Challenge accepted

So for those of you that read the krissiekirby.com blog, you will have seen that I'm taking up my own challenge for 12 weeks to improve my eating habits and fitness levels.

I know some of you may be thinking that there is nothing I could/need to change about my current habits but rest assured there are and most trainers fall into a habit of sorting plans and nutrition for their clients while sacrificing their own regimen. Well, I have fallen foul of that in the last few months since I started the business and it's starting to show.  I feel lethargic, lacking in energy, motivation and my discipline has gone out the window with the chocolate wrappers that once held the bars I've been vehemently scoffing.

It's time to reset and get myself back in order, after all I am my product and I can't expect anyone to buy my services if I look all loose and floppy (these are highly technical terms, honest 'guv!).

When I started KrissieKirby.com the idea was not only to have the physical face to face side but also a virtual arm, where I could take on a small number of clients and give them something structured but with a degree of flexibility and be adaptable for their particular circumstances, as no two people are the same.  Of course this virtual system has to be put together and tested, tweaked and perfected, and so far it's taken a bit of a back seat to the rest of the business while I concentrated on getting Forest Fitness and Pole Port Talbot up and running. At the same time, my own training schedule fell by the wayside even though I have had runs and OCRs to train for.  I have been more than lackadaisical. 

So today I put out the initial feelers for the first 12 week programme. The idea is that for 12 weeks, 12 participants will follow my plan, with some minor amendments to personalise the plans to each participant and for me to help them get back on track; with a view to really seeing a change in their lives in general, not just in their waistlines.  But as with all things I do, I'm not prepared to let someone do something I won't. So instead of a focus group I've decided to do the challenge myself and blog, vlog and log about it to show how achievable it is.  Yes, I am putting my name to the test and why not?  I believe so much in what I do that I'm willing to put my own journey out there (or on here) for everyone to see, similar to when I first started this blog. I'm just going to put this here, first as last, that there will not be any meal replacement shakes, or 'nutritional' shakes included in this plan. I firmly believe that with the correct planning and education you can maintain a well balanced diet and a single multi vit tablet is just as good if you are defitient in any nutrients and aren't able to get them from your food.  Just to be clear :)

So here goes!

I believe that the weighing scales are purely an indicator of our relationship with gravity. Most people don't believe that I am over 11 stone in weight when I tell them, but it's true. I've got good muscles ;) but I do have a higher than I would like body fat percentage (currently at 28%) and my waist to hip ratio is slightly higher than the recommended number.  So this is where I want to focus my attention and fat loss is what we're always aiming for. There is a phrase I've just used that is key to this, 'higher than I would like", this is important because fat loss and healthy living is about the person on their journey and how they feel.  So I'm really not bothered what happens on the weight side of the issue, for me personally it's more about the hip to waist ratio and body fat percentage going down.  If I lose a few pounds in the process, I'm not complaining but I don't want to lose muscle, as muscle is most definitely the fountain of youth.

My starting stats:

Weight - 162.2lbs

Waist - 35 1/4 inches
Hips  - 41 3/4 inches (giving a waist:hip ratio of 0.87)

Body fat percentage - 28.30%

I will be on week 8 of the challenge when it officially launches, so as I work towards the launch I will do an update of my stats every fortnight as well as blogs and vlogs in between, so you can see how I get on. It's going to be an interesting experiment and one that I hope will inspire 12 souls to embark on and let me help them show them what they can achieve.

So until the next blog, be kind to yourself always, YOU ROCK!

Krissie
x

Slip not slide

Argh, I slipped!

This weekend I over indulged.  I freely admit that this Easter Weekend was a time where my brain and I fell out and emotional/boredom eating won out.  I haven't eaten that much chocolate in a long, long time or drank that much cider and though I enoyed consuming every last morsel at the time, by late Sunday evening I was sick of the sight of chocolate.

And sometimes we need to have that binge, that blow out weekend where we say 'to hell with it, I'm in this mood and I need this and this'.  That's fine.  In fact, that's only human.  The trick is to recognise it and stop the slip becoming a slide.

Get thee behind me Sugar monster!

Pandora was back with her usual snipes too. And my skin has told me what it thinks of the extra sugar in no uncertain terms, and thought I had the intention to do lots of working out my poor, tired, brain just didn't want to.  So, in true fashion, I sucked it up like a grown up and I put my trainers and kit on and headed to the gym early Saturday morning, for the first time since February (I can't wait to get in there more now the main bulk of studying is over).  And I felt MUCH better for it.  Sunday OH and I, with a bevy of polers and pals, all sauntered off to the local wetlands centre for a long walk, and much silliness followed by the feeding of a LOT of ducks.  Again having done some activity I felt a great deal better, and being out in the sun was much needed.  It does make a difference when you spend half your time couped up.

