2017, it's been emotional!

2017. What a year. It's absolutely flown by, there's been highs and lows, and I've grown so much as a person. (Better late than never, right?)

I'd go as far to say it's been my best year yet. I had lots of goals for 2017, I wrote a list of them (not just health and fitness related!) and I kept it at the back of my diary to check at the end of the year. Amazingly, I have been able to tick off every single thing on the list, except one, but the wheels are in motion for it to happen next year. I'm proud of myself.

As well as those goals, I'd decided that 2017 would be the year I'd finally achieve the body I'd wanted for so long. But, now I know having these unrealistic expectations and aesthetic goals weren't a good idea - I had no clue at that point how much time, patience and consistency it actually takes. As it's turned out, my transformation this year is not something I can put into a "before & after photo" and share on Instagram with the hashtag #TransformationTuesday. Rather, it's been a shift in mindset and overall attitude towards life, becoming a happier, healthier and more confident person.

I can almost pinpoint the start of this change (whether it was subconsciously or not) to May 2017, when I sadly lost my Aunt to Cancer. Without going in to too much detail, it all happened frighteningly quickly, and it really hit me quite hard. It sparked a series of thoughts in my head as it would most people; the realisation that life is short, and it should be lived fully. I decided I wanted to start putting myself first, I didn't want to be held back from acheiving things by my fear, anxiety or introverted ways anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not there yet. But many books, blogs, podcasts, and a fantastic coach later, a whole new world has opened up to me - so many brain gains! I've achieved things in the past 6 months, that if you'd told me I'd be doing a year or so ago, I would have laughed in your face!

Which leads me on to an example of something I've recently done that I'm extremely proud of... boxed at a charity boxing event! Boxing was something completely new to me, and well outside of my comfort zone, but I wanted to challenge myself. It involved training 3 times a week for 8 weeks, before stepping out into the ring in front of hundreds of people. It was tough, mentally, but an experience I'll never forget. More importantly, I raised over £200 in sponsorship for Cancer Research UK.

I'm not sure yet how I'm going to top that in 2018. I've started making my list.. and I have a few tricks up my sleeve. But for now, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and enjoying the process.

Tips for damage control this Christmas

With the festive season upon us and various parties and social gatherings starting to happen, it's easy to let your usual diet and training regime take a bit of a hit.

I am not saying this is a bad thing at all, it's near enough impossible not to let it happen to be honest. I'm certainly not going to be able to get to the gym as often as I'd like, or track my food as accurately as I normally would. After all, Christmas is a time to enjoy and relax with your nearest and dearest.

That being said, there are a few approaches I'll be taking this year to 'limit the damage' to my progress so far, which I'm going to outline below. The main underlying principle though, is to avoid falling in to the 'all or nothing' mindset. Something is better than nothing.

1. Don't say you won't eat the mince pie (or whatever delicious delicious festive food you love but know you probably shouldn't eat)

Restricting yourself from certain treats will make you sad basically. Telling yourself you can't have something will just make you want it more, it's human nature, and it can lead to disinhibition (AKA the "f*** it" mentality), as in; "Well I've eaten the forbidden pie now so f***it I may as well eat the other 3 plus some Christmas pudding and oh, it would be rude not to have some Christmas cake too..."

Instead, make the conscious decision beforehand that if you find yourself really wanting to eat something, allow yourself to have it. That way you'll be in control of what you eat and you won't feel like you're depriving yourself. Remember, you don't have to be perfect, just better.


2. Be mindful when eating, know when you're satisfied and stop there

I'd discourage you from rationalising your potential over eating this Christmas with the "my diet starts 1st January, so I need to eat all I can before then" excuse. I've been there, done that - it really does just set you up for failure.

Try to keep your portion sizes in check, if you aren't sure what these should be, check out this handy guide. If you finish your meal and you're considering that second helping, first wait 20 minutes and then ask yourself if you really want it - it takes your brain about this amount of time to register the feeling of being full.

