CHRISTMAS!!!

We are just under a week from Christmas and I couldn't be more excited... I have spoken to a fair few people who have said 'oh you've done so well, but are you going to have a break over christmas?' This comment is coming more and more, especially since recent progression shots have been published of me on facebook. 

I'm so proud of myself for how well I have done so far, but I'm not at my goal and even if I was, would I want to ruin it by having time 'off' my lifestyle...? The key word is lifestyle, not diet or programme.

My first thought, is how long is the Christmas period? Some people think It is a day, week or month. For me, it tends to be almost all of December! If I decided to eat whatever during that month, my god I would be the size of a house! Even if I decided to do it for a couple of weeks, I could do so much damage, it could basically render the last few months useless.

I currently have a 'flexible diet' way of living, gradually over the last month we have increased my carb and fat levels to get my metabolism as high as possible. Not only to make christmas easier, but also to ensure that from January I can really focus and return to working towards my goals...!

I am in no way going to sit there on Christmas Day and not eat what I want, please don't get me wrong. I will relax, I don't want to think about food all day. But I'm going to train every other day of the week and contain my eating on the other days.

The trick is, don't deny yourself, you will only crave it more... Then when/if you cave, you more than likely will binge on that item of food & more. The best thing to do is except you haven't eaten the best thing, move on, and get back to eating well. I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't let a bad meal, turn into a bad day, turn into a bad week, etc, etc.

My next blog is going to be a reflection on the year and what I'm looking forward to next year, so stay tuned and follow to have my new blogs flagged to you when I post them :)

Enjoy your Christmas, spend time with your family and relax. It is time to rest and enjoy yourself!

Happy Christmas (random picture of my dog Betsy, dressed as a Christmas pudding) x

Water

Last week I was spot on with my food, hitting my carbs, protein and fat levels to the number. I was feeling lean and actually pretty good, but something was missing. I wasn't quite as energetic as I would have liked and the feeling of lean was fleeting from one hour to the next.

On Saturday, I had my regular weekly weigh in and body fat % results, which are part of my personal training package. I weighed myself first thing, before eating or drinking and after going to the toilet (I know you don't need to know that, but it is my routine). I was shocked at the result, putting half a kilo on (1 pound on). 

1 kilo doesn't sound like much and it isn't, but for me I was then wracking my brain to see where I had gone wrong. My food had been great, my training was going very well and I felt leaner (thinner!). So why the increase, I should in theory have lost weight this week.

The only thing I could attribute it to, was water. I had been awful with my water intake that week. Despite eating well, I had probably hardly drunk 1 litre a day, where I should be hitting 3 litres (not including tea/coffee).

My next surprise was at my body fat percentage result, I had dropped about 0.40% body fat, which again doesn't sound like much, but is a fair bit. This was pointing more and more into my water intake not being right and my body was holding/storing the water.

In my naivety in the past (before I started this journey), I was never familiar with the effects water had on the body. Yep maybe I was thick. I was told it was important, but never felt it made me feel any differently. Because in those days, I didn't listen to my body ever, I didn't realise the benefits of water.

I also never really realised that our bodies store and retain water like they do. This week was a prime example of this and let's just say I've been drinking a hell of a lot more water since then. 

For me water is boring, I'd much rather drink a coffee or glass of wine. But I have to change my thoughts about it, drinking water gives you energy, keeps your skin clear, clears your body of toxins and when you drink a sufficient about, you can lose weight!!

Having that week of no water, has really made me realise how much our bodies need it and that most people (including myself), do not drink anywhere near enough! I've never been perfect with my water intake, but I am striving every day to put the effort in and drink enough.

Challenge yourself to drink more water, have a litre bottle of water and see how many you can drink in a day. If you drink glasses of water, every day try and drink a little bit more. Myself I will be setting myself timescales: 7-11; 1 litre 11-4; 1 litre 5-9; 1 litre 

I often tell myself 'you can do this', I can and I will!!

Thanks for reading, please share with your friends and family, comment/like and follow me :)