Lisa - Fat Girl Fit

I went Ape!

At the weekend I took a little drive to Woburn with two friends and visited the safari park and Go Ape.

Have you ever been to Go Ape before? If not you should it is great fun!

Go Ape is a tree top adventure which includes high ropes, tree top crossings, tunnels, bridges, tarzan swings, cargo nets and zip wires.

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So we arrived and got into our harnesses (felt like some weird harness nappy) and had the safety demonstration. I put myself forward as a volunteer for the demo. The instructor showed us how to do it and made it look graceful and smooth. I on the other hand thought yes I can do this in front of a group of people of whom I only know two. Ha ha nice try Lisa. I felt so shaky going across though he said I moved like a ballerina. I told him sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

I had been before so I knew what to expect and had a great time even if on all but one of the zip wires I ended up on my bum or back – not a graceful landing at all more of a land on my bum and get dragged through the mud and bark until I come to a stop. Would probably explain why when I got back and showered there was mud and leaves everywhere including in my bra!

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It is like a 2 hour workout, with laughing and giggling and in the wind a lot of tree swaying, which can make you nervous even though you are attached and cannot fall.

I would definitely recommend if you fancy something different and at places like Woburn you can then drive around the safari park and see the animals. Not going to lie I am pretty pleased my bike racks are still in one piece on top of the car and not being played with by a mischievous little monkey!

Category: Cycling

Loving a bit of Rapha

I love Rapha.

Rapha is a sportswear and lifestyle brand focused on road cycling, clothing and accessories.

I mean I love anything pink and as Rapha tends to have pink on a lot of their products I tend to naturally gravitate toward it all.

I have a couple of their pink bottles that match my bike perfectly (that is when my husband is not ‘borrowing’ them).

My husband and I had tickets to go to the opening of their new store in Spitalfields market last night and so after work we headed down there.

I could spend a fortune! I wanted shoe covers, bottles, shoes, jerseys, gillets, gloves, hats, jackets – basically I wanted it all.

The store is in an old bank and in the basement the vault is still downstairs and has been used in a genius way. The vault is now the Rapha Vault.

In the Rapha Vault you can wear the Rapha clothing, recreating your riding position on a stationary bike inside a climate-controlled chamber enabling you to find the perfect fit for your riding and racing apparel.

We were speaking with a very nice young man who explained to us how it worked. The temperature in the vault can be adjusted between 0 and 30 degrees. Wind speed can reach up to 30 mph (which is nice – or something like that)! A really clever idea if you want to test out the clothing before you buy it.

Any cyclist knows the kit can be expensive and if you are taking part in an event, say overseas, this could be really useful. My husband is doing the Gran Fondo New York next May and discussion soon turned to that as it became clear a turn in the chamber could help him pick what could be ideal to wear there.

Anyway I have a lengthy Christmas list to write full of lots of pink Rapha items!

Category: Fitness, Product Reviews

Halfway through my Julia Buckley pilot programme

I am halfway through my four week Ignite pilot programme and I am loving it!

Don’t get me wrong I chose to set my alarm daily for 5.30am so that I can get the workout done before I went to work so that I could not fall into the trap of getting back late or being too tired and making excuses not to do it. I can’t lie there have been a couple of mornings my alarm has gone off and I have thought please let me stay in this warm and cosy bed but no I’ve got up and got it done! No excuses!

My husband is my accountability buddy and he knows the score but so far I’ve been so good he hasn’t had to kick my butt at all (insert smug face here).

Julia Buckley has an online gym and the support on there is incredible. Julia is on hand every day and so are all the other members so the conversation flows so easily, which is incredible in terms of support and swapping advice.

The workouts are 30 minutes each but don’t let that fool you into thinking that they may be an easy 30 minute workout because they are not. I am dripping in sweat after all of them.

It works the same as HIIT workouts with maximum calorie burning in minimum time, achieved by intervals of high and medium intensity exercises. No equipment is needed so this can be done at home, in the park, at the gym – lots of options. the workouts are more interesting than the norm so don’t get boring at all.

