Doing ok

I wanted to say doing fab but I am doing ok - I had a good workout this morning which I did at home as I didnt have time for the trip to the gym but is was just as good and I pushed myself hard!

Food for the last few days has been good not amazing but good - I had a lovely post workout shake this morning and managed to add just water to it rather than milk as the banana gave it a nice creaminess which made the milk unnecessary! Other than that I have snacked on nuts so far today! Dinner is to be a homemade chicken curry which i will serve with rice for the family and veg for myself!

This was only a quick update so apologies for lack of interesting content!

90:10 rule

I have decided to re introduce this rule which gives me the power to choose 4 meals a week that arent 100% to plan - I have made up a chart showing all of my meals which at 5 a day is 35 a week 10% of those is 3-4 this also applies for missing a meal too.  I am also using this successfully with clients too!

Food for today hasnt been great!

B - Cup of tea greek yog, whey and raspberries
S - none
L - Chicken and tomato sandwich (Bread - not good)
S - cashews
D - not sure - not very hungry so will have to com eup with something or i may pinch JAG's porridge at any meal idea!!

Some quotes just because!

I love quotes and alwasy wish I could have been the one to first say it lol!

Here are a few that are either great, motivational or just funny!

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done,
it's always your choice." Wayne Dyer

"You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there." -Unknown

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." -Margaret Thatcher

"We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough." -Helen Keller

"You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be." -David Viscott

"Living a healthy lifestyle will only deprive you of poor health, lethargy, and fat." -Jill Johnson

"When you nourish your body with pure energy, you transform from the inside out." -Bill Phillips

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." –Jim Ryun

"Never, never, never quit." -Winston Churchill

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." – Confucius

You must do the thing you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance. Lee Iacocca

If you want to look young and thin, hang around old fat people. Jim Eason

If you eat Mcdonalds you have to watch this!

Pizza is the food of the devil!

I have decided that Pizza has come from the other side - literally food from the devil!!

Due to the stuff going on at the moment I am really not making any real effort to eat sensibly - just eating is something and so last night the kids wanted Dominoes - this was duly ordered and I indulged in 2 slices (when i say 2 slices i dont eat the crust and dont eat much of the base just kind of picked off the toppings with a little bit of base here and there).
The first thing that hit me was the saltiness of the topping most likely the pepperoni, I had to pick off that bit after one mouthful - then the stodginess of the dough! i could imagine it sitting like lead in my stomach - I've never been a huge pizza fan - can definately take it or leave it but after last night i am so going to leave it in future totally - by the time i went to bed my stomach resembled a rock hard, bloated barrel! I felt horrible, uncomfortable and all for a few bites of something i'm not even that into and at a cost of £27!!!!

Pizza goes into room 101!!!

4lbs down but not a good result!

The scales have gone down dramatically over the last few days but obviously that is not 4lbs of fat!!

Needless to say the carb cycling has gone out of the window for the last few days and I am really only concentrating on eating something! Protein shakes seem to be the way to go for me! Quick, easy and have some goodness to them and easy to get down!

I apologise for lack of posts and this one being so gloomy - I have lots of decisions to make and the future seems a little scary right now - I will make an effort to make a good fitness related post very soon :-) x

Naughty but nice xxx

I really didnt want to make a new post tonight as the previous one was so colourful with its chocolate covered strawberries! It has made me think I'd like to add more pics to my blog as they do brighten it all up a bit and I love looking at other peoples too!

Today I was doing very well on my low carb ness until this evening - my bf is away and so I had invited 2 girlfriends round for dinner and I made the most delicious Thai green chicken curry with rice and had bought 2 very gorgeous but sinful puddings they were the GU  little tiny pots we had 1 chocolate mousse and 1 key lime pie each they were tiny but absolutely scrummy and anything that tasty had to be packed with calories - I havent even checked as I dont want to ruin it!! Tomorrow will have to be a very very good day!!!

Thought I'd share this pic with you all - if this isnt enough to put you off McD's then I dont know what is!!

Made me laugh though and is a good reminder that good healthy eating is the way to go!!

Operation chocolate covered kindness!

