Been a busy week. First catching up with the backlog of work I couldn’t do while I took unplanned time off at Bryanston.

Went to the gym 4x this week: Monday (Strong class), Wednesday (Hybrid class), Thursday (SGPT), today (SGPT). I’m going for Stretch tomorrow, possibly Sunday. Today I deadlifted for the first time – an actual bar with weights on it (!) – 35kg in total, 3 sets of 5 reps. I’m beginning to have constant aches and pains every where, and my left shoulder / rotator cuff, and left upper neck is still slightly tense. But going to the gym really helps me regulate. I feel better after it.

In the Hybrid class this week, I happened to be paired up with a guy. He was average height, average build, so one would expect him to be stronger than me. But for some of the exercises, e.g. the one where we had to carry and hold a D-Ball for 30 seconds, he picked the lightest one (15kg), which meant that I had to pick up the second lightest one (20kg). I was right cranky, but didn’t want to say anything and hurt his feelings. So eventually I just held the ball for 20-25 seconds. When I told my cousin about it, she said she would have asked the coach for another 15kg weight, just to make a point! Haha. She thinks I don’t assert myself and ask for what I want enough.

Also went to Swing 4x this week: Tuesday (Shoreditch), Wednesday (Bermondsey – my first time at this venue), Thursday (Waterloo – second time), and Swing Den today (second time). I’ve now been to virtually every swing venue in London – haha! Swing Den was kind of funny today, the teacher (Ali, from Vauxhall) taught us how to “steal” dance partners, a concept I’d never heard of before. It hilarious but kind of awkward too. Kudos to complete first timers to swing dance – not an easy intro!

I’m thinking maybe I should dig up and dust off my ‘exercise log’ which I kept many years ago… as far back as 2011, when I used to do industrial quantities of exercise (poling, climbing, pilates, belly dancing, stretching, tracy anderson workout, cardio). My cousin said she felt tired just hearing about all my activities, and suggested that I slow down. But it’s good for me – the gym helps me release endorphins, and then I go to swing to help relieve muscle soreness. I also usually find swing relaxing because I can go with the flow, although I find the social aspect a bit tiring. But overall, my activities are really important for my overall well-being – they help me regulate and sleep better, through a very difficult and stressful time. I don’t have other vices or avenues to decompress really – I don’t do drugs, I don’t really drink much, I rarely party / go clubbing, I’m not seeing anyone; travelling is a good option, but requires too much forward planning effort at a time when I have a lot on my mind, and feeling pretty precarious.

Separately, today I finally got to properly start on one of my boss’s asks of me from a couple of weeks ago – ad hoc help to help drive the content for the ‘margin initiative project’. So he shared with me some of the planning files that I needed. And looking at the data, I realised that my boss has almost halved his team in the last 12 months – from 55 headcount to 30! I’m surprised I still have a job. And I don’t how long for, at this rate!!