64. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Legs are way better with lunges! Flexibility is still shot but strength-wise they've improved really quickly which is nice.
Came off my knees briefly during 2 of the push ups and didn't instantly die, just struggled with my balance a little. Only just managed the 10 second one in RHC, flopped a bit towards the end.
I'm finding broken table way more challenging, I think because I'm trying to make sure my leg stays flat, it had a tendency to drop when I wasn't paying attention.
My back was fine! I'm being more careful with diamond cutters and thunderbolt and it didn't hurt once! Yaaaay! Hopefully once it's stronger/more flexible it'll be easier to bend without hurting it.
Still really crunchy around the spine and left hip area during scissor crunches and some other bits too, I think it just doesn't like up and down movements while lying on my back. I dunno whether to go to a doctor with it. Meh.
I'm starting to feel like I've made back a decent amount of the ground that I lost. Just don't fuck this up.

63. Below The Belt

Blargh. I think it is this one that hurts my back. I tried to be careful with it and it seems ok so far, it's just that goddamn thunderbolt!
Managed the push ups ok, the 10 second one was fine. Legs stood up (hah) well, sore but I think I only cave once. Broken aeroplane was actually not so bad, obviously my legs were still really bent. My flexibility is terrible, can't straighten my legs even one by one with my hand under my toes, and weirdly my right leg is slightly worse than my left. Still, did the road warrior three each time and it was ok.
Distinctly average all around, yay!

62. Fat Burner

There were a couple of Energys between then and now but I forgot to write them up because I was pretty disheartened.
Fat Burner was fine. Managed all of the push ups without death, even tried to come off my knees for a second in the last set.
I really love the figure four hip stretch, I've got horrible hips and it really helps.
What worries me is that my back muscles are pretty feeble, I guess push ups will kinda help with that? I'm trying to improve my posture and not slump at my desk but my back and neck are objecting.
Lower back was ok, still a little weird but I'm heavily modifying thunderbolt for nowwhich seems to help, plus taking it easy on the diamond cutters.

61. Diamond Dozen

And back to square one. Hooray. Not so bad, I did everything twice,  one demo and one real. Push ups I tried to come up off my knees and died so that's no good.
Everything else was equally rubbish. Ho hum.

60. Fat Burner

This was ok, didn't quite make it through all the push ups but did do the extra bit on lunging diamond cutters and got through broken table crunches without death. At least my form is a lot better than first time around.

59. Energy

Yeah yeah, I know. I had a period, then went on holiday for a weekend. How do people have lives and stay healthy, this is insane.
Upper body strength is shot, flexibility is shot, even my legs are wobbly. Balance is actually still pretty good. Well well. Keep going.

58. Hula Hooping

Yay finally got some hoop practice in again! About an hour and a half which was pretty good. Attempted to make a routine to some Cramps songs and didn't manage it really, good old Rob Zombie was awesome despite being faster than I'm used to. Tried to do some floor work which was a horrible mistake, gross.

57. Red Hot Core

Yeah I know, just a little one today because I've just put my dreads in and my arms are a wreck. I don't want to hurt my elbows which are already unhappy, plus doing yoga with dreads in is a giant pain in the arse.
It was good, didn't use nearly as many modifications as last time and my new yoga mat is pretty helpful. Still in short hamstring hell, I should take some pictures for progress sake really.

56. Below The Belt + Red Hot Core

Yeesh. Below the belt was fine, it keeps fucking my back up though. I had to really modify thunderbolt and I still feel like I might have overdone it. Squatting is ok, it's the trying to get my arms in the air bit that hurting me. Maybe I should be taking it slower? Who knows. Some improvement on broken aeroplane which is nice! Mostly this workout is ok, my legs have always been the strongest bit of me, it's just the hamstrings that. surprise, haven't improved much at all. Managed the few push ups using my knees.
I had no idea how much my core strength had deteriorated. I previously thought nothing of lifting my whole lower half up during diamond cutter crunches but now, phew, not a chance. So it'll be nice to improve on that. Still able to avoid the crunchy spine/hip thing by actually making bicycle motions during scissor crunches. Just about managed the 10 second push up, on my knees obviously. Hamstrings still completely rubbish.

55. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

This was fine. Struggled with Red Hot Core a little, though I managed to avoid clicky back during scissor crunches by treating them like bicycle crunches but without the arms. Hurt my stomach muscles but not my back/hips, yay! I've ordered a yoga mat so we'll see if that makes a difference. Fat Burner was ok, I still hate thunderbolt, but broken table crunches were noticeably easier. Managed all the push ups, wavered a little on the 10 second one during RHC. Didn't come off my knees at all. Next time maybe.

54. Energy + Hula Hooping

Bleugh, there was another slightly half-arsed attempt at energy in there somewhere as well. I had a show last night and hadn't hooped properly for weeks, holy crap it's harder than I remember! So that was a pretty energetic couple of hours, gotta try to hoop at mosh more if I have evenings free. I've been working loads recently though so it's difficult.
Energy was fine, still trying to be a bit careful of my back, I think I am going to have to do actual yoga so I can check I'm getting these positions right. Hopefully there are YouTube tutorials! Upper body strength is worse but not pointless, my legs are still pretty good, flexibility is awful. We'll see how it goes. I meant to weigh myself last night at my friends place but forgot. Still definitely don't fit into most of my clothes.
More hooping please!

53. Diamond Cutter

Bleugh. Always a joy. This was actually easier than the first time, I guess because I'm more familiar with the moves now. Side plank is an absolute joke, there is no way I can support my entire body weight on one spindly little arm, it genuinely felt like I was going to snap at points. On that note, yay push ups though! I didn't come off my knees at any point and by the second set of 5 second ones I was just planking but I did a lot better than I expected.
As usual my flexibility is crap, though it improves during workouts. My back had a few twinges so we'll see how that goes.
Legs did well, my right leg is definitely stronger than my left for the moment.
Listened to Alestorm, good stuff. Also it poured with rain at one point which was epic and pleasantly distracting. Now I have a driving lesson in the hope I won't get leg cramp.

52. Fat Burner

Yeah, so, that was a gap. I managed to fuck up my lower back completely, I'm still not even sure how. Annoyingly it must have been this yoga which is frustrating because it's supposed to be *for* people with fucked up joints and yet it hurts my elbows and back. I think this is where you butt up against the problem with exercise DVDs, I have no idea if I'm doing this properly, where I should and shouldn't be leaning, and no one can look at me and go "oh that's way wrong, please stop." Or tell me how to actually modify it, I know there are vague modifications on the disk, and he's always saying do whatever helps you, but I don't know what helps me. I can try to stop my back from hurting but it basically negates all the benefits of the workout. I can't afford yoga lessons and the regular time off work that they would entail, I guess I could try YouTube.
On top of all this irritation I discovered that despite all that exercise and sporadic healthy eating I've actually gone up a fucking dress size. It's not a huge deal, I'm still only a size 10 (6 for you guys across the pond) but it's incredibly annoying and I'm really not in a place where I can replace my entire wardrobe right now. So yeah, I gave up for a bit. I'm gonna try to buy a proper yoga mat (and by proper I just mean not a folded up rug, I don't mean I'll be spending £80 on a slice of rubber) and see if that helps.

