Fit Friday: Goal Update and Current Workouts

I've been a little absent on the whole gym/fitness front lately.  To be honest, I've just not got my rhythm going and unfortunately I've just taken any excuse lately to not go to the gym.  The early, dark nights made me want to just go home and be warm instead of sweating it out in the gym.  But it's getting lighter in the evenings now, and the clocks go forward on Saturday (handy reminder there!) meaning it'll be lighter for even longer, so I'm feeling much more energised after finishing work recently.  It's so nice being able to drive home without needing my lights on!

I spoke of my new goals for 2015 back in December, and I'm so pleased that this week I managed my first ever unassisted pull up!   I've been trying to do that for so long, and I was so proud of myself when I managed it on my own.  I can't do any more than the one without putting my feet down between pull ups, but hey...one step at a time.  Maybe next month I'll be able to do five in a row?

Talking of my 2015 goals, running has not got well for me at all.  I've been once this entire year and that was also my first ever outdoor run that I did off my own back.  My route takes me down the lane, along the riverbank and over farmers fields along public walkways.  I ran using the Nike Running app, and ran for sixteen minutes and forty seconds for supposedly 1.43 miles.  I'm pretty sure that's a terrible time for such a short distance, but I say supposedly because my route that it mapped out seemed to cut out a chunk?  I ran down a straight between the two red sections on the map, so I don't know if it ran out of signal at that point and stopped recording or what?  If anyone uses it then please do let me know if I did in fact run further...please say I ran all of a smidge further!  

I'm very lucky with the area that I live in that I have such a pretty route to run, so I can't excuse why I've only been once.   Needless to say, it was tiring, but I'm pleased I went - even if it did feel as though my ankles were bending the wrong way for a few days afterwards.  I feel like I need a running buddy to spur me on to turn this into a routine, and so far I've only had Liam volunteer to bike alongside me, which is nice but I'd feel like I was in a scene of Run Fatboy, Run.

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For my workouts, I've still been mainly doing weights over cardio and I'm really enjoying seeing my strength building and my body changing.  I've actually maintained my weight, but have managed to lose a few inches on most of my body!  The jeans I got for Christmas are even starting to feel loose around my waist, so I'm definitely pleased.  I won't lie that I'm disappointed I'm maintaining my weight, but my diet hasn't been great recently.  I'm finally out of Christmas chocolate now though so hopefully things will improve a little.  I really need to start trying to ignore what I weigh and go on how my body feels.

This week I've been picking out a couple of workouts to do that I've found on Pinterest and I've really enjoyed them.  I find that I work best when I have a plan of what I need to do, otherwise I end up floating around not really knowing what to do next.  I'll continue with these workouts a little longer and then come and report back on them, but in the meantime here is my Fit Board if you wanted to check that out!  I also cracked on with Carly Rowena's Leg and Butt Routine...my legs were like jelly afterwards, and going downstairs as I was leaving the gym proved pretty difficult!  It's definitely one to give a go, and a workout I'll be slipping in every week!

What does your work out routine look like?  How are your goals coming along?

Warming Chunky Chilli Soup

I've really been getting into cooking lately.  I'm finding myself constantly flicking through my growing collection of recipe books, and forever collecting the free supermarket magazines offering recipes ideas.  I love cooking, and actually have started to enjoy making my lunches for the week of work ahead which used to be a real chore.  Every Sunday, I set aside an hour to prepare my week of lunches and for the last few months, I've been really enjoying experimenting with different soups and stews.

Last week, I created this chunky, warming chilli soup.  It's not expensive to make, didn't take long to do at all and is also high in protein!  I think it's the perfect soup to enjoy when it's freezing outside - the first bowl I had was when it was snowing!  The recipe makes enough for four people, or four lunches.  If you fancy trying it yourself, you'll need:

  One tsp Chilli Infused Olive Oil

  One Red Onion, sliced

  Two Chillies, sliced

  One Garlic Clove

  300g chopped Turkey (I used breast because that's what we had in)

  Two Tins (800g) of Chopped Tomatoes

  One Tin of Mixed Beans

  Three small, baked Sweet Potatoes (roughly 350g)

  One tsp Ground Paprika

  One tsp Ground Cumin

  Half tsp Ground Cinnamon

  3/4 Pint of Chicken Stock

  

I started by preheating my oven to 180 and placing my sweet potatoes onto a tray.  If I was intending on eating the skin of these potatoes, I'd add a spritz of olive oil to crsip the skin, but seeing as I'll be peeling these later, I skipped the oil and just placed them in the oven.  I then heated my chilli oil in a big pan before adding my chopped onions, chopped chillis and mincing my garlic.  I chose to leave my chilli seeds in because I love the heat, but if heat isn't your thing then you should scrape them out before adding them.

