I give up

Ok, thats not as dramatic as it sounds!

But after the writeoff that was last weekend, this week hasn't been much better. Actually Monday to Thursday were fine foodwise but I haven't exercised for a week and a half *gasp*

I have felt so unmotivated and having a few crappy food days last weekend demotivated me even more for some reason!

Its my birthday on Sunday so I am going to embrace the badness this weekend. I have not put on weight any week in 3 and a half months so I am going to bloody allow myself until Sunday night to enjoy my birthday weekend! It started today with my birthday buns (although all I had was a jam doughnut and it was heaven!). Tomorrow shouldn't be too bad as we are going for a Japanese (the wine may ruin it though :D) and on Sunday I shall be having the meal I have been dreaming off since April - an Indian! Can't wait.

I do plan to go to the gym tomorrow afternoon and hopefully get to spin on Sunday morning. And from next Monday - thats it. Back on the wagon. 100% commitment. The naughtiness will be out of my system and I'll be going for broke!

I have a reason to do it now too - found out yesterday that I have passed all my assessments to join the police (my dream job) and am now awaiting my medical date. Given my problems with my neck, I need to be superfit by the time my medical comes around so I can prove that my neck problem isn't an issue anymore. Hopefully that will be enough to keep me going!

So here's to jam doughnuts, wine and Indian food. Enjoy your weekends people *hug*

Mojo-related issues.

So, I was out last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then hungover on Sunday. Then between Saturday and Sunday and some point I pulled a muscle in my right calf and its is freakin' agony (although a tad better today). So that all means I have not done any exercise for a whole week. A whole week!

I feel downright miserable and like I have ruined it all.

[/drama queen]

Pie, mash, cocktails & James Nesbitt

That was my day yesterday :D

I had my first full day off healthy eating yesterday and it was awesome! I still didn't snack with crap/sweets/crisps, it was really only my meals where I said I am going to have whatever I fancy today, and I did! Special occasion though, friends over from Scotland who I haven't seen in a long time so didn't want to be weird about my food.

I had pie and mash for lunch - a-maz-ing! And then we went out for dinner and i had chilli duck and prawns with noodles which was delicious too. I definitely have entirely changed my mindset though because the 'old me' would have a starter with every single meal out, without fail. But last night I didn't even entertain the idea!

Then I had copious amounts of rose wine and some delicious raspberry cocktails :D

And then....I met this bloke......he was so nice and it totally made my night (even though I was chatting so much crap to him he must have thought we were total losers!)

The apple cart is well and truly upset!

I feel like all I ever do is come on here and sound like I am making excuses! Maybe I am, but I guess at least I'm admitting to them (like thats better, right???)

Anyway, food is gonna be rubbish the next few days, your honour. An old friend is over visiting and we had lunch today in the pub that does the nicest homemade chips ever! Although to be fair, I love their burgers too but I chose a chicken fillet burger on foccacia instead but thoroughly enjoyed those chips!

So I'll be out tomorrow night having a drink or three, and another dinner (oh, and we're going for lunch tomorrow too) so my aim is this. Try to keep somewhere in the vague region of my calorie allowance, even if my food is rubbish. If I manage to do that tomorrow mind you, I deserve a berluddy medal.

I am 357 cals under for the week so I guess I have a little leeway.

No exercise from now til Sunday so not holding out too much hope for this weeks weighin!

Ah well, I have not had any more than one bad day in a row really for ages and ages so its not the end of the world.


Right?

Sweat where there shouldn't be sweat

Sorry, not a nice title but ruddy nora, that is what spin class does to me!

I don't think there is one pore of my body that doesn't emit sweat in this class but its awesome, I love it. Actually, thats not strictly true, I don't always love it when I'm doing it (I wanted to leave halfway through the second track tonight, I kid you not) but afterwards I feel so good that I have done it.

But I was gutted tonight when I took a sneaky peek at my HRM and it wasn't working :( I worked extra hard tonight and everyfink.

