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!