So a few ups and downs weight loss wise over the last few days. Great day on Saturday, slightly ruined by the 4 pints of cider I had in the evening (whoooooops!), but felt I recovered pretty well with an hour of zumba the next morning and a healthy bean and veggie casserole for brunch. Only problem was, we had a last minute guest for our roast dinner that evening - our travel buddy RJ - and, well, my quiet night turned into a bit of a drinkathon. We managed to plough our way through several bottle of red wine before we got on to the vodka and ginger beer *shudder, followed by that hallowed soaker-upper of booze - the pizza. Because our route had taken us from ours, to the pub and the to RJ's, we hiccuped our way home at 4am. So much for a quiet night!
I have to say, yesterday started out a bit of a write off. Woke up at 11am (!), rolled out around noon (cue Berocca and aspirin) and then realised we had very little food-wise in the house. Craving bacon sandwiches and Pot Noodles and seriously considering venturing out to get them - even though I looked like a zombie victim - I eventually stumbled across a tub of ready-to-shake pancake mix. It wasn't a Pot Noodle, but it certainly did the trick.
The rest of my day was really quite exciting. Spent an hour at Trailfinders planning our trip, I saw the light after finally venturing to Nando's *dribble, and then caught Prometheus at the amazing and highly recommended The Electric in Birmingham.
And just a note about Nando's - apparently it's a good shout for slimmers. As long as you take the skin off the chicken, it's a pretty healthy fast food. And on that note, I need to eat - I'm going for a Mullerlight yoghurt and a banana as a post workout snack. In-keeping with my exercise plan, I did Jillian Michael's 6 Week Six Pack this morning and although I was still a sweaty mess afterwards, I've noticed big improvements in my strength and core stability. Still worried about the thighs though, so opting for some cheeky side lunges and scissor jumps from time to time, just to get some extra toning in. I must look like a loon...
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Saturday, 2 June 2012
A change of plan...
Wow, two whole months since my last post - that's pretty poor, even by my lazy standards!
But there's a reason for the radio silence. Because of that wonderful way that life throws up the most unexpected and exciting things, I'm in an entirely different place to where I was two months ago; one week ago, even! Because last week I quit my job, giving three months' notice before we leave our familiar and cosy UK shores to explore the world!
I'm side-stepping the usual life plan for something altogether more butt-clenchingly terrifying and exhilarating.
I can't work out if we're being brave or stupid. Probably a little of both I guess. But you can't fail to feel alive when you've just quit a well-paid career and plan to rent your house out to some complete strangers in the hope they'll cover the mortgage for you and hopefully not break the place. In the words of Dr Pepper: "What's the worst that can happen?" Well, we could run out of money, get kidnapped by triads, default on our mortgage payments and have to return home, tails between our legs, to work three jobs whilst we put our broken lives back together.... OR... everything could turn out just fine and we could have the most amazing time of our lives. I'm opting for the latter... :)
So here's the thing - in addition to the alarming number of things we need to do before we can bugger off, I've GOT TO shed this weight. Currently, my thighs rub together - this is unacceptable considering the heat of Thailand (our first stop). Also, my bingo wings are outta control. I'm paranoid about sweat patches and I know that a lot of it is down to having more flesh - and therefore insulation - around the top of my arms. And finally, my spare tyre is monster truck-sized at the moment. I think I'll probably lose weight naturally when we're away, I tend to eat less in the heat anyway, but having massive flubbery balloon thighs when we get on that plane is not an option. The thighs must die.
With this in mind, I've replaced my previous eating plan with something a little more realistic. I'm back on Slimming World (my brother and my aunt are shedding ridiculous amounts of weight on this plan and I've got slimming envy) and I've drawn up an exercise schedule that gets me moving for at least half an hour, one way or another, every day. And I'm not talking about a half-arsed walk for 30 minutes, I'm talking pushing myself. Today, it was 30 Day Shred. Things hurt. This is good...
But there's a reason for the radio silence. Because of that wonderful way that life throws up the most unexpected and exciting things, I'm in an entirely different place to where I was two months ago; one week ago, even! Because last week I quit my job, giving three months' notice before we leave our familiar and cosy UK shores to explore the world!
I'm side-stepping the usual life plan for something altogether more butt-clenchingly terrifying and exhilarating.
