07-30-2014
Looking forward to the challenge. I have been trying to stop with a couple of nasty habits and this might just be the chance to go for it! The worst is a current addiction to chewing gum... not very attractive and quite damaging in the long run, so I gather.
In addition, having ahead of me 6 extremely busy and stressful weeks at work (Summer holidays mean you have to work for 2 or 3...), I need something to keep me sane throughout. A challenge could be the thing to make me resist slumbering in the couch in front of the TV, when I get home after a very tiring and sometimes frustrating day and get active instead.
I definitely got my hopes on this challenge :-)
08-10-2014 12:50 CET
My weigh-in was done, now waiting for the judges to approve the photos.
I got the 7 day jump-start from Natalie Jill program as a guideline, so that I do not stray too much. It will be a big challenge tp keep to small portions and not so much fruit (I just love fruit!). But I am really looking forward the tips and excercises that Jill will be sending. That will really be motivating for me!
08-14-2014 20:24 CET
I just weighted myself and am 1 kg lighter! It is amazing and I think I know where it is coming from. I am following Natalie's 7 day jump start program and her daily menus. The portions are maybe just a bit smaller than what I used to eat in the main meals, but the difference is that Natalie only sets 2 pieces of fruit a day in her menus and I always ate 5 to 7 pieces. I just love fruit, so this restriction is hard for me. In any case, since I see such an immediate result I guess it will help me keep on going. Another thing could be that I have restricted almonds to 10-12 a day. Used to be 25-35.
Something I find difficult is to add the 3 healthy snacks in between meals! I always tend to forget them specially in the morning! Also water drinking is something I forget. I just get focused in the job at hand and don't move from my desk or drink for quite a while. I only get to 1 liter water, plus around 3 big cups (900 ml) green tea and one big cup (300 ml) regular english breakfast tea.
Regarding exercise: Iquats and lunges on Monday evening; running (35 min) and planking away (well 15 min)at the gym on Tuesday evening; squats and crunches on Wednesday evening. In about 5 min I will do the plank exercises Natalie recomended this morning.
In summary, need to focus more on: water drinking, healthy snack times, specially in the morning!
08-21-2014
This week seems like I had no weight loss. It is normal, but still a bit disappointing. However, my main goal to reduce the chewing gum (now only once a day) and to keep regular exercise throughout the week is working. So I am happy so far :)
I did some interval training with my run: 1 min at 8.5 km/h and 1.5 min at 10.5 km/h, for 30 min! Then 35 min of Natalie's workouts (planks mostly), then some lunges with weights, squats and crunches. Let's see if this will rev up my metabolism. According to Natalie you need to keep changing what you do, never feel comfortable with a training as it means the body is coping too well. You need to keep surprising it so it keeps spemding energy from stored fat. That's what we want!
Alright! Looking forward to a change in results next week after the above mind set!