I am exhausted

I cycled to and from work today to avoid the drama of the tube strikes. I knew it would be tough but oh my, my legs were absolutely screaming the entire way there and the entire way back. My tires are a bit flat, despite me trying to pump them up twice, add the weight of my handbag and gym bag to the flattish tires and its fair to say that I felt every single bump on my journey and had to work twice as hard to move the bike. As soon as I got home I did the Shred and I know we are supposed to push ourselves but I don't think I will be doing it again after cycling. My knees were killing me :(

Day 8 of the Shred

I really really really didn't want to the DVD today after work, but I did it anyway. I'm starting to getting a little concerned that Jillian is making me lazy. I didn't go to Spin this morning and I really don't fancy Boxercise tomorrow. I don't even want to cycle. All I want to do is work out for 28 minutes and be done with it. Bleurgh.

Official weigh in day today: 138.5. When I got back from holiday I was 143.75 so that's a loss of 4.5 pounds in 2 weeks. Yep - I'll take that!

Day 7 of the 30 Day Shred

It's day 7 and I'm still going strong! I am a bit nervous about starting level 2 in 3 days but I know I can do it. This week I have enjoyed just doing a daily 28 minute workout but next week I am going to have to suck it up and incorporate some gym time. I think the week long break from the gym has done me a world of good. I had started getting bored of my same ole, same ole routine so I'm looking forward to trying something new next week. I have signed up for my usual Monday morning spinning class but on Tuesday I will be trying Boxercise for the first time :)

On a different note, I suffered from the single worst stomach ache of my life all night and this morning. My food was very simple yesterday - yogurt with berries, egg on toast, fruit, soup - so I think it was down to the cheeky vodka and slimline tonic I had. I noticed that the barmaid was using different brands of vodka depending on the drink ordered, so I reckon I got given the cheapo vodka.

Weigh in day tomorrow, wish me luck!

Zig zagging calories

The general consensus appears to be that one way of getting out of a weight loss plateau is to zig zag your calories, in other words, to eat a different amount of calories each day. This week I have zig zagged my calories :) I have a 3 day rotational system: one day of eating an average amount (1,380 calories), one day of eating a lot (1,700 calories) and another day of eating a little (1,050 calories). This keeps my daily average at about 1,370 calories. I have so far lost 2.75 pounds since Monday but that could be down to last week having been TOM, starting the 30 Day Shred or maybe it's a combination of everything. Either way, I'm pleased to report that, by a whisker, I am back in the 130s. Although I am happy to be at 139.25, I know that the hard work really begins at the 137/138 mark :s

Day 5 of the Shred was alright; it's slowly becoming less of a thing to report back about, which I'm hoping is a good thing.

Powerplate Review

I have the attention span of a gnat. To keep myself interested in working out I have to constantly find new exercises and classes. A quick Google search threw up the Powerplate as an alternative gym workout. According to The Guardian :

"Power-Plate is a machine that gives the body's muscles a high-speed workout by using vibrations to stimulate them to contract and relax. They generally contract once or twice a second, but by standing on the Power-Plate, its vibrations cause an automatic reflex muscle contraction of 30-50 a second. Power-Plate is a great time-saver due to the effectiveness of training and the fact that many muscle groups are activated at the same time. It's claimed that 10 minutes on the Power-Plate will have the same results as 60 minutes of conventional strenuous training."

Sounds great right? Only problem is most Powerplate classes are about £15 to £35 for a 20 minute session, which is a bit steep for me and I imagine most other people. However, the powers that be Google yielded a free trial session at City Powertone Studios in Central London. So last week Wednesday I rocked up to the Studios at the ungodly hour of 7am to try out a free session.

I was impressed. The session was a one to one with an instructor and lasted about 20 minutes. In that time I held 5 or 6 poses/moves for a minute at a time. One of the moves was a standard squat. Doing squats for one minute on a Powerplate felt like the equivalent of doing squats with 20 kg weights for an entire track in a Body Pump class. A bold claim, yes, but entirely true. I was working at the lowest "vibration" level (there are 2 higher levels) without kettle bells so there was clearly scope for a truly punishing workout. My instructor recommended that I do 2 sessions a week for about 8 weeks to see good results. That's £240 over an 8 week period compared with the £80 I would pay in gym membership fees over the same period. Is the Powerplate worth the extra money? I would have to say no for the simple reason that it was a bit boring. I like my workouts to be fun and I like to be part of a decent sized class for motivation and a sense that I'm not alone in wanting to achieve my goals. A larger group is also good for the gym version of peer pressure - if the person next to you in a spinning class can do another standing sprint, so can you. Powerplate sessions tend to be limited to a maximum of 4 people and the atmosphere is more zen-like pilates than let's-kick-@ss-and-sweat. And for that reason, I am out.

Click here to book a free trial at City Powertone Studios.

p.s. I completed day 4 of the Shred this evening after work, it's getting easier again - phew!

Day 3 of the Shred

I don't know if it's in my head or if it's because I'm sick but I'm finding the Shred is getting harder, not easier! I only got round to popping the DVD in at 6.30 pm, the lazy girl that I am. I have achieved the following today: watched Eclipse, trawled about on the internet and napped. I really am making the most of my sick leave! I'm back at work tomorrow so I will have to do the workout in the evening again. I'm about to have a small dinner of tomato and basil soup as today is a low calorie day.

Oooh, before I forget, I have lost 2 pounds since Monday! That puts me back at my pre-holiday weight of 140 pounds. I'm pretty pleased that it only took a week to get rid of those 4 pesky holiday pounds. Weigh in day is Monday so I'll be even more chuffed if I have lost a bit more. Now, I must not weigh myself again until then. I'm telling you, buying my own set of scales was the worst thing I ever did, I was much better off just using the gym scales!

Day 2 of the Shred

I'm still sniffly and I've now got a cough but I forced myself out from under the duvet and off the sofa and did day 2 of the Shred. I was a bit blase about it yesterday but today was a lot harder! I really felt it when I was doing the arm raises and side lunges and the jump rope really hurt. It's been about 30 minutes since I finished and I'm still a bit shaky. I'm now going straight back under my duvet and getting ready for Come Dine With Me later on. Over and out.

