One big fat run

Last night I was doing a little internet browsing......Let's be honest when aren't I? Anyway....I came across this site and LOVED the idea!

In a nutshell the idea is to eventually get over 1 million overweight women to be running 5K. The runs are held every month and you take part on your own, in a group or just with a running buddy. You can complete the 5K anyway you like as long as you complete it and upload a photo to social media!

I am in desperate need of something to keep me going at the minute as due to the fact my weightloss has well and truly stopped I'm feeling somewhat demotivated. So I'm planning on signing up for the August event.
I'm not in too bad shape so I figured I would use this as a bench mark for all other 5K's. This time I am doing it solely on my own, probably on a treadmill.......so watch this space for updates!

On another note I'm heading to Body Pump tonight for the first time in a long long time! It's the new release (BodyPump90) so figured now is as good as time as any to head back! Hoping that by shaking things up again my weight loss might get kick started again.

First Ever 5K

Ok so I know this isn't exactly a proper 5K run but it's the furthest I've ever done either on the treadmill or the cross trainer and therefore felt it was worthy of note!

I really have come an awful long way in a short space of time! I know this 5K is incredibly slow compared to most people but for the first time in my life I'm off the sofa and trying new things!

THIS!!!!

Motivation

My motivation is seriously lacking again! I've eaten rubbish this past weekend, and although i've still done a fair bit of exercise I'm back to feeling fat and really unmotivated.

I seem to go through phases. I'll go from smashing every gym session to not being in the mood and having a few bad days! However when I have big goals to achieve and not a massive amount of time to achieve them in, I can't afford to go back to the unmotivated me!

I've got it in my head that a "little won't hurt" or "one day off is ok". I don't want to fail and I somehow need to move on from this asap.

When I'm actually at the gym there isn't a problem. I know I'm getting stronger, I know I'm getting smaller and fitter and one hell of a lot healthier. Getting myself to the gym and to keep up with my diet is the problem.

Over the last 2 weeks I've been told by numerous people that I'm looking amazing, and to be honest while I totally love the compliments I think the pressure is getting to me. I want to look good for my 30th and I want to prove that I can do this, but I am also mega scared of failing!! I've spent a lot of money and taken a lot of time to get this far - what if I balls it all up now?

At the end of the day I have 2 choices....either I ignore the niggling doubts and chose to get on and smash it again or I decide now to fail.........For me failure is now not an option, I've come to far to let it be.

Life isn't all rainbows, unicorns and flowers.....just really wish it was sometimes!

cardio vs strength training

This is something that took me a while to get my head around! For a long long long time, I genuinely believed the only way to shed any of my weight was to spend hours and hours pounding the treadmill. So when i first started back at the gym this is what I did. However I very soon go bored and would talk myself out of going! I then found spin, and fell in love and whilst I was really pleased I had found some cardio exercise I liked, again I found myself getting fed up in the gym!

Until I found the confidence to head into the weight room. Now, other than my warm up I maybe only do 1-2 sessions of cardio at the most and 9 times out of 10 those cardio sessions involve HIIT training.

Since I started using weights both in body pump and with my trainer my entire body composition has changed! I have muscles in places I never knew existed!

Honestly when I started I was terrified, it can be really intimidating and complicated looking. There are still certain times of the day when I avoid the weight room - you'll never catch me in there in the evening! 

Even taking all this into account I still believe the benefits of weight training (see below) outweigh the hours of boredom pounding a treadmill:

Weight Training Build Lean Muscle - Increasing muscle mass, increases your metabolism. The long and short of it - you burn calories even while resting (all good in my book)

Boost Stamina - Essentially the less tired you will be! Being able to train for longer helps burn more calories!

Decreased Risk of Osteoporosis

Builds Confidence

Makes you happy - Lets be honest any exercise lifts the happy hormone in you so get moving!

Seriously though, why not give it a try????

Planning.....

When I decided to start trying to lose weight I had one massive end goal in sight! I wanted to be skinny by my 30th Birthday in October. Since I set that goal I've ended up setting a ton of other smaller goals some I didn't mean to set and others I didnt manage to achieve but throughout this process, setting goals and planning my next stages are what really has kept me motivated!

So I've decided to share my next mini goal with you.............We've been invited to an event during May! This is the first time I will have seen a lot of the people at this event since before I started on this journey so I want it to be obvious how well I've done, and on top of that I want to be able to fit into a really cute outfit!

This past weekend I decided that with 17 days to go it was time I got myself motivated so I drew up a plan.....

My 32 day plan basically consists of working through the 30 day shred and setting out what days I'm going to do my PT weights programme, Body Pump, Spinning aswell as continuing with my running. Phew I'm exhausted just looking at that list.

As of today I have 14 days (2 SHORT WEEKS) until the event however I've devised a 32 day plan to get me through the rest of the month.

As well as the exercise plan I've decided to limit my carb intake. I'm still going to eat carbs - I really need them as fuel for my workouts but not in the evenings and certainly not have as many of them!

So far I've managed three days of the plan without any hiccups. Easter was a bit of a challenge but I have my gold Lindt bunny as a reward after the event in 2 weeks time! To be perfectly honest with you I find having a schedule to stick to easier than not having one, it seems to be keeping me motivated.........as well as this :-)

LINDT BUNNY - AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD SUPERMARKETS

New Blog Design

Whoo! I finally have a new blog design! I got it from the amazing MISS LILLY DESIGNS on Etsy.
To be fair I'm a total nightmare when it comes to things like this and in three weeks time I will more than likely change my mind and decide I want something different, but for now I really love this design! I think it totally sums up my journey and personality! What do you all think?