Anyways, I am most chuffed that my DOMS after yesterdays workout is nowhere near as severe as last week, so I actually feel I may be able stick to the exercise plan this week! Here's hoping....

Ouch

I've got a sore leg :(

I was only about 10 mins into my workout (and hadn't even worked my legs yet!) when my hamstring started tweaking and by the time I got to my leg presses and stiff legged deadlift, it was really hurting.

I dropped my leg press to 2 x 10 and did 2 x 12 SLDL and 1 x 10 and had to stop.

Hope it goes away tomorrow - the last thing I need right now is an injury! I have smothered it in muscle gel and hopefully that will do the trick - feels a lil better already actually.

I had nice food today. I made myself something completely different and random for lunch - a spicy lentil salad. It looked absolutely disgusting but tasted lovely and kept me full all afternoon. Basically I cooked green lentils in stock and added harissa, chilli, tomato puree, a dash of tabasco and seasoning. Then once the lentils were cooked, I added red onion and sundried tomatoes. Delicious!

Jammie Day

I have had such a chilled out day today, but yet still managed to get quite a lot done! I did 3 loads of washing, all my ironing (granted there wasn't very much), cleared out my paperwork and cooked a nice dinner and the next couple of days lunches.

I've had a lovely day to myself!

I've been a bit rubbish at posting my food recently, to be honest I'm not so worried about posting it in full every day now cos I feel like I am managing to keep on track very well. I will post it whenever I get the notion but I'd rather just focus on making sure I post something to my blog each day, no matter what, just to keep my healthier lifestyle in general on track.

I have had a couple of nice treats this weekend. Yesterday, I discovered the frozen yoghurt version of Ben & Jerrys Strawberry Cheesecake. Oh. My. God. It tastes exactly like the full fat version! I'm in love! I was very pleased at my restraint mind you - I weighed out 100g and then left the tub at my sisters house so I couldn't get lured in to eat the rest!

I am finding these days that much less of a treat satisfies my craving. I didn't know when to stop before, which was as much of a problem as the crap food itself!

Today, I treated myself to 2 squares of Green & Blacks mint chocolate, as I got to 7pm and had almost 500 calories left! I think cos I haven't left the house today I've not felt very hungry. I'm also going to have a scoop of raspberry ripple whey protein with milk before bed.

No exercise since Thursday - my DOMS have been crippling and this evening is the first I have felt half human again! I really hope I don't end up like this everytime as it is disrupting my plans!

Tomorrow night, I'm going planning to do weights and then go straight for a run on my way home to try and make up for what I should have done over the weekend.

Lets hope it goes according to plan!

Not a good look!

I am currently walking a bit like a duck, as a result of my weights on Thursday night! I can go upstairs, but going down them again is something of a problem. Lordy.

I was a bit worried it would be like this every time, but I am assured that it won't be like this the more my body gets used to what I'm doing - I don't mind a bit of pain, at least I know I'm working hard - but this I can't cope with permanently!

Anyway, I discovered a gorgeous new snack today - Munchy Seeds Chilli Mix. Nom nom nom. Dry roasted sunflower & pumpkin seeds with crushed chillis and a dash of savoury sauce - and the savoury sauce is made from Soya beans, sea salt & koji so it is a clean & healthy snack.

I'm also loving the sound of the cajun mix!

Here's the nutritional profile:

Seed Mix, Chilli Mix, Munchy Seeds

Percent Calories From:
Carbohydrate (4%)
Protein (21.4%)
Fat (74.6%)
Per 100g
Calories (kcal) 606
Protein (g) 30.4
Carbohydrate (g) 6.1
Sugars (g) 3.5
Fat (g) 47.2
Saturates (g) 6.2
Fibre (g) 5.2
Sodium (g) 0.4

I'm going to hurt tomorrow!