Of course you only get out what you put in so you do need to give it your all for the duration of the workout.

In order to see the results from the pilot programme I have kept other working out to a minimum though I have had an 8 mile run and a spin class. I’ve lost one pound and when I ran I slowed it down by 30 seconds per mile and it felt much better than before so for me at the end of this programme it is not weight loss or measurements that will be the tell tale signs of results from this but if there is an improvement in my running.

So the programme is going well though yesterday I did have a toddler tantrum as I didn’t want to run, I was tired, I wanted to lay in my bed or on the sofa and stay under my warm blanket. But I got up and changed and headed out the door for a run. After two laps round the block my Garmin watch had not picked up the satellite signal and the wind was blowing and it had started raining and I’d had enough and decided I would just stop right there so no run. After all if it isn’t on Strava it didn’t happen! ha ha

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Category: Events, OCR

Mens Health Survival of the Fittest and being a marshall

On Saturday I packed up my KitBrix bag and headed up to Wembley with my friend Helen, and her sister and boyfriend. They were in a team completing in the 10k Mens Health Survival of the Fittest obstacle run. I was not. I was there to marshall.

I’ve never marshalled an event before and thought it might be fun and interesting to be there from the other side rather than participating. It felt a little strange. We all arrived and as they got ready to run I headed over to be told where I should go and what I needed to do.

I met one of the guys who was part of team No Fear on Wheels at Nuclear, which was amazing as I had seen those guys in action and have so much respect for them. I also met a lovely lady called Luzanne who had marshalled loads before and knew everyone so I stuck with her! I was hoping we would be paired up as she clearly knew what she was doing but every post was a solo one.

At first you are given a high viz vest, lanyard with all contact details and a whistle. We headed in to a briefing where it was explained what was expected of us and given health and safety tips and what to do in an emergency etc then headed out. As we were making our way around the course we would stop at each obstacle and you were assigned your post.

I ended up on a post that was a double one – runners coming from one direction at about 2k to then hurdle and then the runners heading back my way at about 4.5k on a running stretch of the course.

I was layered up prepared for the cold, proudly wearing my Mudd Queen wrag and had bought with me 11 bags of jelly babies to hand out to the runner as I remembered this was a godsend when I was doing Nuclear Fallout last weekend.

Wearing my wrag was great as other Mudd Queens recognise you cue lots of cheering.

I was cheering everyone on, telling them how well they were doing and handing out jelly babies. I got hugs, high fives, smiles, some people cheered me and I had loads of runners saying thank you for standing out in the cold for them. It was such a great experience and i would definitely do it again!

It was really nice when I saw Helen and her group running back shouting out my name and also shouting for jelly babies!

There were lots of crazy people there doing laps. I thought I was going mad until they said they were on laps. I soon started being called Jelly Baby lady as they came around and around knowing there I would be withe sweets for them and by the end of the day I had none left!

The day was set up with 10k runs of the course through the day and then in the evening started the 5k runs. I saw Tom from Mudstacle who I had done the Commando Series OCR with.

There was one guy who was AWESOME!! He was lovely and stopped for a hug every time he came round and I say every time as he was doing laps but many many laps. He did 6 laps of the 10k course and then when the evening 5k runs started he did 2 of those as well so 8 laps in total and 70k!! He smiled the whole way and on the last lap we had joked he should wear all of his medals and he did! I heard this noise before I saw him and I cracked up as I knew immediately – legend!

I headed home cold and tired but with a huge smile on my face – met some lovely people and if you’re thinking about doing it I would highly recommend.

And to top it off its weight day today and I’ve lost 1lb so back on track to the most I’ve lost to date – onwards and upwards! Just 28lb more to go!

Category: Fitness

How to fit it all in?

I love hearing from people who read my blog. Honestly in the beginning when people suggested I should blog about my journey I thought they were crazy and couldn’t imagine being so transparent about what I was doing and trying to achieve or that anyone would be interested in reading my rambles. But ……it seems some of you are and I am grateful for that (and blushing a bit).

