Couch to 5k

Throwing out the scales and downloading the C25K app has given me a new motivation. No longer is being 'thin' the goal, but being fit! I am still doing herbilife for breakfast and lunch and a (sort of) calorie controlled dinner but don't feel like I've seen results. But the proof is in the pudding (excuse the pun). I haven't been strict enough, I've been on holiday, I've drank and I've had puddings! All leading to no progress. 

So C25K:

Week 1, run 1

I won't lie. It was hard. My ankles were killing, my breathing was heavy and I looked like a big, fat, sweaty mess. All made worse by passing lean, beautiful people around the lake. But I persevered. Week 1, you might think sounds easy. A 5 minute brisk walk to warm up, 60 seconds running followed by 90 seconds walking. Take it from me, if you're not used to running or exercise in general there is nothing easy about it. It's like when I recently paraglided in olideniz, it was an amazing experience (in hindsight) but when I was made to jump off a cliff to be confronted by a 2400m drop, strapped to a stranger wondering if it was possible to become dis attached, I cried. Running today was a bit like that! Doable, great in the end, but bloody painful!

So, due to camping plans later this week, we only have tomorrow, Saturday night and Sunday left to get the 2 more runs in. We've contemplated doing the next run tomorrow, I think we need to see how we feel in the morning...

Weighty issue

I'm told there are many factors with fluctuating weight.

Namely; salt and water retention, hormones and if you've just eaten, been to the toilet etc. problem is, when it's a weight you don't want to see on the scales, this sort of doesn't help and you immediately start to blame the 1 chocolate you had earlier.

You've guessed it, I've had a weight gain.  Now, I'll admit, despite taking the herbalife each day to work, my evening meals haven't been strictly calorie controlled, although everything we've eaten has been low in calories andfairly lean.  I have also indulged in a biscuit on Tuesday, but a 5lb weight gain?! I tell you, that was annoying to say the least. 

Then I stumbled upon this blog post experimenting with weighing yourself 15 times per day.  The weight difference was 10lb's! unbelievable really!  A couple of lb's i expected with the normal way of the day, but 10?  What's that all about.  Suddenly my couple of lb's doesn't seem so bad.

Despite all this, common sense does not prevail and I just feel fat!

Berry nice!

So this morning is day 3 of herbelife and I'm finding it ok so far!

I have to admit, yesterday was not a perfect day in terms of calorie intake! It was Gemma's 30th yesterday, which of course meant a few treat eats along the way. For breakfast I made 1 of those scotch pancakes each, a slice of pancetta and some maple syrup, I had my herbelife for lunch but fell short at the staff meeting and had a biscuit and for tea we had fish and chips! It wasn't a huge portion though so I'm not going to beat myself up about it! To be honest, if I can keep lunches controlled I'll be happy. Besides, today's set to be a better day, porridge for breakfast, herbelife for lunch and chicken and jacket for tea. 

As I mentioned we were given the cappuccino and vanilla flavour herbelife powder. The last 2 days I've stuck the cappacinno, banana and yoghurt, this morning I thought I'd mix it up with vanilla, nana, yoghur and raspberry, and I hve to say it looks like it might be yummy!

Well would you look at that!

So here I am, back with my good intentions ready to fight the lazy, fat baring bug by owning some self motivation when...would you look that that! This time last year I set myself up a blog for that sole purpose!

A lot has changed since March 2014 and it's even fair to say, in many ways, I'm a different woman! May 2014 saw the fravolities of my 'hen do'. Tweed and wellies, clay pigeon shooting, archery and punting were just some of the highlights from that weekend! Naturally, following a hen do, there was a wedding! July 29th 2014 I married my beautiful wife, Gemma, at the secret garden. Just as magical as it sounded! The day was perfect, the weather was perfect and I couldn't have asked for more! ...but there was! The day after oir wedding, we jetted off on our honeymoon to America! A 4-week long road trip from vegas to orlando, and without a doubt, a trip of a lifetime!

So that really sums up the highs of last year. But let's not forget this is a fitness/weight loss blog. Well let me tell you, there's nothing like an impending wedding to stir a girl into a weight loss frenzie and with varied crash diets under the belt, I pulled out all stops and became the lightest I'd ever been at 11.12 stone. 

