Smug

She said it would happen.
It did happen.
The smiling assassin (aka personal trainer Helen Bye...she's not so silent any more) said I would ache after Monday. I thought I knew better - I'm a bloke, after all.
So what did I do? I went back to the gym on Tuesday for another 45-min session.
At 47 years old, nothing's stopping this lean, mean, fitness machine, I thought.
As I lay, aching, on the lounge floor last night, I did for one second doubt the wisdom of my actions.
But I couldn't tell anyone (you'll keep this to yourselves, right?).
I knew somewhere, she'd be having a snigger...
"Told you so. Now, let's try another set of those reps..."
It's like a new language.

                                         Abbeycroft's 'Smiling Assassin'

Hurting...official

I've just looked on the Abbeycroft Leisure website.
It's a lovely website, full of smiling people, all looking fit and like they could do with a good dose of calories.
Even the people taking part in spin, boxercise and zumba are all smiling.
I went along for my first session today - smiling, as I thought that was de rigeur.
Everyone else smiled back - I'm guessing they knew what was coming. Hell, I even turned up 15 minutes early to warm up.
And I was correct. Trainer Helen Bye (let's just call her the silent assassin) had me pulling, pushing, rotating, lifting and bending. The pulling and pushing were fine...boy was I smiling. But the rotating and bending proved a little more challenging to someone of a certain age and, ahem, fitness level.
I had warned Helen that I tended to swear under pressure (at least I got that part right).
And now I'm back in my nice office, sitting in my nice, comfy chair. I'll probably stay here until everyone else has gone tonight and then try to move...I hate to see grown men weep so my co-workers are probably the same.
Thanks Helen. All your own work!
I even texted her to let her know how much damage she had done.
"Hee hee" came the reply. I sense the honeymoon period is over.
That's her, below - she's holding a 5kg ball, which is fairly relevant.

                                                                      The silent assassin


I've now dropped 4.1kg which Google says is about 9lbs. I'm not too sure where it's gone - probably down the back of a sofa, but that's £18 in the charity kitty from me, the same from my partner and the nice Mike King at Rougham has also pledged cash this week so it's all worth it.
I'm meeting another potential fund-raiser tomorrow and both a charity golf day and a tombola are new on the horizon.
Perhaps I'll even get back to the leisure centre. I quite enjoyed it really.
I might feel differently come the morning.

Pies

That Helen Bye is a very strange woman.
She talks about exercise like it's fun.
She thinks, for example, I'm going to be doing this sort of thing.

Yeah, that's gonna happen.
Does anyone know if they do pies in the Abbeycroft canteen?

The all-clear

Yay!
The lovely Lesley Goldberg (via Dr Brown) has given me the all-clear to exercise.
I've set up my first session with Helen next week - so better sort out some pretty snazzy gym kit over the weekend.
I'm thinking of a cross between Borat's mankini and Jane Fonda from the 80s. Is that what they wear these days down the gym?
Any help appreciated.

The waiting game

I'm hoping there will be a letter on my doormat when I get home - giving me the final all-clear to exercise.
Helen Bye, my trainer-cum-torturer, has already been on trying to set up my first session for next week.
Does she know something I don't?
What struck me on Friday in the gym was how the majority of people in there were glowing and looked positively healthy.
Ah well, at least I'll be giving Helen something to work on!
Here are some pictures from that photo session, just so you know I'm serious.

                                                      The woman with a tough job: My
                                                      trainer Helen Bye. Hope she knows
                                                     what she has let herself in for...

                                         Fitness manager Matt Hickey and Helen couldn't wait
                                         to show me the boxing gloves.

                                        Abbeycroft's impressive gym facilities feature everything
                                        to keep you fit ... and a lot to make me very worried

The kit

Prostate ultrasound provides images of the prostate and surrounding tissue and allows a urologist to examine the gland for abnormalities (enlarged prostate). 

TRUS (trans-rectal ultrasound and biopsy) can be used to diagnose prostate cancer in patients with an abnormal examination or elevated prostate blood test (called PSA). It involves taking small pieces of prostate tissue to be looked at under the microscope. The aim of a biopsy is to find any cancer that might cause symptoms or affect life expectancy.

At West Suffolk Hospital, specialist clinicians run three clinics a week to provide patients with rapid access to TRUS guided prostate biopsy. 