Hey guys please check out this blog :
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2009/11/02/operation-chocolate-covered-kindness/
Every click on her pages will help raise more money and there are some great recipes on there too!!

Make this one of your good deeds for today - do it now :-) xxx

How much do I want to eat that stawberry dipped in chocolate!

Marks & Spencer = Carb Heaven!!

I went shopping today with friend and daughter and we stopped in M&S for lunch - there wasnt a single thing in the cafe that wasnt carb based - teacakes/pastries/scones/sandwiches/cakes/muffins/jacket spuds/toasted sarnies etc etc etc

I was starving and am doing my best to stick to the eating every 2-3 hours so I had a jacket spud with tuna and salad - not very low carb hey!! Although today i have come in at just over 100g so far and i keep reading that this is still considered low!!! I am still confused!!! I am aiming for 30% or less carbs today so after a high protein dinner I am hoping I'll be there!

I have bought the most gorgeous sparkly sequin top today and if fits fine but i know it will look a hell of a lot better when i have lost lots of pounds!! I will try to get a pic of it later!

Just done todays workout - legs still killing after Mondays but they feel alot looser now its done!

Inspirational pics

Well I logged on to update my blog and as always check the blogs I'm following to catch up with their latest news and posts! My mate Justagirl always has an nteresting read and today was no exception she has posted a great article about the myths of toning and had a picture on there that has now become my inspiration - yes it is highly unlikely that i will ever look like that but it is what i am going to pin up and work towards and I am going to share this with you and 1 other pic i found below:

How amazing does she look? yes she may have fake boobs (mine were kind of like that once naturally) but to me she has a perfect figure and one i aspire to for sure! Thank you Jo for letting me use this pic xx

This is another great pic and another one to aim towards!

So todays carbs were better than yesterday at 35% but still not really low enough i guess today was medium carb day! I ache a little from yesterdays workout which is good too.

I had a great PT session with one of my favourite clients tonight and that always makes me realise why i love my job! We practiced tabata clean with the kettlebell and she did really well! It is a surprisingly tough workout!!

Quick update

Well i kind of messed up today as a low carb day it has turned out as a high carb day with 40% coming from carbs and about 160grams! so it looks like i will have to do better tomorrow! I am trying to decide whether to do 3 days of low to medium followed by 1 high day or 1 low, 1 medium and 1 high! The other confusing thing is that everyone seems to have different ideas about what consitutes low and high carbs - I have read some saying 100g of carbs is low and others recommending 30g etc and some saying 150g is high and others saying 300g is high! Confusing!! If anyone has any better info then please leave me a message!!

My workout was great and consisted of 4 rounds the first was heavy for 6 reps for a few exercises followed by the same exercises x 15 reps at a lighter weight, then some metabolic exercises and to finish off tabatas with kettlebell cleans - phew ended up hot, sweaty but feeling good!!

I have just used my foam roller which also felt very good :-)

Planning is the key to success

This is just a quickie - you can never under estimate the power of planning! Today is my first day on my new plan - my food and diet i have decided but with carb cycling anf with Alwyn Cosgroves workout!

Today I had planned to be a very low carb day however after researching what is deemed to be low carb I realised I could have a little more than I had anticipated so i mad emy breakfast smoothie (recipe below somewhere) and that gave me approx 45g of carbs so I had planned that would be it and i'd have eggs and ham for lunch and chicken and veg for dinner BUT now this is where the planning went out of the window I went shopping with my friend only food shopping nothing exciting but when we got back i went in for a quick drink and her Mum and Dad gave me a piece of their lovely fresh olive bread to try! Yum it was delicious however this is going to bring my carb quota way up and not what i had planned! I was really hungry and should have gone straight home and had as i had planned or taken something with me to eat that was on my list for today! I have just checked and I am currently at 40% carbs for the day! However this will change later when i have a higher protein dinner but it is going to work out at a higher carb day than i had wanted!

I am happy that my friend has just rang me and asked to do a workout later together so i am going to make her do todays program! I will post later about how we got on and my final % of carbs!!

New beginnings...............

So Monday I will be starting a new workout plan - I am going to be following his metabolic circuits combined with strength training and possibly his diet although i may mix and match as i am a little fed up of being told what to eat and quite looking forward to making my own choices again!

