Starting to feel less bloated and puffy now after having a good day's eating yesterday, and feeling more positive again. Thankfully it's another two weeks until my next social event, so I can get my head down and get cracking again!
Meals:
Today I did a 17 hour fast and broke it with a green smoothie, usual ingredients.
Had an early dinner as out all evening teaching. I'm going to attempt a longer fast tomorrow, but what time I eat really depends on what time I will be training with my client. Will have to see.
Home made buffalo burger with steamed broccolli, spinach and oregano garlic tomatoes.
And boy is my ass hurting after training legs and glutes yesterday! But it's all good :)
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Had enough of feeling fat, bloated and puffy after all the extras over the last few days. Time to re-focus and get organised again.
Meals:
Lovely green goodness smoothie for starters
Chicken, prawn and sun dried tomato salad for lunch
For dinner, frying steak, steamed spinach and roasted parsnip, courgette, red onion, cauliflower, garlic and oregano
There were some home grown strawberries on offer so had some with raspberries, pomegranate and a drizzle of cream for a taste. Mmmm :)
A much better day and stayed away from the sugary crap, hurrah!
Training:
Heavy weights session - legs and shoulders
I CAN DO THIS!!!
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Thank goodness I was shattered when I went to bed in the hotel as being in the city centre, we were right on top of the nightlife so was like sleeping in a nightclub...boom, boom, boom. Amazingly I slept like a log.
The next morning...usual hotel buffet and offerings. We never eat this way normally so crazy we have to eat a bit from everything offered! Well, I started with a side plate's worth of scrambled egg, beans, sausage and a hash brown. I avoided the crappy cereal and all bread, but I do like an occasional croissant so had a couple of those and some banana chips. But stayed with my herbal tea and lots of water.
We finally managed to escape the hotel. There'd been a stabbing outside in the early hours and the police had taped off the road! We started the looooong and booooring drive home, via the services again for more sugary rubbish. Not a good weekend's food for me, but so be it. I bypassed dinner too.
And unfortunately I fell down a sugar hole for a couple of days. The downside to my mum buying and having biscuits in the house and me caving in! Aside from the sugar I always try and keep my main meals nutritious and healthy.
But a weekend of complete food relaxation does show up on the scales. 4.5lbs heavier! It's really easy to be annoyed with yourself and think that there's no point healthy eating and carrying on but there absolutely is. The majority of the scale weight is merely water retention. A few days of clean eating and abstaining from sugar means it will go down again, as I have shown in previous weeks. This was a much bigger intake of sugar though this time.
Here's my meals for these days...
Day 22
Veggie scrambled egg, after a morning's fast.
Pilchard and avocado salad
Chicken and hummus salad, after a mornings fast
Got in really late and didn't want a full dinner so this was the easy and quick option. Hummus, prawns and tomato on rye toast
So food doesn't look too bad, but it's minus all the biscuits I had on both days. Not feeling too good, really bloated, fat and puffy.
Enough now, what's done is done. Time to get back on track, only 7 weeks till beach time!
Training:
Day 21
Rest day
Day 22
Heavy weights - back, biceps and core
Day 23
Ten minute bodyweight and core interval session
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My Saturday began covering 4 sessions for my colleague, a 7, 8, 9 and 10am. So getting up at 6am after only about 5.5 hours sleep was not a great start!
Half way through the morning I drank my smoothie that I'd made the night before.
Straight after the sessions I collected my friend and I drove us up to Tamworth in the Midlands for a charity fitness day. At the services I ended up buying some sugary food as I was already shattered! Viennese whirls and an oat cookie later, we continued our journey.
We missed the start of the first session, Armageddon with Richard Callender (Biggest Loser), which was probably a blessing, it's tough! I joined in with a little latin fit, then 80's cheesy aerobics after which my knee started to complain after the high impact old 80's moves. I sat out for TKO combat and ate half my salad. Really hard to eat properly at these events without feeling sick or missing out!
Back to the hotel in Birmingham after surviving the horrendous roads that are in the city centre, and ate the other half of my salad and sugary crap from the services.
We showered and went downstairs so my friend could eat. It was quite late by then and we were waiting for the rest of our gang to get ready. I had a lovely tomato and mozzarella salad. One of the better non-bread/wheat/stodgy choices from the hotel menu. I figured I'd had enough sugar for one day, and I was having a small wine too.
11pm we finally got to the bar! I was hanging. Had 2 more drinks and got back about 2am, exhausted, zzzzzzz
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Didn't get to do a ten minute blast in the morning. Woke feeling drained and heavy in the body, so I decided to listen to it and rest instead. Felt leaner though so feeling positive.
Meals:
Day two of my first aid at work refresher. Managed to fast in morning, which was easy as I wasn't hungry and I knew I would be occupied with learning.