Fat Burner was ok, I was pleasantly surprised by how little my upper body strength had degenerated. Lunges were fine, flagged a little with the broken table crunches towards the end. Managed all the push ups and even came off my knees in the last set. Hamstrings are literally exactly the same, what is the point.

51. Energy + Red Hot Core + Hula Hooping!

Blimey. So Diamond Cutter was certainly a thing. Took me a while to recover from that, my poor legs!
Today was fine, I remembered to come up on my fingertips during a standing split which did slightly help. I can't believe how crap my hamstrings still are, after all this time I feel like they've barely improved at all. I know I've not been as strenuous as I could have been, but I can maybe reach one inch closer to my toes than when I started. It's fucking awful.
Upper arms are better, because there are fewer push ups in this I tried to not use my knees, which went, er, well....it went. I didn't really manage it more than once. I fell like my form has really improved during broken table, I'm trying to focus in keeping my leg flat because I think it drops while I'm not paying attention.

Red Hot Core felt like harder work than usual, I used a couple more modifications. I'm really annoyed by my inability to straighten my legs during this workout, it's incredibly frustrating. 10-count push up was fine, stayed on my knees though, ugh.

Yesterday evening I went to see a friend's new studio! Spent a lovely hour hooping with mirrors so I could actually see how ungraceful I am (very) and worked on my routine which was needed. Worked a lot on leg hooping so I'm expecting bruises.

50. Diamond Cutter

Bahahahahahahahahahha. I thought I'd do something new for the 50th post. This was just a sad, bitter laughathon from start to finish. An HOUR? A fucking HOUR? Ye gods, like I don't struggle to fit this shit in enough as it is. Fortunately I had plenty of time before work. OR SO I THOUGHT *music sting*

So, where to begin. I was initially pleased with the amount of press ups I managed to do, using my knees of course, I even really enjoyed the exploding press ups. However by the 10, or was it 15 count ones at the end even planking was beyond me. My arms.

Side planking was a JOKE. I could get a foot out in front of me but by no stretch of the imagination or anything else could I lift it up.

After stupid below the belt the other day my legs are a mangled wreck so broken table crunches were more challenging than usual, and I goddamn hate three legged dog. I don't have enough form in down dog to do it effectively without my knees bending everywhere. I think I need to go to some actual yoga classes where a person can look at me and tell me which bits I'm doing wrong because I feel like some of these poses are hurting more than they're helping.

Anyway I finished without any actual death and I actually felt like I could do more than I had expected, then I looked forward to a nice hot bath.

NOPE. Forgot about starting early, had the quickest of washes, ran to work and spent the day uncomfortable and wishing for death.

Hooraaaaaay.

49. Below The Belt

Oh hi there, 10 second push up, you were surprisingly manageable. Ha! Most other things were terribly uncoordinated but functioned nonetheless.
Three legged dog is a nightmare because I can't straighten either leg, ditto standing split, though I must remember that's easier if I come up on my fingertips so I can straighten my standing leg a little more.
Flexibility has slightly improved, not where it was before I had a nice summer but better than when I started.

Diets been good, we're trying to be more vegetarian and it's going ok. I've discovered roasted chickpeas in salad and they're the fucking bomb, like croutons but not bread. It's nice to feel healthy again after festivals and junk food for months.

48. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Ha! Take that stupid body!

Ow.

So that was ok, I managed all five sets of push ups but lay on the floor and cried a little during the 10 second one in Red Hot Core. Leg strength is still ok, flexibility is still poo. My stomach muscles are complaining a little but I did ok with one a very few modifications. I still have difficulty with thunderbolt, I can't squat very deeply and definitely can't lift my arms up, I'm not sure what kind of flexibility that means I lack but boy am I lacking it.

We did a food shop and now I have AMAZING salad for lunch, it has literally everything in it: Couscous, red peppers, onion, garlic, mushroom, sweetcorn, spinach, avocado, sweet potato, broccoli and egg. It was boss.

47. Energy

Ugh. Yes, well. Period followed by festival followed by recovering from festival. Summer's always a bag of dicks when it comes to getting stuff done.
Everything is rubbish again, though not completely back to square one, still no flexibility and upper body strength is worse but not hopeless.
I think I should probably invest in a proper yoga mat instead of just relying on the rug because my spine is unhappy.
Onward and upward anyway, fun is over for this year so I can actually start being healthy again.

46. Fat Burner

Bleugh, I take it back about the upper body strength. That was feeble. Evrrything is just that little bit weaker, legs, arms, the whole shebang. My flexibility is still alright though, I think stretching is helping.
My left shoulder is giving me problems though, I think I knackered it plaiting hair yesterday, my elbows aren't terribly happy either. Still, my friend's hair looks amazing so that's okay.

45. Energy

Ha! Been a while, hasn't it? There was a Red Hot Core in there somewhere that I forgot to write up.

Also I've just returned from 5 days at a festival where I did two hours of hula hooping for three days, plus an hour of helping people push their cars out of the mud. Ah summer. As such, my upper body strength has faded but my legs are certainly feeling the effects! Also I think my knees and hips are suffering from constantly trying to keep my footing in a sea of mud and sleeping on a slowly deflating airbed respectively. As such, I'm falling apart.

Definitely noticed the difference during lunging and broken table. As usual my arms are the first to revert to their natural state of feebleness. Legs aren't great but again, I think still recovering from being the only fucker in boots in the mud. Balance is ok and surprisingly my flexibility is still pretty good! Because I was sharing a tent with dancers this weekend I was shamed into stretching quite a lot so I think that's really helped. The hooping was mostly cancelled out by the sheer quantity of food I ate so I think I've put on weight, boooo. However the food was fucking delicious so I refuse to feel bad, I can't not take advantage of festival food that good. Falafel! Couscous! Fresh veg! God I love hippies.

Anyway, back to reality now.

44. Below The Belt

Yes yes, I know I've missed a while. We went on holiday for the weekend. On the plus side I spent half an hour at least swimming against an insane current, plus we walked around 8 miles a day so I feel like I did some exercise.