Following on from that, you should aim to eat until you're satisfied, not until you're so stuffed you can't move! Slow down - you should be enjoying every bite of food as much as the first bite. If you're not, then you could just be eating for the sake of it or out of habit of clearing your plate whether you are satisfied or not.


3. Stay (moderately) active

If you're too busy for your usual workout regime, try excusing yourself from the festivities for 10 - 15 minutes to squeeze in a quick body weight workout which can be done anywhere. There's a whole load of workouts you could do which require no equipment - just Google it. A little is better than nothing at all.

Go for a walk outside about half an hour after finishing your Christmas dinner - even if it's just a 15 minute brisk walk, studies have shown this can regulate your blood sugar as well as giving your digestive system a kick start. Also, the fresh air will perk you up and stop you from getting that sluggish food coma feeling that comes after a large meal.

Finally, and this will certainly be applicable to me this year, if you can get to the gym, take advantage of the extra calories and smash a couple of solid weightlifting sessions. The additional food will serve well as extra fuel to really push yourself during your workout, and contribute to muscle recovery and growth. Winner winner... Christmas dinner!

~

P.s., if you do have a huge blowout or an epic cheat meal/day/week (let's face it, it's probably going to happen to me) don't beat yourself up about it. It's been said to death, but just get straight back on track the following day - don't starve yourself, don't kill yourself at the gym doing guilt cardio, just appreciate what you've had and move onward and upwards.

Merry Christmas!

P.p.s. Don't be like deadlift Santa, always wear a shirt and clip your bar.

The struggle is real

Why do we make simple things so difficult for ourselves? Get more sleep. Drink more water. Eat less processed food. Cut down on alcohol consumption. It's not bloody ground breaking stuff and we know it will do wonders for our health so why is it still so hard for us to act on?

Is it lack of willpower? Laziness? Or is it because we obviously don't want to reach our goals that much?

I really wish I knew the answer, truth is it is probably a combination of things that are different for everyone. However, I'm going to talk about how our habits and routines that have been ingrained in our day to day lives over the years can help us make these lifestyle changes.

Habit is a powerful thing.

Everyone knows that getting out of a bad habit is a difficult task, well picking up new habits can be even harder. One study suggests that it takes an average of 66 days for a new habit to stick and become automatic. That is of course assuming that the activity is repeated consistently.

Take the task of drinking more water each day for example. It infuriates me that looking at that statement written down, or even saying it out loud makes it seem like such a small, simple thing to change... So why is it difficult for some people to reach their target intake?

I can personally relate to this one! I guess it has never been a habit or part of my daily routine to drink at regular intervals. I have in the past set smart watch notifications to remind myself to drink, and used an app to track my water intake throughout the day, but it didn't really help it become something I do automatically without consciously thinking about.

Instead, try tacking a new habit on to an existing habit. It's a sneaky way to make the new habit part of your usual routine. For example, it may be an automatic habit of yours to grab a coffee at the start of your work day. Use this as a cue to also get a glass of water with that coffee. Or, make putting a bottle of water by your bed part of your usual night time routine, so that it's ready and in sight first thing in the morning to serve as a reminder to drink. If the cue is there, it will make the action become habit much easier. So why not give it a go if you're struggling with making simple changes, and see if it helps you.

As always, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about this or anything else!

Dealing with failure

I loved my first 12 weeks with my trainer teaching me how to train with weights effectively. I learnt some movements I had never done before, but more often, I learnt how to correctly execute movements which I had thought I already knew. Once I had form down we'd gradually increase the load in order to progress. The rule was, if I could complete 12 - 15 reps for multiple sets with good form then I would up the weight. With consistently training 3 times a week (and diet changes) I was able to increase the weight quite regularly without a huge amount of struggle. I wouldn't say it was with ease but I was definitely walking out of the gym smiling and feeling pretty pleased with myself (most days anyway). If this was how it was going to be for the entire journey, it was going to be a sweet ride! (Yay for the anatomical adaptation phase!)

