenery was amazing from the point we were dropped off to the moment we finished. However it was knackering and the first mile seemed to go on forever.

I got talking to a girl who had strained her groin muscle earlier in the week, then twisted her ankle a day or two later, but nevertheless was determined she would finish. So, I drew on her strength, walking slowly and intending to pick my pace up later. She kept telling me to go on ahead, but I needed her as much, if not more than she needed me. If she could manage this b*stard of a walk then so could I!

The start of the walk was over the moors, across broken stones and dodgy footpaths, so I spotted for my friend and kept pointing out the flattest places to walk whilst our teeth chattered away. I don't think I've ever been so cold before

After a while we went down into a more sheltered woody area. We'd been told the first and last two miles were through the moors, and the middle section was on-road walking so we were desperate to see the road to know we'd at least covered two miles. Step by step we boosted each others spirits, until we hit the road. Then we carried on walking.

So, we plodded along, admiring the woods along the way. Some of the roads were steep with drop away sides, and the scary part was looking down. Part way around my buddy felt faint and blacked out for a split second, luckily I was close enough to stop her going down. Yet still she wanted to carry on. At times I wanted to cry for her, I could see how much pain she was in, but through it all she kept going, and so did I.

Gradually we began to overtake the slower group who had started ahead of us, which was cheery. As I was starting to feel really bored we caught up with Sian and walked with her for a bit. It was nice to have someone else to chat to, and she chatted with my friend, checking her symptoms to ensure there was no lasting damage.

We then caught up with two ladies we'd started walking with and we were all singing whatever we could think of to take our minds off the pain and the distance left. Someone pointed out the cairn we had to get to for the last mile, and it seemed SO far away. We kept walking upwards and finally turned back off the road and onto the moor. We started talking to a couple who were out walking, who said the cairn was just one mile away, not the two we'd expected, which gave us both an extra shot of energy. We pushed on.

We approached the top, thinking we were done, as the fast walkers were sitting relaxing in the sun. But no, in the distance we could see the mini buses and still had a mile to go. I stopped to get my photo taken at the Dunkery Beacon,

and to take a photo of the view, before carrying on back down the hill to the minibus.

(not sure what's going on with my trousers? )

By this time I was busting for the loo (I had been from the start - possibly nerves?) and I'm sorry to say that Exmoor made a wonderful public toilet. Thank god, as I had to wait for everyone to finish before the second minibus left. And, everyone DID finish the walk. There was less than half an hour between me arriving and the last walker. Because the wind picked up some of the last walkers had missed out on the cairn finish, apparently there needed to be someone at the top to ensure we were alright. I think they were disappointed, but still 9 miles is 9 miles! Other than my feet aching, I felt fine. The ride back home made me feel very queasy though. I can't believe I did this on my wedding anniversary!

To be continued...

Day 5 - Tuesday 13th May

So, where was I? I didn't get a chance to write anything down today until 6.30pm as the day was soo hectic. Woken again by the whistle. No surprise there. I sat bolt upright immediately and my roomies joked that hubby could use a whistle to get me up back in real life (I'm so not a morning person) but right now we could happily shove that whistle into a darkened orifice.

Stretch & Move was laid out differently today, a small circuit at one end of the room, boxing gloves and pads at the other. Thankfully there were no Spotty Dogs on the circuit (spotty dogs are heinously hard and we all loathe them. they are a bit like star jumps but instead of moving both arms & legs together out to the side, you do alternate arms and legs, to the front and back, so not really like starjumps at all!) so we were cheered by this.

The stretch seemed achievable because it was broken into two sections, although we did have to do each section twice. Once to box and once to hold the pads. The lady I was paired up with was really encouraging, but the gloves were disgusting - all hot and sweaty inside, and when you took your hands out they stank. Ewwwwww. I think today was the first day we used resistance bands, boy are they hard work? but good for toning your arms. Maybe I'll get some when I get home.

Breakfast was a bowl of muesli which I wolfed down, too hungry to complain or care. I've not had any coffee since I arrived, and to be honest I'm not missing it as I thought I would. We had two midmorning snacks - a handful of dried fruit & nuts AND an apple. We were in heaven! Today was our third 7 mile walk (to a swimming pool) followed by a 20 length swim. The thought of swimming had us all in raptures of delight.