Day 1 of the Shred

I almost didn't start the Shred yesterday. My throat was still hurting and I had a nasty cough, but I sucked it up and put the DVD in. I have to say it wasn't as tough as I thought it would be. I managed to convince my boyfriend to do it with me and the 20 minutes flew by. He took on the role of my personal trainer (perhaps to avoid having to actually do the workout??!) and gave me tips on my form. I thought the workout was very simple and easy to follow. I have a feeling I will be moving from level 1 to level 2 very soon. The only reason I am not moving up straight away is that I have to do the modified push ups. I can definitely see myself doing this everyday for 30 days.

30 Day Shred Prep

I am a poorly pup! I am so p!ssed that I've become sick a couple of days before I am due to start the 30 day shred. I've got a sore throat, I'm sniffly and I have a headache. Grrrrrr! I am taking lemsip though. On Friday I was in a very good mood and quite excitable, my boyfriend reckons I'm ill because I tired myself out on Friday by being in such a good mood! Anyway I picked up my 30 Day Shred DVD this afternoon and then went shopping for a smart pencil skirt for work. I went into M & S and, guess what, I am now a size 12 - woop woop! Beep Beep! The size 12 was actually a bit big on the waist so I tried the 10 and guess what - it went up my thighs and actually fitted, but alas it was a bit tight on the 'ole hips. I was pretty stoked by that and did a little jig in the dressing room :) I ended up buying a cheaper pencil skirt from Zara for £19.99. It is the same skirt I bought this time last year (except the zip is now on the back, not the side) only it is a 12 and not a 14 :)

Even though I'm ill, I'm still determined to start the Shred and day 1 of the next 12 weeks on Monday. In preparation I did a big food shop. I bought lots of meat, veg and fruit. I decided to switch from salmon steaks to salmon fillets on account of the lower fat content in fillets, although they are pricier. I also picked up some organic pro biotic yogurt and bluebrries for breakfast. For breakfast, I also plan to have poached eggs on a slice of wholemeal toast, this should increase my daily protein intake whilst reducing my carbs. Speaking of macronutrients, I have decided to change my carbs:protein:fat ratio to 40:30:30 (it was previously 51:15:34). This is following the very consistent advice that I need to up my protein intake and reduce my carbs to banish those last few pounds.

To go with the DVD, I also bought Jillian Michaels "Making the Cut" book. I'm still waiting for this to arrive but I am hopeful that it helps focus my mind for the next 12 weeks.

I am going to take "before" photos on Monday so I have something to look back on. While I am at it, I will also compare the photos to the ones I took in January. I have lost 7-9 pounds so I don't think there will be a lot of progress but it will be good to see either way.

Peace out peeps.

12 Week Review

I've had a look at my food and exercise diaries for the last 11 weeks, it's been 80% good and 20% smack on the wrist - the right balance me thinks. I think I've been overly critical of what I've achieved so far. I saw my mum last night for the first time in a quite a few weeks and she was quite shocked at how slim I now am. I invited her to come to the gym with me as I still have my free one month guest pass, so she came and had a swim whilst I worked out and afterwards we sat in the steam room together. As an aside, it was great going to the gym with someone and tonight my sister is coming with me, I wish I had a constant gym buddy! Anyway, whilst in the changing rooms, she kept saying how much I had lost and that I didn't need to lose anymore, but I guess that's a typical mum thing to say. I just want to lose these final 12 pounds and I will be happy as punch.

On 1 June I told myself I would try a 12 week programme of 1,200 - 1,400 calories with regular gym wotkouts. I had hoped that I would have lost the full 21 pounds by next week (which is week 12) but I can now see that that was over ambitious. At the same time, I can also see that I am getting bored of my current workout plan. I want to try something new, I want to try another 12 week programme. I am definitely sticking with more weight training, I'm loving it and feeling stronger. 30 day shred perhaps? I have seen so many people on MFP who have had success with it, I am only wary of it because I am a gym girl and the 30 day shred is a home dvd workout. As reluctant as I am to do so, I also think I probably need to listen to the advice I have been getting recently and cut down on my carbs and increase my protein intake. No more afternoon Snack-a-Jacks, waaaahhh …. actually, I don't think I want a life that doesn't involve Snack-a-Jacks.

10 things I have learnt in the last 12 weeks:

1. I am an emotional eater. If I'm happy I want to eat, if I'm sad I want to eat!

2. I am frequently negative about my efforts and achievements, which is strange as I am so positive about other people's;

3. Junk food upsets my tummy (and gives me awful wind :s);

4. I enjoy eating fresh vegetables, favourites being baby carrots, mangetout and baby corn;

5. I love, love, love no fat plain frozen yogurt and cannot live without popcorn or Snack-a-Jacks (re the latter, I tried and was miserable);

6. I can get overly obsessed with counting the calories in every single item of food that goes into my mouth. Whilst this has taught me a lot about food nutrition, I don' think I need to be as obsessed with this over the next 12 weeks;

7.I enjoy doing stuff other than classes at the gym - I kick a$$ on the Cardio Wave and I look good doing it. It sounds so vain but I always pick the machine right in front of the window so I can check out my sweaty bod while I work. I've also spotted quite a few people checking out my butt as they walk past, which makes me work even harder ;)

8. I am actually quite fit. I have a good resting heart rate and I managed to go from wanting to vomit and pass out after 10 mins on the Cardio Wave to doing a straight 40 mins in the space of 3 weeks or even 20 mins on the Cardio Wave followed/preceded by a 45 min spin class;

9. I am lazy so get stuck in a routine fairly easily but I also get bored very quickly so need to remember to mix things up;

10. When I am in bed on Saturday mornings I hate the thought of going to the gym but when I do go, afterwards I'm walking on Cloud 9;

The next 12 weeks starts on the week beginning 30 August and ends on 14 November. The aim is to lose 12 pounds, so an average of 1 pound a week, and to decrease my body fat. I'm also booked in for a free trial Powerplates session to try something different. Bring on the next 12 weeks!!!

