What a difference a year makes

Many times over the years I have tried to lose weight. If there was any diet out there, I have tried it. Been there, done it and got the t-shirt. They worked for a short while, but no sooner the weight had come off, it would pile back on again. I would say that I have spend hundreds of pounds over the years, on personal training sessions, hypnosis, bootcamps, weird diets, the list goes on. Getting into London Marathon was the time that I thought I would shift it, how could I not with all that running? But I piled it on during training, and I ended up looking like this:

I was looking through all my London Marathon photos the other day and to be honest I was shocked at what I saw. I know I have lost a lot of weight this year, 32lbs to be exact, but I had no idea how bad I looked! Considering the event that I was about to do, it is no surprise that I didn't achieve what I wanted to on the day, it makes me really embarrassed to see this photograph, but we have to accept these things to move on. Now I can use it as motivation to never get there again, my official before photo, well, one of the many, this is another, and it's a shocker!!

That me on the right with my wonderful sister, and was taken at my best friends engagement party 3 years ago. Now that is somewhere that I don't want to be again!

When I had completed London Marathon, I knew I desperately needed to do something about my weight, so I got in touch with the only Personal Trainer that I have really trusted and knew reasonably well, Oli Thompson at Peak Fitness in Warwick. Oli and I fought for a few months whilst I was trying to get my diet together and into a different mindset of training, but we both stuck with it and soon enough the results started coming. I think the main issue was that I had no set goal, I had toyed with the idea of attempting a 70.3 distance triathlon , more half marathons and other ridiculous challenges, so much so that I forgot the main goal, to get onto shape. I realised that I risked doing exactly the same as I did when training for London Marathon and putting on weight. Once I had accepted this and forgot all the other stuff I was able to focus on what I needed to do, how I needed to change my diet and what to focus on during training sessions.

I think the main thing that has changed over the last few months is my attitude. After my abysmal attempt at a sub30 5k you would have thought the world had ended, but a talking to from my sister Helen bought it home to me, whether I got a sub30 or not did not determine the person I had become, my attitude and determination towards the transformation that I had started determined the person that I had now become and I had to keep focused on what I wanted to achieve - losing weight. The sub30 would come, it just wasn't my day, and like Helen said, maybe speed just isn't my thing,  but endurance is.

A couple of weeks ago was Regency Runners Christmas Party, so was a chance to get dressed up, which I love to do, my false lashes can never be too long! I had a great night, and was shocked by the other runners reaction to how I looked. One girl, Michelle, who I ran with a few times during training for London Marathon and I'd not seen since didn't even recognise me, I was asked on numerous occasions where my bust had disappeared to and told I looked like everything had been sucked in and lifted up, and in a photograph taken before I left the house I almost look as if I have a jawline! I must admit that it was a great boost in confidence going to Christmas to see that all the hard work over the last 6 months had paid off.

I had set myself targets for the end of December which were to get that elusive sub30 5k, something that maybe a little ambitious and I don't think I am going to get but I still have 2 days left to try for it so I have to do as I'm told by my running mentor and run like I mean it! The second was to drop 6lb on December, again something that I am not going to make, but I'm still taking a positive from it that I am still coming out of December 2lbs lighter than I went into it, considering my usual December involves at least 6 dozen mince pies and 4 tins of Quality Street my self control over the festive period was brilliant, only cracking for dessert during Christmas dinner and 7 single Roses in the evening. I have kept my training up throughout the month, I have missed a couple of active recovery days over the month but I haven't missed a strength session, and have upped the weights that was set at the beginning of the month by Oli so I am hoping that when it comes to weigh in my muscle mass will have increased and that my body fat percentage will have gone down. The third target that I set myself for the end of December was to complete 6 full press ups, which I completed 2 sets of yesterday, hooray!

Overall I feel so much better, it's a good feeling to know that my clothes fit and I have even thrown some clothes out for being far too big. Today I not only bought a new coat, but I bought it from GAP, somewhere that I have never shopped before (mainly as they stock size 4, which I don't understand) and I didn't have to just settle for the coat that had the biggest size, I could chose from many and actually instead of needing the XL it was the L that fitted and to be fair, even though that is still a really big size, it is huge steps considering that in January I was wearing a size 18 which was too tight, and now I am comfortably wearing a size 16 and I can see my curves coming back, I have a proper waist and the relentless squats that Oli has put in my programme seem to be doing my bum some good, peachy!

