January 2017 Progress!

Well this will be a fairly short post!

Not a lot of progress was made physique or diet wise since my last post, this post is 22 days late as it is so no big well done to me.

The back end of 2016 had quite a bit of upheaval for me, a big shake up at work, strengthening friendships and removing toxic influences from my life.

All for the better but it does take a toll on you at the time.

 You can't put a price on how much your life is enriched when you identify the aspects of  you want to grow and nurture and the parts you want to lop off and burn.

Gym wise I think I went once in the last 4 months and my blog posts came down to a snails pace.

Don't get me wrong my fitness and my blog are parts of my life I want to keep going but I had to prioritise other areas last year so both took a massive back step.

That all being sad 2017 is looking to be my best year yet!

 I am feeling the happiest I have ever been!

 I have got myself down to that London and hit the Vegan Life Live Expo, got loads of exciting brands to work with and generally more energised.

 Now if only I can start hitting the gym three times a week like i was a couple of years back!

My Progress Jul-Sep 2016

The title of this post is misleading I'm afraid.

I have barely made any progress at all in the last three months, due to constant illness everything has pretty much gone a bit poo, I haven't completed any events with Tough Mudder and Primal Stampede both having to be cancelled, plus the very mention of the gym gives guilt pangs not to mention I have not updated my blog in almost two months.

Crikey, I really need to get my finger out of my bottom and finish this year on a good note!

But it isn't hasn't been a total flop, I started my youtube channel and have been gathering products and ideas for new blog posts in the coming months.

My health has improved to the point I can start putting in the hours again on my blog and properly get into the youtube world. 

With the nature of my blog I do have to do a certain amount of research for most of the posts that I write, as much as I would like to market myself as an encyclopedia of all things health and fitness related it simply isn't the case.

A typical post will take at the very least a couple of hours, at the end of the day I don't want to look like a tart my posting information that isn't correct at the time of writing, so when I get ill the blog does go onto the back burner.

The last thing I want to be doing well I am praying for a solid turd or fighting a migraine is to be sat staring at a computer screen researching the wonders of avocado, that being said I do enjoy writing my blog but since I don't make an income from it I can pick it up and drop it if needed. 

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who reads my posts and all the brands that I have worked with and the brands that I am currently writing reviews for.

With all that out of the way I suppose I should unveil my dad bod  picture, try not to vom on your screen!

My diet has been an absolute mess, while I have been ill have been cycling between barely eating anything to eating everything I can get my paws on, I have stayed fairly active as I still need to get out and earn some dollar to carry on paying for my lemonade lifestyle.

Well that's about it, hopefully the wait between now and my next post won't be so long.

Mar - Jun 2016 Progress

This is going to echo my last progress post  but hey ho, what are you going to do about it?

Well I suppose I could knuckle down and start achieving the goals I have set for myself but we shall see about that.

I have been putting off writing this post for as long as I felt I could but I guess I need to bite the bullet and get on with it.

April was the month of my first event of the year, a 5K Bubble Rush.

Nothing major but something to panic a bit over when you realise the furthest you have jogged this year is the perilous journey from your bed to the bathroom at 4:30am.

The Bubble Rush did me a lot of good physically and mentally, it gave me the idea to start reviewing parks in the Leeds area, with Kirkstall Abbey and Roundhay Park being the best known and generally give me a kick up the rump!

May mirrored January in most ways.

My fire for exercise, eating and blogging was well and truly lit, in fact I  churned out the most blog posts in one month than I ever have.
 Hopefully the quality of the posts are fairly consistent and to add to that,I hope the quality is high to start with because my posts are poo then I hope the consistently isn't quite there!

And if you manged to get your head around that last paragraph then you deserve a congratulatory pat on the head!

You will of course have to go ask someone nearby to administer it because I am far too busy trying to lead the life of one of those instabitches who spend their lives on beaches sipping their detox teas and looking incredibly basic.

I went to my first bloggers event of year at The Lighthouse Store which was put on to help increase awareness of people living with Autism and their employability.

I also attended the The Body Power Expo in Birmingham, sadly I wasn't invited and had to pay but maybe one day guys!
 The ticket price was worth it just to see some Ex on the beach stars in the flesh because I am a sucker for trashy tv!

I continued with my park tour which included the Leeds/Liverpool Canal and the Killer Armley Steps.

I made some ice cream with the Muscle Mousse  I was sent.

 The main reason I am mentioning this as a point of worth is because Muscle Mousse liked it enough to post it on their instagram!

I would say the main talking point of May was the 2 week Banana Cleanse and also went Gluten Free for 2 weeks.