Lunchtime came and I completely forgot to photograph it, so this pic below is the other half which I will have tomorrow, minus the lettuce I had today.
Tuna, cannellini beans, sun dried tomatoes, oregano, avocado, red onion, green pepper and pomegranate pips.
Don't know what happened after I left the course. I had a good day, not stressful and I was no longer tired, but I went and bought chocolate. Can't explain why. Can only think a seed was planted after talking about it with some of my clients. Oh well.
After talking about planning yesterday, I hadn't planned my own dinner! *Smack wrists!* I arrived home after my weights session hungry. Not a good place to be. I need to go shopping too so had to rustle up what I could.
Ended up with organic bacon and eggs fried in coconut oil, on a slice of rye bread with some steamed chard. Quite a satisfying meal. Only thing is by the evening I was feeling full still and quite bloated. Bye bye my lean feeling that I had this morning :(
Training:
Heavy weights with my client. Chest, triceps and core.
Off to a charity dance day in Tamworth tomorrow after covering my colleague's 4 sessions in the morning. Whew will be a busy day! AND out for the evening in Birmingham, so a couple of wines will be had. No idea where we are eating though, so I already have lunch ready and a smoothie to take in the morning.
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Today was going to be a busy one so essential to get organised the night before. I was off doing my first aid refresher course for the next two days. Then tonight teaching two sessions after.
So, I got all my smoothie ingredients together and got the blender out ready.
I then made myself a salad to take the next day, and left the prawns defrosting and avocado to add first thing in the morning.
I then put some brocolli and chard in the steamer, added the water and put it on the hob ready. I wasn't going to get home till 9pm so needed to be able to just come in a switch it on. I also put some foil under the grill ready for my steak. Sorted.
It was then so easy this morning to come down, throw everything into the blender and add the bits to my lunch. Job done.
IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN THEN YOU PLAN TO FAIL!
Simples.
Meals:
Didn't take a photo of my smoothie but same no fruit concoction as usual (without the raw cacao)
Lunch was the prawn and avocado salad. Only ate two thirds of it as out lunch break was earlier than I would have eaten and I wasn't that hungry still after the smoothie.
I ate the rest during our afternoon break.
I think doing this half and half thing threw me out a bit as I felt I needed something when I got home. So I went for a couple of slices of cheese as I had no other protein available without opening a tin of fish, which I didn't fancy.
Dinner was buffalo rump steak, brocolli and chard from the farmers market. Proper big leaves!
Lunch all ready for tomorrow. Planning to fast in the morning. Am also planning to get up and do a quick ten minute blast before I leave for my first aid course day two. Let's hope I sleep ok first.
Training:
Not a full on session. Just joined in a bit with my bootcampers and their interval accumulator session. Proper session tomorrow!
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Starting to feel leaner again, hurrah! I bombarded you with a lot of info yesterday so going to keep it simple today and just give you my food and training.
Meals:
Protein banana pancakes. Not had these in ages! I blended 3 eggs with a scoop of protein and a small banana and cooked them in a little coconut oil. Then served with home grown strawberries, pomegranate, toasted seeds and cinammon. OMG yummy, but very filling!
Dinner was a bit of an experiment, but wasn't great. I baked some white fish in chopped tomatoes, red onion, brocolli, cauliflower, green pepper and oregano. It was all a bit dry and chewy, but never mind. You learn from your mistakes.
I didn't feel satisfied after so had some rye bread, cheese and tomato, which did the trick.
Looking at my meals above, they are not green enough! Need to sort that tomorrow.
Green foods, especially the dark leafy ones are the most nutrient dense, packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre, and more importantly, aid fat loss! So get eating brocolli, kale, spinach, watercress etc.
Training:
Workout 1 - ten minute HIIT workout (high intensity interval training)
Mixture of sprints, lunges and core work
Workout 2 - heavy weight training
Legs, shoulders and core. Should be interesting trying to walk tomorrow!
So plan is to keep going...keep eating clean fresh food, what mother nature gave us, stay active, get out of breath and leave the pink fluffy weights on the floor.
And remember...
Doing a workout and then treating yourself to a muffin or chocolate bar is not the way forward! Find non-food related treats such as a new top or a massage or something :)
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Felt tired and heavy this morning. Think not getting to bed till 11.30pm, my body still ridding itself of the sugar plus recovery from the heavy weight training yesterday afternoon was taking it's toll.
Getting to bed by 10-10.30pm on as many night's as possible really helps you get the recovery and re-generation your body needs.
Certain hormonal processes happen overnight. Between 10pm and 2am is when physiological repair takes place, and between 2am and 6am is when psychological repair takes place.
