At the beginning of last week  I launched a huge health kick for myself. To encourage myself I drew up colourful graphs and grids in a diary and combined a little boxing with weight training and lots of walking.

And I drove myself right into the ground. And not in a good way. You see I have health problems combined with a personality that thinks ‘where one is good, two must be better’ – a trait that often sabotages good intentions – and so I tried to cram six weeks into 6 days.

But it seems to be the only way I do things. If I have the do the same thing every day and build up gradually, I just don’t want to do it. But if I can change and push everyday, to see how far I can go.. I just love it. It’s feast or famine with me, on or off, and as foolhardy as it can be, I love the excitiment and adventurism of a challenge.

I’ve often been cajoled to take it easy, and advised that consistency is the key. And I completely agree, and would tell anyone the same… only to forget it all in the heat of the moment, during my next challenge over my health and body. Will I ever learn my lesson? Is it a sign of immaturity?

On a side note: do you ever think it is strange that you’ll happily put yourself through hair-raising (and possibly detrimental) schemes that you’d realise were ridiculous if they were proposed by anyone outside of yourself? Or is that just me?

Anyway, to my utmost surprise I think I have actually achieved my fitness goals for this week. Which is a wonderful: surprising even. I’m especially thrilled to have such an encouraging beginning, because with all my sleeping problems, I’d put on a significant amount of extra weight on top of weight I already needed to lose.

Also, for anyone else out there who might be undertaking a fitness challenge of their own, I highly recommend a treadmile. My brother recently found a second hand one for me, and it has made all the difference. I’ve begun fitness regimes in the past, but now I doubt there is a way to easily achieve enough cardo without having powered in-home equipment. I can be inside and warm, safe and private, with the tv on, and pound away.

I also love data, and that is exactly what the treadmile gives me. I have a heart monitor on as well, so that I know I’m in the right zone for fat burning, but not at a dangerously high pressure. And the treadmile tells me how far I’m going and what I’ve burned. That isn’t so great in one way, because you can walk and walk and still only have managed to burn half a choccy gluten-free biscuit. Still, that does make you become more invested in what you’re doing, and what you’re aiming for.

I also recommend grids and graphs and such. And use colours. I made a grid for the week, one square represented 15 mintues on the treadmile at 140-50 beats pre mintue.  So, at a glance I can see how many squares I walked each day, and the different colours, makes each day more interesting to me, and the whole process more enjoyable. And I alternated the boxing and weights.. well, only one day of each so far. Jeez Louise I can hardly move my right arm after boxing, and I wasn’t even at it for too long.

 I wonder what I’ll have done to myself by next Tuesday.