I can't believe how quickly August has gone, it's nearly the end already. Which means, it's nearly my birthday!
So, this week I maintained my weight which I'm relatively pleased with. I don't think my eating was as good as it should have been last week, and I didn't do as much gym as I'd hoped, so it's all good.
I'm not expecting the next few weeks to be as good however, as it's my birthday and it's obligatory to celebrate for your birthday.
So, just a quick one this week but hopefully my next one will be longer with some birthday celebration posts.
Sarah x
Weigh In - 19th August
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
After week 2 of my calorie counting I've lost an additional 1.2lbs taking my total up to 2 lbs in the 2 weeks, and getting me back to the 'maintain' level I was trying to keep.
Alongside watching my calories and keeping up my workouts, I've cut back on the amount of diet coke I was drinking. This is probably the hardest for me to do, but I'm managing. One can is normally my treat for my afternoon break at work. Water until then and water afterwards. I never used to like drinking water, but I'm definitely getting used to it.
The major downside to last week was my plan to go and try out Body Combat only to find the gym so busy I couldn't actually get parked never mind into the gym to get changed. Very disappointing as I was looking forward to trying something new, but hopefully I will be able to try it out another time.
It's not been the most exciting of weeks, and I'm now just on a wind down to my Birthday and some time off week. Hopefully when I get back from my time off, I'll be motivated again and in a better position to plan my routines properly.
Sarah x
Alongside watching my calories and keeping up my workouts, I've cut back on the amount of diet coke I was drinking. This is probably the hardest for me to do, but I'm managing. One can is normally my treat for my afternoon break at work. Water until then and water afterwards. I never used to like drinking water, but I'm definitely getting used to it.
The major downside to last week was my plan to go and try out Body Combat only to find the gym so busy I couldn't actually get parked never mind into the gym to get changed. Very disappointing as I was looking forward to trying something new, but hopefully I will be able to try it out another time.
It's not been the most exciting of weeks, and I'm now just on a wind down to my Birthday and some time off week. Hopefully when I get back from my time off, I'll be motivated again and in a better position to plan my routines properly.
Sarah x
Summer Spends
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Although I'm supposed to be saving ready for my new house, there's a few spends I couldn't resist this summer. Here's my highlight summer spends for 2014.
1 - Jack Wills Fullford Tee - £14
I love Jack Wills clothing at the best of times, but even more so when they have a sale on. This tee comes in a wide range of colours and was down to £14 in their summer sale. The one I've got is a lovely lilac colour and is very loose fitting and comfortable. Great for summer! I love the style and comfort so much my Mum and Grandma are buying me two more in different colours for my birthday.
2 - Boots Cucumber 3 Minute Clay Mask - £1
My skin recently has been feeling very greasy and spotty so I decided to invest in a face mask to try and help my skin out. I didn't want to pay a lot of money so I did some research and found this Boots Cucumber 3 Minute Clay Mask which had some rather good reviews. I decided for £1 I couldn't really go wrong so bought it on my lunch break. After one use my skin was feeling much smoother and a horrible spot that had been developing on my chin disappeared straightaway. I was rather impressed. It's not a massive tube that you get, but if you use it twice a week as recommended it should definitely last more than a month. A purchase I will definitely be repeating.
3 - Dorothy Perkins High-Tops - £7
Another of my sale bargains. I wasn't particularly after a new pair of casual trainers but stumbled across these in the DP sale and they caught my eye. When I took a closer look I saw that the only size left in stock was my size, and decided it was fate! They're super comfy and will be great as the weather starts to get a bit cooler and wetter.
4 - Trudi Canavan Thief's Magic Ebook - £6.49
I love a good book and can't wait for my holidays to be able to do some serious non-college related reading. Trudi Canavan is one of my favourite authors, I've read every book she's published and loved them all. This is the first in her new trilogy and I'm really looking forward to getting into the story. It's a bit pricey for an Ebook in my opinion but since it's relatively new and still cheaper than the hard copy I'm not going to complain.
5 - Personal Planner - £17.95
This is by far my favourite summer spend. I love a good diary and this is definitely one of them. I won't write much here as I plan to write a blog post alone on the pros/cons of this purchase but I definitely will be buying another next summer.
6 - Sensationail Gel Glitter Nail Varnish - £15
I bought this to go with my outfit for the Christening I went to a few weeks ago. It's a gorgeous peachy colour with glitter, the only downside was it took quite a few coats to have a good coverage. You need a UV light for the gel to set, but once it is set it looks really good. For me I didn't quite get the two week coverage it claims to give but I'm not the best at applying nail varnish so I'm normally pretty pleased if they last more than a week.
Sarah x
1 - Jack Wills Fullford Tee - £14
I love Jack Wills clothing at the best of times, but even more so when they have a sale on. This tee comes in a wide range of colours and was down to £14 in their summer sale. The one I've got is a lovely lilac colour and is very loose fitting and comfortable. Great for summer! I love the style and comfort so much my Mum and Grandma are buying me two more in different colours for my birthday.
