Days 29 - 42

Ok, so I have already completed over a third of my program, that’s over 5 weeks under my newly holed belt. It has actually gone really quickly and I’ve enjoyed it in a sadistic sort of way ha ha. However, although I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself now is not the time to rest on my laurels as I still have another 6 weeks to go.

Here’s how the program for the second phase, weeks 5-8 looks:

Torture Time

It consists of four workout days with a day of intervals between each workout day and a days rest after the fourth workout day (8 day cycle).

I’ve started well and although it took a little prep time initially as I didn’t know what some of the actual moves were, I’ve got there in the end. Everything has been going pretty well although I definitely started a bit too cocky and was soon brought down to earth with a bang when after one set, week 1 I could do no more so in that instance the weight was dropped and I plodded on.

I was in the gym today performing a set of reps and all of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing sound. I wondered what on earth was going on until I realised and it all became clear.........I had been doing dumbell FLYES !!!! ha haaaa boom boom ...........……………I’ll get my coat.

Taxi for Mumofduck

As for feasting:

I’ve decided to try the carb cycling program from the book just to mix it up a bit (and partly cos hubby is following this and makes meal times much easier, I’ve yet to inform Duck ha ha) So, today I’m back to Day 1, week 2 of the program and Day 1 of the carb cycling (as described in the book).

Anyway for the next 3 days I’m planning on restricting my carb intake and increasing my protein and fat so that overall Ill be consuming similar calories on rest days and workout days however, less of them will be coming from carbs.

It’s a bit of an experiment really just to see how it goes and to mix things up a little and then I’ll be back on my usual yummy program keeping within my stated Macro’s.

Progress so far:

My start day photos are now successfully removed from the camera memory and stored on our memory card so I can finally add them to the blog. I know its been a while (over 5 weeks!) but better late than never hey!

Before you scroll down and take a look I promise I did not have a bowling ball under my t-shirt at any point in the photos ha ha. The nice big round belly is all mine, I think I actually managed to fill up the space duck had left behind over 2 years ago!

Sigourney Weaver just before the alien
turned up to the party

Here are the photos of me after 4 weeks (the first of 3 phases) of the program:

No pain, no gain.

Can’t wait to see what the next photos (end of phase 2) will look like! Onwards and downwards I go, adios flab!

Days 19-26

Coming to the end of this workout program (runs for 4 weeks) and feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I’m a third of the way through and I feel great. There have definitely been times when I’ve struggled to stay on the straight and narrow, when I’ve felt like a good old pigging session but I’ve managed to keep going. It’s been a month now and I haven’t touched a single drop of diet coke or an alcoholic drink (ashamed to say I probably miss the diet coke more than the ale! Party animal hey!!!). I’m really pleased that I’ve managed to live my life without my beloved diet coke and I’m sure my teeth are forever grateful. 

Loves Diet Coke

Feasting
I’ve enjoyed most of the foods on my new menu, apart from the cottage cheese. Initially I thought it was ok but I’ve decided that no it was as I originally thought, tastes yakki and looks like spew.
Hubby’s abandoned me this week, gone off on business and left me to potty train the duck but I’ve forgiven him seeing that he left me with a yummy toffee cheesecake and home made coco truffles as he likes to call them. (coconut oil and cocoa, Delish!) 

Terrible photography does not do them justice!

Torture time
I have felt really strong this week and I have flown through my workouts, been in and out within 30 mins every session. I have definitely gained strength throughout this last four weeks and the auld pot belly is melting away! I’ve worked my (proverbial) balls off on the treadmill and rowed till I could row no more (my arse kills!)

So, moving forward I’ve got an interval session tomorrow, workout day 3 Friday and one final interval session Saturday then this first training portion is complete. Next Monday morning will begin my new four week program (as per the book). I’m ready for something new. (I think!)
I plan to do a weigh in on Sunday and add the beautiful before pics (don’t think Gisele will worry too much ha ha) and of course present day photos. My hubby assures me we will have the long awaited photos this weekend. I know I’ve said this before but I have faith………..

Days 16-18

Quick blog as been really busy...............