I have such a long way to go on this journey so I mustn't get complacent, I have to keep focused as I go into the New Year and I know I have the support to do this with family and friends, Oli, Paul aka  @TheIron_Bear and all the lovely people that I talk to on Twitter who are going through their own journeys, it's good to know that you can lean on complete strangers for support, they never judge you, just give encouragement and I can't thank them enough. 

So, looking into the New Year and 2013, I have to set myself some targets to meet:

1. Reduce my body fat percentage to 25%
2. Enroll in Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training
3. Run a sub30 5k (I won't let this one go!)
4. Shrink to a size 12

Ok, lets go....

Obsession is commitment

During my last post I mentioned how motivated I felt after my lastpersonal training session. That was two weeks ago now, and I'm pleased to saythat my motivation hasn't slipped, in fact, I am flying through the month andam feeling in control, making good choices and following my training plan tothe letter. This is a big thing for me, as my past Decembers have involved meeating as much food as I can. I'm being serious about this, I used December asan excuse for a free for all, every day I would eat to excess, mince pie aftermince pie, Quality Street until they came out my ears, you name it I ateit...... it was ok though, after all it was Christmas. In fact I distinctlyremember troughing my way through a tin of Quality Street within the first weekof the month, then going out and buying boxes as 'refills' for the tin (mainlyso visitors were less likely to know how many I have eaten). So as you tell,this December I am a completely different person!

I have had one cheat day this month, when friends visited. Thiswas an agreed cheat meal with Oli so it was allowed and part of the plan thathe had set for me for the month, I am allowed one more, which we agreed to beChristmas Day. Now, my original plan was to wake up early on Christmas Day and face-plant into a tin of Quality Street, but after how I felt the dayafter eating pizza on my planned cheat day, and an unexpected small weightgain, I've decided not to take Christmas Day as a cheat day, instead I am going to stay disciplined and strong.

Part of the reason that I have been able to stay focused thismonth is because I have carried on with the Advent Challenge that I mentionedduring my last post. Every day we are challenged to either a physical challengesuch as 5k runs or squats and lunges continually through BBC SPOTY (very closeto giving up on that one....so tough!!) or a challenge such as drink enoughwater, book a race for next year, give yourself only 6 nights of drinking forthe rest of the month. I have to say, it has been a great motivational tool forme and a few friends and has helped me to stay on track and continue to makegood choices as regards to food and training throughout the month.@StuartAmoryPT is a great follow on Twitter, I'd recommend him to anyone as hismotivational tools are excellent.

I mentioned earlier that after my cheatmeal I gained a little weight that I can't seem get rid of, this could also bedue to the fact that it's that time of the month so I could be retaining alittle water, but still, it's been bugging me over the last few days. Manypeople wouldn't recommend weighing yourself every day,but for me it helps to keep me on track, if I miss a few days, I don't have tomake myself accountable, then I lose my focus. I have been stuck on the samenumber now for 5 days or so, and am getting frustrated. I talked this morningto my friend Paul who said I mustn't get consumed bythe number, as it's what is going on inside that matters, so muscle mass, bodyfat % etc. I get this, but my 'obsession' isn't just with the scales, it isalso with my diet, discipline with training, choices I make, surely this is howit is supposed to be to keep me focused, or just that it works this way for me.I saw a quote somewhere a few weeks ago that completely makes sense to me -"You call it an obsession, I call it commitment"

Milestones

Today has been one of those days that just keeps on giving! I can't remember the last time I have felt so motivated and focused, if ever.

This morning I woke up and weighed in. This is not my official weigh in, that was later on this morning before a PT session with Oli at Peak Fitness, but it gives me an indication of what I have lost. So, according to my scales, since my weigh in the day before London Marathon, I have lost 30lbs! I was curious to see what this has done to my BMI. So after a quick search on the internet I had worked it out to be 29.8, which meant I was no longer in the obese category! Aces! I'm not usually a fan of the BMI scale, but I found that this time, it really proved to me that what I am achieving is pretty amazing, I'm getting results, one step at a time.

Generally I have had a mixed few weeks, after the Impetigo incident where I was on house arrest for a week  and generally feeling sorry for myself at my temporary  deformed appearance, I had my bad run during a race (see last post) and then a week away where I found it very difficult to stay focused on eating clean (all with a horrible routine that Oli had set me 3 times a week!!). One thing I have found easy is picking myself back up and getting back on it again, which leads me to the conclusion that routine is really important to me; it enables me to stay focused.

