Frugal Fitness

This weekend, I've kicked back with friends and it's been great. Lots of wedding planning has been done  - and a fair amount of booze consumed, too.

Change 4 Life  - Choose less Booze!

And so this month, OH and I are looking to get back on the health and fitness plan with renewed vigour.

I've been doing well on my Weight Watchers plan, but it's all gone a bit Pete Tong this weekend, and not even the 2 hour swimming stint I managed yesterday would have made a dent against all the mead and Merlot that went down my gob. But battle on we must. Not only do we want to look our best on the big day, but we both want to get and stay fit and healthy, because our future selves will thank us.

Now, frugality and exercise are nary bedfellows you might be thinking. Well, it depends!

Because he's very goal-driven, OH thrives on challenges and targets, so he has picked on triathlon training as the thing he is going for. We have agreed  to budget for this, because it can prove quite expensive, but it's important to him, and will help keep him alive for longer, so it's important to me too.

Club fees, competition registration, specialist publications, cross-country training shoes, wetsuits, trisuits, competition bike, crossover bag... my life, the list goes on, but thank goodness we got most of what we needed last year. Doesn't mean my fella doesn't still try to sneak in extras, like golf clubs. I don't care how much a new wood would improve his game - it's off-list. Sodding cheek...


Depeche Mode Sings! "Your Own Personal Jesus Trainer"

As for me,  I am watching the pennies as well as my weight. I am following the Weight Watchers plan, but I'm no longer a member, so am missing out on the encouragement and support that brings, as well as the financial incentive to stick to the plan. I can tell you, its much better to attend a lovely, supportive meeting as I did a couple of years ago, but I still have all the books and can benefit from their freely available online advice too. I like picking up tips from the community, best, and read Cookie Lou's blog. You can also see menu and recipe examples and there are even exercise demos.

There are lots of other useful places to find information for free. I love the Change 4 Life website and have used their recipes before, which are very simple. I think it's a site most suited to 2.4 children-type families, though, and there are only 2 of us. It's an NHS site, but there are also lots of tips on the NHS's main site too. Check out the fitness guidelines.

I'm a member of Parkrun, and do a 5km run (when not hungover) with those, and that's free. I've also got a Leisure card which I use to go swimming, and that gets me discounted rates.

Also, already owned so might as well use 'em - DVDs! I can pick and mix my routines from 6 aerobic, 2 pilates and on tai chi DVD.

And let's not forget walking, gardening, vigorous housework, dancing to Spotify and stair-climbing all count as calorie-burning activities. I am proud to say I've climbed the stairs at work instead of taking the lift all year so far.

So I'm in a great position to become my own personal trainer! But I'm gonna need a star chart...

2 hours of low intensity swimming on Sunday earns me 6 WW activity points. I hereby challenge myself to double this number by Wednesday night:

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Success will earn me a pampering session - bubble bath, face mask, hair conditioning oil. All stuff I have in the house but haven't got round to using. I'll let you know how I do.