So. Why now? Well, the simple answer is, I'm no longer 11.12 stone, I'm 13.7. Yes that's right, a whole 2 stone heavier! Now I'm probably not the best person to be making that judgement, but I don't think I've carried the extra 2 stone wholely badly, and where it's not ideal, to say the least, I'm not having to squeeze into my clothes just yet! But it's a slippery slope my friend! So here end'th the catch up, onto the plan...

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm no stranger to diets, fads and crash diets. In fact, for the last 2 decades I've been pretty obsessed with my weight and being 'skinny'. I've tried them all. Weight watchers, slimming world, slimfast, clean 9... You name it, I've probably tried it. Of course none of them has actually stuck and helped me to keep the weight off, otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen the need for this blog!

So what's the plan this time? I went to see my brother a week or so ago, he was getting ready for a night shift and making a shake to take with him for his lunch. After an enquiry, he told me it was a herbelife shake and that it wasn't nescsaraly to help him loose weight as much as a meal replacement. That got me to thinking. At the moment Gemma an I are taking slim fast for lunch. Unfortunately I've heard many negative things about there shakes, namely the sugar content of them. 

So, my mum and brother have been good enough to give us some of their powder to try (as the mix it's self is quite expensive) and mums even bought us a brevile mixer to do it with. We've armed ourselves with bananas and yoghurt to go in them and are all set for the morning. We have the cappacinno and vanilla flavours to choose from and the protein powder. 2 scoops of the meal replacement powder and 1 protein, mixed with water, the fruit and yoghurt will do breakfast and lunch. I'm also on a bit of a mission to drink more water and hopefully I should see the weight start to come off. 

Surprisingly, however, weight loss isn't the only reason I want to do this. Also, we are trying to be as thrifty as possible to save some money for a holiday in the summer. Unsurprisingly, shakes for lunch are a cheep alternative to actual lunch!

So, in summary;

-13.7 stone must come off 

-money must be saved

-I must get on track for a healthier lifestyle!

Ditch the dinner

Happy Mother's Day to all yummy mums out there today!

In celebration of my own Mother bear, we're ditching the traditional Sunday dinner and opting for a much preferred healthier option of a BBQ. Now, you might be wondering a) why would you have a BBQ in March and b) how a BBQ can be healthy? Well; a) the weather is (for Britain) fairly nice, well nice enough to stand outside for a short time and b) we've got a healthy selection of chicken breast, salad and mayo-free slaw. 

This healthy option is partially fueled by a string of compliments I recieved yesterday, commenting on how I looked like Id lost weight and was looking good! After working (quite) hard this week and diet and exercise, this was very welcome. Obviously, the goal is the wedding which is in around 4 months, however, we are going to Gambia in only a couple of weeks, and although the primary reason we're going isn't to sunbathe (we're going to see a school mums supporting) there will undoubtably be bikinis involved. With this in mind, it would be nice to feel a bit more toned/slim than I feel now. So I better get a serious act together!!

All roads lead to Rome

Having a lovely, relaxing evening with Gemma - After a steep learning curve for Gem, we've managed foot scrubs, face masks and eye cream.  Not so good is the Chinese we've just devoured... What was the plan stood in a badly stocked Tesco Local to order a 'healthy Chinese' has turned into chips and prawn crackers.  Is there such a thing as a 'healthy Chinese'?  I doubt it, but the intention was there.  Still, a thousand calories or not, it was delicious, and what is, is and thats it...can you tell I feel guilty!

Here we come...

Anyway...all the roads lead, well not always to Rome, in our case, america. Been sat here, watching Game of Thrones (re-living series 1-3 before 4 starts in a couple of weeks!) when I started thinking about our Honeymoon trip.  We've now booked flights with Virgin Atlantic, flying our to Vegas and back from Orlando, 1 day shy of 4 weeks apart!  We've also sorted the car out, so one way or another, we will get from Vegas to Orlando. We've been using Road Trippers to plan the trip and I think we're about sorted with the route.  We just need some places of interest to earmark - any suggestions welcome!

Weekend drains

Just a quick up-date on the whole body pump-ache thing, I wasn't too bad in the morning!  Although I was grateful to, you know, be able to walk around, I kind of felt as though I probably didn't work hard enough...

