The Widening Participation (WP) CTGF team have been rather quiet on the blogging front throughout May, and this is through the fault of their team leader (me!) rather than any lack of effort in fitness on their part! It is an incredibly busy month for us, as I’m sure it is for all teams, but that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Every single member of the WP team took part, and it really did create a buzz amongst team members. Whilst we wouldn’t be winning any prizes for most committed team in terms of quantity (although the two Chris’ in the team should be nominated for individual awards – they’ve been doing something or other probably every day/lunch!!), in terms of quality there was still a significant impact, and an impact that I believe will be longer lasting than any of us expected.

 The main things we learnt…. 

• That lunch times are a valuable resource!! It’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut of wolfing down food at our desks, perhaps breaking from work just long enough to check our own emails at most! We’ve grabbed every opportunity of rain free days (I think there were some, right?) to get outdoors and have a brisk walk around Stanmer Park. In discussions since then we’ve all agreed that not only have we enjoyed being out, it actually helps you refocus for the afternoon, so this will definitely continue (although the sunny days may not…).
• That it’s not too late! Thanks to Kev, in the SRS team, and his magic scales, we had some before and after results of all sorts of measures, like weight, body fat, muscle tone, and even metabolic age. We didn’t insist that those results were shared, but across the team there were all sorts of improvements before and after. The biggest difference was Janet, who also introduced a change to her diet, following the 5/2 plan – with two days of fasting a week, coupled with healthy eating on the remaining days, and lost some considerable poundage on the scales!! One problem though, she now needs to go shopping for a new wardrobe, well deserved! J I’m afraid I let the team down on this front, and actually gained ½ a stone, but at 18 weeks pregnant I think that’s excusable.
• One member of our team, who was a self-confessed exercise ‘newbie’, took part in Mountain Biking, badminton, and more, and although she may not be packing her bags for a mountain ride expedition anytime soon, she has found that the feeling after exercise (those endorphins!) were worth it – commenting that she suddenly realised why people bother “with this exercise nonsense”! She has since gone out and purchased some running shoes with very commendable intentions of starting jogging from this point onwards, and committed to getting in fit… in June! This I think has been echoed across the team, so another colleague took part in a class, that although they enjoyed at the time, wasn’t quite for them, but have been inspired to take up other activities as a result.
• There is an over-reliance on caffeine in our office! This has been one we’ve recognised for a while, and we’ve surprised ourselves this month with the array of herbal and fruity teas we’ve enjoyed, and they will stay as a firm part of our ‘tea club’ purchases! One team member gave up caffeine entirely during work hours, no mean feat but achieved!
• On a personal level, I’ve found that CTGF helped me recognise that pregnancy is not an excuse to slack off. With not wanting to let down the team, I discussed with the Sussex Sport antenatal specialist (Jenny), what I can and can’t do exercise wise, something that – without the motivation of CTGF – I might have convinced myself was unnecessary.  Although I have had very little time to use the facilities here, I’ve taken her advice into short workouts at home, and in my local gym, and am glad that this has made me think carefully about staying as active as possible  - so thanks Jenny!

I haven’t blogged for a while now, I have the excuse of having been away and generally bogged down since I got back.. there definitely hasn’t been any slacking on the ‘get fit’ challenge though (well, much…)!

 The excitement and buzz in the office has died down somewhat, with determination now not so much quashed, but aligned to more realistic goals! I think this is a really good thing, as team members are recognising that only small changes are required to have a big impact – a total overhaul on your way of life / routine is not entirely necessary (cf. with particularly ambitious plans being hastily announced in the first few days). This means the exercise (no pun intended) will have more of a long term impact, than if we were going for unsustainable amounts of activity and restriction. … I now realise that this sounds like I’m making excuses for slacking, but we’re really not!!!

 We’ve attended a few classes as teams, including some team members who have never yet used any of the exhaustive sports facilities/ opportunities on offer at Sussex. This I think is something that will continue well after the end of the challenge period – in fact, after an amazingly good fun hoop class yesterday, we are now championing for the introduction of a staff only hoop class- progress indeed for an office where just 3 out of our 20 had gym memberships in April! Circuits is also now of particular interest – I think it is sometimes perceived as much scarier and intensive that it needs to be, and many colleagues commented on the fact that they like you could adapt the exercises to suit your ability / fitness level.

