Fitness - Fat Girl Fit

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

strava-4

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!

wantitbadenough

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: 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)!

Category: Fitness, Running

Why is breathing when running so hard?!

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Obviously I can breathe when I run otherwise I would just end up in a heap on the floor.

BUT

I puff and pant as I run. I know I am doing it. I struggle with getting my breath to be natural and genuinely find this element of running hard. I’m not sure I’ve yet had a run where I thought I wouldn’t finish because of my legs but definitely have from the breathing or simply not being able to catch my breath.

So something I need to work on and so this week I went for a 4 mile run with the hubby and tried to listen to his advice and concentrate on my breathing. It was cold, and dark but was a comfortable run and almost at my usual pace so I was pleased.

I then ran to and from the gym for my pilates class and it’s only half a mile and yet on the way there it didn’t feel comfortable at all. On the way home it did but still not as comfortable as the 4 mile run. It didn’t make sense to me that 4 miles felt easier than half a mile and even after the half a mile I still looked like a sweaty tomato. Every time I exercise I go from normal to this guaranteed.

I had intended to do Park Run on Saturday and was going to try and run home too in a bid to get some longer runs in or at least longer than I’ve ever done before. However, I ended up doing the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k run with my lovely friend Helen.

Now you know when you go on a run or a bike ride and you have a route or road or hill that is your nemesis well the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k run is my nemesis run and route. Don’t get me wrong I would recommend this event to anyone – it’s local enough, only £17 (or £15 if you are part of an affiliated club) and you get a medal and a goody bag. The people involved are all lovely and there are photos available after as well. Despite all this I just find this a tough run. I’ve done enough 10k’s now and I this one just seems to get me every time. It is three laps and I dislike laps with a passion. It is what they describe as undulating. They needn’t describe it as I feel it as I run every single lap.

After my 4 mile run I had high hopes for the 10k and in my head I wanted one of two things – either to complete the run with no walking or to get a finish time of sub 1 hour. After the first lap I remembered that this is not my favourite run, as per usual I went off way to quick and my breathing was shot to bits. My only goal became to finish it. It was raining and windy and I was dressed in full length running leggings and a long sleeved running top but it was not cold at all so I was pretty hot – got what to wear completely wrong! This was how the run made me feel 🙁

My poor friend Helen was super supportive as always and ran with me through my puffing, panting and moaning. Here is a pic of us on the final lap and it says it all about how Helen feels when running and how I feel. We finished after what felt like hours and hours but was actually just over 1 hour and 1 minute.

When I checked my Strava I was surprised to find that it turned out to be a PB for me for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10k run and showed that every run I have done there showed an improvement on time. It also confirmed that I had gone off way too quickly yet again at a pace I cannot maintain!

So I learned two things that I need to work on – my pace and my breathing!

If I am honest after the run I got in the car (did I mention my lovely hubby turned up in time to see me on my final lap after an evening shift of overtime) and I was pretty disappointed with myself but after some lovely words from my hubby and Helen I realised I am improving all the time and my progress compared to this time last year is huge and I am pleased with that and will carry on! And I lost half a pound this week too!

Category: Fitness, Running

Have you seen my running mojo?

I’ve lost my running mojo!

I’m not sure I could honestly say I ever had a running mojo but I would get out there and do it regularly as planned and even recently joined a running club.

I suppose you have to love running to have a mojo whereas I want to love it but just find it hard! I puff and I pant, I sweat and I go bright red almost immediately.

It’s so miserable now with it being pitch black by the time I get home from work and I have to wait a good hour and a half until run club starts on a Tuesday and a Thursday and I’ve ended up doing other exercise instead so not a total loss but I know my next run will be a struggle.

I find when I miss runs or don’t run for a while that it takes a bit to get me back into it.

So how do I get my running mojo back?

Do I stop going running with the club and instead head out earlier on my own?