So I went to Pilates on Saturday morning, this was after a good 30 minutes cardio in the gym, I felt extremely satisfied afterwards, progress is being made (even if it feels like baby steps!)
The class was enjoyable (in the most part) but I felt that some of the moves were really hard this week, in particular, the side-plank.

I have ultimate respect for this woman!  These moves may look easy, but I urge you, try it, just try and get into the position!  It's so much harder than it looks, to the point, I think I might actually practise the side plank, and normal plank for the next class so I don't look as much of a plank when I can't hold the move as long as everyone else!

Still, on a less energetic note, both Gemma's and my wedding dresses arrived in the shop the other day - we both got a text asking to make an appointment for our first dress fitting - which is highly exciting!  My only worry...  Ill look like:

this :-)

Or....

THIS :-(

Hmmm....hopefully I can trust my judgement and I won't look like an over-inflated toilet roll.  We'll see.

Pump it

So, I went to Body Pump today and I can only wish I looked that cool!  In fact I struggled with half the moves, and had to have little pauses, felt like a total cheat!  Still, I went, I saw, I ... well not conquered, but maybe conquered a little of my worry about it!

I spent the session copying the guys moves and straining my neck (not good when you're lifting a bar) but I think I got the moves by the end.  Im definitely going to go again, now I know some of the moves I think i'll get more out of it next time - not that Im not going to ache in the morning, I have no doubt that I will be a wreck trying to get out of bed, but there you go!

I'll hold onto this thought -

Back on track but not over the hill...

So, Im a year older -

Due to much birthday celebrations, the last week or so have meant I have swayed quite ceremoniously away from the path to skinny!  But, I am determined that I will jump back on with both feet!

I have started today by dragging myself back to the gym after a week away, only to find it impossibly busy.  Still, I managed an hour.

A week last Saturday, I went to a Pilates class which was fabulous. After the hour workout, I woke up feel EVERY muscle!  It also reminded me of one of my favourite online fitness motivators, Cassey Ho at blogilates, it's great for a bit of a helping pep talk, and I love the workouts on there - even though they are difficult!  In particular, I have adapted this stretching routine to the end of my workouts!

So, this is it, Im pep-talking myself, getting back on the wagon and sorting it out!  After all, there's only 3 weeks until Im away in Gambia, and although the trip is primarily to visit a school out there and meet people who live there, it don't mean there isn't a pool to relax by...

Day 5- gym bunny

Has it ever happened that you've not been to the gym for...well, a while and you go back and fancy yourself as the next Jillian Michaels? Well that's me today! 35 minutes pumping that cross trainer and I'm ready to carry the gym-bunny batten! I'll grant you, 35 minutes is fairly laughable, but hey, I went didn't i?! 3 weeks limping next to the wagon and I jumped back on in (quite) a glorified fashion, and on a Sunday!

It's not that I didn't want to stay longer (I say with metaphorical puppy dog eyes). My friends had turned up earlier and having an invitation to hand to them, I left at the same time! Anyway in true bunny-style we have set our self a gym schedule for next week that will make even the most avid gym-goer sweat! Tuesday-gym, Thursday-body pump, Friday-gym and Saturday-Pilates. Granted, the whole thing is setting the bar high, I'm hoping it's not unachievably high, especially since I feel I will need to work through quite a high level of stress in the coming weeks. 

As any teacher will know, a looming inspection means only 1 thing; late working hours, high stress levels and weekend wine. And although it's been half term this week, the latter has served me well this past weekend and has made the 8 hours of work today almost palatable. 

Still, there's news on the horizon to brighten up even the dullest of Yorkshire days, Gemma and I have booked the honeymoon flights and have committed to a 4 week long adventure across Southern America! Big yays!

I haven't spoke about food in my post today, still best not to dwell! All that's important is that I've kept within my daily/weekly point allowance and am going to do my damdest to keep it that way!     

That marking won't do itself!

So I made it through the day eating more rubbish if I'm honest!  Not too much, but rubbish none the less. However, on the cards for tomorrow is a shopping trip to the supermarket armed with a list to make healthy meals all week, and a trip to the gym with my best buds!

I attend xercise 4 less, which is a great budget gym.  no fancy TV's or anything - but it gets the job done!  Well, I suppose I get the job done, when I actually get of my butt and go!

But..alas..work calls.  I am about 20 things short of finishing my list for school on Monday and that marking won't do itself!