Coming up to the beginning of December I was as usual offered an advent calendar by my Dad, and sensibly declined. This simple yearly tradition always end in exactly the same way, tearing the whole thing open on the 1st December and filling a bowl with all 24 chocolates, then polishing them off in about 15 minutes before hiding the wrapping at the bottom of the bin! Not this year though!!

I follow a guy on twitter @StuartAmoryPT and had noticed that he was setting an Advent Challenge so thought I would give it a go, so not only was I getting smugatronic from no chocolate but I was motivating myself towards Christmas which I know is going to be a huge challenge for me. The Advent challenge started with a 5k run on Saturday, which I did, not a fantastic time, but negative splits and consistency, something that I haven't had for some time! Sunday was a dietary challenge, no sweets, chocolate or cake which I found quite easy, so stuck a strength session in for good measure. Today's challenge is to complete the hashtag #bytheendof2012, after a lot of thinking a decided on the sub30 5k that is bugging me, 5 man press ups and 6lb weight loss. So today I have made myself accountable, and have 4 weeks, eeek! I'm looking forward to the next 21 days’ worth of challenges!

As I mentioned earlier today was PT day, we started with the usual weigh in, Oli's scales weigh slightly heavier than mine which meant according to these measurements my BMI is still over 30, but not by much, and as I said earlier, I don't usually take this measurement into account anyway. My own personal target this month was to get below 40% body fat, and I did just that with a reading of 38.7%, so I was well happy.

My muscle mass has gone down slightly but as Oli said I have had good results despite the ups and downs that I have had this month, so it's all positive. We also chatted about my diet over the next month, basically more of the same, and we have agreed on two cheat days, this Friday coming as  I have friends round in the evening, and Christmas Day.

I was a little apprehensive of what exercises Oli had in store for me today, seeing as though I had hated last month’s so much and threw my toys out my pram during every single set in every session! As I was warming up he got a few bits and pieces ready as he explained that he would be switching things up for the next month.

This month I was to concentrate on upping the weight, dropping the repetitions to 8, upping the sets to 6 and increasing rest time to 2 minutes. He did say that I might find this a little boring but I already liked the sound of it as heavy weights are my favourite. During the exercises Oli was taking the weights off me and replacing them with heavier weights, apparently I was making the exercises look far too easy! So once we had got the weights right, this was the programme that was agreed for the next month:

10 minutes cycle warm up, followed by:

• Squats, bum to ankles, 8kg dumbbells x 8
• Shoulder press, 9kg dumbbells x 8
• Repeat x 6
• Lunges, 8kg dumbbells x 8 each leg
• Lat pull down, 45kg x 8
• Repeat x 6
• 250m sprint row x 4, aim to beat previous time each time

This programme is to be completed 3 times a week, and Oli has also asked me to include active rest a couple of days a week, and I can continue to run with Regency Runners once a week, but no more than 3 miles.

We also had a little chat about my obsession with getting this sub30 for a 5k, Oli reminded me that this was not what I was training for, and to do so could risk me losing muscle so for the time being, this can go on the back burner. We talked about my own personal target of getting down to 25% body fat, and he is confident that I will get there in good time for the summer.  I skipped out of there really looking forward to the month ahead, and ready to tackle Christmas head on!

So I'll end with a photo, left is me in August, and the right is me this morning. It appears I'm losing my boobs!! (Hooray!) and my hips seem to be shaping up nicely 

Back to the drawing board, again

So today was the day, I was racing in a local 5k race andsub30 was the goal. I had been preparing for this race for some time, and itwould be a perfect opportunity to get that sub30, as the race was held at anairfield, so it was perfectly flat, and as luck would have it, perfect runningweather. So, all was set up for that PB, all I had to do was run like my lifedepended on it! This would set me up perfectly for a sub60 in next year’sRegency 10k.

On Thursday night I ran with Regency Runners in their 5ktime trial, and came in 30:46, so I felt reasonably confident that I would beable to shave off at least a minute to get that elusive sub30. My problem isthat every race I have ever competed in, for one reason or another, I havesomehow managed to fuck it up, why I thought today would be any different Idon't know, but I managed to fuck it up massively.

I have never been too bothered about time, getting out thereand running was always my primary goal, but since London Marathon I realisedthat if I want to call myself a proper runner, then I need to concentrate on myfitness and get faster, hence the hours in the gym. The main reason for this iswhen I ran London Marathon, I was close to two stone heavier than I am now, soI associate me running London Marathon with Extra Fat Laura, something that Iam working hard to move away from. I don’t want to be known as the fat girlthat finished London Marathon, I want to be known as the girl that changed theperson who she was and became a proper runner, make more sense now? 