Weirdly, upper body strength is still good! I did 10 broken table crunches without a hint of death. Broken aeroplane was another matter, even my arms hate that. Didn't manage all the down dog crunches either, but I was trying to improve my stupid hamstrings so I skipped the last set.
Standing split is woeful, can't even nearly get my hands under my toes and straighten one leg. Lunges were fine, I think I instinctively do quite shallow ones so I'm trying to go deeper and keep my back straighter.

43. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Well, sort of. I got most of the way through fat burner before everything started protesting and I realised that I did below the belt only yesterday. Turns out I do need a day to recover. Until then it was pretty good though, push ups were manageable, balance was ok,. Hamstrings were still useless but that's no surprise.
Red hot core was awful, my hips and lower back were just a crunchy mess during scissor and bicycle crunches. It is a little worrying now, but if I go to the doctor they'll just tell me to stop doing the things that make them crunch and that's no fun.
Bleh. Now to spend my day off cleaning! Yay.

42. Below The Belt

Ouch. Not much noticeable difference with this one. It's still all manageable apart from the bits that involve having hamstrings and broken aeroplane. Which weirdly seems to hurt my shoulder more than my leg.
Balance is fine, lunging is fine, painful at times but I'm told that's kind of the point.
I tried to lift my knees off the floor during a push up and pretty much faceplanted instantly which was awesome, but I'll try again at some point, it must get easier.

41. Hula Hooping + Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Hula hooping was actually yesterday, for about 2 hours at the club. It was really nice and bloody warm. We've had a heatwave this week and I've been at work for most of it but yesterday I got to read my book in the park and hoop with the air con on at the club and it was lovely. I filmed an attempt at my routine but it was rubbish.

Fat burner was fine, managed 4 out of 5 push ups using my knees, plus the 10 second one during red hot core. Take that arms! Still not very flexible and struggling with thunderbolt, can't get my arms up near my ears without basically standing straight up.

Red hot core was pretty good, my abs actually hurt after last time, then hula hooping helped so I'm hoping I'll see some actual definition soon. Though I realise I'll have to eat a lot more salad for that to really take effect.

40. Energy + Red Hot Core

Yeah periods happened and I couldn't do anything. Tried to still do sun salutes but I was just too uncomfortable.

I always forget that in the booklet you're supposed to mix up your workouts a lot more than I do. I get bored of one so I move on to the next and do that till I get bored again. Anyway so today I did this and it is pretty interesting to see what I still find challenging. Standing splits, for example, completely useless. Planking however, mostly easy. Even broken table was fine, still felt it in my shoulders but I didn't particularly struggle. Obviously still can't get my heels to the floor in down dog.
My flexibility has kind of suffered for these few days off, I must try to be less feeble about my periods, they're just so damn uncomfortable, especially in hot weather like this.

39. Below The Belt + Red Hot Core + Hula Hooping.

Well that was certainly an idea I had.

Hello balance! Only toppled over once today, I managed hood ornament and road warrior 3 without issue. Although obviously with bendy legs. I didn't get as flexible this time, usually I'm shocked at how limber I become once I'm warmed up but I really didn't feel it this time. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough.

Actually managed a 10 count push up!  Using my knees of course. I was ok with all the push ups in both workouts, I wavered a bit during red hot core but I survived!

Standing split is the WORST.  It's degenerated so badly. Also all those down dog crunches and three legged dog are great, but I am super useless at them. My supporting leg is wobbling around all over the shop. Ditto for any one legged moves.

Hahahaha still broken aeroplane. Wow. Ridiculous. Still pretty impossible. Even with my leg bent. Did I mention I wasn't even aware there were muscles in that bit of leg? Good grief.

Hooping was ace! Loads of Rob Zombie.  Must sleep now, can't focus.

38. Fat Burner.

To the surprise of no one I didn't do any exercise while I was away. I didn't even chase the various kids around because I was in a nice skirt.
My darling boyfriend has decided to try a gluten free diet for a while so I'll be sort of joining in with that, though it's not far off what I have been doing recently, apart from cereal.
My legs did not enjoy this. Ouch. I wore really heavy boots for the funeral and so they were already unhappy. Broken table crunches weren't as shocking as I was expecting, I've kind of retained some strength which is nice! I managed 4 out of 5 sets of push ups, still using my knees but I'm ok with that.
Thunderbolt is still pretty bad, still can't get my heels down in down dog, although once again, this didn't deteriorate as much as I'd feared while I was lazing around in lovely Scotland.
Got to get back to work on my stomach, hula hooping season is looming. That said, our performance on Saturday was an absolute fucking shambles. The sound guy cocked up our music so our whole routine was a mess. So I probably burned a few calories off in rage at least.
Anyway, gotta get back to doing a bit of stretching every day now.

37. Fat Burner

I know I'm going to miss this until at least Tuesday next week. It's Grandpa's funeral so I'll be in Scotland from Sunday. I did an hour of hula hoop practice yesterday and we've got a show at a festival tomorrow so that'll be a little bit of exercise. I'll try to do lots of walking in Scotland, might even take my travel hoop!

This workout is pretty easy now, it's weird to think how hard I found it at first, which gives me great hope for broken aeroplane. Managed 4 out of 5 sets of push ups, still on my knees. Flexibility is improved and I can see the improvement during the workout as I stretch. Heels still aren't on the floor in down dog but hey ho. Lunges are pretty good, nice and sustained and balanced-ish. I think the Below The Belt has really helped that.

I listened to P!nk while doing this, which was ace! Except it was really hard not to just dance around the room. So I'm going to do that while the bath is running instead.

Oh, also I've been SO GOOD with dieting. I've eaten fruit and yoghurt for breakfast most days, and some kind of salad and either fish or chicken for lunch. I've had loads of avocado and spinach and I've been putting boiled eggs in my salads and it's fucking delicious. My friend and I have been trying to go to the market together because you can get loads of fruit and veg but it's normally way too much for one person so we go together and split our spoils, it's fiendishly cheap. I have lost a tiny bit of weight, I think. I haven't weighed myself but I feel like I'm a little thinner. Annoyingly it's mostly boob but you can't have everything.

36. Diamond Dozen + Red Hot Core

It's weird how I consider the diamond dozen to be an easy workout these days. It's because there are lots of pauses while he explains stuff and I can dance around.

I feel way more flexible! Fuck yeah! Literally I can almost touch the floor with my knees straight once I've warmed up a bit. Down dog is still not right but I'm closer, I feel like my spine has lengthened rather than my hamstrings but I'll take it!

Still can't do more than three push ups on my knees. But hell, even three is pretty amazing!

I feel like I've lost a bit of weight, just not off my sodding stomach. I'll try to weigh myself at some point soon.

