Catch up!

I've been very very busy interning so I had to leave the blog as a lesser priority - sorry! However I have a catch up of the past few weeks for you.

Week 2: lost 3lbs (14st - see progress image)

Week 3: lost 2lbs (13st 12lbs)

Week 4: stayed the same - lost 2.5 inches off my hips (the problem area) yay!

So why did I stay the same in week 4? It wasn't deserved in any way, and I should've reached my target of a stone's weight loss in four weeks. Nonetheless, I have continued to work hard and eat healthily. I've been away from Uni so I've had no gym (sad face) which makes the smaller weight losses make sense. Still, I have my cheat day once a week (today's cheat was McDonalds!) and carry on as per usual.

Weigh-In Day Week 1

So my first week went well I'd like to think it did...

I lost 5.5lbs!

Workout Your Skin

I've always had the best skin and very rarely got spots/white heads/black heads. And then I became a sweaty bitch at the gym, and to be frank, it's gone to shit. And I know I'm not alone.

So you know my professional sector is fashion and beauty, and I myself have a very strict skincare routine, so I thought I'd throw in a bit of my wisdom for those who are tackling skin issues due to frequent exercise. I would like to introduce you to a range that some of you may have come across before but not necessarily used: Yes To Carrots.

These are my three must haves from the range: hand and elbow cream, nourishing eye cream, and exfoliating facial cleanser. I use other brands such as Freederm and Bliss in my slightly more in-depth skincare regime, but these are some of my much-recommended favourites!

The hand and elbow cream is one not to be ignored! As much as your face may seem the problem area, your hands get some rough treatment at the gym and deserve to be looked after! Also dry spots such as your elbows and knees can get dry due to excessive sweating (yes it happens no matter how much water you drink, because I drink around three litres a day) and this lotion leaves you feeling smooth even after one use.

The nourishing eye cream is a lovely product to use just before you go to bed at night and when you wake up in the morning. When you cut excess salt out of your diet you aid the gradual disappearance of periorbital puffiness (bags) under your eyes, although when you're tired from the gym, it can leave your eyes equally as puffy. As much as the release of salt through sweat helps reduce this from happening, the nourishing eye cream is a great way to make sure that your eyes are getting the right treatment. This product is great as you feel it tightening the skin too, so you can literally feel it working. That way you're right as rain ready to work out again!

Last but not least, the exfoliating facial cleanser is great, not only because it thoroughly cleanses pores to prevent sweat from blocking them and creating blackheads and the like, but because it's mild enough to be used daily. This, again, starts taking effect on your skin from the first use, and brings impurities to the surface to then prevent future break out occurrences.

Always carry a hand towel with you at the gym to wipe away excess sweat that could be damaging your skin, and use a good brand's facial wipes before and after to cleanse your face further.

Yes To Carrots is available in the UK at all good Holland and Barrett stores or online at ASOS.

Yes To Carrots is available in France, Spain and the USA at all good Sephora stores.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC SKINCARE ROUTINE?

Going H.A.M

Friday is one of those days. It's the last day of the gym week and I'm knackered, and my groin was gradually getting better... As for my food diary, it was brief, but here it is!

I WENT H.A.M at the gym today! Today's workout went as follows:

No bike!

20 minutes on the treadmill (automatic timer) - 2.45km at 6.3

100 x hip abductors (inward) at 40lbs

100 x hip abductors (outward) - 40lbs

80 x rotary torsos - 60lbs

150 x abdominals - 70lbs

20 x abdominals - 60lbs

200 x leg presses - 55lbs

50 x leg presses - 70lbs

100 x tricep extensions - 50lbs

I've slendertoned up today, but I need new pads! Hoping that they haven't gone up too much...

Today's food: grapes, small hot chocolate, cajun chicken wrap, granola with yoghurt, small red berry cooler, sausage w small amount of chips (ate with mum)

Mothers Day this Sunday, and I'm taking mum out to a Mexican restaurant that she likes! Starting to worry that this may affect my weigh-in on Monday with a gym-free weekend!

image courtesy of google

DO YOU TAKE WEEKENDS OFF?

Overstretched

Another little diary entry as usual:

I woke up in pain. My back/chest/arms/calfs/thigh/bum - all fine. Groin? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I even waddled most of the day. I went to the gym anyway but I said I'd go easier on myself. But after my workout I felt a lot better to be honest, I'm pleased with what I managed to do despite my groin.

My workout went as follows:

24:12 minutes on the bike - 10.36km at level 4 - 5

14 minutes on the treadmill - 1.5km at level 5.5 - 6

100 x hip abductors (inward) - 40lbs

100 x hip abductors (outward) - 40lbs

100 x rotary torsos - 40lbs

40 x rotary torsos - 50lbs

200 x abdominals - 60lbs

50 x abdominals - 70lbs

200 x leg presses - 60lbs

100 x tricep extensions - 50lbs

Today's food: honey nut shredded wheat, sweet chilli chicken wrap, a small cheeseburger, and a Slimming World hi-fi bar

I was so achey that day I got in bed at 4pm and didn't get out again until the next morning. Maybe I should do a few stretches before and after my workouts? Anyway today's image is a page out of my diary with a timescale and my aims... Will I be able to do it, who knows?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE-GYM WARM UP SUGGESTIONS?

