Exercise

Mounjaro Journey – Week 40 (4. 5mg every 5 days)

flidfit Eating Out, Eating Out, Emotional well being, Exercise, Maintenance, Mounjaro

It’s been a week full of socialising — something I always enjoy, although it does mean the days seem to fly by.

On Monday, I drove to Oxfordshire to visit my sister, who lives about an hour away. The weather was perfect — wall-to-wall sunshine and bright blue skies. After lunch, we decided to do a gentle circular “walk” to the neighbouring village along a nearby bridleway. I say “walk” in inverted commas because I was, of course, in my powered wheelchair. It was one of those simple outings that turn out to be rather special: big open skies, countryside views stretching into the distance, the sound of birds, and the occasional stop to chat to other people also out enjoying the day.

Naturally, I took plenty of photographs.

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I’ve always been someone who takes pictures — nothing particularly artistic, just documenting moments and experiences. Long before the digital age, when cameras had film that you had to send away to be developed, or those wonderful disposable cameras with the little cube flash that clipped on the top. One of the lovely results of that lifetime of “snapping” is that I now have two large crates in my loft absolutely full of photographs.

I don’t look at them often, but when I do they are a treasure trove.

After my first husband’s sudden death — my daughter’s father, aged just 61 — in 2022, I started looking through some old photographs. They brought back vivid memories of the early days of our relationship and why I fell in love with him in the first place. He was handsome, kind, and above all, a wonderful father. Even after our divorce, we always remained on good terms. Those photographs are packed with memories of happy times and shared experiences.

These days, of course, most photographs exist digitally. With a large 27-inch screen, it’s a pleasure to scroll through them — trips around the world, people who have passed through my life, and moments that might otherwise have been forgotten.

Tuesday was a quite different day. I made a rare visit into Reading town centre to attend the AGM of Reading Voluntary Action, the charity where I serve as a Trustee. There was a fantastic turnout, and it was genuinely inspiring to hear about the work RVA supports across the town — from grassroots community projects to voluntary groups doing extraordinary things with very modest resources.

Later, I had lunch with a friend at a Thai restaurant. We’ve known each other since primary school, so the company was great — but unfortunately, the food was terrible. The service wasn’t much better either. Since it was my first time there and I had high expectations, it was a bit disappointing. However, the good conversation made up for the experience.

This week, I also coordinated a leaflet drop for a small neighbourhood group I am involved with. The local university kindly printed 250 copies of our letter, and my role was to organise volunteers to deliver them around the nearby streets. I enjoy a bit of practical coordination. About six neighbours came to my house to collect their bundles, and each let me know when their round was finished. It’s always satisfying when a simple plan comes together.

Friday was dominated by a rather less exciting household event: a new boiler installation. Not terribly interesting to write about — other than the fact it was a fairly expensive exercise and I was relieved that the weather was mild while the heating was off.

Food at home this week has been a mixture of comforting and practical: homemade cottage pie, a slow-cooker beef bhuna, a fresh loaf from the bread machine, shop-bought chicken kievs, and a large bowl of porridge — which is actually quite unusual for me as I rarely eat breakfast.

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That porridge came about after a rather strange night. On Saturday morning, I woke at 2am and simply couldn’t get back to sleep. I’m wondering if it might be related to my Mounjaro injection, as it happened within about 24 hours of taking it. I felt oddly energised rather than tired.

So I decided to make good use of the time. By 8am, I had done a load of laundry and hung it out to dry, sliced my homemade loaf, tidied the cupboard where the boiler sits, emptied the dishwasher, and drunk several cups of tea. By that point, I definitely needed something more substantial to eat, so porridge it was — with vanilla protein powder and a banana. The rest of the day’s eating ended up being rather out of sync, though!

Regarding Mounjaro, I’ve continued to slowly reduce my dose. I can definitely notice the difference now. My appetite is slightly stronger, my sweet tooth is returning, and my portion sizes have increased marginally. Interestingly, even though I’ve been regularly eating over my daily 1172 calorie allocation by around 200–600 calories — I’m still maintaining very comfortably. I should add that I exercise for around an hour every day – which earns me an additional 330-350 calories.

In fact, the scales are still nudging downwards.