Red peppers stuffed with sausage = yum

I love how a pepper, a low cal food, can be a great base for a meal instead of rice or pasta. Seeing as most stuffing ideas revolve around beef mince or rice, I set about googling for a stuffing that included neither. I came across a recipe with sausage meat as a stuffing. Whilst you can add rice to the sausage meat, I of course didn't want to do that and instead added finely chopped spring onions and mushrooms to bulk up the mixture. I probably added too much veg as it dulled the taste of the pork sausage a little.

Recipe

x2 peppers (whatever colour you prefer but red is the sweetest)
x2 Sainsbury's 30% reduced fat Butcher's Choice large pork sausages
50 g chopped spring onions
100 g finely chopped mushrooms
tbsp of your favourite herbs (I used basil and parsley)
tsp black pepper


Pre-heat oven to 190 c.

Take the sausage meat out of the casings, add the onion, mushrooms and herbs and mix together.

Cut the top of the peppers off, do not discard as you will place the top back on when serving. Remove the seeds and veins from the inside of the peppers.

Stuff the peppers, be sure to tightly pack the pepper with stuffing as the stuffing will shrink whilst it's cooking.

Place the peppers in the oven for 45 minutes. Do not place the top of the peppers back on - peppers contain a lot of water and you want this to evaporate whilst it is in the oven. If you find there is still excess water in the pepper once it has cooked just pour it out.

If you are not being too strict about calories you can add 25g of grated cheddar cheese or parmesan to your pepper.

Plate and enjoy!

Nutritional information for 2 stuffed peppers without cheese:

303 calories
32 g carbs
12 g fat
5 g protein

Nutritional information for 25 g West Country Farmhouse Mature Cheddar Cheese:

102 calories
0 g carbs
9 g of fat
6 g protein

Yes, I'm a rock star ...

Last night I hit my personal goal of cycling 37 miles/60 km in one week. I achieved this by cycling the 12 km round trip to work every day. I was so excited last night that I really sprinted the last mile home. It's a modest achievement but the most I have ever cycled in a week :) I don't really have the opportunity to increase the distance so for now I will work on the speed. I'm on such a heavy bike with not enough gears that I really do have to work for my speed, it will be good exercise at the very least!

I'm really beginning to enjoy my rides, I've come to know my route so well that I'm automatically slowing down on the potholed roads and gently swerving to avoid slippery drains. I'm even getting to know the timings of the traffic lights, I know when I can sprint to make it through the amber and when not to even bother. I now know that there's no point riding through the tunnels at breakneck speed because the small hill on the other side will absolutely kill my legs! City cycling isn't often described as peaceful but it's fast becoming the word I use to describe my rides, not to mention that London really is beautiful.

Finally, most city drivers have a reputation for being awful to cyclists but I'm learning that the odd wave, thank you and smile really goes a long way.

I'm hitting the gym hard next week to alternate my exercise so I won't get to cycle as much but the week after I will again aim for 60 km.

p.s. You just cannot trust BBC Weather, rain was predicted for almost everyday but the forecast changed at the last moment to either light showers or sunny. I have the boyfriend's waterproof jacket and trousers at the ready just in case it does rain. I almost want it to rain so I can just try them out! I said 'almost' ...

The proverbial kick up the ...

I keep banging on about how I have "only" lost 8 pounds. The truth is if I stepped onto the scales tomorrow and discovered that I had put on that 8 pounds I would become a weepy child. I am therefore going to stop with the whining.

Yesterday I thought I would mix my food up a little and decided to have a Greek salad instead of my normal salad. In practice this meant I added feta cheese (drool), tuna and pre-made morrocan cous cous courtesy of Sainsburys Taste the DIfference. Yes, I know cous cous isn't Greek but I fancied it! For dinner I had chicken goujons and sliced baby potatoes in my salad. After taking photos of both I realised how similar looking they were but believe me my little chums they were full of different flavours :)

Lunch: Tuna salad with Moroccan cous cous, feta, olives, cucumber, red onion and tomatoes



Dinner: 3 Southern fried chicken goujons, baby potatoes, olives, cucumber, red onion and tomatoes



As I hadn't been out on my bike much I decided to take my baby out for a spin! I cycled for a total of about 45 minutes including cycling to Brick Lane for a vodka and diet coke with the Boyfriend (only 55 calories - ladies, you can still drink and lose weight!). I also bought a new bike lock and picked up my cycling gloves that I accidentally left at a bike shop two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised that the gloves hadn't been nicked as they are quite expensive and I had a nice little chat about my bike - he was really impressed with her :)

I'm planning on cycling to work this week so I checked the weather forecast and, sod's law, it's raining almost everyday this week!

And last but not least, here's a photo of the rose bush in the front of my house:

A Bit Better than Blah

I did go to the gym but I didn't make up the 200-odd calories after yoga. I weighed in and was so so sad to find that I have plateaued again. Am I destined to only see a loss every two weeks?? This is tres unfair! To cheer myself out I went to Itsu. Now you all know just how much I adore Itsu but these days I tend to avoid it as it's so expensive. But today was a special day so I treated myself to a medium frozen yoghurt (110 calories) and a vegetable dumpling dynamite pot. I absolutely adore them but I guess I just didn't feel like it as I left half of the pot.

To further cheer myself up I thought I would upload some photos I have taken recently. The first photo is of one of my favourite meals - salmon steak with salad and extra light mayo, which comes in at 446 calories:



The next photo is of my beloved bike, which I couldn't ride this week because of rain, wind or both:



I have mentioned before that I use the free calorie counting website My Fitness Pal. Disheartened after my weigh in I posted a message asking other users to look at my food diary and suggest how I could improve it. The most common comments were that I needed to eat more as I sometimes fall under 1,200, to drink more water, eat fewer carbs and more protein, eat more fruit, eat more snacks during the day and mix up my exercise. I have taken all of this on board and will do the following next week:

1. Drink 8 glasses EVERYDAY
2. Hit 1,200 cals or more everyday
3. Eat a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack
4. Ditch the bread, so mainly salad for lunch
5. Add boiled egg whites to my salads
6. Ditch spin and body pump and instead cycle to work and back everyday

One thing I am certain of is that I don't want to ditch my weight loss journey. I'll report back next week Friday and let you know if it makes a difference!