I am quite excited about the training as I think it will push me quite a bit and hopefully bring about some sort of transformation! I want a good one to put on my website and to date none of my clients have been willing to have their pics taken so I have come to the conclusion that I will have to do one myself! OMG I've said it now so i guess i will have to do it!

I am going to set myself a mini target/goal of 7lbs by the end of November - we have a weekend in London with a night out and I would love to wear the sequin dress I have ordered so we shall see!!

People are so defensive when it comes to health sometimes!!

Following on from a very interesting post on sugar consumption and the damage it can cause - I posted this on a weight loss site and the response was quite astounding! In my job I hear excuses and reasons why people have to have certain things etc all the time and I am guilty of it myself to a degree as in I do have the odd treat or cheat or however you want to put it - I am trying to wean myself onto Green and Blacks but sometimes I just want a bit of bad for me Cadburys!! The thing is though I am not going to try and justify that - I know it isnt good for me, it makes me feel rubbish afterwards and I only enjoy it whilst its actually in my mouth!! If someone told me to cut it out I'm not going to attack them for daring to say something I like is bad for me because I know it is!! It isnt going to help me reach my goals any sooner I know that too so if i choose to have some then it is my choice and I have to pay the price for that!
It does annoy me though that people critisize so quickly and try to defend something (in this case sugar) that is of no use to us at all - show me one bit of research that shows me the benefits of eating refined sugar?
The same people are very quick to clearly state that sugar is not the cause of certain conditions - but without any back up information!
I think it all goes along with the principle that people want quick fixes with little or no effort these days - well that just doesnt happen - losing fat the right way does take effort - you gain what you are prepared to put in or in a phrase I've heard many times what price are you willing to pay? to get the results you want!

For anyone who wants to read the article I am referring to: (hope that works)

http://www.londonpersonaltrainingstudio.com/blog/?p=76

A mixed bag

Wasnt sure what to post today - am fighting off Soph's tonsilitis so feeling a bit under par!

We had a lovely thai meal out last night for her birthday which did include white rice - oops but 1 portion between 3 of us wasnt too bad i guess!

In todays emails I have received 2 challenges one for from Brad Pilon of Eat Stop Eat and the other from a frien dof mine Caroline Radway for a kettlebell challenge - then as i read more it seems she is combining the 2 so it is something I might think about as i wanted to combine kettlebells into my training - I am meeting up with Caroline on friday so will see what it involves!!

I quite like the idea of the ESE challenge as although i did it before a few times on Daxs challenge it does mean that if you have the odd treat or dont stick to 100% clean eating then the fat oss should still continue!

I think I will just do my own thing this week and decide about something over the weekend!

What to do next........

Is what I've been thinking over the weekend - I have gone from one challenge to a break to another challenge where all the work has been done for me - now it is time to think for myself and get to my target alone! I know I want to incorporate kettlebells into my training but dont know whether to stick to bodyweight stuff, go back to heavy weights or both - hmmm maybe a combination of all of it!

Diet wise I am going to continue to try to eat as cleanly as possible, I will only eat bread when absolutely no other alternative, sugar will be kept to an absolute minimum maybe the odd square of green and blacks if i have a craving! No alcohol but I will have my 1 cup of tea daily and greek yoghurt in the form of dairy.

My all time favourite breakfast is going to continue to be the smoothie courtesy of Rylan which I have now adapted to make just right for me:

1 pot of Fage greek yogurt fat free

1 small banana

1/2 cup of raspberries

1/2 cup of oats

1 scoop of cookies and cream whey

1 tbsp flaxseed

1 tsp ground almonds

It is truly yummy and keeps me full for ages and is made from all sorts of good for you ingredients, as the yoghurt is so thick i tend to dilute it a bit with water.

I miss my friend for working out with we always had a great laugh working out together so I will have to drag her out to catch up on some kick arse workouts!

It is my daughters birthday tomorrow so we will be going out for dinner to a thai restuarant - my absolute fave so tomorrow wont be the best calorie wise but I will try to avoid having anymore sauce than what covers the chicken!