hurrah!

don't have much time to post as busy at work and out to the theatre tonight, play rehearsals tomorrow (which I've only just realised... b/f's gonna kill me!) packing tomorrow night afterwards and then off to Ireland for 6 days on Wednesday!

Also got Tuesday off as I've got yet *another* assignment to hand in... will be glad when this is all over, so far my assignment scores have been 94%, 99%, 91% (boo) and 95%. This'll be my last tutor-marked assessment and then I've got a computer based on... then over - woo hoo!

But, anyway, briefly, I've lost more weight, hurrah! I'm down to 11st 1.5lbs which means I've lost basically half a stone, albeit slowly, over these last few months

I'm the lightest I've been ALL year, I'm so chuffed, seriously, such a good feeling. I need to post new pics and measurements, but to give you some idea... I've gone from 31" on my waist to 28.25"! Nice to have a dinky tummy again :-)

I've been eating so well lately, I feel full of energy from my diet as well as the exercise... although I do feel like I've been beaten round the hamstrings with a baseball bat having got a bit carried away during my strength training session on Saturday... I pushed 80kg on the leg press (3 x 10 reps) and then decided to top off my bench press pyramid with some squats on the smith machine... ouchie!

went for a tempo run this lunchtime, slowly increasing from 11 minutes per mile to just under 8 m/m pace. Felt great actually... until I got up to use the loo earlier and found I couldn't walk very well - ha!

I'm meant to be doing spin tomorrow but that depends on a) how my legs are feeling in the morning and b) whether I get the bulk of my packing complete tonight after the show, we're going for dinner first... a nice restaurant called Tamarai have the most awesome deal on - 50% off the entire bill, not just the food, and you get a complimentary cocktail to boot! Ahh, I love toptable, it's such a great idea... you book restaurants for free, take advantage of the great deals online, review the restaurant and get points for doing so that you can redeem against meals at lovely restaurants! Everyone's a winner baby :-)

I'm also very excited at my recent orders... I'm hoping to get the new Garmin 405cx for my 30th (on Saturday by the way - take note!!) from my lovely fella, but have also bought a cheapie HRM from Wiggle (which I love, especially as they give me extra discounts for being a 'gold' customer :-) ) I've ordered an X-Train V3 20 Function Heart Rate Monitor . It got a super rating from Cycling Plus, it's got a lovely chest strap like my Polar Triathlon watch and it's only £35.99!

As I'm engaging in some sort of exercise most lunch times it makes sense to see how hard I'm working, I can't wait to try it out :-) I've also ordered a rack bag for my bike as I only seem to use one side pannier.. which I overfill.. and then worry about one leg working harder than the other!

I've also ordered some SportJock sports bras, take note women, these are superb at preventing bounce! This t-shirt in yellow as it's too warm to wear my bright cycle jacket and I like being seen EASILY by the maniac drivers that I encounter in this lovely city.

Thought I'd try out these X-Sock Skyrunner running socks to see what they're like. I've been faithful to Thorlo for many years but no harm trying out something new eh? ;-)

Okay... so on to my most exciting purchase... da da daaaaa

Our body fat scale monitor thingy is just simply quite shit. The readings differ by quite a few pounds if you leave it a few minutes between weighing... it's just not reliable! Don't get me wrong, it *looks* good, which is usually enough to sway me... and my other half which is why he bought it in the first place! But in terms of efficacy, it just falls far of the mark, pretty pooh really.

So... did some research, which is all I seem to do nowadays, have turned into the biggest diet and nutrition geek going - it's paying off though (more about my findings another day) and I found this, the OMRON BF510 Body Composition Monitor. Isn't it sexy? No... seriously! I love the pull out T-bar doodar, it looks amazing and has been certified as a medical product which ticks all my happy boxes. Best still.. if you ignore the massively overinflated price on the BUPA site (how much?!) A fab site called GetYourselfFitter is selling it for a paltry £39.99 with free delivery!

I'm so excited, I want it... I want it now!!

oh well, will have to placate myself with wiggle goodies and be a patient bunny