Rise of the Raven

Wow, it’s been some time since I’ve said anything on here.

A lot has changed since then – I’ve moved house, been acquired by a lovely cat, who keeps me sane far more than I’d be inclined to let on… I made some new friends, lost those friends, made others, seeing how that’s going… fought my way back to a better state of mobility, then had that somewhat quashed by additional complications which in turn also kept me away from the computer at home for the better part of six months…and there’s been some turbulence in there. But I am still here. For now, at least.

I am now the heaviest I’ve been. Period. And I don’t like it. One bit. It’s not something I feel I can berate myself 100% over either, because I simply can no longer do a lot of the things I used to which kept me relatively fit, if never trim. And then aforementioned complications have meant complete rest when not working for six months, and no swimming (which for the record, as a self confesssed water-bairn is tantamount to torture!) I’m not far off the point now though, where swimming is a possibility. I’m back on for physio, and am about to buy a bike. Not an outdoors go cycling bike, because of my leg, but an indoors recumbent one. So I’m doing what I can to ramp my activity levels up.

That, will make me feel like I’m dying and want to die. Physically at least. To start with. Once I hit a routine and rhythm I’ll be able to push through and get on with it..  but it’s going to be an uphill struggle, even though I most certainly will be mimicking flat ground to start with!

It’s not just the activity that needs an overhaul too, food will be looked at. I eat pretty healthily for the better part of things…. but it’s the other part that needs to be looked at. So to start with I’ll keep it simple. Portion control, and cut out crap.

I don’t want to set myself up to fail by  making lots of changes too quickly. I have an overarching plan, and several targets, but the short story is eat less, move more. Not rocket science. No daft hacks, diets, or wrapping myself in clingfilm (unless it’s medically needed)

I came across this picture some time ago – and it’s a good guideline to aim for, although for obvious reasons the 9k steps is not feasible for me for a while yet… but working the rest into a routine shouldn’t be too bad – I already do a fair few – just not necessarily regularly. My plan, once I’ve established the 1 session of exercise, and incorporated the 3 meals and 5 servings into what I’m doing around eating is to then introduce other changes to be part of my daily routine. The hardest one will be 2 hours of no phone before bed, as especially lately, time has fallen as such that to do that would mean nixing the sleep… but its a guideline not an absolute.

So for now – my main goal is 5 fruits and veggies per day, and trying to have three sensible meals per day! This will take some forethought and a bit of planning, but it’s by no means impossible. Just need to kick myself up the jacksy. So yep, going kinda public with my plans so I stick to them, and for accountability.

Next up will be the debate around food…. and how I’ll tackle that.