I don’t know, 5 days we’ve been here and so far only managed 2 afternoons of skiing! Actually I don’t feel bad about it, it’s still a nice break. I blame the snow quality above all else, it’s just not much fun when it’s like it is. Yesterday and today have been cloudy, and again, skiing is less fun in flat light as you have to feel your way rather than see the lumps and bumps. So we decided against the cost – at £25 per person for an afternoon ticket, you’ve got to be getting enjoyment out of it to make it worthwhile. So instead we’ve been out walking, yesterday a trip into Megeve (which is looking as pretty as ever and the merchant banker types were well in attendance, the only ones prepared to pay the ludicrous shop prices – £200 for a polo shirt or £10,000 for a reclaimed timber dining table), and today a walk down to the Thermal Baths below St Gervais which involves a walk of only about 4 miles total, but with about 300 metres of descent, and the inevitable ascent. Good job the legs are performing well!
Actually, the morning workout routines is really very good. I’m now following a programme derived from the Natural Fitness book I mentioned a couple of days ago. I’ve managed to build upon the squats and some of the ab exercises. Pushups are still something of a challenge although I can manage 30 pretty reliably in the first set, so building toward the mini-challenge target of 50 before month end. Given that I could only manage 10 about 2 weeks ago, this seems like good progress. I fit in 50 overall in the session at the moment, but think I need to start building on that if I’m to improve on the single set count.
I’ve also started working in some of the Isotonic exercises, where you use your own body as resistance (for example, try a bicep curl with one arm whilst resisting it with the other arm). Not noticed any obvious progress here yet, but only about 4 days in.
I’m now back fairly reliably on the Paleo diet again, although not in a position to measure daily intakes, so trying to play it by ear. I think I’ve dropped more body fat since last week, the stomach has definitely lost its paunch, but still a little too much flesh to allow the abs to starting showing through! The downfall at the moment is the lure of the nightly glass of wine and the occasional trips to the patisserie for a small french fancy! Only doing those on days when sufficient exercise has been done to offset the inevitable calorie gain!
It’s now been a month since I started the Paleo diet and I think it’s worked out very well. Still noticing some subtle changes but unsure if I can attribute those directly to Paleo at the moment. I mentioned in the last Paleo update that my toenails had changed (some suffer from a fungal infection), and they have definitely changed more – the nail has now hardened back to a more natural consistency, although the discolouration remains, but that may be there until it grows out. I’ve been largely free of wheat for the whole month as well, and that has had a noticeable effect on the eczema, although there is still something underlying that causes it to itch. I’ve still not been able to completely remove dairy which may be a factor, but things are improving, and at the end of the day there is still eczema there, wheat is only a major irritant, so I may need to be patient here.
One thing that has returned in the last couple of days is a slight focussing issue with the left eye, something that had been bothering me for a few months before starting Paleo. I had it checked at the opticians and they said it didn’t warrant a prescription. Once I started Paleo it seemed to get somewhat better, but as I say has returned in the last few days. Maybe that is due to the deviance from Paleo last weekend whilst cycling, and eating a few potatoes over the last week. I’m going to try and be more strict on that over the coming days so will be interesting to see if there is a relationship there.
I’m still very happy with the changes so far under the Paleo regime, and of course the new found appetite for fitness, so definitely intend to keep that up.
Alas I am completely failing at the challenge for the month. I’ve yet to come up with a single concrete idea to record. One came during the drive down through France, but as I started to write it up for the blog I discovered the fatal flaw, so it’s still on the drawing board and not worth sharing. I am making progress with one of the work projects, which is the design of the guide for the 10 Parishes Festival. We’ve now got the basis of the page design for events and figured out advertising sizes, so need to just expand on the idea and try it for other page types. Then send it onto Pauline for comments. A couple more days should do it.
So, we are lazy, but keeping fit and trying to be industrious all at the same time!