35. Below The Belt

Not so bad this time. I heavily modified the broken aeroplane! Holy crap I didn't even know I had muscles in that part of my leg, much less that they went that way.

Lunges are fine, balance is still an issue, but only the odd wobble.

I'm a little worried I've fucked up my back with my piss-poor attempt at thunderbolt, might have to keep my arms down for now. It's just my very lower back, I don't know if it's because my spine is quite curved at that point anyway. I'm trying to keep my tailbone tucked in as part of improving my posture but whenever I straighten up my back I instinctively stick my belly and bum out.

In all honesty I kinda don't like this workout. My legs aren't one of the areas I want to improve, and I HATE that bit at the beginning when he's all "hey chicks, everyone knows you guys want nice asses, right?" I get that maybe most women do, but if he doesn't do a similar thing for guys regarding, I dunno, huge biceps or some shit I'll be less than impressed.

 I'll keep at it a few more times, and see what it suggests in the plan. It's nice to encounter new moves and there are some bits I really enjoy. I feel like it probably really helps my flexibility, by the end of the workout I could touch the floor almost without bending my knees so which was pretty amazing so I'll definitely keep trying it even if only for that, plus it does tire me out.

34. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

My neck and shoulders have been killing me these last two days, I hope this helps, plus the bath I'm about to have.

Thunderbolt is still awful, I can get my arms higher if I don't look up so that's been making it slightly easier.

I tried coming up on one leg during lunging diamond cutters and I was surprised at how much of a difference it made! My legs really felt it.

Push ups continue to be ok, I managed 3 out of 5 on my knees and planked for the others. Although this time the 10 second one during Red Hot Core completely defeated me. Managed it for a bit but just had to lie down.

I've done at least 5 sun salutes every morning since Wednesday and it's kinda nice, I am so inflexible in the mornings so it's a good way to wake up. I hope it's not what is hurting my neck though, bending over really strains my shoulders and neck, I'm not sure why.

I'm insanely hungry of late, I think it might be the week before my period but I'm really struggling to go more than 4 hours without eating. Yesterday was reasonably healthy, although I tried pork faggots for the first time and I cannot imagine they are made from the choicest parts of the pig. Gonna try to stick to fruit and veg today, maybe some salmon later. For now I'm gonna have a banana so I don't pass out in the bath.

33. Hula Hooping

A good hour of hooping before the club opened. Isolation has actually improved, it's almost like having better upper body strength helps these things!
Tried a bit of Frank Turner, a couple of songs are good for hooping. I finally remembered to try out Ghost Town by theSpecials and it was aawesome!The trouble is I'm not very good at choreography, I really want to work out a better routine but I just don't know what to do with myself.
I must remember to take my old phone so I can film this embryo routine of mine.
So sleepy now, I was going to clean and do yoga but I couldn't bring myself to vacuum this late, even at the weekend so I'm just going to sleep instead.

32. Energy + Fat Burner

Well. That was an interesting idea.

My Grandpa died so I spent a few days in Scotland with my family. It was kinda fun actually, my sister does climbing at her Uni and they have free yoga lesson at the climbing centre so we had fun comparing and contrasting styles. She taught me Sun Salute which is series of moves I'm going to try to do every morning to improve my flexibility, plus she said it took her about 6 months to be able to touch her toes which makes me feel better about my piss-poor hamstrings. It was sad, but kind of ok, he'd had a nice life and he was very very old.

So I'm not sure why I decided to do both of these things today. Weirdly now my calves hurt loads, though that might be from wandering all over the hilly terrain of Scotland in DM's that don't tie up. Oops. Energy was fine, standing split is still useless but I'm trying to keep my hands closer to my feet in an attempt to be more flexible and it doesn't seem ot make that much difference so maybe I'm bendier than I thought. I tired to lift my knees off the floor during the crocodile bit of push ups, that went ok once but made the rest of the workout much harder on my arms.
I stopped for some breakfast between workouts, fruit and yoghurt. I'd been to the market before I had to run off North so we've got LOADS of fruit in the fridge, a completely ridiculous amount of oranges for a quid which I will never eat all of and must take to work. We also got a bunch of veg so I'm going to have awesome couscous and veg today, oooh, maybe with eggs!
Fat Burner was ok, I'm getting used to the speed of it though thunderbolt is still a nightmare. I worry that I curve my spine inwards too much when I try to straighten my back so I'm concentrating on keeping my tailbone tucked in but it's ruining my form on almost everything else. Stupid spine. Push ups were HARD. I tried again to lift my knees off the floor but I nearly died and couldn't even plank without my knees on the last push up of all. Now my arms hurt A LOT but they're always the first thing to go when I stop doing yoga for a while so I wanted to push myself a bit since I've missed a few days. Thanks me! You jerk.
Right. Now I must get my shit together. My Education boss has given me the day off but I know I got behind before I left so I'm going to go in for an hour or so, then go see the cool exhibition my friends are running in town.

31. Below The Belt

Bloody hell. That was a shock. There were at least two points during this work out where I actually laughed out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea that I would be able to do these poses. At least one of those times I surprised myself.

Oh thunderbolt, you are the worst. I can squat quite deeply now but as soon as I have to raise my arms it's impossible. I can't keep them back by my ears and have my back straight and bend my knees very far at all. I'll have to take some pictures of this epic failure so I can measure my progress.

Ahahahahahaha what even is broken airplane? Where did that come from? Not a hope in hell. Also I'm going to have to call it broken aeroplane, sorry. I can't even lift my leg off the floor at the moment but I really like the transition into broken table and I'm looking forward to being able to do this one smoothly. That was one of the points that made me laugh at the possbility of doing it and I was not surprised by my abilities. On the other hand road warrior 3 was more possible than I originally scoffed. Still not amazing and my legs weren't anything approaching straight but balancing was ok. I still struggle coming up into superstar from anything but I do feel like my balance has improved.

Hood ornament is kind of fun, I nearly died after 8 broken table crunches but I made it all the way to 10 on both sides! Also yay push ups, I even stuck out the 10 second exploding one.

Unfortunately about 10 minutes from the end of this workout I got a call from my Mum saying they don't think my Grandpa is going to last the night so I've had to rush off to Scotland which also means I probably won't get anything done but meh.

30. Red Hot Core

Just a sneaky one before work. Left hip slightly happier today which is nice. Still trying not to use any modifications apart from my inflexible legs, jackknife is still a mess, though I feel like there's been a very slight improvement and yesterday I almost managed to touch the floor at some point so clearly my flexibility is improving, just very very slowly.

Gotta go to work now and attempt to stay awake during films.

29. Fat Burner

And kind of half of Red Hot Core before I realised I am too sleepy for this shit and I had to stop.

