Achievements so far:
1.Bought a new and hot pink ipod shuffle and uploaded with long-sought after Mary Stewart audiobooks. My second purchase off ebay ever!!!
I fell in love with Mary Stewart’s novels as a teen as she writes amazing romantic action adventure stories based around independant women in their early twenties typically travelling abroad. Now it seems she has gone out of fashion and they are all but impossible and ridiculously expensive to get hold of but believe me her books are AMAZING!!!! I particularly love that you genuinely cannot guess the ending after two pages unlike so much of the vapid chicklit available today. I always hoped my life would turn out like one of her novels – reality it seems is not so kind and with a sinking feeling I’m fairly certain I’ve missed the boat as her heroines are typically 22-24! Saying that, I literally cannot wait to get reacquainted with these novels particularly as have also got hold of a couple I’ve never read.
(I’ve promised myself that I’m only allowed to play these audiobooks if I’m out walking and since I’ve got over 100 hours Mary Stewart to get through that’s a heck of a lot of walking!!!!)
For running or any sort of cardio, I need heart pumping, foot stomping tunes to keep me going, which is what my old shuffle is for and since my apple laptop hard-drive died two years ago – this shuffle also doubles up as a time capsule of the music that defines my early twenties and as I’ve been told that I can’t add to this without wiping the existing music, I took this as a sign to go buy a new one!!
2.
Last night I snagged an invite to a fashion show at Harvey Nics. In all honesty I’m not that keen on Harvey Nics as some of their stuff is a bit too cutting edge (insert rubbish/ unwearable) not to mention prohibitively expensive on my current wage. However in preparation for the fabulous new body that will be emerging from its current cocoon of flubber over the next thirteen weeks– I thought it’d be good to get some inspiration of what the less weight challenged (should that be WEIGHTLESS!) fashionable ladies love to wear.
Interestingly some of the best dressed ladies weren’t the models but the other guests. The models for the most part looked just plain miserable but then we were snaffling yummy sparkly cupcakes in front of them! (I defy anyone to pull off quaffing champagne and eating mini cupcakes whilst mingling gracefully – deserves to be an Olympic Sport in its own right!) I spotted one particular look from a fashionista that I’m coveting – the look comprised of black tights, amazing toe studded black heeled ankle boots with tassles on the back and a very short but high vis print skirt – SWOON. If I do say so myself, what I lack in current stomach definition, I make up for in fabulously shaped legs, so this is a look I feel I could definitely pull off. HOORAY!! Mingling gracefully in that ensemble however is a whole different kettle of fish.
I also met a lady who’s set up her own fashion label: Century 26 (if my champagne sozzled brain is accurate) and gave me lots of fascinating insight into the Fashion World - such as that designers only learn to design for UK size 8 clothes at design school, hence the obsession with small sizes and an inability of designers to flatter the more voluptuous figure. Top tip for those ladies for whom 8 is the number of cupcakes you can eat in one sitting rather than a dress size –Alexander McQueen is the way to go (fashion wise please not onto the other world). She also knew the buyer for Selfridges – definitely somebody to have on speed dial!
However back to the task at hand - I’m happy to report that I walked to Harvey Nics from Bond Street via Regent’s Street and then back to Green Park afterwards so must have covered c. 2 miles. YAY. Also discovered that walking, particularly in balmy evening weather like last night, is strangely addictive. Double yay. Current favourite spot to walk through is across Hyde Park Corner roundabout. Felt like I’d been transported to the Champs Elysee in Paris. (Definitely the effect of too much champagne last night!) Plus waiting at the crossing for the green horse to flash rather than the green man, always makes me smile as I imagine those trusty steads adhering to the green cross code!! These are actually called pegasus crossings. FACT.
3.
Got off a tube stop early this morning and walked the long way to work – this has to be portentous sign! Either that or was just trying to delay getting to work for as long as possible! Additionally I left work at 5.30pm walked to Hyde Park, completed my SuperChicks session with the fabulous Mel who kept me laughing even in the alwful weather and then I walked all the way home (this doesn't quite capture the effort involved but my feet sure as hell know it) -so in total today I reckon I walked 6 miles - this is now officially to be known as the Mary Stewart effect - long may it continue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4.
So as the walking is ramping up, I'm keen to indulge in some very special, walk-enhancing footware and not FitFlops, MBTs or Reebok’s new training shoes – something so special they deserve a post of their own so more on this later.
5.
As a plus, to try to reimburse the costs of this supposedly cost-neutral pastime (which I'm failing spectacularly at but thriftiness and I have never been that fond of each other), I have decided not to renew my Oyster Travel Card from 1st April for the next two months – meaning that from 1st April I have to walk EVERYWHERE I want to go in and around London!!! For starters this means a 10 mile return journey to work every day, providing I don’t take any detours/ start begging strangers for piggyback rides.
Challenges to overcome:
Challenges to overcome:
1.
Consuming less of the hard stuff i.e. chocolate is proving to be massively problematic – partly because I simply forget that I’m not supposed to be eating it, so deeply ingrained is my habit. Plus in my unofficial duty as cake ambassador which I take very seriously, (my desk at work is adjacent to the CAKE TABLE - yes we love cake so much it is assigned its own table!) I feel I have a duty to indulge and lead by example. Lastly when you’re working 10-12 hour days (contracts to be signed before next financial year), struggling to find replacements for two lovely flatmates moving on to pastures new (promise that incessantly chatter of current mission has not driven them away so if anyone knows of someone looking for a place in West Hampstead – check out spareroom.com!) and trying to adapt to a more strenuous/ regular workout regiment – I find that coaxing it with Chocolate and sugar just works too well.
(Loving the giant size of the bars!!)
Plus tis the season to consume your body weight in chocolate: Easter is my favourite holiday on this basis alone! However post April 5th, the reign of chocolate is ending. (Insert your own opening movement 5th Symphony Beethoven effect)
2.
Meant to be signing up for a 5k run for work on April 28th but totally TERRIFIED. Walking 26 miles is a challenge but one I’m sure I can achieve if I put the effort in. Running 5k feels impossible however much effort I put in as RUNNING is IMPOSSIBLE – I’m a girl who begged for a respite during a warm up jog last Friday and with colleagues already competing over training times – best time currently stands at an soul-destroying 29 mins, I’m feeling light-years out of my league. BUT in the spirit of this mission and the fact that I hate going back on my word, I really should do this. Anyway I have until Sunday to sign up – whether I do will be based on a training run I attempt on Saturday – god help me.
3.
Sore knees.
That concludes my (admittedly rather lengthy) mission update x
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