Day #12

 

Ello, Ello!

 

Fasting day number 2 started with a mug of hot lemon water and apple cider vinegar before I tucked into my second batch of kedgeree which i prepared yesterday.

 

BREAKFAST 11AM

 

 

I didn't eat breakfast until 11am yesterday morning so I made sure I ate at 11am today - a full 24 hours after eating my last meal

 

590 CALORIES

 

This was even tastier than yesterday and nice and filling!

 

Instead of tea and toast in work this morning it was my favourite..

Hot crossed buns and tea!

 

The buns looked delicious, but not as delicious as the thought of less pounds on the scales this week and at 203 calories per bun - It really wasn't worth it!

 

Yesterday I shared with you how I started my weight loss journey. Today I want to share with you how I learned to love exercise and working out.

 

I remember coming close to my target weight of 11stone in Slimming world and I had decided that now I had lost the weight, I wanted to shape up a bit. I started aerobics classes with friends once a week and really enjoyed them. Obviously just 1 class a week wasn't really going to get me anywhere, but it did build my confidence and made me feel good!

A few months later we bought a puppy, a little chocolate Labrador called Marley.

 

 

 

Labradors are very boisterous dogs and need exercising so this was the perfect opportunity to get out walking. I live on the entrance to the mountain which is perfect for dog walking.

Just a few weeks later, we decided Marley needed a brother, that's when we had Buddy.

 

 

Now Marley was very mischievous as a puppy, but if we knew what Buddy was capable of before we had him then there would have been no way we would have had another one!! He ate the sofa, he pulled the wallpaper off the wall, he chewed the window sills. You Name it Buddy did it!!

This was all the more reason to make sure the dogs had a really good walk every single day so they could burn all their energy off. They are walked every morning come rain, hail or shine so even if we don't feel like walking them, it's tough, they have to go... or we wouldn't hear the end of it, they would literally whine all day!

Baglan mountain is absolutely beautiful, It's a good 4-5 mile walk all the way around and I love being out in the countryside! Nothing beats a good bit of fresh air, it always puts a spring in your step!

 

 

 

 

I didn't class walking as getting exercise any more, It was more like my routine, something that had to be done so I looked to start an exercise class.

I joined a local Zumba class. I absolutley LOVED zumba!! The latin music is right up my street and it was such a feel good class. I started off going 1-2 times a week and within a few months I was up to 5 times a week. After about a year of doing Zumba, I changed my job which meant the times were no longer suitable for me. I was absolutely gutted, but knew I didn't want to stop exercise all together. I looked online for different classes in the area and managed to find a Bootcamp. Bootcamp sounded very scary but I knew a few people who went to the classes so thought I would give it a go.

 

 

I really enjoyed the classes and started entering things like 'Race for life' which I had never done before. A few of us also entered 'Survival of the Fittest' which I never thought I would be able to do, but we did! 10k (and the rest) 15 obstacles, 3 hours later.. we had completed it. This was a really good feeling!!

Most of the people in this class were following the Herbalife plan. Now I have never been into that kind of thing, not only was it too expensive, I just love my food too much so I  knew I wouldn't be able to stick to just shakes.

I took nutrition advice from the trainer but I started to notice that I was gaining weight. All the way through my journey i have never 'Yo,Yo dieted' once the weight was off, it was off, so I was a little concerned as to why it was going back on. I just thought that maybe it was muscle, and muscle weighs heavier than fat and just plodded along on the advice I had been given. It was almost a year and a half after starting this Bootcamp and I was 9lbs heavier than when I started!... Something was wrong!

 

It wasn't long after 'Survival of the Fittest' when I saw New Beginnings advertised on Facebook and I remember Joanne asking did I want to give it a go.

I will be honest, I was expecting some big army beefhead from what I first saw on Facebook but when we turned up I instantly felt welcome, and he really wasn't as scary as I thought he would be and he obviously knew what he was talking about.

 

A few weeks in, Rob suggested doing Cardiff half marathon. I really couldn't run and I thought this would be impossible for me, but he believed we were capable of doing it and that gave me the confidence I needed to push me to give running a go. We added running to our training programme and I must be honest, I think it has been one of the main things to help me shape up and lose weight.

When I first ever tried to run, I remember having an app on my phone where I set it to 1 minute run and then 2 minute walk.... I couldn't even run for the 60seconds, think I lasted about 30 seconds. It was so frustrating, I mean, what is so hard about putting one foot in front of the other!!!!

After talking to Rob about how difficult I was finding it, I bought a heart rate monitor. I started to run with it, sticking to my zones I was quite surprise how much longer I could go without stopping. Before long we were up to running 20 minutes at a time. I was so pleased with my progress.

The First running challenge was 'Beast of Bryn' a 7 mile mountain run! A few people had tried running the route before hand, I didn't though, and was glad I didn't! It was really tough but I just took my time and as soon as i got to the top (about 3 miles of up hill) it was all down hill, I literally couldn't stop my legs from going! I thoroughly enjoyed the run and It was that day I decided that yes, I will do the Cardiff half marathon!

We increased our running and started getting the miles in every weekend as part of our running group. We run the distance of a half marathon every week for about 7 weeks. They say not to train to the full distance of half marathon but I am glad we did. It took the pressure off as we knew we could do it.

First it was 'Survival of the fittest' - 1 week before Cardiff Half Marathon.

We entered as a team for 'SOF', It's an obstacle course and you need to work as a team to get around it. We all stayed together and helped each other up, over, under and through the obstacles. It was an amazing team to be a part of and I enjoyed it so much more compared to the year before!

Knocking an hour off last years time was a massive bonus too!!

 

 

Cardiff Half Marathon - 5th October 2014 - It was race day! I remember waking up in the morning, stomach churning with a mixture of excitement and nerves but I was ready for it! We all met at the bus station and caught a bus up to Cardiff at something like 6am, we were all buzzing and ready for what was to come!

Well the day was absolutely amazing! The atmosphere was unbelievable and the support was outstanding! I remember seeing the finish line in the distance and I couldn't believe what I was doing! I crossed the line in 2hrs 22minutes to my boyfriend and my team mates. I was BEAMING!!

 

 

 

'We Turned we can't into we CAN and we DID'

 

Cardiff half Marathon is my biggest and proudest achievement to date. This year is the year of Tough Mudder which I am super excited about!

 

I really am going on and on now haha - It takes my mind off food though so its all good!

 

Catch you all tomorrow, Good Night X