Alas, this isn't the case anymore. Things have got a lot more challenging! The best way I can explain where I am right now is that it feels as if I've reached an intensity (as in a heavier weight range) that makes me think holy sh*t this is actually quite tough. I wasn't quite prepared for this and some training sessions left me feeling frustrated and disappointed in myself. Especially if I couldn't complete the target number of reps for certain exercises. My brain was thinking; what was happening to me? Where had my strength gone? WTF, I am not used to failing!

I'll explain what I mean using the momentous deadlift as an example. My progression from 12kg KB hip hinges to 35kg barbell deadlifts was a smooth ride with fairly linear increments of weight over the 12 weeks. All good stuff as you'd expect! But, it just so happens for me that now I've reached 40kg, things are a bit different. It actually hurts, I struggle, and I fail. (I blame my poor grip strength for this particular exercise to be honest.)

My options? Carry on feeling like shit and potentially give up, or, accept that this isn't meant to be easy and stick at it until it is. I'm going for the latter, I had my strop and I'm over it. I'm not too concearned that I'm not increasing the weight on the bar with each session anymore and I'm just going to work on these 40kg DLs every week until I can complete my full 12-15 reps for 4 sets fairly comfortably. It might take longer than the ideal, but hey, every body is different and patience is key!

In addition, as I've identified my grip as a limitation for the progression of some exercises, I did a bit of extra research on how to increase grip strength. I now incorporate a couple of extra exercises to my routine each time I'm at the gym to help.

So there you go - it's a cycle of pushing yourself, failing, hard work and improvement - but it's all with an upwards trend on the progression chart, and that's what it's all about.

Anyway, I hope I didn't make too many people laugh at the fact that I'm struggling with a 40kg DL!

My experience with the "Keto Diet"

Readers who know me, or have read my previous posts, will know that I have tried a variety of different diets over the years in an attempt to lose the stubborn fat from certain areas of my body. To clarify, I have never been overweight, or in fact any bigger/heavier than I am right now. I've just been stuck on wanting to get back to my pre-university, size 8 body.

So, in my mid twenties during the lead up to Christmas 2016, I stumbled across the ketogenic (or "keto") diet. I've decided to write about it now as I've noticed the diet has gained popularity more recently - for both good and bad reasons. As with anything that fascinates me, I spent a good few hours researching how it worked and the science behind it first (I'm an all or nothing kinda gal). If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, here's a really simplified explanation from bodybuilding.com:

The idea is that you eat a strict low carb & high fat diet which is designed to result in 'ketosis'. This is when your body uses fat to produce fuel molecules called ketones when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply. It's suggested that when in ketosis, fat stores are more easily burnt, resulting in fat loss.

Eat fat to lose fat. I was convinced so I gave it a go...

I used MyFitnessPal to track my macronutrients, I was surprised at how quickly I was reaching my carbohydrate limit. 0-10g of carbs is not much at all. It was fine(ish) giving up the bad/processed carbs, but it was very strange to me to have to limit consumption of fruit and vegetables as well, I was eating very little fiber. A plus side for me was eating more foods high in fat. It did seem to fill me up and keep me satisfied, even in small amounts. I tracked my calories as I knew fat is higher in calories per gram than carbohydrates, so I wanted to be careful not to go over my recommended allowance. I never did, if anything, I was actually eating fewer calories than before.

A couple of months in and I'd reached the lowest weight I'd ever been in my twenties: 58kg. I felt pretty pleased. But in reality, I'm pretty sure most of the weight that I'd lost came from muscle and water mass, it could even have been a result of eating fewer calories in general. I can't say what would have happened if I'd stuck with the diet for a longer period of time, but, I decided the keto diet was not for me. I wasn't exercising very much, I had little energy and I'd bloat if I had a 'cheat meal'. I wouldn't recommend it to other active, healthy people either. Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy, and we need to be consuming them, preferably in the form of whole foods like beans, potatoes, grains, in order to perform at our best.