I can't work out if we're being brave or stupid. Probably a little of both I guess. But you can't fail to feel alive when you've just quit a well-paid career and plan to rent your house out to some complete strangers in the hope they'll cover the mortgage for you and hopefully not break the place. In the words of Dr Pepper: "What's the worst that can happen?" Well, we could run out of money, get kidnapped by triads, default on our mortgage payments and have to return home, tails between our legs, to work three jobs whilst we put our broken lives back together.... OR... everything could turn out just fine and we could have the most amazing time of our lives. I'm opting for the latter... :)
So here's the thing - in addition to the alarming number of things we need to do before we can bugger off, I've GOT TO shed this weight. Currently, my thighs rub together - this is unacceptable considering the heat of Thailand (our first stop). Also, my bingo wings are outta control. I'm paranoid about sweat patches and I know that a lot of it is down to having more flesh - and therefore insulation - around the top of my arms. And finally, my spare tyre is monster truck-sized at the moment. I think I'll probably lose weight naturally when we're away, I tend to eat less in the heat anyway, but having massive flubbery balloon thighs when we get on that plane is not an option. The thighs must die.
With this in mind, I've replaced my previous eating plan with something a little more realistic. I'm back on Slimming World (my brother and my aunt are shedding ridiculous amounts of weight on this plan and I've got slimming envy) and I've drawn up an exercise schedule that gets me moving for at least half an hour, one way or another, every day. And I'm not talking about a half-arsed walk for 30 minutes, I'm talking pushing myself. Today, it was 30 Day Shred. Things hurt. This is good...
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Feeling good!
Amazing how a pretty bad week diet-wise can be turned into a good thing when it motivates you to get a grip and get back on it.
So yesterday was cheat day and as one our friends was visiting for the weekend, we planned to spend most of it at various pubs around Leamington. I was thinking of scrapping cheat day due to the disaster that was Friday (and Thursday, and pretty much every day last week), but I'm glad I talked myself out of it. Although I'm probably going to have gained pretty much all my lost weight when I weigh in on Tuesday, I'm rapidly discovering that routine is pretty important for me to feel in control. I don't want to be inflexible, because that's what causes problems when something unexpected crops up, but I definitely feel more prepared for the unexpected when I've been successful in my routine for a few days.
So yes, cheat day was definitely on yesterday! I had a huge steak sandwich for brunch and all 5 of us shared packets of crisps and the most amazing little desserts - millionaire shortbread, a rocky road slice, a huge cookie and a raspberry flapjack. It was fun having tiny tasters of everything and also felt really indulgent.
Then my husband came up with the most ingenious suggestion - instead of just going to the nearest pub for a pint, we should make a day of it and go for a nice walk to get to some out-of-town pubs and visit some establishments we haven't been to in years. In effect, a far healthier pub crawl than usual. It meant we could get our fitbit steps up as well as having a few cheeky pints! It's times like these I remember why I married him - the boy's a genius!
So we set off along the canal to the first pub, The White Lion, where I had a bottle of Hoegarden and we shared some olives which were very, very tasty. Then we pottered on back down the road and through Newbold Comyn to get to the Newbold Comyn Arms. Here I had a pint of Magners Draft and we shared some prawn cocktail crisps and a packet of Mini Cheddars. After tramping through the park we stumbled across a BMX event and climbed up a huge hill to get to the cycle track. A true fitbit convert, I just kept thinking I'll get my floors up today! This is going to count for loads! After watching the guys and girls whizzing and jumping past for a while we headed back down the hill and to the Somerville Arms.
It was here we found a little gem of a pub. Not only do they sell draft ale and cider, but they have a cheese night. Any place that has a cheese night is fine by me! So we stayed here in our happy little bubble for the longest out of any of our stops and I had two pints of Weston's Scrumpy - a very cheeky cider at 6%. We also shared some Monster Munch (universally agreed to be the perfect snack for drinking), some Quavers and some nuts. After that we headed to our friend's house, ordered Mexican (although I had a mahoosive burger instead) and settled down to watch Anchor Man with a bottle of Old Rosie (another cheeky cider, this time at 7.5%!). This was swiftly followed by vodka and ginger beer!
When we all left a few hours later, sleepy and a little wobbly, we couldn't believe it was before midnight! Hardly rock n' roll for a Saturday night, but after eight hours of drinking, I guess we'd paid our dues.
The best thing is that I feel absolutely fine this morning - in fact, I feel fantastic. Not a hint of a hangover, incredible amounts of energy and loads and loads of motivation to get back in control and have an excellent week of diet and fitness. I did more than 21,000 steps yesterday - 11,000 more than my target - I climbed the equivalent of 16 floors and I burned almost 2,600 calories. Sure, I probably consumed more lard and sugar than I should do in a week, but that's not the point! And this morning I jumped out of bed and enjoyed every second of my zumba class - my instructor even commented on how bouncy I was for a Sunday morning!
I have the eye of the tiger and I'm determined to make this diet work. One slight adjustment I might make for next week, however, is to track my calories on a cheat day. Until now I figured it would be counter productive as the whole point is to get all the cravings out of the way guilt-free so you can get back on it for the next 6 days. But if I'm honest, I tend to go a little too overboard, to the point when I'm stuffing chocolates into my mouth simply because I can. I'm not actually enjoying everything I eat. Perhaps if I track the calories too, it'll encourage me to only choose the foods I really, really want.
