On second thought......

***GROAN****
I just woke up. It has been over 24 hours after my glittering performance at tuesday's boot camp, and I have discovered.....I have triceps.

Well, I always knew they were there... in theory anyway. Now, for the first time ummm ever, I can feel them. Ouch, I just scratched my head....typing hurts. Thankfully there are just a few isolated muscles that KILL, unlike the first time I ever played squash.

When Ashely and I played our first game of squash, neither of us were any good, but we got so into it that we played enthusiastically for over an hour. I could hardly move the following day; every possible bone in my body felt as if it was encased in thick steel springs like those used to make professional trampolines. I remember having to go to work the following day (and the rest of the days in that week) after our squash game; I was working as a baker at the time. I had to continually crouch down to get things and lift heavy trays...I had never felt such all over pain in my life - pain that I knew to be beneficial rather than one born out of injury...although I sure moved like an invalid, at the time.

Anyway, my triceps feel like that today...what a big wuss I am. I feel even moreso after reading Tracey's most recent entry! You really are amazing Trace.

Yay me!

I had my first reality check (my phrase not theirs), this morning at Curves. I knew I was feeling so much better for going. I also believed that I was beginning to feel more toned, and my clothes weren't as tight, so I wasn't all that fussed about whether or not I had lost weight, even though I was aware of how terribly unfit I was, but as Tracey gently reminded me, "muscle weighs more than fat", so with that important mantra ringing in my ears, I walked into Curves this morning, with my head held high, for I knew I hadn't missed a session...as yet.

I must admit though, I did actually have my fingers crossed that my body fat percentage might go down. I scored in the "poor" range at my sign up measurement; a reality that brought back humiliating high school memories of being forced to stand in line to be submitted to the dreadful "skinfold pinch test" by some insensitive physical education teacher, who then boisterously insinuated that one was a bit on the lardy side - shudder. Truly, that practice should be outlawed, it was not like anything more was done about it; the chubby ones weren't immediately told to drop and give them 20, nor were we sidelined and given a pep talk about diet and exercise, nor enrolled in a special hard slog fatties program, rather we were only given a brow beating and a tsk tsk'ed as we shuffled away with our tails between our legs.

Well, horror stories aside, I was given a reprieve this month, because I lost 4 pounds (2kgs), 5 inches (dunno the conversion) and reduced my body fat percentage by 2.1% - whoo hoo, go me! The body fat reduction saw me receive a Curves t-shirt as a reward. It was a pretty cool feeling, and other Curves devotees were congratulating me on my effort. What a great start to the day; kind of makes me regret eating those 6 chocolate chip cookies yesterday - oops.

The result encourages me to keep going, and to even see about doing a bit more. Maybe I can take a leaf out of Tracey's book and add a swim once a week for something different...although I do have some ghastly memories of when I attempted that form of exercise last time LOL. I guess I am a bit fitter this time around and not as idealistic, we'll see.

Realistically speaking, I think I should probably reap more benefits if I do take a more concerted effort with the ole diet. I don't think 6 chocolate chip cookies is good for anyone really. Do you?