Blah

Today I feel blah. If i'm honest, I've felt like this for the last few days. I don't know if it's to do with having the week off with nothing to do other than stay at home or if it's the "6 week slump" or a combination of both. It's weigh in day tomorrow and it keeps playing on my mind. I haven't done as much exercise as I hoped to do this week but my calorie dank has stayed in credit all week. Today I planned to cycle to and from yoga to up my exercise but I just went out for a trial run and not only is it blowing (practically) gale force winds out there but it's also occasionally drizzling. Now that I have decided that I am not going to cycle, I have to think about how else I am going to burn 256 calories today. I could swim but I really don't want to mess up my hair - I spend a lot of money getting it chemically straightened and chlorine will just undo all of that. I guess I can do: 10 minutes on elliptical (95 calories) + 15 mins on stationary bike (110 calories) + 10 minutes on the elliptical/ski machine thing (approx 95 calories) before yoga. Yoga starts in 1 hour at 12:10 so I had better get moving!!

Haagen Dazs, I defeat you ...

I spent the day with my sister today and despite us both being on a weightloss journey she insisted on going to the Haagen Dazs restuarant. I tried persuading her that a skinny latte from Starbucks was a better treat and that as we hadn't eaten lunch yet we were probably better off just getting a proper lunch. It didn't work and after promising she would only order one scoop we ended up sitting at a table for 2 with the full Haagan Dazs menu in front of us. Needless to say she didn't order just one scoop - she ordered 2 scoops of ice cream, with caramel, cream and pancakes. I know that she thought I would cave in and order something but I am so proud to say that I didn't order anything. Not. A. Thing. I just sipped my water, safe in the knowledge that I wasn't consuming 680 calories and 31 grams of fat on a dessert :)

Hello 130s!!!

Hola blog!

I am sorry I have abandoned you for a while, there is no need to worry though, I have just been blogging on www.myfitnesspal.com and it is a bit difficult to do both. As today is a momentous day for me, I thought I would write a post. Why is today momentous I hear you ask? Because I am finally back in the 130s!!! I haven't been under 10 stone since I was about 18 years old so this is a major achievement for me. I have also lost a pound more than I originally had earlier on in the year in round 1 so I am pleased to say round 2 is so far, and will continue to be, a success story!

Starting weight: 147 pounds
Current weight: 138.8 pounds
Chest: 35 inches (lost 1.5 inches)
Waist: 30 inches (lost 5 inches ~~~~> this is what the tape measure says but I find it difficult to believe!
Hips: 43 inches (lost 0.5 inche)

In other news, I bought a bike and I have started cycling to work. I cycled to work for the first time on Tuesday and boy was it scary at times! On Wednesday my legs were just killing me so I took a break, Thursday I went to Body Pump and this morning I cycled in again. I really don't think I am at a stage where I can cycle and then work out at the gym so I am going to aim to go to the gym twice a week (Monday spin and Thurs Pump) and cycle to work twice too (Tuesday and Friday). The distance to work and back is 12k so it is reasonable, I can just work on my speed if I want to burn more calories. I have worked out that I need to stick to around 1200 calories to lose weight. Can I just say that I heart my bike? I adore it! It's not particularly functional, doesn't have enough gears and doesn't pick up enough speed but I still love my baby :)

Another major change has been my landlord fitting a new grill in my kitchen. I cannot tell you how much this grill has revolutionalised my cooking!

Tonight I am going to make one ingredient ice-cream - I'll report back and let you know how I get on!

Round 2

I think it's safe to say that I have been conspicuous by my absence.I fell off the wagon big time after I got back from Sri Lanka. I am totally ashamed to say that I not only fell of the wagon spectacularly but I also regained the 8lbs I had lost. I want t cry just thinking about it but I mustn't because rule #1 of my journey to my SFH me was that I would fall off the wagon but I would find my way again.

To learn from this, I think I fell off the wagon because:

1. I thought to myself "I have lost 8lbs, relax!"
2. I got lazy
3. I stopped keeping up my food diary
4. I started listening to the tiny voice in my head that demanded more sleep and the snooze button when my alarm went off to go to the gym
5. I started drinking majorly
6. I stopped visualising my slim, fit and healthy me
7. My short term goal passed and i didn't set myself a new goal.

I will be the comeback kid and to ensure that I do not fall foul to the above, I will do the following:

1. I will not weigh myself until 1 June. That way, I will not get overly excited about weight loss and just focus on keeping on eating well and exercising
2. I will remind myself that laziness leads to me feeling fat, lethargic and unhappy
3. I will record my food EVERYDAY
4. I will banish the little voice that demands extra sleep by visualising my SFHM
5. I will cut down on the booze to just a couple of glasses a week
6. I will visualise, visualise, visualise!!
7. I have a short term goal of 1 June to do the unthinkable - change my diet and exercise regime, ready to face the summer and set another goal for my birthday - August.

I went to pump on Thursday and Spin/Circuits on Friday. Lets just say my body knows that it hasn't exercised in a while and is in pure agony. I am literally in a world of pain. I also pulled something in my neck during Circuits trying to please the instructor who kept telling me I wasn't trying hard enough. I actually didn't enjoy that class if I'm honest. I felt like I was being chided (as opposed to being pushed) by the instructor even though I had made the effort to leave my house at 6.30 a.m. to get to that class for the second time in 6 weeks. Oh well, if I'm still not happy with the instructor after this week I won't go again and find other classes. Hmph!

Week 5 weigh in

This morning I had the full-on "legs like jelly and I'm so worked out I can't get my sports bra off and into the shower" experience. The spin instructor was just mad today - she yelled and pushed and yelled and push us some more! It was a new routine with different music and every part of me felt it. A lady next to me said her heart rate monitor read 469 calories after the 45 minute session! Now that's what I call a Monday morning work out!!!

Had my weigh in today. As usual, felt a bit scared, particularly after the odd sweet here and there and fish and chips on saturday. The good news is that I've lost 2 pounds! I'm pretty pleased as it means I have now hit the 10 stone mark and if I keep up the good work I will be under 10 stone at my next weigh in (which I haven't been for an absolute age!).