Here's to an active, healthy week!
So yesterday was cheat day and as one our friends was visiting for the weekend, we planned to spend most of it at various pubs around Leamington. I was thinking of scrapping cheat day due to the disaster that was Friday (and Thursday, and pretty much every day last week), but I'm glad I talked myself out of it. Although I'm probably going to have gained pretty much all my lost weight when I weigh in on Tuesday, I'm rapidly discovering that routine is pretty important for me to feel in control. I don't want to be inflexible, because that's what causes problems when something unexpected crops up, but I definitely feel more prepared for the unexpected when I've been successful in my routine for a few days.
So yes, cheat day was definitely on yesterday! I had a huge steak sandwich for brunch and all 5 of us shared packets of crisps and the most amazing little desserts - millionaire shortbread, a rocky road slice, a huge cookie and a raspberry flapjack. It was fun having tiny tasters of everything and also felt really indulgent.
Then my husband came up with the most ingenious suggestion - instead of just going to the nearest pub for a pint, we should make a day of it and go for a nice walk to get to some out-of-town pubs and visit some establishments we haven't been to in years. In effect, a far healthier pub crawl than usual. It meant we could get our fitbit steps up as well as having a few cheeky pints! It's times like these I remember why I married him - the boy's a genius!
So we set off along the canal to the first pub, The White Lion, where I had a bottle of Hoegarden and we shared some olives which were very, very tasty. Then we pottered on back down the road and through Newbold Comyn to get to the Newbold Comyn Arms. Here I had a pint of Magners Draft and we shared some prawn cocktail crisps and a packet of Mini Cheddars. After tramping through the park we stumbled across a BMX event and climbed up a huge hill to get to the cycle track. A true fitbit convert, I just kept thinking I'll get my floors up today! This is going to count for loads! After watching the guys and girls whizzing and jumping past for a while we headed back down the hill and to the Somerville Arms.
It was here we found a little gem of a pub. Not only do they sell draft ale and cider, but they have a cheese night. Any place that has a cheese night is fine by me! So we stayed here in our happy little bubble for the longest out of any of our stops and I had two pints of Weston's Scrumpy - a very cheeky cider at 6%. We also shared some Monster Munch (universally agreed to be the perfect snack for drinking), some Quavers and some nuts. After that we headed to our friend's house, ordered Mexican (although I had a mahoosive burger instead) and settled down to watch Anchor Man with a bottle of Old Rosie (another cheeky cider, this time at 7.5%!). This was swiftly followed by vodka and ginger beer!
When we all left a few hours later, sleepy and a little wobbly, we couldn't believe it was before midnight! Hardly rock n' roll for a Saturday night, but after eight hours of drinking, I guess we'd paid our dues.
The best thing is that I feel absolutely fine this morning - in fact, I feel fantastic. Not a hint of a hangover, incredible amounts of energy and loads and loads of motivation to get back in control and have an excellent week of diet and fitness. I did more than 21,000 steps yesterday - 11,000 more than my target - I climbed the equivalent of 16 floors and I burned almost 2,600 calories. Sure, I probably consumed more lard and sugar than I should do in a week, but that's not the point! And this morning I jumped out of bed and enjoyed every second of my zumba class - my instructor even commented on how bouncy I was for a Sunday morning!
I have the eye of the tiger and I'm determined to make this diet work. One slight adjustment I might make for next week, however, is to track my calories on a cheat day. Until now I figured it would be counter productive as the whole point is to get all the cravings out of the way guilt-free so you can get back on it for the next 6 days. But if I'm honest, I tend to go a little too overboard, to the point when I'm stuffing chocolates into my mouth simply because I can. I'm not actually enjoying everything I eat. Perhaps if I track the calories too, it'll encourage me to only choose the foods I really, really want.
Here's to an active, healthy week!
Monday, 5 March 2012
It's arrived!
So the small, yet beautifully formed Fitbit is here! It's not fully charged yet, so we're having to leave them overnight, but I've already synced mine (the pink and black one) with my myfitnesspal and we've added each other as 'friends' so we can fall out at a later date when our competitive streaks have got the better of us.
It's a lovely feeling to be excited about just how much this will change things. I just hope it all works out and it's not an expensive fad. I do have a habit of putting my faith in these things and being disappointed. But it's only as good as the person operating it, so with a bit of willpower and determination we should do just fine. Can't wait to start tomorrow!
It's a lovely feeling to be excited about just how much this will change things. I just hope it all works out and it's not an expensive fad. I do have a habit of putting my faith in these things and being disappointed. But it's only as good as the person operating it, so with a bit of willpower and determination we should do just fine. Can't wait to start tomorrow!
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