Change of plan , Ayo has opted for Monday instead of Sunday ! Which is fine as it is new years day . I did give him the option of changing the class last week but he said he would be fine . Lol
Lets hope he has a lovely new years eve;0)
So see you all on Monday 2/2/12

I have been very lazy since last blog . I did 1 Zumba and 1 hula class before Xmas and nothing else since !!!!
I have a training session with Ayo on 1/1/12 !
My hotpants have been sitting in the airing cupboard calling me .
I think I'm going to be in big trouble as I've eaten , drank and not done any exercise .
I'll let you know how it all goes .

4 sprints back and forward 
Kettle bell jumps forward ,sprint back and forward  repeat x 4 
Kettle bell forward lunge steps alternate sides x 4
Kettle bell lifts 20 x3
Press up 20 x3
Side twists  20 x3
Squats with weight lift  12 each side x 3 
Kettle bell swings alternate arms(changing hands in the air) 20x3
Double crunches with hold for 20x 3
Leg backward lunge dip holding weight forward for 15 hold for 5 x 3 each side . 
4 sprints at end!!!
30 minute workout 
Yes I was tired and felt very sick after but didn't throw up ;0) 

I wore my hotpants which was a good job because it was absolutely freezing in the park .

I noticed my weight that I used is made by a company called Alex . So I just going to refer to my weight as ALEX . Alex has become a good friend he always weighs the same ,7kg! Always helpful . 

Bearing in mind the night before I had been out with friends eating Italian at a local restaurant called 'locale' lovely food and great cocktails . 
So I had a few cocktails .

That evening after training I was out again for a friends birthday ... More alcohol and bat snacks . 

Tonight I am aching a bit but it's a nice ache as I can feel all the muscles I have used during training . 

 

Training today I've been very busy since last weekend .
I'll fill you in later .

Hi just finished recovering from a very busy weekend .
Friday night I did the sleep out in London at southwark cathedral.
It was cold and wet , but well worth the experience .
I never want to be homeless! Considering that we were able to plan and take with us what we needed we had it easy. I really feel for the homeless.
So check my last post for details of how to donate.

Saturday morning got back from sleep out. Slept for a couple of hours and then had to get up as daughter had secondary entrance tests! 45 min test took a total of 3 hours out of my life.
Returned home chilled for rest of the evening .

Sunday morning got up cooked breakfast .
Went out to meet Ayo for 1pm
Explained to Ayo that I have been poorly all week . He told me I should have cancelled. I said I didn't want to cancel. So he agreed to take it a bit slower so that my asthma was not to bad . We decided to cut out the running .
We did 30x3 kettle bell swings
15 side weight lifts in lunge position on each side x3
30 press ups x 3
15 double crunches x3
20 side twist with weight x3
12 weight lifts behind head (working triceps?) x3
Plank for 30 seconds x3
That was it for today just under 30 minutes.
I then booked for next time and said my goodbyes .

I arrived home changed clothes collected middle child and went to collect oldest child. We were off to excel centre to the taste of Christmas exhibition. That I had one tickets for on twitter.
The girls had a great time tasting food sample and collecting flyers. We then came home had dinner and now I'm chilling!!
Absolutely exhausted !!

I'm doing a sponsored sleep out on London streets outside Southwark Cathedral!
its an over night event on Friday 2nd December to Saturday 3rd December.
PLEASE sponsor me the money goes to helping the homeless over this cold winter period !
thank you

I'm nearly back on track , I did a legs bums and tums class on Wednesday and Zumba on Thursday ! No hula this Thursday as instructor was off. But I'm going hula on Sunday , yippee .
Feels so much better with exercise ;0)
I do have a month of socialising coming up for Xmas .

Recieved an email today from zaggora asking if I would like to write an article for there blog page.So as I was at home with a sick child I thought that I would give it ago. This is what I sent them

Hi
My name is Nicola Powell  I'm aged 38 .
 I live in London . 
I work full time in a children's centre looking after 0-3 year olds. Im an Early years educator. 

