A couple of years ago i had no idea about general fitness or nutrition and how it affects the body, I wasn’t eating the right things to feed my body and alcohol was abused quite a lot in my younger years since the age of 12, I am paying for it now with various stomach ulcers but I don’t regret my decisions, because they have made me appreciate my body now and how fragile it can be.
A couple of years ago I decided to transform myself, I just didn’t feel like me. All my life I have been naturally very skinny and I absolutely hated it, remarks such as “do you ever eat?” were actually quite hurtful, because I did… A lot. I wouldn’t have thought twice about devouring an entire pizza to myself after school and then sit down to dinner an hour later. No matter how much I ate I simply couldn’t put weight on, I wasn’t the sporty type in school, I dreaded PE and sports day and I still would hate it now.
Just over 2 years ago I was tagged in a picture on Facebook, one that changed the way I looked at myself and how I was living. I started regular workouts and have never looked back, I love it and actually feel upset if I can’t do it! My first goal was to lose weight, I lost around a stone in a year, to some that might seem like nothing, it’s less that 2lbs a month. I wasn’t going to focus on all this weekly weigh in rubbish, I rarely even thought to weigh myself because I wanted to focus on how I looked rather than the scales. In my eyes if you are starting to exercise you’re obviously going to gain some muscle and lose some fat… Muscle weighs more than fat so to me it was a pointless process.
My ‘transformation’
I want to start by saying I have never been to a gym… and I still don’t. I personally don’t think it is necessary. I have been to the odd boxercise class for a few weeks but I got bored and just continued to what I was originally doing in my living room. I started with Jillian Michaels DVD’s, I have quite the collection now and still use them but not regularly. 30 day Shred and Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism were my two favourites that gave me the best results physically. I consumed on average 1700 calories per day… I can’t stress enough how much you need to feed your body when trying to lose weight or tone up, I really believe around 70% of it is in the kitchen!
My current regime
I work out 3 to 4 times a week, in my living room with nothing but this equipment:
Equipment
Ipad
Yoga Mat
Hand weights
Barbell
Water bottle
Yes… As simple as that.
The barbell is a recent addition for squats so I can’t comment too much on that, but with the hand weights I literally started with 0.5kg and have worked my way up to 2kg and I am almost ready to move up again in weight.
The ipad is for the following apps that I love and use very regularly,
Nike training Club
I love, love, love this app, you can track your progress so easily and change your workouts so your never bored with a solid routine. You have beginner, intermediate and Advanced workouts to suit your level. My next step will be a Nike Fuel Band… I have wanted one for the longest time! Each workout is around 30 minutes and you can progress up to 45 minutes, trust me, it’s enough!
Athlean X 6pack promise
After having a baby, this is a handy app to have, each workout is around 5 minutes long and gets more difficult each day, you have to make sure to have your rest days to let your body recover from these, my core has become so strong now through this app and also from planking… I am proud to say I can plank for 3.27 minutes now! Before I couldn’t have managed 15 seconds so there is hope for everyone!
I consume on average 2200 – 2500 calories a day. Yes I still indulge in Chinese food and crisps, chocolate etc. I am not going to deny myself for fear of gorging myself and really pigging out on the wrong things. Little of the naughty things are good for me because I don’t have much self control. My diet consists of fruit, vegetables, oils (like olive oil), nuts, dairy (no low fat rubbish), white meats because I hate red meat. I also have whey protein shakes with a meal to up my calories, I typically have a 700 calorie meal 3 times a day and one 400 calorie meal in the evening. Bearing in mind this diet plan is for me to gain muscle at the moment to put on lean mass. That will probably change once I have put on enough and I can maintain it.
I love my lifestyle at the moment, it can be challenging at times, I’m not going to lie, it is really hard work but I am determined to keep myself fit and healthy for the rest of my life, it has paid off because I have so much energy and my whole mindset and outlook on life has changed as well. I hope this has helped someone somewhere. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me, I am not a professional by any stretch of the imagination but I can tell you what has worked for me.