Three push ups on my knees, I am a goddamn machine. Broken table crunches like they were nothing. Except really really hard nothing. I'm going to see what the next workout is like, I have literally never even played the second disk so this is pretty exciting.

My hips were better in the figure 4 stretches, actually nearly got my foot to my face! Down dog is slightly improved, I think doing two days in a row has helped so I might start trying to stretch out my hamstrings on a daily basis.

Left hip was still clunky during scissor crunches, it's not painful, just weird.

Now I must bathe and sleep,  it's really warm tonight!

28. Energy

This is actually for yesterday, I snuck a quick one in before the pub so I had to run off as soon as I could and thus, no time to blog.

I'm REALLY pleased with my arms, there's no visible difference (that I can see) but I feel way stronger, I'm still using my knees for push ups but at work I'm finding lifting and carrying easier and I was playfighting with a friend of mine and she said she thought I was stronger.

I'm really displeased with my hamstrings, literally no improvement at all. I feel slightly more flexible otherwise but honestly I can't say as I've noticed any difference. My standing split is marginally better than when I first started but hasn't improved in the last, say, month or so. I also haven't lost any weight but I'm ok with that, I'm still unhappy about my various wobbly bits but I know I'm pretty skinny and my diet is awful so if I really want to change it I know where the problem lies.

I'm gonna put up some photos I took the other day of my various lack of flexibility.

Excuse my pyjamas. I have a couple more but because I'm using my crappy phone the angle is all wrong and you can't really see what's going on. Bear in mind these are photos taken after at least 2 months of working out. Awful. Actually I'll put this one up too because it's the WORST.

What the fuck is that? Ye gods, I despair.

I'm hoping I can stick to a vague schedule in the next few weeks, my Grandpa is alive but the doctors are suggesting weeks rather than months so I'm going to try to go up and see him as much as possible. It's going to mean long train journeys up to Scotland so I'd better find a huge crochet project to be getting on with, we do need new cushion covers. I might try to dig out the MP3 version, but the Boyfriend purchased this so it'll probably be buried in his emails somewhere. I'll give it a go, maybe the hotel will even have a gym, do Holiday Inns have gyms? I somehow doubt it.

Anyway, to summarise: yay arms! Boo hamstrings. The end.

Hula Hooping

A good hour and a half of hooping at the club. Gotta improve that isolation, tried to film my routine but they were doing stocktake so I couldn't have music on. Shoulder hooping is weird, I can maintain it while walking round in a circle one way but not the other. Foxton Locks festival is coming up so I should probably be practicing that routine but I forgot. Halfway through my Mum called to say my last remaining grandparent is in hospital with probably cancer so it was a bit lackluster after that. We'll know more tomorrow but bleh.

27. Diamond Dozen + Red Hot Core

Oh today. Birthday party at the weekend so I'm suffering a little, but today was good.
Still all the same though, no hamstrings, no flexibility, blah blah blah.
No or very few modifications during Red Hot Core, but my left hip still clicks a lot during scissor crunches. Upper body strength is good, still ok with one or two push ups on my knees which is cool.

26. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Two push ups again, like a pro. Well, a pro who uses her knees to make push ups easier. Struggled a bit with broken table crunches but my arms WILL improve! They will.
Lunges are still good, balance is a little off but I'm getting better.
Meh stomach muscles. Still not used modifications for most of it apart from my goddamn unstraightenable legs. I hate my hamstrings.

I am SO TIRED but have to get my shit together for a friend's birthday party tomorrow. Lots and lots of power ballads are all that can get me through this.

25. Fat Burner.

Screw you brain! I feel a lot better today, probably a combination of getting towards the tail end of my period and remembering that I should stop fucking whining. I have this awful habit of dwelling on how much I don't wanna do stuff and complaining in my head about whatever it is, and what I need to remember is that it doesn't fucking matter what I want. My amazing darling boyfriend has been at work for 24 hours and awake for around 48, how can I possibly complain about not being arsed to exercise. He works so hard,  and just gets on with it, regardless of what he wants or doesn't want. Shit just needs doing.

On that note, witness a full push up! Two! Using my knees and I just planked for the rest but it has actually occurred. Fuckin'a.
Butterfly thing always gives me a stitch, I think I need to work on my breathing more. Legs are as ever, I feel like my attempts to touch my toes aren't quite as laughable as before but really, who knows. I have some more photos which will go up sometime.

Now I absolutely have to sleep before I die.

24. Energy.

Ugh. I feel awful. Dragged myself through this, felt ok for most of it but as it gets hotter I REALLY loathe not having a shower. Bathing when it's hot and you're already sweaty is the worst. Also it turns out I really hate sweating. Though that might have something to do with my stupid womb making me run hot for a week. Bleugh. I hate everything.

To the surprise of no one, nothing has improved. Still tiny short hamstrings. Actually I lie, arms are slightly better, or at least, the same level of better that they were when I noticed the improvement, lunging is better too.

That's basically it. Yawnsville.

23. Diamond Dozen + Fat Burner

I did not make it all the way through Fat Burner today. Period pains were bad yesterday but fine today so I was ok all through Diamond Dozen, turns out slow movements were fine. Ow. Plus I'm supposed to be going for lunch in an hour and I still need to bathe and get my shit together.

Catcher into thunderbolt is still the worst. I took some pictures of my so-called flexibility but they're still on my phone so might have to wait till next time.
Down dog has actually got worse, is that even possible? Upper body strength is still ok, if I just do a push up straight down and up again it's fine (using my knees, obviously), it's the crocodile in the middle that throws me off.
I'm going to have to go over breathing again, I always end up gasping and taking half breaths to fit in with when I should be breathing. Though I'm assuming the cramps I got today were period related rather than oxygen.
I'm really struggling to be motivated at the moment, I'm seeing some small improvements here and there but it's just so fucking time consuming. It would be easier and quicker if we had a shower but we can't move house on that basis. I'm hoping it's just pre period blues and I'll be back on it next week.

No workout today, just photos.

I figured three-year-old photos were probably not the best way to monitor my progress, especially three-year-old photos from a catwalk on which I was trying to look good. So, grudgingly, here are some unadorned photos of me and my messy bedroom.

