My Healthy Life Diary Week Two

I am a week in and feeling really proud of myself. It hasn't been a perfect week but I am still really pleased with some of my accomplishments.

My favourite part of the week has been keeping up with my exercise plans. I have stuck to the first week of the Race for Life plan with precision. Even on Wednesday, when my train was delayed for an hour, it took me two & half hours to get home from work, I was knackered, starving and fed up, and I still went out for my run when I got home. I know it sounds silly but I am so so proud of myself for this. That sort of thing is usually my downfall - I take any opportunity or excuse as a reason not to stick to my diet/exercise plans.

I have also been finding that sticking to my running schedule is helping me establish a work-life balance. I have a habit of staying late for the tiniest of reasons, and often miss trains because I just keep working. But now I have my running plan, if it's a running day I force myself out the door for the half five train so that I am home in time to run before dinner. Finally I am kinda chuffed with myself for having the confidence to get out there on my own. I have never run on my own before, I normally rely on my boyfriend to go with me but he has a bit of a dodgy knee and isn't sure whether to come or not. So I've been putting in my headphones and going out on my own - I actually quite enjoy it - it's 15 mins to myself and so nice to get the fresh air.

So to treat myself I bit the bullet and decided to get some running trainers today. My boyfriend was getting some to see if it improved things for his knee, so I bought some too. I got this pair from Decathlon in the sale for £25. They're not anything special but I didn't want to spend too much this early on - you know what my resolve is like. But I do love them - I love being someone who owns running trainers! Lets hope I keep it up!

So I guess what you're thinking is, OK so that's the exercise what about the food! Well the food hasn't been quite so good but has definately been much better than it has been. I got a bit screwed up with eating out twice this week. On Tuesday I was a bit gutted with how my meal out turned out. I had planned to go to Zizzi with a friend and had been really good - I went online, looked at the nutritional information for their menu and planned what I was going to eat in advance so I could stay within my diet. We then got to Zizzi and there wasn't a table available. We ended up at Cote Brasserie on their set menu - which sent me sky high above my calorie allowance! Now you know why I forced myself out on my run on Wednesday!

And finally Sunday wasn't too good either as we went out for chinese (I know eating out 2 times a week is not the best way to stay healthy) but we went out with my Grandmother. She has a favourite restaurant and we always go there, but mainly because the staff know her and are really good to her, so I don't mind going. I tried to limit my portion sizes but it still added a fair amount of calories - but I stayed true to myself and recorded it all in my Fitness Pal app. Overall I ended having an extra 1418 calories over the week which is over a day's extra calories. This isn't a great start but I am pleased with myself for keeping it all recorded rather than ignoring the bad days.

I did manage to lose 3 pounds this week (weighing myself before the chinese). I am really chuffed with this weight loss but am aware that this is probably a first week high. I will need to be a lot more controlled to keep an even weight loss.

Overall I am pleased with my first week, mainly on the exercise front. I need to try and get back on top of my food management. Will be hard tomorrow with a bank holiday bbq but we'll see how it goes.

Speak soon x

My Healthy Life Diary Week One

So I have said it time and time again on this blog. I am going to get my life on track, I am going to lose weight, I am going to eat healthily yada yada yada...

Well here we go again. Only this time I am going to update you guys or the internet generally on a weekly basis. So I don't fail miserably on my blog again I am going to put a two week delay on my posts. So if you're reading this I am 2 weeks in - go me! 

Some healthy-ish snacks to get me started

So what is the reason for this sudden desire to be healthy? Well my clothes don't fit is the main reason. I had to buy some size 14 jeans last week just because I didn't have anything to wear. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a size 14. There is however something wrong when a year ago I had slimmed down from a 14 to.a 8/10 and I've gone back the other way. Even ignoring the annoyance of working so hard to lose the weight, it's a pain in the butt having to re-buy bigger clothes having ceremoniously dumped them a year ago. 

Secondly, I know I have put quite a bit of weight on in the last 2 months. The weight had slowly been creeping back on since before Christmas, but in the last 2 months I have gained half a stone. This is mainly to do with a change in lifestyle - I took a temporary promotion for 2 months which turned out to be pretty full on! I was eating breakfast & lunch at my desk, snacking while I worked into the evening and going home for a later dinner - not a very healthy lifestyle at all! 

So now I am back in my old job, I'm expecting to have a much quieter life - not because the job is easy but by comparison it's not going to be nearly as intensive. I am therefore going to take the opportunity to gain a much better work-life balance - something I have never been very good at. 

To begin with I am focusing my aim on two things: healthy eating and doing more ANY exercise at all. To keep track on my eating I am going to be using the MyFitnessPal app. I've used this on and off before and intend to be quite strict with myself when I use it. For exercise, a colleague recommended using the training programmes on the Race for Life website - I am initially going to focus on the 5k jogging programme. Unfortunately, I won't be able to enter the Race for Life as we will be on holiday but maybe next year if I do manage to keep this up!