I don't quite know what went wrong today; I tried so hard,maybe too hard to run a good race. I struggled to keep up with my runningfriends so decided to keep focused on me and run my own race rather than runtoo fast for the first half and then struggle to finish. As it turns outwhatever race plan I had didn't work out and theirs did, all my running matesgot that elusive sub30, yet I came in at 32:14, not even close, there is noexcuse for that. I've never felt so crushed, as no matter how hard I had triedto run faster, it just wasn't happening, I had given it everything I had, andthe result was beyond shit. 

So now I have to look at where I go from here, my initialfeeling is to just stop, as with a time like that running obviously isn’t mything, but I know that feeling is only temporary, and is stemming from a)feeling incredibly embarrassed, and b) being really really angry with myselffor fucking it up again. I could get up tomorrow and take myself out for a 5krun and given it another go, maybe it just wasn’t right on the day, but then ifI run tomorrow and don’t do it, it will confirm that I am in fact shit and willgive me more reason to quit.

Weigh-in

Well this week was the dreaded monthly weigh in. Again I had been confident up until Saturday, where it all went wrong just two days before I was due to step on the scales. I'm not saying being ill is an excuse to eat rubbish, but it was the reason that I did it. I'll come back to that later.
I weighed myself on my own scales Monday morning and as I expected after the weekends antics I had gained a little weight, but I wasn't worried, as that had been my only slip up since my last weigh in, and after all it was only a few slices of bread and a bag of crisps!

So I arrived at Peak Fitness for the moment of truth, and stepped on the scales. My last weigh in was a bit of a disaster, with a big drop in weight but most of it being muscle, and a 4% gain in body fat. The results today were great, only 500g weight loss but more importantly, 4% body fat LOSS (which I worked out to be 8lbs) and 3kg muscle gain, resting metobolic rate has gone up to 1705 and visceral fat now 8, all improvements on last months weigh in, so all in all, a great result!

Oli told me that he would be switching up my workout for the next month, again to really switch on my glutes, an obsession of his that is starting to wear thin!! So, this month my reps have gone up and rest periods have been reduced to 30 seconds, ok good. Walking lunges are again playing a key part, now without holding weights, but I have to do more, they are to be coupled with TRX rows (15), something that I will substitute in my gym, I was to do 4 sets of these. The next exercise I found really hard work, body weight squats - down, up a little, back down then back up - make sense? These were so hard, and at this point I was close to tears, Oli was being particuarly tough on my form and making sure I wasn't bouncing or leaning forward as my legs were screaming to take it all through my quads. I was to do 15 of these, coupled with 15 press ups, again 4 sets.

The one thing that struck me was that even though the workout I had been doing was hardwork, it has started to get easier as this session hit me like a train! On paper this doesn't really look that hard, but I was only half way through and I had had enough, my legs had stopped functioning properly and mentally I was struggling, I think what affected me most was the reduction in rest time, something that I am really going to have to be strict with myself on when I workout on my own!

After a trip to the doctors later that day, it seems that any trips to the gym this week are not going to happen. What I thought was a coldsore developed on my nose over the weekend, and resulted in the entire right hand side of my face swelling up, to the point on Sunday night that my right eye was starting to close up and the right side of my nose around four times bigger than the left (I think Oli secretly thought that I had stayed in fancy dress from Halloween, I hadn't, I hate Halloween). The doctor told me that it was more likely to be Impegito, which meant I was contagious, just what you need when you live on your own!!

I don't have to look very far to realise that it could be so much worse, so I'm counting my chickens! I mention my friend Paul every now and again in my blog as he is also on a journey of his own. We often chat about our training and the results that we are seeing, Paul is training for Ironman next July, and has come a hell of a long way in the last year, literally transforming himself into a whole new person! Paul is also very commited when he trains, has a great attitude and pushes himself way further than any normal human being, so it was gutting to hear that he had somehow managed to break his wrist, lacerate his kidney and take a chunk out of his pelvis after a fall from a great height in the gym, he has been told recovery could be up to 12 weeks. Paul was due to compete in Toughmudder in a couple of weeks, his last race of the season, and he is gutted his season is over, but already has a plan in place to make a comeback in February, and is itching to get back on a static bike.