Nothing I'm particularly ashamed of, I would really like that belly to stick out less, but my spine curves in quite a lot so I'll probably always have a little pot-belly. Ugh love handles, why. And those thighs, I'd be ok with the size if they were powerful, which they are not. It's difficult to judge the feebleness of my arms from photos, and I can't even begin to be bothered to take bending over photos to demonstrate my flexibility, or lack thereof. Maybe in another month I'll take some more and see if there's any difference.
I also spent a little while mooching around the DDPYoga website, which is really weird. I made my own account, but couldn't see the Community button or any of the Team profiles, so I figured it was because I hadn't ordered the DVD (boyfriend purchase). I logged in using his email address but it was exactly the same, the team DDP page was just one endorsement from some lady and then nothing. I kinda thought there would be a forum, and people keep referencing "6 photos" but I'm buggered if I can find out what they are, everyone's photos seem to be different.
Also, annoyingly, I don't own a heartrate monitor. I know I need one but they're unspeakably expensive. I'm going to see if I can find a cheaper one somewhere, I know DDP needs to make money but ugh, I cannot justify spending 40 quid on anything right now. 

22. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Eeesh. Fat Burner is still a struggle.
I tried to do a push up on my knees this time and actually managed it twice! Woo hoo! Plus all the planking and broken table crunches which kill my arms so much.
Catcher into thunderbolt is just awful, can't squat far, can't get my arms up high. Absolutely rubbish. But at least it's something to improve on and it really helps my hips. They were awfully achey the other night but I think it's because I slept really badly, then went to work all day, then stayed up really late to watch Game of Thrones and Payback. Nice evening though :)
Still trying to go modification free for Red Hot Core, so far so good! Not seeing any real difference in the look of my stomach but my diet's been pretty good. I actually weighed myself tonight, visited friends who own scales, and I'm currently 8 1/2 (119 pounds) which is ok. I'm actually a little over that which again, is ok. It just means I've got a good buffer zone so I must be doing something right.

Anyway, bath and bed now. I fucked up booking my driving theory test so I'm really pissed off at myself tonight.

21. Red Hot Core

Just a little one. I'm still pretty unhappy with my stomach and it feels like almost everywhere else is improving. I know my crappy diet probably has more to do with it than anything so I resisted the urge to get fish 'n' chips on the way home from work and had veg and couscous instead. Yay restraint! That and I have no more money this week.

My hip didn't do anything weird during scissor crunches! Only when I tried to keep my leg extended did it do a few clicks so I guess I'm on the modifications for a while yet. Hamstrings are as they ever were, short and kinda pointless. I might have to seriously think about footwear, I'm worried my docs are not helping because I never tie them up so it's like constantly wearing heavy flip flops. I can't see how that would shorten hamstrings but who knows.

20. Fat Burner

Ugh, once again this workout kicked my arse. My poor feeble arms! They are now unspeakably painful and if this bath doesn't help I'm just going to cry. Still feeling ok about my increasing strength, still unable to do a full push up but there are three sets in this and normally by the last one I just lie on the floor gasping but I actually powered through this time. Broken table crunches are evil and once again my arms hate them. Legs don't care.
My thunderbolt is bad. Cannot squat and keep my heels on the ground, surprise! Still not on the floor in down dog, still nowhere near able to touch my toes. Stupid hips and hamstrings.
Stamina is improving which is nice.

I was going to add red hot core to this as well but then the boyfriend woke up and our living room is not big enough for two people if one of them is doing yoga.

19. Energy + Red Hot Core

Ugh, up early for exercise again. I'm so sleepy. Slept like the dead last night though, I barely even woke up when the boyfriend got in from work.

Today was actually pretty smooth, it's become a lot easier and my upper body strength has really improved. Not to the point where I can actually do a single push up or anything ridiculous, but still, improvement.

My hips are still very inflexible, especially my left. I struggle to sit cross legged and reach forwards, standing split has improved both sides but I still have both legs bent and my hands are about a foot away from my actual foot. Astonishingly my left hip didn't complain about scissor crunches! Amazing! It might just be a one off but I really hope this is a sign of improvement.

I'm definitely having mid-workout snacks more often, it gives me a little energy boost. I'll grab some dried fruit or something I think.

Bleh, now to work to try not to fall asleep at my desk. Also, I'm feeling a lot better now, emotionally, lovely boyfriend fixes everything with his lovely face. Whattaguy.

18. Fat Burner + Red Hot Core

Ah Fat Burner, always a horrible shock.
I have never got past this point on this program, a couple more posts and I will officially be more determined than ever before which is weird. I was going to do stuff yesterday but I was so miserable. I spent most of the day crying, had a tiny fight with the boyfriend and then went to work.
Ah well, today!
I was genuinely surprised by my upper body strength! I actually did the first of the 3 count push ups! The other two I had to plank. I struggled with the thunderbolt thing, can't keep my heels on the floor and crouch like that. But other than those two things I didn't need to use any modifications. I think my hips are very inflexible, the figure 4 stretches at the end were really hard, my foot was nowhere near my face, especially my right foot and thus, my left hip. I've been trying to sleep on my back more but it gives me weird vivid dreams. I actually managed broken table crunches without death! Yay!
I'm using less and less modifications in Red Hot Core, it's about half and half now. Obviously I cannot have my legs straight up in the air at any point because ugh. My left hip still hates either bicycle or scissor crunches, though the straighter I can keep my legs the less it pops.

I did stop for a cheeky snack between the two, melon and yoghurt which was surprisingly nice. I've got some chicken I put in the slow cooker last night for later so food-wise today should be pretty healthy.

17. Hula hoop!

Lovely hour of hooping at the club thanks to lovely boyfriend ^_^

He let me put music on, Rob Zombie is WAY too fast to hoop to but it was fun to try and keep up. I did  a couple of practices of my embryo routine which is ok, but I still lose track of what to do when. It's cool though and I enjoyed prancing around like a fool with the whole top floor to myself.
Jethro Tull was pretty good to use as well, and the odd Frank Turner song. I'm always way too optimistic about hooping music, I choose really speedy stuff, must remember to use more ska. Tim Armstrong next time maybe.

Anyway a lot of time was spent just going over basic waist and chest hooping which will hopefully be excellent for my abs. Also trying to practice with my left arm as much as my right, even though it's way more feeble. Trying to get my isolation skills up there with both arms is....well. It's an ambition.

Now I should eat something and bathe. And wash up. I don't think we have enough hot water for all this, maybe I'll wash up in the morning.

16. Diamond Dozen + Energy + Red Hot Core

I know, I know. I dropped the ball. Sunday night was Eventful, so Monday was kinda weird. Then Tuesday I had work till 11, followed by work from 10am - 11pm on Wednesday. Luckily my lovely boss said I can come in late today so I have time to do anything at all. Even then it was a near thing. I'm crocheting a baby blanket for my friend's soon-to-be-daughter and I've just found a really lovely pattern which I hope is going to be the centrepiece but I'm buggered if I can find the time to do it.