Once the onions have softened, add your turkey to the pan and brown that off before putting in your chopped tomatoes and mixed beans.  Add your spices and a quick grind of pepper before topping up the soup with your stock and leaving to simmer until the turkey has cooked through.

Don't forget about your sweet jacket potatoes - take them from the oven after around thirty five minutes.  You should be able to make a small slice in the skin so you can peel the skin away easily.  Chop into chunks and add to your soup!  I left my soup simmering for a total of around forty five minutes before pouring into a storage box and putting in the fridge for my work lunches!

What's your favourite easy lunch meal?  Share your recipes below!

Making A Change: 2014 Mission Complete

It's been a while since I've spoken of my weight loss aims and progress.  It must be almost a year ago that I decided to bite the bullet and actually commit to making a lifestyle change; I wanted a body that I could be proud of, one that I'd worked for, and one that was healthy inside and out.

I threw myself in at the deep end and joined the gym and signed up for work out classes.  I went after work, and I've probably tried most of the classes that were available after 5:30pm.  I've done HIIT, VIPR, Spin, Fight FX, Body Combat and Body Pump classes, and even started doing Yoga.  Whilst I enjoyed most of them, I hit a plateau on my weight loss.  I started my journey weighing in at twelve stone ten, and stopped losing anything once I hit twelve stone - a weight I've regularly lingered at.  My classes got boring, and over Summer when the timetables were hit and miss, I ended up stopping going altogether.

Five weeks ago, I found my motivation again.  I started a new work out routine which I found on Simply Shredded and it's The Ultimate Female Training Guide.  I'll start by saying that shredded isn't what I want to be, and if you read the article and training routine you'll understand that I'm not going to turn into a massive muscley beast following this plan.  I've been doing less cardio (not even as much as this plan is suggesting, which I'm aiming to slot in soon!) and a lot more weight training and I've finally fallen off my plateau.  This week I've hit the lowest weight I can ever remember being.  I'm down to eleven stone making this years weight loss one stone and ten pounds!

I feel like it's been a long time coming, but I'm finally feeling spurred back on again.  My aim was to get to eleven stone, and I've made it!  My strength has improved through out the year, and I can actually do press ups now.  My next goal is to master the pull up unassisted!  It's the little goals a long the way that help you keep going if your weight goals seem so distant!  I don't want to focus my next goal entirely on weight - sure I'd love to have my weight start with ten stone because I don't remember being that light, but I want to improve my fitness, and improve my body shape through eating cleaner and focussing on my exercise because it's not all about the numbers on the scale.

In the New Year, I'm even planning to start running...my Dad is always asking me to join him in little races, but I've never dared.  It was actually Anna from Vivianna Does Make Up who has inspired me to start getting a move on with some running - her fitness journey has been amazing to watch, and I've loved seeing her go from a gym hater to someone who is getting up ridiculously early to exercise.  I don't know if I'll ever do that, but well...we'll see.

So, come January I'm cracking out my new Polar watch that I got from my Dad for Christmas, and I'm going to start using the Nike Running App that I've had on my phone for months and never used.  2015 will be my year.

What are your fitness goals for 2015?

Making A Change: Weight Wins

Before I start on todays post, I just want to apologise for my lack of posting the last few weeks.  As you know, Liam and I moved into our house a few weeks ago, so everything has been a bit hectic, I don't know where anything is and have no internet or phone signal to be very sociable!  So sorry again, but thank you for still hanging around!

A few weeks ago, I was reading Sophia's blog, Tattooed Tealady, where she spoke of her Non-Scale Victories.  As we all know, I've been trying to slim down and lose some weight to get into the healthy category of my BMI, as well as just feel generally happier in myself.  My weight this morning was eleven stone and thirteen pounds, which means...I've finally made my small starter goal!  My next target is going to be eleven stone seven, so hopefully I'll be meeting that one day this year!

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Now I've made me first weight loss goal, I thought I'd take a bit of inspiration from Sophia, and share with you some of my non-scale victories!

