Bowery Mural

#BBGQA week 1

Thursday 26 March 2015

Since starting the BBG guide for real this week i've spent a few more hours on Instagram looking over all of the hashtags that the BBG girls use and one jumped out at me #BBGQA (I think this was started by @Corporate_Sneakers ).  Each week you answer a set of questions most people post their thoughts on Instagram but i thought i'd record them here too. It'll be a progress check too.



Here goes, week 1 #BBGQA

1. One thing that surprised me about myself this week was how determined and single minded i was that I was finally going to start this guide that's been hiding out as a pdf in the iBooks app on  my phone. Last summer was when I purchased the guide and it's taken me until now to become comfortable enough to take over a little space in the gym and do my own workout. It feels great to have started.

2. The #1 thing that made me happy this week was that I managed to complete 1 1/2 rounds of each 7 minute circuit on each of the 3 days. Also, the cheeky wink I got from a lovely guy in the gym after having completed Week 1 Full Body workout. That did make me smile ;)

3. Something that didn't go as planned this week was the food. The eating. The Sweeties. I will conquer this sugar craving addiction! ARGH.

4. My toughest hurdle this week was trying to fit the BBG guide into my 'normal' gym routine and trying not to jump ahead and do the workouts on consecutive days. I am not doing the BBG guide alone. I am working it into my current long-standing gym routine because as I mentioned in a previous post, I wasn't seeing the results I wanted and so decided to finally start the BBG guide to give me that extra little reward for all of my hard work.I have finally figured out that i am going to substitute some classes for the guide.

5. What I want to remember this week was the feeling I had after each workout. The feeling of accomplishment and the realisation that I can do it, and i most certainly will.

Angela

#WWIM11_Edinburgh

Sunday 22 March 2015

WWIM11_Edinburgh, Instagram, Instameet, WWIM11, Edinburgh


I finally did it. I finally got a place and attended a WorldWide Instameet. This was number 11 and I attended the one that took place in Edinburgh on Saturday evening, organised by @IgersEdinburgh. It was held at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One and was a lovely setting for it. Two things I Love; Instagram and modern art, in one evening - I was always going to want to be in on that action. Even better was the fact that the Roy Lichtenstein work has just opened at the gallery plus a great deal more. I'm a huge fan of all that pop art stuff and even have a print of one hanging on my wall.

WWIM11_Edinburgh, Edinburgh, WWIM11, Instagram


Anyway, I arrived in the golden hour to the gallery and there were a few people milling around outside whilst a group took some pictures on the grassy sculpture. It's always a bit awkward when you are rocking up to these events and you don't know anyone there. Luckily there were a few people in the same position as well as some folks who obviously knew each other.

@Ange77H


Then there's the meet up etiquette. When I've been to 'tweet-ups' in the past there have been name badges with your Twitter handle on it. There were no name badges here. I was thinking "shall I just say Angela or will I give my Instagram name?"... I soon discovered Angela would do fine.

close up of a Lichtenstein


After the opening group shop was taken we made our way inside the museum and the door was closed. We had an EMPTY! The first of it's kind in Scotland so it felt like a real privilege. After an intro by the museum staff and a few pointers from the organisers we were allowed to go on our way to explore and snap this wonderful building.

I love this picture but WHO is this? anyone? @IgersEdinburgh 



There were a few hashtags we were asked to use on our pictures and it didn't take me long to find a few great shots #emptyscotmodern #emptyscotmodern_corner #emptyscotmodern_reflection. I also brought along my Fuji as I wanted to get some better quality shots of the artwork. PS all photos in this post were taken with my iPhone6. I'll do another post with the Fuji pictures.

WWIM11_Edinburgh, Lichtenstein, Emptyscotmodern,


At around 7.50pm the bell was rung and that was the end of the '#empty'. What a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Everyone headed outside into the chilly spring air and there were more group shots with faces lit by phone light. Most people then headed off to have food and drinks and I headed home.

I was sad the shop wasn't open



If you'd like to see more pictures I took on the night head over to my Instagram @Ange77H :)

Huge thanks to @IgersEdinburgh Steve (@Wilde_Oates) and Jemma (@Jemmacraig) for organising and to @natgalleriessco for allowing us the privilege to explore an empty Modern One.

