Thanks for all your lovely comments to yesterdays post! So glad that you are digging the new blog name :-)
Yesterday I made up a batch of my home made almond milk and now that I have some raw cacao I thought it would be fun to make some raw chocolate almond milk! I had some for breakfast with fresh strawberries, Bear Coco Cherry Pie Granola and brown rice puffs plus a vanilla coffee:
This was so good – kind of reminded me of coco pops!
Lunch was leftover wheat berry and feta salad from the weekend with baby spinach and alfalfa sprouts:
I also had a nectarine and grapes:
Mid afternoon I snacked on half a 9 Bar. I didn’t go for the full bar as when I ate the full size last week it felt a bit heavy in my stomach while I was at the gym:
At the gym I did 30 minutes of HIITs and my abs and core exercises including a 1 min 45 sec plank (!), 40 sec side planks then 20 x full sit ups, bicycle crunches, regular crunches, side reaches and mountain climbers x 2 sets. I also did my 30 minute spin class.
Dinner was spiralised courgette with spelt spinach tagliatelle and a tomato and green lentil sauce with garlic, basil and nutritional yeast:
So delicious and filling!
Dessert was two frozen chocolate avocado cups topped with a little blob of almond butter and two sliced apples:
The almond butter tasted great with these, got to love all those healthy fats!
February review and aims for March
February has been a bit of a funny month. It started with some controversy after I posted about my January detox and continued weight loss. I responded with my Finding Balance post. My aim this month was not to lose any more weight and I’m glad to report that I have maintained last months weight of 8st 11lbs (123lbs). I did have a sneaky weigh in mid month and I had gained a couple of pounds probably due to eating out a few times but obviously by the end of the month that has dropped off again.
I have tried to make an effort to eat a little differently including adding in a few more carbs. I’ve ate more pasta and couscous this month than I have in the last year! I’m not going to lie, I have found it difficult and I am still struggling with anxiety when the numbers on the scale increase. I think the more I focus on health over size and weight the better. Next month will see me doing more running and therefore fuelling myself better along with having a crazy appetite after runs so I do hope to see a gain.
Anyway, with all that aside it has been a good month! My training plan has worked well for me and dropping the yoga class mid month was definitely the right thing to do. I have also enjoyed my dumbbell workouts – I’m very happy with the definition in my arms and shoulders:
Yes, I have some mini guns ;-) I feel a bit weird posting pics of my little muscles but I’ve worked hard for them!
February achievements:
- Maintained weight
- Gained muscle definition
- Started running outdoors again
- Signed up for Diet and Nutrition Advisor course
- Changed blog name :-)
Next month I’m looking to increase my outdoor running mileage in preparation for starting a proper half marathon training plan, start body pump classes and work yoga into my general routine. Here’s a rough plan, but as always this is flexible depending upon circumstances, how I’m feeling, work commitments etc:
- Monday – gym workout: 30 min HIITs, 30 min spin, abs and core
- Tuesday – AM – Yoga Podcast (20 min), PM – Body Pump 50 min
- Wednesday – gym workout: 30 min speed work on treadmill, 30 min HIITs, abs and core
- Thursday – AM – Yoga flow from Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga (20 min), PM gym upper body dumbbell workout, 20 minutes HIITs
- Friday – AM – gym workout 30 min HIITs, abs and core
- Weekend – Long outdoor run – working up from current 6 miles to 8 miles, optional yoga DVD workout
I’m just going to focus on upper body weights in addition to the body pump class as now that I’ll be back to running seriously I don’t want to max out my legs.
Stats for February:
- Weight: 8st 11lbs
- Measurements same as last month
- Average pace on long runs: 9.45
- Total mileage (outdoors): 18 miles
Aims for March:
- Gain or maintain weight
- Continue working towards my overall 2011 goals
- Focus on health over weight or size
- More outdoor running
- Learn to meditate – more on this to follow in a coming post!
- Increase my plank and side plank hold times (currently 1 min 45 sec / 40 sec)
How has February been for you? What have you achieved? What are your aims for March?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
YOU ARE SO TONED!! SO JEALOUS!!!!
Lovin those guns!! Might pluck up the courage and post a pic of my mini dudes one day!