1. When I first started the gym, I couldn't do a push up.  At all.  Not a chance of that happening.  Now, I think I can push out around five.
2. I recently started Spin Circuits class.  When I first started last month, I absolutely hated it.  I was out of breath within the first minute and wasn't able to keep up with the gears, never mind actually staying stood up or hovering.  This week, I managed to be out of my seat when every else was, for as long as they were, as well as being able to be on the same gears.  I might not be as fast as everyone else, but it's certainly improving!  I also thought Spin would be right at the top of the list of classes I'd never do, but I challenged myself and I actually think I like it!
3. Before blogging, I would be in a size sixteen jean.  The waist would always hang loose because my thighs and ass were right out there, so I needed to get the size up!  I then managed to slim down a little and fit comfortably into a pair of high waisted, size fourteen jeans - all areas fitting.  Now, my size fourteen jeans fit my legs, but hang loose again around my waist again.  Maybe one day soon, I'll manage to fit into a size twelve!  
4. I need new work out clothes because the ones I have at the moment no longer fit.  I am spending half my time in these classes hitching up my gym trousers!
5. I'm not tired all the time.  Exercising really does give you energy!  In fact, I've started waking up naturally at around seven o'clock, every day.  This time last year, I was at University napping at every chance I got, laying in bed all day and generally doing nothing despite having had a gym membership for two years.

It's important to remember that the scales aren't everything!  My scales are very basic; I'd love to own a pair of scales which details muscle mass, fat percentage and water weight so I can get a scale confirmation of how my body is changing, even if my weight isn't!

How are your weight loss/health goals going?

(I still won't have internet for at least the next week, but hopefully soon all will be back to normal with posting!  I've got so much to show you all!)

Making A Change: Growing To Love The Gym

I'm back with a third update on my 'I'm going to be healthy' journey.  It's not a particularly inspirational one mind, as I am still over the weight I was when I started!  When I started way back in December, I weighed twelve stone.  Despite joining the gym before Christmas to limit the damage, I still ended up gaining five pounds which I was not exactly surprised over, but disappointed none the less.  To make things worse, I then had a week off work, and all efforts turned into a total binge week and I think at the end of the week I managed to weigh a pretty tidy twelve stone ten!

Since then, I have now lost six pounds and am now on the balance of weighing twelve stone four or five so I'm still classed as overweight.  I am currently aiming to go to the gym five times a week, and no less than four.  I am finally in the routine of going to the gym now, and it doesn't feel like such a chore anymore and is just part of my routine.  Liam always says to me that if you do something regularly ten times, you'll learn to love it and whilst I don't want to admit it, I think he might be right!

Recently, I've been finding it so hard to stay motivated to do anything.  I've been going to the gym, training hard, and eating averagely well but things aren't happening as quick as I would like.  How silly does that sound...I know that weight loss doesn't happen overnight, or even over the two weeks where I have been really expecting it.  I just thought I would have seen more changes having gone from doing no exercise, to exercising regularly.

Physical Living 

If you hate the gym as much as I do, I really recommend doing group exercise instead of roaming around the gym deciding what machine to go on next.  It's so much more interesting and, dare I say it, fun working out as part of a group.  My absolute favourites are the Body Combat and Fight FX classes, which involve punching and kicking routines with some pad and mitt work in!  I also take part in HIIT, VIPR, Kettlebell, Body Pump and Yoga classes every week Monday to Friday.  Everyone works together, and the class leaders are really motivational and enthusiastic about what they do, it's hard to not get into what you're doing.

I go to the gym alone every single time and it can be dauting stepping foot into a studio where everyone has come with their friend, especially when you have to do some group work - there has been more than one occasion where I've had to work with the class leader, but I always get the best workouts being paired up in that way!

Putting in all this effort and not losing any weight is definitely saddening.  But I have made a lifestyle change; as long as it comes off eventually, I don't care how long it takes.  Muscle also weighs more than fat does, so even though I have maintained my weight, I have in fact lost inches off my body.  A loss is a loss - don't get disappointed by the scales; keep track of your physical measurements!  Find something to work towards; my Dad is getting married in April, and I am planning a holiday for July so this will also help to keep me motivated!

What are your tips for staying motivated at the gym?  Do you prefer gym or home workouts?