Weigh in the morning of the 16th day (Tuesday):
Weight: 55.2kgs
I've lost 1.3kgs this week, whoop whoop! That's around 2.5lbs of blubber that’s no longer residing on my body, that'll do me.
Total loss so far 3.2kgs
Belly: 76.5cm (same as last weeks weigh in)
Total loss so far 6cm
Bingo wings: 29cm that's 0.5 cm loss since last week. Every mm counts!!!
Total loss so far 0.5cm

Torture time 
Went well, well as well as torture gets! Couple of days this week I couldn’t really be arsed going to the gym but once I got there was all good. I think sometimes (once a month for me ha ha) it’s harder to motivate yourself to get to the gym but once you prize your arse off the couch and actually get in there it’s soon enough done and you leave feeling even more proud of your efforts! When I’m normally in one of those moods it usually also coincides with a major craving for sweeties, but who needs sweeties and choc when you got a nice juicy apple waiting to be devoured???!!!?

Rest of the week will follow usual plan: Intervals tomorrow, rest day Saturday and workout Day 1 starts again on Sunday.
3 weeks almost complete, I’m nearly a quarter of the way and happy with my progress so far!!

Days 10-15

I haven’t been blogging much this week due to travelling but I’m back on home ground now so it’s time to catch up and plod on.
I’ve continued to follow the workout plan this last week and stuck to my Macro’s well. Hardest part during this time was obviously the change or lack of routine in my day and travelling.
Travelling:
This was particularly difficult as I started my journey very early 5.30am on an intervals day and didn’t actually reach my destination until 9.30pm so it was impossible to complete my planned interval session that day. (Similar scenario on return leg.)
As for feasting, I prepared a ‘lunch box’ of suitable snacks to take with me for the journey which included cooked sausages, protein bars, cooked meat and nuts. It was still tough though! Even though our lifestyle involves regular travel I still automatically switch to ‘holiday mode’ when Im in an airport. I had my little bag of goodies but it was still very challenging sitting in various airports with wall to wall fast food outlets calling me over. The smell of Maccie D”s and KFC were a killer but I soldiered on. Travelling is definitely a significant challenge!

I managed to complete all my gym sessions as planned apart from on the travel days. Although during this time I had a bit more flexibility as there were babysitters on hand, I found I had to plan my day well in advance as shopping, coffee sessions and other activities had to work around my eating plan.
During my trip it was my father in-laws birthday and obviously he was going to get a cake on the day. Anyway, just to tighten the screws a little further my mother in law decided to cook her own choccy cake for his birthday. The smell of baking and chocolate was a killer and I definitely came close to temptation. I think the only thing that stopped me from a slice was the fact that I was there when she actually made it and saw the massive block of butter that went into the mix! (I hate cake its dripping in butter….dirty greasy cake…)
After surviving the choccy cake torture and declining the various goodies that were knocking about (sweets galore!!!) I then had my self-control questioned further when we went for his birthday meal. Picture this…………. loads of warm, freshly cooked bread, onion soup with a huge chunk of cheesy toast swimming in it, fresh fish and chipppsssss….then think about prawn salad, grouper and vegetables, you went for the second option, right? Me too.

Really enjoyed my meal (and no it wasn’t the chippy option) and didn’t feel quite so hard done to as it really was delicious. Must admit it also made me feel better when they got home feeling like shit, wanting to do nothing but veg on the couch and I felt great!

Today, back on my home patch, fast-forwarded to Day 15. It’s an interval day so I plan to head down the gym a little later. I plan to do a weigh in tomorrow and continue with my weights session 2 as planned.
In summary, I think I’m getting into the swing of things and generally it’s been ok, haven’t felt starving and normally don’t feel as though I’m being deprived of anything. I feel good, leaner and on the way to a new me. (Duck is also doing well as she no longer copies my bad snacking habits and is eating similar meals to me, she now asks for broccoli on a daily basis!).

Days 6-9

Weekend……..…..in the bag. I’ve fallen behind on the blog a bit mainly due to travelling so here’s a bit of a catch up summary

Rest day Saturday then Sunday back to the grindstone.