June was a real let down after my mammoth May, I really let myself down.

I went Dairy Free for 2 weeks, explored some Milk Alternatives and made a Cricket Cake, that was about it.

 I guess it's time for the progress picture!

How have Calvin Klein not snapped me up yet?

Not a massive change but I have lost fat, terrible results for 3 months!

 If you check my Forza Raspberry K2  then you can see a comparison of my condition this time last year and now.

 In the mean time I need to concentrate on getting into the gym regularly to get hench as funk!

How to start running

Getting into  running isn't as easy as you might think.

You can't just slap on some Nike Airs and away you go!

Go at your own pace:

Don't throw yourself into running, particularly if you are carrying a bit of weight. 

Build yourself up gradually, start by walking then jog then start to run.

Wear the right footwear:

Make sure your trainers give you good support and change them around the 6 month mark, if you are unsure of your trainers are up to the job then head to a running shop and they should be able to advise you on what to get, if you are on a budget then try Sport Shoes.com

Avoid concrete:

Try to run on soft ground, running on harder ground will increase your chance of getting the dreaded shin splints! If you are running on grass just be careful you don't slip, trip, fall or stand in dog poo!

Get a water bottle:

Hydration is so important, I have been half way down the road and had to head back to get my water bottle. I find it also impossible to have a good quality run without bringing water with me.

Plan your route:

 Are you likely to need a toilet break?
 Are you likely to get lost?
 Can you get help if heaven forbid something went wrong?
 These are all things you should consider.

Create an epic play list:

Not will the right music make you run faster for longer the prospect of having some alone time listening to all your favourite hits uninterrupted is part of the strong appeal of running in the first place.

Warm up:

Think of your body like an engine, it is much more efficient warmed up, not only will you minimise the chance of injury you will always have a better run.

Avoid solid food:

Avoid solid food an hour or so before a run, you are more likely to get a stitch if you don't!

Listening to your body:

As your body gets used to running your body will feel sore and your will be short of breath but this will gradually get better as your body adapts, if you are in actual pain then this needs to addressed, hopefully you will just have a stitch or shin splints.

My Progress Jan-Mar 2016

I have been putting off off writing this post mainly because my fitness goals this year have been a disaster!

 If  you read my 1st of Jan then you will know that I set out to do fortnightly and month long fitness challenges, I started off strong and completed the 30 Day Squat Challenge and did two weeks of the water challenge and went veggie for another two weeks.

Then once February begin I started a 30 press up challenge along side giving up gluten for 2 weeks but I was in a terrible head space and gave up after 3 days, stopped going to the gym as much and my blogging slowed downed.

I also attempted to bulk up, which sounds great after cutting ready for the summer but the sheer amount of calories I was putting away made me feel terrible, mainly because a lot of the calories I was getting were from high fat, high sugar and high salt sources.

Eating became a chore, at least when I am reducing my calories I actually look forward to eating because  I am hungry when it comes to meal time, bulking is all about fuel and not much else.

This coupled with dark weather made me feel down in the dumps.

 I wasn't getting anywhere near as much vitamin D as I get in the summer time.
 I imagine my meal choices will of lacked a great deal of vitamins and minerals that my body needs to function properly.

I was rarely hitting the gym by the time March rolled around, which made my mood even worse from not benefiting from the endorphins you get from exercise.

 I was feeling fat and, I am not fat but it doesn't mean you can't feel fat when you look in the mirror.

I did measure myself at the end of January, after I had but on half a stone and then again mid way through April

.
I gained no size on my arms or chest but I did lose 3 inches from my waist and gained 2 inches on my legs.

I do not push myself any where near hard enough when it comes to upper body training and this is where I feel I continually let myself down, that and my shaky attendance!
I am going to restart the 30 Day Press Challenge in May and see what impact that makes.

To make matters worse I had intentionally put on weight in order to pack on some much needed muscle but because the gym had turned into that facebook friend that you always say you'll arrange drinks with but never do it just felt like a pointless exercise.

But now that's that sun has decided to come out I am back on the fitness train with no signs of slowing down and I have completed my first event of the year, the Bubble Rush with more events planned for the rest of the year!

Yes it has taken me until mid April to get my mojo back but I am just thankful it came back at all.

Testosterone

How much do you know about testosterone? 

Well when it comes to building muscle it really separates the men from the boys!

Ladies do have testosterone but most of the time it is no where near the levels of a man.