The power of change

Today I lifted some weights and then ate a carby meal. Just like I have been doing 3 times a week for about 8 weeks now. My diet now includes potatoes, beans, rice and other whole grains. All the good carbs, as in, unprocessed or complex carbs - mostly).

My homemade veggie chilli :)

So what? you're probably thinking.

Well, rewind a year or so and I would have done my 30-45 minutes of medium to high intensity cardio, like I did 5 days a week, maybe followed by downing a protein shake. Oh yes, and I avoided carbs like the plague. I did this for a looooong time. Guess where that got me! Yeah not far.

I'm now eating more than I probably ever have, while this is still a mental struggle for me (after years of believing I should be eating less and less), I feel 10x better in myself than before. More energy, better workouts, and I'm definitely stronger, healthier and happier. Oh, and I haven't weighed myself in a long time, because, quite frankly, who cares what the scales say when you feel this awesome. Progress doesn't always have to be visible.

Bottom line is, your routines/habits/beliefs have to change if you want to progress. More to the point, you have to allow them to change (hi, my name's Captain Obvious). Trust in change even if it scares you, it could be the best thing you ever do.

Willpower and small wins

A tub of chocolate mini rolls are staring me in the face on the counter next to my desk at the office.

They've been there all week (it's Wednesday now) and the past two days I have given in and eaten a couple after my slightly sad looking Tupperware salad. If I were to take my own advice, I wouldn't feel guilty for eating them, after all I clearly made the conscious decision myself to pick them up and put them in my mouth. But the difference here is, is that I know if they weren't in sight, in arms reach - I literally didn't even have to stand up out of my chair to grab them - it absolutely wouldn't have happened.

It's realising this now that will stop me from eating any more. Me being the stubborn person I am, will not move them to another part of the office in an attempt to hide them - although it's probably a good idea to be honest - I'll instead exercise my willpower and resist them for the remainder of the week. After all, willpower is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it will become. If I get to the end of the week without having touched the mini rolls, I'll count this as a small win for the week and will feel pretty good about it. Like I said in my last post, it's the small wins that will add up to bigger successes.

On that note actually, I was asked by my trainer yesterday what has been a win for me over the past week in my health and fitness journey - as well as being put on the spot, nothing immediately sprung to mind, which wasn't a great start let's be honest. I hadn't particularly had an outstanding week of healthy eating (hence the mini rolls fiasco), and I didn't manage to get to the gym as much as I should have done due to personal reasons. The point being, it's much easier for us to dwell on failures or things we haven't done so well, than appreciate the positive things we've achieved.

So, I've decided to start jotting down in my note pad anything that I have accomplished that I can feel proud of. Not to necessarily show or tell anyone, but again to keep my mind on track and stay positive. Hopefully by the end of the week I can proudly say that I successfully resisted reaching for those damn chocolate treats at work!

What I've learnt

I've just about been in to this whole fitness thing for over a year now, and as I explained in a recent post, I thought I would be well on my way to a brand new body by now. The truth is, you can't just wake up one day and decide to change your life and start exercising with an end goal in mind with no real knowledge of what the hell you're actually doing! (Maybe you can, in which case congrats, but it didn't work for me.) The past 14 months has been a journey of discovery and learning, breaking habits, and realising I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet(!) That's not to say I now know everything there is to know, no way, not even close. I will never stop learning, but that's what I enjoy so much!

Here's a few things I've learnt throughout my journey so far, which will hopefully help others too!

1. Set realistic goals

This is an important point to make and is something that everyone should consider at first. In order to make changes, you need to start small. Setting yourself an end goal which is inevitably going to be too difficult to reach, will more often than not result in failure, which can be disheartening and you'll probably beat yourself up about it, adding to your discontent. Instead, set simple, easily attainable goals, no matter how small, and go for it. Achieving these will build your self esteem and set you up with a positive mindset.

So to put that into a bit of context, if you jump straight in the deep end with the mindset that you want 6-pack abs in time for your summer holiday in 6 months time, then I'm sorry, speaking from experience, it ain't gonna happen, and you will feel let down. A better starting goal would be to aim to get a workout in at least twice a week consistently for the next month. When you've achieved that, set yourself another!