Weight this week: 55.2kg (about 8st 9½lb)
Last week: 55.4kg (about 8st 10lb)
Weekly change: −0.2kg (about ¼lb)
Goal weight: 55kg (about 8st 9lb)

Overall, it’s been a busy week filled with people, projects, sunshine, and good home cooking — with the scales still behaving themselves nicely. And that, I think, is a pretty good place to be.

Mounjaro Journey – Week 37 (5mg every 5 days)

flidfit Disability, Exercise, Mounjaro, Pain, Recipes, Travel & Holidays

A nice quiet week, ahead of what promises to be a busy one.

The most exciting event was a visit to our chiropractor. We tend to go every couple of months for a “maintenance” appointment. I first started seeing him just under five years ago after a fall on holiday in Majorca, when I tripped, fell forwards headlong to the ground, hitting my head on a wall on the way down.  Because of my shortened arms, I wasn’t able to break my fall properly and sustained a severe whiplash injury.

Immediately afterwards, I had no sensation in my legs and intense pins and needles in both arms — like shards of glass embedded in my hands. I was whisked off to hospital by ambulance. Unfortunately, unlike in the UK, there didn’t seem to be any assessment of neck pain or altered sensation. I suspect quite a bit was lost in translation, and perhaps the paramedics didn’t fully grasp that I had effectively head-butted a wall.

Thankfully, the fall happened right outside our hotel, and the receptionist — who spoke excellent English — came out to interpret for the paramedics.  I had to request that they fit a neck brace before they moved me, as at that point, I knew I’d damaged my neck and potentially my cervical spine.

I was x-rayed, told my neck was fine, and sent back to the hotel in a taxi. I was in excruciating pain and hadn’t been offered any pain relief. I took ibuprofen and paracetamol, and the following day, attended a different hospital where I was properly examined and given stronger medication. The remainder of the holiday was slightly marred by pain. On returning home, my GP advised me to go straight to hospital to rule out a possible bleed on the brain.

Thankfully, there wasn’t one.

That episode led me to our wonderful chiropractor, whom I’ve been seeing ever since. Treatment involves consultation, manipulation, exercises, traction machines, and six-monthly progress reviews with x-rays and posture imaging. The visits keep me relatively pain-free and have made me much more disciplined about daily neck stretches and limiting too much time at the computer. The staff are lovely too — we always feel genuinely welcomed.

It looks like an instrument of torture, but this neck traction became part of my regular routine for a while!

The weather this week has been rain, rain and more rain — until Saturday, when we were treated to bright blue skies and sunshine. It was bitterly cold though. The log burner has been on all day, most days, and turned down low overnight.

On the Mounjaro front, I’ve definitely noticed an increase in appetite and a drop in appetite suppression. I’m mindful not to let that derail my efforts. I plan my meals carefully so they’re ready to go, which prevents me from reaching that point of ravenous hunger where anything in sight seems appealing. The 5mg dose still takes the edge off, thankfully, but it’s a reminder that the habits I’ve built over the past decade really matter.

Cooking has been simple and satisfying. I made a delicious tomato soup using tomatoes from last year’s harvest — pulp that had been cooked and frozen. A small bowl is incredibly satiating. We’ve also had salads, prawn stir-fry, sticky beef stir-fry, and steak with mushrooms and onions.

I dusted off the bread maker and made a couple of malt loaves — far superior to anything from the supermarket. Once cooled, I slice and freeze them in two portions so we can enjoy them over several weeks. We took one over to Mike’s grandson’s family on Sunday, which was very well received.

A quiet week perhaps — but the kind that quietly reinforces routines, resilience, and gratitude.  Time to appreciate home-cooked food and my love of cooking!

Weight this week: 55.4kg (about 8st 10lb)
Last week: 56.1kg (about 8st 11.5lb)
Weekly loss:  0.5kg (about 1lb)
Goal weight: 55kg (about 8st 9lb)

Mounjaro Journey – 19 weeks, 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Exercise, Media, Mounjaro

A productive and productive week.  I’ve sorted and made space in my freezer and then promptly got to work filling it again!  Both soups made 10 portions, so the freezer is now nearly at capacity.  As the weather gets cooler, I’ve been making batches of homemade soup.

The first one was a chicken and vegetable soup, with added lentils.  The second was a spicy tomato and lentil soup made with the huge glut of tomatoes harvested throughout the summer months.

