Week 1- A general overview
After my early morning shot of supplements I’m grateful to be heading to the gym for my workout rather than getting on my bike to curse at the wind chill for 40 mins. I show the treadmill my intervals routine, pleased that I took the time to practice last week. I had been a Treadmill ‘virgin’ preferring pavement pounding. Lesson 1 – it’s hard to cheat on a treadmill, lesson 2 it’s far kinder to my Achilles – wow!
Without ado I launch myself into the big boys zone of the gym staking my claim on a bench. I’m soon adding my own effort grunts to the general chorus. I resolve to bring a sweaty towel to drape over the bench I’m using like a German tourist would on a sun-lounger by the pool. I’ve found that the big boys like to move you off their territory; at least if I’ve announced I was there first I can negotiate to share!
The morning gym session is the biggest change to my morning routine. Intervals have been in there since the really cold weather. I’ve been push harder than I thought I could on my own, not only to be out of breath for the whole session as prescribed, but to ensure I can be home before my teenagers head out of the house for school. On paper the session should be taking 58 mins if my maths is correct. David Lloyd don’t open until 6.30, I need to leave the gym at 7.30 ideally. That leaves 2 mins for “faffing” (faffing = brief locker room time, refilling water container to add my protein powder to and walking from gym to the car). Somehow I can’t seem to “faff” in under 8 mins, despite being Super mum. Also the 58 mins doesn’t include a brief warm-up and post workout stretch either (must remember to ask BLF – If I warm up at home then drive 10 mins am I still technically ‘warmed up’. Similarly if I stretch at home is that soon enough after my workout to count?) Can’t fit the 15 minute steady walk in but hopefully the frantic activity at home that is necessary to get me on the road to work by 8.30 has some equivalent value.
Ok so I’ve done the shopping in advance thing, the fridge is…well frankly not big enough for the quantity of food I’ve purchased. It all fits in but I need a major fridge re-shuffle every time I need to find the garlic/spring onions/radishes. This has been a problem longer than I dare admit but its now compounded by the amount of Tupperware containing hard boiled eggs, tomorrow’s lunch, snacks and the necessary “squash free zone” needed to prevent my spinach and watercress becoming bags of bruised and slippery green slime.
I’ve also had to organise my herb and spice cupboard so it’s not like an archaeological dig every time I want the cayenne. But I’ve emerged triumphant and have managed to leave work with meal 1 in my tummy, a bag full of meals 2,3 & 4 and water for the day, my green tea is stowed in the staff room at work, and all the ingredients for meal 5 (and generally separate ones for the teen evening meal) are not still in the freezer when I get home but ready for action in the fridge. However, a general lack of enthusiasm for making my meal 5 resides as by 6 pm. I’m generally feeling a little sulky because meal 4 was impossible at the prescribed time; furthermore there’s the prospect of inventing something tasty with the same array of spices that I’ve been consuming all day with more green veg than my kids would normally eat in a month!
I’m hoping for a spare hour this weekend to write a weekly menu plan with references to some recipes I can adapt which include a wider variety of flavours to avoid ‘winging it’ every evening when I’m at my most vulnerable. Despite all this I’ve remained a devotee to the diet sheet; using some odd techniques to help me through my sugar cravings i.e. I’ve discovered that if I deeply inhale the aroma of chocolate (borrowed from teens) its almost as good as actually eating it! I must admit that the best technique is looking at the cringe worthy “before” shot of me on the BLF Transformations page. If I want to see an “after” shot that shows a leaner, more muscular me then I’ve got to stay 100% on track.
TOTAL FAT LOSS: 5.4
Our Thoughts:
You can see massive physical changes in Rachel even after a week. Her waist has gone in and her arms are leaner. She is stronger too. She is over the carb cravings and is functioning fine without them. She did lose 0.6lbs of muscle so we have upped her protein at snack times to 100gms. We aren’t going to changer her training just yet as her weights havent plateaued. Overall – VERY HAPPY 🙂