Day 2 of my new workout plan, and boy was it a killer! My muscles were burning so much and the sweat was dripping off me, I know I worked damn hard. But....I wasn't feeling particularly energetic and I know its because my food was a bit light all day and didn't really prepare me adequately for doing a weights routine tonight.

Problem is, I am staying at my parents house for a couple of days to mind the dog whilst they are on hols. I brought my own food with me to try to not have my eating plan sabotaged by being away from home but I forgot I was going to do weights tonight and only brought some ryvita, ham and extra light Philly for lunch, some fruit, a yoghurt and then managed to grab a couple of slices of wholegrain toast and a banana just before the gym! No wonder I was lacking energy.

And to make matters worse, I hadn't brought anything for tonights dinner (I thought I had but turns out I hadn't) and there is barely any food in the house so my only option for dinner was 2 bowls of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes [/ashamed] Only saving grace is that I ate them within an hour of my workout so hopefully my metabolism will help me out!!!

Anyway, off to fill in some forms. Hopefully have more time to post a bit more detail on my food/workouts by the weekend...

Checking in...

.....just to try and keep my commitment of posting here everyday even though I didn't have time to post my food for yesterday, nor will I have today as I am rushing out now to an appointment.

Life is so hectic at the minute, even the best plans seem to go astray. I decided when I woke up today that I wasn't going to beat myself up over not sticking rigidly to my plans. I'm trying my best and that will have to do for now.

I finish work in 4 weeks and 3 (working) days (scary!!!) so I certainly should have a lot more time on my hands and I shall be getting stuck into my fitness and keeping my eating on track for the (hopefully) short while that I will have the free time to do so.

Must run, hope you're all ok!

PS Food ok! In cals and behaving myself!

Lordy, I am useless.

Only set my goals yesterday and they are up the left already!!

Did my new weights workout on Saturday. Couldn't go to gym on Sunday as too sore, gym closed yesterday as it was a public holiday so was supposed to go today for session two.

However, I had application form issues today and ended up having to spend from 5pm until 2 minutes ago filling in an application form so no gym tonight.

Then tomorrow night I have an appointment to go to so won't make it to the gym then either. So already I'm down to max 2 weights sessions this week!

Is anyones elses life as much as a pain in their arse as mine is in mine???

BBQs are evil!

And that is even with careful planning!

I knew I was going to a BBQ this afternoon so I went shopping yesterday for some healthy(ish) BBQ grub. I ended up bringing chicken breast fillets, king prawns which I marinated in a little olive oil chilli and garlic, and as a treat I bought the best burgers with the least ingredients which I could find and ended up with Tesco Finest Angus beefburgers with Jalapeno peppers.

I vowed that I would eat my meat and prawns only, no bread and absolutely no coleslaw or other such sauces. The bread and sauces I managed - what was my downfall was when I finished my chicken, prawns and burger, there was one lonely burger left sitting right in front of me. And it sat. And I stared at it. I really should have got up and walked away but instead when I'm asked if I want to go halfers, I see this as a good compromise and eat another half burger. Gah. So annoyed with myself but I have kept within my calories so really the only problem is my fat percentage today - it is embarrassing! Ah well, the burger was darn tasty.

B - Pancake made from fat free cottage cheese, oats, 1 egg, 4 egg whites & cinnamon with banana & 1 tsp maple syrup
Post workout - 1 scoop whey protein in 200ml water
S - 1 slice wholegrain toast & raspberry jam
L - 1.5 beefburgers with jalapenos, 50g king prawns & 75g chicken breast fillet from BBQ
S - 6 S & V Pringles (did I forget to mention those??!)
D - Bowl of homemade tomato & lentil soup
S - 1 clementine

Exercise - 40 mins run/walk

Calorie Summary
Daily Cal Quota: 1485
+ Exercise Cals: 198
Total Cal Quota: 1683
Calories Consumed: 1567
Calories Left: 116
Cals to Maintain Weight: 1985

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 1567
Protein (g) 137.3
Carbohydrate (g) 117.6
Fat (g) 59.2 :-O
Fibre (g) 15.2
Fruit & Veg 5.1
Water (litres) 2.3

New Goals

Taking inspiration from some of my buddies on here as well as some of the interesting articles and books I have been reading lately around fitness and nutrition, it feel important now to formally set some goals.

