On A Small Triumph

Breakfast:  2 hard boiled eggs, ham, and cottage cheese

Lunch:  a Seared chicken salad with thai dressing

Dinner: Beef steaks with Salad

Exercise:

20 minutes on the cross trainer

20 minutes on the stationary bike

I forgot my knee brace...fail!!!


Thoughts:

Since I have been doing this, I sometimes get bogged down and I feel I can't see tangible results.  That was until this past Friday.

I ordered a "motivation dress" from a boutique website that has boutique sizes.  (smaller sizes)  It's a gorgeous strapless peplum body-con (Peplum is so flattering for us ladies that have issues with a more round tummy, like me!) I ordered the size 16, the largest size that they have thinking that I will be in it by the end of May.

I was working from home on Friday and I decided to try it on to see how far I need to go to get in it.  I put the dress on and......it fits.  I mean it actually fits perfectly.  In fact, the chest is a bit loose!!!
My butt looks absolutely amazing from sideways on too.  Amazing.  I could theoretically put this dress on and go out for a night out in it, sans sucking in knickers.

And speaking of sucking in knickers....mine have stopped sucking in because they are too big!

Yes, little triumphs are occurring.  I am noticing in my jeans that around my butt and thighs, they are getting baggy, especially my skinny jeans.  The only thing is that my waist is still big.

And when I put on a maxi skirt that is on my motivation wish list, my butt looked unreal.  I mean, it looks perky, toned and fabulous, but look at the front, saggy, big tummy, and I snapped straight back to reality.

I spoke to Kathryn about it and she said it will come down.  My tummy does give me the blues.  The worst part is what I like to call the "Tummy Pooch".  This is the part of the tummy that runs from hip bone to hip bone, right above the groin.  Mine bulges out and it is so off putting.  The amount of times I have cried and wanted to seriously get a knife and chop it off....God.  I hate it.  It's covered in stretch marks (the only part of my tummy that is) and I have a really bad tattoo on it.  I bet that if it was cut off I would lose 2 dress sizes.  It really, really gets me down.

But I need to keep going.  I am onto a winner now.  I am focused and making the small changes that I need to make to complete my mission.

So tomorrow will be a fab day! Onwards and upwards!!!

My Body Is Changing!!!!

Breakfast:  2 Hard boiled eggs with chicken slices

Snack:  Cucumber, carrots and houmous

Lunch:  Chilli

Dinner:  Grilled Turkey salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and cracked black pepper

Exercise:  A killer session with Kathryn

Thoughts:

I find that when I am in an exercise program I get bogged down in my own world, I don't notice that my body is actually changing.

Each time Kathryn takes my measurements, she also snaps a photograph.  She's taking my measurements every 2 weeks.

On Easter Sunday (which was the worst day to take my measurements as I had a few glasses of wine and not very good food the days leading up to it) she took my meaurements and they are going down.  She then sent the photos comparing the last 2 measurements and you know what?  My body is changing!

First, my butt is becoming rounder and it is sticking out more (I am happy with that!  I am proud of my curvy butt!), looking at me from the front, my curves are becoming more defined.  You can see my waist better.  From sideways on, my tummy looks flatter.  My skin looks amazing (thank you avocados and water!) and when I am doing my exercises (mostly clean and press and dead lifts) I am seeing a change.

It started with my dead lifts.  I got into position (bent over, legs hip width apart and squatting) and I noticed my back.  I asked Kathryn, is that back fat?  She said, no, it's muscle.

I also noticed my triceps are popping through, my shoulders are getting definition and Kathryn said my back is getting a good shape.

I am seeing it in my extremities.  My arms look better, my calf muscles look fab (as always but that is down to excessive heel wearing), the fat on my thighs are starting to go.  Cellulite is slowly disappearing.  And my butt is now becoming a booty!

The place that I really want to see the difference, though, is my tummy.  I haven't noticed a difference but seeing the photos, yes, it is going in but it is taking its time.  I guess that I am impatient!  I am confident that my tummy and "fat shelf" as I call it (that bit of fat that is across your hips and it sags a bit) will go but it will take time.  It didn't go on over night and it won't leave over night.

