I’m writing my first blog of 2018 when February is just around the corner. I must do better. My excuse being that I spent the first two weeks in the ‘paradise’ island of Mauritius. The reason for the quotation marks is that it turned out not to be it the tropical delight that we had spent our hard earned cash on visiting. It hardly drew breath between long periods of rainfall. In the first week we didn’t see blue sky let alone that yellow thing in the sky. Mauritius is not the place to be between January-March. So a lesson learnt. Research must be undertaken before venturing to future paradise destinations.

One of the holiday joys that couldn’t be faulted was the food. So I divulged. There was always going to be a price to be paid when I next stepped on the scales but I went for it anyway.

A few days after our return to a cold Gatwick I faced the moment of truth. My Christmas and New Year indulgences had added just over 2 kg. About 5 lbs in old money. So not too bad. But my body fat had increased by 2%. Not good at all. This would suggest that just two weeks of inactivity (I only visited the gym once whilst in paradise) has seen my lean body mass decrease. Is this more of an issue for the older body? I don’t know. I will do a bit of research and report back in a later blog.

So now that life is back to normal it is time to start work on my 2018 fitness goals. The main one being to reduce my body fat percentage to 28%. It is currently 37%. For a woman of my age it should be below 33%. I may amend this goal as I work towards it if I start to look a bit gaunt. Unfortunately, it is impossible to spot fat reduce so what comes off my muffin top will also come off my cheeks. My face that is.

The second goal is to do a pull up. I currently can only hang from a bar (not the one that serves alcohol) and pull my knees up. My upper body strength is not good. And I can’t blame having my chest cracked open as it was not great before. This I think is going to be the biggest challenge but I am determined to be a 60 year old woman that can perform a pull-up.

I have some other goals all recorded in my 100 Goals Journal. I have a couple of endurance events booked, am looking at a couple of courses to complement my personal training qualification and have plans to develop this blog.

Finally, I have a weight loss goal for my dog Oscar. Many of you will know that I don’t particularly like my dog. He has been put on this earth to torment me. He is deficient of those characteristics that people spout off about on the wonderfullness (I have made this word up) of dog ownership. I did have a beautiful dog over 20 years ago that was on my side. At the risk of being crude Oscar wouldn’t cock his leg if I was on fire. My first dog, Shellie, was a rough collie. Oscar is a puggle which is a cross between a beagle and a pug. So I have a dog that has the naughtiness of the beagle and the stubborn nature of the pug. Not a good combination. Again I should have done my research.

He is awful to walk. I can’t let him off the lead if other dogs are around as he would disappear. No loyalty gene. And if left to his own devices it would take him an hour to walk 100 yards as he has to check out every smell. It is more of a drag than a walk. This has resulted in a reluctance by all family members to take him out. So he doesn’t get enough exercise and he eats whatever he can get his paws on. This on one occasion led to a rather expensive visit to the vet. And I have to keep him well away from the cat’s litter tray. So guess what. Oscar is fat. I have made half hearted attempts to deal with this previously but this is now in my goals journal. Oscar will be losing 5 kg. My only fear is this will give him more energy to torment me. 

Happy, healthy New Year to you all and your pets.