When I started this journey, I really only had one goal - to lose a stone in weight. I have acheived that, but now I feel I am beginning to view this as my lifestyle now and my new goals are going to be more specific to all aspects of my life!

So here goes:

1 - To lose a further 7lbs (bringing me below 9 stone for the 1st time since I was a teenager!!)
2 - To review my weights programme on a 6 weekly basis to keep my body from getting used to what I am doing
3 - To weight train minimum 3 times per week
4 - To run minimum 3 times per week
5 - To complete the 10 week Running Made Easy 5k plan (currently on week 4)
6 - To stay positive and motivated even when I have a crappy day and to admit to my crappy days on my blog :D
7 - To endeavour to eat well most of the time, particularly focussing on my protein/carb intake
8 - To try a new recipe at least once a fortnight

Phew! Think that will do for now!

Eat eat eat eat eat!

That feels like all I've done today! But in actual fact, its all been small meals/snacks and I really haven't had one big meal today. And I don't feel hungry at all, which is good as I know eating little and often is good.

Haven't exercised today as I have serious DOMS following yesterdays workout and I just couldn't face dragging my aching limbs out for a run. I am praying that I will defy the normal 'day 2 is worse' phenomenon and feel a bit better tomorrow and get out for a run in the morning.
I made a gorgeous soup today, tomato and lentil which I haven't had in ages! I made a pact with myself to eat more lentils/beans/pulses as i don't eat them currently very much and they are great for fibre and protein intake.

I also experimented a little with cottage cheese tonight, and made a cottage cheese dip by blending cottage cheese with red onion, tomato puree, chilli powder and some herbs. I tried it with some carrots and it was ok - but I could still taste the taste of the cottage cheese and it put me off (I can't ruddy stand the stuff and currently can only manage it in my pancakes) so I'll not be rushing to have it again!

Really, really struggling to up my protein and lower my carbs (on non exercise days) and am going to keep experimenting to find things I like.

So short on calories today its ridiculous, am currently 385 cals below my allowance so shall have a scoop of whey protein with milk before bed to hopefully repair my aching muscles overnight!!!

Todays food:

B - Granola with semi-skimmed milk
S - Smoothie with 1 scoop raspberry ripple whey protein, 5og each of blackberries, frozen raspberries and strawberries & 1 banana
L - 2 slices of wholegrain toast with strawberry jam (didn't intend to have toast but forgot to have my lunch and made emergency food in my sisters!)
S - Handful of cashews
D - Bowl of tomato and lentil soup
S - 130g tuna mixed with 30g red onion
S - 100g raw carrot with homemade cottage cheese dip
S - 1 scoop whey protein with 200ml semi skimmed milk

Exercise - None

Calorie Summary
Daily Cal Quota: 1485
+ Exercise Cals: 0
Total Cal Quota: 1485
Calories Consumed: 1335
Calories Left: 150
Cals to Maintain Weight: 1985

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 1335
Protein (g) 117.1
Carbohydrate (g) 145.2
Fat (g) 31.3
Fibre (g) 25.3
Fruit & Veg 8.5
Water (litres) 2.3

Percent Calories From:
Carbohydrate (42%)
Protein (36.2%)
Fat (21.8%)

***Squeals***

Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!

At long last (just under 3 months) I have lost 1 stone and am at goal weight no1 of 9st 5lbs. I am so chuffed! Couldn't believe it as I have had a couple of slow weeks.

Its such a good motivator and I went to the gym all pumped up ready for a really good workout and came out having had a great old time.

