Run every day challenger

I'm back in the game...

So far anyway

I was casually browsing through twitter when i came across Fitness Garage and they'd posted something about Ron Hill October Challenge, Run Every Day!!

Hahaha bloody Ron hill!!!!

I liked the sound of this... anyway ended up in short convo with the owner and felt like i had committed to a challenge that i couldn't back out of or get away without doing.

Hence the reason I'm here, Motivation is key and people who motivate me I've got lots of time for!!

So being blasted on twitter about whether or not I've done my daily run, makes me know i got to get out and stomp on them pavements!! So i can tweet back with a middle finger (emoji needed for this) cos its done boiiii!!!

Don't get me wrong I've done a lap round park which is shy of a mile, and also blasted a mile out on treadmill in gym when I've not had chance/time to do more but this is still good for me, its a run, it may be a small run, but i went out and ran.

I've been doing this alone too because i feel like i can get up and go when i need to rather than fannying around texting trying to arrange who can go at what time and where we are running and whose house were meeting at. It all got a little to much for my running game.

I like to think i'm gonna go running and go! so i do and ive been so much better for this, anyway 8 out of 31 is done and i need some emojis on here to show how i feel right now!!!

Get on it with me start now and finish in November cos no one really gives a fuck but you'll feel good for it!!

I feel like i can run again (emoji), and i like being forest gump (emoji here too)

Sorry i type fast and talk shit but thats what i do (another emoji)

#emojiwanker

Resting from Working out

I have just had ten days completely off eating clean and exercising. I weren't feeling well and felt like I needed to feed it so I did, I also had a girlie weekend to make sure I wasn't poorly for so I completely rested and ate a lot more than I usually do. I feel like my body needed it and during the rest period I felt like my body was long gone I hadn't even seen myself I'd been drowned in layers upon layers of clothing and scarfs and blankets and duvets constantly wrapped up to keep warm. I was completely worried I'd have to start all over again, especially after the Chinese takeaway I demolished 'total dream'.

Anyway Monday came this week and I was straight back on it, Tuesday same again on it with a leg day in the gym and Wednesday has arrived and I feel good again and motivated to do better. I think breaks are good for this reason. For me they make me want to hit to the gym and they say 'nothing tastes as good as fit feels' and it's so true. I love feeling toned and healthy and what healthy feels like. 

I do want to get back on the pavement running though as I see a total difference in my legs when I stop.

I'm an 85% food snob

I'm in such a weird place at the minute. Sometimes I think people look at me and think for god sake eat a fucking burger man!!! I'm sat in the staff room eating a Tupperware box full of fruit for my lunch and I honestly 100% completely enjoy it. Everyday I do this and have done for the last six month.... Am I fucked up or what cos a few years ago I'd have looked at someone doing that and thought 'get a life'. Why are you counting calories, stupid dieting rah rah rah!! But here I am now not on any fucking diet eating what the hell I want and not trying to lose weight but just choosing a healthier lifestyle for myself and loving it.

I get offered out for fish and chips, pie and peas, Taco Bell, bacon sandwiches etc on a daily basis and I refuse everyday cos I really don't want to eat it. What is wrong with this woman!! Sometimes I still go on the road trip out cos I'm not jealous I'm not eating it. I wonder why people eat that amount crap processed food constantly and don't think twice about it.

I have changed haven't I??

I used to eat two freaking Big Macs on a Saturday morning to soak up my hangover and then think about what chinese I was ordering for tea.

Urgh all I see now is disgustingness 

I'm a 85% food snob tha knows.period.

Balance

South Park Energy Balls

I found this idea on the internet a few months ago and saved it to remake, however the ingredients it needed i just never picked up as they didn't sell them in my local supermarkets and to be honest there not cheap super foods either.

I wanted to make these and i always need a quick snack and if there's not a healthy snack around i'll take what i can which is usually biscuits or a chocolate bar. I've said before if my hubby didn't buy these things i wouldn't have them in the house full stop.