2. Don't over complicate your diet

I must have tried, or at least researched, a million different diets in my lifetime. I've gotten myself in to a right old pickle reading the vast amounts of conflicting advice on nutrition and diet - to the point where I just wanted to throw my laptop out the window and cry into my tub of Ben & Jerry's. I could write a dissertation on this topic, but maybe that's for a future post...

What I've since learnt though, through trial and error and educating myself via the right platforms, is that it really doesn't have to be that complicated. Keep it simple, and more importantly, something you can stick to. There's definitely a balance to be achieved between what you should eat, and what works for you. There is no value in giving up foods you enjoy, or certain food groups because 'xyz' says so, if it isn't something you can commit to for the foreseeable future, there's no point. If it works for one person, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. Yep life's hard.

3. Exercise for the right reasons

Everyone knows the importance of keeping active to maintain a fit and healthy body. However a healthy mind is also just as important, if not more so. What I mean by this is that it's not wise to unwillingly force yourself to go to the gym to grind away day in day out if it's not enjoyable for you. It will just make you miserable, and that's no way to live! Similarly, I've learnt to not look at exercise as a form of 'punishment' for your body after eating that extra slice of cake the day before. That will just make you start resenting the gym and eventually giving up.

For me, I can't stand long distance running (so boring - sorry runners!) so I don't put myself through that chore, but I happen to really enjoy other forms of cardio - like circuit training and kick boxing classes. More recently, I'm enjoying the challenging of resistance training and learning what my body is capable of. There are so many other ways to keep active and in shape; various team sports, dancing, gymnastics, yoga, martial arts... the list goes on. It's just finding one you enjoy enough to stick to and to make a part of your every day life.

Most importantly...

...I've learnt that change takes time. Be patient, love yourself and remember that any step in the right direction (no matter how small) is something to be proud of. We all have bad days - no one is perfect!

Tuesday thoughts

It's cold, it's wet, my knee is aching and I just feel a bit miserable.

What's with my knee you might be thinking? It's a long-ass story for a different day but the crux of it all is that every now again for the past 15 years it likes to randomly swell up and cause me a bit of gyp. OK so it's not so random as to when this actually happens, it's more as and when I decide to skip my prescribed medication because I am (quite literally) sick of the side effects. Tiredness, nausea, and generally feeling run down for 4 out of 7 days a week. I have to decide between that, and having a less than fully functioning knee joint. You can imagine my dilemma given my current love affair with exercise.

So what am I going to do about it? Firstly I can't change the weather so I'm just going to have to deal with that with my unicorn umbrella and a smile on my face. As for my second moan, I'm going to re-evaluate my diet and look to the healing power of whole foods. Something I've read a fair amount on but never really committed myself to properly experiment with. It's got to be worth a shot right? So, I've been searching and reading up on the best anti-inflammatory foods to incorporate into your diet to alleviate symptoms of inflammation related diseases or even potentially cure them.

I happened to come across this great website Dr. Axe, and he has created this easy to digest info graphic listing the top 15 anti-inflammatory foods with a brief explanation of their anti-inflammatories and benefits. Well worth a look if you are suffering with any sort of disease caused by inflammation and want to give the diet a go. This is the list I will be working from, adding these food items to my weekly shop and cooking with them everyday. And maybe the most important point to make is that I'll also be cutting down/out on simple refined sugars and carbohydrates and other processed foods (Lord help me - this will be the hard bit).

No doubt I'll give an update on my progress in due course and maybe even share some new recipes I cook up. On a side note, if this works and helps my knee, even just a little, it begs the question, why wouldn't my Doctor just tell me to try this before prescribing me toxic drugs? Surely they aren't just after my £9 prescription fee each month to keep them in business...?

A new turn of events

A few weeks ago marked my 1 year anniversary of hitting Pure Gym at least 3/4 times a week, every week. Not only that, it marked half way through 2017 - the year I was telling everyone would be my year with all my shallow, aesthetic, pathetic goals to get 'lean'.

