End of the Shred

Missed a Target this month.  


Not annoyed about it though...


So, I've been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred DVD for the past 2 months.  I have *not* done it in 30 days. It would have killed me. Woman is crazy!  But I have done it in 2 months. I started on the 1st March and have maintained other forms of cardio (my beloved swimming) when I have missed days of the Shred.  Today will be Day 30, level 3 day 10.


I have to say, I feel pretty damn proud of myself :)  It's a hell of a workout, no matter the fact that it's only 20 (27 actually, she leaves out the warmup and cooldown times, just sayin') minutes long doesn't take from the fact that your arms and legs and ass and shoulders absolutely kill you the next day! 


My weightloss has slowed right down to around about half a pound a week, which is what I think is healthy for me now. 


This weeks weighin gave me:

12 Stone 4 Pounds

172 Pounds

I had set the target of 170lbs, but, I don't feel too bad about missing it.  I have seen a slow down of loss - probably mostly to do with the fact that I'm eating more calories, but also because of the nature of the workouts I'm doing now.


The circuit training that the DVD does actually includes a hell of a lot of body weight resistance training that I have been quite lacking for a while, so I do think that I've been gaining a little bit of lean muscle over the last few months.  I hope so anyway :D  I'll see what happens when I'm doing different cardio.


I haven't taken any measurements, I kinda wish I had, but I had to go on an emergency Bra shop on my lunch break yesterday, cause the bra that I was wearing was just too big! I only bought it about 2 months ago!
Anyway, I've been convinced that I'm sitting on a plateau of muscle mass, but I looked back over my numbers for the last couple of months and actually it looks like I am right on track for an average of half a pound a week.  I have seen a big slowdown since I took that horrible dose of the flu in february march kind of time, but actually, it was around that time that I upped my calories and moved more towards the maintenance side of things. So I am pretty happy with where I am.


Glad that I bother to keep stats, keeps me sane when there's weekly fluctuations :)


I've reset my target to be 170lbs again by the start of June,  but I shan't hold my breath for that one. May contains many dinners out and a holiday in a foreign clime that may involve a lot of red wine and dinners out :) (can't wait!)


There will be a swimming pool there though, so hopefully I'll be able to get an hour of swimming in a few of the days :)


(Have I mentioned how much I love swimming?)


Happy losing boys and girls.

Exercise Addiction and this weeks weighin

Yeah, I know, never thought this would be something that I would have to think about ever....

This week I've got some seriously tired muscles. Seriously tired. My legs are a little bit jellified and my shoulders are sore and tight.

That being said, I feel pretty awesome! Everything feels like it's working the way that it needs to work!

BUT

I think I really do need a couple of days off from exercise in order to allow the old bod to repair itself. The fatigue that I'm feeling is more than normal!

I took yesterday off cause I had some family matters to attend to, but my goodness, the mood I was in this morning without my little endorphin hit yesterday. I nearly didn't go to my swimming lesson because my head was all fuggy and heavy!

I forced myself to go to my lesson and I swear, the second I got into the water I felt a million times better. A few lengths and I could take on the whole world!!

So I'm a little bit anxious about stopping and making myself go into a funk.

All I seem to think about at the minute is exercise and food. I really need to go on a holiday from it all. 

I really want to make it to my goal though! 

It's the weirdest feeling though, on my days off, I can't seem to go through a whole day without that anxious feeling of "I should be doing something, you're supposed to be jumping up and down to something now, why aren't you in the pool?" kind of feeling. Which is good in a way, but I really need to have a period of time where I don't do anything at all. My muscles need to recover.

I read this wikipedia article today which says it all for me really:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining

Go read it, I'll wait for you......Done? Good.

Sound like what I'm rambling about? Yeah I thought so too.

So, the way I'm looking at it at the moment is, I have about 6 days left of the 30 day shred to go before I've met that challenge. At that point I will take a whole 3 days off (in a row!) and see how I feel.