Anyway yesterday i reinvented this recipe to cover what foods are in my cupboards or at least on the supermarket shelves and it is still healthy and i know whats in it.

Unfortunately I don't use measurements ha ha i'm a throw it in and see what happens kinda gal

Ingredients:

Pre-seeded Dates about 20
Teaspoon of coconut oil
Teaspoon of cocoa (Cacoa nibs can also be used)
10 Raw Almonds
10 Raw Cashew Nuts
Sprinkle Mixed Seeds (just from Aldi 79p for a small packet of mixed seed snacks)
Sprinkle of flax seeds

Chuck all the ingredients in a blender and walla!!! Roll them into little balls and i popped them in the fridge to harden up before storing in a Tupperware ready to snack on when needed!

Yummy, i couldn't get everyone's hands off them so I've hidden them in the fridge under the salad where no one else will look!!!

PS the original recipe included
Chia Seeds
Spirulina
Hemp powder

I suppose anything could be used as the dates form the base which everything sticks to.

Progress so far 5 months in

So the journey continues I'm still working out daily still eating really clean and enjoying everything I'm doing.

Started a box fit class about 6 or 7 weeks ago and it's been amazing really enjoy it. It's an intense session that makes us sweat buckets and red in the face and it feels good. The first session was so so hard we were nearly physically sick but ploughed through with the instructor pressuring you like a drill sergeant which makes it better. But as the weeks have gone on we all feel stronger and although it's always still really hard it's a well needed exercise switch which concentrates a lot on the core with sit ups, planking and press ups!! When I started I could barely do one full press but now I can do more and am gaining upper body strength through it.

Also I actually got six pack points from my other half who said they were looking a lot more defined 'high frickin five' laddo 

I've sort of ditched running on the weekend as I've lost my mojo with it and I'm making it up other ways anyway so don't mind. We participated in the cannon hall run 10k a couple of Sunday's ago and it completely killed us! It was such a hilly run and totally wasn't expecting the hills or the heat and although I've run that distance and beyond many times I didn't train well up to the date but we completed with my best time ever for a 10k too 1.07 which isn't the best I know but it's my personal best and I wasn't last haha I was 306th though Pah that's why I fucking quit running 😆

So I'm still at a weight I'm really happy with the lowest I've been and maintained with no effort I've dropped a complete dress size and it's killed me having to put clothes away that are clearly too big cos there good clothes like but hey ho a new wardrobe is built in time for autumn/winter 🙌🏽

Post holiday bod

Soooooo I'm back from kos in Greece and have had an amazing holiday with the famalam! 2 weeks all inclusive with delicious food and amazing cocktails on tap what more does a gal want in summertime!!!!

So I've been dreading coming home to the dreaded scales after 3 course meals every mealtime plus constant supplies of icecream fizzy drinks and cocktails not my usual lifestyle choice but Ive gone at it full throttle and totally enjoyed myself but not entirely guilt free.

I was happy to see the scales hadn't changed on my arrival home and my new Levi jeans pre holiday purchase still foot without having to do the stretchy get on me dance I sometimes have to do!!

However my body is a wobbly mess and I can't wait to return to the gym and the road and a healthy fridge to pick at.

I now have to motivate myself to restart the journey I began and get back on track pushing myself even more!

I have a goal of a 10k marathon in a few week at canon hall so this should hopefully get me back into my running shoes, and my mate I hope is now back in the gym so will get me there with a bit of friendly motivation too. Food shop was completed this morning with no biscuits chocolates sugary shit or crap bought.

I have been doing water aerobics and swimming some lengths and a bike ride too whilst on holiday but nothing in comparison to what I was doing.

How was your holidays did you feel like this on your return or did u make better choices whilst on holiday than me!! 💪🏽

My fitness pal

According to my fitness pal I should be a stone lighter every day I'm under my calorie goal and it says in 5 weeks you should weigh a stone less than I actually am!! Why is this!? What is it doing?!