By the way, it's week 5 - how on earth did I get to week 5?!! Lovin' it.

Weekend Post

I was mega lazy on Saturday morning. I had planned to go to Body Pump followed by Pilates but I decided against BP as it would be a different instructor. As for Pilates, well, like I said, I'm a lazy girl.

I can really feel the difference the last few weeks of spin have made to my legs, my thighs feel firmer when I prod them and I can see that I'm losing my "love handles". I am inspired to keep at it but at the same time also a little frustrated that other bloggers are losing pounds at a faster rate than I am. I know I shouldn't compare myself to other people and that the first few pounds drop off easily so I will just focus on what I'm doing. In the same breath, I will also say I find other blogs really inspirational.

I had a fabulous cheat meal last night. I ordered small fish and chips. Usually, I would have eaten perhaps 3/4 of it but I only managed 1/3 before I got bit bored of it. Halleluja, I think my tastebuds are slowly changing!!

Food for Sunday


B: Maple Syrup Oatso Simple
S: Braeburn apple
L: Half pot of M & S King Prawn Noodle Soup
S: 4 Olives
S:
D: M & S Count on Us Spinach and Riccotta Cannelloni

Exercise: Rest Day

Total Calories: 907 (ridiculously poor, I blame it in the soup I had for lunch)
Carbs: 136
Fat: 17
Protein: 52

Food for Saturday

B: Maple Syrup Oatso Simple
S: Braeburn apple
L: Half pot of M & S King Prawn Noodle Soup
S: 4 Olives
S: Green Apple
D: 1/3 portion of small fish and chips

Exercise: None (shame on me!!)

Total Calories: 1,045
Carbs: 178
Fat: 32
Protein: 73

TGIF

It's Friday morning and I feel a m a z i n g. I'm so syked up! Spin today was beyond belief, I upped my resistance and did all but one of the standing sprints. Now that's what I call a beasting! I had limitless energy and the only thing that I have done differently is not eat my usual banana on the way to the class. I worked so hard I felt sick after the class, having to do 20 mins of circuits after was torture. I think the rest of the class felt it too because everyone looked slightly glassy eyed.

Breakfast was one slice of wholemeal toast and scrambled eggs - delish!

I'm going to Pump tomorrow morning before my pilates class. I'm already starting to feel like I can push myself even more and add an extra class to my regime. 3 weeks until Sri Lanka and my short term goal - woohoooo!!

Food for Today

B: One slice wholemeal toast and scrambled eggs
L: Salad Bar
S: M & S Count on Us Lasagne
D: Hot Chocolate

Exercise: Spin/Circuit

Total Calories: 1,212
Carbs: 139
Protein: 75
Fat: 37

Food for Thursday

B: Fruit salad, raising and sliced almonds topped with greek yogurt
L: Salad bar
S: Large banana
S: Bliss Special K bar
D: Half Broccoli and Stilton soup
S: Hot Chocolate

Exercise: 1 hour Body Pump class

Total Calories: 1,108
Carbs: 140
Fat: 28
Protein: 48

Water: An amazing 8 glasses! Finally - I have reached 8 bleeding glasses!

Start of Week 4

All of life's, work's and family stresses are catching up with me. It's affecting my diet too, I'm feeling like I want to pig out and stuff my face with crap to feel better.

Went to spin this morning. Felt knackered, but had a bit more luck with the standing sprints. The instructor said I was improving with each class! My food today has been generally good - went to Cafe Nero and had the soup but left the delicious looking bread :)

Food for Today

S: Banana
B: 1 slice wholemeal toast and 3 scrambled eggs
L: Cafe Nero Carrot & Coriander soup
S: Hot Chocolate
D: Sainsbury's large salad pot

Total Calories: 1,091
Fat: 33g
Carbs: 159g
Protein: 50g

Operation Butt Kick

I have decided to join Jag's Operation Butt Kick. The idea is that I take front, side and back photos of myself now and again on March 31st to see what I can achieve by following a healthy diet and fitness regime. My boyfriend kindly took the photos for me and they are sitting patiently, waiting to be revealed to the world wide web in 9 weeks time!

I really wish I had taken photos 3 weeks ago to see the difference that 5 lbs makes :)

Week 3 Weigh In

I have been so incredibly busy at work this week that I have felt too tired to blog. All in all I would summarise the week as 80% good, 20% naughty - exactly what I am aiming for. The 20% naughty comes from half a slice of carrot cake (in aid of the Haiti cake bake) and a bag of Maltesers during the week and at the weekend. I felt like I was coming down with a cold so I missed my Friday morning spin/circuit class but Body Pump on Thursday was great (I lifted heavier weights) and pilates on Saturday was a really good stretch. I'm really syked up about spin tomorrow, I'm going to give 200% to make up for Friday.

Food this week has been pretty good. My lovely boyfriend took me out to Wagamama's - where I happily scoffed most of my Chicken Katsu Curry - and to the cinema to watch Up in the Air - where I happily scoffed Maltesers!

I weighed myself at the gym yesterday and was pleased to find that I've lost another 1.5 lbs!! I'm so pleased, particularly as it's my TOTM and I am feeling quite bloated. That means I have so far lost a grand total of 5 lbs, which puts me well on the way to reaching my short term target of losing 8 lbs by February 19th!!!

Week 3

I've got through Week 2! I had a couple of blips along the way but nothing major.

Here's to making sure Week 3 is filled with healthy eating and plenty of exercise.

Food for today:

S: Tangerine
B: Slice of wholemeal toast and 3 scrambled eggs
L: Salad bar
S: Walkers Sun Bites Wholegrain crisps
D:

Water:
Exercise: Spin - really felt it today too but I could have made a better effort.


