I am still plodding on

Today I started week 6 of insanity YAY!!!!

It has not been an easy journey but I am happy with the progress so far. My measurements indicate that so far I have lost a total of 4.5inches in the midsection alone J.   The number of repetition per workout has also improved tremendously.  I am over the moon at the moment, though I must say that I have done the workouts my way i.e. listening to my body and being aware of my limits.  Also one needs to remember that most of the individuals on these videos happen to be professionals and so you should not feel any pressure if you are not as good as they are.  With time, you will also get there.

In week 3 I did hit a plateau of some sorts.  Despite the fact that I could see positive signs of weight loss, I was not motivated to workout and so had to really force myself. Though it was a struggle I ensured not miss out on a day of training because I was scared that if I did I may stop the program altogether.  I was told by my friend the guru to stick with the workout and I guess this is what he meant, I do not understand why at the midpoint one seems to lose a bit of enthusiasm.  So for all you people out there you really need to dig deep when you get to this point of your workout so be warned!!!

Maintaining my diet has been ok though I must admit I had fried chicken and chips last week L.  I was tired of having to cook all my meals and too lazy to cook, I did feel bad afterwards but now I am back on form, I’m only human.  My meals consist mainly of grilled meat, fish or chicken with salads and/or vegetables.  I also do have a chicken teriyaki sandwich from subway if I’m in town and do not have any food with me.  In addition, I ensure that I eat a lot of fruit and I currently drink approximately 2 liters of water per day i.e. one during the course of the day and the other when working out.

This time around, I do not have much advice for you other than to tell you that when you get to the point where you feel you can’t be bothered just stick with it and don’t give up.  If it helps remember that you do get a high after each workout, methinks it’s due to the sense of accomplishment.  I have dared myself to finish this workout therefore by hook or crook  I will get to the last day of the workout.  Also paying myself £1 a day for working out has really helped to motivate me and now I just can’t wait to book my  hour session of a deep tissue massage J. 

Until the next update keep on keeping on folks!

Elle

Picture was taken from: http://www.greycatstudio.com/Gallery/workout.htm

I have gone Insane!

Indeed folks I have gone totally Insane!

I presume the first thought that comes to mind is, what is Elle talking about?  Well, all I am trying to say is that I have started working out and that I decided to do Insanity instead of P90X as originally planned.

I was stuck in my lazy phase for way too long until my mum told me that she thinks my midsection was a bit on the large side.  That statement was the final straw for me because my mum is ever so careful about making personal comments or saying something that will hurt anyone.  For her to say something like that meant that I was really in a bad shape, in addition the last time we checked my blood pressure it was a bit too high.  Both my parents have high blood pressure therefore, I check regularly to ensure that history does not repeat itself. 

Anyways, after reading the P90X workout manual back to back, I noticed that I still needed more equipment.  This was a bit of a blow to me and so decided to move on to plan B which happens to be Jay’s insanity.  I started the work out on the 4^th  March, weighing 83kgs and my  blood pressure was 135/95(way too high). 

I started on Day 1 with a fitness test.   Immediately after I finished the fitness test, I understood why Jay’s excuse was creaky floor boards, Oh My Days!!!  I kept wondering how I was going to climb the stairs to my bedroom L.  I thought that was painful but boy was I wrong!  The next day I could not really get out of bed as I was in so much pain and to think this was just the fitness test, I kept wondering what the real deal will be like.  I remember my friend the guru saying that you will be sore and I just said ok but now I really understand what he meant.  I was in so much pain that even breathing hurt and when sleeping I tried to lie in one position as it was too painful to move.  I lathered my whole body with icy hot to alleviate the pain and though the smell is not pleasant, it sure does the trick J. 

The biggest challenge in this workout is pushing through the initial pain because after the fourth the day I woke up with no pain and now I can’t wait to workout. I have now done 2 weeks and though I am not perfect yet, I can actually feel the difference in my body and my endurance levels are higher. Now I can even do more than 8 push ups in a go and after just a week my blood pressure is now 112/85 Yay  J.    The only problem I am getting now is the fact that my left leg that was previously injured is still giving me a hard time.  Even after 2 weeks of working out it  still feels like a wooden leg but it will not beat me. 

So far the advice I can give you regarding insanity is that you should not push yourself when working out and to take one day at a time.  It is not a workout for the faint hearted but each time you finish a workout you feel good about yourself.  If your knees have some issues then use knee supports, I wear them for both knees when exercising.  Drink loads of water, because of the exercise I now drink a minimum of two litres of water per day, one litre whilst exercising and the other during the day.  Most of all listen to your body and don’t push yourself as with time you will get there, don’t forget that Rome was not built in a day!  I also discovered this amazing tip on pintrest whereby a lady pays herself $1.00 each time she works out and the money collected is then used to pay for a massage.   I have adopted this idea and have been paying myself £1.00 each time I work out, I can’t wait for day 30 to have my workout J

Ok folks that’s all for now as I am off to do the insane thing J

I will keep you updated, until then enjoy your workout xoxo

Elle

The picture above was taken from: http://www.clipartpal.com/clipart/sport/aerobics_267251.html

Food Diary Days 2&3

It seems I eat the same thing quite often, I had exactly the same meals on day two and three sans lunch.

Breakfast = Brevita Biscuits
Lunch= Day 2 - Prets Hoison Duck Wrap, Day 3- Prets Italian Chicken Salad
Dinner - vegetable and chicken stir fry


I did pretty good on day 2 but was awful on day 3 on my portions.

Day 2 Snacks = 2 oranges, 1 banana and 2 cups of coffee

Day 3 Snacks= 2 bars of chocolate, packet of crisps, brevita biscuits!!!!!!!