I am aware that I have put in for my first half marathon in March next year and so need to keep up with my training for three reasons:

The furthest I’ve run is 10k and I do feel like that’s my limit at the moment so need to keep running and also increase the distance.
The half marathon I’ve signed up for apparently is not easy and quite hilly – brilliant I hate hills!
I am also part of an amazing group of ladies taking part in a 24 hour relay running event next August. There are 8 of us and you complete as many laps as possible in the 24 hour period, with each lap being just under 10k. I managed to talk everyone into this so need to have my mojo back!

Help!

Category: Events, Fitness

Style Sportif

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch for Style Sportif organised by the lovely ladies at The Earned Agency at Lights of Soho.

Style Sportif is run by two ladies, Joanna and Jemma, and they specialise in high-end fashion sportswear. Everything in the collection is super stylish with pieces that you cannot help look through and not want them all!

I attended this with a friend of mine, Helen, who is also very active. We often do events together and naturally being ladies we are interested in fashion so this was right up our street! I leaned toward the more striking of the pieces, which are fabulous, this was my favourite:

Whereas Helen veered more toward the less bright items in the collection with this being her favourite:

There is something for everyone with both fitted and looser items.

When I got home I was straight on the website looking through the entire collection and have myself quite a wish list right now!

Its not just clothing they have on offer either, there is a range of accessories too.

I love the Ooh la Lara hair bands they offer which double as a bracelet and perfect for any activity.

Having attended my first pilates class last week I am also drawn to the amazing yoga mats they offer too and think I may need to purchase one of these beauties.

This is not your average run of the mill work out clothing, it is a premium brand – think Adidas by Stella McCartney combining both the fashion with the need of the sport. And don’t let this fool you thinking it is purely fashion, it is hugely well thought out with the brains behind it coming from both ladies; Joanna, when training for the London Marathon and Jemma with her retail background and huge styling experience.

Dynabites were also at the event with samples of their nutritious snacks. They were tasty and I will be ordering some of these too. I find gels and shot blocks etc do not agree with me so tend to stick to my good old faithful Nakd bars/bites or make my own – all natural is my preference and it works for me and Dynabites are the same. Made from four main ingredients; almond, coconut, honey and vegan protein powder. They have no refined sugar, high protein and 100% natural and tasted great – green tea was my favourite!

Category: Fitness

Getting back to training and finding it tough!

With my current training schedule I have 1 maybe 2 rest days in the week. Recently I had a pretty intense training course for a week and then a weeks holiday. Whilst on holiday I swam a lot, got in the gym, did aqua aerobics and also yoga but it wasn’t as full on as my usual schedule and so last week when I got back I wanted to get straight back to it. But it was hard!

I missed run club on Tuesday as I fell asleep – I was pretty tired. Wednesday I had spin class, which was fun as usual. Thursday I used the excuse to see friends to skip run club again – so bad, but I was finding it hard to get back to being motivated and so any excuse I was finding myself saying oh ok I won’t train….again! On Friday I went to the gym where the amazing Emma had put me together a weights plan and we ran through that and followed that up with my first ever pilates class. I loved it! Already booked on for next week. I did pretty good with it though some of the girls in there are super flexible and could bend themselves in half – not me! When We had to sit on our heels and lean forward most of the ladies were literally bent in half, I was ok but not there so a way to go.

With the weights plan I realised how weak my upper body strength is and when I say weak I mean almost non existent. For now. The plan is 1.5 hours and so Emma has split into three half hour sessions for me so I can fit into my weekly schedule – there is no enough time in the week for all this training!

So my new training plan is:

Monday – TrainerRoad on the turbo

Tuesday – Run club

Wednesday – Spin class

Thursday – Run club

Friday – Pilates

Saturday – Park run

Sunday – Romford CC club ride

On top of the above on three mornings I will also do the weight plan. It will be worth it though.

I ran on Saturday with the dog and it was actually really nice to get back out with her again. I won’t lie I struggled to get out of bed and was arguing with myself in bed to get up and run but I was warm and cosy and didn’t want to move. I am pleased I did though.