Both were easy to make, but the tomato-based soup required sweating the tomatoes down to create a really sweet and concentrated passata.

This week, with the assistance of my excellent personal assistant Sam, I completed another job: sorting out all the freezer drawers and updating my inventory.  The freezer is stored in the garage and is about 2 metres tall with seven drawers.  We roughly keep things organised together – meat, bread products, fish, etc.  I know it’s time to update my list when things have been jumbled up into different freezer drawers, so when I ask someone to retrieve something, it’s nowhere to be found!  Anyway, despite being full, the freezer is now totally organised, and we can concentrate on eating some of the items that I know have been in there for a while.

This week, the issue with the car’s steering was identified, but unfortunately, it was not fixed.  I’m waiting for a call from my modification/adaptation guy, and hopefully, he’ll come to take a look since it involves some of the work he did on the car when it was new.  Due to my shortened arms, some wiring and switches needed to be moved from the side of the seat into a box on the steering column, allowing me to adjust my seat position safely. It’s that wiring that appears to be impacting the power steering.  Hopefully, something that can be easily resolved and not too expensive.  I’ve not been charged by either of the two garages that have been involved so far.

On Saturday morning, we participated in a litter pick of our local area with neighbours.  This is something I organise regularly.  Not only do we make the area look cleaner, but we also use the opportunity to socialise afterwards in a local café.  I thought I’d try bubble tea for the first time and chose a “brown sugar bubble tea”.  It was very nice (a bit like a watery milkshake with large gelatinous pearls that add interest, texture, but no flavour.  When I returned home, I checked the calorie content of a bubble tea and was horrified to learn it could have been between 300 and 600 calories!  It was nice, but not THAT nice.

On Sunday, we were invited to a friend’s for afternoon drinks and socialising.  Mounjaro has meant that I’m not particularly enjoying alcohol now.  I’m not a big drinker anyway – those days are far behind me!  I bought and tried a bottle of Tanqueray Alcohol Free Spirit.  It most definitely doesn’t taste of gin but has a pleasant botanical juniper and citrus combination.

Oh!  I phoned in to LBC London radio on Sunday morning.  The discussion was about 1 in 20 people in this country now being on weight loss medication…  You can hear me on the radio (this morning) at 02:26:03 into the programme. Talking about my weight loss journey 😁

And I’ve also uploaded a little video onto YouTube.  What’s been your experience of using weight loss drugs and other people’s attitudes towards that?  Do you share openly or do you only share with those you trust to support you and not to be critical of your choice?  I’ve got a very tough skin, but I hate bullying in any form and don’t tolerate it. I’ll call it out when I can, but the power of social media and those keyboard warriors do sometimes serve to defeat me!  Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to receive notifications of new posts.

Measurements!  As promised, I’ve done my body measurements and am pleased to share the results here.I’m pleased that the centimetres are going from those places that I want them to.  I’m always astonished by the change, but I am feeling it in my clothes.    I’ve been buying a few new tops (t-shirts) on Vinted.  I’m steering away from my usual patterned blouses – new shape, new style!

Weight:  60.5kg – 500g off (about 1lb)

Weight to lose:  3.5kg  (about half a stone/7lbs)

 

 

 

 

Mounjaro Journey – 16 weeks, 5mg

flidfit Disability, Emotional well being, Exercise, Mounjaro

It’s been a good week.

My regular support / right-hand woman is away on holiday, so the two mornings she usually comes to assist me have been a little more leisurely!  That’s not to say I’ve enjoyed a lie-in.  In fact, I’ve been getting up a little earlier in order to get things done she’d usually help me with.

I’ve been working on an idea to create my vlogs – seeking some expert input from my daughter, who has advanced social media/marketing experience.  I’m not after thousands of post views or subscribers, but I feel it would be beneficial to share some aspects of my 13-year weight loss journey.  I hope that these resources can help others who encounter extra obstacles to weight loss—whether due to impairments, injuries, medication side effects, limited time, or caring responsibilities.

My journey hasn’t just been about seeing the pounds disappear.  Yes, initially, it was about losing weight.  As my journey has progressed, it has become about increasing my activity levels and exercising, about developing strategies and habits to embed in my everyday life to make the weight loss sustainable.

Without these strategies, there is no doubt that my weight loss would have fallen by the wayside, and I’d be several more kilos overweight than I was back in 2012.