I started my full weights routine today, devised myself as I can't justify the money on my personal trainer at the minute. I did a lot of research and took tips from Figure Athlete, The Body Sculpting Bible (great book) and my pals JAG and Crappy (or stella as she's otherwise known!) and came up with the workout below.

I'll be coming up with 2 more workouts, each to be done once a week. For the first 2 weeks I'll be doing modified supersets i.e. going in superset order but resting 90 secs in between each set, then after 2 weeks I'll do supersets - after 4 weeks the intention is to do giant sets but I'll see how it goes!!!

Wide grip lat pulldown 3 x 12 @ 28kg
Swiss ball chest press 3 x 12 @ 7kg

Shoulder press 3 x 12 @ 4kg (this is the move I struggle with most as my neck and shoulders are weak as hell)
Dumbbell calf raise 3 x 25 @ 6kg

Bicep curl 3 x 10 @ 6kg
Tricep pushdown 3 x 12 @ 25kg

Leg Press 3 x 10 @ 60kg
Stiff legged deadlift 3 x 12 @ 8kg

Next time, I'll be swapping the last 2 exercises to first in the workout, thanks to the advice of JAG.

I am in no doubt whatsoever that tomorrow I will be barely able to move, but I don't care cos it felt good!

PS not even sure why I've been so rubbish at posting to my blog this last week, I think I just forgot!

Gah Gah Gah!

I phoned the gym this morning to book into the 715pm spin class. No problemo.

Plan was to go to gym at 630pm, do weights until spin class, hopefully burn c 500-600 cals. So I planned my food carefully so I wouldn't have any bloated stomach issues - came home from work and had a Nakd bar then just before I went out I had 2 slices seeded granary toast with mashed banana. Knew if I did weights and spin I'd have loads of cals left for my dinner afterwards (chicken breast and salad).

Get to the gym to be told the 715pm spin class has been cancelled! I was so pissed off by the fact that the timetable is actually changed this week as its a holiday over here, so they booked me into the class this morning, knowing it wasn't actually on tonight.

Now I have eaten a whopping 228g of carbs, too many calories and only have enough calories left to eat my chicken breast for dinner....on its own....lucky I'm not hungry cos I didn't work as hard as I thought I would. I actually wouldn't have even eaten the chicken but I need the protein.

My great plan ruined!!

I *think* its getting easier!

I'm on week 3 (after 4 weeks given week 1 took me so long to actually complete!) of my run/walk plan (Running Made Easy) and for the first time tonight, I think it felt a little bit easier, and I was going for longer too. Really really pleased, between yesterdays great workout and today I feel like I'm getting somewhere with all this which has really boosted me after a not very good few days!

Food for today:

B - Granola & semi skimmed milk
S - 100g each red grapes & raspberries
S - Activia raspberry fruit layer yoghurt
L - 4 chilli wholegrain ricecakes with extra light Philadelphia & 2 slices lean ham
S - Granny Smith apple & 2 clementines
S - Mini babybel light
Pre exercise - Half a Nakd Cocoa Loco bar
Post exercise - 1 scoop whey protein with 200ml water
Dinner - Spicy bean burger with baked beans (bean overload lol)
S - Banana with 2tsps almond butter

Drinks - 3 large mugs black coffee & 5 pints water

Exercise - 35 mins walk/run

Calorie Summary
Daily Cal Quota: 1493
+ Exercise Cals: 234
Total Cal Quota: 1727
Calories Consumed: 1726
Calories Left: 1
Cals to Maintain Weight: 1993

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 1726
Protein (g) 94.6
Carbohydrate (g) 226.3
Fat (g) 49.3
Fibre (g) 48.7
Fruit & Veg 12.6
Water (litres) 2.8

Nutrition Summary
Percent Calories From:
Carbohydrate (50.8%)
Protein (22.6%)
Fat (26.6%)

Super high on carbs today, dunno what the heck happened! Not so worried since I was exercising though.