Day 2 - work's a bugger!

Giod intentions this morning lead to 4, yes that's 4 mini chocolate bars!! I know they were only those treat size kids ones but still. I blame work. Went in this morning to get my classroom in order unarmed with healthy snacks. 4 hours later and ready for lunch I filled up on chocolate. Still, on the bright side i have a tidy, almost OFSTED-ready classroom. Not so bright side, I have a list as long as my arm of marking, assessments and planning to do. Let's hope I don't reach for the crisps... 

Tidy rooms = cosy!

So, here end'th a day filled with food and procrastination! Not a successful weight-loosing combination. In fact all I have managed to do is once again get my head back in the weight loss game, find that mind frame and google a lot of fit/thinspiration stuff. Oh, and wrote out a shopping list for my new regime. Honestly, if you could count the hours I've spent preparing to loose weight you'd wonder why I wasn't a size 8 by now! Still, with each time I try, it must be in the favour of averages that one of the times it'll work. And why shouldn't it be in the run up to my wedding? All I need to do is muster up that willpower I knows in there somewhere and aim it directly at that size 12 I'm aiming to be!

The secret's out!

So, while I'm waiting for my tea to cook, I found these great photos of my wedding venue!! Most wedding venues have loads of photos, either on their website or are posted by brides online; because Gringley is a little out their and is advertised by word of mouth, I haven't seen as many photos for it...but here are some that I have found!

 This is the front of the house, looking at the photo I would say this is early summer/late spring.  I have also seen the greenery on the house a rich red colour.

This is where the ceremony will take place - it leads into the conservatory - i just hope, after looking at this, that the guests will be able to hear the ceremony!








One of the really nice things I found as well, Mel Cowell photography have actually shot at the location and their are shots online to see!! It's so nice to see what the garden is like in other peoples photos - and the marquee is unlined, which is what I think we're having!

Ok - so apparently when you start looking you find even more!  Spent ages looking at photos by Shakespeare Photography of the venue and how beautiful it looks in the pictures!

Fitspirational!

Wow - I just had to share this blog from thinspiration-pictures - there's some great pictures of before an after shots.  I'm not sure I have the guts to do a before shot for online...might have to have a think!!

Nearly time for dinner...where to look for food-spiration (yeah, not sure that one will catch on!)

Love skinny kitchen for some ideas though!  It would be great to have a website like this - I think logging what you eat in images is a great way to keep tabs on what your eating, which can only help the situation.  The problem is, my tea tonight is not exactly food-spirational!! I was planning on having spaghetti hoops, quorn sausages and oven chips...not exactly weight watchers friendly?!

Day 1 ... round 2

Ok, so I've decided to start this blog thing again.  I've been, quite frankly, rubbish at keeping up to date with the blog, and I have read somewhere recently how much a blog can help you with loosing weight as you are accountable to others apart from yourself.

So this is the lo-down as to where I am with things:

• Im following the weight watchers programme.
• I am a member at the local gym, I was going 3 times a week until last week because I was quite ill, better now, I am going on Friday to get back on the wagon!
• I am getting married in 5 months, 2 days and 18 hours... not that I'm counting!
• I am currently 14stone and that doesn't seem to be shifting.
• I NEED SOME THINSPIRATION!!

Level 2 - HIT IT!

So I admit it, I've been rubbish blogging!  This is most likely because I have been very, very guilty...I said I was picking it back up, and I didn't fully.  I could list lots of excuses in this post, but I wont, ill just move forward!

Last night I hit Level 2 30 day shred as I figured, even though I hadn't done 10 days straight of level 1, I did it at least 15 times!  So I figured it was about time I moved on!!  And I'm very glad I did! It felt awesome to push myself that bit further, I was a sweaty mess by the end, but I was very glad of it!  I followed the shred with Blogilates stretching which I love!  I can even tell I'm able to stretch further and harder, which is great! I did the level 2 tonight too, and it felt just as good!

Ive also been eating really well for the last few days and I think thats helping too.  I downloaded My Fitness Pal













If you're not familiar with this app, it basically logs your height and weight etc. then you fill in your daily food intake and exercise and it lets you know where you are with your calorie intake for the day.  You set your own goals, and admittedly, mine are probably a little low (1320 per day) but I figure if I aim low, then I wont go too high (if that makes sense!) Well Ive kept below it in the last 2 days, when you factor in the exercise!  Ive cut out carbs and am eating lean meat and veg/salad/fruit and also trying to drink lots of water.

