For most who know me, I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise when I say I’ve not been happy for a while. It’s been quite difficult to pin the down causes of this unhappiness and for the past year or so I’ve been trying to do just that. I’m not sure I’ve discovered where it came from, but I have obviously been fully aware of the effects for a while. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into detail.
But I’ve learned something over the last week. I’ve learned that it’s all down to me. That happiness isn’t something that can be achieved by looking outwards, but rather by looking at yourself and realising the things that you’re worried about, or scared of, or just unsure about can be resolved in your own mind. And that’s the new attitude I’ve been trying to adopt. To be more open, out-going and out-spoken. To make sure that I start to live my life the way I want to and not allowing my mind to keep me locked in any longer.
So that’s person I’m going to be from now on. If you want to spot me in a crowd, I’ll be the one with the smile on my face. 
I received a text message from an unknown UK mobile the other day, with the number +44 7797 806021. This person knew who I was, because it just so happened to be a response to a text message I’d sent to a friend in the USA. I thought it strange that a reply would be coming from a UK number I’d never seen before, so I did a little investigating.
It turns out to be the result of issues with US carriers having to redirect through a European server due to technical issues at their end. Which is quite a poor set-up in this day and age if you ask me, but it does go to show how bad the US mobile user has it. In the UK we take for granted unlimited this and free access to that. But for once it seems the US are well behind the times when it comes to their cellular network.
My recently emigrated friend has to pay to receive calls as well as make them. She also has to pay to collect her voicemail and had to wait before she could use her pay-as-you-go phone so that it could be activated. In such a vast country it is perhaps seen as necessary to pay for the huge network’s upkeep. But surely in such a vast country, it’s also important that those out in the sticks are able to maintain their connection with the outside world? Maybe I’m looking at this too simplistically, but it does seem our American cousins are being ripped off; that certainly makes a change!
There was an extra bonus to me from the error which led to this UK number being used, however. Although it’s a generic number used by the UK server, the system was smart enough to direct my reply to the correct person. Which meant that as I was replying to a UK number, the message came out of my standard allowance and I wasn’t charged an international rate. Woooo!
It had been a while since I last worked out and it was beginning to show. I’d never been skinny, but at least when I was going to the gym before I felt much better about myself and I did see a significant difference in the way I looked and the energy I had. Since quitting Fitness First I’d begun to notice how lethargic I was once more becoming and how even my walk into work was becoming a struggle.
So I’ve done something about it; I’ve joined LA Fitness. I’m a little bit more optimistic this time about what I believe I can achieve, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the gym is just across the road from the office and whether or not I feel up to it, I’m more likely to go after work simply because I’ve got no excuse not to.
Secondly, and importantly, there are quite a few people in the office who go to the same gym and I’m hopeful they will drag me over whenever I do start to feel I can’t be bothered. They’ve even persuaded me to go to spin class with them on Wednesday lunchtimes, which I’m currently a little apprehensive about but hopeful that no matter how much it hurts initially, I shall still want to go back week in, week out.
I’m also taking the advice of the chap who did my induction and changing my diet entirely. Gone are processed foods, breads, regular pasta etc. In their place I’ll have fruits, veg, fish, chicken and brown pasta/rice. I’ll also be eating throughout the day whenever I’m hungry, rather than saving it up for specific meal times. It’s a struggle at the minute as it’s something entirely new to me, but it’ll get easier as the weeks go by, I’m quite sure.
Of course you do need the occasional treat, so I’m writing this as I sit down to a Costa coffee. But I shall take that into account when working out what I should eat for the rest of the day and adjust my meals accordingly.
Since my induction on Tuesday I’ve been three times and I’ll be going again tomorrow. I don’t want to push myself into going too often, but I think four times a week sounds about right. If I can keep this up (and one of those days is spin) I’m sure I’ll easily reach my goal of losing 4% body fat within three months. I’m feeling better already and it’s not been a week yet – it’s incredible how cutting the crap from your diet really does help.
I’ll be sure to keep you good folk up-to-date with how I’m getting along.
