The dubious role of cats in aerobics.........plus pesto!

Hi Friends,
Actually, scratch the word 'dubious' from that title, for I can tell you this, absolutely & categorically, there is NO role for cats in aerobics, not one. Probably ever! 
As most friends will know, I've been working hard on my weight over the last 3 years or so & have achieved a weight loss of 6 stones. This has partly been done by old-fashioned portion control & calorie counting (& a 'Virtual' Rosemary Conley on my shoulder nagging in my ear) but I can't emphasis enough how important exercise has been, especially now I have hit those 'woman of a certain age' years where calories form into small magnetic balls of fat which ping onto my middle like lard tiddlywinks. I've spent my whole life being an Exercise Dodger (I'm sure 'School: The PE Years' will form a blog topic at some point) but I've realised this simple personal weight loss fact: If I stick rigidly to my diet plan alone, I will lose maybe 1/2lb or 1lb a week (I've been doing this a long time now). If I do 5 x 30-40 min exercise sessions a week, then that weight loss will usually be around double. I quite like walking (not more than 3 miles or I get bored & moany!) but for everyday activity, I do aerobic-type DVDs. These are pretty boring on the whole but I prefer them to the body conditioning type (Not convinced any DVD anywhere is up to that job, frankly!) My preferred exercise time is first thing in the morning as that gives me less time to talk myself out of doing it.

So rug rolled back to expose stripped wooden boards, curtains closed around Albert Whiskers who is zonked on the windowsill, I'm down to my bra & knickers going through the warm-up routine & stretches. Half way through the first fat-burning routine, Albert Whiskers launches himself off the windowsill & throws himself down full length smack in the centre of the floor. I try to adapt a step or two to see if I can box-step round him. I can't....& he's eyeing my feet. I move him. He comes back. I move him again, he comes back. I try to introduce a sort of new 'ungainly leap step' (you won't find this anywhere in the Rosemary Conley repertoire) so I can do 'Swing & lift, weird jump' instead of just 'Swing & lift'. I can't. I put him out in the hall. Next track. Ancient M-People number. I wonder for the umpteenth time why no-one has brought out a heavy rock aerobics DVD, instead of this cheesy nonsense. Then the meowing starts. I don't have the volume turned up very high because the music is pretty irritating & I don't want the neighbours subject to the same 8 tracks every day, so instead of the encouraging voice of Rosemary, I've got a combination: 'Meow & lift, meow & lift, leg raises on the end, meow, meow you can put as much effort into it as you like (& he is doing...), sounds of door being clawed to shreds, meows have morphed into drama-queen yowling.....' Then they stop suddenly, I sashay backwards while still trying to keep my arms going & have a peek through the frosted glass door....at first I don't see him, then I do...the bugger's all but swinging off the door handle! He must be standing on one of the lower panels. I decide to ignore this display of attention seeking. |No cat can need to gain room entry that badly. I manage to get through another 2 tracks, then realise I can hear muffled action in the hall. It sounds like someone systematically killing a doormat.......I work through the final thigh & hamstring stretches & open the door. The mat looks like it's gone several rounds with someone intent on world doormat domination & there is a sad little heap of loose pile from the hall rug. And Albert Whiskers? Does he bowl me over in his efforts to get into the denied room so as to continue whatever he was doing that was so important? No! He doesn't want to go in there at all. In fact, as I opened it, he was already heading off the conservatory to catch some rays. Bloody cats!! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em!!

In case anyone is thinking that all I've done since my last post is jump around to bad music in my frillies (I refuse to spend my clothing budget on anything as tedious as sportswear when I could be spending it on dresses & boots!), I should add that I have been busy in the veggie garden & turning nature's bounty into stuff for the freezer. I've picked 2lbs aubergines & turned those into a tasty curry, a really low calorie recipe too, & have started picking & freezing our chillies. These are jalapenos......so big & shiny, looks like a great year for them.

I also cut the basil, grown in large pots this year. The hot weather has brought this on well. Basil is a sniffy crop to grow. It gets just so far in a colder summer, then says it isn't playing any more, & what's more it wants its ball back, before wimping into a collection of sad barely green stalks. 

Not so this year, though! A whole colander of absolutely lush leaves gathered & turned into pesto. This freezes really well in small plastic pots & is great for providing a taste of summer in the depths of winter.

The small bowl is lemon basil pesto, to which I added a chopped hot red chilli for a bit of a different vibe. This is the first year I've had a successful crop of lemon basil. It's fab chopped into mayonnaise with some crushed garlic too.
So I've been quite productive. If I don't post again, you'll know I am trapped under a mountain of courgettes awaiting a winch or preferably a fireman's lift!
Have a good weekend, everyone,
C x