Make fitness a priority

i am back in the gym this week, since my week off last week. and im happy to be back, going hard and esp with the cardio. i cant believe how much i am loving running on treadmill. doing hiit sprints and inclines and just changing it up. tuesday was a lift session with a tiny bit of cardio, wed was a major cardio treadmill session that lasted 2 hours and then today was a lift session with a tiny bit of cardio initially, but cause im enjoyed it so much i threw in another 10 mins of hiit sprints and 10 mins of steady running. i must be crazy, but im really loving it. and tommorow is a cardio day again. monday was a rest day. my only rest day for this week.

also i met up with my cousin for lunch on monday… and the first thing he said to me when we met up was, ive lost weight! and he could see my face was thinner etc…. since he saw me 2 months ago.

then on wed eve at work, a girl i used to work with years ago, but comes to our restaurant every now and again… came in for a meal with her folks, and she also said that to me straight away, and wanted to know how i was losing the weight, i just said i go to the gym and i stop eating this food here lol. funiily enough it was her dad who had also commented on my weight a few weeks ago… but he hadnt arrived yet when she said that. so that was nice. to be honest whilst im flattered that people are noticing that i am losing weight, im find it a bit embarressing and overwhelming… i dont actually like talking about it too much. cos it brings too much attention to myself and i dont like too much attention sometimes. esp about something so personal i feel. but i feel it comes with the territory i guess.

right that was the good news, the bad news…. whilst i have been sticking with the gym this week and loving it, today and yesterday i didnt make the best food choices. for the first time this year i had a binge today. i was craving junk, and i bought junk and i ate it. for the first time, i bought some chocolate and some crisps this year. i ordered a pizza and i ate it all. and i felt awful afterwards and i didnt enjoy it at all. so today was my binge. yesterday i indulged in these 2 small packets of crisps, 1 small plain lemon muffin, and 2 small chocolates from a box of assorted gift chocs. those things were just things my parents had bought and were lying about the house. my parents flew to SA yesterday, but this junk food was in the house, and usually i dont eat it, they eat and buy all the sugary stuff. but i find myself alone and this stuff is staring at me, and i found myself craving them so i had them. and now today the binge. i feel bad about it, but i know it didnt taste great, i didnt enjoy it, ive got it out my system, i told my self its my cheatmeal, cos im human and i should eat this stuff now and again if i need to, it can actually help with metabolism if u have been eating super healthy, and its good to have a cheat meal once a week or now and again. so its done and dusted, the positive is that i had it and it reminds me that it didnt taste nice or enjoyable and i can carry on with healthier eating tommorow. the rest of the day, yesterday and today, i did eat healthy and clean. and i intend to tommorow too.

the next cheatmeal i have, i will wait awhile for it, and i will plan it better. this one wasnt really planned. but im human. thats life. these things are gonna happen. onwards and upwards.

in the gym this week… whey hey!

friend at work commented on my weightloss today for the first time. she asked me how i lost weight. and was still talking to the other lady in the kitchen, saying look shes so slim :)

shes been struggling with her weight for a long time. she is a bit taller than me and overweight, and she wants to lose weight, and she will join weight watches but she never sticks with it. litterally the next day after joining she will be guzzling coke and ordering calzones for staff food or pasta etc. and i tell her thats nto gonna work, but by then shes given up. she knows i dont believe in weight watchers etc. and today she was asking me how i lost the weight so i told her… “you know this i go to the gym 5/6 days a week every week since the beginning of the year, and when was the last time you saw me eat pizza or pasta or calzones in this restaurant (we get free staff food and i work in an italian restaurant so its carb paradise) or when we go out to eat. thats how i lost it. and she knows its true. and then asked me if i take any weight loss tablets. so i told her i take some fitness supplements that help with my workouts, as well as i take green tea tablets and various multivitamins etc. but she kept going on about fat burning tablets and things to make you stop craving food. but i kept telling her, tablets alone arent gonna make you lose weight, stop eating calzones and pasta every day and do excerzize, but even if u dont want to do excerzize… just stop eating all the heavy bad carbs and that on its own will make all the difference.

i still dont think she got the point. all she wanted to know was what kind of tablets i take. cept i take various fitness supplements mainly that one should take if u work out alot and the rest is multivitamin , calcium tablets and omega fish oil, then green tea tablets. i told her to try the green tea tablets. but yeah… i dont think she sees the fact that changing her diet is the most important thing.

