I'm Not Dead! Life Updates

Wow I've not blogged for a long time.

A little while ago, I mentioned I was applying to do a PhD. Well, I had the interview a couple of weeks ago and was unsuccessful. Immediately after, I was upset about it (who likes rejection?) but then I started to feel really set up. The proposal was never going to go through, so why waste everybody's time? I certainly felt the person who encouraged me to pursue doing a PhD should have said, look, the idea's too big, it's unlikely to pass an interview. It was an unpleasant experience all round, but since being unsuccessful I feel relaxed and much happier. I think I'd been carried along by everyone's enthusiasm (this is not to place blame on anyone except the aforementioned who could have stepped in but didn't) that I didn't stop to consider whether I was actually ready to undertake such a big project. That I feel so much better and less stressed makes me think that failing the interview was a blessing.

In that time, I've also finished the PGCert course I was doing and two of my private students took their FCE exam, so my evenings have been free. It's certainly been enjoyable coming home from work and riding / work and the gym and just doing whatever I feel like! I need to think about what I'm going to do next, but instead of feeling uptight about it I actually feel freer. Lots of things haven't worked out how I planned in my academic and work life, but it's not been the end of the world.

Another complete failure has been my fitness. I started the 30 Day Abs challenge and was bored two weeks in, so stopped. However, I had quite a shock two weeks ago when I had my body fat checked. 26.84%. That's nearly a 7% increase in 3 months. Who ate all the pies? I did! Understandably that upset me a lot and could have set me back to bad habits, but after a sulk and a cry I took responsibility for my poor choices. Nearly 27% is definitely not where I want to be, so I've started training using a four-day split: chest and triceps, back and biceps, shoulders and legs. I've also been schooling Ernest more, which is mutually beneficial (more on Mr Biff in the next post). The Smiling Assassin is checking my plumpness again at the end of August, so I'm hoping to have dropped it all off again by then.

It's strange that in the face of these failures I feel lighter - ironic, right?! - than I have for a while. I realise how tiring it is trying to control everything.

Body Fat Update

Joy to the world, I've lost body fat again. Working my way down...
I'm now 20%. 
The lowest I've ever gotten was 19%, but that delicious 18% has still evaded me. Maybe I'll stop talking about it when I get there. Probably not.
The last couple of weeks I've been particularly run down and lethargic, and haven't eaten as clean as I could have, so I'm now working on hitting 5 clean days a week as mentioned in my last post. I need to lose 7lbs to hit my target weight, then maintain it for the rest of the year!
I weigh in every Monday, but my next BF update will be end of March. As long as I maintain or lose a little, I'll be happy as a clam.

My Fitness Pal - Week One

I was sceptical about using My Fitness Pal again, thinking it would make me more obsessed and stressed about what I'm eating. I also wondered whether it would accurately log the calories burnt during exercise - because I'm already quite fit and not overweight, it takes a lot for me to burn hundreds of calories.  Here's what I found. MFP is mostly accurate due to the huge database of foods already entered. In fact, tonight is the only night I've not been able to find a meal, and that's because the pub chain doesn't publish its meals'  nutritional information. Instead, I used the 'quick add calories' option, to log an estimation of how many calories I ate - this means I don't get the carb/protein/fat etc breakdown, but it's better than nothing. However, I found it hard to believe that going for a leisurely hack for 80 mins - in walk - would burn as many calories as it says. The way I tackled this was to lower the amount of minutes I actually did the activity, to get a more accurate number of calories burned. Not ideal, but better than kidding myself that I could burn 150+ calories going for a hack! I like that I can adjust my aims and immediately have access to how many carbs and how much protein, etc, I've eaten each day. Due to the quick access to this information, I've found I haven't been so obsessive. It's almost like, once logged, I can forget about it until I next need to make a food choice. This last week has been an anomaly in that I've had a wisdom tooth and molar out, so eating has been somewhat challenging. Most of my food has been easily 'mushable'! Seriously though, one morning it took me 40 minutes to eat a toasted muffin. Ridiculous. My dental extractions have helped me to reduce my calorie intake, but honestly, I haven't felt that hungry at any point this week. Formerly, I thought I was eating too many carbs and too much fat, but this week has shown me I really should try to lower my sugar intake. No more Heinz tomato soup or Heinz baked beans! Well, maybe once a week as a treat. I do love baked beans. Beans beans the magical fruit and all that. Although I started using MFP last Saturday, I didn't weigh myself until Monday, so I want to wait a full week before seeing if I've lost anything. Due to this, the goals I wrote on my previous post have changed slightly. My new goals are:

• lose 1lb a week
• eat 1460 calories a day - this allowance goes up if I exercise
• do 4 workouts a week, 40 mins each - although I record any walking and hacking I do, which all adds up, I only really count schooling sessions and weightlifting/circuits as 'workouts'. The other activities I do, like taking Ernest for a relaxing hack, are a bonus in terms of calories burnt.

So, from Saturday to Saturday, I've done 530 minutes of exercise and burnt 1475 calories. Normally the week runs Monday to Monday, of course, and under the 'exercise' tab you can see whether you're on track to meet your fitness goals. 

For this week, going from Monday 5th to now, I've burnt 1001/690 calories and exercised for 310/160 mins. When setting up my account, I selected that I want to lose 1lb a week, am active, and want to complete 4 workouts a week for 40 mins - MFP has obviously worked out that in order to do this I need to eat a deficit of 500 calories per day and burn 690 calories per week. 

Possibly my favourite thing about MFP is that, if you undereat, a warning message on the dangers of underrating comes up. Most will ignore it, I'm sure, but I think it's quite a responsible thing to do. It also has a message that says, 'if everyday were like today, you'd weigh *** in 5 weeks'. It's a nice reminder, or a shock depending on how you've eaten, on where you're headed.

Overall, I'd recommend MFP as a way to monitor your eating and exercise. I just hope that my surprisingly active week pays off when I weigh in on Monday!

I've Joined My Fitness Pal... again

A little while ago I joined My Fitness Pal, then deleted my account because I just didn't keep it up. For those who aren't familiar with MFP, it's an online food and exercise tracker. You enter your details - height, weight, measurements - and what you want to lose, as well as how active you are day-to-day. It calculates your daily calorie limit, although you can increase your limit depending on how many calories you burn during exercise. Then, you enter all the food you've eaten that day - there's a huge database of foods, although you can add your own recipes etc.
I've decided to rejoin, to see how effective it is at helping me lose 7lbs (half a stone). I'm hoping that the slight weight loss of 1/2lb each week will be fat from my muffin top dropping off, although I won't know until the end of March (my next scheduled body fat check).
I've kept a food diary on and off for years, but feel that My Fitness Pal is a more environmentally friendly way of keeping track (just call me the paper saver). It's become common knowledge that keeping a food diary can aid weight loss, but I'll be interested to see if it makes me more obsessed about what I eat.
Today has been a good day because I had a wisdom tooth out, so eating anything solid has been impossible past 1.30. That said, I'm slightly over my sugar limit, due to the baked beans I ate before my operation, the tomato soup after, and the ice cream my dad bought me to make me feel better (thanks Daddy Martins). Hopefully I'll be under tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas

So, the world and his wife have been talking about how it's only a month to Christmas. Two things: I KNOW. And, it's my mum's birthday first! I'm not thinking about Christmas until after that! Sheesh. Everybody just calm it with the Christmas business already...
That said, I've nearly finished my shopping as I've been doing it gradually (I feel smug). Also, I've got the month of December off from teaching (aside from my private students), and I finish my CELTA on Thursday, so I have plenty of time to ride and gym and look fabulous for all the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
I searched on www.bodybuilding.com for a 3-day split programme and found Lee Labrada's 12-week Lean Body regime. I have plenty of ideas and programmes from The Smiling Assassin, but I've never done a 3-day split before so needed an imprint. I also think doing 3 days a week is more realistic, as I want to ride a lot this month, and also need to prep for the 4-week seasonal school I'm teaching on in January.
Today I did chest, shoulders and triceps at home. Day 1 is supposed to be back and biceps, but I want to add more back exercises for this workout, and for those I'll need to go to the gym to use the machines. As I've had a cracking headache all day, I decided I'd rather work out at home so I could stop straightaway if I felt worse (I get migraines). 
I really wanted to work out but probably only gave 75% today. I still felt like I pushed myself and benefitted from exercising, though - after focusing for so long on the half marathon, I'm building my strength back up, so using 5kg for shoulder press felt heavy! I know it's not. Shut up. I also use 2kg for lat raises... I FIND THIS EXERCISE REALLY HARD OK?!?!
Here's the breakdown of what I did:

Chest, shoulders, triceps

Christmas is often a time when people let themselves go, but I have a January goal of 19% body fat to reach so can't afford/don't want to stuff myself. I think setting a goal for after Christmas and New Year helps you stay focused on what you're aiming for. I know many people will inevitably start diets and life changes in January, but why wait? I'm not going to abstain from treats and the occasional glass of Prosecco over the holidays, but I know that a month's worth of this diet isn't going to help me achieve my goals either.

Body Fat Update: joy at last!

Just a quick post to say...
I've finally lost some body fat! Hurrah!
I really wasn't sure if I had and was feeling conflicted whether I should get it measured or wait until I felt sure I had lost some, but decided the curiosity would kill me.
So, I went from 23% to 21.39%. That's the same as I was a year ago.
Although I'm still aiming for 18%, I want to start focusing on enjoying exercise, rather than always doing it to reach this or that goal. I hack out on Ernest to keep him fit, but we also go for an amble just to enjoy the countryside - I want to pass this attitude over to working out. I'm still going to push myself, but focus on why I like weightlifting instead of only thinking about what I'm aiming for.
My next body fat check will probably be in January now. 19% would be brilliant, as would continuing to tone and get stronger. I'm really seeing some good definition in my triceps, shoulders and back, which is heartening!

Fear. Pure fear.

In other completely unrelated news, I went on my first rollercoaster on Sunday. It was terrifying and exciting and nerve-wracking and... actually not too bad. Maxx, blogger friend Becky, her bf Andy and I went to Alton Towers for Maxx's birthday (which is actually tomorrow) - it was nice to go on a big boy's ride with them, instead of just watching fearfully as they queue up for increasingly scary rollercoasters!

The BFF Challenge

Pinch punch first day of the month! In place of a monthly update, as not much has changed since the end of June, let me introduce you to...
The BFF Challenge!
Boop (co-writer of the Longleat posts) and I have invented a challenge to help us reach our fitness goals. By the beginning of September, Boop needs to have lost 7 pounds and I need to be 21% body fat (I'm also hoping to lose 4-8 lbs). As we live in two different Queendoms far, far away, we won't be working out together, but will be keeping each other updated on our progress. 
The reward: a treat in the form of food - we're both thinking a ginormous sundae, either bought or made. I'm thinking honeycomb pieces, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream... the kind I'd need to eat with about 400 IBS pills!
The forfeit: rep to failure one hated exercise. Boop has chosen tricep dips and I've chosen kettlebell swings... We will also have to give up our favourite food for a month - I will forfeit cheese or chocolate, or both, and Boop will give up biscuits or cheese.
I think this is an excellent way to keep motivated, as you can celebrate your successes together or commiserate when it gets tough. Fitness challenges with friends only work if you're genuinely BFFs and not frenemies, however - I want Boop to succeed just as must as she wants me to, and there's no hidden competition as a) we love each other, b) we want the other to be happy with her body, and c) we're aiming for two very different goals anyway.
Wish Boop and I luck!