So I'll check in next week and let you know how I've been getting on. If you want to join me on this journey feel free to comment below, I'd love to have some company and we can support each other. 

Speak soon x

Reebok Easy Tone Trainers

You might have seen in my weight loss post that I bought a pair of Reebok Easy Tone trainers. I thought I would do a quick review. 

I bought some black simple Reebok Easy Tone trainers. I wanted a good comfortable pair of trainers to wear to and from work. I have just changed jobs and now commute by train which involves a bit of walking. I wanted a simple black pair that would look subtle with my office work wear. The inside of the trainers is a gorgeous dark purple which fulfils my craving for all things purple hehe!  

As I am now walking a couple of miles a day I thought it would be worth getting a pair of Easy Tone or Sketchers Shape Ups trainers to see if they do anything. I can’t say I chose Reebok over Sketchers for any particular reason other than I saw these in a shop and they were a good price.

I picked this pair up at an outlet shopping centre, so they were at a reduced price of £37. I found the same trainers on www.jdsports.co.uk. They are sold for £75 on their website, although some styles are currently in the sale for £50. 

I have picked up the Reebok Reenew design of trainers. TheReebok website says:

“A better butt and legs with every step. Built specifically for walking and everyday activities, the EasyTone Reenew is designed to work your key leg and butt muscles with every step.”

I have worn these trainers several times since I bought them only a few days ago. They are incredibly comfortable and not at all weird to walk in. My only comment about the fit is that the back of the shoe fits quite low down on the back of the ankle.

 I gave these shoes a thorough test on their first outing with a three mile walk in the Scottish highlands. This walk involved some small inclines, some steep inclines, some steep downhill slopes, forest paths, stone paths and some paved areas. I had no problems at all; they were very comfortable and provided sufficient support. There was no rubbing on my ankles even after an hour and half of walking.

I thought the Easy Tone design would take some getting used to in terms of walking and that it would require a stable balance but not at all. They are easy to walk in and if anything actually improve my walking. My boyfriend jokes about my heavy footing when I walk. These shoes force me to walk from heel to toe because of the shape which I’m sure is a lot better for my legs and back. 

These are just my initial thoughts and I’ve only had a few days so I can’t really comment on their ability to tone your derrière.  I am thinking that I will keep some notes on these trainers over the next few months and then do a longer term review in six months or so. I will also measure my hips and thighs now and give you an update in six months.  I am planning to incorporate these trainers into my longer term exercise and weight loss plans so if I manage to lose any weight it won’t just be down to the trainers but at least it will be an indication. If you want to see my blog post on longer term weight loss goals click here. 

I hope you found this useful. Whilst I can’t yet comment on the Easy Tone technology I would recommend these trainers as a comfortable shoe with a decent but subtle design.

Update
I actually wrote this post a few weeks ago but didn't get round to posting it, so I can now update after wearing them to and from work for a couple of weeks. They have continued to be incredibly comfy. The only niggle is still that they sit low down on the back of the ankle. I can't say if they've toned because I haven't really thought about it but I will say I can definitely feel something working in my thighs and butt, especially after a long walk.

Also since I bought these I find that I am keen to go walking more, maybe because the shoes are a novelty or because after two years of commuting by motorway I enjoy the walk but I am certainly making use of them. Last week I chose to walk an hour to the 3rd train station down the line rather than get  on at my normal stop and another day I decided not to get the bus home from the station but instead walked which took about 40min. 

Has anyone else ever tried these or any other brand of toning trainers? If you have got any hints or tips or other suggestions of what works best please leave a comment below I’d be really interested to know other people’s experiences with these types of trainers.

Hope you’re having a good day! X x

Weight Loss - New Attempt (lets hope its the last)

A slightly different post today... This is a short post about my fresh start in my attempt to lose some weight.

After being a very skinny child thanks to lots and lots of dance classes, I have struggled with my weight since I was about 16. My weight has been up and down, thanks to life style and health issues but I will not bore you with the details. Instead I am going to re-start the painstaking journey of losing weight yet again but this time I'm going to take you along with me (if your interested that is - if not go make a cup of tea hehe!)

I'm not going to cut out chocolate all together - I am a woman after all... but these small size treats are a good option.

So the new plan....

I am going to take this one step at a time, or more precisely two weeks at a time. At the beginning of each fortnight I am going to do three things:

1. Weigh myself - I use the Wii Fit to do this and am only going to do this once a fortnight so I don't have the constant dread of weigh in day
2. Plan some scrumptious meals for the next two weeks trying to include lots of variety
3. Decide what exercise to do for that fortnight - I am going to change this every two weeks so that I don't get bored and the exercise continues being effective

My new trainers - this fortnight my exercise plan is a 1hr walk 4 times per week.

So thats the plan! We'll see how it goes.... I will write on here again in two weeks to let you all know!

Meanwhile if you've got any hints or tips I'd love to hear them. Or if you'd like to join in let me know I'd love to hear from others ...

Hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Xx