It’s also been an emotional journey. There is no doubt that I have grown in confidence.  I am naturally a confident individual; some might call me overbearing at times, especially in group situations.

The confidence I have acquired over the years has been about my ability to change myself.  As I’ve seen the physical changes in my body and stamina occur, I am reassured that I can continue to do this and that I can continue to succeed.

This week, I’ve also started incorporating some strength and toning exercises using resistance training bands.  I know it’s inevitable that some of my body parts are looking a little saggier (I’m deflating, my OH tells me!).  That comes with age… and we cannot stop ageing.

I’m doing these exercises (just a set of 30 reps each) to build/maintain my muscle mass, especially my core muscles.  I can’t use my arms to push myself up from a chair or bed, so I depend on my core strength instead.

Mounjaro this week:

I took a 5mg dose on Wednesday from a 10mg pen using a spare pen needle.

 

Weight loss this week: 0.0kg

Stayed the same: 62kg / 9½ stone

My weight did bump around a bit during the week, but I’ve stayed within my calorie deficit, so I’m just hanging on in here!

 

Mounjaro Journey – 15 weeks 7.5mg

flidfit Disability, Eating Out, Eating Out, Exercise, Mounjaro, Pain, Travel

Ever since I started taking Tirzepatide, many of those whom I’ve told ask me the very same question.  “What happens when you stop taking it?”

The short answer is, I don’t know.  Taking Mounjaro long-term at a reduced dose may enable me to maintain my weight in the future.

What I do know is that the extra boost I get from the drug in terms of appetite suppression and switching off my “food noise” has really made a massive difference.

The use of Mounjaro to assist my weight loss journey is just one small step or strategy helping me to stay on track with my weight loss journey.  A journey that has been over 13 years long.

13 years is a long time to be diligently logging food, weighing every item that one eats and drinks, keeping within a daily calorie limit and never really taking one’s eye off the ball.  Social occasions, days out and holidays present a challenge.  I need to stay on track and continue as best I can with my journey.  One bad day or a week’s holiday cannot derail me.

Of course, I do relax a little when I’m on holiday, but I soon realised that I can’t really ever take my eye off the ball…. I used to, but then I came to recognise that it’s very easy to gain weight that has taken me a great deal of time and effort to lose.
Inevitably, I am eating and drinking more when I’m away from home.  I’m unable to weigh my food portions.  I am also moving less.  Without my gym ball, my daily exercise routine doesn’t happen.   I am much more reliant upon my wheelchair.  At home, although I’m not particularly mobile, I still move about when doing housework, walking from room to room, preparing meals, etc.  Each day starts with my exercise, about 45 minutes of stretching and bouncing.

The other thing I have recognised this week is the huge wealth of valuable knowledge and experience I have around losing weight when you have a physical disability that severely impacts on your activity levels.  It’s time to share that with – whoever wants to hear about it – and I am sure that there are many out there who (like me!) have used their impairment / illness / lack of mobility as an excuse as to why they are overweight and why they can’t lose their additional weight.

When I started on my weight loss journey, the road ahead was long, and of course I wanted to lose that weight quickly and without effort.  Once I accepted that it would take time and I could reap the benefit of my effort and see regular small weight losses, things became much easier.  I just accepted that I needed to do my best every day and to keep on keeping on, things became easier.

That was my starting point.  A severely obese (BMI of 44), very short, disabled woman who ate to excess and didn’t move at all.  I sat in front of my computer or in front of the TV.  Then went to bed to sleep.
If anyone had told me in 2012 that I’d lose 4½ stone in 18 months and would be exercising daily, I’d never have believed you.  Of course, written like that, it seems an incredible achievement.  I never set myself a specific goal.  I didn’t go from zero to one hundred in days or even weeks and months.  I began slowly – doing what I was able to do and gradually increasing the amount I moved.  My confidence grew in my ability to set and achieve weight loss and fitness targets.
A little corner of our garage provided me with my own gym
I have covered my introduction to exercise in the very early days of my blog.  I had a few sessions with a personal trainer from the Physio clinic I attended to explore cardiovascular exercise that I could manage.

From there, I progressed to strength training and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) in my own home gym equipped with a treadmill and other small items of gym equipment.  A little corner of the garage provided me with the perfect gym – just a few steps from my front door.