so my boss was asking me later what i wanted for staff food, and my friend was next to me and she rolled her eyes and looked at me, and said ana will be having salad. lol. i ended up ordering antipasto for 1 with a small rocket salad. no dough sticks lol. and it was enough, i had it for supper with some chicken. i try to have protein with every meal.

funny thing is… people sometimes make fun of the way i eat at work, how i prep my food, and still sometiems bring in things to eat, or if i eat order the same things to eat every day, but i actually enjoy my food, and i eat a hell of a lot! healthy food can be tasty and filling. i am not starving i eat all day long right through. i dont callorie count, but i know for the most part, a rough idea of the callories. and i eat clean and i know that i eat 95% healthy & clean. i dont really indulge in cheatmeals yet… save for a few bites of something naughty. but that doesnt happen often. i may introduce proper cheatmeals into my life at some point, but i dont really crave them. its no mean feat when i serve pizza and pasta and deserts and other fried foods all day long. my skin is glowing, no spots, ive lost fat, more energy, im happier, im not depressed anymore. ive lost my muffin top, im fitting into my smallest jeans i kept aside a while ago, that i didnt think i would ever fit into again.

and this journey is only beginning… i still have a long way to go…

having said that, i actually feel guilty that i took a whole week off fitness this week. im itching to get into the gym again. this is my first official weeks break from the gym in this whole year. it was not a easy choice to make. i did it purely for a silly cosmetic reason. but i justified it as giving my body a break which is a good thing. sometimes u need a total break and then u can jump back in. stronger and renewed.

well ive been on this journey since january 14 and its 17 may… its been 5 months so far… and im really happy with my progress… so i cant wait to see how things are when i hit the milestone for 1 year and beyond. if i stick with it, which i intend to, then i think it should be good.

all this came about when i saw some xmas pics of myself last year, and subsequently also some wedding pics where i was overweight as well as holiday pics from novemeber last year. but it was mainly the xmas pics… that upset me the most. i still remember writing an entry about it. about how upset i was at how overweight i had become agian, as i had been very overweight in the past. no one labled it, but i say i was obese a few years ago. and i was so upset that i was going back to that person, that i vowed that 2013 was the year i make fitness and my health a priority, i didnt want to be that depressed fat girl anymore. and im still going strong. cos i am strong ;)

Even the largest avalanche is triggered by small things.” ~Vernor Vinge

sometime i put aside about 4 old pairs of jeans that i could no longer fit into as i was overweight. i could not zip them up, and if i did, it was a very tight squeeze with flesh spilling out. so i kept it aside, telling myself that i would wear it again some time in future when lost weight. i tried them again this week…. and they all fit except one which is a very tight slim pair…, planning to fit into those too at some point. so impressed… these 3 pairs are my smallest jeans that i own…

and its really cool cos i was contemplating buying new jeans cos mine are getting loose and baggy and now i dont have to. and they are really nice jeans too. fit is jsut right.

so very pleased. all my small clothes i been keeping aside… for over a year cos i put on so much weight, i can fit into now.

and you know what the best bit is… i lost so much weight mainly through lifting weights/strength training since january this year till present. i only ever did 15 mins hiit cardio at the end of each lift session. and ive only now in the last 2 weeks introduced alot more planned hiit cardio, because i really want to burn fat quickly now.

so this just goes to show and prove that lifting weights really does burn fat and build muscle and help to lose weight. and it helps to tone the body more than only cardio alone. i also have built and am continuing to build muscle, and want to blast fat so it can show more, how ever because ive been doing strength training alot, the scale doesnt always show that ive lost tons of weight. but i am not losing weight, im losing fat… and buildingg muscle. so maybe the scale hasnt dropped the weight not as dramatically as i want… but the mirror and clothes are showing me everything i need to know.

i am really pleased so far. i still have a long way to go. my goal and main problem area is to slim my thighs down considerably, but it is the hardest area and its impossible to focus only on that area, just have to do my best and hope it will happen.

still a long long way to go… but i will keep up with it, it is a lifestyle thing anyway. it keeps me happy and interests me.

working out!. stark contrast to the girl last year who was depressed and overweight… and unhappy… it took seeing some fat xmas pictures and other pics prior… to jolt me out of it… id had enough of that miserable person. i changed my eating habits, i went to the gym… i predominantly lifted with a tiny bit of cardio… since mid jan this year… and i have lost a lot of weight through that, not hours and hours of steady boring cardio. i have only now in the last 3 weeks re-introduced hIIT cardio into my workouts and im on a new workout trainer challenge and im loving it.