The diagram below illustrates a normal sleep/wake cycle, then what most people's actually looks like.
(Taken from How to eat move and be healthy - Paul Chek)
So if you don't get to bed till late, all your repair has to squish into a short space of time so therefore you cannot heal fully. Over time this leads to an impaired immune system so more susceptible to colds and illness, muscle aches and niggles.
When I started to get to bed earlier I cannot tell you how much more awake and alert I was each day. Coupled with cutting down on sugars and starches and eating real food I can honestly say this is the best I have EVER felt!
The trouble is most people just don't know how much better they can feel because they have never experienced it! many people just don't make the connection between what they eat, drink and how much sleep they do or don't get.
Many people are still struggling with their weight and health on a daily basis and just keep popping pills and tablets to alleviate various symptoms, when all they need to do is eat real food, drink water and sleep. Sounds stupidly simple doesn't it, so why don't more people do it?
We have been bombarded with so much mis-information from tv advertising, food manufacturers, supermarkets and the pharma industry we just recognise all this stuff as the norm. It never used to be this way and strangely it's only since it has been this way that the nation is getting fatter and sicker.
Little old me and the nation of trainers and coaches do not have enough power to over-ride the junk food and drug industry, which are BIG business. It's in their best interest to keep everyone fat and sick, otherwise they don't make money.
So, it's up to myself and the other trainers to help educate all of you into the truth as we know it, and help you make better choices to help you shed fat and improve your health so you don't get sick.
And it is my belief that the principles that will never change (methods are many) will help you get there.
The 10 Principles (from our free ebook download, The Optimisation Plan)
1. Drink water - 1 litre for every 50lbs bodyweight
2. Eat protein - with every meal
3. Have early nights - bed at 10-10.30pm as much as possible
4. Eat good fat - avocado, coconut oil/milk, olive oil, nuts, seeds
5. Cut out wheat and sugar - it promotes fat storage and disease
6. Move your body - exercise and be active
7. Eat only when you are hungry - not just for the sake of it
8. Reduce stress - high levels means fat burning hormones switch off
9. Get organised - planning is key to success
10. Eat real food - what mother nature gave us, not processed junk
These all sound simple, but they are just not second nature. Even if you picked a couple of the above and consciously focused on them for at least 3 weeks, they are more likely to become permanent habits. Don't give up if you fail, keep trying. All new things take time to master.
Meals:
Intermittent fast today of 17 hours so my first meal was a no fruit smoothie. All low carb again today. This is more of a get lean strategy along with the fasting. But, I find my energy levels are fine with occasional starchy food each week.
Snack: Try to avoid snacking but felt like I needed one. Had some green pepper and hummus, toasted seeds...and some cheddar cheese, which I don't eat that often but just fancied a bit.
Dinner: home-made buffalo mince, red onion and cumin mini burgers with steamed green veggies drizzled in olive oil.
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Woke up feeling fat and bloated. Definitely down to the sugar yesterday and possibly the butter beans in my salad. Time to make a mental note of that and see if it happens when I don't have sugar.
Of course the scales tell the story of me holding on to more water again. This is why people panic after 'being good' all week and then having a weekend blow out. If you seem to get heavier overnight then you haven't 'put on' a load of fat, it's just your body diluting the toxins you ate.
THE SOLUTION TO POLUTION IS DILUTION!
Here's my scales story so far over the last two weeks. Please note I don't usually weigh myself every day, this is just purely to illustrate to you how toxins, sugar and starch effect what the scales say in a short period of time.
Week 1
Day 1 - 9st 9
Day 2 - 9st 8
Day 3 - 9st 7.2
Day 4 - 9st 6.4
Day 5 - 9st 6
Day 6 - 9st 6
After eating clean all week with no sugar and limited healthy starchy carbs (fruit, sweet potato, root veg, rye bread etc) I had a glass of wine and some chocolate and the next day...
Day 7 - 9st 7.6
Back to eating clean again from day 7.
Day 8 - 9st 7.4
Day 9 - 9st 6.4
Day 10 - 9st 6
Day 11 - 9st 5.8
As you can see, going back down again after the body rids itself of the unwanted weekend toxins and I'm drinking plenty of water and eating lots of fresh, real food.
Then, I have a horrendous night's sleep and have to deal with one of my biggest problem eating triggers, extreme tiredness. I have an epic chocolate and sugar wobble. What do you think the scales will say the day after??? You guessed it!
Day 12 - 9st 7
Back to clean eating and loads of water again.
Day 13 - 9st 7.2
Day 14 - 9st 6
Then after fudge day...
Day 15 - 9st 7.6
Wow. You can see that even though my main meals are good, just how much that extra 'treats' of toxic and sugary food affect what the scales say. This is why, if you are trying to give yourself a massive kick start and lose fat fast, that you absolutely HAVE to have a period of time where you obstain completely from sugar in order to get rid of a long time of stored toxins.