So I’ve had a couple of people new to fitness and trying to lose weight who I speak with via message and I figured I would do a blog post.

I am 35 years old, work full time, have 1 dog, a husband and a 17 year old son (so you may as well say 2 children ;-p) so I’m pretty busy. I get asked a lot when I fit it all in and here’s how……I want it badly and if you want it bad enough you work for it.

That sounds harsh and I don’t mean it in that way I just think there is no point being upset by the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do – there is no sense in that.

I am 54.5lbs down on my journey and I still have at least 28lbs more to lose and I am struggling so exactly the same logic I apply to myself. I’ve hit a plateau and I am changing things up in order to kick start it all again. I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone and I am sure that in a month I will see results from it but it’s not overnight and so don’t expect it to be (even though that would be nice right?). I know that is hard as I found it to be because I am an impatient b*tch but I’ve learnt from years and years of yo yo dieting it is far better to lost no more than 2lbs per week in order to keep it off.

I’ve got several people around me who have been on a similar journey and the results are huge! That alone is very inspirational. My husband to start, he’s lost over 4 stone and gone from doing nothing to competing in Olympic distance triathlons and my biggest support by far. My best friend Nicole, she’s lost almost 5 stone and looks even more gorgeous than before (if that is possible). Also another beautiful friend of mine Minnie – now Min was not anyone I ever thought needed to lose any weight and yet recently I found a pic of us from a cycling event we did last year and she looks completely different (legs to die for) and one person who does events and makes it look effortless!

Life changes can bring big results. When I look at everyone I mentioned above they are all super busy people but you get into a routine and that just becomes part of your week. That applies to both working out and food. The figures differ depending where you look but whether it is 80%/20% or 70%/30% the larger percentage is diet and the smaller is exercise. You cannot out exercise a bad diet – if you eat sh* it’s unlikely any amount of exercise will make that ok. You don’t have to eat less necessary but it does have to be right. Work on your nutrition. Know what you are eating.

Some changes I’ve made and I don’t actually even notice now:

no white bread, pasta, rice – all wholemeal now
no milk in my tea (takes a while to get used to)
no carbs in the evening
no processed foods (though I didn’t really eat any before anyway)
get your fluid intake and drink that water
no excuses!

Make sensible swaps:

far less calories in a spirit and mixer than beer or wine
full fat cheese to low fat mozzarella
frozen grapes to fill a gap if needing something sweet
cook with coconut oil
potatoes for sweet potatoes
fresh fruit instead of fruit juice

I use My Fitness Pal to record my food and its interesting to see some foods you wrongly assume are good for you are higher in salt/sugar/calories than you realise and helps you keep on track and be more aware of what you are eating. Just because it says low fat or diet doesn’t mean it’s true – in fact some of those low fat items are so full of sugar they serve no purpose.

If you look at working out there is so much that can be done. Don’t want to pay for a gym you can run and cycle outside – start with walking. Use stairs not escalators or lifts. Don’t want to run out in public? Join an online gym. Download an app with workouts provided to follow. Go on You Tube. There are so many options.

There are very few people who couldn’t fit in a half hour workout per day or an hour even. Get up half an hour earlier than normal. If you are like me a workout at the beginning of the day sets me up nicely and does it kill me to get up at 5.30am to fit it in? Nope!

Find your nearest Park Run and get involved – once a week 5k run, almost certainly you will find one near to you and they cater for all abilities from walkers to runners of different levels. Meet people – you may find others in the same situation who you could meet with and workout with – there’s a very social aspect to this also! Over this journey I have made friends with different people from my cycling club, Romford CC, my running club, Havering ’90 Joggers, local cycling club, Hornchurch CC, and local tri club, Havering Tri and of course the lovelies from my gym, Abbs Cross. Everyone is in the same boat – trying to exercise, trying to get better, trying to lose weight, trying to look for advice on different levels, looking for support, willing to help, willing to give support, wanting to build each other up rather than knock each other down – become a part of it, I’m sure you won’t regret it and I say that from experience! There are numerous people from each of the clubs I’ve mentioned that I know I can call on or message for help, support, advice, running/cycling together, doing events together (and I have called on them too!).