Then I will look into making a brand new challenge for myself :)

No loss on the weighin this week, but I know for a fact that my muscles are full of water and working hard at repairing themselves this week, so I'm looking forward to my recovery week weighin to see how I have actually done :)

Hope you guys are all doing great!!!

April Target Hit!

I was a bit worried about this target, I was away for the weekend a week ago and I think I lost my tiny mind a little bit!


We go away with friends every now and again and I go with every good intention in the world of behaving myself and just drinking wine in the evenings and going out during the day and working some nice exercise calories up and sticking within my targets. Then everyone buys chocolates and cakes and crisps and leaves them open in front of me!


I swear, I'm like a crack addict set down in front of a mountain of top grade charlie!  I even brought back 2 hot cross buns that they don't sell where I live so that I could savour them!!


I am a sick puppy.


Malteasers are alright though right? Right??


Anyhoo.


Got home and back onto the wagon big style.  Got into Jillian Michaels 30 day shred again - finished level 2 and did day 1 of level 3. Ouch. Back to that tomorrow *shudder*.


Have had a nice swim (learning butterfly stroke at the minute! I know!), did some exercise biking and am in the process of (with dearly beloved) doing up an old bicycle in order to start learning to ride!! I am incredibly excited by this prospect :D  I know there's going to be a bit of falling down and some scraped knees and stuff, but I don't care, I *want* to be able to ride a bike. I *will* learn to ride a bike!!


So! Weighin!  I set a target of 12 stone 7 pounds for monday and when I stepped on the scales I was pleasantly surprised by:

12 Stone 5.25 Pounds

Which was very nice indeed.

So I'm hereby setting a new target for 30th April of 12 Stone 2 Pounds.  That will get me to the threshold of a new decade of lbs (170) just in time for my 31st birthday (yikes)!

Oh, also, my leisure centre membership has changed. Which means I'm going to be able to go to the fitness suite as well as the pool. This opens up the possibility of my starting jogging.....  Interesting developments abounds!


Till next time!!


xx

Breaking the Plateau

Hello!

It has been a while since I've had anything to say, but I can quite happily say that I think I have broken through the plateau!!

Thank goodness!!

My last post here was on the 30th January, and my graph was distinctly flatlining. It wasn't a terrible thing, I can honestly say that I am quite happy with my body the shape that it is now (apart from the bewbs, but that's a post for another day).  

I do want to be able to get to a healthy BMI though, so I decided to mix things up a little bit to see if I could bust through.

So! Using myfitnesspal.com settings I reset all my goals to change the way that I eat!!!

I've boosted the amount of protein I eat in a day and lowered my carbohydrates (note, I am still eating Carbs. Just not quite as many as before).  I'm still eating around 1750 calories (net) per day - a 250 calorie deficit - just in a different way!

So, I've been doing that for about a month now - some days more successful than others! (Protein is kinda hard to eat without being totally across every mouthful of food you eat all day - I really don't want to think about my food that much. Also I don't want to have to resort to bars and protein powder shakes). And it seems to be going ok!!

Before I give you the weighins though I also want to say that I've shaken my exercise routine up a little as well.

I had a week in the middle of February where I was so ill. I mean really, a flu the likes of which I hope I will not see again for a very long time.  Myself and dearly beloved were totally floored and in bed for 3 whole days (and not in a good way). When we finally emerged at the other end of it I can honestly say that my body felt as weak as a kitten. It's amazing how quickly you can lose your stamina if you don't stay on top of everything.  Having said that, I have been pleased at my recovery time, I think I am back on form now! I need to continue with my swimming endurance, but that is a post for another day too!


Anyhoo, to get myself back on track, I have finally given in and am having a go at Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  So many people have told me (on forums) how great this DVD is and after hearing a friend of mine tell me how good and convenient it is for a working person, plus how you really feel it even though you're only doing a 27 minute workout a day.  Well, let me tell you.  You really *really* feel it!  

There are 3 levels that you do for 10 days at a time. I'm on day 8 today of level 1. 

I upped the weight that I use for my bicep curls last night.  Ouch.