Yesterday I intended on going to the gym but found the programme I had written for myself was doable on the equipment I have at home. So a full 1hr 30 min session with long stretch was done and the gym room cleaned ready for my first clients next week.  I also gave myself a stern talking to and reminded myself that although this weekend had been over indulgent, it was just one weekend out of 52 and that I obviously needed to cave to emotional eating.  March proved to be a tough old month with Easter weekend as my only real weekend off, and even then it wasn't a true weekend off as the business kicks off next week so much was done to move towards the launch.

It really is ok to start over!

That being said, I recognised that I was having a slip up from my usual healthy eating habits and that's fine. It's part and parcel of healthy eating. When you adopt a healthy lifestyle, you will get instances where you stumble off the plan you've set for yourself, and that's fine, it's going to happen.  Life's stresses get in the way and there will be times when you just need to have a blow out in whatever manner it takes.  Just don't let it continue on for too long or you'll slide back into old habits and undo all the good work you've done.  This isn't a diet, this isn't something we pick up and put down then harrang ourselves with because we failed.  There is no failure in healthy living, there are just slips every now and then, and we learn to recognise they are needed.  There is lots of trail and error, and figuring out what works for you and how you can plan your time to make things work.  But that's not failure in the form we usualy recognise, it's the type of failure that preceeds success because some parts of the attempt worked. All we do now is refine the process until it works for us, because everyone is different in their mindset. There can never be one size fits all, we are all so very different.

So yesterday my emotional eating trigger got a bollocking, and today I feel far more positive and back to my usual happy self.  I've had my slip, got a little bruised from the fall, and picked myself up, dusted myself off and looking towards a bright shiny new week....my last one in the full time grind (that might also explain the week starting out in a very positive fashion ;) )

So slip, don't slide, give yourself a break for having the slip, mark it down to one of those days and then get back on then healthy wagon as quickly as you can.   You will soon notice the slips become far less frequent andthe slide non-existant.

Have a great week all and as always, be kind to yourself

Krissie
xx

Well that was 2012....

So 2012 had it's serious highs and devestating lows.

Triaxis 2012
Photo by Owen G Richards

All in all, most of the year has been fantastic. The band got signed, we released the new album, we toured outside of the UK for the very first time and we got to play (albeit an acoustic set) at one of our favourite festivals. These were definite HUGE highlights of the year and something I am fiercly proud of. For those of you who have been paying attention you know how much music means to me.  So for the band to have taken the steps that we did this last year, it has really been something special and worth all the blood, sweat and tears.  So a massive thank you to everyone who bought and album, came to a gig, got a tshirt or just introduced a friend to our music; you are all awesome and the reason we do what we do. We appreciate it so much.

But in 2012 I realised a number of things, achieved a few personal goals and fell in love with some new ways of keeping myself active.

Kirby & Roberts
Trouble is our middle name!

In January I took up Pole Dancing, as you may have heard me mention in the odd post. It was something that I had been meaning to do for a long time, but had always used that lame excuse of 'I don't have enough time'.  So I made time for one class a week and instantly fell in love with it.  It's hard to explain what I love about it but it gives me a new found confidence and something to build my strength for.  As anyone who works out will tell you, while we love the feeling we get from exercise it is still handy to have something to work towards the forces us to switch up routines etc.  For me a huge motivator is pole. As a unexpected and exceptionally welcomed plus point, the instructor at my pole school also happens to be a raving nutcase (in a very good way) and someone who shares my sense of humour.  She has fast become one of my closest and dearest friends and I am blessed to have met her (yes Roberts, I'm gushing about you again).

Pole Pride Showcase
May 2012

In May I took to the stage for my first pole performance.  September, I joined the ranks of the Pole Pride Performers ( a great bunch of girls and boys who are a joy to be around and are exceptionally talented), and then this month we had a second showcase at which I performed all in aid of a local cancer hospice and so far between the two shows we've raised £1600.  For something that started outside my comfort zone, I feel very at home performing on the pole.  And to top a year of poling off, in October I took part in my first professional Pole Photo shoot with the very wonderful Miss Moth Photographic Arts.  I think what I love about Pole Dancing, isn't only that it challenges my fitness and body strength but that it also forces me to seek a grace between each transition, to not just plough into trick or spin without adding some flow to the movement. It speaks to my outward front person and inner frustrated dancer.  It's a marrying of disciplines and something I will definitely be progressing further in 2013.