You need to get out of your comfort zone. I always say I’m the slowest and not the best (and get shouted at by many people for doing so) but I’m out there and I will be damned if I am not trying my hardest and I cannot do more than that.

I’ve got involved in obstacle runs this year and LOVE them! I’ve done a couple of events now with an amazing team, Scrambled Legs, and I only knew one lovely lady, Laura, from my cycling club and took my lovely friend Helen and the rest of the team I met from that first event and they are all lovely and amazing and I’d do any event with any one of them but this time last year I would have probably got scared and politely declined but why not? Get involved! No one regrets working out and being healthy.

If it’s important enough to you then you will find a way and if not you will find an excuse it’s as simple as that. And it will be hard but it will be worth it too! You will recall my awesome friend Nikki who I’ve mentioned before she started last year barely being able to swim a length and falling off her bike (always smiling I may add) and this year completing an IronMan half and full distance!

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Category: Events, OCR

Nuclear Races and Team Scrambled Legs – you rock!

On Saturday I took part in Nuclear Fallout, one of the Nuclear Races events, with the most amazing group of people! I’m not sure what else to say because that just sums it up – amazing! And I feel a little bad for you all as your Saturday could not have compared. My Saturday with these guys and completing this event was just brilliant!

It was cold and it was wet – of course. Nuclear Fallout was 13.84k with 86 obstacles. I know some people will just think what? Are you mad? But hear me out, because its awesome! You will remember my blog post about the Bear Grylls Survivor race – we were not impressed with that event at all, but this race – Mr Grylls you could learn and thing or two my friend (and then refund me the money I paid for your race once you realise it sucks in comparison). Harsh? But fair!

The course is close to home for me and a lot of our team, Scrambled Legs, had done this event before. One of the lovely ladies actually made champs for her age – Lauren Barnes – epic!

In between the obstacles the running is through the wood and across fields where the cold wind really slapped you in the face and the ground was so uneven but thats what its all about right? If it was easy everyone would do it!

I was armed with my new Mudd Queens wrag and was proud to wear it. These ladies are amazing! They were like angels sent from heaven handing out jelly beans at the different obstacles. And other Mud Queen runners showing much support on the course often stopping for mud hugs!

The team work on the course was amazing and from everyone – fellow team mates, other runners and the marshalls. There is a proper can do attitude and everyone stops and helps and is more than happy to do so, which was great for me as I don’t think I would get out of some of the obstacles on my own – high mud slopes without a helping hand would leave me in a wet ditch for a long time I’m sure! Two of the guys in our team were amazing and at every obstacle helping – everyone should have a Steve or Bobby when completing one of these events!

Favourite obstacle? Definitely either the zip wire or the death slide!

It would have been much much better if I had trail shoes and so something I will definitely invest in for my next obstacle race – because there will be more, many more. The next Nuclear is in May and i will be there for sure! Normal trainers just don’t cut it – I was part running part skiing through mud for a lot of it and even fell over before I even got to some obstacles – still it’s all fun.

Before I do that though I will make use of the Wild Forest Gym, which we ran past on the course route – looks amazing! I could do with hints and tips and general obstacle training though I am good with running downhill and sliding on my bum – I’ve got that sh*t handled!

I must mention one group we saw on the course, a whole team with one member in a wheelchair – No Fear on Wheels. This guy is awesome and the whole team are too. He does all the obstacles and they run with him pulling on ropes, pushing you name it. I mean when you see people like that its so inspirational – massive respect to them all!

I was so pleased when I got to the final few obstacles and saw my hubby – made my day even better!

It took me quite some time to defrost, I’m not going to lie, and even laying in a hot bath (which soon resembled mud soup) didn’t seem to do the trick. My legs are bruised all over, I had mud in places you should not get mud, my running leggings are ripped, I ached and was so tired by early evening and would do it all over again!

