Thursday 27 March 2014

Day Three - Hitting the Gym

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, but I went to the gym! I managed to complete all my cardio (10 mins stationary bike, 10 minutes cross-trainer, and 10 minutes on the treadmill). My target for the treadmill was 7kmh average, and I managed to average 7.4kmh, even doing 40 seconds at 12kmh! I am pretty proud of that as I hate cardio. I was supposed to do 31 minutes of ab work from http://www.blogilates.com, but I didn't get around to that either. I've decided not to feel guilty about it and just add it to my workout today.

This is what I had to eat:




It's a beef tomale with parmesan encrusted courgettes!

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Day Two - My Shoulders Are Killing Me!

I managed to do another hour of exercise today, where the focus was the upper body. I have a naturally very weak upper body and I can't even do one single push-up - even on my knees! Thankfully, Blogilates has a tonne of videos that focus on the back, arms, shoulders and chest, which is what I used today.

In order, I did:
Applause Arms
I didn't really "get" this video, I've got no idea what a grapevine is and I just felt like a twat about to punch someone in the face with my weights.
Toned Arms & Sculpted Back
I honestly can't remember what moves are in this, but I have a feeling there was the pray and praise (or something) which is the most ridiculously simple move in the world - and it burns!
Arms on Fire
Back on Fire
Apart from the push-up to renegade row, this is my favourite video. As previously mentioned, I can't do push-ups so I spend that section flailing around and falling on my face.
Backless Dress Workout
Another one of my favourites.
Upper Body Workout
One of the old ones, which I generally quite like because the moves are simpler and the videos are shorter (for my attention span...), but I really should have watched this one before I started because it's 60% push-ups, so I had to flail around again.

I also went to ASDA today and (hopefully) bought most of my food for the month. I'm aiming to lose about 35lbs, but nothing seems to be working. The new rule is that I am allowed to eat whatever I like (within reason) as long as I have made it from scratch and there's no processed food involved. I am also exercising every day this week (if I make it...)

Here's what I had today - baked eggs on a spicy tomato and green pepper sauce:
I even had wholemeal bread!

Monday 24 March 2014

Day One - Shaking Legs and Sweaty Hair

I hate exercise. I mean, I hate the process of getting yourself motivated to actually move, then having to go through the pain and torture itself. The feeling after you've finished and the painful stretching later is amazing, but people fail to note that you actually have to move around like a lummox for at least twenty minutes to achieve this. I am not graceful, I am not fit, I am not even thin, so I went in search of that feeling and the ability to at least feel slightly more comfortable in anything less than a jumper four sizes too big, I'm going to exercise and "eat clean", whatever that means.

The majority of my exercise will come from the amazing http://www.blogilates.com, mostly because I enjoy resistance training much more than cardio. I was actually had a test to determine my genetic levels of fitness, and I came out as a "medium-low" responder to cardio exercise, which explains why I hate it and never really see any improvements. I will (reluctantly) be throwing some running/cycling/squash in there - I have a gym membership which is sorely underused.

The plan for this week is to do about an hour of lower body, then upper body, then abdominals and cardio, then repeat this. Sunday is 90 minutes of total body torture. That brings us to today...MONDAY! I actually had a doctor's appointment today where I totally forgot to ask any of the questions I wanted, so I had an hour less of work than usual which might be where the energy has come from. Predictably, I put off doing my lower body workout until the very last minute (I think I started it at midnight...) and spent the whole time wanting to give up. I didn't.

The routine was:
Legs on Fire
12 minutes of moderate intensity leg work. I have to say, I actually enjoyed doing the first move (a form of side squat lunge), which is an improvement on the past 24 years of my life.
Butt on Fire
Despite the sexual health clinic name, this is a brilliant workout, although it is sadly missing my favourite move, the pelvic thrust.
Call Me Maybe Mighty Squat Challenge
Awful.
Perfect Legs Workout
Oh God.
Inner Thigh Clarity
This is where I started to really, really hurt. My inner thighs were shaking like badly made blancmange.
Bubble Butt (Clenching My Booty) - POP Pilates for Beginners
This is apparently a beginners video. It made me cry tears of sweat.
Roar Challenge for Abs and Inner Thighs
At this point, I had lost the will to live. I am already starting to regret a commitment of an hour a day, but I actually spent a whole twenty minutes making a spreadsheet, so I can't exactly turn back now.