Anyway this morning I was determined and since the poor hardworking boyfriend is off to work I could put music on which always helps. I think this is usually the point where I give it up because I get bored of doing the same thing over and over and frustrated with the lack of progress. Because I STILL can't get my heels down in down dog, I STILL cannot do even a single push up. I can do half a one, it's the up bit I struggle with.

I'm not losing any weight really, which is irritating because people are always saying "Oh there's barely anything to you, just do a few crunches and you'll have abs in a week!" and other stupid things like that. NO. You guys, that is not how it works, clearly. I know it's partially because of my diet, which I am trying to improve. However there was loads of food leftover from a buffet at work yesterday so unfortunately eating for free takes priority over eating healthily. Plus I can't be arsed to go to the shop and cook stuff. I might have an omelette as a post-workout thing. They're healthy enough, right?

Broken table is getting easier, my arms are still pretty useless but I guess it takes a while to build up strength? I don't really know, I've never had any. Lunges are still fine, I'm using almost all the modifications in Red Hot Core. My balance is getting better which is a nicely unexpected side effect and as usual I feel taller and more able to reach high places which, as a 5'4" person is pretty good.

I keep meaning to take some updated photos of my wobbly bits, the only other ones on here are from about 4 years ago which is ridiculous. Next time maybe.

Right I'd better get on, gotta bathe and eat and still get to work in time to do some work!

15. Energy (ish)

Oh gods I felt awful yesterday. Did a really half arsed attempt at Energy, I didn't even make it all the way through. The boyfriend was grumpy and I was just kinda sad and it all felt a little pointless because my diet is AWFUL and being on the pill is making me gain weight.

On the other hand. Upper body strength has improved since I started, and while my flexibility is completely knackered I guess that's just one of those things that takes a while to improve. It's been over a month since I started this and I've seen very little difference in my weight, but again, that's mostly due to my shit diet and my slight reticence to be stricter with myself. I really only have a buffer zone of about 14 pounds before I am TOO SKINNY and I have to stop. I was hoping that by eating, not unhealthily, but not completely fat free I'd be bale to lose weight, but not too much. I'm not sure if that's working and I'm just being too impatient. I really wanted to wear a crop top last night and it just wasn't happening. Again, I'm not fat, but because of my small frame any excess is very noticeable, especially when it's as jiggly as mine is.

Bleh. Next week will be better. I'll eat less crap, do more hooping. Be better.

14. Red Hot Core

Just a wee little top-up because I feel like I might miss out a few days over the bank holiday weekend. It's going to be awesome! I bloody love bank holidays because I get to actually go out with my boyfriend, he works weekends normally so we don't get to go out to clubs, er, ever.

Still shaking loads during inverted table crunches, though not as badly as when I started. I actually managed to stay in a crocodile (with my knees on the floor) for 10 whole seconds! The exploding push up bit didn't go fantastically but still, I consider that actual tangible progress. Normally I have to give up and lie down a little bit, take that limp noodley arms! Also tried up dog instead of cobra and managed that just fine, though still can't get my heels to the floor in down dog.
Apart from my arms triumphing over gravity this is not much different to yesterday's attempt (surprise), jackknife is still impossible, I cannot hold my legs straight up in the air even a little bit.
I've started mixing the more difficult positions in for a couple of things, I try to do five of whatever I'm doing with the modifications and five without, so far so good, though I think I definitely need to keep the modifications in there for a while.


*later* Add an hour of hooping at the club, although it was pretty much the opposite of last time. Managed to hit myself in the face twice and generally felt awkward and clunky. More fruit? I think being cold doesn't help, it's at that annoying bit of spring where it's lovely one minute and bloody freezing the next. I hate being cold, it makes me really lethargic and grouchy. Like a tiny bald bear. Still, the hooping was fun and I feel better for it.

13. Energy + Red Hot Core

Oops, this is actually for yesterday! I did this before work but when I got there some of the end-of-month jobs hadn't been done so it was a mad rush, plus serving customers, plus answering the stupid phone, plus doing all the normal daily jobs. I got loads of work done (at work, stunner.) but just didn't have to chance to update this.

Broken table is getting easier, I still wouldn't call it a breeze, but fell less like I'm about to drop dead halfway through, that normally comes at the end. Push ups are very very slightly better, still using my knees but I don't have to go all bendy in the middle in order to come back up. Still no progress with the damn hamstrings, they are the bane of my life. I'd blame wearing heels for my delicate formative teenage years except I mostly wore Doc Martens and skate trainers. Damn. Anyway they still suck.
My stomach is a mess. Red Hot Core isn't too hard as long as I stick to the modifications, but my left hip is really worrying during scissor crunches. Obviously my legs are bent all the time for everything because did I mention I am the least flexible woman in the world? Jackknife is impossible but kinda fun. Also inverted table crunches are ridiculous, I am so shaky at that point. 

12. Energy

Haven't done anything for a couple of days, I've had awful PMS and it's really knocked me for six. I've been so miserable I can barely move, I'm ok as long as I'm doing stuff but I keep lapsing into staring gloom. Today I managed Energy but it was pretty half arsed.

Heels are still way off the floor in down dog. Weirdly my right legged standing split has improved a very little but my left leg is still awful. Planking continues to get easier but still using my knees for push ups. Broken table is good, still a struggle towards the end but I can actually hold on now instead of crumpling after 5 seconds. My hips and elbows are barely giving me any trouble now, my elbow locks up occasionally but it's been doing that my entire life so no surprises there.

I don't feel any stronger or taller or thinner but to be honest now is not the time to be asking me to look for improvement. Hopefully in a couple of days this will pass and I'll be able to be a little more objective.

11. Red Hot Core

Just a little one on what is supposed to be a day off. It's not bicycle crunches my hips hate, it's scissor crunches. I'm still super shakey in inverted table and can't stretch my legs out straight to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Really blue today, probably due to the onset of period mixed with slight hangover but meh. Better tomorrow.
My right tricep is just an agonising mess so I'm hoping that gets better soon.

10. Diamond Dozen + Energy

So the only difference between a straight legged bar back and me bending over as far as humanly possible? My neck is droopy. I am the least flexible woman on the planet.

I have a day off work today so I thought I'd take some time to do two long workouts, I'd forgotten how long though, this knocks at least two hours off my day.

It was kinda fun though, I'm getting the hang of the flow of things more. Planking is actually better! Still can't do a full push up even on my knees but I'm closer than before. Still have tiny short hamstrings. My balance has slightly improved, and my hips tolerance for sustained periods of lunging, which can only mean good things for my classic rock dancing abilities.

Speaking of periods, mine's due any second so I expect to feel too gross or achey to do anything for a few days. Hopefully it'll be a mild one, they've not been too bad of late.

9. Energy

Ugh. I have got to stop doing things in the morning before work, I'm going to turn into a real person.