You've probably guessed it, I was still no where near reaching my goals and felt, to put it simply, disappointed and let down. I was having thoughts along the lines of...

"Why on earth haven't I lost weight?"

"What am I doing wrong?"

"I can't believe how much of my life I've wasted to see barely any changes in my body!"

Don't get me wrong, I loved going to the gym, it never felt like a chore that I had to force myself to do. I mainly went for group classes, all kinds of classes - Circuit Training, Fat Burn, LBT, Pump and Spin amongst others.. I like the social side of attending the group classes and they definitely got me moving after a lifetime of despising any form physical activity. So in that sense, it wasn't a total waste of time.

But, after a year of this, I began to think I wasn't doing enough or it wasn't the solution I was after.

Now, I'd been toying with the idea of reaching out to a PT as I began to realise I needed to start lifting the heavy stuff. That's all I knew / thought I knew, but no amount of YouTube tutorials or Insta videos would be enough to help me here. Speaking of Instagram, it was while I was mindlessly scrolling (as I regularly do) that I came across a post from James - yourherofitness - looking for ladies who want to drop their % body fat and tone up. I thought to myself, what the heck, what harm can this do, lets do this. And I'm so glad I did.

Now, I've only had 3 training sessions with James so far but already there are a million things he has taught me about myself and what I personally should be doing at the gym to make my workouts as efficient as possible. It's like a light bulb has just been switched on and now all of a sudden things are starting to make a lot more sense. The most resounding being that we should instead be focusing on performance based goals and the visible aesthetic changes will happen naturally. Now I'm looking forward to what's to come during my fitness journey, my only regret is not doing it sooner!

So my take home note would be this: If you're umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether or not to pay for some Personal Training sessions, or getting advice from a fitness professional, I'd say go for it.

Now that I'm feeling happier and like I'm making progress again, I'll try to update my blog a bit more regularly!

Recipe: Low carb protein pancakes

It's PANCAKE DAY! Yes, it is a big deal.

As if I even need an excuse to make these super quick and easy protein pancakes though...

These healthy, guilt free pancakes are perfect for those who want to up their protein intake or are on a low carb diet. They're also gluten free and they taste pretty good too. This recipe makes a batch of about 6 pancakes, depending on what size you make them.

Ingredients:

• 2x eggs
• 1x scoop whey protein (I use PHD Nutrition's Diet Whey in Vanilla Creme flavour)
• A splash of your choice of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)
• Optional extras: chocolate chips, raisins, cinnamon, berries etc.
• Coconut oil (to cook)
• Toppings of your choice

Method:

• Mix the eggs with the whey powder and then add in the milk until it is the consistency of standard pancake mix
• Stir in any optional extras
• Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a non stick pan and pour in the mixture (the size of a scotch pancake)
• Cook the pancake on a low heat for a minute, then flip, and cook for a further minute.
• That's it!

Stack them up and load them with your favourite toppings. For mine, I added Clark's Choccy Desert Topping and a few fresh raspberries. Or, try peanut butter, honey or Greek yogurt - anything!)

Macros per batch (including my toppings):
19.1g carbohydrate / 7.9g fat / 27.7g protein
293 calories

Recipe: Chocolate protein mug cake

Everyone who knows me will know that I have a very big sweet tooth... Chocolate, cake, cookies, ice-cream, they are all my weaknesses! There's no chance I could ever cut out those types of foods completely, so I find alternatives which will fit my macro-nutrient requirements more efficiently, and ways to increase my protein intake.

I like to make 'microwave mug cakes' whenever I get cravings for something cakey and delicious - they're super easy to make and only take a few minutes. I started playing around with recipes tweaking this and that, and have settled on this one being my favourite. It's flourless (gluten free), super low in fat and carbs and packs a high protein punch too (full nutritional details at the bottom of the post).