During 2014, we cared for a terminally ill relative who lived with us for the final 14 months of their life.  The garage gym provided me with a welcome respite from the situation.  Whatever the weather, I could be “at the gym”.  I didn’t have to worry about traffic, suitable weather or finding a parking spot.  I could fully immerse myself in my exercise session.

This was to stand me in good stead for dealing with the period of the two Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.

I started to run!  I gradually built up my stamina to walk for sustained periods initially (on the treadmill, whilst holding on to a support bar.  Later I began to walk faster and then run using the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill, which was available at a private hospital just a 10-minute drive from my home.  Running was something I had never done.  The last time I ran was at secondary school, not wishing to end up too far back in the very long lunch hall queue….

This week, I’ve started vlogging…. I am aiming to share aspects of my weight loss journey with those who may be looking for inspiration or ideas.  I’m using CapCut and YouTube, but – be warned – I’m learning new skills along the way.  Rather like this Blog, it will be a bit rough and ready as I get to grips with how to achieve what I want and the capabilities of the software, which is streets ahead of my own video-making capabilities!
Weight loss this week:
Last week’s weight:  62.7kg, this week 62.0kg
This week’s loss: 0.7kg (1½lb)
Total loss since starting Mounjaro, 2nd June 2025: 9.4kg (1½ stone)
Total loss in 13 years and 7 months:  – 27kg – down to 62kg from 89kg (4st 3½lb)

 

 

 

 

 

Back to exercise

flidfit Disability, Exercise, Pain

I’ve been exercising more or less every single day since before the COVID-19 pandemic.  My exercise regime involves bouncing vigorously sitting on a gym ball whilst swinging my arms for about an hour and a half.  This is great for increasing my heart rate as well as keeping me moving, flexible and pain-free.

However, whilst on holiday in January, I began to experience an excruciating shooting / burning pain in my right knee.  Anytime I needed to move from being seated to standing, I had to brace myself for the pain that this would cause.  I’d spent a lot of time on that holiday sat in my wheelchair and I believed this to be the cause.  Once I’d managed to get from having my knee bent to straight, the pain would subside.  But it didn’t really vanish.  At night time it was quite unbearable and would often wake me at night.  I’d then find it really difficult to get back to sleep.  By the start of May I was relying on Paracetamol to get me through the night.

My daily exercise regime had to stop.  It was just too painful.  I was really missing my exercise – not just the physical side of it, but the emotional escape too – time for myself. As there was no other non-weight-bearing exercise that I could do, I was planning to go back to swimming and see whether that would be a suitable alternative way to keep myself moving.  The difficulty with swimming is that I need support from another person to go swimming, in terms of getting myself changed and dried.  Plus it wouldn’t be something that I could do daily.

The thing I most love about my bouncing is that it is something that I can do alone, in the comfort of my home, and it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing.  I don’t have to worry about travelling to a venue and parking or getting my wheelchair in and out of the car.  Once the exercise is finished, I can just continue with my day.

X-rays arranged by my GP revealed “advanced osteoarthritis” – much to my surprise.  I’d not had any sort of pain in this knee before.  I was referred to a consultant specialising in knees.  I was reassured by the fact that he had seen and treated other Thalidomiders.

So on Tuesday 4th June, I travelled to the Spire Bushey Hospital, just over an hour’s drive from where I live.  The consultant showed me the x-ray and said that although a knee replacement would be needed at some point, this wasn’t something he’d want to do immediately.  I must admit I was pleased to hear that, as the thought of being immobile following the surgery isn’t something I’d relish – plus, of course, there is always the risk that the surgery isn’t a success.

One of his suggestions was an ultrasound-guided steroid injection (Hydrocortisone) into the joint.  I’ve had steroid injections before into my hip for bursitis.  The first was very successful, and I was pain-free for about six months.  But the following two didn’t seem to make any difference.

I was told that if I chose to go down this path, I could have the injection that day.  I quickly made up my mind to take this option.  The pain was increasing and starting to interfere with other aspects of my life and emotional well-being.

A lovely member of staff gave me the injection, and the pain was reduced almost immediately.  Mind you, I’d had local anaesthetic injected into the site at the same time.

Three days later, the pain was noticeably reduced.  In fact, I could feel pain in my other knee – which I’d never noticed before.

