12 weeks down the track

I cannot believe how far I have come in the last 12 weeks. I have lost 10.6 kilos and over 4% body fat (I didn't check my body fat percentage when I started, only after the first 4 weeks). My face looks noticeably thinner, I have dropped a size in pants and no longer have a discernible shelf under my boobs (although there are still some spare tyres to lose). I still need to lose another 20 kilos and would be happier if I was closer to half way but, considering the set backs of the past two weeks, I am pretty damn pleased. I am also pleased that I didn't lose the plot when I weighed in this morning and didn't see a huge drop on the scales.

Weight loss aside, I can't believe how much fitter I am. I really miss running but am walking every weekday morning at 5.30 and did a 2 hour walk last Sunday. I have not used ET as much as I could this past week as my back has been really dodgy. I have seen the physio 4 times now and today she said that when I have had 2 pain free days I can start gently running again. I am soooo excited!!! I am hoping that I will get a run in on Monday as I'm seeing her again on Monday evening and it would be good to get her to check me over after a run.

Fireman Sam is still not allowed to bend so is vertical or horizontal. Needless to say he is going stir crazy. You can only read so much, watch so many dvds, play so many games before the novelty wears off. He's not allowed to drive and walking is limited. He rang me today after he had had a massage and I went round to his place for coffee. We discussed my training program (I guess talking about it is the next best thing to doing it!) and he wants me to walk for an hour every morning and try and get 50 minutes on ET in the evening. Push ups to be done after my walk. That's all he suggests at the moment until my back is better (and his, I guess, as he wants to come back out and supervise me). I rang him after I'd seen the physio and if I'm OK to run on Monday he has told me how he wants me to tackle it.

I am so fortunate to have such a close friend who is happy to train me and is as pleased with the results as I am. It helps that he is also such good friends with the boys and I think he and Himself will become mates when Himself is home all the time. It was his (Fireman Sam's) birthday at the weekend. We bought him some gift vouchers to shops that the boys know he loves shopping in, a lego firetruck, a sesame street colouring book and pencils and a whole lot of American chocolates (we have a shop that sells American foods close by). I baked him some chocolate peanut butter brownies and the boys took the whole lot over in a batman bag before they went out to play laser quest and then out to dinner at TGIF. You wouldn't guess he's just turned 37! He really misses his family in the States so I think he got a kick out of the whole thing.
(I have just read this through and it makes him sound rather simple! Nothing of the sort, just a guy who's a big kid at heart)

The fitness track is getting quite busy in the mornings now. I suppose people are starting to venture out as spring gets closer, even though it's still bloody cold some mornings. As in ice on the windscreen cold. It is still my favourite time of day, though. I love getting up early and walking in the clean, clear air and watching the sky change from inky black speckled with stars to a greeny yellow and then vibrant oranges and pinks. It's my time of the day and I can chat with a companion or listen to my iPod.

One has a new girlfriend. We will call her Emma. She works in the same building as he does. I think she might actually work for a company that has something to do with One's. I am always wary about people who get their meat where they get their bread but I guess the whole having a relationship with a work colleague is part of growing up! He had some issues with LGF earlier this week and was very stressed about it. I suspected it had something to do with him telling her about Emma (Fireman Sam confirmed that this afternoon) and Emma, understandably, felt threatened by LGF. After a long talk with Fireman Sam One realised that he really needed to cut ties with LGF for a while and all reminders of her have been removed from his bedroom and all photos with her in them have been removed from around the house (all into my bedroom at the moment!). Since then he has been much happier. I don't expect Emma to be around for any great length of time but she is a nice girl and just what One needs at the moment.

I had a huge hissy fit at work yesterday. My boss made one too many cracks about lunch breaks. A silly thing to lose it over but it was the final straw for this black cat. I was ready to resign. I was shaking with anger and frustration, rang Himself and told him I was quitting after lunch. I told several of my workmates. My boss spoke to me after lunch and I told her that I was ready to quit but I had just spent 45 minutes with a patient doing what I do best and it made me realise how much I love that part of nursing (the stuff they don't teach you at uni but that you just ... do). A lot of the frustration comes from top management and their screw tightening economic dictums. We are chronically understaffed. We don't get recognised for the things we do for patients but for which we can't claim funding and then the boss gets pressured from above. A triage phone call can take ages to resolve but isn't reflected in our stats. A simple procedure which takes 10 minutes can end up with the nurse spending several hours as we arrange social work, nutrition advice and just sit and listen to the patient or their loved ones as they pour out their concerns. But we don't get funding for that so it doesn't get reflected in our stats.

I have 6 days off (well, 5 left) and so will mull over things and decide what to do. I still maintain that we have one of the best health systems in the world - it just sucks to work in it, sometimes.

OK. Early start tomorrow.