Okay I know a lot of people are frustrated that we have found ourselves back in lockdown but it is what it is and the best way to approach anything in life is to have a positive outlook. For me, not being able to go anywhere (aside from medical related appointments) means no excuses not to be focused on my daily exercise.
As I mentioned before the end of 2020, I've purchased a daily diary so that I can mark down my daily activity, sleep record and food intake. Big tick for me as I've done it every day which has helped keep me on track. I know it's only been 6 days but it's still worth patting myself on the back. I have kept to the no sugar and so has mister C (I am shocked!) - he is a major snacker so he has purchased some tasty non-sugar treats that we can both enjoy - some BBQ Love Corn and some Lightly Sea Salt Proper Corn For me it's been easy cutting out the sugar as I cut out processed sugar ages ago and I don't feel like raw sugar / coconut sugar is as addictive. So far, he seems to be okay - it takes a week or so for your body to realise that it's not getting it so he may start to feel a bit rubbish next week - we shall see. I really hope he continues with it as he will feel great for cutting it out and knowing he can live without sugary snacks.
Exercise wise, I am doing the MS Gym Bed Built Programme every day and also BGB Boot Camp on days when I don't do my normal gym routine too. We are really lucky, at the start of last year (before Covid even reared its ugly head into our lives) we had decided to convert our garage into a gym. This was primarily to reduce the cost of my gym membership that kept creeping up, it didn't make sense to pay £70 odd pounds a month for a health centre whereby I was only using 5% of the services on offer. Thankfully for me, my husband is very good at DIY - the initial plan was that he would get a couple of friends to help him but lockdown 1 put a spanner in the works so he had to do it pretty much single handedly. He did an amazing job. It's evolved quite a bit from the original layout, we have add TRX Suspension Straps for doing squats etc as well as jump box (not that I can jump) which is really useful for doing sit-to-stands or standing in front of to do boxing, weighted ball throws and lifts, push ups and much more. We also have some battle ropes which I love doing and more recently Stuart has got himself a Pelaton - it's actually much smaller than I thought it would be so doesn't take up too much room. I would love to be able to use it but sadly my right foot just won't stay on the pedal or has the strength to move the pedal around. Perhaps one day. I have a couple of different routines that I do - I normally walk on the treadmill for five minutes to warm up - this can be struggle some days with my legs but today was a good day - my knee wanted to bend which helps. Today I did a set of battle ropes exercises, followed by sit to stands, dips, push ups, plank, weighted ball throws and lifts. This was followed by a free weight arm exercise set, and then a TRX exercise set after which I repeat everything either one or two more times. After doing this today I followed it with my Bed Built programme. Are you worn out yet?! I prefer doing exercise in the morning as it means I can get on with my work without thinking I need to stop and do my exercise, sometimes it means I don't end up doing everything due to time.
Working Life
I haven't really told you much about my work so here you go... I've always worked, from the minute I left Uni in 2000 (I took a two year gap in between College and Uni as I was a nanny in America). I left Uni and my first job was in a recruitment company doing admin work whilst I was waiting to find a marketing position. I then spent 7 years working within an internal marketing team for a pharmaceutical company before leaving and doing a few other jobs, marketing based and then into recruitment again before finally going part time and working for our local community centre for 18 months before my MS kicked in and it became harder for me to do the job I was doing. I had continual guilt that I couldn't do everything required of me and therefore we made the decision for me to leave work around the same time my husband was setting up a business with a couple of work friends. We realised that I could run what would become the competition side of the business. We launched iWon-iWon competitions in October 2016, it's the perfect job for me as it combines my years of marketing work and my drive to create something successful. Having our own business means I can work from home as and when I want allowing me to fit my exercise, appointments and social life into my week. We are just entering our fifth year of trading and I still love doing what I do. I make people happy every day as we give away prizes to put smiles on their faces. My work has many focuses - I am responsible for sourcing our prizes, building our client relationships, marketing our sites and all customer service. The online competition industry is very busy and when we first started we had lots of 'scam' messages but we held our own and have a 5* rating on both TrustPilot and Facebook which makes me happy. We have a number of sites now, some of which are our partner sites that we run on their behalf. It's a great small business and I am really looking forward to this year as we look to invest and grow our business further. If you want to win free prizes then please do sign up via the link above and check out our Facebook page
Meet Ziggy
Yesterday my kitten turned 6 months - he was my birthday present last year. Everyone in the house thought I was mad to want another cat given we have an 8 year old one and a dog. But when I saw the photo of him on the pet website I fell in love and had to have him. He has given us so much joy over the last 4 months he has been home with us. At first he freaked out when he saw the dog but after a few days they became best buddies and now adore each other - although I think the dog gets annoyed when Ziggy swipes his paw in a playful manner so Bella gets up ready to play, and Ziggy just sits in his space! They say cats rule the roost! I love it when they snuggle up together - it is just a shame that our older cat still isn't sure about him. They give each other the occasional nose kiss but then Rocky hisses at him or Ziggy annoys him and then receives a swipe! I am concerned by the fact that many people have got on the pet bandwagon last year due to being at home more, I just hope these new pet owners treat them well and keep them when life eventually returns to normal. For us, we've always had pets so that's never going to be an issue for us - in fact when Jake goes off to University perhaps I need another furry friend :-)
I love this video of Ziggy - clearly he was so hungry the smell of food was too much of a pull...
Taopatch & MS Update
It's Day 11 of my Liver Detox and I would say so far today it's been a good day. I really think the Bed Build programme is helping my bladder as the exercises really isolate the stomach muscles. I feel energised today, probably because my morning gym workout really helps you get off to a good start to the day. I haven't really mentioned my knee until now but for the last few weeks it's been hurting - don't be alarmed - this is good pain as my osteopath says the pain is due to the fact my knee is moving better due to the reduction in spasticity (thanks Taopatches) and as such I am using the muscles more. He thinks I will have pain for months as it will take time for those muscles too strengthen up. So I am not worried and every evening I am using my brand new massage gun that I got as a late Christmas present - it's amazing, and my knee feels great after I use it on it. Fingers crossed the pain will ease over the next few weeks. During the first week of the detox when I felt exhausted, I really noticed that my good foot was struggling and my right hand was worse than normal (it's slightly weak) - but this week they are both back to how they were so if you are doing the detox stage or are having a downtime when your body is processing information due to new exercises etc... remember it is perfectly normal for other part of your body to feel worse - your brain can't focus on everything at the same time. You will bounce back :-)
That's it for today I am going to make some lunch (eggs and salmon today) and then read a bit of my latest book 'Still Me' by Jojo Moyes (gift from Jake for Christmas) - it's the follow up from 'Me Before You' a great book and film if you haven't heard of it before. I'm an avid reader, I belong to a local book club and always have my nose in a book at some point during the day - normally at bedtime due to a busy life. I will do a blog on my favourite reads another day....
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