Rampage over 

Feed me MAMA

So food wise - i'm my own worst enemy
I eat so good all day long then binge on biscuits come evening brew time i blame the other half
my cupboards would be without chocolate and biscuits if it wasn't for him. I honestly wouldn't do it unless i was desperate for a treat then id make some sort of healthy flapjack or something.

It kills me that this is the ruin of me but i think as i eat pretty well the rest of the time i shouldn't punish myself too much but i'm working to cut it out. but i just wish i didnt nail 5 custard creams when i have a cup of tea at night when ive worked so hard all day!

So typical day for me whilst at work:

Breakfast - 2 Scrambled egg with cherry tomatoes or salmon or avocado

Mid-morning snack  - banana







Lunch - fruit bowl - apple, kiwi, berries & skyr yogurt

Dinner - chicken, vegetables, rice/pasta

Afters - Flapjack

I drink a mix of water, green tea and tea with almond milk throughout the day


other examples

Breakfast - Wheatabix or porridge with almond milk

Lunch - chicken and roasted veg

Dinners -

Homemade curry with tomato base packed with veg and chicken/basa fish fillet + rice with kidney beans

Meat with broccoli, asparagus, peppers and roasted sweet potatoes

Stir fry packed with vegetables and sprinkled with soy sauce not packet sauces

I'm trying to use less and less jars and packets of sauces and instead use spices and tomato juice/coconut milk to make dishes tastier if needed.

I'm also trying to make plates 50% vegetables, 30% Chicken and 20% rice/potato etc

We never eat ready meals i make all meals from scratch and even doing the weekly shop i concentrate on buying raw fruit, vegetables and meat and not processed/packet foods or ready meals.

I generally always cook the evening meals so i get the choice of exactly whats in my meals, it saves us so much money also cooking like this. I do my best to switch it up for everyone else though so there not getting bored of eating the same vegetable and plates of food, I like them to come home to something unexpected and i'm naturally good at chucking ingredients together and making a delicious meal without it seeming like boring health food.

I've been like this for a long time as i'm against plastics and food packed with all these ingredients we cant even pronounce, additives that i believe are the cause of many diseases in our bodies, i'm conscious of avoiding them.

If i eat out at a friends or family i'm not like whats this whats in it wheres it from ill happily eat whatever they cook no questions asked i'm not a freak about it cos i'm too laid back a person to be like that but when i can choose i make better choices.

I use my fitness pal to track my progress and this again makes you consciously think about what your eating and how much your eating, I generally eat under 1600 calories and have reduced it to 1400 calories per day recently reason being to make me not eat that biscuit! And did i mention i go on holiday in days now!!

I wrote the above a few days ago and I've actually had such a crappy week like I just want to binge and I don't know if it's because I'm telling my self to be really good the week before the holiday or my body just needs more than what I'm giving it. So naturally I give it what it wants. I'm only talking about a few sweets and toast for breakfast instead of the norm or I had little pancakes with strawberries this morning nom yum nom  and also James decided to sort tea first time in months and bought some marks and Spencer's ready meals I could have died when I saw them! I was like I know Uve gone out of the way to pick us a nice tea but WHY THESE haha one had like 74% of ur daily allowance of fat, sugar and carbs!! This is the sort of thing that puts me off eating this crap! He agreed after we had eaten them that they were shit and we could have made nicer healthier versions with what we had in fridge etc 

Went on a good bike ride last night and I've had a sore ass today so went to gym and focused on my arms and shoulders today too so I'm still working out and eating under my calorie goal but just making bad choices to what I'd like. 

I still run around 3 grates cos it's bad luck

Stretching is the law, you can't run well without doing it, try it, you'll be shit and you'll be crippled for a few days. I've done it and it hurts during and after your run.

I enjoy my run stretching now, full body stretches are something i'm trying to do daily as the more i'm working out the more i wake up aching and feel like i need to stretch it out.

My body felt good this weekend, knocked out a 7.5 mile run on Saturday Morning and changed the route which definitely makes it more enjoyable. Not knowing a route is key to a long run we agreed because you don't know where you are and how many mile to go etc so i think were going to be switching our routes up a lot more in future.