But, when breakfast was over there was a shock in store for us all. The second trainer, Julie, had been out to check our route for Health & Safety purposes. She came in and asked "ok, which of you brought a saw with you?" Everyone looked confused. Then she explained that a tree had fallen across the route we were due to walk, and that she was sorry to announce we could not go on that walk. Cue a chorus of cheers from us. "But" Julie continued, "there is another walk, a 5 mile walk" more cheers, "but you would have to pull together as a team. If you want to go swimming you will all have to complete it in 1.5 hours". We weren't sure about this. 1.5hrs doesn't seem like very long at all.

We were told that this walk was around a reservoir and that there was no road so the support/pick up car would not be available. This meant everyone that started would have to finish. Not such good news for everyone then, several people had been going as far as they could with the knowledge that if they really couldn't go further they would be picked up. Two ladies refused to do the walk, on the grounds that they didn't want to stop the rest of us from completing with enough time to go swimming.

So, we all piled into the mini buses, high spirited knowing it was only an achievable 5 miles. My, how our outlook had changed - from not believing we could complete a 3 mile walk to thinking 5 miles would be easy, all in the space of 4 days! The view from the start line was amazing. The lake was huge. It had about a million bends around it. Anyway, we all set off together this time and I chatted with people on my way around. It was a lovely walk, you could only really see a little bit of the lake at a time, bits were in sun and other bits in shade and it wasn't very steep, just small inclines, so it was really enjoyable.

As the end drew into sight we saw a couple of familiar faces sitting on a bench. The two ladies who refused the 5 mile walk had been set a shorter walk - 3 miles - from the end, part way around and then back again. Then we went back to the minibus, to be driven to the swimming pool.

When we got to the pool it was very bizarre. The first time we had mixed with other people in ages, and the temptation from vending machines was there in front of us. Chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks. All only a few footsteps away. Yet nobody stopped. The cool of the water was absolutely lovely. It felt like a holiday for the first time since we'd arrived at Fitfarms. I swam one length before I got cramp in my shoulder and upper arm. I've never had cramp in a swimming pool so I was pretty worried. Took it easy after that, until I realised lots of my colleagues were out, dressed and sitting at the side of the pool. I was going to get out, but Julie asked if I'd done my 20 lengths, so i stayed in. I must've done about 8 more lengths before I decided I'd had enough. Got dressed and was ready in time for the first bus back home. And a snooze before lunch.

First thing in the afternoon we had a cookery workshop, we all piled into Mikaels kitchen. The first thing he did was show us a photo of himself 12 months earlier. He is literally half the size he was then. He hadn't been on a fitfarm week, but if this wasn't inspirational nothing would be. Mikael explained that he had taken an extreme approach to his lifestyle, cutting out beer, cigarettes, drastic portion cuts and lots of exercise, but I don't want to be as thin as he is now, so I know I don't need to be so extreme.

Then he asked one of the girls to go into the pantry and back any 5 items. We were to have our very own 'Ready Steady Cook'. In the meantime we were given lots of useful food information. Did you know that a product only needs to have one organic ingredient to be classified as an organic product? The same with free range products. The logic in the cookery workshop was amazing. Mikael pointed out that for example an 'organic' quiche may cost £3, but if you went around to purchase all the ingredients with £3 you would not be able to get many organic ingredients. Likewise, he explained supermarkets use the cheapest ingredients they can.

A wet egg was a new concept to me. Nobody else knew what it meant either. Mikael took an egg from the fridge, then cracked it "et voila, a wet egg" and slopped it into a bowl. Now, obviously these can't be sold to customers like us, but apparently in the trade these cracked eggs are collected and then used to make things like the nice cheap quiches.

So, next Mikael held up the ingredients we had picked out - an aubergine, a tomato, an onion, green beans and a mushroom. In true cookery show style he managed to prepare 3 different meals in about 15 minutes. Onion & tomato salad, aubergine stuffed with poached egg and mushroom, stirfried vegetables. And, according to the others they all tasted really good. Strangely enough I've only really eaten cherry tomatoes so to see a whole dish with just tomato and onion was pretty cool. And it looked pretty too.

After this workshop we had Ultimate Burn muscle toning exercises which really did burn. But you could feel your tummy muscles tightening as you went. Next we had another exercise session, using the boxing gloves and gym balls. And then a break before dinner. In the evening we had a boxercise aerobic session.

Not long left til I go home! But the hardest day is yet to come - my wedding anniversary tomorrow and I'm miles from hubby. Boo hoo.

PS - I didn't remember to make notes on this afternoon, so that's why there is so little detail.