Sunday I got back on the bike and I didn’t realise it has been over a month since I’ve been out on the bike and I was nervous. I had my new socks on though and it was a beautiful morning, although we were assuming it would be as cold as the day before so wrapped up warm and proceeded to cook for the rest of the ride like a boil in the bag chicken. I thought we would be doing about 30 miles but 65 miles later I was at home. I could really feel I had not been on the bike for a while. It was thoroughly enjoyable though with all the great members of Romford CC and lots of laughing, joking and singing along the way.

I have damaged my bike though from when I fell off the turbo on it. When climbing and going in the little ring my gears had a mind of their own and were changing all over the place. Turns out I have a bent rear mech something or other but nothing the amazing Nate from Yellow Jersey cannot fix. I don’t like hills at the best of time so don’t need my bike to play up when I’m on them. One day I am sure I will be amazing at them but then again…….

Category: Fitness

Back from Sharm el Sheikh = where’s the sun gone?!?!

I’ve been away for a week in sunny Sharm El Sheikh and it was lovely!

As has become the norm for me this year, included in my suitcase was my gym gear and trainers. Yep I’ve turned into one of those crazy people!

I am not sure who I thought I was kidding when I packed the trainers so that I could run. It was way too hot for that – 40 degrees most days or close to it! Even when I set my alarm for 6.30am and begrudgingly got up with a yawn and walked to the balcony, as I opened the door the heat smacked you in the face like a hot water bottle – no chance of running outdoors then!

However, there was a gym. So on day two I got changed and me and him indoors headed down there.

Given the extravagance of the hotel (it really was lovely) the gym was a little disappointing. Don’t get me wrong it had everything you need – weights, lots of different weight machines, a cross trainer, two stationery bikes and two treadmills and a large area for mats for floor workouts. Given my recent experience with stationery bikes and the fact that I hate them they were out and one of the treadmills was out of use, which meant for me (still nursing a very tender wrist) the weights were out and so I was looking at the cross trainer and the treadmill though it would seem everyone working out was also wanting those two machines. This included the hubby!

Also there was a time limit of 25 minutes maximum use on all machines – I do get this rule so it is fair and everyone can work out but 25 minutes is not enough. But better than nothing so on we went.

On the first visit I had a blast on the cross trainer and in my 25 minutes covered 1.87km.

The following day we were off on a yacht to go around a nearby island and snorkel. Now I am petrified of boats and also open water but I got on and even did the snorkelling! (whilst looking around to make sure there were no sharks of course).

The next gym visit I managed to get on the treadmill. I did try and take a selfie whilst running which explains why the pic is pretty rubbish. I actually hate running on a treadmill. Everyone I know says they run faster on a treadmill but I am the opposite – my left ankle always burns and I fear I am going to lose my footing and shoot off the back taking some poor bystander with me. It would be a funny story if I told you this was what happened but touch wood it has not yet. Sorry!

Most days then saw snorkelling or swimming in the sea – I am pretty surprised at myself but it was crystal clear and too beautiful not to.

I took part as well in the hotel aqua aerobics one day in the main pool, which was funny. Mostly because I was next to some crazy German lady who just kept grinning at me and laughing. I realised when I got out that my swimming costume seemed to have taken in water in the chest area – I’m not small chested and so with this inflation I am not surprised she was laughing – I had my own buoyancy aids!

They also did yoga, which I took part in too – definitely going to add that to my training schedule. I never stretch, which I know is bad but I have read the benefits of yoga and pilates for those who run and cycle and so will try and fit that in somewhere in my week – there aren’t enough days!

It was quite easy to stay on track with food as there was such a huge selection and always fresh salad, fruit, meat and fish. It surprised me the amount of people who would queue for chips when there was such a nice selection available? There was even a diet station! I was recommended to steer clear of the salad – lots of tales of dodgy belly’s from Egypt but I ate it every day and was fine – I am fairly certain I have a lead lined stomach! Don’t get me wrong I did treat myself to a couple of the mini desserts that were on offer – I was on holiday after all!

Getting back to England was harsh – it is now so cold and there is no lovely man in my house to make me fresh omelettes every day. I fear the winter training gear is ready to come out now – booooooo!

Still back to run club tonight and my usual schedule – holiday is well and truly over!