I just need to keep on pushing, keep on working hard, make sure that I am eating clean and keep up my positive attitude.  I will have hard days where I want to eat anything and everything and I will have days where I want to open a bottle of wine and glug it down.  I just need to remember, I am doing well.  The weight is coming off and I will be in my motivation 2 piece in no time!

Tomorrow is a big test though.  I am working from home tomorrow and work from home days are hard for me.  I have succumbed to the temptation to not go to teh gym and to gorge on bread in the past.  Tomorrow needs to be different.

Onwards and Upwards!!

On Food Substitutions

Breakfast:  Lemon, lime, ginger, cucumber, cayenne pepper, and water  (I'm going to call this my morning juice from now on!)

Lunch:  3 bean salad, feta, spring onion, red pepper, olives, cucumber, white wine vinegar and black pepper

Snack:  Cottage cheese

Dinner:  Chilli with rice

Exercise:  rest

Thoughts:

Now that I am on the road to success with my eating and exercise, I now am exploring substitutions for fattening old foods.

I used to make a nice healthy salad and then dump a load of mayonnaise on it turning my salad into a fattening meal.  Not very good if you are trying to lose weight!  So I have been coming up with different ideas and researching different nutritious foods that I can put into my day to day eating.

For example, my salad last night.  I put olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some cracked black pepper on it.  The olive oil has more calories but it is far more nutritious than a low fat salad dressing, which you will find, has a lot of sugar in it.  Olive oil also has omega 3 fatty acids which are good for your body.  Sometimes it's not about quantity (the amount of calories in the food) it's the quality.

I always have rice with my chilli.  I have read up about quinoa and I found that quinoa has more calories than rice, but it also has more protein.  It seems to be a good substitute for starchy things like pasta, couscous and things like that.  I once bought quinoa and tried to prepare it and it ended up not working out too well as in it was a sloppy, watery mess so I haven't gone back.  But looking at the health benefits and such, I want to try it again and see if I can get it right and use it in a few different recipes.

I am feeling a lot better about everything, I know I am on route to make April my best! Onwards and upwards!!!! 

Glitch in the Running

Breakfast:  Strawberry, banana, cucumber, lemon, ginger, mint and lime

Lunch:  3 bean salad with cucumber, red pepper, spring onion, olives, feta, coriander with white wine vinegar, black pepper and salt

Dinner:  Turkey breast (grilled), salad, feta with white wine vinegar and olive oil

Exercise:  60 minutes on the stepper/cross trainer

Playlist:

Thoughts:

I have a confession to make.  I do enjoy bank holidays.  Being off for a few days from the hustle and bustle of work is fab but I am a creature of habit.  So my workouts and eating go completely tits up.

Over this bank holiday weekend, I drank alcohol (I'm back on my no drinking) and my eating wasn't the best.

So I am back on it.

There is a slight problem, though.  Just as I got into my running, my left knee has decided that it doesn't like this at all.  So I have a massive pain in my left knee.  This (miraculously) disappeared on Easter Sunday (my Religious Italian Mama insists this was a miracle) so I went to the gym on Monday and decided to try and run wearing a leg brace while wearing some cheap insoles.  Bad idea.

I spoke to Kathryn about it and she thinks, judging by my symptoms, it can be 1 of 3 things.

1.  As my workouts were mostly weights based, my "cardio" muscles are out of practice.  (Plus I haven't run for ages)

2.  I am slightly out of line.  Kathryn noticed that when I was doing a push up, I tended to favor my left hand side.  She thinks that because this side is constantly overcompensating, it is more injury prone.

3.  I am not 18 anymore.  I don't weigh 125 pounds anymore.  I am well over weight and the fact that all this weight is slamming down on my knee, that's going to cause pain.

I am not going to let this set back get me down.  So I have done some research and it is the elliptical/stair stepper for me!!  Less impact on my knees as my feet are not leaving the pedals.  I can burn roughly the same amount of calories and hopefully as the weight comes off I can get back onto the running.

Plus I found different exercises that I can do on the cross trainer that are great for fat loss.  So I am going to incorporate them into my workout.

Tonight I did 60 minutes on the cross trainer doing a hill program.  I pushed myself and sweated hard. And I burned an impressive 679 calories. Boosh!!!!

So I have found a fab cardio workout I can do. Tomorrow lets do it again! Onwards and upwards!!!!