Angela x

Fitness Update

Saturday 14 March 2015



Hello! Yes, I'm still here. I've had an extended blogging break and i've no excuse other than i've been really busy with life. Well, mostly work and being at the gym, and then you're tired when you come home and the last thing you want to do after you've showered and fed yourself is fire up the laptop. So there it is...

Anyway, since I've been spending most of my non-work time at the gym, I thought I'd do a fitness update post about what I've been up to.

After Christmas I made a conscious decision that I was going to mix up my training a bit. Rewind. When I say training, I just mean my fitness classes and gym sessions because I'm not actually in training for anything as such. So yeah, i wanted to mix up my training routine because I felt I'd been stuck at a plateau for a few months and wasn't seeing any changes in my body that I want. I want to be stronger, a little bit leaner and fitter - although I am pretty fit. Losing weight is not my goal since I haven't actually lost or put on any weight for about 6 months. Apart from 2 weeks ago when i lost 2 lbs, but that aside I'm the same weight as I was 6 months ago.

My routine went a little something like this:
Monday - Circuits
Tuesday - Shockfit circuit (weights, body weight exercises)
Wednesday - morning Metafit - HIIT; then gym session
Thursday - insanity OR Metafit - HIIT
Friday - Spin class
Saturday - insanity - HIIT
Sunday - spin (every other Sunday)

But then i started to get bored. After I got my MyZone belt and was getting readings after each class, I realised that my Monday night circuits weren't giving the results I thought they were. I wanted more. My Tuesday shockfit class is all about strength with a little bit of cardio. It's mostly body weight and heavy weight lifting techniques and again my calories burned reading wasn't that high. Now it could be said that I may not be working hard enough but trust me, I am. Wednesday morning class gets the blood pumping then we do a little session in the gym afterwards. Thursday again, high intensity. Friday is my favourite spin class. I've been doing Friday night spin for about 3 years now and boy has it been getting tougher recently. Saturday was a half hour insanity class which is great and Sunday is spin. And so all of that wasn't producing the results I was after.

Then I mixed it up a little. And now my routine looked a little like this:
Monday - Circuits, then Spin
Tuesday - Shockfit
Wednesday - morning Metafit, then gym session; evening Spin
Thursday - Metafit, then Body Pump
Friday - Spin
Saturday - Metafit
Sunday - Spin (every other Sunday).

I've been doing that for about 6 weeks now and my legs are really starting to show good definition. My upper arms have great shape as well as my upper back and my abs are coming along nicely too. My butt is still a bit wobbly and bigger than I'd like but slowly does it. I can see change and that's a good thing. There was nearly a set back though when I accidentally dropped a 20kg weight plate on my foot the other night at Shockfit. Right on my left metatarsal. Luckily there's no break but it is quite bruised now. Wowsers.

I love a nice bright trainer and tight - Nike Free trainers, Nike Legend capri tight


To shake things up a little bit more I've booked a session with a personal trainer at the gym to see where i can improve and get tips and tomorrow I'm going to start the Kayla Itsines BBG workout guide. I'm committing to those 12 weeks because i believe it will add to my routine or I can substitute a class for the BBG workout in the gym. I'm inspired by all those women who post amazing transformations on Instagram. So much so this morning I posted the picture at the top of this post on Instagram and immediately got great support from a good few people. Hopefully that community will push me through.

Aside from all of the fitness stuff above, I've been really trying to watch my eating. Eating healthier than i have done in years but not denying myself a pancake or a burger if i want it. Everything in moderation. Need to up my protein though, that's a fact.

My real struggle comes with sweeties. Chocolate. I have about 1 can of Coke a week, but still drink little Irn Bru bottles. Only 1 a day mind - I know, I shouldn't. Maybe I'm hoping that if I write it down here it'll kick me into really trying to give. Really making that final effort to cut out the sugary stuff.

We can only hope. I'll update in a few weeks when I'm further into my new routine but feel free to leave any tips, comments below.

Angela x