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!!

Nail Art!!!

I've never really been big on nail polish.  Unlike many girls out there who wear nail polish all the time, I for some reason never really got into it.  I think it's because the process of applying and waiting for the polish to dry is a little time consuming.

However, this weekend, I went to a wedding and decided on nude coloured nails as it is the trend this season.  On Sunday, I was sitting around relaxing and browsing the Internet and started to YouTube nail art and French tip tutorials.  After, I was inspired to do my own nails and decided to go with a contrasting tip on my nude painted nails. 

I love the effect of using a sponge to create a contrasting tip and I thought I'd just share the look with you. 

I tried to add a little pink flower to my nails as well.  Don't know if you can see it that well, but my husband thought it was just a blob of smudged nail polish!!  Oh well!!!  It was my first time trying some nail art on myself and the first time in months and months that I actually wore nail polish!! 

So....what do you think???  If I feel more inspired, I may just include a nail art tutorial. But be reminded, I am no nail art expert.  It would just be something for you to relate to...from one completely inexperienced person to the next.  No matter how crappy my nails may end up, I have to say, the process of painting the nails with more than one colour and design is actually really fun!!!  It reminded me of arts and crafts when I was little!!!

Contrasting tips!!!

A closer look at the blobby looking flower!!!

More of My Favourite Revlon Lipbutters!!!

Several months ago I went out and bought a whole bunch of Revlon Lipbutter lipsticks and promised to put out a blog so you can check them out.  I mentioned that I was waiting for a few more  colours to arrive in the mail.  I've obviously since received them and they are all incredibly amazing.  It's been a few months and all I ever wear these days are my Revlon Lipbutters.  They do last surprisingly longer than I expected on my lips depending on what I eat or drink.  I still absolutely love the texture and they are incredibly moisturizing.  Again, it's like wearing lipbalm, but with the colour intensity of lipstick.       

The colours I wanted to share with you are Peach Parfait, Macaron, Candied Apple and Cherry Tart.

For a recap on the general colour, texture and finish of this Revlon range, you can refer back to a previous post ....Revlon Lipbutters!!!! Finally in the UK!!!

Here's a look at the final four I purchased.

Peach Parfait:

A very neutral peachy colour.  It's almost nude on my lips but will show up a little more on lighter skinned girls. this is very sheer and very natural.

A great every day colour that can be worn for a nude, natural look or to balance out a pair of smouldering eyes.

Macaron:

A darker shade of Peach Parfait with a hint of terracotta.  It's darker but still a very neutral colour.  This one would go best with tanned skinned ladies.

It's a great every day colour as well for those wanting a neutral look that is not completely nude.  Pairs well with natural eyes.

Candied Apple:

This is a red with a hint of orange in it.  It's not quite a deep red, nor is it a very bright red.  It's more of a watermelon red.

Pair with natural and neutral eyes.  This is great for statement lips and a great evening look.

Cherry Tart:

A deep but sheer red.

This is slightly different than Candied Apple as it is a slightly deeper colour.  This one should also be paired with nude eyes and worn for a night out or to achieve a classic polished look.  This is great for those who like the red lip look but feel that the red in regular lipsticks appear too opaque and in your face!!!

I don't think Cherry Tart is available in the UK.  I looked for it originally but couldn't find it and had my cousin bring mine from the US.  They do however, come in 14 shades here in the UK and at £7.99 a pop, you can't go wrong!!!  

Bikini Photos!!!

For those of you who opened this blog post thinking you were going to get to see a bunch of bikini photos of me... well...you're wrong.

I know there are many conservatives out there reading my blog posts and have probably been shocked that I had put photos of myself in a bikini in my previous post about my weight ups and downs. Well, I just wanted to let you know that the photos were not put up there to parade myself in a bikini for the whole world to see.  This is not me, trying to put up sexy photos of myself out of vanity.  This is me trying to document my ability to be disciplined and achieve a goal that at my fitness level is incredibly hard to achieve.  We see shows about fat people losing weight all the time, but it's much harder for an already fit person to achieve an even greater level of fitness physically and in terms of performance. 

If you're opening up the fitness blogs to gawk at my photos, show them to everyone and judge and gossip about how I could even think about putting bikini photos (and/or photos of me in a sports bra) of myself on the Internet then you should be gawking at yourself, telling everyone, judging and gossiping about yourself for being judgmental and for gossiping.  From a moral and even a religious standpoint, judgement and gossip is equally as bad if not worse because it involves the feelings of another person.

So, if you opened this blog thinking you were going to get more ammunition for your gossip and judgement, I suggest you re-evaluate your thoughts and your mind.  If you can't read the fitness blogs without judgement and gossip then I suggest you don't read it at all until you have become a better and more understanding person!!!!  After all, your judgment and gossip are immoral and you wouldn't want to be more or just as immoral as someone who puts bikini photos of themselves on the Internet would you??

 

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!! 

Today's Bartendaz Workout!!!

Today was a Bartendaz day for me!  I went during lunch, which is not something I do every Monday but I really wanted to get a workout in today and get home early. 

Lunch hour Bartendaz classes only go for about 40 minutes but for such a high intensity class with little rest throughout, 40 minutes is all you need. 

Here's the breakdown of what we did today!!

Chin Ups: 6 reps x 5 sets (alternating with partner)
Pull Ups: 6 reps x 5 sets (alternating with partner)

Military Push Ups: 10 reps x 5 sests (rest time only long enough to switch positions with partner)
Diamond Push Ups: 10 reps x 5 sets (rest time only long enough to switch positions with partner)

Lunges 20 reps (10 on each side) x 3 sets (I have knee problems.  Others were doing power lunges)
Squats with Calf Raises 20 reps x 3 sets (Again, others were doing jumping squats)

Flutter Kicks (abs) 10 reps followed by Cycles (abs) 10 reps x 3 sets with no break in between.

Finally we ended with 2 rounds of the following with no break in between:

6 Chin Ups
6 Pull Ups
10 Military Push Ups
10 Diamond Push Ups
15 Lunges
15 Squats with Calf Raises
15 Flutters
15 Cycles

The crazy thing about todays workout was that it was one of the easiest days we've had in a long time!!!