It's getting real

This past weekend was the first time that I visibly noticed such a difference in my weight loss. I knew that I had been working hard but as I see myself everyday seeing the changes in yourself can be hard.

Luckily I have a habit of taking photos of myself, usually when I have new clothes and I'm trying to make up my mind if I like them or not. When I was getting dressed on Sunday I picked out a dress that I hadn't worn for a while, I put it on and it looked different, I could actually see a waist! I remembered that I took a photo of myself in it when I first bought it, back in May, and I was shocked at the difference:

This has really spurred me on and given me confidence that what I am doing is really working. I need to understand that this is going to be a slow process, as it is a life style change, not a quick fix.

As well as the visual changes, I have noticed a massive difference in my performance when running. I have stuck to the agreement with Oli and am still running just once a week and this is just enough for me.

This week at running club we did an 'Out&Back' session, simply 15 minutes out and then turn around and beat your time back. I always used to be pretty rubbish at these and rarely enjoyed them as they are sessions where you need to push yourself. We did this session a few weeks ago and all together I ran 2.5 miles in 28:30, the point tonight was to beat yourself during the last session.

The route starts off at The Pump Rooms in Leamington and up The Parade, which is quite a long slow hill, a left and a right then onto the Rugby Road towards Warwick. We set off and both myself and my sister Helen were both in a bit of a grump and both with a headache so not in a mood at all for a challenging run. Helen is one of the leaders of Regency Runners, so is a pretty speedy runner with a 5k in the sub25 region, but at the moment is making her return to running after having a year off to have a baby, as it happens, with me getting quicker, we are both running at around the same pace, so we both had someone to push against.

The 15 minute run out felt really good, and I managed to get further than I ever had before (to the bridge, for any RR members that might be reading) which is 1.43 miles. We turned around and realised that we then had to run uphill again but we stuck together and kept the pace up. I have to be honest, had I been on my own I think I would have dropped back, but I wasn't sure if I was pacing Helen or if she was pacing me! The benefits of running up The Parade on the way out, hard as it is, is that you get to run down it on the way back, and to me, running down The Parade is ace fun, you can really build up some speed and carry that momentum on back to The Pump Rooms.

When we arrived back, I checked my watch and we had both done really well. For a hilly run, we ran 2.85miles in 29:45, so a huge improvement for me on the last outing and an even better one for Helen as she builds up her pace again. With my 5k race 2 weeks away, I'm getting confident that I may just get this sub30, and if not, then I know I'm going to be on for a huge race PB (my current one is 33:33).

Operation sub30 5K

Since my return to running, it appears that I'm actually quite good at it! I have to give credit to the spin/RPM classes as I know that’s what kick-started my improved fitness but also losing the weight has had a massive impact.

Myself and my running friends (Jo, Sharon and Clair) or as Jo called us "The Regs" have entered a 5k race on 17th November and the goal is to get sub30.

I think if I can achieve this then I can safely put myself in the 'proper runner' category. I've had great fun since my return to Regency Runners, running with my friends again is great and I'm so happy I had a long break so I could appreciate it again. It has also helped that my sister Helen has started running again after having a baby, she's doing amazingly well and has joined "The Regs" at the back as she builds back up to her usual 24minute 5k! According to Jo, the back is where all the cool kids hang out, I reckon she's right! Well she must be as secretly all the fasties love running with us Regs!

As I agreed with Oli I'm running with group just once a week, which means I don’t get any over kill. Regency Runners are really great with running sessions that keep you on your toes, so over the last few weeks I've been joining in with the out and back sessions, hills, pace runs and 3k runs so I've been able to work on my pace.

I have also been using the treadmill to help me with pacing, running at 10kph and increasing the distance by 500m at a time. There has been a couple of near misses with this, firstly I started running and came close to losing my running bottoms (I decided to scrap that run) and during my next visit I decided to do my 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, this turned into an attempt at a PB for a mile, I surprised myself and managed 8.57, which  is great, but I must remember that when I press the cool down button, that the treadmill doesn't stop, as I nearly came belting off the back of it!

I'm on track with this pacing, up to 3k at just under 18minutes, and I felt like I could carry on as I felt really comfortable. So it's all going well just now, I'm just hoping that I don't get my usual shit Race Day where everything just seems to go out the window and I limp home with yet another shitty time! My friend Paul experienced that last weekend when his chain broke on the Grim Dualthlon totally wrecking his race! At least I know it’s not just me!