I have 3 children of my own and husband , which makes 4 children lol. 

I currently enjoy taking part in fitness classes after work and at the weekend. I do up to 6 classes a week ,zumba ,hula hoop, Bollywood dance ,Bollywood aerobics and Bollywood boxercise . 
I wear my hot pants to each of my classes so it's about 60-105minutes for each class for 5 days 
 
My weight has gone down by 5 lb in 2 weeks and I have lost a total of about 7 inches all over hip waist thighs !!   ( when I did the 2week challenge ). 
It has all stayed off! I got my hot pants in July !
I was a size twelve due to having chunkier legs ( small waist) I am now a size 10 ! 
How did I get my hotpants , I hear you ask ? 
It was originally a fluke, I had just started using my twitter account to do competitions. I'd had a couple of wins and came across the tweet
"Help us get to 1,000 followers! - Follow us and RT - to get a pair of Hotpants to try!"
I thought "ooh hotpants " not my usual outfit but could always wear at home or on holiday ! 
So like the other tweets I followed & retweeted! I had no idea what they were , I went on the web site and thought ok what ever, we'll see what happens . They emailed me ,I replied and then I waited ......& waited . I heard nothing, I forgot about them and then one day I thought let me email them and see what's happening , they apologised and my hotpants arrived in the post in the next couple of days. I was pleasantly surprised they were like the images on the web site and they were of great quality for a freebie . I was happy, now needed to read the website again properly and find out what they really did ! 
After receiving my hotpants I recieved another email  saying did I want another free pair for a friend !! Wow I thought , my friend just had a baby and was staying in Washington USA for three months with family . I gave her details and she contacted them and got her hot pants sent state side! She loves hers too . 

I also won a personal trainer from zaggora for a year it has been a god send , I love training with the trainer who caters the sessions to me and my needs . Thank you zaggora .
You can follow my progress at www.myptlife.blogspot.com 

 I also attended the very first hotpants photoshoot in London which was a lovely day out , photos ,food and meeting the zaggora staff ! I also made new friends , claire, Lucy , Lorraine ,Joyce ,Adrienne & Karen who were also successful hotpants ambassadors . We have all stayed in touch via twitter and Facebook , it's been wonderful . 

I always refer to my new hotpants friends as "hotpantiers " lol 
After the photoshoot we were all invited to the official launch party in central London.
When I arrived at the party I saw what they had used all the hotpantiers pictures for ... We were all projected around the room in the gallery on to the walls ! The photos looked fantastic ! We had cocktails & canapés and mixed with the media , lots of pictures were taken . 

I also attended the first hyde park fitness workout session with Jonny Sayle  trainer to the stars and Sonia Mkoloma England netball captain . Where I met a couple more hotpantiers ! Great session even got me jogging and I hated jogging !! Can't wait to do it again ! 
 
My husband hates my hot pants because it's not his idea of hot pants!! But he is loving the results he said he can really see the difference !!  

I started in medium hotpants I'm now in small hotpants !

Since receiving my first free pair of hotpants I have had to buy a small pair😊
My mum , sister,daughter and 3 friends have hotpants !! 

Twitter name: nicolamp 

They published it !!
But did forget to add in ....
On the 1st October I did a half marathon walkathon at night through London in my hotpants ! I did 14 miles in 4 hrs 13 mins with my mum and a friend all in hotpants . Boy was that a hot sweaty night !! ;0) 
The page they posted looks really professional , I'm very proud of whAt I've achieved /done this year !

http://zaggora.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/guest-post-workouts-in-hotpants-and-hotpantiers-with-nicola-powell/

Ayo changed time to 2 O'clock but I that was good because bbc 2 had a black and white movie on , the story of vernon and irene castle. I love watching black and white movies 