Food Diary

Well, following my concerns earlier about eating all my calories, I just about managed it (130 cals short but think I might treat myself to a square of Green & Blacks in a minute!).

B - Protein pancake (1 egg, 2 egg whites, oats, fat free cottage cheese, cinnamon) with banana
Post-workout snack - 1 scoop raspberry ripple whey with 200ml water
L - Scrambled eggs - 2 eggs and 3 egg whites - 2 slices of wholegrain toast
S - Half Nakd Cocoa Loco bar
S - Smoothie - 150g strawberries, large banana, 100ml pure orange
D - Home made spicy bean burger with sweet potato chips
S - 40g cashews
Supper (just before bed) - 1 scoop raspberry ripple whey with 200ml semi skimmed milk
Drinks - 1 large mug black coffee, 3.2l water

Exercise - 35 mins full body weights (rehab programme) & 45 mins spin class - 600 cals

Calorie Summary
Daily Cal Quota: 1499
+ Exercise Cals: 600
Total Cal Quota: 2099
Calories Consumed: 1969
Calories Left: 130
Cals to Maintain Weight: 1999

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 1969
Protein (g) 131.9
Carbohydrate (g) 237.3
Fat (g) 53.3
Fibre (g) 37.5
Fruit & Veg 10.9
Water (litres) 3.2

Nutrition Summary
Percent Calories From:
Carbohydrate (46.9%)
Protein (27.8%)
Fat (25.3%)

Awesome!

I had a really down day yesterday but was determined that today, I was going to pull myself together and get back on track. So, I got up out of bed all guns blazing, had protein pancake and banana for brekkie and off I went to the gym.

I did about 35 mins of weights (still on my rehab plan, another couple of weeks then will be going onto full strength training) then straight into spin class and I really worked as hard as I can ever remember working - I pushed myself even when I thought my lungs had shrunk to the size of peas and the sweat was dripping off my eyelashes! 600 cals burned in total.

I don't quite know where it came from, but I enjoyed it so much and I hope it was enough to set me up for an energetic and motivated week ahead.

Now, my challenge for the day is eating all my calories - 2099 including my exercise cals. I struggle to eat that many cals and keep it good quality food but today I'm really going to set my mind to it as I want to reap the benefits of my efforts, not just cancel out my hard work by eating crap.

I'll post my food later to let you see how I've got on!

Where did it go?

My mojo that is. I dunno, I have felt so lethargic this week and am already letting it stop me from getting to grips with my exercise. Hasn't helped that I have yet again been really busy, and between everything only got to the gym and for a run twice this week. Not good enough.

I've stuck to my eating though, so I guess that is something!

Lost 1lb this week - ok, but didn't lose last week and would have liked a bit more.

Anyway, I'm really gonna try and get back into it from today onwards. No plans any night next week or next weekend and I plan to keep it that way, I think the problem is that once I have my plans disrupted, I get thrown completely off course! I'm so easily distracted!

Here's to finding some motivation....

A new chapter!

Yet again I've been neglecting my blog - was minding my 5 year old niece for 2.5 days so haven't had much time to blog/work out as you can imagine!

So, the plan was to go to spin class last night but to be honest, I had a very draining day and couldn't face it. The reason? I was accepted for voluntary redundancy from my job. So in 8 weeks I shall be officially unemployed!

Yes, there's a recession. Yes, I'm probably absolutely mental.

But, I have been working in the industry I am in for 13 years and I have never liked it. I constantly want to do something else and now I am given a chance to get a lump sum of cash, and keep some substantial benefits for life, and I think I'd have been mad not to take it.

Big risk though - I live alone and have no other income, so really need to find another job of some sort to tide me over until I decide what my next long term plan is. So fingers crossed for me please that it all works out!

The silver lining is.....if I don't manage to get another job straight away, think how fit I'll be as I'll be blasting away at weights and running every day!!!

In a bit of a rush so not going to post my food for today but I'll be back into the routine again tomorrow and shall be blogging every day!