First Pole photo shoot Oct 2012

With Alethea Austin

I also had the great opportunity to have masterclasses with two of the world's greatest pole dancers.  In June I had the privilege of managing my first invert under the guidance of the amazing Pantera Blacksmith (who has the most amazing tattoo) and then at the start of this month I got to do two classes with the equally brilliant Alethea Austin, who (with a LOT of help from Dawn) gave me tips to enable me to do my first shoulder mount (Alethea appears in the Tom Cruise film, Rock of Ages based on the West End show). I have also signed up to gain my basic pole instructor qualification (REPs recognised) with the wonderful KT Coates. 2013 is going to be a very busy year but more about that later on ;)

Continuing with the fitness theme (well this is a fitness blog after all), I also fell madly in love with obstacle course racing.  In 2011 a good friend posted a video to my Facebook wall about a race called The Spartan Sprint. This video had me intrigued.  I watched with wonder at these people happily flinging themselves through lakes, rivers, over walls, crawling under cargo netting and barbed wire, jumping over fire pits and battling Spartans with pugil sticks to win a shiny medal.  Curious about this wondrous vision, I started to research this possible new fitness madness that I could get involved in. (As with pole again I need to have something outside of the just the usual routine to work towards or I notice I get lazy with my workouts - I am my own worst enemy as many of you will have gathered reading previous posts).  I soon realised after watching, reading and learning all I could about the Spartan series that it was more than just wanting to win, more than just the shiny medal at the end, it was about finishing no matter what.  It was about facing obstacles head on regardless of what you expect and just getting to that finish line because then you know.

Boobs and Determination
I have an abundance of both ;)

So in September of this year, OH and I donned our trail runners and with a knee injury in tow ventured to Atherstone in the Midlands to take part in our first Sprint. Yes the Spartan tag line seems convoluted, and kitsch but in all seriousness you do know at the finish line just what you are capable of. Running 6.5km over 15+ obstacles with a knee that was on fire for the last 2.5km, wading through 2.5km of river water and falling face first into red dyed ice, well that was possibly the most fun I have had in LONG time.  It was something I was looking forward to and something that I enjoyed beyond my initial expectations.  It also opened a whole new community to me and one I am fiercely proud to be a member of, The Spartan Chicked Group. I was thrilled with a bad knee and queues at the obstacles we finished with a respectable time of 1hr 40mins.

Best fun ever!

RARR Zombie!

So with the love of obstacle course racing now firmly planted in the nogging, CJ, Giles, OH and I took part in the inaugural Zombie Evacuation Race in Cambridge in October.  It was an absolute hoot.  Nowhere near as much mud as the Spartans but the main obsactle this time were the zombies and they were absolutely brilliant.  With the course being over 5km, much of which was open running through sleet and rain, the obstacles came in to force near the end of the run with the greatest being the zombies. And the knee, although painful towards the end, was no where near as excruciating as it had been before I started the rehabilitation of rest, acupuncture and slowly rebuilding my strength training programme. It's given me a new found insight into what lies ahead in my role as a Personal Trainer and has highlighted the importance of finding a good physiotherapist who will help me look after my body while I get others in shape.  For Christmas this year, OH and I have bought each other season passes for 2013 Spartan Series in the UK. I can't wait...watch out Hobbi Call ;)

CJ and me at the Race for Life
Cardiff 2012

2012 also saw my 6th Race for Life, with my best girl CJ accompanying me on her 2nd Race for Life.  As most of you know this is the main charity that I fundraise for, and is something very close to my heart, likewise with CJ and Giles.  So I am thrilled to say that over the last six years we have raised £1910 and on top of that HMRC have given £481.27 in gift aid.  I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am that people have given money to us girls who race around a park on a summer's morning/evening having a good giggle, and a knowing nod at the pink patches.  Understanding how everyone of those ladies feels for the ones they love who have suffered and lost or survived cancer makes it important for myself and CJ that we keep doing our small part. And as a whole, it's something we support as a band. So a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored us in 2012, we will be running again in 2013 and I shall keep you posted.  I hope you'll help us get over the £2000 total.

Sadly 2012 had it's serious downside. In late September we received the news that Gav's beloved cousin James McCubbin had suffered a heart attack and had passed away.  This floored us completely, not least due to James only being a few months younger than myself and had died aged 36. But also in that his wife is fighting breast cancer.  It left the family utterly devastated and in a state of disbelief.  I can hear his laughter when I think of him.  He was a man who loved life and we have to accept that he is no longer present in person, but lives on in how we live by loving life as he did and by remembering him with love and fondness. We miss you Jim.

