Jammy dodger

Well, Sal saw me this morning and she claimed that I've lost 8 pounds since she saw me yesterday (photo from yesterday. Oh, I added a photo of Nigel and Chris to yesterday's post by the way!). This is excellent news, and means that my new diet of eating an entire packet of jaffa cakes is really paying off. I should probably post that on Fit Naturally, but I'm not entirely heartless, and do not want to be mean to people who are making a big effort but would actually really like to eat an entire packet of jaffa cakes.

I am of the opinion that looking 8 pounds lighter may be entirely to do with not having worn lycra into the office today. I think you can probably see 8 pounds in various places in lycra, while in normal clothes, you can't, which is their main advantage. I'm not a big fan of lycra, and would like to say I cannot think what possessed me to buy it, but that would be lying, Christine possessed me by urging me that I looked very sporty, a few years ago; we went shopping, and I can't remember why, but I ended up buying them. I never wear them, except that I was forced to yesterday, because I forgot to wash my usual ones, and the fleece ones were clearly going to be way to hot. I have to say, my gym stuff has NEVER been washed so much in its life. I'd like to point out Sally's utter dedication in encouraging me, she is actually hugging me when I have just come back from a run. I wouldn't have touched me, personally.

Anyway, today was not running, it was a rest day. Hooray! I'm going to have to do something about "working" on rest days, sort it out. Going INTO work was very exciting, because my bicycle worked, for the first time in, oh about six weeks! This is because Ian got back from Wales on Sunday, and by Tuesday he had recovered enough to think about oil-covered bicycle parts. I took it around after work, although I have to admit Eddie had offered to take a look at it on Monday night, but was hampered by being on his way to football, but he'd said you can often tighten rear wheel bearings without a spanner.


So I was confident it would be a short job. It IS usually a short job, but that is when the bearings are not floating around the inside of your wheel, held in by grit and hair (mine). The spindle, which is technically used to hold your wheel onto the bike, was actually broken into two pieces. A little trip to Halfords, a couple of hours, and a big tub of grease later, though, the deadly peddley was much improved, although today the back wheel and front mudguard are playing up. It's almost as attention-seeking as Frank. Oh, and I owe Ian a raised game pie, which apparently needs rabbit in it.

Well, we did get to do some pilates today, and I have to say, people are going to have to stop taking the blog seriously. It really isn't serious. Sally and Anita have now BOTH acted on what I wrote. Ha ha! I'll get the idea I can influence people at this rate. Actually, Anita says that, but I think she toned it down today because Caroline asked her before I got there. But it was very relaxing and didn't have any massively strength exercises in it, only double leg stretches, which are stretchy by still quite hard work. Oh and I wanted to take a picture of Anita, and hopefully the rest of the class, but forgot to bring my camera upstairs, and mentioned this, and Anita totally got the whole group to gang up on me and made everyone agree that I should have my photo taken. Richard or Nigel may have made the comment that I wanted it really (Oo-er. Must have been Nigel). I said this was not true, but I would put a picture in my blog if Anita took one. The point was, however, a little bit true. I don't like photos generally, but I also want my blog to be maximumly entertaining, so I am willing to put photos in where they will help.  And what's not to be entertained there... this IS the teaser...

You'll have picked up that Nigel and Richard attend pilates, much to Dawn's surprise at coffee this morning. "You let men in?" she quizzed me (in front of Richard). I am quite proud of the fact that this is the first pilates class I've done where blokes have regularly shown up in number. "Yes, Nigel, Richard, Chris (moustachioed), Gavin and Julian all regularly come to pilates" I told her, "Yes, but what men go?" she asked. Well! This got aired during the class, and as Nigel pointed out, it takes a real man to put up with us lot. I think that was the gist anyway (Nigel did not mention that his physio told him to go). Ironically, we then did an exercise lying on our sides where Anita asked us to put our feet into first position. We decided in the interests of machismo, we had to think of a more apt instruction, so this is now described as "Chaplin position" (as in Charlie Chaplin, not churches), while scissor legs will now be described as "Nordic skiing".

Talking of which, I rather like an exercise called "the downward facing dog" although I remain baffled as to why it is called this. Dogs are downward facing most of the time (except these two), and at no point to they shove their arses in the air (I declined having my photo taken in it, I'm afraid) quite as the manner of this exercise. And usually if I think of a question of this nature, I just put it straight into google, but something made me hold back from that, even for the strict purposes of research. Furthermore, in thinking about it, I got nervous about my positioning in the class at the front, with all the blokes behind me. I may be facing the other way in future (In point of fact, while doing this exercise, you can't gaze around. You're downward-facing).
By the way, the name of the dog on the right is Sam, or Sammy Dodger, who is one of my favouritest dogs (although in fairness, I don't know Angus so well), and he inspired today's title, with the help of the jaffa cakes. Frank doesn't like either of them.