So, in summary this is how it panned out:

Day 6

Sat went well, resting is really tough but I soldiered on and got through it.

Feasting went well like this:

Lunch: Cheesecake made by hubby of course.

Tea: Sausages & roasted pumpkin

Snack: almonds

I definitely found it much harder Saturday as we went about our usual routine; shopping sesh, spa and butty bar. Tough going my fave butty bar and ordering a Perrier water. I wasn’t hungry as I had eaten earlier at home but the smell of the bread and the tasty cakes that were wafting past me from all directions hurt, it was painful!

Sunday, it all started again:

Day 7

Followed same plan as Day 1 (this program will run for 4 weeks) all went well.

Feasting:

Lunch: chicken and rice followed by an apple and pomelo (ancestor of the grapefruit, larger and sweeter) medley

Tea: chicken and rice.

Pomelo, similar to Grapefruit

Day 8

Should have been Intervals but due to flight delays and being stranded in various airports a session in the gym was not an option.

Feasting:

Particularly hard as what should have been a short hop to Kuala Lumpur followed on by a skip to Indonesia ended up being over 15hrs in transit. As a result it was difficult to find good, clean sources of protein and complex carbs.  All things considered I think I did really well resisting Maccie D’s and feasting went as so:

Lunch: Protein bar & cold sausage (cooked earlier by husband, ate en-route)

Dinner: Tandoori fish and chicken, baked seaweed

Snack: Almonds

Day 9

Back to the gym (as in day 3) and went well. Thought it would be harder as I’m not in my usual gym but in fact it probably went better (makes sense after an impromptu days rest yesterday). Felt comfortable doing all moves and particularly enjoyed having a barbell at my disposal for my stiff leg deadlift.

Feasting:

Lunch: Seabass followed by fruit salad of apple, banana and melon. (last resort as no other clean carbs at my disposal…..no food planning done in advance!)

Tea: Chicken breast and spinach tossed in balsamic dressing plus 2 small yummy, no scrumptious sweet potatoes.

Drinks: It goes without saying, water & green tea. Had a Starbucks spearmint green tea today though, bit weird to be honest, rather like drinking green tea with a chewy in your mouth but you’ve got to try everything once. Needless to say been there, tasted that, probably just get the green tea next time.

To sum up:

Week 1 is complete, everything has gone pretty well and I’m definitely very pleased with my effort all round. I’ve found it hard at times as I’ve never actually felt stomach rumbling, grumpy starving sensations (my hubby may disagree on the latter) and to me that’s always felt so wrong. Don’t you have to be starving most of the day, going to bed early to relieve the pain of hunger and generally feeling extremely deprived in order to achieve a better body? Well now I know the answer…….no, not with this program. You can eat, and eat well and achieve some great results. How do I know it? Well here are my week 1 results!

THE BIG WEIGH IN:

Day 1 Start weight: 58.4kg           

Day 7 weight: 56.5kg

Yes I’ve lost 1.9kg!!!! Whoooooopieeee!!!!!!!

Week 1 and I’ve lost 4lbs, bye bye 9 stone I won’t be seeing you again.

Although I’m obviously pleased with my 4lb loss, what I’m even more pleased about is the tale of the tape. It’s not weight I’m trying to lose, its fat. The following tells me that I’m moving in the right direction even more than the weigh-in:

MEASUREMENTS:

Day 1 Muffin top: 83.0cm

Day 7 Muffin top (disappearing before my eyes!) 76.5cm!!!!

Yes that’s 6.5cm of blubber currently evicted from my mid section, happy to say I’m not suffering any separation anxiety.

Day 1 Bingo wings: 29.5cm

Day 7 Bingo wings: 29.5cm   

The tape shows no loss here but I’m convinced the fat I’ve lost off the wings has been cancelled out by my new guns, can’t wait for the show ha ha.

The proof is in the pudding (protein fluff of course!) I’m happy with my results and excited to see what the next 11 weeks will bring or should I say ‘take away’!

Apologies, I have my photos from Day 1 but unfortunately they are currently stuck on my camera. Something’s gone dodgy (don’t ask me what I’m a complete technotard) and I cant get them off and on my blog. Mission this week will be to get the camera to a camera shop and get it sorted so photos will be on as soon as poss!            