Five days later, I felt confident to try to get back to my exercise.

I’m pleased to report that I’ve been able to resume my exercise – I’m back to my daily 1.5 hours of bouncing!

Let’s hope that the steroid continues to do its job.  I am limited on how frequently these injections can be administered, and, from previous experience, follow-up injections may not be as effective.

But in the meantime, I’ll just enjoy my bouncing.

And getting a good night’s sleep….

Gardening, activity levels and mental health

Image flidfit Emotional well being, Exercise

I enjoy gardening – love my garden and it’s a place I like to be.  Away from the ‘phone and the computer screen.  Growing vegetables is great fun – watching seeds turn into tiny seedlings, larger plants and then eventually fruiting.  Of course, nothing beats the taste of home grown produce – picked just before cooking or eating.  The flavour of sun ripened home-grown tomatoes just can’t be beaten!

As well as providing a dose of fresh air (and it’s been pretty “fresh” recently!), even potting up seedlings can provide some great exercise and burns those calories.

As we move towards Summer, we get an essential dos of Vitamin D from the daylight.  Being outside, listening to the birds cheerfully chirping and the squirrels chattering lifts my mood.

Because of my limited mobility and restricted reach, I do need some practical assistance with certain aspects of gardening.

Early this morning, I was supported to set up a “work station” with everything I required to pot up several hundred tiny seedlings – cucumbers, sweetcorn, cosmos, sun flowers.  These seedlings have come for a short fostering visit from my Mum’s garden – to develop to their next stage of life, to be re-potted and then returned home where they will continue to be nurtured and then…. enjoyed.

A wallpaper pasting table in the sunshine, a couple of bags of compost strategically placed, a stack of pots, some hand tools and my shower stool, plus a small watering can that I could refill from the nearby water butt.  A large shallow tray at a convenient height where I could organise the newly planted seedling pots.

And I was ready to go.

I didn’t plan on the fact I’d work through a snow shower or two, but once out there, I soldiered on until over half the seedlings were repotted.  Then back inside to defrost and enjoy a nice cup of tea….

Back to it tomorrow!

Happy gardening everyone!

Virtual treadmill running with Dr Howey

flidfit Exercise

Soon into lockdown, I was looking to find ways to vary my exercise regime.  A regular session for me is about 30 minutes of various stretches for my spine, neck and shoulders, followed by vigorous bouncing on a gym ball whilst swinging my arms about wildly to increase my heart rate.  Usually during this latter part of the exercise session, I am listening to music and keeping an eye on my heart rate and my target (specific number of steps).  But this becomes rather tedious day in, day out.

I happened upon a “virtual treadmill run” around Dublin, a city I’ve visited a number of times.  The video was produced by Dr Howey (Richard) who has a whole series of running films lasting about an hour.  Pretty soon I was hooked!

Dr Howey’s runs have transported me to some stunningly beautiful places.  Many of these are around the North East where he lives – somewhere I’m not familiar with.  Along lengthy sandy beaches (Druridge Bay), the length of Hadrian’s Wall trail, Simonside Hills Trail.  Exploring the towns of Morpeth and Alnwick – along rivers and through woodland.

Screenshot 2020-06-06 at 19.54.11
Stunning Druridge Bay

I finish my exercise feeling as though I have been momentarily transported to these lovely places – running through fields of oil seed rape and amongst sheep and cows.

Richard has also run in Europe – Germany, Sorrento, Prague.  Prague was one of my favourite “runs”.  This is also a city I’ve visited, but as a wheelchair user, the cobbled streets were quite a challenge.  Dr Howey’s run took me through the old town; this was an area we didn’t get to explore much because it is pretty inaccessible with lots of steps.  I loved the feeling of running up a lengthy flight of stairs and actually found myself speeding up and getting more out of breath!

Somewhere I enjoyed but definitely not a place to visit as a wheelchair user was Pompeii!  Not very accessible at all, but I enjoyed the trip there.

Screenshot 2020-06-06 at 19.52.59
Pompeii, interesting but inaccessible in a wheelchair

I have also competed in a number of races and fun runs – this is a completely new experience for me and not something I’m likely to participate in in the “real world”.  I love seeing the other runners and I get that feeling of elation as I reach the finish line.  I’ve done it!