Yes I am crazy, yes I was in pain and yes I paid to do it! And i got to finally meet one of the lovely ladies, Kelly, that reads my blog as she recognised me part way round and we even had the chance to help each other up and over some pretty steep mud banks – there is no dignity on an obstacle run its a case of help someone up grab what you can (arse, foot, leg, any body part really) and push/hoist!

Getting up the following day was fun – achey achey achey! I don’t think there was a part of me that didn’t ache! I almost needed to go down the stairs on my bum but that ached too much too. Today is no better!

I found from a facebook group someone who was in the same wave as me posted a video he was recording as he went round the course so if you are feeling curious take a look here – and then sign yourself up for the next one in May!

Go Team Scrambled Legs!!!!

Category: Fitness, Product Reviews

My four week plan with the amazing Julia Buckley

Very excited to announce that as of tomorrow I will be taking part as a member of a pilot testing group for the four-week online fitness programme for the amazing Julia Buckley.

Julia is a fitness trainer based in London, who shares support and advice on fitness and fat loss – you will probably have heard of her and may even have her amazing book The Fat Burn Revolution.

During this programme I have committed myself to completing five to six 30 minute workout videos per week.

My main goal from this programme is to increase my overall fitness and have a good base that I can then continue with long after the four week programme. I have picked this as my main goal because up until now I have concentrated mainly on running and cycling and have started to introduce other aspects such as weights (though have not done that much up until now) and pilates to try and add some overall improvement in my fitness, which I know will in turn benefit both my running and cycling. I am 55lbs down on my journey so far and have at least another 28lbs to go and without adding some overall fitness, including toning up I will almost certainly look good when clothed but like a crepe paper saggy god knows what underneath! I’ve hit a plateau and I want to feel better, look great and know I’m healthy. I want to be better than I used to be. Most importantly I want ‘normal’ people (like me) to realise you have to start somewhere and yes it will take time but it will be worth it and you can do it – I used to think there is no way I can do that but I am and if that inspires someone then I am happy with that!

There are three things I will be doing for the next 4 weeks as part of this programme and they are:

Getting up earlier in the morning to complete the workout videos prior to starting my working day and set my off first thing on the right track.
Making sure that I drink at least 1.5 litres of water per day – I went through a period of being very good with this but of late sometimes get to mid afternoon at work and realise I’ve had one cup of tea and one glass of water and can feel the dehydration when working out.
Planning my meals in advance – I am usually very good with what I eat and 99% of the time I am a ‘from fresh’ girl who cooks but with an active lifestyle I have tended to, of late, eat a lot of variations of egg as its quick and easy and can mix with avocado, smoked salmon etc but planning will give more a variation for my meals.

I have roped in the help of my hubby for this programme. He will be my accountability buddy. I was going to choose my son but I changed my mind as he is 17 and try as I might to get him involved in my weight loss and fitness journey he is just not that interested in either (as you would expect from a 17 year old boy) and is lucky enough that he doesn’t seem to share the genes that myself and my husband have as we have always been a bit bigger and he is the polar opposite with very little fat despite the fact that he could eat more than the two of us put together!

So over the next four weeks I will be sharing with you how I am getting on with this new programme.

Category: Events, Running

Run In The Dark whilst Jeffing

Run In The Dark is an annual event hosted in a series of countries worldwide and I attended the one in London on Wednesday evening.

It was in Battersea Park and you could either opt for a 5k or 10k route. The course was all within the park and worked on laps, with two being completed for the 5k route and four for the 10k route. It begins at 8pm (hence the name) and at the start there are volunteers handing out glowstick bracelets and also jelly beans (and everyone loves jelly beans)!

I had never been to Battersea park before and it was lovely. As I have an obstacle run this Saturday I was particularly interested in the structure in the middle of the park that was either for a Go Ape type activity center or for an obstacle event though I couldn’t quite make it out in the dark but nevertheless wanted to get involved!

