My apologies for neglecting my blog. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks on a personal level, but also with my weight loss with inexplicably weight gain and plateau. But the clouds have lifted and it’s all good in the hood.

The first good news is that I’ve today FINALLY (!!) lost exactly 32 kg, 70.4 lbs, 5.03 stones since my weight loss quest which started end of August 2008. I’m mega chuffed and grateful to all. This is a marathon and not a sprint. I still have a long way ahead but I can only take it one day at a time.

The last couple of weeks, especially this week, have been very hard. But even in the darkness of this week, I can be grateful about the positive changes in my life. Two years ago or so, this sort of week would have been “cheered up” with salty Chinese takeaways, pizzas and a big box of Belgium chocolate or two. But instead of relying on food for comfort, in my darkness, I continued with my exercise regime and food. Things culminated on Wednesday when my 30 minutes plus cycling on my exercise bike was done crying and singing to my angst partner, ABBA’s The Winner Takes it All. It could have been worse though because it could have been that favourite, Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive, my ultimate angst companion!

Sometimes in life, you’ve just got to ride the blues, wallow a little bit in misery and then hopefully find solutions to your problems, dust yourself off and get on with it. But enough of all that gloom, let’s celebrate some good news.

I’ve finally lost 5 stones!!! OMG!!!!

The last couple of weeks have been amazing working out with Michael. We’ve done all sorts ranging from him kneeling on a fitball whilst we box, the challenge being to knock him off the fitball. Try as I did, and as motivated as I was to see him flat on his arse, with my heart rate once going up to 171 BPM, as I boxed my little hands off, I’m sad to report that I couldn’t knock him off the fitball and that smug smile on his face. The boy is fit!

I guess other things I love about Michael, other than the fact that working out is fun, and we have a laugh, are that he keeps things fresh, challenges me, and makes me do things that improve my life on a practical level, as a disabled person.

Having practised ways of getting up from floor to chair in the comfort of our work-out area, on one of our outside sessions, Michael decided to make me get up from the grass in my back garden on to my wheelchair. That day, as I laid on the grass in my garden in the beautiful sunshine, and looked up at the sky, I felt indescribable joy and a sense of achievement. It was the first time in the 6 years we had lived in our house, that I had laid on that grass.

Having determined that I could sit on the grass and be able to get up, on another session, Michael decided to box from the grass! Sounds easy but was actually much harder than our boxing which would usually take place with me sitting on my wheelchair because of the lack of movement or momentum helping the swing.

I appreciate that this blog is becoming a Michael love-fest, but I think we ought to give praise where praise is due. Sometimes, I think that my work-out with Michael have gone far beyond merely exercising with a personal trainer with a view to improving fitness and losing weight. Our sessions have often resulted in practical things that are helping rehabilitate and enhance my life as a severely disabled person who rely heavily on using a wheelchair and less so on crutches.

My independence has been significantly reduced by the fact that I had stopped driving our car. I’ve driven twice in the last two years. Driving our car independently, involves being able to lift my wheelchair which weighs about 15 kg or more into the car. I had lost confidence doing this because it means balancing on my unsteady legs and had even lost confidence driving. At one point, I also had pains which prevented the sort of awkward lifting putting the wheelchair in the car entails. I mentioned this to Michael on Tuesday (we meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays), and on Thursday, he decided that part of our session will involve practising techniques for lifting the wheelchair.

In our indoor session, we practiced lifting the wheelchair but action man Michael decided that we should go outside and have a real-life practice lifting the chair into the car and we did! Great, tick that box!

With the wheelchair secured in the boot of the car, I did not anticipate his next suggestion to drive the car that I hadn’t driven in 7 months! But off we went for a little drive down the road.

Michael’s temperament, enthusiasm and excitement mean that he will make a great injury or sports rehabilitation therapist. I know that he has changed my life, in more ways than I ever imagined possible the day I decided to find a personal trainer from a Google search!

Thank you Michael but come on, let’s make it 5 ½ stones!!!

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