Food for Sunday:

B: Golden Syrup Oatso simple
S: Chopped Nectarine topped with Natural yogurt
L: Half carton Sainsburys Carrot & Coriander soup
S: Skinny late
D: Pork chop, mangetout, sweetcorn and beetroot salad

Water: Again, dreadful
Exercise: Rest day

Total Calories: 926
Carbs: 103
Fat:24
Protein: 76

Weekend Pilates

I am suffering from DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), Lordy am I suffering! I went to spin yesterday morning and had a good go at the standing sprint and I'm paying for it now. I found yesterday harder than any other class and was essentially useless in Circuits afterwards. In summary today I feel like I've been kicked in the ribs and had my quads sliced. Today I tried a Pilates class with the boyfriend to get a good stretch. It is very diferent to yoga and, ideally, I would do both. My exercise schedule is pretty packed though so adding anything else to it would be unrealistic. I'm quite lucky on that my gym is in the same building as my work so I popped in and unpacked all my boxes ahead of my move to a new department on Monday. I had a good appraisal from my previous department so I want to hit the ground running. Unfortunately this means I will probably have to miss a walk with the girls tomorrow as I reckon I'll go in to work again tomorrow.

A few months ago I discovered beetroot and today I re-discovered beetroot salad! I forgot how much I love the stuff and it will be this week's Food of the Week. I did notice that it has a high sugar content so I will be sure not to have it too often. It went amazingly well with my pork chop and sweetcorn dinner. I go weak at the knees at the thought of crackling so I made sure to trim the fat prior to grilling!

I confess that I fell off the wagon a little yesterday - I had a mini donut and 2 chocolate squares and today I had 4 chocolate squares. But as I will not allow a fall off the wagon to amount to a relapse I'm just going to get on with it.

Food for Today

B: Maple syrup oatso simple
S: 4 squares of chocolate
L: Half carton Carrot & Coriander soup
D: Pork chop with beetroot salad and sweetcorn
S: Vanilla custard Muller Rice

Water: A B Y S M A L

Exercise: 1 hour Pilates

Total calories: 991
Carbs: 109
Fat: 28
Protein: 68

Week 1 Weigh in

I had my weigh in last night, to say I was terrified doesn't describe the feeling! I've lost 3.5 lbs! Considering that my goal was to lose about 7 lbs by 19 February, I am elated! I have never combined a good diet with exercise before, I have always done either/or so, it's fantastic to see that I can get such good results!

I had my cheat meal last night too. To tell the truth, I really needed it. I was starting to lose motivation, not drinking enough water and really suffering from the munchies to the point where I was sneaking tbsp of peanut butter! My weigh in results have put me back on track and I am more excited than ever about what I can achieve by my short term goal date and long term goal date.

This morning I went to Body Pump, it was a really good class. I used a weighted bar as I am a beginner so it will be great to move on to proper weights next week and really push myself. My legs aren't aching (ye) but I have a feeling that after all those squats and lunges I will be feeling it in spin tomorrow morning. Feel the burn!

My boyfriend is a bit of a yoga nut but I have manageg to persuade him to try pilates instead with me on Saturday afternoon. I also have a long walk from Streatham Common to Wimbledon planned with the girls on Sunday. So at the moment, my exercise diary is looking like this:

Friday: Spin/Circuit training
Saturday: Pilates
Monday: Spin
Tuesday: Pilates
Thursday: Body Pump

There is an abs/back class on Wednesday which would probably sort me out but I think I will stick to Body Pump instead for a full-body workout.

Food for today

S: Banana
B: Wholemeal toast and 3 scrambled eggs
S:Clementine
L: Salad Bar
S: Green Apple
D: Small Itsu Dynamite Duck

Water: 5 glasses

Total Calories: 1, 089
Carbs: 127
Fat: 30
Protein: 37

Exercise: Body Pump

With the exception of carbs, I'm generally not hitting my micronutrient targets, they are too low. Not really sure how to bring my protein up and carbs down, particularly as I am already not eating rice or pasta ...

Food for Wednesday

B: About 15g Honey nut shredded wheat and fruit salad
L: Itsu Dynamite Free Range Chicken
D: Cheat meal of Garfunkel Burger and Chips (gross - but I love it!)

Water: 6 glasses

Total calories:1, 607
Carbs: 109
Fat: 44
Protein: 40

Exercise: None

FFFFfffffs!

What the hell? I'm STARVING! I've eaten all my calories to no avail. Boo :(

B: 33g Shredded Wheat and skimmed milk
L: Whole chicken breast, green salad and 3 bean salad
S: Banana and handful of mixed nuts
D: Tuna melt

Total calories: 1256
Carbs: 129
Fat: 28
Protein: 120

Exercise: Rest day

Roll on Thursday and my weigh in. I'm up bright and early tomorrow for an abs and back class.

Also, got my appraisal tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed for me hey.

Amen to the Burn!

Feel the burn! Went to another spin class this morning, much better than Friday. I still can't do the "standing sprint" but I got a "You there in the back - excellent!" from the instructor, which made my day :)I felt sick after the class, I guess that means I really worked it.

I felt funny all day, possibly down to a ridiculously low water intake, I only managed 3 glasses on top of the water I consumed during spin.

I have been RAVERNOUS all day. Really couldn't control the munchies as evidenced by my diet. I gave in and had bangers and mash for lunch and a whole New Covent Garden Broccoli and Stilton soup for dinner. Suprisingly, I remained within my calorie intake.

I'm on the look-out for some liquid egg whites. I'm trying to reduce my carb intake and thought substituting my breakfast Shredded Wheat for an egg white omelette. I would probably have to eat it cold though as I prefer to eat at work.

Food for today:

S: Banana
B: 33g Shredded Wheat and Skimmed Milk
S: Grapes
L: Bangers and Mash with onion gravy (bring it on!)
S: Pineapple and mango chunks
D: Broccoli and Stilton Soup

Total calories: 1,041
Carbs: 138
Fat: 37
Protein: 24

Exercise: 45 minute spin class

Quick Update

Feeling better than earlier today. Had a bath, exfoliated, straightened my hair, put on some slap and packed a clean, fresh gym kit. I'm now going to make a chicken stir-fry (with or without bread - haven't decided yet) and then head off to the boyfriend's house. Might even treat myself to a magazine on the train :)

When I wake up tomorrow, I will have made it through week 1 which is always the hardest, well, in comparison to week 2 anyway!

