In my ongoing Operation Bikini Bod (aka OBB) motivated state, I’m upping the workouts again.  This is doubly insane because I am somewhat of a medical anomaly – in 4 weeks of abstinence (yes, including alcohol – there’s only been one serious slip), calorie controlling, exercise and green tea quaffing I have shed an amazing 1 lb of body weight.  You heard me – 1 lb.

Lesser people would weep in frustration, I however can pinch less than I could do on Christmas Day so I know what I’m doing is working.  I weigh myself no more than once a month for this reason alone – our digital scales lie – well maybe they don’t lie, but they certainly don’t tell the whole truth.  And that truth is I’m getting leaner, and building muscle.  With 13 lbs still to shed, at my current weight loss rate of 1 lb per month, I’ve got a year to go.  Go me!  My goal is April so I require some additional motivation.  I came home after a long day out on the road when I was too tired to workout and tried on my bikini (the middle ‘B’ in OBB) and asked Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits to take photos of me in unflattering light from the front, the side and the back.  I can almost live with the front and side views, but as I already knew, the rear view needs more work.  Damn my pear shaped genetics.  And more work means squats, lots and lots of buttock-lifting squats.  It’s not known as the king of exercises for nothing.

Today’s workout needs a whole lot of help from Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits, however, he’s off filming in the middle of nowhere with just an outside broadcast crew for company, so I have alternate instructions.  Do the exercises I can do alone, but do more, and do a pyramid.  This had me concerned and so it should – I can’t do squats on my own – but unfortunately, I can do lunges.  And so I find myself gearing up for a 5 set marathon:

Set 1 – low weight
Set 2 – raise weight
Set 3 – heaviest weight
Set 4 – same weight as set 2
Set 5 – same weight as set 1

When you write it down it doesn’t look a lot, but when you add in the other exercises and the 45 min spin session afterwards, I may need some medical attention.  Or at the very least, some gas and air.

I’m doing this for me – exercise allows me to clear my mind, it keeps me healthier and my clothes fit me better.  It’s so easy not to do it – I didn’t do much of anything for 15 years, which is why it’s so hard to take 15 years of bad-living off.  But it’s never too late to right the wrongs of your youth.  I want to make the most of my life, and I need this body to do it, I just want to look good whilst I’m doing it.