Week Four

If you are going through hell, keep going...

Just to set the tone of this post.... Tigger is in the houuuuuuuse. 

Week four is here, the week when the first set of measurements happen and when I compare week 1 to week 4. Now, I'll not lie, I was dreading the weigh in session, and I'll not lie again, I was gutted when I jumped on the scales..... But I'll not tell you why yet... first of all I'll let you look at the comparison pictures.... (and can I just say, I've not got a tan since week 1, the photo is taken in a different room so the light is different so makes me look like I've been to Ibiza for two weeks *I wish*).

Bit of a difference isn't there!? I was SO surprised when I did these pictures as I didn't really feel like I'd changed that  much. When people have seen me and said they can really see the difference, I've been like REALLY!?.Well these pictures made me see and I can't recommend doing progress pictures enough.

So down to the scales thing again..... guess how much I have lost since week 1......3lb..... THAT IS IT! Oh ok, maybe not, I'll be exact...3.3lb. Do you see now why scales are rubbish and should be thrown out? I was gutted... until I saw the pics and measurements. They tell a completely different (and better) story than the scales.

Here are the measurements:

Arms - lost 1cm on my right and 1.5cm on my left

Mid Thigh - PUT ON 1cm on left and my right has stayed the same (and I think my legs look like they have changed the most!?).

Calf - left stayed the same, right lost 0.5cm

Chest....... (typically) lost 6.5cm (it always goes off the ol boobies first doesn't it..)

Waist - a whopping 8cm lost

Hips - 0.5cm lost

And on top of all that for you statty's out there I have lost 1.05% body fat. Not bad for 4 weeks, well actually, it wasn't exactly 4 weeks as I got measured on the Tuesday so just under 4 weeks.

This is what the last week looks like in workouts:

Sunday - Insanity Pure Cardio

Monday - Boxing Bootcamp

Tuesday - PT with Esther - Shoulders, Back & Chest (Lots of fly's, chest, shoulder, back rows)

Wednesday - Elite Academy, monster back session (lots of dropsets (going VERY heavy) working every part of my back)

Thursday - PT with Esther - Legs (squats, single leg deadlifts, hamstring rolls (using stability ball), calf raises) then biceps and triceps (dropsets)

Friday - rest day woohooo

I have found this week ok with my workouts and have really enjoyed them, but on Thursday I was dead and I went to bed at 8pm. I was soooo tired. The rest day was definitely timed right. Back on it tomorrow morning when I will be doing the 5k park run (anybody local fancy it?).

Food has been good this week and no mini egg melt down, although today I had a bit of a fail. I made the kids porridge then went out with them, came back home about 11.30am and was STARVING. Couldn't understand why... then I realised, I had made the kids porridge and didn't make any for me, but because I'd made theirs, it felt like I'd made mine (does that make sense), it was only when I counted the breakfast bowls I realised I hadn't had anything. So at 11.30 I was craving anything, mainly carbs. So I thought, I know, I'll make a protein pancake....I somehow managed to completely f*ck that up and had to bin it (by this time I am uber STARVING and mega peed off and it was now time to make the kids lunch, argh), so I just had a protein shake to stop me keeling over. This then set the tone for the rest of the day and I didn't manage to eat anything sensible (few seeds & nuts here and there and a piece of wholemeal toast) until my tea when I had a epic half pound burger without the bun, sweet potato, avocado, cherry tomatoes & onion (what a crazy mix!?). Fridays (and Mondays) with both kids is just crazy with different classes, feeding them both (what feels like constantly), cleaning up after them both (constant again) so lil ol me gets neglected. But now I've noticed it I'm going to make sure next week I have planned it better.

Right, best leave you all to it. I need to go and sort a playlist for my run tomorrow. I make no secret that I hate running so the only way I can get through it is by having tunes blasting in my ears (preferably with a fast beat to make my legs move and drown out the sounds of my brain saying 'JUST STOP RUNNING KIRSTY, JUST STOP). 

Please feel free to share and retweet this blog and lets get the ban the scales message out there!

Until next week.....  xxx

Week Three

You will never know your limits until you push yourself to them

Here we are, week 3 already! I am happy to report that this week has been a lot more positive and productive. I found out the reason that last week was so grim... not going into too much information, it was mother natures fault, the evil little witchity poo that she is.. (talking of this, a friend, Lou Jeanpierre posted a link to this article which is worth a read for the ladies http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/4-ways-your-mentrual-cycle-affects-your-workouts.html)

So this week, what have I been up to.. well firstly, I have been over using the words 'OH MY GOD' (Esther can vouch for this); in fact, I think I may have used those three words more this week than I have in my life! Here is why...