We no longer fear hills, ok so we power walked up a massive hill on Saturday which was at the beginning of our route so not to burn ourselves out before we'd even started. but the rest of the route was also a slight incline for a good few miles so this has to be done. Its also a good warm up.

We started planning short runs into our weekly training which focused on hills and not stopping till we hit the top which has helped us in our training definitely. So we might only knock out a 3 mile run but half of that run could be up a steep hill. what hills aren't steep when your running ey, its key to slow it down in order not to flake at the start.

But i don't feel broken if i have to stop and walk every so often either its all part of training your body, just power walk through it when you need a breather and slow it down in general.

I also get runners knee its not as bad at the minute but early on i damaged it by sprinting down a big hill which i don't ever do and it niggled me for weeks and weeks so this was another reason for being a stretching crusader. I ran it out though i didn't let it stop me sometimes i try and bounce differently whilst running or swap weight on legs etc i just try and mix things up to take the strains away.

High on life and peanut butter

Running foods

I was high on life and peanut butter once upon a time.


So my pre run breakfast was always toast with peanut butter, banana and sprinkled with cinnamon, this breakfast put me in good stead for them long runs but the more i was running the more i realised i wanted to spew up on the taste of the peanuts in my mouth whilst running, it was constantly repeating on me and my saliva.

So i gave up on peanut butter breakfasts and now enjoy porridge with banana, wheatabix and also scrambled eggs, tomatoes and bacon/salmon or avocado. These foods always give me plenty of energy to see a good mileage through. however me mate Kate ploughs through on mars bars, protein shakes or few haribo!!!! do what you love, its the best method.

One Saturday night i had eaten a Chinese takeaway which i don't eat often and totally pigged out and felt like crap afterwards. Well the following morning we had arranged to do a big Sunday run as you do. Well i totally flaked 6 mile in i couldn't run my heart attacked! It wasn't that i ached or felt sick or was out of breath, my heart would not stop pounding out of my chest. I walked it off several times and every time i started to run it came back and i nearly died roadside.


Again this experience showed me the crap we shovel in out bodies as ill effects and this day i nearly dramatically pretended to die. I wont do it again though its totally put me off takeaways.

Im no goddess of clean eating but i try to be as good as possible without living like a mortar and im happy with my diet and genuinely enjoy eating my fruit and veg in vast amounts daily. Again another lifestyle change ive adopted and inflicted upon my family. who have healthy teeth and tums in return!!

Holiday Ab countdown

So if you were gullible enough to read my last cry for help, obviously i realise how silly it sounded! "Been to gym for a month and i don't look like arnie", who was i kidding!

So i am now 7 weeks in now and this week i have been back on the running game, which i am pleased about because i lapsed for a whole month and my thighs knew all about it, honestly! So this proved to me what it was actually doing for my legs which helped me get my trainers back on i think. Really happy I've bashed a few out because i started getting the fear of not being able to run which would be terrible as id built a good base up this year.

I started running seriously again in January 2015 and built up a good stamina, i noticed that this time last year i quit running so thinking it must have something to do with the weather as i don't like the heat and sunshine for running in id rather it rain!

I can also lift more in the gym i have been naturally pushing myself and increasing weights as its become easier to rep so i'm really happy about that and its given me a better perspective and realisation that this is a long haul game and i got to be in it forever to win at it.

Its a lifestyle change I've hopefully made and it fits in to my daily routine with no pressure which is what it has to do.

Its funny how you change because if i miss a day of working out i feel it, which i like as it makes me want to go the next day.

This morning i woke up at 5.45am so got up and went to the gym before work, it was well busy and i was driving there thinking is this dedication or madness, and its neither because every other person does this and doesn't shout about it just gets on with it. So i stopped thinking i was the bomb for being there as its like going to the supermarket at the end of the day, we don't all shout about that on facebook do we!

13 days till i go on holiday so this is my last dedicated push of daily burning calories and pumping those abs ready for cocktails and lazing on the beach for a fortnight! #WECANDOTHIS

GOALS!!!