Notes by Nectar

After two weeks of doing nothing in Bombay but eating, I went back to the gym on Sunday. I’d complained about the treadmills before I went away and was disappointed to see all three still there and still not working. I decided to do 30 minutes on the bike but after 5 minutes I was bored so I got onto my second favourite treadmill and thought I’d walk instead of run and see how that worked.

It was mostly OK at a walking speed but when I tried to take the speed up it started doing strange things again. I walked for 20 minutes and called it a day.

On Monday I was feeling lazy but decided to try out the new Yoga Studio app my sister-in-law had recommended. I did a beginner’s combination class for 30 minutes followed by a 10-minute guided meditation. It was really good. Definitely worth the £2.99 I’d spent downloading it to my iPad. When I was in Bombay I decided to buy a new yoga mat. Unfortunately I couldn’t feel it when it was in the store as it was shrinkwrapped but it was quite thick which I like due to my sensitive knees. So I tried it out on Monday morning. It was horrible! It didn’t even stay in one place and kept moving around on the floor as I moved. Very annoying!

That evening I went to the Shangri-La and joined the gym. I’d mentioned earlier that they had a restricted membership option for AED 2800 (£495) for 12 months – but when I went there on Monday they’d removed that option! Dammit! My choices were full membership or off-peak membership. I decided to go for the full membership but for three months to begin with. I wanted to see if anything would change at our building’s gym before committing to a 12-month membership at the Shangri-La. Also, with the off-peak membership I wouldn’t be able to go on weekends or public holidays and there are a few holidays coming up in the next three months!

I had yoga on Tuesday morning. My cousin couldn’t make it so it was just me. The teacher talked throughout the class and it was just irritating. I can’t do breathing exercises when she’s talking about her daughter’s school and expecting me to respond, can I??

I went to the Shangri-La gym on Wednesday. The treadmills are really hi-tech and have been upgraded since the last time I was there. I’d forgotten what it was like to have people around while I’m working out – and all these people were really fit (it was embarrassing, actually). I decided to go back to the Fitness22.com apps but thought it would be best to go back to Week 1. So I did Week 1 Day 2:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Walking/running x 20 min (1 min running, 1.5 min walking)
• Cooldown x 5 min

After two weeks of doing nothing, I found it quite tough but I stuck with it, alternating between 5.5 km/h and 7.5 km/h. I then did Week 1 Day 2 of the squats and situps too. The squats consisted of:

• Squats x 6
• Rest
• Squats x 6
• Rest
• Squats x 4
• Rest
• Squats x 4

And the situps consisted of four sets of 5 situps with a rest between sets. I did some stretching after that and decided to go home.

I went back to the Shangri-La gym on Thursday. I did Week 1 Day 3 of all three apps, and the 5k Runner app was the same as the previous day. I don’t know why but I found it harder than I did on Wednesday – perhaps I was tired or something, but by the time I got to the seventh run, I had to take the speed down on the treadmill because I just couldn’t do it. And for the eighth run I walked at a high speed instead of running.

The squats consisted of:

• Squats x 8
• Rest
• Squats x 8
• Rest
• Squats x 6
• Rest
• Squats x 4

The situps consisted of five sets of 5 situps with a rest between sets. After that I did some stretching and went home.

On Friday I was home all day and after lunch I decided to do a 60-minute yoga session using the Yoga Studio app. It was a good workout but I wish they had an Android version I could download to my phone! I also tried using the new yoga mat I bought in Bombay – it’s still rubbish.

I took Saturday off. I’d done some form of exercise six days in a row (even if it was brief)…

Low point of the week? The treadmills at my gym still not working…

High point of the week? Joining the gym at the Shangri-La Hotel next door and actually doing some form of exercise six times this week!

Weight loss? I managed to lose 1 kg halfway through the week and then put it back on again. I’m not sure how as I tried to be really careful this week! I came this close to ordering a pizza on Friday night but ordered sushi instead…

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