Losing 8lbs!

Hello lovelies! 

Welcome back, I'm so sorry for my absence lately, I kind of explained a little about where I've been over on my other blog!

However, since I have been gone, I've lost 8 pounds!

Although my weight loss has been pretty quick, it has also been through consistency and some quite big lifestyle changes.

Firstly, back in November I started to make working out a regular thing, I was working a lot less than normal and my weight was creeping up, I had to do something about it, I started using the Nike Running App, and sometimes working out at home and others outdoors, aiming to do at least 10 miles a month, which I continued till January. On the days where I didn't run, I would do alternative work outs, some of my favorites being when I would drag my sister down to the river and we would do all kinds of work outs, from running up and down the steps, to star jumps to squats.

Although I noticed a change in the shape of my body, I wasn't really noticing any difference in my weight (which I know, muscle weighs more than fat but still...)

In February I realised in order to really notice a difference, my diet needed to change quite dramatically.

I was eating take out a lot and chocolate and wine amongst other things. I love unhealthy food and I don't think that will ever change, however, I tried to limit my intake of bad foods, if I was peckish I would choose to snack on fruit or yogurt. I made an effort to eat breakfast every day, even if I wasn't hungry I would force myself to eat something small, just so I wouldn't snack until lunch.

One huge difference in my diet has been swapping meat for fish, I'm probably eating fish 5 days a week now, as opposed to around 1 before. 

So although my diet has changed hugely, I have also taken on a job where I am basically running around for 90 hours a week, which I know has probably been a big contributor to my weight loss, and I had lost time for doing actual exercise anymore.

So this brings me to today, the weight has gone, so now I need to combine the two, what I was doing back in November and what I'm doing now if I want to get to a happy place with my body.

I've realised I went from a bad diet with lots of exercise to a good diet with not too much exercise (I'm active yes, but in terms of weight training and getting toned, I need some work).

I'm going to try my best to find time to work on my body as well as maintaining better eating habits and I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Fitness Update #2

Hello lovelies!

Today I've decided to finally sit down and write about what's been going on in my world of health and fitness.I've done a couple of fitness related posts which you cab check out, here and here, but as I haven't done an update since August I thought it was about time I babbled away about what changes have been made and where I'm currently at with my health and fitness.

Warning: This could get very long and rambly, apologies in advance.

Since my last update I quit my gym membership, it was pretty pricey, I wasn't taking advantage of the facilities offered, I wasn't swimming because I had no body confidence, I never went to the free classes they offered and I was essentially going to the gym just to use the treadmill and the weights. Both things I didn't need to be paying £45 a month for. I could jog at home and I had dumbbells at home so it seemed a huge waste of money.

 So...it's a new year, and when January hits we all see it as an opportunity to get skinny, join a gym, start a diet. I didn't give myself a goal to start any kind of diet or join a gym, I tried to set myself a few goals, realistic ones that I would more than likely stick to. 
You can read a little about my new year fitness and health goals in a post here.

So number one was to drink green tea, if you know me at all you will know I am not a tea drinker, I don't like tea and I don't like coffee. I can drink tea, I tend to drink it if I feel ill and need a hot drink with not too much flavour like hot chocolate but I'm not a fan of it. After doing some research however and reading all about just how good green tea is for you, I decided I had to incorporate it into my everyday life. I bought a box of Twinnings Peach and Cherry Blossom Green Tea, and I surprisingly enjoyed it. It has a light tea taste but smells like peach which I love. I was also in a restaurant the other day and ordered green tea! Who am I? I haven't noticed any changes in myself from drinking it but I know it's doing me a lot of good so I plan to continue drinking it.

Another thing I really wanted to do was to jog more, I don't mind jogging, I'm not good at it as I'm very unfit and I have asthma. But it's one exercise I feel really works so if I'm going to workout I usually opt for jogging. Towards the end of last year I downloaded the Nike Running App on my phone and I have been loving it! It's so motivating to look at your progress and I really enjoy using it.  The app consists of 'levels' and I'm currently on the first level, a goal for this year for me is to get to the second level which requires a total of 31 miles! I can hopefully do this by the end of the year.

And finally, consume less sugar, I just want to be more conscious of what I'm putting into my body, opting for sugar free options when I can. 

As for exercise, when I really don't feel like jogging outside, I try to do things inside such as 'The 30 Day Shred' on YouTube, 20 minute exercises that literally kill me but are so effective, I've never done this for the full 30 days but when I get random bouts of energy this is great to do.
Another Youtube favourite is 'Blogilates', there are so many exercises on there, if I'm in for the day I go to YouTube and try to do one of her workouts.
If I'm feeling something different I will type in 'Zumba' and just go along with that or find some other type of workout online. 

I still use the app MyFitnessPal, I think it's a really great way to see what you're eating in comparison to how much you're exercising!

And that's about it, all fairly new changes so there's no progress to report yet, I hope you're all doing well.
 Have a great weekend!