50 shades of Pilates!

Tonight I attended my third session of my latest hobby at the new Pilates Studio that has opened in Richmond.  I am already a member of Your Gym, which is behind the new centre, and I am a massive fan of their set up.  I had started to research which gym to join when I moved to Richmond in the months before I arrived but was getting slightly concerned about the massive monthly fees some of them seemed to be charging.  Fortunately on our first day in Richmond we stumbled across Your Gym by accident as we were trying to find our way from the riverside to the town centre and as soon as I entered the place I knew I had to join.  Sometimes I really do believe in fate and I honestly think that I was guided down that side street by a greater force in order that I would find Your Gym.

Your Gym has a great selection of training equipment from the more traditional machines you would expect to find in any gym to power plates, ViPR equipment, TRX bands and Kettlebells.  The best thing about Your Gym is that there are always people on hand who are willing to set you a programme or guide you through your workout.  It also follows my preferred style of training, similar to tabata training, where it's all about working out smart not long.  Interval training is key and my fitness levels, stamina and strength have gone through the roof!

The Pilates Studio has only been open a few weeks but has already started to attract some major A List celebrities (I won't be indiscreet and say who but I will say it's my favourite celebrity in the whole wide world).  However, tonight it was my turn to put all of the equipment to the test.  I will warn you that I am one of the least flexible people ever so you are not going to see the best posture and positioning in the world from me but I do like to remind myself that I have only been seriously into exercise for the last 2.5 years and so I have 24 years of laziness to undo.  When I first started with my personal trainer and doing bootcamps I couldn't even do a sit up but I am progressing steadily and I am determined to continue to develop my core strength and fitness.

The studio is small offering intimate and personal class sizes.

To warm up I started with some stretching exercises on what is known as The Barrel.  First off I did a quad stretch followed by a stretch of the glutes below.  Having the equipment to aid your technique really helps you to push into the stretch and feel it deeply.

Trying that little bit harder to sit back into the stretch.

I then used the barrel to get in a hamstring stretch, I suffer from really tight hamstrings and this is the best equipment I've used so far to get a deep hamstring stretch where I can touch my toes.

Finally we did some back bends which, as you can probably see from my facial expression, are a lot harder than they appear to be!

We then moved on to the back of the reformer machine and did some squats.  The instructor was getting a little bit frustrated at our technique but I finally got it as seen here, using very little arm and focusing all the attention into the legs to squat down in a controlled manner keeping the back straight.

Next was on to some core exercises.  This is the area of the body I most need to strengthen up and it is only when you are shown how to do some of these abdominal exercises properly that you realise how weak your core strength is.  The machine below is The Cadillac and I was using the springs to pull out to the chest and then lower myself down before peeling myself back up using only my stomach muscles to do so.  A few of these and you really start to feel an ache in your muscles!

Next was lifting the hips up into a bridge with a leg extension.  This was actually a lot harder than it appears as you have to keep the bar still whilst maintaining straight legs and back.  The raised leg is supposed to be perfectly straight as well but I am not quite at that stage yet!

Finally, I finished off with The Reformer, this move below really stretched out the inner thighs, once I had overcome the fear that I would lose control and inadvertently do the splits (which would result in a lot of pain for someone as stiff as me)!

Here is a final bridge on the reformer, this really gets your muscles trembling after a while.

Pilates is the best toning tool in my opinion and I am hoping to see some massive differences over the coming months if I keep up a couple of sessions a week.  I still look back fondly to when I lived in Spain and was at my thinnest and Pilates was the only exercise I did.  I'm sure tomorrow I'll wake up a bit achy but that's always a sign of a good workout!

Halfway there!

I am now at the end of Day 9 of the 19 day detox and, after a tough three days, things are starting to feel better again.

The weekend was a challenge as there are a lot more temptations when you are not locked in a classroom keeping yourself busy for hours on end, but I managed to get through it without cheating or breaking the rules.  Monday morning I awoke and felt tired, hungry and emotional, I even burst into tears over something trivial at work which is not like me at all.  Last night I really started to worry about how I was going to cope with the first 19 hour fast.

Surprisingly today is the first day I have not thought about hunger/food at all. In some ways I was lucky that it happened on a Tuesday when I have a full teaching day and because I ended up having break time detentions as well as a lunchtime drama I did not even think about food until 2.15.  When I actually came to eat my lunch I found that I wasn't particularly hungry by this point and almost had to force it down me.  This has really made me start to question what I mistake as actual hunger and what is in fact physical hunger.  I didn't have a snack because I ate so late in the day and I have just come home from the gym to have my evening meal below.  I have just realised that I forgot my 'starchy carbs' so I am going to have a banana for dessert.

Tuna Steak, poached egg, asparagus, spinach and broccoli cooked in coconut oil, garlic and chilli

I am starting to realise that a lot of stuff I do not actually need, I just want and I have surprised myself in that I have not really craved any food.  Having said that, someone on TV just said 'I love you too marshmellow' which has just got me fantasising about hot chocolate and marshmellows!

I think moving forward from this plan I am going to continue with the no dairy/no wheat as I feel so much better for it.  I don't however want to give up coffee (with a little bit of milk) or alcohol because life is too short and they are both treats I enjoy.  I'm not a massive coffee drinker anyway, I drink 4-5 cups a week usually as a social thing with friends and I don't think there is any reason to suddenly forgo this...let's meet for a green tea just doesn't sound as much fun!

I haven't weighed/measured myself yet as I am not going to do this until the end but I am hoping that from here to the end is when the big results are going to come in, so I'm digging in my heels and sticking it out.

