LIFE UPDATE

July 8, 2024 / 2 Comments

Well. I don’t really know where to start because life has been pretty crazy for the past couple of months, which is why I’ve not been around here much. Ok, personal life. I got married! We had a civil ceremony in Hackney and then drove down to the South of France where 2 weeks later we had a Jewish blessing and party with our friends and families.

I can’t really put into words how incredible the day was, publically committing to the most amazing man in front of our loved ones. My face hurt by the end of the day because I was beaming from ear to ear the whole day. We chilled out for a few days afterwards in Corsica and then drove back to London. It’s been a bit of a shock to the system arriving home and having 05:45 alarms again but that’s life!

 

Fitness-wise it’s been a bit quiet because I took the opportunity around the wedding to completely relax and embrace my lazy side. We had a couple of beautiful runs in France, one through the vineyards of Beaujolais to run off rather too much of the local wine from the night before and another along the promenade in Nice. We did a lot of moving around of heavy boxes containing alcohol and a day’s worth of horse riding but that’s about it!

I ate everything I wanted to, had an ice cream nearly every day and loved every minute of it.

 

So what’s next? This Sunday I’m running (or probably more likely run/walking) the British 10k around London’s landmarks which I’m really looking forward to. I’m also taking part in the Shine Night Walk for Cancer Research which I did a few years ago and I’m really looking forward to doing again. There’s something about walking 13.1 miles through London in the middle of the night with thousands of other women that is great for the soul. After that I have no big races or events planned for the first time in a few years. I’d still like to do another triathlon this year but my fitness took a back seat leading up to the wedding and there would be a lot of catching up to do.

My immediate plans are to get back into the groove with some weight sessions, boxing training and spin classes. I’m aiming for 3-4 sessions each week so if anyone wants a workout buddy let me know! It’s always easier if you have someone to be accountable to.

SHREDDING FOR THE WEDDING PART 2

January 11, 2024 / 5 Comments

I’m getting married THIS YEAR. I know, how did that happen?! Apart from being incredibly excited about celebrating my relationship with my soulmate, I’m also ready to buckle down for the next 5 months and continue to work on my body composition.

As you’ll know from part 1 of this series, since September I’ve been focusing on weight lifting with a bit of cardio and tracking macros and calories to make sure that I’m fuelling my body correctly and facilitating the fat loss.

Check out the results so far:

The key thing that’s motivating me are these photos because there’s only about 4lbs difference between these two. I use the scales to keep an eye on things but they don’t give you a clear picture of what’s actually going on within your body. I’d urge you to take photos (you don’t have to plaster them all over Instagram like I do!) each month and use them to track your progress rather than the number on the scale.

My training is about to get a bit mixed up as I start training for my first ever half marathon which I’ll be running 6 weeks before the wedding. My weight training will continue although it might drop down to 3 times each week rather than 4.

Are you training for a specific date or event? Let me know how you’re getting on!

SHREDDING FOR THE WEDDING

November 1, 2023 / No Comments

In case you didn’t already know I’m getting married in June next year to this wonderful beard

I always said that I don’t want to be one of those brides that loses so much weight before her wedding that she doesn’t look like herself in the photos but I definitely want to look my best.

I already have my wedding dress having found it in a shop that sells ex-sample gowns and I therefore can’t change shape too much because whilst seamstresses are incredible they aren’t magicians. Plus, I love my body, from my muscly calves to my wide hips to my small boobs, so I don’t want to change it or lose my curves.

So here are my goals to achieve before I get hitched:

  • Reduce my body fat by 5%
  • Be able to do 5 strict bodyweight pull ups (because how cool would that look in my wedding dress?!)
  • Continue to lift weights at least 4 times a week to grow muscle and enhance my curves

I’m following a new routine that I intend to follow all the way up to the wedding because it’s the most achievable and realistic programme that I’ve ever come across.

Nutrition-wise it revolves around counting macros within a certain amount of calories to reach your goals. To explain, macronutrients (macros) are carbs, fats and protein, all of which you have to eat in certain proportions, depending on what works best with your body. For example on days that I work out I eat high-protein, high-carb and low fat. Then on rest days I eat high-protein, high-fat and low carb. The beauty of this way of eating is that as long as I make sensible choices I can pretty much eat anywhere because I can just adjust my macros for the rest of the day to fit whatever I’ve just eaten. I try to eat home-cooked, unprocessed food for most of the week and then allow myself a little bit of leniency once or twice a week to indulge my cravings. Due to this freedom I haven’t really slipped up because I’ve been able to eat most things that I want!

When it comes to exercise I’m lifting weights in the gym 4 times each week plus 2-4 cardio sessions depending on what takes my fancy each week.

5 weeks later I’m already feeling on top of the world. While I’ve only lost 3lbs I can see the visual evidence of fat loss. I feel so much leaner and stronger and can start to see my little muscles popping out.

I can’t wait to see where I am in the next 5 weeks, keep an eye out for Shredding For The Wedding Part 2