However the year is ending on a high, the album launched to great reviews, we toured, and my first proper training client has messaged me to say she's lost her first stone in weight just by changing two simple habits in her diet and moving more.  I'm so proud of her, she's a great person and with three children and husband, and helping out at her mother's shop, she's done amazingly well proving that if you want it, nothing will stop you.  Well done, Femi, I'm so very, very proud of you :D

Before 2006                 After 2012

In my own weightloss journey I hit a few milestones. Firstly I officially ceased to be clinically overweight.  I dropped to a weight where no longer do the medical bods think that all my problems are weight related.  As anyone will tell you, who is overweight, it becomes a bit of a bind when every time you go to the doctors the first thing they say is 'oh it's because you are over weight'.  It's frustrating. I also had a mental breakthrough and it came in the simplest of ways.  For years as you know I have battled with 'Pandora' my naysaying inner voice and I struggled to find ways to get her to shut up.  After my pole instructor said it was time to put some before and after photos up on Facebook, I sucked up the corage to confront my old pictures and see the me as I was.  Boy was I in for a shock.  I didn't recognise me at all in that picture, and you can read my blog about how it felt to share that picture here. But finally saying sorry to myself and forgiving myself whole heartedly for what I had done finally quietened the voice down.  Finally she sat back and it was as if she said 'There, that's all I was after.' I know look at that picture and think, 'well done me'. And rightfully so, I'm proud of how far I've come, and though I am no longer fat, I have some fat that I would still like to lose but the weighing scales don't have the control on me that they once had and that is a HUGE breakthrough! This is now about just getting me to where I feel comfortable in myself, but for the most part I already do.  But there is always room for improvement.

So as 2012 draws to a close, I recall that for the most part it's been a fantastic year, with the band going from strength to strength, the fitness side of things really picking up, my own fitness and weightloss journey continuing in great strides what is left for 2013.  Well, I am always on a journey of self discovery and 2013 is the year that things will change greatly.  I have plans afoot that will come to realisation in the first quarter of the year.  The band will be back on the road and who knows where that will take us. I am studying to finish the final assessments of my Personal Training Cert as well as taking my Exercise to Music qualifications and pole training qualifications.  I have so many fitness quails I want to take to really increase my flexibility and adaptability to the ever changing world of fitness. I am also looking at ways to incorporate obstacle course training into basic personal training to give my clients something different to the run of the mill bootcamp style training.  All in all, 2013 is looking to be a great year, and while I am sure there will be hurdles and dips, the highs will once again outweigh them greatly.

So to everyone who has read my blog over the last year, thank you for reading my ramblings.  It is appreciated.  And I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Here's to 2013 and don't forget to be kind to yourself, you ROCK!

Much love
Krisse
xxx

Do what you love to love what you do :D

Photo Credits:  Triaxis group photo: Owen G Richards
                         Kirby & Roberts: Kat Jennings
                         Spartan Pics: SpartanRace.com
                         Zombie Evacuation: ZombieEvacuation.com
                         Pole Pride Shocase and Photoshoot: Miss Moth Photographic Arts
                         Krissie performing picture: Anthony May, FestivalPhoto
                         All others property of KrissieKirby.com

By Jove, I think I've cracked it.....

Well, when I say cracked it, I don't think I've figured out a definitive 'this is what you should do way' of ensuring you feel comfortable in your own skin, but for me personally I've had a bit of a breakthrough.

I suppose a lot of it has been to do with the accepting that I'm not wonder woman after all, that I can't do everything and also that I need to just let certain things go, drift off and not worry about them so unnecessarily. It's been quite the breakthrough 12 months since I decided that I needed to start figuring out what exactly it would take to regain my inner peace.  It rarely bothered me as a kid what others thought of me yet through much of my adult life it's been of massive concern.  I'm still not 100% sure why that is, and if Freud were still alive he'd probably ask my to take a seat and tell him about my mother. But really I think the most of it stems from my weight issues.

And this is where the biggest leap forward comes into play.

2 weeks ago I was sat on the sofa having my usual banter with the hubby and discussing the day's happenings when it dawned on me... I'm really comfortable being 12 stone in weight. I'm not displeased, berating myself, calling myself names, I'm not fat (well technically I'm still overweight according to medical definitions but I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my adult life), I'm active, healthy, in a size 14 (straight off the hanger I might add) and doing the things I love to do.

I actually realised that I might not lose anymore weight, body fat yes and maybe a couple of pounds but I will gain muscle, I will be smaller but I'll still weight roughly the same. And that's OK, in fact that's perfectly fine and I'm happy with that.  I look in the mirror and she's gone, the hephalump, big tonne Bess who stared at me for so many years, and Pandora is really quiet, no snide quips, no derogatory remarks.  I look in the mirror and for the first time in a very long time I actually see me.  And she's not half bad.  This is a massive leap forward, I'm utterly accepting of myself and though I might still want to ditch some body fat (but that's because I want to have that sleek muscular look) the number on the scale is finally meaningless.