Making A Change: Excuses & Plans

Well I'm back to give you an update on my weight/fitness goals.  To put it bluntly, it hasn't gone anywhere.  In December, I joined the gym so that I could battle the obvious weight gain that was going to happen over the festive period, that way, I wouldn't have as much to lose after Christmas.  You can see my post full of intentions and positive attitude here...however...things just didn't go to plan.

THE EXCUSES

The first few weeks of joining the gym I was doing SO well, I'd book my classes in advance and went every week, even the evenings when I really didn't want to go.  Then around two weeks before Christmas, I got the worst sickness bug and spent five days being sick and all the rest of it that comes with a sick bug, so I never went back.

Then, when I was better and felt ready to leave the house, all the classes were limited because it was Christmas and they didn't come back until almost a week after New Year.  When I did check in the gym, it was literally just to help my boyfriend do his work out, with a few squats thrown in, nothing spectacular or worth while.  I then left my gym card at his and kept forgetting to pick it up, and then it was my birthday and nobody goes to the gym on their bithday.

Excuses, excuses, excuses...

THE PLAN

I have gained 5 pounds since my last post, the opposite of what I wanted to achieve.  I expected some weight gain, but almost half a stone is more than I anticipated so I'm done with making excuses for myself.  I've got my gym card back, I've even grabbed some new gym gear, and I am busy pinning away healthy recipes for what I can do to help my diet.  I've booked my usual classes, and I am back on with my fitness starting this evening.  Hurrah!

I still hate the gym.  I only go to my classes because I have to book in advance so feel like I have to go.  But I guess that's the best way.  I just need to keep reminding myself that I want to get into my healthy weight targets, and have a healthy body.  I need to be realistic with my goals, because I always think that if you set unrealistic targets, you'll be disappointed when you don't get them, or give up because nothing is happening.  I'm never going to have the thigh gap, I've never had a thigh gap - the only gap I've ever had when my feet are together is a small hole below my knees, and a gap for my ankles.  My build isn't one that could get that body shape.  I'm leggy, I'm curvy and I'm a pear.  A big ol' juicy one.  All I want is to lose some weight, and have legs like Beyonce.  (Come on guys...got to have something to aspire to!)

If anyone has any healthy recipes, good healthy blogs to follow, please share them with me in the comments below.  Link me up with your posts too if you have them!  You can also stalk what I'm pinning on my Pinterest account - but, be careful...some recipes on my recipe board aren't so healthy!

Who wants to join me on my mission to get healthier?  What are your top tips?

Making A Change: Fitness

Today is a slightly different post to what I normally write about.  If you follow me on Twitter, you may have spotted that I joined the local gym on Friday.  I know what you're all thinking..."you're starting the gym before Christmas?!"  It shocked me too, but yes; I like to think of it as damage limitation because Christmas is just full of indulging in your festive favourites, and if you're aiming to lose weight, why make it harder for yourself when it gets to January!

I am in no way a fitness expert/fitness freak.  I hate exercise.  There's nothing I love more than tea and cake, and doing nothing but sitting on my bum all day long.  Whilst I was at University, I was a member of the gym, occasionally made regular visits, and over summer did pretty well with Insanity DVD's, but nothing ever stuck. Since moving home in July, I have literally done no exercise and well...I can tell, and it's just not healthy for me to do literally nothing.

At 5ft8 and 12 stone, my BMI is 25.5 according to the NHS website, just sneaking into the overweight section.  I'm a size 12 on my top, and can just now fit into a size 14 on my bottom with jeans!  I wouldn't say that I am unhappy with how I look, as much as I moan on about my huge thighs and bum, I quite like having a pear shape.  My main aim for joining the gym is to tone up, and obviously I would like to be comfortably in my healthy weight zone.  I know BMI is a bit dodgey to go on, but my goal weight has always been between 11 and 11 and a half stone, I've just never made it there!

At my heaviest, I was weighed in at almost 14 stone.  If anyone is interested, I can share how I initially lost my weight on another post, so let me know if you'd like some quick tips.  That was three years ago, and I managed to lose the weight and keep it off much to my surprise as I'm not the healthiest of eaters now, so I can't even imagine what I must have been eating like to climb that far up the scales.  I've just never managed to make it below the 12 stone mark; this last stone just will not shift.

So!  I thought I'd share with you my plans in the hope that I stick to them now that I have publicly announced it.  You know what I'm intending and I know what I've got to do - I will aim to post updates as often as I can!

Is anyone else thinking of getting fitter soon?  What are your top fitness tips?