April has been a pretty good month, I have:
- Really focused on my running training including improving my speed and increasing my mileage from 8 miles to 10.5 miles
- Changed up my speeds and resistance levels for my cardio intervals on the gym equipment
- Maintained my weight
- Continued to focus on having a healthy mind set around fuelling myself properly
To be honest I think this month has been very much a case of things just ‘ticking along’ nicely which is always good. What I did plan to do this month and kind of failed on was refocusing on my push up goal and make good progress on my diet and nutrition advisor course. I did get one assignment completed but I really need to be doing more.
Thoughts on weight maintenance
I wanted to write a little bit about the whole weight maintenance thing. I won’t go over the whole story in detail but for any new readers: I was over weight, I lost weight, I reached a plateau and was happy enough at that weight. Then I started loosing more, went vegetarian and lost even more and now I’m trying to maintain my weight without actually getting any smaller! Just for background info I’m 5’6 and a UK size 8 – 10, I do not want to get any smaller than this, as for me I feel I look scrawny and still want to hang on to a few curves! However that is where the fun starts, after literally years of dieting I have struggled with getting out of the ‘weight loss’ mind set and moving into the weight management / eating for optimum health mind set.
This month I have maintained my weight and have only weighed myself once so I feel like I’m making good progress. I feel like I’ve been fuelling myself better and my general approach to eating for health rather than skinniness has really improved. I have a much more relaxed attitude to eating when I am hungry although I am still struggling with some demons that come out when I worry that I’m eating too much and will put weight on but I really feel that I’m better able to silence them. Overall I feel like I’m going in the right direction! I think that having more awareness of calories although without actually calorie counting every day has helped me to ensure that I’m eating enough. I’m tending to shoot for around 2000 cals a day as this seems to be right for my size and activity levels.
Goals for May
- Have an awesome time in NYC!
- Complete at least 4 assignments for my course
- Increase my maximum running distance from 10.5 miles to 12 miles
- Continue to work on my speed
- Work on my push up goal
- Stick to my new training plan:
Monday – AM gym based workout – speed intervals on treadmill 15 min, cardio intervals on gym equipment – 45 min (sticking at current levels), abs and core plus push up practice
Tuesday – AM Yoga, PM Body Pump class (if working late then 30 Day Shred DVD and Yoga before work)
Wednesday – AM run – around 6 miles / 10k mix of speed work, hills, recovery run depending on how I feel, abs and core
Thursday – AM – Yoga, PM gym based workout – 3,2,1, system for 1 hour including push up practice (if working late then 30 Day Shred DVD and Yoga before work)
Friday – AM gym workout – 3,2,1 system (working alternate muscles from Thursday workout) for 45 minutes OR at home yoga DVD
Weekend – REST DAY / Long run
Running training
I’m going to start taking a more structured approach to my running as detailed above – 3 runs a week consisting of a short treadmill run working on speed, a mid distance run working on speed, hills or a recovery run and a long distance run. I have the Great North 10K in July and the Great North Run Half in September. I’m really aware of not wanting to aggravate my old knee problem which came up about this time in my training last year so I will be making sure I take it easy when needed, doing lots of stretching and yoga!
May Obsessions
I am currently obsessed by Pinterest which I discovered via Sofia’s blog. For visual inspiration seekers like me it is amazing! Here’s my Pinterest page check it out!
I also spent some time today sorting through my old magazines, now that is an obsession! I love my magazines :-) I like to go through old ones and tear out pages with recipes, workouts, style ideas or anything inspirational. I have 4 files full now!
Loving this Orange Blossom Flower water too:
I added it to yoghurt for breakfast the other day and I’ve been popping a few drops in glasses of plain iced water for a little flavour, so good!
I am crazy about strawberries right now! I can’t help buying up several boxes when they are on offer they are just delicious. One of my most vibrant food memories is going strawberry picking with my aunt and uncle down south and eating sun warmed strawberries straight from the plant, fabulous!
…and obviously:
5 days and counting!
May Sponsors
Just a quick shout out to my May Sponsors, Viva Pure, Nakd and The Raw Chocolate Company. I have an awesome May Sponsor giveaway coming up so keep checking out the blog for more details to come! I have sponsors lined up for June but anyone interested in becoming a blog sponsor for July drop me an email at laura@keepinghealthygettingstylish.com
Have you had a good April? What are your goals for May? Any current obsessions you’d like to share?