So this breakthrough comes, and I decide that to really ensure I'm looking after my new found mental equilibrium that it's time to just do some final adjustments on my food habits.  Mainly sugar.  I have a reaction to it and I break out in spots. I'm pretty sure it causes my skin oil to increase production and I can always tell when I've had a lot of sugar as I have an outbreak.  So out went the daily treats and now it's a couple of squares (literally 2) of chocolate, maybe some berries and cream, and possibly on the odd occasion a Krissie friendly cake from Starbucks, but otherwise the rice cakes with chocolate and the ginger truffle squares have all been ditched (plus as they are all free from, they cost a bomb too). The decision on the sugary treats was reached last Friday when the last of the cakes in the cupboard were eaten.  We just decided not to buy anymore.  So last Friday (May 27th) that was that.  I get on the scale yesterday morning (to check my body fat percentage more than anything) and BAM, I've lost 3lbs in weight and 2% body fat.  GO FIGURE!

I'm now at 165lbs, I've lost a total of 85lbs.  And to top it all off, I'm 1lb away from being no longer clinically  overweight.  For the first time in 15 years, if that last pound drops off, I'll cease to be overweight officially.....

That's made my day, that has. Oh and I managed 40 full press ups on Tuesday this week, not all in one go of course, I did a set of 10, then did my cardio drill, then did 10 repeated my cardio drill and so on and so forth.  Which reminds me tomorrow I'll update my workout page.  BUT, and this is the huge thing. If I do ever get to 10stone 10lbs (150lbs) then great but you know what, it's absolutely no biggee if I don't.  I really am finally happy in my own skin and I don't think it's the number on my scale, that's not important anymore.  I think what's helped me reach this milestone has been all the research into eating habits, thought processes of why I was turning to food, learning to let go of issues new and old and ultimately realising only I have the power to make myself happy or sad, and I choose happy every time.  Nothing beats this feeling.... not even chocolate.


As always, be kind to yourself, you deserve it.

Much love

Krissie
x

Happy Anniversary Mrs not so much Fatty McFat anymore...

Yes I know, isn't it mad how time flies?

One year ago today I launched my little corner of the inter web, in the hope that some of what I have learned in this tough, long, draining, elating, joyous, trying, testing, educational, but ultimately life changing (and for the better) journey, may be of help to someone who stumbled upon it in their research for their own.  Little did I know that deciding to write the blog would change my life in the way it has.

I have always excepted the journey of weight loss itself to be one that would have the inevitable ups and downs, that things would change not only in the shape and size of the person on the journey but also inside the mind of the person walking this path. I knew when I started back in 2006 that this was a complete change in my life and that no matter how long it would take, it was going to happen and I was going to have to accept change.

What I wasn't expecting were the emails from people asking for my advice, the people in the gym classes asking me to breakdown the routines because I seemed to get them quickly, the people in the fitness room asking me to spot and support them as a gym buddy.  I certainly wasn't expecting people to start telling me their fears and aspirations and how my few words in this dusty corner were helping them in some way.

I know the cynics out there will roll their eyes and say 'oh but bloggers write to gain that attention from the off', but not always.  The web is a wonderful place but like every village it has it's idiots.  It does afford us smaller folk the ability to say something that we think is worthwhile and maybe something that someone else may think is worthwhile too.  The blog started as a way to keep myself accountable. It started as a way for me to really have to face up to the reminder of the journey that I had committed myself to and yet was stumbling upon. It was a tool for me to ensure that I kept on track and that the world and it's Mum could ensure if I floundered there would be someone saying 'Come on kiddo up you get'.  After all falling down is the easy part.

Since I started the blog much has changed.  I went through a period of mental change, hitting my lowest point in August and realising that I was the only person with the power to really make a difference not only in my body shape and size but in my happiness and mindset. Once I realised that for change to happen and that I had to create who I wanted to be (after all if we're hiding we're not moving forward and to move forward you have to create), and not a false image that I was hiding behind, things were still scary but a whole lot less stressful.  Now the journey was tinged with a certain excitement.  After a that low point in August I decided that I would actually make a career out of the whole weight loss and lifestyle change and start to get proper qualifications in fitness and nutrition to back up my own research and advice.  At the start of this month I launched the website, and although it's still under construction for the final part of the venture (the personal training and weight loss coaching arm), the scary excitement is now more of a 'wow I can actually do this' kind of feeling.