Should've done the diamond dozen but I thought I didn't have time. Turns out I did! Ah well, tomorrow maybe.

Broken table is improving, my shoulders still hurt but my legs less so. Still can't get my heels down in down dog, or anything else for that matter. Planking is better, still have to use my knees to lower but it's less of a struggle.

My hips are a mess. I wore ill-fitting trousers yesterday and they're just bloody agonising today. Didn't hurt too much in my sleep but maybe they were just overpowered by my thrice accursed wisdom tooth. Arg.

So half way through I ran upstairs to start the bath running since I'm in a hurry and our bath takes ages to fill (no, we don't have a shower, I know, shut up). I'm always a bit nervous about bathing while Tom's asleep, the pipes are kinda loud and he had work last night but hey, girl's gotta wash. Anyway started the bath running, back downstairs to carry on. Came up at the end only to find that I hadn't put the plug in properly and all my lovely hot water just drained away.

I hate mornings.

8. Energy + Red Hot Core

I know, shouldn't be doing two. BUT I didn't do anything at all over the weekend because work - houseparty - incredible hangover. So I genuinely have some making up to do. Also I figure this early on it can't hurt.

I've lost a little weight, I think. I don't weigh myself, mostly because we don't own scales but also because I end up obsessing over a pound here and a pound there so I just look down and take a guess at how it's going. Periodically if I visit my folks I'll check to make sure I don't dip below 7 1/2 stone (47kg, 105 pounds) but other than that as long as I feel healthy I don't care. I think I'm probably around 8 1/2 at the moment (53 kg, 119 pounds) and I don't really want to drop below 8.

Standing split is still basically pointless. Lost a lot of form on the broken table. Still not touching the floor in down dog. Push ups and plank ability are marginally better but still definitely using my knees.

My elbow is fine but my hips are really struggling with some of the crunches. Not painfully, just popping a lot, like the left hip joint isn't rolling smoothly. The closest thing I can think of is when you get a wire stuck in the caster of a wheelie chair, it still rolls around but there's an occasional bump.

Doing those conversions was weird, I'm used to watching American shows and things where they refer to women as being 80 or 90 pounds. I feel like the conversion thing I used must be wrong because there is no way weighing less than 7 stone is a sensible goal. Must pay more attention to descriptions of female weight in shows. In the UK, as far as I'm aware, 8-9 stone is what's projected as the "desirable" weight (which is dumb, because what if you're tall, or have giant boobs? Most normal people weigh more than that.) which would be around 125 pounds in the US. I remember one fictional character being faux ashamed to admit she weighed 135. What the crap? I shall watch TV now whilst keeping in mind that I am a VERY slim person who weighs 119 pounds and see what my shame threshold is supposed to be. Ridiculous.

7. Diamond Dozen

It seems weird to go back over this when I already know it from various abortive attempts to re-start yoga but it's really good to go through all the moves again.

Push ups are atrocious. I cannot even do one on my knees, I have to go all bendy in the middle to get back up. Goddamn feeble arms!

Down dog is improving, I think the bar back part coming before it helped stretch my hamstrings out a bit so I felt slightly closer to actually having my heels on the floor. I'm still a way off being able to touch my toes though.

As usual, my posture has almost instantly improved, and my stomach is a lot flatter than when I started, although that could have more to do with periods and random bloating than anything else.

Ugh, it's so late and I have to be up early tomorrow. The trouble with doing anything after work is I now can be arsed to drag myself through the shower and sort out my lunch for tomorrow. Come on now.

6. Red hot core

Did a sneaky one before work today. I know I probably shouldn't do stuff every day just in case but I figure it can't hurt at first, plus I haven't cooked any food to bring to work with me so I'm going to have to buy something from the cafe and it's all wildly unhealthy so that'll balance it out, right?

My hips are SO unhappy with bicycle crunches. Seriously. All the popping. It doesn't hurt, so I'm hoping it'll stop as I get more flexible. They hurt a lot in the night but I'm putting that down to restless broken sleep rather than actually doing exercise. Other than that I was good and gentle and did all the modifications.

See, sensible.

5. Energise

So it turns out out DVD player wasn't broken, we just needed a new HDMI cable which was far cheaper. Hence I've been back on the DVD this morning.

Just energise because I didn't have time to do more and have a shower and breakfast and make it to work on time. Bloody ow. My poor shoulders are killing me, my broken table is rubbish. Standing split is still woeful and I cannot do a press up without using my knees. All my joints hate me, though interestingly not my elbow this time. I will do such a dance of joy when my heels touch the floor in down dog, stupid shrunken hamstrings.

Better get to work, how do 9-5ers do this all the time?

4.

No workout today due to the continuing lack of DVD player, but I had two amazing hour long hoop sessions. It's been ages since I've done any hooping for fun and for some reason it all flowed really nicely today. I felt more dancey than usual. First was in the park where it was only just warm enough. I learned a couple of new dual wield tricks which I'm still getting the hang of. Rob Zombie is excellent music for hooping, surprise! Then my lovely boyfriend let me trail him to work and practice for an hour before they opened, I'm so lucky to have a whole nightclub to play in. What a doll.
Both times I felt really energetic and limber, which I'm attributing to a mix of yoga, fruit and the weather.

Hopefully the DVD player will be fixed next week and I can be better.

3.

Yeah our DVD player is dead. I've been doing little bits that I can remember to try to keep my flexibility up and tone my stomach some but nothing that's actually having an effect. Roll on payday!

2.

Today was pretty good. Push ups are getting slightly less difficult and my hamstrings feel longer. My heels still aren't on the floor in down dog and my attempt at a standing split is woeful.

My hips were much happier with crunches and my elbow doesn't hurt at all

Nothing is particularly aching today which makes me think I haven't done enough. Next time I'll try harder.

Well this is awkward.

Ahem. So I kinda fumbled the blog thing. After a couple of months of yoga and dieting I dropped to what can only be described as dangerously underweight. The boyfriend and I have since spent some time contemplating our food shopping list and I have agreed to take it carefully, I'm back up to 8 and a half stone now so I've started again at the beginning.

Good grief, I am so unflexible. And back to being unable to do even one push up, which is depressing. I'm enjoying stretching more, and I added the Red Hot Core part because my stomach is one of the places I want to improve the most. It does make me worry about my hip joints, which are kind of crunchy but I'm hoping that improves with time. I'm keeping an eye on my elbow which is starting to hurt again, I think I'll invest in some kind of support come payday.

Hopefully this won't be the last blog of it's kind. I'll keep trying but I'm not going to beat myself up if I only manage two workouts a week or something. I don't want to be too skinny again, it makes me dizzy.