Monday - Rest day

Tuesday - PT with Esther. Back, Shoulders and Chest day

Wednesday - Bootiecamp at 10am (more on this in a min) THEN over to Elite at 1pm for a mega leg workout 60kg squats, deadlifts, front squats, leg extensions, walking lunges with olympic bar, step ups & a few other equally torturous exercises. This is the day 'OMG' started as well as the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

Thursday - PT with Esther. LEGS....again. To be fair to Esther, when she saw how I was walking (John Wayne), she did offer to change the session to something else, but I said no, lets crack on (mainly because she mentioned cardio and I would rather the leg pain than cardio ha ha). So more squats, single leg deadlifts, hamstring rolls, step ups.. (I can't remember the rest as I think I was rolling round on the floor saying Oh my god for the rest of the session.)

Friday - Rest day - I had no choice, I couldn't walk.

Saturday - Oh that's today! Bootcamp at Elite! I'm still sat in my gym kit now as I write this.

I wanted to talk a little more about Bootiecamp, a class that Esther runs on Wednesday's at 10am at Blush dance HQ at Meadow Mill, Stockport. If you have babies and are off on maternity leave, grab your baby and go to this class. I have to admit, being the little workout beast I am, I was a bit, well, workout snobby if you like, when Esther asked me and Adam to come along. I am obviously used to throwing weights around and didn't think a mum and babies class would be my thing, well, how wrong. It was great. It was challenging, but not in the normal way I'm challenged with a massive barbell on my back or flipping tyres. It's a class that you can go to as soon as you have had the all clear from the doctor at 6 weeks. You can work at your own pace and Esther gives you different options and you can have your baby with you (next to you and used in some of the exercises at one point). You don't need to worry about how you look as it's a room full of other mummies going through the same; and you also don't need to worry about if the baby cries or needs you. You can dip in and out and Esther is a mummy herself and doesn't need an excuse to be cuddling all the cuties there while you workout. Adam quite enjoyed it too, especially 'flirting' with the ladies while they were in plank position... :) For more info about the class contact Esther on 077 0356 9645.

Food this week has been good, apart from Friday evening when I went to meet my friend Lisa for a burrito at Changos in Manchester (you need to go there is you like burritos, A-mazing). I had everything on that bad boy and really enjoyed it. However, when I'd had a look at Facebook that evening, I spotted that Deb Collier had put a picture of some mini eggs on (that her naught hubby Simon had brought home)..... and I had to have some (not of Deb's packet obviously). I don't even like mini eggs THAT much but on the drive home this is what was going through my head.... 

.....go get some, you've had a cheat meal anyway so what will some mini eggs matter..... 

.....Just carry on the M62 for an extra junction and get off so you can go to the petrol station near home and GET MINI EGGS.... 

......No don't, you don't need them, think of the challenge..... 

.......YES YOU DO, OH MY GOD (!), I NEED MINI EGGS! 

So I get to the petrol station and would you believe it, NO MINI EGGS! Then the real moment of weakness happened, my brain didn't have time to stop me, I got a bag of malteasers and some haribo and went home, and had them. Pah, shame spiral right there for you. However, although not great, it was a moment that happened and I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Today I have been good as gold again. It was just a cheat...erm, not even day as I was good in the day... cheat couple of hours we shall call it. There, I've admitted it.... Food diary is here 

So here are the pics for this week. Starting to see more muscle definition, especially on my legs.

Regarding motivation, I have entered a few challenges to give me some milestones for the 12 weeks. I entered the 6 week challenge at my gym Elite Fitness Academy and also Body Building Warehouse's 8 week challenge. 12 weeks seems like a long time but having these challenges within that time definitely helps.

I also forgot to tell you about another motivation, as I said in one of the earlier blogs, a goal was to fit into pre pregnancy clothes and drop a dress size... well, as a treat, if I hit this goal, I have decided to go and have a Topshop personal shopper wardrobe makeover, and to help towards this, I have been adding £1 to a pot for every workout to go towards it.

As per I've been waffling on for a while so I will end this here. Next week is weigh and measurements week so I will be letting you know about any changes and I will also include a comparison of the photos from week 1 and week 4 next to each other. 

Thanks for reading

xxx

Week Two

Soooooo, whoever said that getting started was hard, was a liar. Week 2 is a stinker! What a difference to the start of my week one post! Tigger has lost her bounce (well, I had this morning temporarily).

It’s not all negative, the end of last week was Tigger-tastic and Friday was a highlight as I got my new trainers and was all ready to go for my run…. Until I saw the rain, then I didn’t want to get my nice shiny BRIGHT PINK trainers dirty!?  Tsh! (Remember the excuses post?) 

I was going to head to the gym to go on the treadmill, but Matt said, “You’re driving all the way to Wigan for 20 mins on the treadmill” (let’s not forget this was a rest/run day so it was never going to be a massive run). He then came up with the idea of ‘just’ doing Insanity cardio resistance. I was like YES, YES, that’s what I’ll do, it’s cardio, and it’s not getting my trainers dirty, or driving to Wigan, PERFECT… Jesus, I wish I had jumped in muddy puddles in my trainers instead after that! It was a killer. BUT I did it and Matt even congratulated me at the end (he was in the room as I was swearing for Shaun T to eff off) as he didn’t think I would finish it. Everything was hurting from the sessions the days before. But I did it! Here is the post workout pic!

