31st October

Hey folks,

So, we’re at the end of another month of 2015. Only 2 left…. this year has seriously flown by, and so much has changed in the past 10 months. I’ve changed a lot too, for the better I hope! I’ve got to grips with my illness, and I control it, rather than it controlling me. Which is good. I know that it’s a lifelong battle, each and every day, but now I know my triggers and warning signs, I can take action before I relapse. It feels good to be in control at last. It’s taken a long time, but I think I’m finally there.

Obviously there will be times where things happen beyond my control, that’s just how Bipolar works unfortunately. But I’m a lot better than I was, and I’m thankful for that.

Today has been a good day too, I didn’t get up until 12pm haha. My darling hubby let me sleep in, which was lush. I really needed the sleep to be honest, have been getting so tired lately, that I’ve been falling asleep on the sofa by 8pm in the evening. It’s crazy. I feel so old haha. The rest of the day I’ve just been chilling out, watching tv and trying to revise in small bits. If I try to read though, my head starts spinning with anxiety and I can’t concentrate. It’s frustrating. But, thankfully, I’ve finally got someone I can practice on before my assessment; my wonderful brother in law has said he will. I was getting so desperate it was unreal, and luckily he’s jumped in to help me. I really need as much practice as I can get to be honest. The more I practice, the more likely it is that I’ll pass my assessment.

It’s coming up so damn fast though, it’s freaking me out somewhat. Only 9 days to go….

I’m going to look on YouTube tonight for some teaching videos to see if I can learn anything haha.

Speaking of which, I need to get back to my revision, so will call it a day with this tonight. Nothing much else to report to be honest! Happy Halloween by the way! I don’t celebrate it, but I know some people do!

Thanks for reading as always folks, hope you’re having a great weekend, whatever you’re up to! Take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

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30th October

Hey folks,

Feeling pretty good today; went for my run this morning, in the rain! Was pretty slow at 17:30 with an average mile pace of 12:48, but I’m going to blame the rain haha! I then hit the gym hard and smashed my upper body! Chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps and lats. Felt really good, and by the end my arms were shaking like mad! Loved it 😀 I did – warm up on the rower for 5 minutes at level 6 resistance, then strict shoulder press, lateral raise, bench press, pec flys, seated row, lat pull, bicep curls and tricep pushdowns. Feeling it now to be honest, everything is starting ache haha. My legs were already aching from my PT sessions. It’s all good though.

This afternoon I went to drop off the keys to my now ex boss. I’m no longer working as her housekeeper. I won’t go into it on here though, too complicated!

So I’m on the hunt for a job, preferably in a gym! At the moment though, my priority has to be preparing for my assessment. I’m still looking for people to practice on as well, but no one seems keen for some free training! It’s frustrating me, because if I don’t practice, I’m going into my assessment under prepared. Which could lead to me failing, something I really want to avoid. As I can’t afford the £100 to be re-assessed at a later date. Fingers crossed someone will say yes!

Diet wise, it’s all gone a bit wrong today. Made my first ever apple crumble this afternoon, so had that for pudding after dinner. It was really nice, but the calories worked out really high because of all the sugar! Never mind, tomorrow is a new day to try again!! I’ve worked out hard today, so did kind of earn some of it any way.

Anyway, best get back to my revision now, need to learn it all back to front and inside out!
Thanks for reading as ever folks, hope you’ve all had a good week, and have a great weekend. We have no plans as yet, just chilling out mostly, and revising for me haha. Take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

29th October

Hey folks,

Been a bit of an up and down kind of day today; this morning I had work (dog walk), then a job interview. Which incidentally I didn’t get, have already had an e-mail saying I’ve been unsuccessful. Which sucks. But that’s life. After my interview, I got ready and headed off to the gym for my second PT session. Strength training today, and it was ace! Smashed out some new personal bests!! Did 45kg squats for 3 reps, and 57.5kg Deadlift for 1 rep! Sooooooo proud of myself!!! Am much stronger than I thought, and I’m loving it. I’ve really enjoyed training twice a week as well, so am hoping I can afford to keep that up, as now my freebie sessions are over sadly.

I’m aching like mad now, but feeling really good. Love my training, and the progress I’m making is awesome.

Since I got home, I’ve been e-mailing gyms to see if anyone will take me on as a trainee. I’m really hoping to get into the fitness industry and start living my dream. It’s my passion, and I’ve got the drive and dedication, all I need now is the opportunity to prove myself.

Right, will leave it there for today, as want to get cracking on some more revision ready for my assessment.

Thanks for reading as always folks, means a lot to me. Take care, stay strong, and remember, it’s Friday tomorrow, yay!!
Until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

28th October

Hey folks,

Had a cracking day today! Went for my PT session at 1pm, which was tough but awesome! Did rower sprints (100m, 200m, and 300m), slam balls and boxing. Looooooove boxing! Can really bash out some frustration, and I surprised myself and my PT with the power behind my punches today. All I can say is, don’t piss me off haha. After my session, did some stuff for my assessment, then headed home. Like the crazy girl that I am, I then headed out for my run. As had to abandon it this morning as it was absolutely smashing it down with rain! Normally I wouldn’t let it stop me, if it’s light rain/drizzle, but this was borderline torrential haha. So I decided against it. Am kinda glad in a way that I did, as I don’t think I’d have done so well at my PT if I’d exhausted myself this morning.

I’m feeling really exhausted now to be honest, but in a good kind of way. I feel accomplished too; having been really active today, and my diet is on point! I’ve got weigh in tomorrow, which should be interesting after my crazy week off last week….

I feel guilty too, as I was meant to go see a friend today, but being so busy it slipped my mind, then when I remembered it was far too late to make the hour journey 😦 so if you’re reading this buddy, I do apologise, and will make it up to you!