My March goal is to get my running mileage up to 6 miles :)
Ha! Loving the gun action! All the hard work is paying off. Your aims for the next month look great. And congrats on maintaining your weight- you have worked really hard. =)
Oh my goodness ~ your arms are amazing! They look better after a month of solid strength training than mine do after a year of it! Seriously, you have killer shoulder definition. I’d like to show that pic to some of the gym people I know that believe you can’t get fab guns without chugging whey protein shakes and living on chicken/egg whites every day. Don’t worry, I won’t though ;)
Almond butter on avocado cups? You’ve taken them up to a new level of deliciousness with that one. And I used to eat those brown rice puffs all the time, though I preferred them as a topping as they weren’t very filling on their own (is anything lol?)
Great training plan and goals. Mine is the same as always: try to rein in eating and keep running while avoiding injury (hoping to run a half this Sunday and a 20-miler at the end of March. Eek.)
xxx
WOW your arms look great!!
You have done amazing to maintain your weight and I know that adding more carbs has been a hard thing for you to do so you should be SO proud of yourself. You’re fuelling yourself so well now and it is really showing. You seem so healthy and happy it’s lovely to see. You are really inspirational :)
You have a great training plan and goals set. This month I have found a new exercise routine that means I have the same workout in half the time I would normally so I have more free time to do fun stuff! Some goals for me are to continue to increase my weight steadily to a healthy level whilst maintaining a more healthy relationship with exercise but I want to improve my fuelling and recovery foods. I’m also focusing more on weights rather than cardio all the time as I was scared to do this but now I realise that it is a healthy thing to do and it’s helping me tone up aswell as become stronger to carry my food shopping! I want arms like yours! :)
Your meals look YUMMY as always!! xx
Look at those arms! Killer, lady. I want more definition in my shoulders and arms, too!
Wow – great arms – I’m going to try your strength workout :-)
I think you have some good goals for March. I’ve found it really difficult to get out of the losing weight mentality – that’s partly why I started blogging, to help me with that. It’s such a fine balance between staying a healthy weight and learning to have a healthy long-term relationship with food and exercise when you’ve previously been overweight. You sound like you’ve been getting there this month.
Girl, you have some serious guns! That is definitely my inspiration to strength train today :)
Carrie – thanks!
Becky – you should show them off proudly!
Jemma – thanks hun x
Jess – hope your half goes well! The almond butter on those cups was amazing :-)
Nicky – thanks for that lovely comment, sounds like your on an excellent road ahead, your plans for march sound great!
Katie – thanks x
Sarah – thanks, it is hard to change mind sets, I’m just hoping that by keeping the focus on healthy over skinny I’ll get there x
Kate – thanks! x
Congrats on a great month! Your arms do look great :-)
My plan for this month is to be running 3 times a week and get myself up to a comfortable 10k. And to maybe make some chocolate almond milk!
Awesome mini guns! It must be really nice to see your strength work pay off like that. All too often I find myself avoiding the weights section in the gym because I find strength work really hard and I get frustrated that I can only lift really light weights :( I know I need to persevere though – I should check out one of your routines for inspiration.
Oh and I’m with you on the carb-anxiety… I’m also trying to incorporate them more as I increase my running mileage and start to need the extra fuel, but there’s always this niggle in the back of my mind (and it’s not something that I admit to many people either). Thankgoodness for tasty carbs like oats, grains and sweet potatoes because I do really LOVE eating them, but it’s stuff like pasta, potatoes and even wholemeal bread that I still get a bit anxious about eating :-/ Oh, it’s all fun and games this healthy living business isn’t it! :)
Wooow your guns look AMAZING!! Could take on the celebs any day!! :D
And great goals!! I’m sure you’ll acheive them all:)
I am SO jealous!!! your shoulder muscles… oh my god! amazing :-) and food looks so good as always!
Look at those guns! March is all about bumping up my running and remembering why my body likes strength training…
Great month! You look tiny! Great goals your smoothie looks sooooooo good! x x
You look awesome.
Yay, the arms are so satisfying to train! I think they probably react the best to weights for women because we are starting from such a “weak” base! I still don’t feel like I can lift heavy for my shoulders but then I compare to what I was like the first time I picked up a dumbell a few years ago and it’s definitely progress! You’re muscles are just popping :)
Addicted to choc/avocado cups right now. I made some with raw cacao powder and date syrup, drooling just thinking about them!