The lastest

It seems I'm getting a bit rubbish at keeping these posts up to date, as it has been pointed out to me by Paul that it has been 4 weeks since my last post so to be quite honest, I don't know where to start, there's far too much to say about what’s been going on recently!

During the last post, I talked about how my training had been centred around spin/RPM classes and I had just started running again after a long break due to shin splints, well, things have changed, again! I'm now running again, I'll post about that separately I think, but I'm no longer concentrating on spin/RPM classes, after a little (MASSIVE) bit of a telling off from Oli!

So I took myself off to my PT session (financial constraints mean that I am having one session a month now) where I was due to be weighed in and to be honest I was feeling pretty confident as I knew that I had dropped quite a bit of weight since my last weigh in. I had done all sorts to keep myself motivated and to stay focused, including this on my lounge wall: (I'm not mental......honest!! OK maybe a bit!!)

Unfortunately my confidence was shattered with the results of the weigh in, I had dropped weight, 15lbs, which you would think would make me happy, but the remaining results were not such happy reading! I had gained 4% body fat and lost a massive 4kg of muscle! My resting metabolic rate had dropped from 1750 to 1625.

Oli knew immediately without me having to tell him what I had been doing, he rightfully suggested that I had been sticking the diet well (with maybe a couple of slip ups), neglecting my strength training and upping my aerobic activity. I knew that I was risking losing muscle but not as much as I actually did! It was gutting, all that hard work building muscle and I had blown it, all of a sudden the drop in weight meant nothing to me, all I could see was that 4% gain in body fat, not something I can afford to do at my weight!!

Oli was really good at explaining to me what had happened, I would try to explain it to the rest of you but I would most likely get it wrong, but in short the spin/RPM was eating away at my muscle, not my body fat, so it was agreed (reluctantly by me) that I would drop the classes and go back to strength training, apparently what I do best as I am constantly reminded by Oli that for "a lass" I am actually quite strong. It was agreed that I should keep to running with Regency Runners once a week to do 3 strength training sessions a week. My immediate response was that surely this wasn't enough but Oli basically said, if you can do more than 3 strength sessions a week, you're not working hard enough!

So, Oli put me through my paces, starting with those f@%£ing walking lunges that I love so much! (I don't love them, that was sarcasm, just to be clear) Oli noticed that my form had improved (I was faking) so handed me a couple of 3kg weights and was told to go and do it again.
It was to get better when I had done that, straight into press ups, 4 sets. The next set of exercises were squats (ass to ankles) holding a 12.5kg kettle bell - nice, then straight into lat-pull down, I don't know the weight I did, as Oli keeps it hidden from me (probably to stop the whining), again 4 sets, and then 3 sets of kettle bell swings, with the 12.5kg. This doesn't sound very much I know, but at the end of it I was done! Oli had really kept the intensity up had been quite strict on my form so I was a bit battered when I stumbled out of there!

I spent the next few days trying to a) walk and b) get my head around the no cardio thing. The worst thing about this was I know damn well why I need to concentrate on strength training and not cardio, but I still convinced myself that there was no possible way that I was ever going to lose any weight by doing this....crazy I know! I don't think it helped that Oli told me my weight loss might slow down as I gain the muscle again. After spending the entire weekend whining to Paul about it I decided to go down and see Oli for a chat, I just needed everything confirmed and explained again to me which Oli did, this really got me focused again and ready for losing the next chunk of weight.

Since then, I have chucked out the size 18 pair of jeans that were constantly falling down (what a great feeling) and I'm now back in a pair of 16's, a teeny bit snug but it won't be for long, the goal is to get to a size 14 for Christmas, and then a size 12 for April.

The strength training sessions are going ok. They're bloody hard and are made that little bit harder by my stupid gym not having any kettle bells and having stupid shaped dumbbells that dig into my wrists! I'm remembering my "unless you faint, puke or die, keep going" from Jillian Michaels, which helps keep my focus in the gym and stops me slacking and taking too long a rest in between sets! I've managed to adapt from the equipment at Peak Fitness to the stuff that’s in my gym, and am much more confident in there now I know exactly what I need to do, and of course now I have dropped some weight and I don't feel as self-conscious!

I have managed to keep my weight pretty stable since my last weigh in, which I can only see as a good thing and I hope that means that I am building muscle and losing fat. My next weigh in is 5th November where Oli will also switch up my program, although I'm guessing that as he has successful in "switching my glutes on" that I can expect more of the same, just in a even more evil way!!