 I think it is fair to say that no team members needed coercion into ‘getting fit’ (ultimately, most people would like to achieve this I’d like to think?), but the apprehension actually surrounded time/ ability/ commitment, the usual. We have quickly realised that lunchtime exercising is not a daunting or disruptive to your day as is often believed, and it’s a perfect time to be investing in your health and fitness.

 Another aspect of the challenge that I’ve found surprisingly…. challenging(!) is the 5-a-day fruit and veg aspect. I thought this would be the easiest part, as I eat very little meat and love veg. I’ve been required to closely monitor how much I am actually having and, having been on holiday for over a week and eating out regularly, I have found that any day that is outside of normal eating routine, results in a shockingly low intake of the good stuff (a bit of lettuce in a small sandwich can hardly count…). I am now stepping it up a gear though, and was given a blender for my birthday last week – smoothie time!!

Sorry for a looong blog, will keep ‘em shorter from now on.

Ok, so we’re 3 days in and we're feeling great! It seems a little competition goes a long way in terms of motivating us lot – with the two team in one/two offices, there are plenty of opportunities to compare notes and encourage/ berate!  Some have already resorted to very nasty tactics, Adam W has chosen to abstain from biscuits for the duration of the challenge, gaining a point for every day he goes without. Chocolate hobnobs are a particular weakness of his, and the past two days in a row there has been a mysterious donation of said biscuits in the kitchen. Now that’s just not nice.

Aside from that, the two teams are actually working closely together in this – it’s really quite lovely! The aforementioned biscuits are still in our kitchen, and that says a lot, they would usually have been inhaled within one afternoon at most. We’re sharing fruit and 5-a-day portion tips. We’ve also signed up for group circuits, badminton, and a team dual at volleyball towards the end of the month, and almost all team members have signed up for something new independently.  Injuries and aches are, unfortunately, inevitable… we have some aching legs, tired feet, and tennis elbow (well kind of, it’s more tennis arm – is that a real thing?). But no pain, no gain right?

The two nominated team leaders – Mr Betts and myself- are letting our sides down and are off on holidays throughout May! I’m off from tomorrow, and going to Scotland for a week. I’m hoping for plenty of opportunities to fit in exercise every day - hiking, kayaking, cycling, but it might end up being a case of sitting in the hotel and watching the rain from our window.. I will hopefully blog on progress while I’m away, and will be leaving the team motivating (aka coercing) to the ultra ultra competitive Chris D (he could give Kev a run for his money in terms of determination – competitive to a fault!)..

Sooo, a good start, feeling confident, game on, let’s go!

Well, it starts today! When we (in the office of SRS and WP) decided to take part in the Commit to Get Fit challenge, we had 15 willing (or somewhat coerced!!) participants and so needed to split into two teams. This is when I realised it was likely to become competitive…even more so when the other team will be lead by a 52 Marathon Man, motivational speaker, and general fitness fanatical! But I’m as competitive as the next person, especially when it comes to team challenges…

So we decided to add another dimension to the already great challenge set by Sussex Sport, and between the two teams we will be competing to see who can have the ‘healthiest’ team for the month of May! We have scoring cards and will get one point for every day we take part in some form of activity that could be classed as ‘exercise’; an additional point if the session lasts one hour or more; an additional point if the activity is new (ie. something we haven’t tried before); then a point for getting our 5 a-day and a point from abstaining from our nominated food weakness – mine being (yes I know, it’s terrible) – Coca Cola – I love the stuff!

So, it's the morning of day one and everyone has arrived in the office positively bouncing with enthusiasm (kind of…), lunch boxes filled with salads and fruits, and nervously watching the weather in anticipation of the Boundary walk tomorrow, which most team members will be doing (we’re thinking wellies will be a necessity). Watch this space, we’re feeling confident, we have our gym passes and we’re raring to go!!!

Go 'Team Winners'!!