Flab burning update

Hi.

Is anyone still out there?

I know it has been a while but Mr Man and I have finally made the move to our very own East End abode and we were without internet for some time. I must admit though, it has been quite refreshing sitting down and talking to eachother in the evenings rather than just sitting on our respective laptops in our own little worlds or watching i-Player. In my evenings I’ve taken to having long baths while listening to the radio (who knew, what a pleasure!), cooking up healthy little storms, going to Zumba classes, catching up with friends and even just sitting by our Juliet balcony. It has been nice.

Anyway, back to the title of this post…

This blog has been due a flab burning update for some time. I don’t know if I’ve been putting this off for a reason or it’s just that I’ve filled the page with much more interesting items than the size of my derrière but here we go.

I’m so ashamed to admit this but here goes.

I have suspended my membership to BMF. Basically my shin has kept on causing me grief so when I was going more than once a week it was causing issues in being able to keep up with the group. If it wasn’t my left shin that was annoying me, my left ankle would decide to play up. After several months of this I realised it’s not normal to have pain for so long and just put up with it. I also felt like after 16 months of attending I had plateaued, even after seeing my fitness getting to levels I’d never seen before in the first year. So I’ve decided to take a break from it until winter and focus on different exercise, much of it less high impact. I plan to return in September – quitting BMF for good is not an option as I genuinely love it and don’t think you can get a better workout in London; plus, I’ve made some very lovely friends and would miss the social aspect if I quit for good.

This is not goodbye BMF, it’s see you later, soon hopefully.

What’s the plan now you ask?

I have sold my soul. I hate to admit this after prattling on for so long about the benefits of exercising outdoors, but Virgin Active has an amazing set of classes, is less than 10 minutes to get to from home and is on my way to work. It even has air-conditioned changing rooms so you’re not sweating like you’re back in that spin class as soon as you start blow-drying your hair. So far I’m quite impressed (perhaps because I know this is a temporary measure so am making the most of it) and think the higher than average cost is actually worth it.

In terms of workout, I’m going back to what last seriously worked for me when I wanted to keep a very tiny figure having lost a lot of weight in India: working out every week-day morning plus squeezing in a couple of evening sessions when my muscles aren’t killing me. Cardio will feature most days and weights/toning at least a couple of times.

It’s only been a few days but I’m enjoying the morning workouts so much more than I thought I would, though it does help if I have a shot of Matcha before I leave the house so I’m half-woken up by the time I arrive. Doing spin at 7:15am doesn’t feel as masochistic as it sounds, nor does boxing. I know this makes me sound like a complete nut-job but I have actually done this before and I know my body can handle it. Let’s hope this hard push over the next four months really works.

In the past few weeks I’ve started to visibly notice my weight drop. I’ve cut carbs out as far as feasible after 2pm after listening to Jillian Michaels say that carbs at night are like little sponges that soak up any fluids then just sit in your tummy for ages. As a known carb addict I thought cutting down on them would be rather hard but it turns out that it’s actually very easy. Dinner now consists of low-fat curry without rice (but more vegetables added in) which is much tastier than it sounds, lots of grilled chicken, prawns and haloumi, fresh home-made hummus and salads which I’m getting more creative with. Pomengranate has become a regular feature, as have mangoes and toasted seeds. We’re still eating out occasionally but probably are a bit fussier than normal. With just 15.5 weeks to go to the wedding I’m happy to see some cheekbones back and the surprise sign of my collarbone. I think UK size 10 (6 in America) is almost on the horizon!

I will talk about the other things I’ve tried (including Bikram Yoga and Zumba) in another update soon.

Weight loss to date? About four kg, half-way there!! As the fable says: slow and steady wins the race, but hopefully in a great dress this time.

What’s new with you world? How’s life?

I will get there but it just takes time to do some things properly.

Flab burning update: late January

I haven’t put one of these posts up for ages, mostly because I’ve been feeling a bit guilty for the last week~

Between Christmas and January 20th I managed to lose 2kgs, mostly down to seriously adjusting my diet. Well, not that seriously – I already eat quite well, the problem was my snacking. After one of my British Military Fitness classes at the beginning of this month I went up to one of the instructors and asked him why I haven’t lost any weight even though I look better, that I have 7 months until the wedding and would like to drop a dress size. Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hi Jim, right, here’s the problem, I’ve been coming to BMF for a year now and my fitness has improved dramatically but I’m not losing any weight – it has stayed exactly the same.

Jim: Number 88, what’s your name?

Me: Kat

Jim: Ok Kat, how many times a week have you been attending BMF classes?

Me: When I first started I was going 3 times a week religiously for 3 months…

Jim: That was a year ago…

Me: And then it dropped down to two… and then winter hit again and it kind of dropped down to 1.

Jim not looking impressed.

Me: But now I’m fully committed to whatever I have to do!

Jim:  And your diet?

Me: Healthy, but I’m a snacker.