2 - Boots Cucumber 3 Minute Clay Mask - £1
My skin recently has been feeling very greasy and spotty so I decided to invest in a face mask to try and help my skin out. I didn't want to pay a lot of money so I did some research and found this Boots Cucumber 3 Minute Clay Mask which had some rather good reviews. I decided for £1 I couldn't really go wrong so bought it on my lunch break. After one use my skin was feeling much smoother and a horrible spot that had been developing on my chin disappeared straightaway. I was rather impressed. It's not a massive tube that you get, but if you use it twice a week as recommended it should definitely last more than a month. A purchase I will definitely be repeating.
3 - Dorothy Perkins High-Tops - £7
Another of my sale bargains. I wasn't particularly after a new pair of casual trainers but stumbled across these in the DP sale and they caught my eye. When I took a closer look I saw that the only size left in stock was my size, and decided it was fate! They're super comfy and will be great as the weather starts to get a bit cooler and wetter.
4 - Trudi Canavan Thief's Magic Ebook - £6.49
I love a good book and can't wait for my holidays to be able to do some serious non-college related reading. Trudi Canavan is one of my favourite authors, I've read every book she's published and loved them all. This is the first in her new trilogy and I'm really looking forward to getting into the story. It's a bit pricey for an Ebook in my opinion but since it's relatively new and still cheaper than the hard copy I'm not going to complain.
5 - Personal Planner - £17.95
This is by far my favourite summer spend. I love a good diary and this is definitely one of them. I won't write much here as I plan to write a blog post alone on the pros/cons of this purchase but I definitely will be buying another next summer.
6 - Sensationail Gel Glitter Nail Varnish - £15
I bought this to go with my outfit for the Christening I went to a few weeks ago. It's a gorgeous peachy colour with glitter, the only downside was it took quite a few coats to have a good coverage. You need a UV light for the gel to set, but once it is set it looks really good. For me I didn't quite get the two week coverage it claims to give but I'm not the best at applying nail varnish so I'm normally pretty pleased if they last more than a week.
Sarah x
Weigh In - August 12th
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
This week I have discovered the best workout ever for your calves....walking in safety boots!
My work project for this quarter is to do an audit on our fixed assets and this has had me spending time out in the workshop with our operations team and means I have to wear full safety gear; big glasses like you used to get in science class for experiments, luminous jacket that makes me look like a traffic cone, and safety boots that make my feet look very big and square...it's a very attractive look! After 1 day of wearing the boots I woke up almost crying with the pain in my calves. I cannot believe how much they hurt!
I never get calf pain from dancing or working out, and I always thought my calves were pretty strong from Relevés and working my way up to Pointe but I was definitely wrong. My respect for our ops team tripled this week after experiencing the pain they go through from wearing those boots everyday. I'm now off to go investigate ankle weights, in the hope they'll do just as good of a workout as the boots do.
I started logging my food again last week and after seven days I lost just under a pound, which I'm pretty pleased with. I'm now on day 3 of week 2 and it's still going pretty well. It was very easy to get back into the habit, and it'll be even easier when I eventually get into my own kitchen. I've never been this excited about a kitchen before but I honestly can't wait!
My lovely boyfriend spent Friday night being my personal trainer at the gym. He had me doing lots of weight training using the machines and then introduced me to what he described as my "new best friend" the medicine ball a.k.a Bally.
Every time I've done sit ups in the past I've never used any weight, but Omar had me practicing them with Bally. That hurt! I managed a few but it was so much harder than I ever thought it would be. That's given me something else to work on, not quite sure Bally and I will be best friends though.
So all in all, this has been a week of getting back into old habits and finding new stuff to work on. Good progress in my opinion!
I never get calf pain from dancing or working out, and I always thought my calves were pretty strong from Relevés and working my way up to Pointe but I was definitely wrong. My respect for our ops team tripled this week after experiencing the pain they go through from wearing those boots everyday. I'm now off to go investigate ankle weights, in the hope they'll do just as good of a workout as the boots do.
I started logging my food again last week and after seven days I lost just under a pound, which I'm pretty pleased with. I'm now on day 3 of week 2 and it's still going pretty well. It was very easy to get back into the habit, and it'll be even easier when I eventually get into my own kitchen. I've never been this excited about a kitchen before but I honestly can't wait!
My lovely boyfriend spent Friday night being my personal trainer at the gym. He had me doing lots of weight training using the machines and then introduced me to what he described as my "new best friend" the medicine ball a.k.a Bally.
Every time I've done sit ups in the past I've never used any weight, but Omar had me practicing them with Bally. That hurt! I managed a few but it was so much harder than I ever thought it would be. That's given me something else to work on, not quite sure Bally and I will be best friends though.