Tonight’s plan is to go through my paperwork for my assessment, making sure I’ve done everything, and revise set up and teaching points for all of the things I’m going to be doing in my assessment. I’m hopefully training a couple of people over the next week or so, for some practice, which will be awesome. Fingers crossed on that one!

I received the confirmation e-mail today about my exam, so had a little freak out in my head, as I was at the gym at the time haha. It’s all getting really real and scary now, and I’m just hoping and praying that I do enough to pass. I’m so scared though, I really don’t want to refer. Mostly because it’ll cost me £100 to be re-assessed!! But also because I want to get on and do level 3 as soon as possible; the sooner I do it, the sooner I can get qualified and have the job of my dreams. Someone asked me what my dream career was the other day, and of course I said Personal Trainer; but I expanded upon it, by saying that in an ideal world, I’d have my own little gym to train people in. Now, I just need to win the lottery haha!!

Right, that’s all from me for today, best get stuck into my paperwork; hubby will be home soon as well. Thanks for reading folks, hope you’re all having a good week. Take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

27th October

Hey folks,

Just a quick check in tonight as I’m shattered, after a loooong day at work. Doing okay though mostly. Had a bit of a down day today, but I think it’s just because I’m so tired. Only got about 4 hours sleep last night, so I really struggled to get through the day. But, I did, and I’m feeling better now I’m home with hubby 🙂

Diet wise I’ve really screwed it up today; gone way over calories! Oh well, tomorrow is a new day to try again.

Tomorrow I have PT session 1 of 2; looking forward to it, even though it’s my nemesis: conditioning! I find that really hard going, but it’ll be worth it. It’s all about improving my fitness levels, in particular my recovery times. They increased when I had those 3 weeks off, but slowly but surely, I’m getting them down again and my fitness levels are coming back up.

Right, that’s all from me, sorry folks, going for a soak in the bath and an early night.
Thanks for reading as always, take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

26th October

Hey folks,

Had another good day today! I seem to be on cruise control at the moment though, just kind of plodding through life day by day. But I guess that’s not a bad thing!

Anyway, I started the day with my run as per usual for a Monday, and it went really well. Did 1.43 miles in 17:17. Knocking 33 seconds off my last run, when I ran a shorter distance! So am pretty happy with that. Also knocked a minute off my average mile pace as well, yay! I probably could have run better though, if it hadn’t of been for a trouser malfunction. I chose the wrong pair of leggings this morning, and they just kept falling down! Every time I hit my stride, they’d start to creep down and I’d have to go back to walking and pull them back up! So, definitely need some new long leggings for running in! Size 12 is just too big for me now, woo!

After my run, I had my breakfast and headed off to work to walk the dogs. That was just the usual really, nothing exciting there!

My next job was to pick up my medication from the medical centre, and then I had some lunch and headed off to the gym for my favourite day of the week, LEG DAY! Love a good leg day for some reason, not sure why haha!
I did:
Stairmaster on level 8 to warm up;
Leg Press – new PB of 59kg! Man, that was tough!!
Seated Abduction
Seated Adductor
Calf Press – new PB of 18kg!
Leg Extension
Then 3 x 150m sprints on the rower for a bit of fat burn!

I was meant to do Romanian Deadlifts as well, but I kind of chickened out of going in the free weights area today, plus my arms are really sore from deadlifts at the weekend with my PT! And I was eager to get home to crack on with more coursework.

After the gym, I treated myself to my favourite soya latte from Costa and headed home.

This evening I attended the stop smoking clinic; woo, that was fun! Not. After a horrific drive (sat nav fail!), we finally found it. Then my appointment only lasted about 20 minutes. She basically went through all the NRT products with me, and I decided on patches and a mouth spray. So she wrote me a prescription type form to take to Boots asap to pick them up. I can’t do it tomorrow as am at work all day, but will probably do it on Wednesday, with a view to quitting Thursday/Friday.

Speaking of Thursday, I have a job interview at 10:45am 🙂 for a job in the hardware store in the village. I’m just not really enjoying the housekeeping job; It’s bringing me down, I think from spending so much time on my own. I need social interaction with other people, and the hustle and bustle of retail. Fingers crossed!!

Diet wise I’ve really nailed it today! Yay! Really proud of myself for getting back in control of it to be honest. It was spiralling in a dangerous direction, and I really needed to stop it sharpish! Everything has been weighed/measured today, and logged on myfitnesspal, so I’m doing really well. 🙂

With all my activity today, I’d say today is a complete success all round 🙂

Right, I need to get back to my course work now, as really want to get the paperwork side of things sorted asap, so that I can concentrate on practising the practical side of things!

Thanks for reading folks, hope Monday has treated you well! Take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x

25th October

Hey folks,

Just a quick one tonight as I’m exhausted and not got a lot to report really haha!

Had a really lush lay in until 11am, so got 9 and a half hours sleep, felt great! Just chilled out this morning, then had some lunch and went for a walk with hubby, which was nice. Then I got stuck into more coursework. Worked for near on 6 hours straight (did take a few breaks, don’t worry!), but got a lot done. Just a few bits to finish off and I’ll be all set for my assessment. Well, paper work wise any way! Practical side of things is going to need a lot of practice between now and then!! 15 days to go….

I’ve got some cracking doms today as well after my 2 PT sessions. Love it though, means I’ve worked my muscles well 😀

Diet wise, hmmm, not been great, but not too bad. Earned some calories with the walk, but still went over by a hundred and something (can’t remember!). Back on track tomorrow for sure!

Right, am gonna call it a night and chillax for a while before bed, need to try and switch my brain off, it’s currently on overdrive! Thanks for reading as always, hope you’ve all had a great weekend! Take care, stay strong and until next time….

x Sara Phoenix x