Anyhoo, I'm doing that on days that I'm at work (as long as dearly beloved doesn't mind doing the cooking - he's a wonderful man really, no matter what anyone says about him ;) )  and continuing with my swimming on days that I am off. 

TO THE WEIGHINS!!

• 30th January - 12 Stone 12.5 Pounds -   180.25lbs

• 6th February - 12 Stone 11.75 Pounds - 179.75lbs

• 13th February - 12 Stone 6.5 Pounds -   174.5lbs

• 20th February - 12 Stone 9 Pounds  -   177lbs

• 27th February - 12 Stone 8.75 Pounds - 176.75lbs

• 5th March - 12 Stone 7.75 Pounds -      175.5lbs

Aren't they lovely numbers? :)


So glad to be down around the 175/next half stone level! That 9 stone barrier is well and truly trampled! 

So for my next mini target, I'm hoping to get below and stay below 12 stone 7 by the start of April!


Looking forward to seeing the results of this 30 Day Shred DVD!

Dreading The Plateau

Ok, I'll admit, I haven't been following the plan exactly. Things are changing diet and exercise plan wise and my face isn't quite keeping up with it like it should be, thus I'm getting a little bit discouraged by the result on Scaley Mc Scalerson!

Todays weighin - Target post christmas was:

12 Stone 12.25 pounds

180.25lbs

Which, when looked at logically, is pretty good for what I was aiming for - I wanted to maintain 180lbs - but, I have been "behaving" myself for the entire month of January to no result. I think we can officially call this a plateau now.

Anyway, I'm not going to let it get me down, as I've been rejigging the program and I am now in a "lose half a pound a week" category, so it's going to take a lot of time.

The new plan is to eat a heck of a lot more food! Which is nice :)

I've redone my calculations and I have 1750 (approx) calories to eat in a day, as well as any calories that I claw back from dragging my ass around a swimming pool in a day.

I also have to calm down with my weighins I think. It's just not going to move as quickly as it used to. I may have to go to fortnightly or monthly weighins to make sure that I don't get depressed.

Last night I was so annoyed with myself that I just ate everything in the house!! I mean really, I ate (not unhealthily) a lot of food! about 1000 calories more than I should have!

Anyway. I'll think about what target I am going to set this month and put it on twitter by the end of the week.

New challenges required I think! Something physical as opposed to a scale target. 

Oh dear oh dear

I have been a very naughty girl.


I've not had a loss for about 3 weeks now and I really have not been behaving myself at all.


Thankfully I've also not seen a gain which means I've managed to do my overeating at my maintenance calories. 
Which is nice.

So, when I got home from work today I went and did 50 minutes on my exercise bike and some press ups to get myself back into the endorphin hit.


I must get back on top of my eating now,  I have been a little bit mental with booze and chocolate biscuits cause we've had visitors, so I don't feel too bad about it.  I need a plan for the next few weeks though.


I have to get through this 9 stone barrier! It's beginning to piss me off.

Enough of this!

Right, it's a day early for coming off my 1200 calorie kick, but I have been feeling sluggish and lethargic for the past 3 days and I don't really want to keep going with it anymore.


I don't have an awful lot of weight left to lose and I don't want to do my workouts harm by not taking in enough fuel to keep it going at maximum.


So, going back to the old BMR Calculations:



655+(781.9125)+(324.3)-141=1620.2125 = BMR
*1.2


=1944.255 = Total Daily Calorie Expenditure


So that gives me a maintenance number of 1944 calories.


With allowances for my exercise, I will set my loss at half a pound a week.  This gives me about 1694 calories for a day.


Much nicer.


So that's where I'm going to be from now on.


Myfitnesspal has given me about 1750 cals so I'll use that as a nice guide to stick within:


1694 - 1750 cals


This past week I  have been eating way under my number, which is probably part of why I've been feeling so rubbish.  I've got to the point today where I really want to binge like a crazy person to make up for the unders this week!


SUNDAY ROUND UP


231
384
140
1
64
(-140)  +
-------------
680


1200*6=7200-680 = 6520 for a week. Which really is not very much at all.