So all in all, this has been a week of getting back into old habits and finding new stuff to work on. Good progress in my opinion!
July Monthly Round Up
Saturday, 2 August 2014
I can't believe it's already August! July seems to have passed by in seconds. I doesn't seem five minutes since I finished June with my dance show. This year is flying past so quickly, Christmas will soon be sneaking up on us. But before I even consider beginning to think about Christmas it's time to recap on July and plan for August (probably the best month of the year).
Goal Number 1 - Complete the Operational Level of my CIMA Qualification - Achieved 11/7/14
I passed! I'm so pleased this level is over with and I can move onto the next one. I've set myself a high standard now though, having achieved a 74% mark, but I'm determined to do just as well in my next two.
Goal Number 2 - Move into my own Home
I'm starting to hate this goal now as it's taking forever. I'm still waiting for my flat to be ready. I've been told there'll be "no more delays" but I've been told a lot of things that have not been true. So we shall see if this happens anytime soon.
Goal Number 3 - Loose a stone in weight
I continued with my idea of just maintaining until I got into my flat, and apart from a few bad weeks, this worked well. But going forward I'm back to pushing to loose. I've re-actived my calorie counting app, changed gyms, and will be going back to doing my daily ab and stretching exercises. My food may not be wonderful whilst I'm at home, but if I cut out all the rubbish then I should be ok.
Goal Number 4 - Get my Splits on Both Legs
My leg hold is getting better, a lot better, and my splits are progressing. I'm getting closer, but my legs just don't want to go straight which is why I don't seem to be getting much further forward. I need to find a way to work on that and hopefully I should be there soon.
Goal Number 5 - Learn to Cook
At work we have a scheme to promote healthy living, as part of this our resident chef gave us a cooking demonstration and made a delicious butterfly chicken dish with tomato sauce and roasted vegetables. It was absolutely gorgeous! Sauce is something I would never really think of making myself from scratch but after seeing how easily he did it, I will definitely be trying it out when I get a copy of the recipe. The chicken was very yummy too and I tried butternut squash for the first time, which I now love! I'm getting adventurous with my food and can't wait to get into my own kitchen to try it out. I've also thought up some good meal ideas to try and cook, and a new post series for my blog to do with food. If only my flat would hurry up and I could put these plans into action.
Plan for August
Now that I've changed gyms I'm a lot more motivated to go to the gym, and with my professional dance class pushing me I know I need to do more. So August's plan is to be very very good. At least 3 exercise sessions a week, and good food. Cut back on the fizzy drinks, get back on the water, and look better for my birthday on the 30th. I'm back at college too this month so I'm timing my healthy kick to start with college and hopefully I'll keep motivated on both at the same time.
Goal Number 1 - Complete the Operational Level of my CIMA Qualification - Achieved 11/7/14
I passed! I'm so pleased this level is over with and I can move onto the next one. I've set myself a high standard now though, having achieved a 74% mark, but I'm determined to do just as well in my next two.
Goal Number 2 - Move into my own Home
I'm starting to hate this goal now as it's taking forever. I'm still waiting for my flat to be ready. I've been told there'll be "no more delays" but I've been told a lot of things that have not been true. So we shall see if this happens anytime soon.
Goal Number 3 - Loose a stone in weight
I continued with my idea of just maintaining until I got into my flat, and apart from a few bad weeks, this worked well. But going forward I'm back to pushing to loose. I've re-actived my calorie counting app, changed gyms, and will be going back to doing my daily ab and stretching exercises. My food may not be wonderful whilst I'm at home, but if I cut out all the rubbish then I should be ok.
Goal Number 4 - Get my Splits on Both Legs
My leg hold is getting better, a lot better, and my splits are progressing. I'm getting closer, but my legs just don't want to go straight which is why I don't seem to be getting much further forward. I need to find a way to work on that and hopefully I should be there soon.
Goal Number 5 - Learn to Cook
At work we have a scheme to promote healthy living, as part of this our resident chef gave us a cooking demonstration and made a delicious butterfly chicken dish with tomato sauce and roasted vegetables. It was absolutely gorgeous! Sauce is something I would never really think of making myself from scratch but after seeing how easily he did it, I will definitely be trying it out when I get a copy of the recipe. The chicken was very yummy too and I tried butternut squash for the first time, which I now love! I'm getting adventurous with my food and can't wait to get into my own kitchen to try it out. I've also thought up some good meal ideas to try and cook, and a new post series for my blog to do with food. If only my flat would hurry up and I could put these plans into action.
Plan for August
Now that I've changed gyms I'm a lot more motivated to go to the gym, and with my professional dance class pushing me I know I need to do more. So August's plan is to be very very good. At least 3 exercise sessions a week, and good food. Cut back on the fizzy drinks, get back on the water, and look better for my birthday on the 30th. I'm back at college too this month so I'm timing my healthy kick to start with college and hopefully I'll keep motivated on both at the same time.
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