Got to the park same place as usual 
Work out began 


10 sprints forward and back 

Alternate leg lunges with weight held in front 20 times x3

Single with leg lunge with weight lifted up and down in the air 15 x3

Change leg repeat 15  x3

2 jogs  sprint  x3 

Squats/ star jump with weight  kettle bell swing lift x20 x15 x10

side twist mat with weight 15x3

Box press ups 15 x3 

Single leg lifts with weight on floor position  swing leg  in out lift weight with opposite arm under me (box press up position) 15 x3 each side 

4 jogs back and forth ! Finished

All in 30 minutes 
I did struggle a little with my breathing took my inhaler before but maybe the air was to cold .
But on the bright side it was sunny and looked like summer ;0)

My hotpants were on and kept me warm !!

Ayo was on time and ready to go . Grass a little damp but so be it . 
So far I've been lucky the weather has been good to me !

I've been a bit lazy lately ;0(
My hotpants are looking at me crying
"wear me , wear me!" I feel so sorry for them.
I was going to go zumba and hula Thursday just gone but I went to donate blood instead which means no strenuous exercise or activity for at least six hours!
But have no fear I have changed my PT session to today with Ayo as tomorrow it's an early start to go to a rugby away match in croydon ! I'll write later and let you know how it all goes , expecting aches and pains .

My lovely hotpants company have changed name no longer on twitter as @gethotpants they are now known by the company name @zaggora still a great company !

Car fixed yesterday so that meant I could get to classes tonight ... Yeahhh!
Zumba for an hour followed by hula hoop for 45 minutes . It's really funny taught my friend how to do a hula trick that I can't even do ! Weird ;0)
Body aches a bit now . Going to get some sleep now speak soon .
Hotpants on ... Hotpants off as soon as I got home .. Wet

Got my self ready for 12.00 hotpants on trackies on top trainers etc !
Walked to the park and waited for Ayo . He turned up dead on 12.30 and the pain started .....
None of the exercises are in order as its hard to remember when your feeling the pain walking home !
Kettle bell swings between the legs an up 20 
Jog 10, 4 , 4 
Side lunge dips weight 15
Side twist up in lunge position weight up hi 15
Holding lunge position 20
Double ( reverse) crunches 20 
Holding for 20 
Side twist with weight 15
Everything times 3 and on both sides except the jogs warm up /middle/end of session.  All completed in 30 minutes
All exercise apart from jogging were with a 7kg weight .

Ayo is an excellent trainer , encouraging , fun and dedicated !

Always seems happy to see me . We discussed the plans if the weather changes and the plan is ..... We continue as normal come rain , shine, snow etc in the park out doors !!
I said ok I can do that !
All booked for 2 weeks time .
At home now cooked dinner baked dessert had a hot bath to relax my muscles. Hopefully it will be enough after 2 pt sessions in 2days thanks to hotpants .
I will ache tomorrow so no classes tomorrow but maybe Tuesday ;0)

Woke up this morning at 6.30 ... Yes it's a bit early for a normal person on a Sunday !
But feeling ok after yesterday's training session.
But Definately looking forward to this afternoons personal training session with Ayo !
Speak soon

Ps weathers looking ok ;0)

I went to the gym on 2/11/11 yes my instructor was able to attend the class ! Yeah so I did a Bollywood dance class for an hour . It's a high cardio workout class.

Car broke down again .
I have been on foot and public transport all week

Yesterday was my sons 6th birthday so I didn't eat well :0(
Pizza , cake , crisps , sweets, popcorn and biscuits !

Today Saturday 5 November.
Weather is dry
I got up and got ready and walked down the road to the nearest bus stop got on the bus and went to Hyde park to meet up with Lucy from the hot pants team and some other hotpantiers for an outdoor workout session with personal trainer Jonny Sayle and England netball captain Sonia Mkoloma .
We spent over an hour in the park doing squats, high kicks , knee raises , forward lunges , backward lunges, jogging , star jumps, running on the spot,sit ups , the plank , leg raises touching toes whilst on back , side leg lifts. I'm sure there was other exercises but I can't remember . We worked hard .
A big thank you to Sonia as she encouraged me to jog in burst from Hyde park corner to speakers corner and back and the more I did the easier it got !
I generally don't do jogging but I actually enjoyed it !!
I'm now at home starting to feel aches and pains kicking in..... I have a PT training session tomorrow with Ayo so that should be interesting .
And yes all this was done whilst wearing my hotpants , just can't exercise without them my kit feels in complete!!

