I want to make these blog posts regular, maybe every 7-10 days or so to allow me to check in on how I’m doing and share progress and news. My problem so far is how to check in and talk about progress if I haven’t specifically lost any weight, and how to do that without feeling like a little bit of a failure. I’ve been thinking of tying the update to a specific day, like a ‘Fitness Friday’, but I think for the moment it’s better to just keep them sporadic but regular. I hope people are still enjoying them, I know it’s a relatively new theme for my blog but it’s becoming a bigger part of my life so it makes sense for me to give it some airtime on here.
I guess I should give myself a little bit of a break from being disappointed about having not lost any weight this week in that I’ve actually been a bit poorly; I’ve been off work for a couple of days with the mega-lurgy, i.e. bunged up with cold, fuzzy head, sore throat, feeling like walking to the top of the stairs is an effort akin to running a marathon. So it’s no surprise that I haven’t been out pounding the streets in the morning or going to exercise classes (though I did manage one run on Tuesday).
I have been doing what I always do when I’m not up to running though – reading running magazines, buying new running gear (bought an awesome Nike running vest from Sports Shoes ) and generally resolving to get out there as soon as I’m well again. I’ve even subscribed to Women’s Health and I’m determined to join the gym and fit in a few Personal Trainer sessions to help with my other fitness goals. I just need to kick this cold out and for my ankle to be a little stronger than it currently is. I have a 10k (Bournemouth Bay) at the end of March so I want to make sure I’m ready for that. I keep looking back on when I was running longer distances last year and getting so cross at myself for spraining my ankle. This run in September still remains my longest run {below photo} but if my ankle agrees, I’d really like to try running 10 miles sometime soon.
The other thing that’s new is that I’ve decided to give up refined sugar for lent. This week I decided to try and ‘wean’ myself off it so it’s not such a shock to the system come next Wednesday. I’ve also decided to keep a diary of everything I eat so that I can identify where my slip-ups are and keep trying to improve it. On Monday I was so shocked at the sheer amount of things I actually put in my mouth! It seemed like a lot. On Tuesday night after only 48 hours with no sugar (except for there may be a little bit in the rosé perhaps?) I had such a bad headache and could not sleep all night – it made me wonder if that was my body getting withdrawals from sugar! My headache lasted all the way until Wednesday morning when I couldn’t resist some cupcakes someone had brought in for their birthday. Hmm.
I’ve italicised the items with sugar in that I’ve eaten so far this week, and underlined the one bit of exercise I’ve done. You’ll see on the Thursday diary that it wasn’t really a great day all round but in my defence I felt really poorly and was craving stodge! (Just a quick note by the way, I’ve tried using My Fitness Pal but it really doesn’t work for me as I find logging lots of fresh ingredients a pain in the bum! Logging things in my notebook however really is working for me!)
Monday: B: Smoothie with peach, pineapple, coconut milk and frozen banana / L: Avocado on onion and chive bagel / S: Skinny Popcorn, salt flavour / S: Apple / S: Handful of pistachios / D: Haddock chowder with prawns, sweetcorn, haddock and matzo crackers / D: 1/2 glass of sparkling Rosé with 1/2 glass Sprite Zero
Tuesday: B: Fried egg on rye bread / L: Salt beef and mustard sandwich on brown bread / S: Apple / S: Handful of salted cashew nuts / D: Homemade burgers with salad and wholemeal pittas / D: Small glass of white wine
Wednesday: B: MyProtein pancakes with blueberries / S: Cupcake / L: Avocado on seeded toast / S: Handful of cashew nuts / S: Banana / E: 3.7km run / D: Pie Minister low calorie chicken and ham pie, small portion of mashed potato and onion gravy / S: Small pot of lemon cheesecake
Thursday: B: Fried egg on rye bread / S: Creme egg / L: Avocado on onion and chive bagel / D: Fish and chips
Friday: B: Protein shake/smoothie with banana, almond butter, wheatgrass and flaxseed / {So far at time of posting}
I would really welcome any feedback on my diet as I am trying to understand more about how to lose the belly fat and improve my nutrition so any thoughts would be great.
I’m hoping that the refined sugar-free diet will improve my health and that the cravings won’t last for two long (is this going to be me….?)
I’ve also heard that white bread and alcohol is metabolised in the same way as sugar is, so maybe I should give those up too? It’s a bit of a minefield to be honest, I need to decide on whether things like sweeteners are okay (if not my protein shakes and Sprite Zeros are out) or things like Agave Nectar, which I put in smoothies but apparently is not actually very good with you. One thing that I do know for sure is that I’m going to continue eating fruit, as any diet where you can’t eat fruit seems a little crazy to me.
In terms of fitness, I do really want to get focussed over the coming weeks – I have a lot of fitness equipment at home like my spinning bike, kettlebells, hula hoop, resistance bands and so on, that need to be used more. I was doing some research on DDP Yoga this morning after seeing a friend that looks amazing after doing a lot of it, and I found this video. If that isn’t going to get me motivated to meet my goals, I don’t know what is (SO worth a watch).
Your thoughts and support on any of what I’ve posted today would be massively appreicated – have you tried a sugar-free diet? Do you have any advice on my diet – what can I change or add? Or any great recipes? And do tell me about your health and fitness goals and what you’re doing to get there!
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