The Weekend

I knew I would find the weekend hard. Saturday was fine, although my water intake was rubbish at just 3 glasses. For lunch I made a yummy tuna melt and for dinner a homemade tomato soup which I'm having for lunch today.

Today I feel depressed. Don't really know why but I suspect it has something to do with reading another fitness blog and feeling like I'm not going to achieve the weight loss that blogger did.

Also, I couln't eat all my brekfast porridge as it was made with full fat milk (all there was in the fridge) and I felt sick after a few mouthfulls.

Hopefully I can shake off the whole feeling upset thing soon. After all, I have spin to look forward to tomorrow morning!

As for daily intake, I was under 1,200 calories yesterday and also in the green for everything else.

Gym Bunny

Morning Morning!

I bit the bullet and joined the gym last night. I borrowed money from my sister to cover the fees because although I'm skint, I really didn't want to wait until payday. In any case, my firm will reimburse the fees to me in a couple of days.

I went to my first ever spin/circuit class at 7.30 this morning, despite the ice. All I can say is that 15 minutes into the class I was seriously considering my sanity in going and convinced I wouldn't make it through the class. I don't know how anybody does it! I had to skip a few of the high resistance and speed intervals as my knees were hurting and, well, I just couldn't cut it. Circuit afterwards was a nice break too. Although it was hellish at the time, I will go back on Monday morning and make it my goal to do the entire clase - I can only get better! Next week I have a one to one session with a personal trainer to take me through a resistance and HIIT routine I can follow - very excited! Not sure when I will be able to do the exercises though as there are classes every morning I would like to go to in addition to swimming. Spin on Monday, Pilates/Swimming on Tuesday, Abs/Back on Weds, Body Pump on Thurs and Spin/Circuit on Fri. I know I need to incorporate rest days between the gym but hopefully the fact that I'm doing something different every day and nothing at the weekend will mean I am okay. I'll raise this with the PT.

Prior to bed last night I packed my gym bag and set out my work clothes to make getting up early easier. I even packed a swimsuit so I would have something else to do if my class was cancelled because of low turnout. I was fresh as a daisy this morning! It might have had something to do with my new alarm clock ring tone. It was giving me a heart attack every morning so I decided to change it to a mellow jazz tune. It was so mellow that for a while I was convinced I had added a soundtrack to my dreams before realising it was the alarm clock.

Remember in my last post I mentioned that I had weighed myself on my new house scales and hit 11 stone? Well, I weighed myself again last night when I was at the gym and I am exactly 10 st 7 as I had thought! A bit of a relief but it does mean I can't record a miraculous 7 pound weight loss next week ;)

I stopped by Itsu again on the way home last night. I am officially addicted to Itsu. I cannot get enough of their vegetable dumplings! It is just a pure miracle that they are healthy and I can incorporate them into my daily allowance. Whilst I was in there last night I also spotted that they do healthy popcorn which comes in at around 90 calories and low fat! They also do frozen yogurt that's low cal! I am officially in food heaven!!!

Overall I am feeling euphoric that I hit the gym this morning and that I have eaten well all week. I am, however, occasionally suffering from headaches. Not sure if it's just my body reacting to my new, healthier diet or if its even my contact lenses. Hopefully it will pass. I have also been thinking about incorporating "cheat meals" into my week. I don't want my body to get used to never eating an unhealthy meal as it will probably be easier to re-gain weight when I do occasionally indulge. I'm aiming for being 80% good and 20% naughty however it might be too early to start incorporating cheats???

I tend to find eating healthily at weekends difficult so I will have to plan my meals before bed tonight.

Finally, I have decided that Thursdays will be weigh-in days at the gym with the following Thursday being a measurement day. I am so far on track so here's to making show I stay that way!

S: Banana
B: 33g Shredded Wheat with skimmed milk
S: Red apple
L: Steamed Hoki fish with beetroot, spring onions and 3 bean salad
S: Vanilla Muller Light
D: 2 egg Omelette with bacon, chicken, spring onions and 50g of cheese (DELICIOUS!!)

Total Calories: 1,464
Carbs: 135
Fat: 42
Protein: 122

7 Glasses

Exercise: 7.30 am spin class

The banana was suppose to give me some energy before the spin class and it worked. I decided to use my exercise calories and get steamed fish for lunch (delish!!) and an omelette (beyond delish!). I was a bit annoyed with myself though because I felt guilty about eating the exercise calories.

Hypnodiets

According to my brand new scales at home, I am 11 stone - eeeeeeeeeeek!! I am almost positive they are inaccurate as I was 10 st 4 when I went to Slimming World a couple of weeks before Christmas and I haven't binged that much! However, as they are the only scales I have, I am going to take what they say as gospel.

Yeserday I read an interesting article on Hypnodiets on the Times Online website. The idea is that we can reprogramme ourselves to a time when we had a healthy relationship with food. The sample podcast available on the webpage was brilliant. The visualisation technics really made me calmer and - get this - helped me get out of bed this morning at 6:50 to do my fitness dvd! My alarm went off and I was really tempted to just crawl back into bed but I "breathed out" all of those feelings and then visualised, through the "triangle into my mind" my SFHM. And boy, did she have amazing abs!

The dvd workout was okay. I followed the advice on beginners and didn't use weights. Whilst I was tired, I wasn't "I want to pass out and die" tired. I don't think I'll enjoy doing just the dvd so I will have to look into joining the gym. As I am skint, I am not sure if that will happen this month.

I'll update late with my food for today.


B: 33g Shredded Wheat with skimmed milk
S: Green apple
L: Salad Pot
S: 5 strawberries
D: Itsu vegetable dumplings

Total Calories: 1, 087
Carbs: 117
Fat: 16
Protein: 28

Exercise: The Firm Bootcamp Maximum Calorie Burn DVD (52 mins - low intensity)

8 glasses

A bit low on everything except carbs me thinks.

Snow Day!

Snow day!! It looks beautiful outside but unfortunately didn't snow enough to keep me from going to work! I will take some pics to post.

