Week 4 Fitness Program Update!

I've just reached the week 4 milestone of this 12 week "program" I've created for myself which if you weren't following from the beginning is basically a 12 week goal I've set for myself to work out 5 days a week, follow a healthy low-carb diet, get stronger and feel better overall.  So here is the update on what has happened over the last 4 weeks.

Diet Update:

So, to recap the last 4 weeks, I've pretty much followed my meal plan about 80% to 90% of the time.  As you may recall, at the end of week 1 I went to a wedding and had loads of yummy food.  I had done well up until that day and what was supposed to be a cheat meal ended up being a cheat day.  Mondays to Fridays of the last 4 weeks have been good.  I allow myself my much needed Sushi or Japanese bento lunch once a week and the rest of the days I have my usual chicken salad.  As for snacks, I've been sticking to nuts strictly but allowed myself some Aero Mint chocolate this week.

Now, I have to tell you about last weekend's dinner.  We had some friends over on Saturday night and one of our friends is vegetarian.  Because I don't really know how to cook vegetarian meals my husband and I decided to order from a nice little local Indian restaurant down the street from us.  It was Northern Indian food which for us non vegetarians included some creamy butter chicken, lamb cooked in creamy yogurt sauce, briyani, naan bread and a few other dishes.  Dessert was a chocolate tart from Waitrose which after everyone left I ate another 2 pieces making my dessert count for the night 3 quarters of a personal pizza sized tart!!!  I just couldn't help myself.

During this week, I also treated myself to a few little Parisian "twinkies" which my colleague brought for me from Paris. I know this all sounds like a lot but if you look at all the good meals and snacks I ate, the bad ones really only accounted for about 10% of my meals and snacks.  The reason I'm pointing this out is because for those of you out there who feel guilty when you do allow yourself some treats like this, you shouldn't feel guilty.  It's an awful and unhealthy mental cycle and as long as you're doing good most of the time, you should focus on that and not let yourself feel bad.

Workout Update:

The first 2 weeks I managed to get to the gym 4 days but the last 2 weeks were 6 day gym days.  As usual it was 3 days of Bartendaz, one day of leg training alone or with my trainer and for the last two weeks I started taking Hula Hoop class.  It's offered at my gym and is just a super fun and surprisingly challenging workout.  I did about 30 minutes of cardio before the Hula Hoop classes but that's about all the cardio I do.  I'm pretty happy how well I've kept up!!

Strength Update:

At the beginning of all this I mentioned I wanted to be able to do 20 chin ups and didn't think it would happen in 12 weeks but that I would keep trying.  Well, some of you may have seen the video and surprisingly I reached the 20 goal already.  I didn't think it would happen that quickly but it did and my new goal is to be able to accomplish a muscle up!!!  This is incredibly hard and realistically speaking it could take months and months but I am working towards that right now.  I've started training Bartendaz with 3kg ankle weights and hope to increase that slowly in order to get stronger.

Weight & Body Update:

Everyone always says that the diet and workouts go hand in hand and if you stick to both you will see results.  I don't measure myself but in terms of weight, I have gone down 1kg in the last 4 weeks.  Considering I don't do cardio I strongly believe none of that weight was muscle but more likely a combination of fat and water!!! 

Here's some updated photos!!  I think 4 weeks have made some sort of difference and I believe it's just a matter of commitment to see results!!

What You May Not Know About SUGAR!!!!

I love dessert and even when I'm on my 12 week low-carb diet I find it hard not to have a cheat meal every week or two that consists of dessert.  I've always found information and documentaries on nutrition really interesting and over the last few years have started to get the idea that sugar is the devil!!  It's worse than fat and it's probably the cause of all the obesity related diseases out there in the world.  Having said all that, I do find it hard not to have dessert every now and then! 

Many of you may not realize it but sugar in the form of fructose is found in all processed foods and it reacts in your body just like alcohol does.  So, if you're a pregnant or breastfeeding mom, a parent who lectures their kids against drinking alcohol, someone who grabs the low fat food (which often has a crazy amount of sugar), someone who thinks that natural sugar alternatives like agave is okay for you or someone who has just never really given the negative effects of sugar much thought, this is a good video to watch!! 