Add to that that I lost over another stone in weight and I finally broke the 80 lbs lost barrier, this last year has definitely been one of serious change. So here we go for the final hurdle of the last stone (and a bit) to get me to the weight that I want to be at. Here's to more fitness qualifications and more strings to my bow. Here's to the music side of my life that is going from strength to strength.  And most of all here's to you dear reader, for sharing in a part of my journey.  After all without you reading these ramblings and sending me your questions and messages, I don't think I would have ever had that brainwave back in August 2011 that has lead me down this new path. So thank you very much for all your comments, tweets, Facebook messages and emails.  They have been very welcomed and very inspiring.  I mean that with all sincerity.

So a year gone, here's to another one, here's to some mad cap adventures along the way but mainly here's to health and happiness.

Not bad for 36 eh?

Be kind to yourself, always.
Much love

Krissie
x

'Normal'...there's that word again.

An interesting comment was made this week, when talking with workmates about weight loss. One said:  'You will never be able to eat normally again, or stop working out, because you'll put it all back on'.  That got me quite perplexed.

Let's look at that sentence in two parts. Firstly, 'You will never be able to eat normally again'.

No diets here, thanks!

When I said 'but I do eat normally.' The answer came back as 'But you won't be able to eat that chocolate bar after breakfast, or that chocolate bar after lunch.  What I mean is you won't be able to eat 3 or 4 chocolate bars a day, you'll be dieting for the rest of your life.' I almost choked.  Firstly, I don't diet.  I stopped dieting around 2 years ago when I realised that diets were setting myself up for failure. Secondly, three to four chocolate bars A DAY! That's excessive eating and that's what got me in to being obese in the first place, as well as being horrendously inactive.  As I mentioned to my workmate, you can have the healthiest diet on the planet, one of leafy greens, wholegrains etc but if you are eating 4000 calories a day and not moving enough you are over eating and will gain weight. Eating in excess will constitute a weight gain unless you are exercising enough to warrent the excessive calories and even with my intensive training (as I do like to train hard) there is no way I'd move enough to warrent eating four chocolate bars a day!

Part of your staple food? Really?

This got me thinking, have we become so ill educated about what is good for us that we see 3 or 4 bars of chocolate in our daily diet as the norm?  And the frightening conclusion is, yes, yes we have.  It's all part of the quick fix mentality that we see around us in the everyday.  We are now so ingrained in that 'must have/do/see/eat it now mindset, that we do not have the time to prepare and cook anything and we opt for the ready meal.  The ready meal although convienent is so packed with simple carbs that release energy quickly, caked in salt and smothered in sugar that come 3pm we suffer the mid afternoon slump.  The slump hits and we go for the most convienent source of energy which is a chocolate bar.  The old blood sugar spikes and then we get another slump as the energy quickly deminishes and we go for the next quick fix and so on and so forth.  It's a viscous circle and one that ensnares us far too easily, unfortunately.

To break that circle and to maintain a level of convenience in my lifestyle, I prepare everything well in advance.  I never have the need to venture near the vending machine for that bar of chocolate.  I chop up a bell pepper, some celery and some carrots in to battons and put them in tub in the fridge.  I buy the mini pots of Hummus to have with said batons.  I wash and chop all my fruit (except apples) and put them in tubs in the fridge as soon as I get home from the supermarket.  My eye level shelf in my fridge and cupboards are filled with healthy stuff and the sweet treats are up on the higher shelves (out of sight out of mind and all that).  It might sound like madness to some, but it's just utilising the same marketing strategy as the shops but geared towards my healthy lifestyle.  All the stuff I'm putting at eye level is the stuff that isn't going to have me craving sugar again in 2 hours time.   I'm making my healthy stuff convenient.  It takes me seconds in the morning to weight out a portion of mixed berries and some melon to take to work for snacks if the slump hits. And yes I still eat chocolate.  Only I'll take a square or two out of the fridge and not the whole bar!  It's really all about control. Who has it, you or your food?

Now let's take the second part of the sentence; 'You will never be able to [...] stop working out'.  Originally when I started to workout I didn't do it to lose weight.  If you've read my fat story you might remember that I joined the gym because I have an addictive streak in my system and to stop me going back to cigarrettes I swapped my nicotein addiction for a healther alternative, getting a sweat on in an aerobics class.  And I learned quite quickly that working out gives me the best feeling in the world ever.  It's the one thing that comes closest to the feeling I get when I've bounced about on a stage for 40 mins singing.  (Singing is a great workout if you're in a band, get moving on that stage - it's entertaining for the folks watching and you can burn almost 700 cals in an hour! But I digress).

And I really do LOVE it!