Tomorrow, as usual on a Saturday, Im heading to the salon in Retford, and I'm arming myself with a shopping list.
- measuring tape
- firming cream
- body brush

I did take my measurements again, well Gemma did it for me, and I'm not entirely convinced they were accurate, hence the measuring tape (we measured using string and a ruler!!) but, ill post them anyway, there are some slight differences from the last time, some good, some not so much, which is why I wonder if they are right, but here they are...

bicep - 37cm
chest - 110cm
waist - 84cm
hips - 120cm
thigh - 64cm
calf - 42cm

That was the other day, maybe Monday, so ill keep you updated, may do them tomorrow when I have the tape!!

Bye for now!

Movie and dinner!

So, as I admitted this morning, the shredding was a no-go today! I got in from work, later than usual and Gemma said she was going to take me to the cinema, well I'm not saying no to that! So chiseled abs can wait!! Besides, my gym stuff could do with a wash (gross I know).

We're off to see Man of Steel at chesterfield, Wednesday bonus of 2for1 on cinema tickets AND the viewing is on D-Box! For those of you who haven't heard of D-Box, basically it's cinema, supercharged!! Your seat moves with the movie, and with a movie like Man of Steel, I'm sure it'll add to the experience!

Not only are we going to the movies, we're also going for tea (well I had to be a nice fiancé back!) not sure where we'll go, but I'll try and make good food choices...probably!

Bikini bod...bikini bod....bikini bod... Maybe if I say it enough it'll remind me that I want it!!!

Confessions from the BQQ...

Got up yesterday morning, laboriously pulled on my gym clothes and blooming got on with it.  That is the British way!  It was bloody hard as well!  What is not so much the British way, is the 25 degree heat that we had throughout the night!  It made getting up even harder as I had barely slept either!  Also, slaving away alongside Jillian Michaels at 6:30 in the morning in such heat, whilst rather tired was something of a chore!  Having said all that, I did it, and am damn proud I did too!

So...having decided I needed to start the '30 days' again, I have now made it through day three.  And although day 1 felt hard, it is a lot easier a lot faster this time around, despite having the pesky cough and cold hanging around like unwanted belly fat.

As previously mentioned, we are currently experiencing some rather un-British British weather, which means its hot, sunny and glorious, and us Brits, not really knowing what to do when such a phenomenon occurs, naturally grasp at anything summer related we can get our pale little paws on.  So you see men (not particularly fit, young or good looking ones) strutting their stuff around Donny town centre with their pale, hairy nipples and beer bellies on show for all to see.  You get every female, their dogs and their mothers out and about in questionable mini-skirts.  A bar-be on every street corner and every beer garden full to the rafters with said questionable characters.  So naturally, we jumped on the bandwagon and invited nearest and dearest down to join in with the celebration of burning sausages over hot coals.  So, despite killing myself keeping up the morning shred, was all progress lost after my burger?  I'm not sure, but you can't have it all right?

So this morning...well its 7:10am and im sat with my cuppa writing this post, so you can guess that this morning has not been one such morning and I haven't done my shred. (Guilty face).

Maybe i'll do them tonight....

Here's hoping....

Guilty...

Yes,yes I know...weeks have passed by it seems and not a post in sight. And I'd love to say that in that time I've moved onto level 2, have lost 10 inches and am in a size 12...but alas, not is the case. 

Instead, I'm still getting over a rather crappy cold and lots of stress at work!

So this is the score, on Sunday I started again. Level 1. Day 1. I want to be absolutely sure this time that I'm going to do it. I want to change, I need to look half decent in holiday in a month and I refuse to be beaten by a bit of fat!  

Last time I said I was awaiting my measurements, this time, as I have effectively started again, I'll actually post them:

Bicep 36cm

Chest 111 cm

Waist 88cm

Hips 119 cm

Thigh 71cm

Calf 42cm

There's a lot if measurements there i grant you, but I am hoping for a fast change somewhere, so I figure the more measurements, the more likely! But we'll have to see. 

So...in conclusion, it's now DAY 2 ...again!!!!