Something to Think About!!!

My friend shared this on her Facebook page!!  I think this is so true!!!  Thanks for sharing Cherry Fernandes!!!

Week 1 Diet Fail!!!

So it's been just over a week since I started on my 12 week program of trying to eat better and making it to the gym 5 days a week.  Unfortunately, week 1 did not go as well as planned.

In terms of the gym, I did make it 4 days in week 1 in which 3 of those days were Bartendaz classes.  I had planned to go once more on Sunday, but a long day and a late night on Saturday lead me to sleep in and have a super lazy day.  But I'd say 4 is still pretty good.  I'm not going to allow myself to feel guilty over 1 less day of gym.

Now, you're probably wondering how I did in the food department!!  Well, it was all pretty good until Saturday rolled around.  I was at a friend's wedding and I wasn't going to say no to all the delicious food they had ordered. 

Here's the damage!!!

The delicious wedding cake.  Some kind of strawberries and cream cake. 

Pastries and scones!!!  I had one of each!!!

Salmon with pasta for dinner!!!

Chocolate brownie without the ice cream for dessert!!!

*Not shown in the list of photos is my appetizer which was a small fried calamari salad.

Remember I mentioned a cheat meal once a week?  Well, a cheat meal should be all I have but this was more of a cheat day!!  Not so good!!  But again, I think it's important not to feel guilty and not to be overly picky and avoid eating at an event such as a wedding where your friends have put a lot of thought into the meal they have chosen for their guests. 

So, I'm not feeling so bad about that but I am feeling bad about the 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and Nutella on Monday morning.  I was just incredibly exhausted and didn't have time to make my eggs and smoked salmon breakfast. 

The rest of the day went on better and it's important to just get right back into it when you had a weekend that wasn't so great in the diet department!!

A Typical Day in Low Carb Meals!!!

This is the first day of the12 week program I've set for myself so I thought I would share with you what I would normally eat.  Keep in mind, I'm not really counting calories.  I used to count calories but I'm more or less familiar with roughly how many calories each of my meals has. 

Breakfast at 7am

2 eggs scrambled (with yolk) with 2 slices of smoked salmon and a black coffee (no sugar or milk)

Snack 1 at 11am

3 dates (Normally I would have a hand full of unsalted mixed nuts but I forgot to buy some this weekend.  I understand that dry fruits like dates and raisins are high in sugar but 3 won't be that bad I suppose.  They are high in fibre after all.)

Lunch 1.45pm

Salad with spinach, cherry tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers and chicken breast (cooked in water and curry powder)

Snack 2 at 5pm

3 dates

Dinner 6.30pm

Ground beef, broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, onions and mushrooms cooked in light soy sauce and a BBQ chicken thigh (I made a whole pot of this so I'll be eating it most nights this week but I don't usually eat this much red meat.  I usually try to cook for the whole week on Sunday and when I made this dish, it slipped my mind that it would mean eating red meat every day!!)

. 
It's about 7pm right now and I'm probably going to have a banana and a cup of black coffee.  Just for the record, the banana and the dates, although healthy, will probably slow down the fat burn  Yes they are healthy but there are other things I can be eating right now that are way more effective for fat loss. 

I also usually eat 6 smaller meals rather than 5 small meals.  I'll have dinner at work about an hour and a half before the gym and then have a chicken breast or a protein shake after the gym, but I went to the gym at lunch today so I could manage to have an early dinner at home.  I don't usually like having dinner past 7.30pm. 

Anyway, so there you have it!!  It's easier to eat healthy during the work week too.  My lunch is so basic and super healthy mostly because it's just so easy to throw a bunch of salad ingredients in a Tupperware.  If you can't eat a salad without dressing, then go ahead and add some yourself.  I just can't be bothered when I'm preparing mine in the evening.  And if you're thinking my bringing lunch to work has to do with the fact it's easier to eat healthy that way, well, you're only half right.  London is expensive and I feel that eating out everyday for lunch would be throwing away money that could be spent on other things!!