My little herb garden! L-R Mint, Basil, Basil, Parsley and Chives.
I started a detox today for 5 days: (see here: http://www.staysharpbestrong.com/detox-plan/) and cooked up a big batch of lentils and quinoa to add to my salad and stir fry. Am excited to hopefully feel a bit more lively and less lethargic. Am so reliant on chocolate!
So I have been continuing with my health and fitness, I have just forgotten to update!
I have been going to the gym regularly (not this week, as I have a trapped nerve in my shoulder/back which I made worse on Tuesday) and going to MMA class on Tuesday evenings and Body pump on Thursday evenings.
To be honest, my main area to work on is food. I have been a lot better but I have a tendency to snack on things, which of course are then forgotten!
Yesterday I gave up all refined sugar, mainly chocolate as I don’t eat sweets or cakes really now anyway. Chocolate is such a big thing for me, I never used to be that bothered, but I’d easily say I was addicted now. Funny, I compared it to giving up smoking (I gave up nearly a year ago) where I used to say ‘I just don’t think I could go a day without it’. I felt that way about chocolate too, which is pathetic really.
Anyway so yesterday I didn’t have any, and considering my previous statement, I didn’t seem to miss it. I am currently sitting at work with loads of chocolate people have brought in from holiday (and I’m in on my own too, so the temptation is even greater) and I’m not going to have any, I know I’m not. Because I’ll never lose the spare tyre if I don’t stop eating the bad sugars.
I am hoping to be back in the gym next week, if my shoulder is better. Doing the MMA class on Tuesday was brilliant, but as we do lots of press ups I found my shoulder to be in agony. Aside from that, in terms of actual muscle ache, my bum and thighs are KILLING. In a good way!
Also I got a blender a few weeks ago, and have been obsessed with making yummy smoothies. Sometimes I think I’m maybe eating too much fruit, which makes a change from what I used to be like years ago!
I was cleaning on Saturday, and suddenly felt the urge to exercise!! Funny how that occasionally happens when you least expect it. Beyonce’s ‘Run The World’ came on and I just thought, do something! So I grabbed one of my crossfit exercise sheets (which I found here) and just did it. I did 15 sit ups, 25 press ups and 35 air squats, as many as poss in 20 mins. Felt good and was so easy – 20 mins isn’t even a long time out of the whole day. So I’m aiming to do these as much as possible on a daily basis.
I have now decided that I want to convert the garage into a weights gym – literally just put some mats down, get a barbell and weights, some mirrors and get the music on!
Update
I have just purchased some Proteint shake online, with a voucher from the gym (£20) so paid £9.99 for it. Will be using it after my workouts!
Since January I have been going to the gym at lunch, approx 3-4 times a week, mainly doing rowing and weights. Though i feel good, I have not seen as much in the way of results that I would have liked.
About a month ago, I had an allergy test done at http://www.herbal-inn.com/ and they said I was severely gluten intolerant. This might explain the fact that I feel sick almost every single day, and I’m not talking about slightly nauseous I mean, there’s a chance I might throw up…! So anyway, I cut out gluten and have been trying to see if there’s any changes. I think there are, but after almost 5 years of constant nausea, its hard to know whats normal!!
Anyway, I also stepped up the fitness, by doing a MMA class locally, which was absolutely ruinous. I couldn’t walk for about 3 days, but discovered that the weights I had been doing in the gym on my arms and chest had obviously helped, as they didn’t hurt anywhere near as much.
This week I tried a Boxercise class, which, for my personal fitness tastes, was not enough. It was boring to be honest, and I didn’t even hurt afterwards. So I was somewhat apprehensive about doing Body Pump last night. I shouldn’t have been though!! It was brilliant; weight lifting to music, does it get any better? I absolutely loved it, I could do that class every day if it was on!! Back to the gym today, and perhaps I’ll practice some of my moves there.
So that’s the fitness side. The food side has been a slight struggle. I can’t have protein shakes as they contain gluten, and I really need to find a gluten free one so I can have that immediately after my classes and gym workouts. I have been having so much fruit and veg, and really need to have more meat as I am almost back to a vegetarian diet (I was veggie for 10 years up until about 2 years ago). But I need to lose weight. I’m not grossly overweight by any stretch of the imagination, but I have what I affectionately call my ‘donut’ (belly) and some serious toning up to do on my arms and legs, as well as the abs.
I have started tracking food and exercise on http://www.myfitnesspal.com and will update this blog with photos when I start to look good!
Until then…
SJ
SJ Health and Fitness Plan 