 If you can block out the memory of all the giggles and red faces, then you will know that testosterone is the main hormone that goes wild in a young boys life to make bring about manhood but it doesn't just pack up and leave you after your consumption of Klinex has suddenly shot up!

Testosterone effects your sex drive, low levels will make you less amorous  and the reverse is true for when levels are higher, this is why after a good workout where your testosterone  has been nicely boosted you want to go all caveman on bae!

Testosterone increases bone density, lower levels in later life ( say that 3 times fast!) will affect your bone density, we are talking 65 plus if you are lucky!

Testosterone helps your body metabolise fat, lower levels will encourage fat to be stored in the abdominal area of your body, sorry ladies!

Testosterone increases growth hormone in your body, which makes sense due to the changes it helps make in your body during puberty, this also means it will help you increase muscle size to get hench as funk!

Testosterone also gets your bone marrow making more red blood cells, more of this red little doughnuts in your system the better your body will be at transporting oxygen round your body and delivering nutrients.

Your testosterone levels also impact your brain from mood swings, aggression to depression!

Please don't read this post and think that all your problems can be solved by getting some gear from that dodgy guy in the gym, high testosterone levels come with a range of problems from acne, developing breast tissue, testicles shutting down and problems with reproduction.

If you are worried about you testosterone levels then see your doctor, they should be able to check them with a blood test.

Check out my post on natural way to boost your testosterone

My year so far

A quarter of the year has already escaped me and I would like to say I have stuck to the goals I set myself at the start of 2016 but like my ability to stand after a few bottles of wine my commit to them has also faded.

In January I blasted through a shed load of blog posts, was a regular feature in the gym and was pretty much working my glutes off, now two things changed which had a big impact on my motivation and energy levels.

The first being the weather, I don't do well in the darker months, all I want to do is sleep and the more I sleep the more terrible I feel with a heavy sense of dissatisfaction with me wasting my life rotting in bed.

January was very mild, couple that with the New Year New Me glow everyone gets once you have recovered from your new years hangover and you get an incredibly productive month from, bring on the crappy British weather and a house with central heating in every room and you are going to see me transform into sloth.

The other thing that ruined me was my attempt at bulking, now I did gain size, both fat and muscle but the high calorie foods took their toll on me.

I felt sluggish all of the time, I stopped going to the gym as much and my blogging stalled, I wasn't happy with my abs disappearing, waist getting bigger and peoples comments on how skinny I am which started making me think I might have body dysmorphia!

Thankfully I do take regular pictures of myself so I can compare how my body is looking when I change up my diet or training so I could justify how I am feeling/ looking to myself.

I expect people were trying to be kind but when I are trying to bulk up and are feeling heavy and disgusting being told you are skinny makes me feel "why I am putting myself through this"?

Honestly I would rather diet than try and bulk, I find it tedious eating to fuel myself rather than for the enjoyment of what I am eating.

When  diet I put much more thought into what I am eating so every meal is something to look forward to, plus I am actually hungry and ready to get some food in my belly.

With the sun out I have booked myself into doing the Bubble Rush 5k for St Gemma's Hospice with Irene, the same charity that organised the Santa Dash I ran in December.

I would of liked to of done some sort of event before now but my heart just hasn't been in it, sadly I don't have a strong support system in my life to pick me up when I am feeling crappy so it's left up to me to pick myself up and get my act together!

If you are interested in taking part yourself here is a link to the Bubble Rush website, it's on the 23rd of April, sorry I have left this post far too late but hopefully some of you will sign up!

Hopefully I can stay positive and motivated for the rest of the year!

30 Day Challenge: Squats

Squat Challenge

There are loads of Squat challenges floating about the Internet and I choose the one that I though looks the most horrendous from 30 day fitness challenges so if you think this one may be a bit much for your booty then hit google and find one that fits your level!
This site also has plenty of other challenges to under take so check them out here

If you are unsure how to squat the please check out my post here

Please make sure you warm up and drink plenty of water before giving this a bash!

I am including the Squat Challenge into my regular gym workout so when I am at the gym I will be doing dead lifts as well as that days allotted squats, this will obviously affect the results I will get vs just doing the squat challenge as my only leg exercise.

I found the squat challenge ok until I first broke 100 squats, not just the burning in my quads but the boredom of doing so many in one sitting.
I could space them out out through out the day but I want to challenge myself.

I was doing 100 squats with no gap when I reached 135.

When I got to 180 I wanted to quit.

220 my tracksuit bottoms ripped.

250 and I don't know how I managed to complete this challenge without skipping a single day!

I try and do them all within the space of an advert break while watching TV or waiting for the kettle to boil, you can always make time time if you really want to.

