Rather than continue to do sporadic health and fitness updates, I thought instead I would do some more specific updates about things I’ve been up to relating to health and fitness. This is still a bit of a journey for me, but I have settled into a routine that I’ve kept up since the beginning of June, so I thought I’d share a bit more about my ‘regime’ and what I’ve been trying out over the last few weeks.
You might remember that at the beginning of June I decided to sack off the 5:2 diet and focus on my fitness instead. My plan was to do something active every day – ranging from a 10k run to 10 minutes of yoga. I’m pleased to say that I stuck to it – there were some days when it did end up being a short workout of some situps and crunches or a few yoga moves and stretches, but I moved every day and managed on 90% of the days to do at least half an hour of exercise.
My current morning routine is:
- Use my Sleep Cycle app and set my alarm for between 0620 and 0650
- Get up, have a cup of green tea and a Thermopure supplement (contains a bit of caffeine, green tea extract and raspberry ketones amongst other things – gives me a kickstart in the morning!)
- Do 30 minutes of exercise
- Shower and get ready for work
In terms of the 30 minutes of exercise, this has included:
- Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD
- Jillian Michaels Shred It With Weights (done with 7.5kg kettlebell)
- Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown
- Yoga with Adriene – 20 minute Vinyasa Flow
- 5k run
I am a really light sleeper and consequently sleep quite badly – at the moment I’m getting woken up at 5am when the sun comes up too so I find myself feeling pretty tired by the time the evening rolls around. I definitely have more energy in the morning (plus I can only run on an empty stomach or I get a stitch) so I’ve decided that morning workouts are definitely best for me.
I try and fit in 2-3 runs per week with one of those being a longer one at the weekend. I love being able to run in shorts and vests when the weather is a bit warmer. This was taken quite a few weeks back, I can tell as I’ve been running in my lightweight Skechers for the last three weeks or so rather than these shoes.
I ran 44.3km (27.5 miles) in total in June so I feel like that’s a good achievement. I also ran my fastest 5k, 1k and mile this week – I think my new lightweight trainers are helping as I feel generally more able pick up the pace and take longer strides. I was hoping to run 50km in total this month, but the last couple of weeks have not been good in terms of wellness and feeling up to exercise. I’ve had a sore knee, a lot of lower back pain and also a lot of stomach issues which have meant having about four rest days already this month when I really didn’t want to. Last weekend and last night I was suffering so much with my back that I could barely walk so I think a run is definitely off the cards, no matter how much I tried to justify to Tom that it might help loosen me up! I’ve been keeping a food diary every day and noting down how I feel after each meal to try and get to the bottom of why I’ve been getting a bloated stomach and griping pains. I’m wondering if I’ve developed some kind of food intolerance but I can’t see any real trends yet, hopefully the diary will reveal all eventually. I’m trying to avoid processed foods and wheat and have been eating lots more fruit and veg, so hopefully that will help in the long run (she says, sat at the computer looking like she’s swollen a giant beach ball – tummy problems are not the one!)
In the evenings I’ve also been using a foam roller (there’s a good guide here if you have no idea what I’m talking about). I was told last week (by a climbing instuctor at a blogging event!) that I have low ankle mobility, which is affecting my squat form and contributing to my knee injuries. Foam rollering the calves (I also do my hammies, IT band, upper back and glutes) helps with ankle mobility so I’m hoping this will help stop me getting injured!
I’m still waiting for the new gym near me to open – the reason I’ve been doing DVDs instead of going to gym classes is that I’m waiting to take out membership there. They have a rooftop yoga studio and lots of classes I’ve been wanting to try for ages, like Insanity, boxing and Metafit (I’ll tell you when I’ve done them whether I should indeed have been looking forward to them!) I’m slightly worried I’m going to end up living there, I’m so keen to get my membership! What I’m really looking forward to is a few sessions with a Personal Trainer who can help correct all my exercise bad habits and help me lift some weights – I’m not seeing a massive difference in my body at the moment (and I stopped weighing myself weeks ago) and I reckon weights will really help give it a boost!
I shall leave you with a snap of a mid-run paddle – truly the best way to cool down hot feet!
Do you have any tips for my exercise routine? What have you been focussing on this month?
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