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Hope you have an amazing time in NYC! I’m loving strawberries at the moment too and really liked your thoughts on weight maintenance. I cleaned up my diet and lost weight a few years ago and found it hard to adjust to maintaining at first at it’s easy to get stuck in the weight loss mindset. x
i think you have great goals! 12 miles wouldbe awesome!! i LOVEEEEE your thoughts on maintaining! strong IS the new skinny! and girl you have a great figure!
Fit. Strong. Vigorous. I LIKE it!! :)
I love your healthy, balanced attitude to everything; you really do live consciously, and I think that is KEY to successful maintenance. It’s great to have goals and things to look forward to that will challenge us and keep us motivated :)
I would be incredibly jealous of NYC but I’m going on a trip of my own this week so… ;) ha ha
Wishing you a magical May! xxx
Good for you :)
Lily – thanks, yes I think its just taken a bit of time to get used to
Carrie – thanks so much chick!
Phil – I’m so glad you think that – you’ve maintained so well your an inspiration!
Lauren – thanks!
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Wow you’re doing so well, and it’s good that you are staying at a healthy weight and not losing any more :) Eating healthy is the main thing. Congrats on all your achievements it make me feel a bit lazy haha. Good work!
Having seen you in person I can safely say that you are even smaller in person than you look in your photos! In terms of being ‘curvy’ I wouldn’t define you that way at all as to me you’re already very slender and athletic, particularly your long and lean legs (I wish I had 3ins on my current height…or more!) Losing any more would be pretty dangerous and probably detrimentally affect your running (you’d have no muscle mass left!), so it’s great that you’re willing to recognise that you don’t need to lose any more. 2000 cals a day does seem a little skimpy though (I know, big old 4000+ calorie-eating pig here, but it’s true!) as it’s the RDA for moderately active women (3-4 times a week exercise, and not at the intensity you do!) so perhaps an extra couple of hundred cals might be nearer the mark? Just a thought though, please don’t think I’m being preachy or judgemental because I need to cut at least that amount myself as we all know I have the opposite issue!
Frozen cherries are my obsession. I cry whenever Sainsbos don’t have them ;)
May goal: at least manage to start the darn Edinburgh marathon. Curse my injuries.
xxx
Girl good job on your goals from last month and awesome goals for next month! :)
You have a great figure girl– embrace it :)
I love your balanced attitude!
New York is AWESOME! If you feel like a splurgy dinner, PLEASE check out Pure Food & Wine and order the classic sundae for dessert. It’s amazing. One of the best meals of my life!
What a GREAT month for you!! And May sounds like it will be EVEN BETTER!! :D My May obsession so far is definitely almond butter…so good!!
And well done on maintaining your weight by the way!! Haha I know what you mean about curves- I’d love to have some but sadly I don’t think I have natural curves! :P
I am so excited for your NYC trip! I plan to live vicariously through you, haha :)
Willingtorecover – thanks! and don’t feel lazy, we all have our own level of working out thats right for us all, I’m sure your doing really well!
Jessica – I have looked at a few different sources to see what my calorie intake should be to maintain and I get incredibly fustrated as I’ve had everything from 1700 cals (wft! This was based on a calculation in this months Ultra Fit!) to 2200. I guess I’m going to see how I go. I suppose I have been doing a lot of reflection recently on what I see my more desired body shape to be and I’m not sure of being so skinny is what I want. As you say I don’t want to lose muscle mass, quite the opposite so I’ll continue to monitor how I go. You could be right about increasing the cals a bit more too. Thanks for such a useful comment!
Kimberly – thank you chick thats so kind!
Mimi – I would so love to go to pure food and wine but I would probably have to drag my carnivore hubby there! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to at least get to the takeout One Lucky Duck!
Emma – thanks hon, I guess I was always so used to being curvy and that being part of my identity it feels strange that I am now ‘athletic’ shaped!
Kate – haha, no problem there – I’ll be sharing every detail!
Nice post and great May goals and also good job on your April goals! Hope you´ll enjoy your NYC trip:)
Argh, I am so excited for you to go to New York! I had a dream about NYC last night, I would LOVE to go back!
Great going with your April goals too, it really sounds like you’re getting a handle on balancing food and training. And if you need any proof, then your improving running times have to be it!
Awesome goals!!! I know you will achieve al of them without a doubt! :D
It’s definitely a switch mentally to the maintenance phase, but it sounds like you’ve been doing fantastic!
I’m so excited for you vis-a-vis NYC! It’s going to be SO great! You have to go to PB&Co!
xxx
current obsession…coconut flour! Partly because of your blog heehee (:
really excited for you and your visit to new york!
xxxx
I love strawberries too, but I think my current obsession is chia seeds – I’ve been missing out too long!
Very exciting that NY is so close :-)