Day 1:  50        Day 9: 100             Day 17: 150         Day 25: 220

Day 2:  55        Day 10: 105           Day 18: 155         Day 26: 225

Day 3:  60        Day 11: 110           Day 19: 160         Day 27: 230

Day 4: Rest       Day 12: Rest         Day 20: Rest        Day 28: Rest

Day 5: 70          Day 13: 135          Day 21: 180         Day 29: 240

Day 6: 75          Day 14: 140          Day 22: 185         Day 30: 250

Day 7: 80          Day 15: 145          Day 23: 190

Day 8: Rest       Day 16: Rest          Day 24: Rest         Day 31: Admire your booty!

I unfortunately forgot to measure my legs and bum before I started this challenge and going forward with my other challenges I will be sure to include my measurements so I am afraid you will have to settle for my terrible photos.

Speaking of my photos, taking them was one of the most emasculating experiences of my entire life and my apologises for not wearing the same underwear in the before and afters!

Being someone who has being doing squats for a few years, never in this number mind, I did notice a slight difference  in the size of my derriere but nothing major, this may also be down to be gaining half a stone through my attempt to bulk up.

 The sheer numbers make it an exercise in endurance not hyper trophy.
 To get any real size added I have to squat big and heavy!

This is not to say that you will not see any results from the squat challenge, if you are not a keen squatter then you will see a difference at the end of the 30 days.

Gym Pad

I'm back in the gym and I have dusted off my Gym Pad to keep my programme safe, help me keep an eye on my ever increasing gains and I can leave myself an inspirational comment about how each session went.

My Gym Pad also helps me remember to change up my workout to avoid a plateau in performance in a handy pocket sized book, well it just about fits in my tracksuit pocket.

I bought my Gym Pad a few years back and I can't quite remember how much I paid for it and it seems like the version of the Gym Pad I have is no longer on sale however they are selling some trendier looking looking pads which looks                                                like it gives you much more bang for your buck.

With a free a free health consultation with every purchase, fitness tests included inside  and a generally more organised layout Gym Pads are well worth a look so check the link below:
http://www.gympad.co.uk/

To be honest I used my Gym Pad much more when I first started working out and sort of forgot about it after while, which I feel was to my detriment so I have dusted it off and ready to take my progress seriously again.

My progess August 2015

I completed my second Tough Mudder at Skipton in Yorkshire on the 2nd of August 2015 and used this event as my dead line to lower my body so I could improve on my performance on last year and of course to look good in the photos!

For the purpose of my blog I attempted this in the laziest way possible to show my readers that to make a change in your body you don't need to let food and exercise rule your life, although if I had prescribed to a more disciplined attitude in the kitchen I would of have much reduced my body fat much further.

 No endless meal prep and no strict diet, I just made a conscious decision to eat better and coupled it with a training plan of my own design to get ready for the 12 mile mud run I had signed up for! 

My meals were all quite simple recipes and would like to say I stayed away from every cake and take away that came my way but I didn't!

Modern life you are bombards us with temptation and to deny yourself every treat and vice for the rest of your life would be a boring existence in my indeed.

 You may be walking around with the physique of Greek god but your face would be doling out the stink eye to anyone who dared eat a jaffa cake in your presence!

 I would say on the whole I ate "healthy" 6 nights most weeks but fell off the waggon a few times when Birthdays cropped up or when I was generally stressed I managed to transform cheat meals into cheat weeks! 

I quit the gym I was working in and bought some kettlebells and got myself outside more, taking advantage of Yorkshires hills, scenery and temperamental weather.

Luckily for me I was also training my team mate Irene for her first mud run which also helped me stay motivated.

 If you feel self conscious about hitting the gym or going for a run then get a friend roped in or hire a personal trainer if your pals are fitnessphobes.

Although I am not completely happy with my results, I don't know many people who ever are, I am glad I gave it a go and hopefully showed that by calorie counting, making better choices when it comes to what you eat (the majority of the time) and exercising regularly you can have a marked improvement in your body and  your  confidence.

How often should I change my workout?

One of the most amazing things about our bodies is it's ability to adapt to what we put it through, whether that is making  stronger or to compensate for an injury your body will do it's best to cope and keep on going!

It takes about 4-6 weeks for your body to adapt to a workout so you should ideally have a look at your program and see what changes you can make, it could be something as increasing the reps or weight or something a bit more creative like adding super sets, drop sets or negative training to your routine.

If you have no idea how long you have been doing your workout for it is probably safe to say you need to tweak your exercises, especially if you have stopped getting any results from your work outs.