Picked myself up last night and made the effort to go to class ! Yeah me
Instructor didn't show up as they got stuck in traffic ! ;0(
Never mind will try another class tonight , same instructor , different venue .
I still wore my hotpants for an hour even though I didn't exercise .

Hi 
I'm back , sorry it's taken so long . 
Met Ayo on Sunday afternoon as planned .
I was 10 minutes late due to rugby over running , but I did phone and explain . 
Another great weather afternoon , bright but not to hot , not sure what will happen when weather changes !!!
Did the general chit chat , hi , how are you etc and then began!

We started with 11 short sprints 

Followed by leg lunges back to start 

15 backward lunges with a weight and twist to the side and a sprint to the end and back 6 times ( 3 x each side ) 

Sit ups with weight (forward and then up ) 15x 3 with cycle legs for 20 at the end if each set followed by holding out lower for a count of 10. 

Press up 20 x 3 sets 

Plank 10 x 3 sets 

I'm sure I've missed something , if I remember I'll blog it later.
 
Ayo always uses a 7.5kg weight for all weighted exercises.

Body was not to bad but did ache more by Wednesday . 

I didn't moan as much and yes I am enjoying it !!

Hotpants on!

Loving PT sessionns thank you ato @gethotpants ( follow on twitter )

Hi me again ,
I feel like I've been a bit lazy since the last post .
After my last PT session I did no form of exercise until Thursday just gone.
Just not good enough !! I just couldn't be bothered. But getting back on track now.
On Thursday I did an hour of Zumba followed by 45 mins of hula hooping in my hotpants At Seven islands leisure centre ,Rotherhite, my knee was a little sore but ok.
On Friday I agreed to meet friends for a drink after another Zumba class for an hour ,different instructor again in hotpants this time as Dulwich leisure centre.
Another good session followed by a 5*martini cocktail, diet coke, bar snacks and friends. Saturday morning. Both knees hurt, not happy as I have PT session early Sunday afternoon.

Looking forward to session aiming to do more than last time as no children in tow.

I'll post again Sunday after session and let you know how it all went .

Spent last night catching up with fellow hotpantiers at the hotpants launch party in central London .
The party was at The Mall galleries .

The venue was decorated in yellow and black , hotpants colours , very impressive .
All the hotpants team are lovely & friendly .

Hotpantiers are fantastic and friendly easy to get along with .

Made new friends and met up with ladies from the photo shoot .
We drank fruit cocktails and started with real cocktails at 8 pm
Lots of different canapé , not all to my liking but I did try most things .

It was nice to be able to put names to faces and see the fantastic results that everybody has achieved.
Projected on to the walls were all the ambassadors photos . Including mine !!
It's felt really good to be an ambassador .

Tonight I'm attending the hotpants launch party ! I'm very excited I'll let you know how it goes in the morning !

I'll be meeting my fellow hotpantiers again.

Hopefully with pictures

2nd session

Hi I haven't written for a while .

I was meant to train last week but because I was taking part in the London shine event at the O2 last weekend I moved the training session to today (9/10/11)
The shine event was like a training session as I walked a half marathon at night with my friend and my mum. It took us 4 hours and 13 minutes to walk 14 miles! I think we did well:0)

Today I meet my trainer Ayo in the park again but this time I had two children in tow ;0( due to the fact that my husband has had to travel abroad to bury his mother who recently passed away .