Jim: Right, here’s what you need to do. UP the sessions, once a week is basically doing you no good. Commit to 3 times a week, 4 if you can manage it. Don’t come if your body is in a lot of pain but a little bit of muscle ache is fine. Some crazy people attend 8 times a  week but 3 will be enough. That’s the easy part.

Me: OK…

Jim: Next, really attack that diet. Up the protein, keep the carbs in but manage them, and please, stop snacking. Eat something an hour before the class but seriously watch it. Go on a detox first if you need a kickstart. Then you’ll see it falling off.

Me: Thanks Jim! See you three times a week from now on.

I’ve actually been religiously attending 3 BMF classes a week. When I haven’t been able to make it to the third class (due to work events) I’ve made sure I squeeze in a run on the weekends. Only problem with running as that it was starting to make my dodgy archilles ache like mad so it’s actually an extra incentive to make sure I get to the park and it’s soft ground on the Saturday morning if I haven’t been able to get to BMF 3 times during the week. I’ve also made sure that on non-BMF days I go for a big walk, bikeride or put on a Davina DVD to burn a few extra cals without the impact.

Exercise issue solved I attacked my diet.

Do you know what the best invention ever for brides on a budget was?

Seriously, the iPhone app is outstanding.

It’s a free iPhone app that helps you track everything you eat, measures out the calories and calculates how many more you’re allowed for the day. I enter in everything. If the meal isn’t already in the app you just enter the recipe into it and it calculates the number of calories per serving. It also adds in exercise therefore allowing you more calories on exercise days. I’ve found that keeping track of everything that goes into my gob has helped amazingly and kind of spurs on motivation not to eat that snack sitting on your desk begging to be consumed. The best thing is that most chains have their food in it so you can grab a yoghurt from Pret and you won’t have to guess the calorie content as it already knows.

My diet hasn’t changed that much – I’ve just been super vigilant about cutting out the snacks and the wheat, and what do you know? The bloat has gone down, big-time.

Then last week hit with my birthday and I blew most of my hard work… but at least I know that it works and it’s something I plan to stick to.

Dear Size 10 (US 6), you are in view, I will reach you, but it’s going to take time.

With a bit of motivation and some help we can all get there.

P.S. Extra motivation???

My first wedding dress fitting is next Tuesday!

Getting back into it all – my week of fitness~

If last week was the week of detox, this week has been the week of getting a fitness routine. On Monday I went for a great run (ok, more like walk/slow jog) to get my groove back and get me into the habit of regular intense exercise again. The run took me around my new neighbourhood which is actually really neat and one that I’m looking forward to living in.

Tower Bridge from the Thames Path

Shadwell Basin

An old church between Shadwell and Wapping

It was a lovely day and London was so quiet. I felt so disappointed with my running though – even after a year of going to British Military Fitness I couldn’t run like I used to (at one point I could comfortably run 5km in 25 minutes). I guess this is something that I’m going to have to work on building up again. After a lunch of soup and rye bread I ended up going for a big walk, again the City was super quiet (it was a public holiday).

Leadenhall Market

No people!

Anyway, what I’m trying to get to is that I’ve realised over the past few days that if I’m to lose 8kg before my wedding day in 7 months I’m going to have to make some major changes. First of all, attack my diet, which I’ve started to do by cutting down my portion sizes, seeing how I go without wheat, include more protein and less carbs. Second of all, I need to change what has become a lazy habit of going to British Military Fitness just once a week to a fully committed regime of 3 sessions a week, 4 if I can get there on the weekend, otherwise a Saturday run.

I also need to stop snacking – this is so hard when you work in a job where you just spend all day looking at the computer. I managed to do it today and the other days I’ve eaten apples or rice crackers (the apples were much more fulfilling). I know that I can lose these 8kgs, with a small bit of determination.

When Mr Man and I were doing long-distance with him in the UK and me in New Zealand, I had a lot of time to treat my body like a temple. I was up running 5 mornings a week and in the gym at least 3-4 evenings. I was the healthiest, fittest and slimmest I’ve ever been and looked great. I know that regime would be impossible to do here in London with the long commutes but I can definitely up the intense workouts because I know I’ve done it before and my body can handle it.

Coincidentally, Blogger Newlyweds on a Budget is finding she’s had similar issues since moving in with her husband. Since they got married (not that long ago) they’ve put on 40 pounds between them – I so understand this. Since moving in with Mr Man 2.5 years ago I’ve put on 10kg. Only some of that can be accounted for as muscle. While we eat super healthily, we both love to eat out and have a tendency to overeat what I cook (btw he does the dishes). I know wholeheartedly that exercise alone cannot burn this off.

So I’ve started cutting down the portions, stopped snacking, have upped the exercise (for the first time ever I went to BMF two nights in a row this week, muscles are killing me!) and will see how this goes for a while. I’ve managed to fit in 3 hardcore workouts this week and am hoping to squeeze in a run on Saturday morning – bye bye belly, hello old figure that’s lurking underneath.

Have you had similar issues with moving in with men or being much larger than you used to be?