My Transformation

Hey Rawesome people! (did you like what I did there?)

So if you follow me on instagram you will have recently seen my "transformation" picture. And a lot of you guys have been asking me the same questions, "how did you do it?", "how long did it take?", "what do you eat?" and so on. So my second ever blog post I wanted to share with you my journey to becoming healthier, fitter and stronger.

The first picture was taken on 10th Feb 2013! Yes this February just gone. I had been eating terrible food every day, including 2+ chocolate bars, fizzy drinks (soda) lots of processed sugar and food, and at least 1 KFC or Mc D's a week (at least). I was feeling terrible mentally, I was always tired, I didn't want to do anything other than crawl out of bed, go to work, come home, eat and then go to bed! I was miserable.

Then one day I discovered a woman called Kayla Itsines on instagram and there was one picture of hers that stuck in my mind which is this one:

In my eyes, this girl had the exact same scenario as me, she wasn't obese in her before picture but she had some fat to lose and some toning todo! So I left a comment underneith the picture asking how long this took to do. Kayla's response... 5 weeks!!! Just 5 weeks to get a kick ass body like this! Well that was it, the fire was lit! I got up and after having a shower, I decided to take my before picture (I didn't really think I had that much work to do) I was horrified by what I saw in my picture! 

The fast food, sugar loaded chocolate and next to no vegetables was visible. The poor lifestyle I was living was as clear as day on my phone! I was actually in shock! It was from that moment that I have been on my journey of living a new renewed lifestyle and I feel amazing for it.


So what did I do to make the change from being a junk food junkie? 

I took a very big step back and looked at what I was eating, what exercises I was doing and how I was going to change them.

Here are my excuses that used to stop me:
I don't have time
I can't afford to eat clean
I don't really need to lose that much weight, so there is no point. 
I'm too tired

So once I had looked at my excuses I found how to change them. So here are the remedies for my excuses.

Time: I used to wake up at 7, I now wake up at 5.30! I know it sounds early but I get at least 1 hour cardio in before work now! (I want it)

Cost: I plan every meal! Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner! That way I buy only the things I need and save a tonne of money! I also shop online and have it delivered! That way I can't browse as easily!

I don't need too: I look at my before picture and think you may not need to lose weight, but you need to burn fat! I then look at what I want to become and remember why I started!

I'm too tired: My change in diet has meant I have so much more energy! I go to bed no later than 10pm every night so I get at least 7&1/2 hours sleep!



So what exercises did I do?

When I wake up at 5.30 I throw on my work out gear, wake up my dog (he is normally waking me up as soon as the alarm goes off) and we go for a bike ride together (he run's I cycle) I do 7km around the countryside where I live. And before anyone starts worrying about my dog, I have spoken to my Vet and he has assured me that it is not going to harm my baby running that far everyday! This normally burns around 200-250 calories (but please don't go mad on counting calories each day) I then do 30 minutes of HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training)

My HIIT circuit:

1 minute activity as hard and fast as possible, 30 seconds rest! Repeat 3 times.

Burpees
Situps
Plyometric Lunges
Jumping Jacks
Bicycle Crunches
Sumo Squats

This normally takes me around 25 minutes to complete. If this doesn't get you sweating, you didnt work hard enough!!

I have incorporated this exercise routine into my lifestyle, along with eating a lot more green vegetables, more natural and unprocesses carbs such as sweet potato, brown pasta and brown rice, and plenty of proteins such as fish, chicken and vegetables.

The first picture was taken 10th Feb 2013, the second picture was taken 28th April 2013.

I have so far lost a total of 12lbs and am now starting to regain some of that weight as muscle! I do not weigh myself very often at all (maybe once every three weeks or so) I started weighing myself everyday at one point and it completely demotivated me so I stopped! 

I am 5ft 8" and weigh 130lbs. My BMI is 20.4 which is in a very healthy range.

I achieved my results through eating more food than I ever have before, the difference is I now eat lots of healthy food!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! 

Peace, Love & Stuff x