Other reasons for changing your workout could be that your goals have changed, for instance you could of been looking to bulk up and put on size and are now looking to get ripped for the summer!

If you are bored then change your routine, if you are bored you won't want to workout so you need to take a fresh look at what you are doing and of course if you have some sort of life style change such a fast or an injury.

To be honest, listen to your body.You may find yourself changing your workout slightly every week because you are getting stronger and need to increase the your weight every week, particularly if you are new to exercise. Do not be afraid to ask a gym instructor or personal trainer to write you a program. Gym instructors shouldn't charge but a personal trainer might, but it should be a better standard, this will vary from gym to gym, my advise would be if a gym instructor is charging you for anything ask the gyms management if that is the company policy or if you are being swindled.

My motivation:Tough Mudder

I decided at the end of May 2014 to do my first tough mudder giving me 3 months to train before the big day! Not having a lot of body confidence I took a picture of myself to look back on and let me know I was on the right track.I was not happy with what I saw!

So I began training but made no difference to my diet or do any major cardio other than the odd dip in the pool, basically I wanted to see how far my genetics would take me with strength training alone ,call it stupid or arrogant to use a big endurance event like a tough mudder to test what my mother and father gave me of you like but that was my thinking at the time!      

So the morning of tough mudder came and I was feeling excited and ready to take this mother down! 

The buzz at the event that day was enough to make anyone want to strap on their trainers and take the challenge, which I whole heartily recommend to anyone to do!

The first mile I needed the toilet because I hadn't given my body chance to get used to me drinking a lot of water and the nearest rest stop with a portaloo was a long way in the distance!

The second mile I developed a stitch that wouldn't leave me for the next 6 miles and to make matters even more bleak the lad that came along with me ditched me right after accidentally kicking mud into my eyes!

Even though I was alone, wet,muddy and smelly I could not of wished for a better group of strangers to of been around, they were supportive, encouraging and more than happy to give a helping hand! Just over 3 hours later I crossed the finish line ready to sign up to my next event!

 Once I have had a day to recover and about a week to wash all of that fine Cheshire mud out of all of my crevices I looked through the photos from the day and I couldn't in my eyes see any change in my physique,I felt awful. Even though I didn't train "properly" for the tough mudder I thought that I would be sure to look breathtaking and the reality of the                               situation did not match what was in my head.

I decided to take another topless picture to compare with the one I took before my training started and I was surprised to see that I had actually made a real difference to my body!

 I marked it as under construction and now filled with renewed determination I decided to give myself the winter before I changed up diet and forced myself into doing cardio training.

I hope this post goes to show that you can have the knowledge of how to change your body but if you are living in denial about how you look, lack the motivation  or confidence to get started then you will sadly remain the same!

  I 

Rate your press up power!

Press ups to impress! 

The press up,in my opinion is the second manliest body weight exercise,after a pull up, you can do to test of upper body strength!

 Working your pecs,anterior and posterior,triceps,lats,abs,rhomboids,rotator cuffs and even your quads so it is a great,challenging fitness test!

It's a simple test although you may need someone to ensure you are bringing yourself low enough for it to count using their fist under either your chin or chest,if you,like me are a billy no mates you can find a shoe or something fist sized to use as marker.

If you are a lady with a pervy friend who insists in marking your press ups with your supple breasts then give him a swift karate chop! 

The other perk of being a social butterfly is your legion of friends can also keep track of how many you have accomplished,since the complex task of counting may be beyond you while you try not to eat the dirt!

So the aim is to do as many press ups as you can until you are unable to do any more without rest,now to give you an idea of where you stand fitness wise!

Lower than 10 Needs improvement.

10-20 Average,but who wants to be just average when you be be so much more?

 20-30 Good! Keep going!

30-40 Excellent! I feel sorry for your tee shirts seams!

 40 and above and you are most likely a Super Saiyan!

Compete a with your friends to see who can do the most,remember competition is a great motivator so the first mission is to find which of your friends has the biggest hands!

My progress Jan-Mar 2015

I have been making it my mission to get defined abs this year ready for August when I do my second tough mudder,so without further ado here is my progress picture from the first 12 weeks of the year!

To get me to to this I kept a food diary for 2 weeks using the myfitnesspal app and cleaned up my diet,increased my water intake and never worked out more than 3 times a week.

I only do full body workouts that are constructed of big compound movements finishing each session with a core workout, 4 minutes of tabata training,foam rolling and occasionally a swim.

With the less body fat you have the harder it is to shift so please wish me luck for the next 12 weeks!