Saturday was Bootcamp again at Elite which again was killer but fab as always. Sunday was a well-deserved (and needed) rest day. Sunday is also round to mums for dinner and as much as it killed me, I didn’t have any of her AMAZING roast potatoes, or Yorkshire pudding, or dessert. I pretty much had meat, veg and sweet potato.

So the start of week 2. Monday I decided to go back to a class I used to do. Boxing Bootcamp at St Thomas's Church Hall in Ashton. I haven’t been for well over a year but in my opinion it’s the best boxing session locally. I’d like to do a special mention to Joanne Hill who was my partner for the session. She was great and so motivating during. I was scared I would be a bit rusty but once I got going it was great. I just wish my core was stronger for those bloody awful planks. It'll get there.

The day after boxing was my session with Esther. Oh my, I can only apologise to the good people of Cheadle for the noises coming out of Esther’s gym. She pushed me so hard and we had a great session. Again, it was a full body workout with squats, lunges, shoulder presses, bicep curls, tricep dips, abs, which was no mean feat the morning following boxing. The weights went up from last week so I was being pushed to my absolute limits again.

Yesterday was another session at Elite which involved once of the most evil things I’ve ever done (the day after squats). Squatting on the cross trainer while it’s going! OMG, try it. Do 1 min on, one min rest x 3 (do it going forwards then repeat going backwards). The only way I could describe how it felt was like my quads muscles were going to actually rip out of my legs, like the incredible hulk. I’ll sure if I hadn’t been doing squats the day before it wouldn’t have been SO bad. Anyhow, the rest of the session involved boxing, MORE SQUATS, MORE LUNGES (walking this time) and some core work.

.

So today was the day I woke up and was like, noooooooooooo, I don’t want to go to the gym, I don’t want to do any exercises, I just want to eat cake, my belly looks fat, why is it looking like this when I’m working so hard, meh, I give up, meh, the traffic report says the the M56 is down to 1 lane and all routes nearby are effected and I need to go on the M62 to get to Esther's, so I’ll probably get stuck in traffic so I’m going to ring Esther and cancel todays session, MEH. 

Now, you have to understand that on the days that I am doing these sessions, it’s a lot of running around for me, and the commitment is massive. I have to pack bags the night before, get up in the morn get the kids ready, as soon as Izzy in nursery I have to get Adam to my mums, then drive to Cheadle (for Esther’s sessions) or Wigan for other sessions. I also have other things I need to be at, for example on Thursdays I have Waterbabies with Adam at 12 so I have to get my session in with Esther before then. I’m literally running around like a headless chicken. (In a way, I suppose it's practice for my return to work when headless chicken is a permanent thing).

So, I got to Esther today and walked in and was like a moody teenager. She took one look and was like COME ON, let’s get out for a quick run as a warm up, get some Vitamin D from the sun (yes, it was sunny) and get cracking! So I dragged my bottom lip along the floor and went for a run. Esther pep talked me and got me motivated for the session, something I did not think would happen. Five mins in I was loving but hating her in equal measure as the full body workout happened again, and yes, that include MORE SQUATS AND MORE LUNGES, (reverse lunges OFF A STEP, WITH HEAVY WEIGHTS (my legs, my legs!)).

When I talked my demotivation through with Esther, we realised that it’s not getting started that is hard, it’s the second week (and probably beyond that too) when the lethargy is starting to kick in from the new sessions, the euphoria from starting something new has subsided and you also aren’t seeing results as quick as you'd like. You then start to question what you are doing and things like, f*ck it, I’ll eat this or, I won’t do this session starts to creep in. DON'T GIVE IN!!!

This is where, as cliché as this is going to sound, a personal trainer comes in. We can all do workouts and know what we need to do, but a personal trainer can push you further than you can go on your own, and on days like today (when I’ll be really honest, I was SO close to cancelling and in such a bad, grumpy mood) Esther managed to pull me round and we actually ended up having a great session, which I felt fab for afterwards (well, if fab means sore, obviously).

Now then, pictures. Meh. After the change last week, this weeks don’t look to me like there is progress, which I find unfair after everything I’ve done. But what does it say on my background… It takes 4 weeks for you to notice, 8 weeks for family and friends and 12 weeks for everybody else. So I will take solace in that. Have a peek..

As always, food diary is available here

As you can see, with this blog I'm keeping it real. Today showed it isn't always happy, happy, skip, skip and you really have to show dedication. Don't jump on the scales every week to see if the change is happening. Do it every 4 weeks and do measurements, not just weight. Change takes time and it will happen. It better bloody had do anyway because you are all waiting for mine to happen just like me. No pressure :)

Until next time....