I workout to feel good, not just to look good (that's just an added benefit).  If the morning has been particularly irksome in the office, I trudge down the steep hill my office resides on to my gym.  I run for 15 mins and do some resistance training.  I stretch for at least 7-10 minutes, stretching is SO important.  40 - 45 mins later I'm in the shower, but my headspace is cleared of whatever it was that was frustrating me earlier.  I LOVE working out, it is a joy in my life that I have rediscovered and I'm not going to give it up anytime soon.  Working out for me is not just a means to an end, it's a huge part of who I now am and is part of my normal routine.

You see, my mindset has changed so much from what it was in my teens and 20s.  I may be on a weight loss programme of my own design but I am NOT dieting.  I wouldn't restrict myself so grossly.  Why make this jounrey miserable?  I've have my headspace to sort out and that' was going to be hard enough as it was, why make it harder through choice?  No, no. No restricting anything.  If I want it I'll have it as long as I've earned it.

With working out, why would I workout if it was a chore?  What's the point in exercising in a gym if it makes you miserable. Getting exercise should be fun, so find fun ways to do it.  I can't wait for the summer when I can don my rollerskates and get down the beachfront skating up and down the promanade.  Heck I even have  retro 70s space hopper in the house and when I have a moment of something perplexing me, I jump on and hop around the house thinking the question through. Or I get the vaccum cleaner out and do some housework.  Anything that has you off the sofa and moving is a good thing.

So in answer to my workmate, what I eat and my exercise regime is normal. It's normal for me and normal is such a subjective word.  If normal meant that we all did the same thing, would;t this world be ever so boring?

Anyhow, enough of my rambling on today.  Time to cook dinner and while Mr K is out with the boys tonight, it'll be me, my weights and a workout DVD ;)

As always, be kind to yourself.

Much love
Krissie
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ARGH! Frustrated... and so what if they think you're mad!

Ok I seriously need to vent today.

Firstly, my apologies.  Life got in the way yet again, and I've been lax once more in my blogging.  It's silly really as I have 5 blogs, all mostly written in the draft folder of my dashboard for this blog and awaiting proof reading and pictures (well, it needs some colour otherwise it's boring old text on a page).  This is the first, I will roll them all out over the next week or two as I have some free time back.  HURRAH! But the shake up has worked and I'm now down to 12 Stone 4lbs (172lbs) and I'm aiming for another 4lbs off by Christmas :)
Secondly, this is going to have a rant section, it'll be early on and marked.  I always think it's best to forewarn people if you are going to have a bit of a rant, so here's your advanced notice.  You can skip past it if you want to, to the bit that I'll talk about where people think your mad if you keep a food diary!  I used to be one of those people but now I don't go a day without logging my food - how else can I keep myself accountable?
So, thirdly, there is a purpose to the blog, not just me going off on one about something that is frustrating the heck out of me at the moment.

There is nothing more infuriating that people who join food diary sites and ask the most basic questions that are 1, in the information on the sites front page. 2, reiterated everywhere on the same said site.  3, the answer is readily available on about 33,500,000 different web pages (Source: Google search using the question which I'll get on to in a moment) if you put the question into a search engine. And 4, has been asked a million times on the sites forum if you made the effort to look and research about the question you are wanting the answer to.

Dear great gods of Olympus people, RESEARCH!  As my great mentor Ted used to say 'read, mark, learn and inwardly digest'.

The question?  How many calories can I safetly reduce my intake to, to lose weight? Or its multitude of variations.  Everywhere on weightloss sites, in bold in most cases, the site will tell you that 1200 Kcals is the lowest you should ever take your calorie intake if you are dieting.  If you type that question into Google you get 33 milllion pages that tell you the same thing over and over.  So why are you filling up space with the same question over and over? ARGH!

The frustrating part is that the people who ask this question, are the people who you know will not succeed at their weightloss journey and will blame the site they've joined for not working the miracle they want it to work.  Why?  Because the whole thing about losing weight is having to educate yourself about how you put the weight on in the first place.  Whether it was through illness, genetic disposition, over eating and inactivity, or just a lack of understanding about the impact of the bad foods you were eating, it's all down to re-education.  And to re-educate yourself you have to research what you are eating, how food affects your diet, mood, metabolism etc. EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE.  Please, even if it's a book from the library, research how cutting calories etc will affect everything you do.  You wouldn't try fixing your car yourself without a Hayes Manual or at least researching what mechanic is going to be your best help!  Yes I know that people ask questions in forums to get peer advice, but the answers are already there, and that means the person asking the question can't be bothered to put a search in on the forum to see if the question has been asked already.  That means they don't really want the honest answer as it's not going to fit in with the miracle cure they want.  I've done it myself and I got a short sharp response along the lines of 'come back when you've done more research as you aren't ready to lose weight seriously'. They were so very right!