So, I've had enough of that :)


CALORIE ++ :)


The only thing that I've started to wonder about, is if I'm calculating my activity level correctly. I count my daily activity level as sedentary as when I'm in work I tend to spend the entire day sat down.  I do know though, that I'm a heck of a lot more active than I used to be at the beginning of this. So should I set my activity level slightly higher? It's a bit hard. Will stick with sedentary for now I suppose, I just want to be able to eat more food :)


I have three days this week in order to go to the swimmers and indeed do some DVD work (really could do with a bit of strength training).


Then I have some friends visiting for a few days.  I hope to get out for a nice long walk one of those days with them, but it may end up being a bit of a diet disaster! Thankfully the girl that's visiting is also on a January health kick, so she will be able to keep me in check :)


Ok that'll do for now!


Buh bye!

Workout today :)

Damage Control

Mid way through 1200 fortnight January.


I've stumbled a few times, not quite kept the weekly total under what it should be, but to be honest with you, it's such a wrench from my normal eating that as long as I'm keeping it well below 1400 per day, I'm ok with it :)


I've started to play a little bit with vegetarian food.  Meat seems to be the one thing that adds an insane amount of calories to my meals. Don't get me wrong, I'm not turning vegetarian, I'm merely commenting on my lack of control when faced with an entire leg of lamb (mmmm leg of lamb) so I'm thinking it would be nice to be able to have a few meals a week/month where it's only veggies in the dinner.  Good for fibre intake and a massive calorie dip per meal! 


So I've bought Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Veg Everyday" cookbook and last night I made the Cauliflower and Chickpea curry from it for myself and dearly beloved.  Very very nice indeed!! Lot of experimenting required :)


Calorie deficit/surplus for the week were:
Monday : -586 - oops
Tuesday : 14
Wednesday : 62
Thursday : 111 
Friday : 148
Saturday : 16
Sunday : -149


Calories Burned for the week in exercise : 1265


Good to be back into it again :)


This week has started off well, I've got some new toys that I'm going to have a play with today and will tell you all about next time (can you say heart rate monitor?! wooooooo!)


Hopefully next week's weighin will show me back to pre christmas weight (am still a bit over that 12 stone 11.75 pounds, but not far!)


Hope 2012 is going well so far ;) 

Back to reality

Hi everyone.


Did you have a good Christmas/New Year time?


Hope so.


Mine was fine thanks, yeah, a little crazy but generally enjoyable.


Put on weight? Um well. I haven't dared to look yet.


I spent the entire time either sitting on my butt driving the car for about 3 hours at a time or sitting on my butt drinking sloe gin and eating christmas pudding.


I feel atrocious!


I have today off and I really should be down at the swimming pool right now getting myself back into the swing of things exercise wise, but really the only thing that I can bring myself to do is sit right here and type this blog post berating myself for not getting down to the swimming pool and getting back into the swing of things...


This is the year that I want to hit goal. I can't stress enough how badly I want to get to that magic number.  It pisses me off that I have to slow down my rate of loss now to keep stupid body happy and out of plateau mode, but it's what I have to do.


Having said that, I'm aiming at 2 weeks at 1200 calories per day to get myself back on track with my eating. Exercise will come as I get more into the swing of things.  Having said that, I know that I should still do something today... I'll see how it goes.


Anyway. I've no doubt that I'll get back into the way of it, I enjoyed having a "thin" christmas. Wearing clothes that made me look nice and feeling like a normal person - at least for a little while.


It's still a strange feeling, I guess it's to do with the company that I keep, they all have known me for a long time and I have always been big, so when I'm with them all I don't feel any different, so I feel like old me.  Then I remember that old me isn't here anymore. Even though she's still making me have some more crisps and cake.


It's a weird feeling.


I wonder if you can ever shed the old fat feeling and actually feel normal? I guess normal is just whatever you are. Physical image shouldn't even intrude on your consciousness at all to be truly normal.


Hmmm.


Happy New Year all.