ive also re-discovered the joys of running! i am totally in love with it. its my favourite thing to do. i can run for longer distances and at higher intensity levels. and do sprints and run on inclines etc. i jsut love the treadmill. its my fave machine. ive also gone from never being able to doing pushups properly ( basically on my knees) to being able to do 30 pushups consecutively, im aiming for 50 pushups nonstop now. i do them everyday. i also want to master the pullup and i do them assisted everyday… but i will get there one day. i first need to be able to do one! jsut one!... and go from there.

im also lifting heavier weights gradually and its a great feeling to do that. but im not to bothered about going to heavy weights, its more bout reps and sets and form and building the muscle then the strengh. as a female there is only so much i can do in that regard. and im loving learning new workout techniques and things i never knew before. there is a science to working out. its not just a physical thing, to get the most out of it, you need to study the best methods to get the results and understand why u do what u do. whenever i go to gym, i go in fully aware of what i will be doing on that day, i have my notebook, i track everything i do, every weight, every rep and i refer back to see if i can increase them. i go in with a plan, and i like it that way. no just doing what i feel like at that moment. and its the same with the food. i love learning bout the nutrtion side of things, and i do alot of that. getting fit is about ur nutrition as well as fitness. in fact the nutrition is more important. i am very fussy bout what goes in my body. and im happy… ive never felt better, physically mentally etc. the minute i stopped eating junk… my health improved on so many levels. and i struggled with spots alot before… now… i very rarely get spots… i might get one small spot once every 3 months now. its so true… u are what u eat. i plan my meals every day… i know every day… the day before what i will be having all day right trhought the eve… till i go to bed. i prep my food, i bring my snacks and things with me to eat throught out the day… and its a habit. i do every day. im totally used to being like this.

am so happy i made this change. its the best thing i ever did :)

working out, has also kept me sane when everything else around me was going wrong. i just love it. and i cant give it up. its part of me. i never miss a workout to this day… come rain, snow or shine. unless it is a hurricane, earthquake or tsunami… or some other natural disaster… i’ll be at the gym! :)

compliments on my weightloss 2 days ago.

first a girl i used to work with ages ago, that i see now and again… came into the restaurant to book a table for friday… i waved hi… and the first thing she said to me… was you’ve lost weight… before anything else… so i smiled and said yeah im working on it… i noticed she was also wearing gym gear… and asked if she had been to the gym… but she said she actually started her own business as a personal trainer since having her son as the hours suit her lifestyle now. so we talked about that. and i thought it was cool that she a personal trainer… who knew me from when i was overweight noticed my weightloss. plus i see her all over the place and its usually when im in my gym gear working to and from the gym!

anyway the other compliment was really sweet. was from one of our regular customers who came in with his wife later that evening… and he said hello to me, and said “your looking well”, as he greeted me and the others… so i said thanks and same to you. then later that eve as they were about to leave and i was walking past… he said to me randomly loudly out of the blue… “you’ve lost weight! your looking stunning!” and i just laughed and said thanks, and was a bit embarressed. cos he just said it so loudly and randomly in the middle of restaurant, im sure all my tables around us heard him.

but anyway that made my day.

after 4 months of working out and eating clean consistently… people are starting to notice that im changing.

but i still have a long way to go. i am going to incorporate a bit more cardio to blast fat more quickly, tho i dont really care for lots of cardio. so this week i have been upping the cardio and going all out with more cardio and a little strength training. i basically do 100 situps, pullups, pressups and weighted squats each day and then i do an hour of 10×6 hiit/steady state cardio on various machines. i would prefer to be doing only strength training and 15 mins hiit cardio personally but this is the plan for this week. jsut changing it up a bit. making up my own routine. next week am starting a new 45 day plan which involved strength training as well as hiit cardio… so this week im just gearing up for that, buy getting in cardio mode. but i am so not a cardio bunny. give me free weights or a barbel or jsut let me do body weight workouts any day. but it is a necessary evil for now. im also wanting to cut back my workouts, as currently im spending 2 – 2 1/2 hours in the gym… and thats too much. i wanna try and bring it down to 1 hour, esp with the new programme, which says its possible.

looking forward to learning new strength training techniques on new programme as well as new workouts and CV workouts.

also might play around with my nutrition more… and eat more to build more muscle. (which scares me) and more complex carbs/carb cycling… and the odd cheat meal eventually.