Day 5

Daily Supps:
First thing in morning/Pre workout: BCAA
With evening meal: Fish oils (6-10 1000mg per day), Vit C (3 1000mg per day)

Torture Time
Performance day today!
DB Deadlift 14kg - Still not 100% confident with my Deadlift using DB’s , much prefer using a barbell but there aint’ one so I need to get over it. DB Deadlift will be going on to my ‘must practice move’ list
Press ups - (full ones whoop whoop!) Press ups were ok, need to try and get lower next week though.
Box jumps - Done on the bench, they went pretty well.
DB squat press 6kg - They went well.
V up’s - 4kg Went well.
Total time: 31 min 28 sec
Woke up this morning feel good but by time got to gym at lunchtime I was starting to flag and feel really tired. Body is aching (generally all over, but I’m not complaining!!!) so the session was difficult but it’s done now and complete…. thank God!

Feasting (without the e)
Lunch (PWO meal) – Chicken Fried Rice. Hubby cooked it in a tiny amount of coconut oil (literally just brushed the pan) fried off some shallots, chicken and then some leftover rice. He says he used low sodium soy sauce, a little oyster sauce, a little xylitol and some chilli sauce. Well It was absolutely gorgeous, loved it!!!
Tea- Cheesecake, yes cheesecake & protein shake (my Friday night goodies, Ripped to shreds styleee)
Hubby made a low fat high protein cheesecake and it was amazing!!!!
The macros for the whole cake:
Cals: 1,420
Protein: 184g
Carbs: 97g
Fat: 20g

I married well.

It was a keeper and it WILL be getting made again!

Drinks- Water & green tea, of course!
Macros met. Rest day tomorrow, think I’ve earned it!

Day 4

Daily Supps:
First thing in morning: BCAA
With evening meal: Fish oils (6-10 1000mg per day), Vit C (3 1000mg per day)

Torture Time 
Duck not in nursery rest of week so its late afternoon (about 5pm ish) when hubby’s home that I go the gym. Felt good today, legs a little achy but other than that I’m fully motivated and raring to go.
Interval training
Chose the treadmill today: 5 min warm up followed by 30 sec all out/90 sec rest for 8 rounds.
Abs Supersets
Following on from this I did the abs workout (the one I forgot to do on Day 2..ooopppss!!!
Total time in gym was 60 mins
 (45 secs rest between sets) Felt the burn!
1a) Straight leg raise 4x15
1b) Kneeling cable oblique crunch (weighted) 4x15. Changed to DB windmills 4kg as gym didn’t have equipment for cable crunch. Found this move really difficult to master; plan to practice before next session.
2a) Reverse curl (decline bench) 3x15. Not a lover of these, found them tough.
2b) DB roll out 3x15. DB’s had a mind of their own at the start but I definitely improved my technique as the sets went on.
Finisher: Plank 1 min

So how was the lovely treadmill?
Challenging!!! Tough and sweated like a pig but it was over soon enough. By the end of the session felt like I was going to spew!

Feasting (without the e)
Lunch- Omelette (2 yokes, 3 egg whites), ham, spring onions, folded over like a calzone pizza (not quite but you get the picture) and filled with cottage cheese. Seasoned with paprika, sea salt and pepper.
Tea- Chicken breast stir-fried in coconut oil with a leafy (literally only a mixture of leaves) salad & almonds. Dressed the salad in a homemade dressing of: olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some seasoning.
Drinks- Water, water, water. Green tea late afternoon.
Macros met. Actually quite shocked at how tasty my lunch was. I’ve never been a huge fan of eggs (would spew if anyone sat next to me with egg and cress butty’s…foul!) and I took a dislike to cottage cheese many moons ago based on its look…..reminds me of spew! Anyway, I have vowed to give it my all and with my hubby bestowing the virtues of cottage cheese I decided to give it a go (albeit hidden inside my folded over omelette). Anyway, really enjoyed lunch. It was thoroughly tasty and very filling, really struggled to eat it all. I think I’m an egg and cottage cheese convert!