With the children in tow I don't think my session was as intense as before but still a good work out

3 jogs up and down a set path
3x15 Squats with weight 7kg and a jump up at the end of each squat
Forward lunges with weight on alternate sides along the same path as the warm up jog with a jog back to the start.
3x15 downward lunges with weight in one arm moving up and down on each side
3x15 lunges on each side holding on 15th lunge for a count of 10
3x20 sit ups with a cycle legs at the end of each set for a count of 20
3x20 waist twist using weights whilst sitting on the floor.
3x20 box press ups ( can't do full press up yet !! :0) )
3x20 planks with alternate legs out and back

Legs were like jelly when I finished but not as bad as last time !

Good thing is the weather held out for me , no rain during session .

Note to self do not take children with me unless I really have to !!
Spent time talking to children , trying to get them to listen ,go and ride bikes etc instead my 5 year old decided to help with the counting and try and use the mat I was using whilst doing the plank !!
My 10 year old decided to join in at the side which was not to bad

I'm looking forward to my next session which will be in 2 weeks

Yes I did wear my hotpants , without the hotpants on it feels like I have an incomplete fitness kit .

I love my hotpants !

Hi everyone it's been another one of those days ....
My mother in law past away in the early hours of the morning in Jamaica .

Later out walking with my husband and I tripped over and landed on both hands and knees !!
The only good thing is it made husband laugh on this sad day .
He said " I tried to save you !"
I looked at him and said " yeah right , did it all go in slow motion?"
He laughed and "yeah ,I tried but I thought I was moving faster , the girls across the rd laughed!"
"ah thanks " we both laughed but my knees do still hurt

Not a good day today 
Someone hit my car
Was late for an appointment which made me later for work!!
Work was ok until I stubbed my little toe on a wooden trolley ...

Oww very painful

Even more upsetting is that I had to cancel my zumba class and hula class as !!

Hopefully it will be better by next week for classes to resume .

I thought that if I did a class last night it would help stretch out my muscles.
I did Bollywood boxercise at Peckham Pulse.
It did work once I got half way through the class my arms and legs felt better.
But..... By the time I had got home sat on the phone withy nan for half an hour , everything had seized up ! During the night I woke up regular and reposition my body ... Oww, should I sleep straight or curled ?
Got up this morning and walked around the house like an old lady !!!
Off to work now. I work in a nursery with under 3's and little chairs !!! Help

I will let you know later how I'm doing .
No classes tonight I'm resting 

I forgot the sit ups with leg hold 20x3

Side twist sit ups 20x3

Followed by a conversation of...

" I'm going easy on you this week so that you come back for another session!!"
" Thank you "I replied
Ayo ( my trainer) "see you next time , I may bring 10kg instead next time " he smiled !

Not meeting again now til 9/10/11 as I was due a session on 2/10/11 but as I'm doing a half marathon night walkathon(13.5 miles) on the Saturday night 1/10/11!!

So I will be resting on Sunday ... Oh no I won't driving my son to a rugby away game




Please sponsor me
Thanks

My 1st session with a PT

First session with trainer 18/09/11
This is the first of many sessions that I won from hotpants ( www.zaggora.com )
A whole years worth of personal training sessions !!!!

Met trainer in local park , 
He arrived with a mat and a 7kg weight !!
" this is all we will need " he said to me . 
Going to take it easy today and see what you can do 
" do you run ? " 
"Oh no, don't do running !"  I said 
Ok then just jog to the tree over there and back three times !
I did 2 
did squats 3 sets of 15 
Did forward lunges with 7kg weight 20 steps ( 10 each side) x3
Half press ups 20x3
Some other lift  on knees one leg out one arm lifting weight directly up 20x3 ( on all fours)
Stationary  Squat with weight lifting 20x3 
Plank 20x3 alternate legs out and back in.
Lifting weight above my head height and down my back holding it behind me 10x3

This took half an hour .

I then strolled home with shaky legs  picked up conkers for kids at work .... My Sunday is done !

Hot pants were on whole time )