Screenshot 2020-06-06 at 19.59.25
5K Parkrun Whitley Bay

These wonderful films have really brightened up my lockdown exercise experience.  I felt I had to contact Dr Howey and let him know just how valuable his films had become to me.  Plus I needed to find out how tall he was – this man seemed to be a giant!

In my next Blog post, I asked Richard to be a guest on my Blog – check back soon to find out more about his journey and our conversation around virtual treadmill running.

Making exercise fun – virtual running

flidfit Exercise

Every day as part of my daily exercise routine, I do around 40 minutes of vigorous bouncing on my gym ball.  I find it difficult and painful to weight bear for any great length of time because of my disability and my damaged ankle so once I’ve done my stretches and warm up exercises, I bounce away to raise my heart rate.

Usually I’ll take that time to look out of the window, watch people walking by on their way to work or school.  I’ll watch the cars driving past and note with some amusement whether someone is running rate, or whether that yellow Aygo that passes at 8.30am has been washed yet.

The scene outside my window has changed and there’s less to see.  I love watching the birds nesting in the hedge opposite, the red kites wheeling in the sky above.

But now I’ve discovered “virtual running”!  I used You Tube to look up virtual treadmill runs and have found a whole new world (literally!)  I can run in Rome, Paris, London, Prague and even Singapore.

I’ve run a 10k in Durham – which was incredible – I really did feel as though I have been a participant as I overtook the runners ahead of me in the field and as I saw runners slowing down to a walk.  The feeling as I passed the finish line may not have been quite the same as the person who was doing the filming, but I held him in awe as I realise that he’d run in one session what had taken me over two days (2 hours) of bouncing on my ball.

As well as achieving my cardiac workout, I’m enjoying my tour of the world, seeing cities filled with tourists taking in the famous landmarks and sights.

Best of all, the “runner” climbs steep flights of steps to I get to see parts of the city that I may have struggled to access from my powered wheelchair.  That was certainly the case for my run around Prague where I enjoyed seeing parts of the old town that I didn’t see when we visited many years ago.

It wasn’t as cold either…..  Prague in February is very, VERY cold!

Covid-19 – motivation and maintaining emotional wellbeing

flidfit Emotional well being, Exercise
derrick-evans-108cfe8a-6df7-4994-9716-eabac511f1a-resize-750
Derrick Evans –  aka “Mr Motivator”

Unsurprisingly, the news recently has been dominated by the news of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Understandable alarm – and even panic (when it comes to toilet paper buying) has been well documented via social media platforms.

It was refreshing this morning to listen to a programme on BBC Radio 4 which was rather more reassuring about what we can do to keep ourselves as well as we can in the period leading up to preparing for the effects of the virus to hit its peak.  I thought I would share here.

These aren’t the “usual” things that we might have been hearing or seeing.  Spreading panic isn’t helpful or constructive and often has a profound negative effect on our emotional health.

The programme looked at how we should all ensure that we look after our own health – even before we consider offering support to others.  This isn’t just about our physical health either.  Emotional well-being is vital at this time, and that will become even more important if we are forced into self-isolation or when those around us are affected.

I have read and heard concern from those thinking ahead to self-isolation.  How good are we at being kept apart from others?  Our friends, family members, social activities and events, holidays and trips, days out…..  these are all critical in maintaining our wellbeing.

One of those who appeared on the programme was Derrick Evans, aka Mr Motivator.  Derrick is a Jamaican-born British fitness instructor who rose to fame in 1993 through appearances on the UK breakfast show GMTV, where he performed live fitness sessions and offered tips and advice to viewers.

I remember vividly Derrick’s lurid tight-fitting spandex outfits.  I also recall his infectious enthusiasm and big smile and listening to him on the programme this morning, at the age of 67, he appears not to have changed.

He advised listeners of the importance of maintaining physical wellbeing as we age and outlined some simple things that we should be doing daily in order to keep as mobile and fit as possible as we grow older.  His advice today was that we can use time when we are forced into our homes to concentrate on our physical activity.  He exercises daily for an hour and does a press up for every year of his age.  He described the value of music whilst we do exercise.

You can listen to Derrick on the programme here :  www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gcvg at 2:52:56 into the Today programme.

If you want to do one thing today to make it a better day, listen to Derrick’s advice!

The programme was really interesting from 1:51:42 when it came to other information about the Virus and its effects.