Not good. I will upload pictures and calories for each day later.

Currently on day 4. Started with 2 slices of toast with butter!

Food Diary- Day 1

So I managed to record all my food today. Think I did ok. Here goes:

Breakfast was Brevita Biscuits- one pack which =4 biscuits
Lunch was Prets Crayfish and Avocado Salad.
Dinner was boiled black beans with vegetable salsa
Snacks: banana, 2 oranges and 2 cups of coffee

Also completed calorie upload on myfitnesspal, for a change.

Am writing this phone from my phone so I hope it uploads ok.

Calorie Goal: 1400
Total Calories: 1248
Remaining: 152
Exercise: Nil

Day one done! Yippeee. Am a bit under but am tired and sleepy and not really hungry. So nite nite xx

Nothing Is Working- Time for Drastic Action

So i stepped in the scales and i am now 80.6kg! i am depressed. I have managed to put on more weight and nothing i am doing is working.

I tried cutting out carbohydrates, not eating late at night, having more vegetarian meals.....i don't know what else to do but to do a cleanse and i hate hate detox's but it s a good way to jump start the body for weight loss.

Now i have tried the master cleanse and juicing and the latter is easier, the master cleanse is brutal! i mean drinking lemon juice with maple syrup for 10 days is no joke. And the salt water flush...eeek

Anyways, I've decided to do a more gentle approach, from tomorrow am trying a half-detox. Break fast and lunch will be something healthy and dinner is a green smoothie or fruit smoothie. Also aim to go to the gym 3 times this week, i will weigh in on Sunday, lets hope i shift at least one pound by then. 

To make myself accountable, i will take pictures of all my meals and upload then here as well as my daily calorie intake here! i know, i going to be blogging 7 days straight! You can add me on myfitnesspal if you are there, my profile is onyx2010. 

Have a lovely week xx

I have a confession to make!

Remember how I wrote a while back that I was starting to workout?  Well folks I lied L.

I have been going through a lot emotionally in my personal life and though I like change, it is still never an easy process.  Don’t get me wrong the change has been amazing and given me another reason to be in awe of my God!  Nevertheless going through a change is not easy, as you have to go through your own emotional baggage which TD Jakes aptly described in one of his sermons as junk in the trunk!

Anyways today is a beautiful Saturday and for the weirdest reason I have woken up with a new leash of life!  How or why I cannot tell you and then I get reminded, oh oh Elle you have not worked out L.  I decided to surf some channels on TV and came across ‘Biggest Loser where are they now’ and it has inspired me big time J.  Don’t you just love the Biggest Loser show?  I watch it and cry with the contestants, feel their pain and their story and then I’m inspired by their victory.

So I thought about myself and my fitness goals. To be honest I have been avoiding this blog because I know that I have not done what I set out to do but Hey I’m only human!  Though I must say that, I have not been too bad, as I have been eating healthy and trying out new recipes.  As a result, I have lost a kilo Yay!!.   But I need to start working out big time!  I am a big believer of trying out new things but you know how when it gets to working out and one keeps procrastinating?

So folks let’s all put action to our words and just Do It!!!!!

I am gonna start and update you as I go on.  Let’s all do it together and most of all let’s complete it!!!!!

Wishing you all a productive and healthy weekend.

xoxo       

                                                       

Elle

P.S: I just want to wish the sexy Miss Jay to get well soon!! 

The diagram above  was taken from the following link:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROHclVqJ7Cv_y1YX8YHWT8t0cUE73iTJXFcHR5Wb4KgnKMPnui2w

Back to life, Back to reality!!!

Do you remember the song back to life, back to reality by soul to soul?  It used to be quite a hit in my day or shouldn't I say too much as I will be giving away my age ;-)

Anyways, after coming home and the nice relaxed feeling you get upon returning from a holiday has worn off, I have slammed right back into reality.  The thing is upon getting home I had over 30 letters waiting for me mostly bills and they were all saying to me you can run girl but you sure can't hide for too long (sigh)



Since returning home, I have suffered a bit of jet lag which has made me mostly tired and lazy.  I am still trying to get my body back to it's normal routine, though I must say that I am feeling sooo lazy that the last thing on my mind is working out.  To make matters worse, I stepped on my scale and it said I had put on 10 kilos OMG!!!  Can you believe that after just 3 weeks in the states one can put on 10 kilos??? I am convinced that my scale had a bad morning so I will try to weigh myself again tomorrow morning (deep sigh). Though hopping over to ihop for those nice brekkies and spending the rest of the day on buffets and the like and eating all I can, should it really come as a surprise?  I really feel for those living state side as with all the abundance of nice food it must be quite hard to lose weight there.

On the other hand, if my scale still insists that I have put on weight then it means that this is the heaviest I have been since I made an appearance on this place called planet earth.

So I guess its time to get on the program and start working towards those fine Michelle Obama arms and cool Jillian Micheals abs!  I have decided that tomorrow is the D-day.  I have gathered all the tools of the trade that will be needed for this exercise, namely:

- weights
- resistance bands
- mat
- my videos.

Now I don't have any more excuses and I better do something really fast or else I will soon not recognize myself in the mirror, blimey!

Nutrition wise, I have some whey protein (yummy strawberry flavored) , stocked up on some fish ( tilapia), some oats for breakfast and  tomorrow I'm off to get my salads and fresh fruits from the market.

I'm ready to rock and roll!

How about U?  Have you started your workout for 2013?  Have you got any tips or tricks you wanna share?

That's all for now folks!!!

Elle


The picture above was copied from www.ptsdforum.org