Low immunity :-/

I honestly can't believe it...i've caught my SECOND cold this month!! :-/

I feel rough again - this is so unlike me. I wonder if it's work stress making me more susceptible...

Either way I am SO ANNOYED. 

Every time I start to do really well with Insanity, I get unwell :( 

Is my body trying to tell me something!? 

Recovery week and reminiscing

My husband joined me for a workout last night - it's still core cardio and balance AKA not recovery!!!

My calves already felt like hot pokers from running 6 miles the night before, but I carried on and now feel good today. 

I'm not 100% sure I can notice a difference in my body yet - I was looking at my skinny pics from when I went to Barbados a couple of years ago and my problem is i'm small boned and my fat collects around my middle so even half a stone of fat looks like more than it is, even though i'm tall. I didn't manage to keep off the excess 10lb of fat because I kept feeling faint, but I looked bloody good! Well, health is more important!

I'd rather eat carbs and be able to exercise though - a definite balancing act!!! In fact I also looked at photos from 6 years ago and I was about a stone heavier than now, so i'm one of those people who has to watch it. You wouldn't believe the difference in my face from then and now - I look so much better compared to my old puffy face!!! The cause: full fat mayo!!!! I used to layer it on everything, makes me feel sick now!! 

I definitely couldn't run even 2 miles back then.

Run Forest Run!

It was 2 degrees last night and I ran 6.13 miles in an hour! Not Insanity related, but just had to shout about it!

Going to do the Insanity recovery DVD today - my legs were dying last night but now i'm not even aching :)

Considering i'd never run before last May, this is a real achievement for me!! 

Perhaps a half marathon is on the cards...eek!

Core Cardio & Balance - Recovery Week

It took far longer than i'd hoped to shift my cold and so I eased back into exercise last week with 2 swims, an outside run - 4 miles, and a long gym sesh. The great thing is that I haven't put on any weight - still 9 stone 9 as of last check 2 days ago.

This week, i'm running and gyming plus supplementing this with the Insanity core cardio and balance workout.

I'll be honest, I thought this was going to be half an hour of stretches. It's 90% of a normal workout! Shaun T keeps saying don't overdo it throughout, but then gets you to do some flipping hard moves! Maybe it's because I haven't done it for 3 weeks.

I re-read the food booklet that came with the DVD's and I generally eat all of that anyway. This weekend we had a christening, so that slightly went out of the window. But I think if you don't have the odd treat then you suddenly binge, so everything in moderation. I don't usually have a sweet tooth but the pudding was amazing - a meringue and fererro rocher tower! Our neighbour, the baby's grandmother, made it and brought us more round afterwards which I couldn't resist. 

Lots of study done, big run tonight and healthy week ahead.

If you're about to go into recovery week let me know and if you're already there, tell me what you think of the workout - are you finding it easy?

Starting tomorrow

I don't like the phrase "i'm going to start tomorrow" but ironically that's exactly what i'm going to do! I'm still frantically blowing my nose, but think this should be the last day of a week-long cold. I don't think i'll ever start jumping out of bed in the morning until it's light!

This weekend was purely productive and I struck a few things off my bucket list:

Buy a luxury Mulberry bag as reward for recent promotion
Start studies - do at least an hour
Take down Christmas decorations and spring clean the house

Aided by the fact the weather was horrendous, it meant that I didn't mind staying in and studying/cleaning yesterday.

I have 6 pretty free weekends stretching ahead of me to write my assignment and once i'd sorted the house, my mind felt lighter and I could focus on studies in a lovely, tidy office. The only problem with studying is that you're very much sedentary. Hence, Insanity!!!

Tonight i'm going to complete another item on my list - print wedding photos to have around the house. They'll act as motivation on my quest to not slip into fat wedded bliss! 

Some people put their skinny photos on the fridge or a Victoria Secret girl in a bikini, but i'm not sure about that... imagine how embarrassing that would be if your friends and family came round and saw that your fridge was a diet shrine! Instead I should write my goals on the fridge.

So how do you keep yourself motivated? Any tips?

Goals

While i'm unwell and mid-Insanity, it's a good time for me to write down my fitness goals for this year, as i'm sure most of you have this on your mind at the beginning of January.

I work in marketing, where we use SMART objectives:



My 2014 fitness goals are:
To complete Insanity by mid-February (i'm on the week "break" once my cold has gone)
To lose at least 6lb by mid-March when I go skiing
To run the Jurassic Coast 10k race in August

I think these are all completely achievable - it's not as though i'm saying I want to run a marathon, whereas my friend is doing the London marathon but that's achievable for her. 

My other goal is to finish my studies this year. I need to get the last 3 assignments out of the way and then i'll have a baby in 2015 (all of this punishing myself with Insanity will be ruined ha ha!).

I also hit the big 3-0 this year - eek!

So what's your SMART goal(s)? Is it to complete Insanity? Let me know by posting below.

Zzz...

How boring - day 6 of being ill! My colds usually last 1-2 weeks, so hopefully after this weekend I can start month 2 on Monday. I'm not going to be stupid and do it if i'm unwell though - major shock to the system otherwise!

I had to work from home on my first day back - but i'm going in this morning. I've been sleeping like a log thanks to nose drops :)

Husband is still doing the plan without me. He had an asthma appointment earlier this week and the lady said he'd put on 2 stone in 2 years :-O looking at photos we could both reduce our weight so as I do all the cooking, we're having healthy eating AND reduced portion sizes!!

His main problem is he eats too much too fast. I'm very aware of my portion size or i'd end up as big as him!!

Also, I watched a program about people who don't understand why they're putting on weight - mayo is 3/4 fat and 2 tbsp is the same as a slice of chocolate cake. A glass of wine is the same as a chocolate eclair cake!!! So no fatty sauces and a very dry January...

We also have 3 months to get fit for skiing - what could be more motivation than that?!

Oh and my New Years Resolution is to complete my final 3 study assignments this year. As painful as that is!!