Anyway.........This week......Its the first week of the Easter Holidays here in the UK, So that has meant trying to entertain the kids as well as fitting in my gym schedule! So far it has all worked out well. I'm lucky enough that we go to a gym that has an active kids club program. So while the kids have been in there I've been hitting the gym hard after my week off!

I've mainly been doing my PT programme but this week I've also decided to add an abs routine to the programme. I've still got a lot of fat to lose on my stomach but figured if I start working on my abs now by the time the fat has gone there may be something to show......I'm not 100% sure it works like that but here's to wishful thinking!

Shhhhhhhhh!

I think that title pretty much sums this last week(end) up! I have no idea what has been wrong with me but towards the start of the week I was beyond shattered and lost all motivation! Not good.....certainly not a place I want to be heading to either!

So I decided to make the choice to take the week off, and that is exactly what I did! 

I was totally drained and worn out also my knee was suffering for a bit. I thought taking a week off would help......I couldn't have been more wrong! Towards the end of the week I was even more worn out from doing nothing and craving weights! 

I will be back this week and more determined than ever.........For the first time ever I think I've really missed the gym!

April Clean Eating Challenge

I realise this is a day late but I did start this yesterday I promise.

Anyway.....THE CHALLENGE......

Due to the fact that I possibly have an event to attend at the end of April I decided that it's time to step things up with regards to exercise and clean eating. To be fair I usually eat clean 80% of the time with usually one or two cheat meals per week.....My cheat meals tend to be greasy fried non nutritious rubbish!

So for April I'm planning on ditching the greasy stuff for the entire month and only eating clean foods!

In order to give myself the best possible start I spent the whole of Monday doing food prep! This isn't something I've ever done before but it certainly something I'm planning on doing again. Its quite satisfying to know that my breakfast and lunches and a few snacks are made and ready for the week!

Anyway, I will be keeping you up to date with my progress. I look forward to hearing from any of you that have decided to join in............

HIIT for Fat Burn

My workouts have changed a lot recently. What started out as hours and hours on the treadmill has now become mega streamlined, but is having HUGE effects!

I now workout on the treadmill for roughly 20 mins three times a week. This combined with weight training is giving me some amazing results.....so until it stops working i plan on continuing in the same way.

Basically my workouts now consist of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). In essence i totally kill myself and burn as many calories as i can, then it's done!

HIIT training on the treadmill is ideal for me as i can change the intensity and speed depending on how my legs are feeling. Generally i sprint on the treadmill for 30 seconds and then do active recovery - either walking or a light jog depending how I'm feeling for 1 minute. 

With HIIT training its important to keep changing things up and surprising your body so I often vary the speed rather than the length of the sprint or i do the same workout but on the spin bikes!

Seriously give it a try and see if it works for you.......It took a while but I'm really starting to love it now!

Over The Weekend!

Wow that weekend sure went fast! It might have something to do with losing an hours sleep.....I'm still catching up on that hour!

So what did i get up to this weekend.....well it was a bit of an unsuccessful one. 

Saturday - I woke up and headed to my double spin class...this was fab. I gave it everything - actually too much and ended up injuring the back of my knee. I'm fairly sure this was due to having the seat in the wrong position.  

The rest of the day was a total flop.....My knee was sore and I ended up spending the day eating crap which resulted in me feeling like crap! Just great.

I also decided to have a glass of wine! Now before I embarked on this lifestyle i used to be able to drink most weekends......seemingly not any more. I could barely finish the glass and it tasted revolting! It really wasn't worth the calories!

Sunday - Sunday was mothers day and i spent the day at the park with my two little darlings. To be fair this wasn't a complete disaster, i found that i can now fit on the swings again - much to the embarrassment of my 10 year old son, I decided this was a small non scale victory so it cheered me up a bit!

All in all not the best weekend, although certainly not the worst....kind of a non event really. Either way this past weekend seems to have renewed my commitment to clean eating, I made up my mind to hit the supermarket early Monday morning and embark on some meal prep! I'm planning on April being a 100% clean month......Wish me luck!

I Love To Cheat......

So yesterday I had my personal training session! It was really good and Sarah worked me hard! I even managed to increase the speed of my sprint in my treadmill HIIT session.....to say I was over the moon is a slight understatement! I can't believe how much stronger and faster i'm getting, a few months ago i was shattered just walking on the treadmill and now i'm making some serious improvements!

So to reward myself i thought i would make today my "Cheat Meal". Im really trying to get out of the habit of rewarding myself with food (i am not a dog.......or something like that). Either way.......

So i had Fish and Chips from the chip shop and half a glass of wine! Both of these were a really big mistake and I wont be having either of them again in a hurry! To say i almost virtually lived on fried greasy food, my stomach can no longer handle it and i spent the entire evening with a stomach ache feeling fat and bloated! So not worth it!
As for the wine.....Pre becoming exercise obsessed i could easily polish off a couple of glasses of wine on a Friday night! Seemingly not anymore, i struggled to drink that one glass and then woke up this morning with the worlds worst headache! Looks like i'm becoming quitting alcohol properly too.........Good job I really really love the turn my life has taken!

As for future "cheat meals" I need to remember these golden rules and maybe chose something non greasy and fried......

ProjectNext

One Proud Mumma.........

someecards

It has really been one of those days, everything that could go wrong did go wrong until this evening! 

Now I'm not planning on making a habit of posting about my kids but this one is fitness related.......For the past 5 weeks my son has been representing his school in the cross country series. For me this has meant standing in the cold, wet mud cheering him on. For him it's meant having the time of his life and running his little socks off! Over the past few weeks he's placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 3rd......until tonight when in the pouring rain he WON! He beat a field of over 100 boys in a 2k race - also coming 3rd overall in the series! Now like i said i'm not planning on posting lots about the kids......its nice to have a break but after all the training he's put in....often running 3k (12mins) I thought it was worth a post!