Each clinic sees four to six patients and over the year the equipment is used to test between 900 and 1,000 patients.

The Bury Free Press/West Suffolk Hospital Beat It! Campaign is aiming to raise money to buy the latest TRUS guided prostate biopsy machine, which will run along side of and eventually replace the current equipment which is now 10 years old.

Today’s equipment is smaller, more portable (important on the occasions the procedure needs to be carried out in a theatre) - and provides specialist clinicians with top quality images.

 

Monitor dropped off...good job I didn't have to take it again after the encounter with the rather obtuse  receptionist.

BP ...

Abbeycroft's Helen Bye picked up a slight issue with my blood pressure when I had my first health check, pre-exercise.
Today, I'm taking back the monitor after a week of home blood pressure tests.
It's nothing too onerous but worth doing to find out if there's a more serious problem looming.
Readings have been settled into the normal ranges for the week so I'm hopeful that the nice Lesley Goldberg, at Mount Farm Surgery, will sign me off and I can get exercising.
@ac_leisure and my personal trainer Helen - are you sure you know what to expect?

Poor weekend of little exercise with the snow - looking forward to getting my card so I can start some cardio.
The treadmills at Abbeycroft allow users to plug in iPods and have rolling video of a choice of lovely backdrops. I can't imagine it takes away the pain of exercise, but at least it's distracting.
Back tomorrow to Mount Farm to hand in results of my home blood pressure checks.
The dining room doesn't need to look like a GP surgery any more...

Met Matt Hickey, Helen Bye and PR lady Sue Warren at the gym with photographer Helen Whitcombe.
I've lost another kg.
Still taking my blood pressure twice a day and all's looking good for a start on training in 10 days or so.
Helen and Matt thought it might be funny to get the boxing gloves on and give me a pasting...the things I do...at least it's better than wearing the pink tutu in the arc in December. Bet you're glad you missed that one!  

Popped back to see Helen for my Bodystat analysis (and had lost 2kg).
Result!
No alcohol, no choc and no crisps (my big weakness).
She was chuffed and so was I.
The long and short of it is that I am overweight, bordering on high blood pressure and - the good news - have the lungs of a gale-force wind.
Body fat is 37% and I have 29kg to lose.
Gulp!

The weigh-in

January 7 loomed large - and the full extent of what I had signed up for came fully into focus.
One year, 2 stone, £2 for every pound in weight lost - and lots of gym visits.
Rewind a few weeks and I had decided to help myself - and the BFP appeal - by losing weight, getting fit and seeking sponsors for every pound I lost. ( If you'd like to sponsor me, drop me an email at barry.peters@jpress.co.uk )
Abbeycroft Leisure ( @ac_leisure ) had agreed to come on board and provide me with the trainer (take a bow Helen Bye), the facilities and the helpful advice to lose the weight.
I was nervous when I drew up at Abbeycroft Leisure's Bury leisure centre, but I need not have worried.
The atmosphere was very welcoming and I was met by fitness manager Matt Hickey and taken to meet the team.
Helen Bye, my torturer, has been with Abbeycroft and its previous incarnation for more than a decade. She was featured in the #buryfreepress last year when her family discovered a minute bird egg (you may recall it).
Helen took me through the basics and weighed me (135kg) and took various stats and blood pressure. This was high - and so I was advised to get a GP check before exercising.
Now to many people, this may be a real off-putter. But don't let it be so...I trundled off to see the nice Lesley Goldberg at Mount Farm Surgery and was given another check and a home monitor. Lesley explained that, even with medication, I would still be able to exercise. The home monitor is used over a week and I'm checking the pressure this week.
The appeal - which launches in the #buryfreepress on Friday via Andrew Fitchett (@BfpAndrew) - is to raise money for a specialist piece of equipment to detect prostate cancer early in young men.
The decision to raise the £55k required came after a meeting with the team from #westsuffolkhospital and PR lady Liz Hearnshaw.
More will follow on what the kit can do - along with pics from a photoshoot in the gym.
 

Mid-January, 2013

It must have been cold - cold enough to jolt me into making a rash decision.
The new #buryfreepress Beat It Appeal for 2013 was being planned and I thought it would be a good idea to raise some extra cash.
One day, I'll learn...