eventually im also planning on doing out door jogging again in the morning and then go to the gym in the afternoon on the same day on some days.

so thats where i am at the moment. still long way to go… but i beleive i will get there with time.

fitness week at the gym. currently not following any trainer… as i jsut finished the james wilson 12 week trainer last week :) so i am still deciding what trainer to follow next week. so for this past week and this week comming from tommorow i have been doing the following workout routine that i put together for myself. and it takes me about 2 hours in the gym but i enjoy it. so its all good.

first i did the Angie WOD strength circuit involving 100 situps, 100 pullups, 100 pushups and 100 squats (love this little circuit!). then i did a barbell “cardio” strength routine for 5 mins involving, deadlifts, snatch, shoulder press, squats and lunges for 5 mins. love that too, tho its hardcore. i cant do more than 5 mins before i have to stop for a rest. im hoping to increase my time on this with time. then i did 4 sets of 15 reps each on the leg press, leg extentions, leg curls, reverse bench crunch, and medicne ball crunch and then i jump on the stair master for 15 mins and rock that out. i did up the level recently but i still find it easy now. i might attempt a higher level again. its funny i used to hate this machine and call it the monster but now i love it. after that i go for a chill cool down session for 15/20 mins on the stationary bike and mess about on my phone. burn some easy callories.

this has been my daily workout for this week. and i am planning on doing it for one more week. while i decide what trainer i want to start on the following week. i am umming and ahing over another james week 12 week trainer (the weeks 13-24 continuation) or doing an intense 45 day trainer that i have been hearing good things about…. :)

a great session today. was really cool cos i wore a small top that used to be really small and super tight, and today, it jsut fitted right and even slightly loose! loving seeing how my body is changing and getting toned. i make sure i do pullups/lat pulldowns as well as weighted squats every time i go to gym even tho its not part of my routine. and i think the squats are doing my booty good. everything is doing good. slow and steady wins the race.

i have a week and a day left of my james wilson trainer, and then i can say i officially finished the 12 week challenge. im feeling pretty good about it. this is the first time i finished a 12 week trainer. i have tried a different one before but gave up half way. i will probably re do that one one day in the future.

contemplating doing his week 13 – 24 week challenge next… but im contemplating interspersing the first 8 weeks of it with alternate weeks with some less resistance training and more intense cardio for the week. so its mixing it up, but its jsut a thought. i hate cardio and usually keep it to a bare minimum. but i wanna do everything i can to slim down my thigh area. its a thought. i love resistance/strength training. i love lifting, i love getting strong. i love being able to lift heavier than when i started. i jsut love the feeling of it, i love being one of the few girls in the weights room, and i love going all out. im not there to gossip and chat, im not there to look pretty, i sweat and i give it my all. and i enjoy every second. i feel so friggin good during it and when i leave the gym, nothing can replace my high. i love learning new moves and lifts and routines and excercises. and i like enjoying the male candy around me. and you know what i think i have earned some respect from certain of my regular male gym goers. they see i aint there to mess about. and im good with good gym ettiquete.

also i upped my level on stairmaster today, it was harder but i managed and i may have to up it agian.

seriously this is my happy place, and i cant imagine giving up on gym anymore. i hope i never do.

thinking that once i finish the james wilson 12 week trainer (im currently on week 11)... im gonna spend the rest of this year focussed on doing mostly cardio workouts each day. bit of HIIT and steady cardio. add to that i want to add in some sort of leg workout routine, and something for arms too. because basically i want to blast fat, but also i want to work on legs and thighs, for me, i can live with the rest of my body, but i jsut wanna get my legs to look thinner and better. for me, its my problem area. so i wanna try and focus on them in some way. so def the cardio for overall. and then some leg stuff. i know i cant spot reduce this area, but i can certainly work on getting it toned.

so whilst currently its all been strength training and a little cardio at the end, now its gonna be cardio and a little strength training. i need to blast fat, and its the only way to get it done quick. thinking will stick to this plan for the rest of the year till August holiday.

i jsut now have to formulate the routine for each day. the cardio stuff is easy… its the resistance stuff i wanna think about. i have some old faithful excercizes i wanna be doing. but i need to think about it all.

strong, and getting strong! this is my happy place, this is a priority to me. whatever else is going on in my life, i wont give up on this. i make sure i go to the gym 5 days a week. and i have stuck with it since the beginning of the year. and it shows.

so happy.