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop whey protein (I use PHD Nutrition Diet Whey - Chocolate Peanut flavour)
• 0.25 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 large egg white
• 2 tbsp milk of your choice (I use unsweetened almond milk)
• Sweetener to taste (I use 2x Splenda sachets)

Method:

• Combine all the dry ingredients in a mug
• Add the egg white and milk and mix until a smooth mixture is formed
• Put in the microwave for 1 - 1.5 min
• Tip out onto a plate to serve, or just eat it from the mug to save on washing up!

Serve with toppings of your choice, I like raspberries, Greek yogurt, peanut butter or even a scoop of ice-cream!

I find the texture of the cake to be almost brownie like rather than light and fluffy, but to me that just makes it taste more decadent!

Nutritional info per serving:

7.1g carbohydrate / 2.4g fat / 21.8g protein
147 calories

My calorie intake revolution

I think I may have seen the light! All of a sudden things seem to make a little more sense in my head. How could I have not realised this sooner?!

For the past year or so, since I started tracking what I ate, I have consumed a daily average of between 1,000 & 1,200 calories. It satisfied me I guess, I never went too hungry, I mostly ate salad, veg and healthy meals, but also some less healthy processed foods and snacks, and I'd also have days where I’d eat whatever I wanted without tracking it. I'd stick to my 1200(ish) calories for Mon to Fri, and then not track at all on Saturdays and Sundays. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong, why wasn't I losing weight?! 5 out of 7 days I was consuming well under the average recommended calorie intake for women, surely I should be dropping the pounds?

After about a year of doing this and becoming frustrated that I wasn't losing any body fat, I knew I needed to make a change. After all, it doesn't matter how much you workout, if you don't eat right then you won't see results. After a fair amount of reading and researching online, I realised I was consuming too few calories, causing my metabolism to slow down, meaning I couldn't burn body fat. My body probably resorted to using muscle mass as a source of energy (reduced muscle mass also = a slower metabolism). This would explain why my regular gym visits didn't seems to be making much of a difference.

So now, after trying a few varied diets and ways of eating (I will go in to these in more detail later), I have decided to calculate what my actual calorie intake should be and then increase my calorie intake to match it. There's a load of calculators online that will calculate this for you depending on your age, weight, activity level etc... Just Google 'calorie calculator'. This is the one I used. (Note: this one calculates maintenance calories, if you want to gain/lose weight you will have to add/deduct calories to the result).

I hadn't been brave enough to do this sooner because the thought of eating even more food while trying to lose body fat just seemed so illogical to me - as I'm sure it does to a lot of people. But reading up on it, there seems to be a lot of proof that upping your food intake to what your body actually requires will ramp up your metabolism and kick start your fat loss.

Now, I've been eating my suggested 1,600 maintenance calories a day (or at least close to that) for a couple of weeks and I have to say I am feeling alright. I haven’t got any fatter from the extra food (phew!), and I definitely feel less hungry and more energetic. I think it’s working!  I imagine in a few more weeks, once my metabolism has picked up a bit, I will reduce my calorie intake by 50 - 100 to start with, which (I'm hoping) will kick start some body fat loss. I will be tracking my progress measuring body fat % and measurements only. I stopped trusting the scales a long time ago!

If you take anything from this post, be it this… If you're eating too few calories, your metabolism will slow down, you’ll probably lose muscle mass and you’ll struggle to maintain healthy weight loss in the long term. If you think this may have happened to you, a good starting point would be to find out what your recommended daily calorie intake is, and try to reach it every day! Use a food tracker like My Fitness Pal or Cronometer to stay on track, and remember, patience is key!

Via wifflegif.com

Recipe: protein banana bread

My protein banana bread recipe couldn't be any simpler and makes approximately 12 slices / 6 servings. It's relatively low carb and high protein, so it's an ideal healthy snack or breakfast. I like to serve mind with a helping of peanut butter!