From a long term eating for life strategy, you can see that you can still have a little of what you fancy providing that you get straight back on to eating real food again and drinking plenty of water to help your body process and eliminate the toxins you had. It's only when you keep eating foods that the body doesn't like that you keep on storing more and more fat cells to house the toxins and hold on to more and more water, especially if you don't drink any!
So remember...
SCALES ARE FOR FISH!
Today was about getting back to healthy eating again and I'd planned my three meals, and all low carb, so no starchy or sugary carbs. Here's what I had.
Meals:
Luxury scrambled eggs - veg and toasted seeds
Roasted chicken legs in olive oil, garlic and cumin with avocado, oregano tomatoes and lettuce.
Courgette spaghetti and lamb ragu with spinach
I also had my supplements - 4 fish oils with each meal, 1 zinc, 1 vit D
2.5 litres of water and herbal teas
Training:
Workout 1 - ten minute high intensity workout
Skipping and core
Workout 2 - heavy weight training
Back, biceps and core
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Ok...two weeks in and what have I learned, and what have YOU learned? I've love to know so please comment at the end of this post.
This week I have seen:
- That your weight on the scales goes up the days after eating more sugar and starchy foods.
- That your weight on the scales goes down again a couple of days after eating clean, real food again.
- That going public with what you are going to do helps keep you on track in most situations.
- But that emotional triggers can still over-ride sometimes, mine being extreme tiredness and stressing when time is running out.
I now need to get organised better, so I am going to plan out my week and roughly what food I am going to eat, plus all my exercise sessions. That way I can go into auto pilot for the week and don't have to think if I don't have to!
If you fail to plan you plan to fail!
And time to re-visit my original goals. Below is what I put.
What I want:
1. I WILL lose 6-8 inches from my body.
2. I WILL lose 6lbs on the scales.
(Although the overall
look will be more important as I will be weight training and trying to
increase my lean muscle mass, therefore scales won't be a great method
of tracking results, my clothes will!)
3. I WILL fit into my jeans comfortably and not have to undo the top button when I sit down!
4. I WILL cut out/reduce chocolate and biscuits.
5. I WILL do a ten minute high intensity workout on 5-6 days each week.
6. I WILL do weight training workouts on 5-6 days each week.
7. I WILL drink 2.7 litres of water each day (I'm currently 135lbs so 1 litre for every 50lbs bodyweight = 2.7 litres).
8. I WILL be kind to myself and maintain a positive can-do attitude.
9. I WILL post on this blog my progress and meal photos.
Now it's a very common thing to look back over the past two weeks and only focus on what I didn't do, haven't achieved and all the times when I ate sugary food. For some reason we are pre-programmed to do this.
We always forget about all the positive things we did. So next time you spend some time making changes that will improve your health and get you leaner, make sure you write a list of all the things that you do well and ONLY those things!
What I have done well:
- I've exercised 5-6 days each week
- I've drunk my quota of water on most days
- I've not written the day off when I have eaten something I didn't plan to
- I've kept all my main meals clean and healthy
- I've reduced the amount of chocolate and biscuits I was eating compared to before.
- I have posted my food photos and updated this blog for each day
- I still have a positive, I can do it, attitude
- I still believe I CAN and WILL do this!
www.EmmaBFitness.com
www.FabulousinaFortnight.co.uk
www.BoffosBootcamp.com
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www.7in7for7.co.uk
Today was Duck Pond Market day. A day where I usually relax my eating a little as there is so much yummy food there. Food that is local and home-made with good quality ingredients. So when I say relax a little, it's not a complete blow out day like diving into a huge greasy pizza and chips or something!
But, I knew the home-made fudge guys were going to be there. And with this in mind, rather than have a spinach quiche for breakfast and an Argentinian steak sandwich for lunch (OMG the sacrifice! They are delicious!), I decided to have a smoothie before I left and take a salad with me. That way if I was going to have sugar, I was at least going to avoid a double dose of wheat.
So...
Meals:
Smoothie of half avocado, spinach, milled seeds, probiotic, coconut milk, greens powder supplement, vanilla protein and water to blend.
Lemon fudge AND white chocolate and cranberry pretzels from the fudge stall. They ended up being next to me! Bad move :-0
Tuna, butter bean and avocado salad for lunch, but only ate two thirds of it. (Probably too full of fudge! ;))
I ended up eating the rest of the salad later on in the evening.
www.EmmaBFitness.com
www.FabulousinaFortnight.co.uk
www.BoffosBootcamp.com
www.OptimisationPlan.com
www.7in7for7.co.uk
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