It's so frustrating.  And breathe! Ok so rant over.  The basic idea of this blog, and why the rant fits in so nicely with it, is that as a society, somewhere along the way, we got bogged down in the fast fix mentality. We don’t have time to cook any longer, we grab the nearest thing and eat on the run, or we binge on sweets and chocolate whilst sat in front of the goggle box mindlessly allowing our hand to dip in the jar and push the food in our mouths without a conscious thought.  We've forgotten to ensure that we understand what our body needs to function, that we have sole control over what we put in our mouths to get this bag of bones to cart our behinds about on a daily basis.  We bury our heads so far in the sand that we mindlessly chomp away on anything and everything because 'it tastes soooo goood'.  That's where food diaries are so handy, as they force us to confront what it is we're doing, how we see our food and to reassess to achieve our goals.

Now many people I know use MyFitnessPal as their food diary, I do too, and there are many friends that I know who think us MFP lot are all barking mad and OCD about counting calories. But the utilisation of a food diary is so much more than just counting calories in and out.  It’s a guide to how we are doing nutritionally.  I have no idea one minute to the next if I’m getting enough in the way of vitamins and minerals/fibre etc in my meals and snacks (yes I snack, there is nothing wrong with snacking if you’re mindful of what it is you are eating). Most food diaries have sections where you can write your fat, salt, carb, sugar etc content and so you can see how your totals balance throughout the day/week. And that’s so important because it’s no good cutting your calorie intake to lose weight if you are still eating a lot of old rubbish that isn’t going to work for you.  It’s all about keeping yourself accountable and keeping yourself educated.

Ah there's my favourite word of this blog ;).  Somewhere in the quick fix we forgot to maintain our education on what is nutrition and what it does for us.  We got caught up in faddy diets where fat was the big evil, then carbs were one step away from Beelzebub.  Modern science has afforded us a far better understanding of what our bodies can do, but by the same token it’s made us lazy.  We are now expecting our food to be the miracle cure for our ignorance of what that same said food is actually doing for us.  For example, if I use this spread it will reduce my LDL cholesterol.... yes that may well be the case but what about those 15 biscuits you just munched full of sugar and starchy processed wheat that you ‘don’t mind’ because they are ‘low fat’?  Many of us hope that by cutting a few calories here and there or by joining that weight loss group, we’ll be able to shed the unwanted weight with relative ease.  Sorry, wrong!  It’s time to re-educate yourselves, learn about your food and what it does to your system. 

It’s all very well and good getting on the weight loss wagon but you can’t let others do the work for you.  Read your labels, learn what the nutritional guides mean, get a better understanding of what helps promote a healthy body, what foods will actually help with weight loss better than others.  And damn it, get back in the kitchen and make time to prepare your meals.  Find a time that’s best for you to prepare things for the week, snacks, lunches, etc. Klick Fresh tubs are a godsend. And I know many will say, 'But Krissie, you don't have children to contend with,' no you are very right I don't, so I do appreciate that it can be a real juggling act, but why not include the kids in preparing food?  It will aid their education in the process and hopefully stop them becoming one of the statistics that fuel the obesity epidemic that we appear to be facing.

There is always time for you, because believe me no one else is going to make time for you and you are SO worth the effort.  Take the time to learn about your food. Find out what you are putting into this amazing thing called your body.  Your body is possible the most amazing piece of evolutionary engineering that has ever existed.  Learn to love it, and feed it with love by feeding it right. Don’t get me wrong have treats.  I work on the 80 – 20% rule.  I’m not going to give myself a telling off for having a bag of chips once in a while, or a bar of Fry’s chocolate now and then. Why would I deprive myself like that? You have to find what works for you, and you have to learn what is a healthy balanced diet.  Changing the way you eat should be an education, because somewhere we’ve forgotten what it was that gave us the right energy. And more importantly we forgot how eating too much of those lovely yummy high calorie un-nutritious foods have contributed to the extra tyre that we've suddenly found on our mid drift.

And that’s why no matter how much I get ribbed by those around me who think I’m bonkers for my fastidious food logging, it’s never going to bother me and I’m not going to stop.  I owe it to this fleshy bone machine that carts my rather random brain about the place to feed it properly and to give it exercise regularly because I want it to last as long as humanly possible.

I promise not to get too ranty on the next blog, and thank you for bearing with me while I get stuff off my chest.  It's always good to vent. Remember, you can do it, you can achieve your goals but you do need to research your path to get there. And if you have a question to ask on a forum spend a few minutes utilising the search function, because chances are 100 people have already asked it and 100s others have replied.

As always, be kind to yourself.

Until the next blog, much love

Krissie
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