A Glimpse of Reality

This was the day that I decided to face my demons, and I've decided to share my demons with you. These demons come in the form of an image - two to be precise - of me without the shelter of my baggy tops or my sucky-in jeans. Many people show a picture whilst they have clothes on, but I can fool very easily. When people guess my weight, they generally estimate about two stone less than I actually am, and so I wanted the real truth. Even if the camera adds 10lbs, this is how I want to see myself before I begin my journey.

Here's my diary entry from Wednesday:

When I woke up I was achey, not massively, but achey. Which was a great feeling because it means that things are falling into place nicely! Today I went iiiiiiiin and now I am aching like a bitch - only my upper legs, thighs and groin area though which is great because they're the areas that I'm desperate to fix. I want to start doing fortnightly images of me in my gym clothes so I can see progress beyond this, but the devil images in my book are giving me a rude awakening and I can see what I want to change about myself. I think you work harder when you know you're paying, and I really enjoy the gym. I may do a while on the Slendertone for my abs.

My workout went as follows:

20 minutes on the treadmill (automatic timer) - 2.07km at levels 5.5 - 6.5

25 minutes on the bike - 10.36km at level 5

80 x rotary torsos - 40lbs

200 x abdominals - 40lbs

100 x hip abductors (inward) - 40lbs

100 x hip abductors (outward) - 40lbs

100 x thigh press - 40lbs

20 x thigh press - 55lbs

100 x tricep extensions - 40lbs

40 x chest presses - 25lbs

8 x chest presses - 40lbs

Today's food: honey nut shredded wheat, jacket potato w cheese, beans and salad, chicken and sweetcorn pasta

Upping the Ante

This is another one of those looking-back posts, and it's one of the best days I have in my diary yet, if not the best.

Mood: Saw a Beyoncé video and felt empowered. Yesterday was crappy and stressy and crappy some more. However today, I am upping the ante. I think I'm going to develop myself a workout routine. If I could combine a mixture of my favourite workout DVDs and morph them into one great workout, that'd be great. Although workout DVDs leave me with a flat stomach and not much else. My thighs are my problem area so maybe all this is useless. I think I'll join the gym. Watch this space...

[that evening] I JOINED THE GYM YAY! Had such a great workout and I really enjoyed it there. I want it to get better and better, so not only will I write down what I eat, but I'll write down what I do. I want progress. I thought I'd be scared about the men there - I get so nervous and self-conscious - and I even considered joining a women's gym. This one's so much cheaper though. It's all because Charlie* said that when he used to go to the gym he went into a 'dark room' that was there for the people working out that were a bit shy, and he just watched them. This thought has terrified me ever since he told me that about three years ago. But I looked around and apart from the odd occasional awkward eye contact, nobody was staring. In fact, everyone was there for the same reason. There's nothing to worry about. The showers there are good too... I know I'm a student on a budget but do you think they'd mind if I saved my water bill and just used theirs? Legit action plan.

My workout went as follows:

20 minutes on the treadmill (automatic timer) - 1.3km at Level 5.0

26 minutes on the bike - 9.95km at Level 4

60 x hip abductors (inward) - 40lbs

100 x abdominals - 40lbs

50 x rotary torsos - 40lbs

Today's food: sweet chilli chicken wrap, chicken and sweetcorn sandwich, salt and vinegar snack-a-jacks

I hate being at uni late, there's no decent food around and I end up eating sandwiches and things made by other people that I guarantee are nowhere near as good for me as if I had made them... 

WHEN WAS YOUR TURNING POINT? 

First Day Blues and The Diary

I've kept a diary to track my eating and my feelings about my body/my eating for a long time. I stuck images of Tyra Banks and other beautiful women inside with encouraging quotes in the hope that I would be inspired from the get go. I started the diary I'm currently using last June, and it's taken me until now - now I'm at my biggest - to look at myself and wonder why that wasn't enough.

I started this blog a week after I started my new regime, and so this post is scheduled back to when I wrote in my diary, so you can see what I'm thinking, eating and feeling. So here it is.

Weight: 14st 9lbs. Mood: Fed up but somehow optimistic. I wish I could've felt like this and stuck to it sooner. February was a crappy month. Ate anything and everything to try and get over the fact that I'm single. Charlie* [my ex] and I never had a functional relationship, and it hurts me to say that a part of me always felt single, but now, I'm Bridget Jones stone-cold single. I feel like I should be going H.A.M on this now, you know, just in case I happen to see him around. I need to look good, although these days I do wonder what is beautiful to people anymore. I should make more of an effort. I am a young, single, free woman. But it's not just that. I left this so late so I have work experience in dead on two weeks and I'm pretty sure that this is the biggest I've ever been. I don't want to be the fat intern girl at a top fashion magazine. Then there's Jack Everett* [a musician friend of mine]. I have tickets to his gig in April and I'm pretty sure I need to look the part. That's nearly eight weeks away, so I really want to work on that. And then four weeks later is my birthday, my 20th birthday at that. I keep saying it, but I really don't want to be fat in my twenties. I want to have my dream body by the time I'm 21.

Today's food: jacket potato w cheese and beans, pitta w chicken tikka and salad, dairylea dunkers, slice of pizza

Had a late one at uni and felt a bit stressed but overall it was okay. 

*names have been changed

DO YOU KEEP A FOOD DIARY?