Yummy, healthy Sunday Brunch

I've just stumbled across a taste sensation I just had to share! I was having a bit of a panic because I needed to eat before I go to Waitrose and I didn't have a lot left in so I decided to see what I could make from the remnants of my fridge.

First I mashed an avocado with some diced onion and red chilli, drizzled in a bit of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I then steamed some spinach and poached 3 eggs before adding on top the last bit of smoked salmon I had left in the fridge. I seasoned with salt and pepper and voila...a healthy, tasty Sunday brunch.

I'm going to be enjoying this again and again from now on!

Wintry Richmond and Alexander McQueen

Today was a wondrous winter's day in Richmond and another occasion where I felt like I had walked into a Dickension novel.  We were up and out early for a walk around Richmond Park after I completed my morning workout tabata training (11 minutes of mountain climbers, 20 seconds on 40 seconds off).  Below is the view of Richmond Gardens opposite my flat. It looked beautiful and was so nice to see families sledging down the hill, it always makes me feel so lucky that I live here.

After the walk, I was starving but it was only 10.00 am and I had to wait until half 11 for my first feed so I threw on a Pashmina and headed down the hill to see if I could try on the Alexander McQueen coat that I had been eyeing up in the window of Vintage Rose for the past two weeks...

I am wearing: Tesco headband / HnM Snood / Pasmina from John Lewis / Lusso London Cashmere gloves / Armani exchange leather and cotton trousers / Ash biker boots / Topshop jumper and Longchamp handbag.

       

Alas it fitted and what's more they knocked a further £25 off for me, making it a steal compared to what it should have been full price! The pictures of it are above, I cannot wait to wear it out!!

I then headed over to Hampton Wick near Kingston to get my nails done and immediately felt a lot better for it.  There is nothing worse than having chipped nail varnish, especially when it's gel and you just want to peel it off (something my manicurist told me off for, oops!)

OPI GEL, You don't know Jacques

I have really struggled to avoid caffeine today.  It's so cold, exactly the sort of afternoon for coffee and a cake! I've had to really push through and stick with the peppermint tea when all I really want to do is head to a coffee shop and have a big mug of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake!!  I did weigh myself this morning though (which is apparently not allowed, so my scales have now had the battery taken out of them by my husband) and I am 3lbs down in 5 days which is a great incentive to push through! Just another half a stone to go until I'm back at my wedding weight!!

I am going to have a power nap now to stave off the hunger pains before doing the second workout and having dinner followed by a movie off sky box office...detoxing is so not rock 'n' roll!

Bracing myself for the weekend!

Woohoo! I have made it through 5 (pretty stressful) days at work on the detox plan and this weekend is the first big test.  After the week I've had the first thing I would normally do is crack open a bottle of red or some of the fizzy stuff and go out for dinner but not tonight!!

I'm tired, achy and in a bit of a grump at the moment (having to abstain from alcohol when I know everyone else is in the pub!) but I am also proud that I have completed 5 days and I am digging my heels in to push through.  Not even the fact that I had psyched myself up to buy the Alexander McQueen coat in the window of the vintage shop on my street and it was shut due to snow can tempt me to fall off the wagon.  Besides, there's always tomorrow!

If this coat is in my size I am treating myself to it tomorrow morning (The McQueen on the right, not the Chanel!)

So tonight, I'm going to have a nice bath and relax and enjoy the fact that tomorrow I don't have to set my alarm for 5.30! In fact, I am going to set it for 8,30 and then head to the gym before going to get my nails done with a friend. I cannot wait!

The view from the School Terrace at 11.00 am 

After a full eight hours of snow, I donned my hunter wellies and trekked home along the river.  I could really feel my calves as I walked up Richmond Hill for the last stretch home but school to my house is exactly 40 minutes which fitted in nicely with the 40 minute of low intensity exercise as instructed on the plan.

Here's to a weekend of self-discipline and strong resolve!!

January Detox

December has been a complete write off for me (as I'm sure many of you can sympathise with) in terms of health and fitness and I feel absolutely rubbish and annoyed at myself for going far too overboard with food and drink for the whole month. Coupled with the fact I have slipped into bad habits the previous three months since moving to London and starting my new job, I feel that now is the time to get back into my healthy living routines.

I struggle with my weight consistently, I always have. A quick look through my Facebook photos since 2006 (when I was 20) to now shows me at various weights ranging between 9.5 and 11 stone - up and down, up and down. What I really want to achieve as I enter my late 20s (I'll be 27 in June eek!) is to stabilise and maintain a consistent weight of about 10 stone. This means I need to lose a stone and stay there!

Therefore over the next month I will be blogging about my quest not only to lose the weight but also regain my fitness and try and discover a food routine that will give me energy and keep me revitalised. I hope to see an improvement in my skin tone and energy levels as well as toning up so that I am back to looking my best. Most importantly I hope to find a food plan that I can stick to and enjoy, this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle change.

Some of the supplements I have ordered ready for the 19 Day Body Detox I start on 14th January. Before and after this detox I will be following a strict healthy eating plan containing lots of protein and vegetables and no sugar/processed foods/complex carbs supplemented with a daily wheat grass shot.

To help me along the way I have created. an inspiration board featuring some motivational quotes and pictures to remind me to keep my eye on the prize. It contains a picture of me at my thinnest and a picture of me at my fittest as well as Abbey Clancy looking stunning in a bikini I own (and love) and of course the incredibly inspirational Jessica Ennis.

Day one begins tomorrow with an addition to my new daily routine; a wheatgrass shot. I will post about this tomorrow. I have been so good on the whole the past 2 years but November and December always catch me out and I end back at square one.  Let's hope 2013 is the year I break this pattern!

I shall leave you with this quote....