Today is Day 3 and I must admit I am starting to wane already. I woke up feeling lethargic and its continued until mid-morning even though I have now eaten breakfast. The lethargy reduces my will power and makes me feel tired, grumpy and unable to work. I didn't have it yesterday and the only difference I can think of between today and yesterday is that yesterday I had a cup of peppermint tea and a tangerine before leaving the house and then had breakfast at work. I will be sure to do this tomorrow. Went out to Itsu for dinner last night even though I had the option of going to my favourite Thai, I turned it down to remain on track. Woop woop to me! It felt nice to not give in and also Itsu was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I had the vegetable dumpling broth and it was delish! I will definitely be going back, particularly on days when I feel lazy about putting together dinner at home.

Exercise. Sigh. I received my exercise dvd today (woop woop!) so I WILL exercise tomorrow morning before work. It's been icy/snowy so I haven't been able to go out for a run or do any HIIT training but I'm not too worried as I now have the dvd. I confess that I haven't been doing my daily abs exercises. I will do them when I get home tonight and keep it up.

I think I'm going to start photographing my food to upload to my blog. It might give me a different focus and remind me when I look back that healthy food can be good too. Yum.

Day 3

B: 33g Shredded wheat with 125ml skimmed milk
L: Vegetable salad with 2 slice of ham
S: Green apple
D: Chicken stir-fry with spinach, green beans, carrots, onion and cajun seasoning in a wholemeal pitta bread (yum!).

5 glasses water and peppermint tea.

Total calories:1,222
Carbs:182
Protein: 89
Fat:24

My fat intake was in the green but I was mildly in the red with everything else!

Day 2

S: Tangerine and peppermint tea
B: 33g Shredded wheat with 125ml skimmed milk
L: Vegetable salad with 2 slice of ham
S: Muller Light and apple
D: Itsu vegetable dumpling broth
S: The Food Doctor fruit and seed bar (3/4) plus cheeky bite of my sister's spring roll

4 glasses of peppermint tea + 1 glass of squash + 2 glasses of water

Total calories:1,433
Carbs:141
Protein: 26
Fat:43

Still no snack between breakfast and lunch so was starving! Went over my calories a bit but that's okay as I had a shortfall . I am finding it hard to get my balance of protein, carbs and fat to 40:30:30. I have a major shortfall of protein and too many carbs. I will have to think about incorporating it into dinner e.g. pitta bread filled with 2 scrambled eggs and 2 egg whites and maybe finding an alternative low carb breakfast.


Day 1
B: Fruit salad
L: Vegetable salad (mixed seeds, beetroot, mixed beans, broccoli, sweetcorn, cubed salami and green beans) with 2 slices Ham (fat cut off)
D: 1/2 carton of Covent Garden Lentil and Smoked Bacon soup with chopped up sausage.

4 glasses of water (rubbish!)

Total calories: 931
Carbs: 74
Protein: 45
Fat: 37

I'm not happy with my meals as I didn't have any snacks between meals which got me very hungry e.g. between breakfast and lunch I felt like I had a hole in my tum - amateur mistake! I'm also aiming for 1,200 calories so I needed to have eaten something else, I reckon the snacks would have been enough.

My Slim, Fit and Healthy Me

Hello worldwide web and welcome to my fitness blog.

As has been the case since time immemorial, my New Year's resolution this year is to lose weight. I have tried to lose weight before, most recently being a couple of months ago when I joined Slimmers World, but it never seems to work out. I always fall off the wagon and before I know it, my lapse has become a relapse. I have tried every diet you can think of and I have tried going to the gym but, for some reason (perhaps due to my inability to multi-task) I have never tried to diet at the same time as going the gym.

A few years ago I lost a lot weight and know that I looked great for it. I am only 23 and I really want to enjoy my twenties and the rest of my life as a slim, fit and healthy human being. As a result, this year I will put a stop to the yo-yo dieting and work towards my slim, fit and healthy me ("SFHM"). I have decided to blog my journey to my SFHM for moral support and as a reminder when I fall off the wagon of why it is I should get back on track. I will be posting photos, my meals, exercise and also general musings.

Why I want to reach my SFHM

• I have very low energy and I feel sleepy during the day
• I am unhappy with the way I look. I sometimes get really depressed when I see myself in the mirror
• I am going on holiday with my boyfriend and his friends in 7 weeks and would hate to be "the fat one on the beach"
• I want to feel proud of myself, my body and my health
• I want to run for fitness, stress relief and as a hobby

Reasons I have failed in the past

• Alcohol - I drink too much of it
• Unfortunately I love crisps and anything salty/deep-fried, it's my Achilles heel
• I dine out too often and find it hard to eat healthily off a menu, especially when everyone around me isn't
• I feel like I can't be bothered to exercise
• I get upset when I don't lose weight/exercise and give up
• I get upset because I am a crap runner, I give up after 5 minutes and feel achey for days afterwards
• When I get home from work I am so hungry I eat the first thing I see

Things that will be different this time round

• In the same way that in order to get over an ex you must cut off contact immediately after a break-up, I am cutting off contact with alcohol, crisps, anything salty/deep-fried and dining out for 7 weeks. This should help me kick-start my regime to achieve my SFHM.I accept in advance that I will fall off the wagon and at times I will do so spectacularly. However, I will also get back on the wagon because my ultimate goal is long-term and should not be jeopardised because I had a KFC one evening on the way home. A lapse does not have to become a relapse.
• I will plan meals in advance, namely lunch and dinner and ensure I have healthy snacks to eat throughout the day.
• I will drink 8 glasses (2 litres) of water a day including herbal teas, sugar free squash and water with lemon.
• I will eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day
• I will do an exercise dvd a minimum of 3 times a week and do my abs exercises everyday.
• I will use the stairs at work more.
• I will not run for exercise. I will run 3 times a week for enjoyment, to challenge myself to see how far I can go and for me time.

My current stats

Chest: 36.5"
Waist: 35"
Hips: 43"
Weight: 10 st 7 lbs (?)
BMI: 26 (overweight)

My goal

To lose 16 lbs and reach 9 st 5 lbs
BMI: 23 (normal)

Short term goal (19 Feb 2010): lose 8 lbs and reach 9 st 13 lbs
Long term goal (31 March 2010): lose 16 lbs and reach 9 st 5 lbs

HERE GOES!!