Ingredients:

• 2 large ripe bananas
• 2 scoops whey protein powder - any flavour of choice. I use vanilla phd nutrition diet whey.
• 2 scoops (of the same size) of almond flour. I actually didn't have almond flour the first time I made this so used ground almonds instead and it worked quite well.
• 2 large eggs
• coconut oil / butter (to line baking tray)
• 1 heaped tsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• Optional add ins: raisins, chocolate chips, sweetener etc. to taste

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
• Mash the bananas in a large bowl
• Add all the other ingredients and mix well
• Line a loaf tin with coconut oil and pour in the mixture
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 - 30 minutes

Nutritional info per serving/slice (1 tenth of the loaf):

8g carbohydrate / 5g fat / 7g protein

103 calories

My plan

I've already posted a lengthy 'about me' post (see here), but I guess I haven't really shared my starting point for my 2017 goals. AKA the important starting point before tracking progress!

In a nutshell...

My goals

• To shed fat and lower my body fat %
• Increase lean muscle
• Feel stronger
• Create an overall healthy toned body
• To learn about and understand nutrition – cut out processed foods and eat right, but not get obsessed with food

My motivation

I would love to be able to buy a bikini that I actually like (rather than choosing one that covers my lumps and bumps) and to feel completely comfortable and confident wearing it.

How will I measure success?

I have found that my Fitbit Charge 2 is such a great tool for keeping track of pretty much everything - calories in v calories out, water intake, sleep patterns and heart rate to name a few. The best thing is that it provides stats so I can see how I have progressed over time.

As well as using my Fitbit I will measure my body fat percentage every 6 weeks and take waist and hip measurements at the same time. I also like to take progress photos along the way. It's a great motivator!

Where am I now?

Waist measurement: 82cm

Hip measurement: 99cm


I will take another full measurement like this is 6 weeks time and share the progress!

Hi guys!

First things first, I don’t know if anyone will actually ever read this blog, but that’s OK by me! I am doing this for myself, to keep me motivated and to track my journey and progress to reaching healthier, active lifestyle. Even if I reach just one person who is inspired, or learns something new here, then amazing! I also really enjoy writing and blogging, so I guess this is one of my hobbies too.

A bit about me…

So, really quickly, I am in my twenties, working full time in digital marketing for a major law firm. My journey started with finding satisfaction in regularly attending group exercise classes at my local gym. I go to Pure Gym in Reading (Caversham Road). I got really in to it, going at least 5 times a week, every week.

I haven’t always loved the gym, or any form of exercise. I grew up hating P.E. in school, and would try to avoid it at all costs. Although, growing up in my teens, my size and weight, and what I ate was often at the forefront of my mind, and when I was about 15/16 years old I was on the brink of developing an eating disorder consuming 400 - 600 calories a day. I weighed a ridiculous 8 stone - I was 5ft 10!

University days saw me put on a few pounds (OK almost 2 stone) as a result of too many nights out and junk food. I didn't care, I pretty much "let go" of myself. After graduating, going through a break up and entering adulthood I decided to occasionally go to the gym every now and then, using the treadmill or cross trainer for half an hour at a time. Boring! I didn’t have a clue what I was doing to be honest. I wasn’t brave enough to attend group classes or get a PT at that point, I felt too embarrassed at how unfit I was after a lifetime of never exercising.

Getting frustrated and still with the mindset of hating exercise my mind quickly focused back on diets again. All the crazy, quick term solution, fad diets you could think of. I spent far too much money and none of them had any lasting effects, or they were just plain ridiculous. I enjoy eating, I love food, so a diet that insists you drink your meals just didn't seem stupid. I may have lost weight quickly this way, but there's no way I could keep it up and as soon as I resumed regular eating, I'd pile the pounds straight back on and then some.

I've now learnt, and am still learning, what my body's nutritional needs really are for it to be at it's optimal health. I'm still experimenting with theories that I have read about, it's all very interesting stuff, every body is different, so it's all about determining what works for you, and what you want to achieve.

Anyway, I wanted to share this journey of mine in this blog, I'll also be throwing in any recipes I come up with, tips and motivation, and mostly my progress and what I learn along the way.