I was running with my lovely friend Anna and ran with her for the full event watching our time as I was determined we would beat her PB.

Anna is the polar opposite of me with running – she loves it and smiles the whole way whereas I dislike it and look angry or like I want to pass-out/cry or both. We had made I deal that I would get her a PB and she couldn’t hate me for pushing her and that I would in turn smile for a photo rather than looking like a grumpy old cow.

Anna jeffs. Never heard of it? Don’t know what it is all about? Neither did I. Basically jeffing is the Jeff Galloway method for running and adopts a run/walk methodology. As explained on his website:

The Galloway Run Walk Run Method. Galloway designed this method in 1973 to help beginners start running. Strategic walk breaks allow each runner to control fatigue, virtually eliminating significant running injuries. Numerous surveys show that veterans tend to improve their finish times when they shift to Run Walk Run.

This was my first time jeffing but Anna had her watch set up so that after every 4 minutes of running it would beep to indicate that it was a walk time for 45 seconds and then would beep again and basically repeat for as long as you were going. I was skeptical but Anna was explaining to me that it means the run segments are stronger.

I do know from running forums that I am on that this method is hugely popular not just with people new to running but also people who have been running for a long time and simply prefer this way of running.

It obviously worked for Anna as she smashed her personal best for a 5k by over 2 minutes and her personal best for a 10k by over 6 minutes, which any runner will appreciate is a huge achievement!

The atmosphere was great and everyone was in high spirits. The volunteers were giving out the goody bags, cans of red bull and bottles of water. I was a little disappointed there was no medal but I am a bit of a medal whore.

I will definitely be going back to that park and may coincide it with a cheeky run. Not completely won over by the event as I’ve done Electric Run before which is on the same basis but had much more going on throughout the route and in my opinion was the better event (sorry Run In The Dark) As for jeffing who knows? I may need to use that technique as I up my distances!

Category: Fitness, Running

Running in the mud is so much fun!

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On Sunday I headed to a local park, Weald Park in Brentwood, with my brother, his girlfriend Emma, their puppy dachshund BK and my furry running partner April. The intention was to walk the dogs and then I would run and that is what I did.

I am happy to run in the mud and dirt and as I have an OCR this Saturday I thought it a good opportunity to get to the park, do some trail running, play on some obstacles and get dirty.

April is my furry running partner and she’s not a puppy but I’m fairly certain she thinks she is. She has the energy of a puppy and runs around like a loon. I moan about having to stop a lot when running with her as she has a weaker bladder than me (which is quite hard) and pees every two minutes, even my brother and his girlfriend noticed and I was like yep thats why my runs with her are stop start stop start.

She is funny though – ran straight for the lake and thought she could walk in only to find it was a ledge and promptly disappeared! I laughed as I knew she would be ok – she’s a lab and any sign of water, even a little puddle, and she’s in it! My brother and Emma, however, looked a little worried like we should help but I said no she’ll be fine and then she reappeared.

April is normally very well behaved and yet a big coward but with BK she was one naughty pup and would not listen to a word I said. So I was ok with the fact she had a long walk and then I took her on a run with me.

The park has a lot of wooden elements based around the children’s story book The Stick Man and I figured this was a good excuse to get on them before my next OCR event this weekend.

Now I cannot lie there were a lot of parents who did seem to keep their kids close rather than let them run on the playground activities (which I saw as OCR obstacles) near the crazy lady (me – in case that was not clear) who was running around covered in mud.

Everyone was avoiding the mud and I was running straight through it without a care in the world. I even ran through a stream and at the end I saw a lady probably in her 60’s just staring at me like I had just escaped from a local mental hospital. I should have been embarrassed or ashamed but I could not have cared less – I was having a blast!

You would think this would have been good practice but I was still pretty useless on most activities – managed a whole two monkey bars (don’t get jealous), my foot went through the cargo nets every time and as I was running through the forest I ran straight into a huge branch – so Saturday at Nuclear Fallout 12k should be fun (for those in the group with me who can laugh at me)!