Time to get mean and lean with The Body Coach

It’s August; days should be sunny, warm and spent in the company of good friends. Instead it’s raining, miserable and autumnal. Grrr. It feels like summer has just whizzed by, and that can’t just be because the past 3 weeks have been one grey, drizzly blur. British summer eat your heart out.

I have enjoyed myself way too much over the past few months; the tightness of my jeans tells me so! I am the heaviest I have ever been and probably the most unfit. A lifestyle change is in order. One that brings meaningful exercise back into my life now I have had to give up football due to knee pain. One that allows me to continue to eat delicious, home-cooked meals. One that allows for those days where all you really want is to slob out.

After much stalking on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram I signed up to The Body Coach’s 90 Day SSS Plan. I was totally swayed by the incredible before and after pictures that people had achieved on this plan. And none of them were those false before/after ones that are merely improved with good lighting and a smile. These are serious transformations. I want that level of success.

At nearly £150 for this 3 month plan I will definitely be committed to it. I still can’t quite believe I have spent that amount of money on a personalised lifestyle plan, but if in 90 days time I’m feeling lean and mean then it will be totally worth it. So far I’ve done a food shop which looked like a week’s food for a family, not just for one person. The amount of meat, broccoli and spinach is ridiculous, but luckily I love my greens! I spent this afternoon preparing some of my meals and snacks for the coming days whilst chain-watching Parks and Recreation; multi-tasking at it’s finest.

Preview of tomorrow’s food: spinach and mushroom omelette for breakfast, two turkey “muffins” for a snack, tuna salad for lunch, ranch avocado dip and celery for another snack, a giant turkey burger with smokey sweet potato fries for dinner after I’ve played squash. Seriously, what a yummy menu! Also some vitamins and other supplements. And protein shakes! The delivery of those to the office tomorrow could be a conversation starter!

I’m excited to get going! I’m starting the first “S” of the plan: Shift. So hopefully over the coming 4 weeks I will shift a good few inches! I already know there are days when I will not stick to plan (a boozy music festival to start with), but the beauty of this plan is that it’s a lifestyle; you just jump back on board the next day.

Let me know you’re finding the plan if you’ve started it, or feel free to ask me any questions if you are thinking of joining up.

Oh hey blog, did you miss me?

I have been so rubbish at keeping up to date with my blog. So I apologise to it (and to any followers who may have missed me). In the time that I’ve been absent a lot has happened in my summer so far:

• Glastonbury 2015- totally awesome! I made some new friends from “oop norf”, fell in love with Lionel Ritchie and found out that adding gin to Carlsberg only improves it!
• I’m buying a house! This perhaps will be it’s own blog post in the future given how much pain it has been already, but I’m getting on the property ladder with my friend Amie. Life goal: tick!
• Many wonderful evening and weekends with friends have been had. From surprising Stimps with a midweek birthday visit, to enjoying Bristol Harbour Festival with Jack, watching the Balloon Fiesta with Hannah and drunk evenings with jenga, nibbles and 90’s music with the Cardiff girls. I love you all
• Surprised my Mum with her first visit to The Emirates to watch The Arsenal. She loved it! Dad and I have successfully converted her into a Gooner after many years of trying!
• Completed the Adrenaline Rush obstacle course
• Went to watch the Ashes in Cardiff and saw England absolutely dominate! “Miiiitchellllll!”
• Tried my hand at disability sports (wheelchair basketball being a favourite)
• Travelled to another galaxy at Star Wars Secret Cinema
• I’ve enjoyed breakfasts in the garden and beers in the sunshine
• Watched Arsenal win the Community Shield at Wembley
• Searched for Shaun the Sheep dotted around Bristol
• Adrenaline chasing at Alton Towers
• Read loads of good books; 22 books read so far in 2015!

Mmmm, roast and Pimm’s!

Met Glenn McGrath!

Balloons! Worth getting up at 5am for!

The Who totally rocked Glasto

Alton Towers queue selfie

Glasto family

Enjoying the cricket

A sampling of the Bristol Shauns

#knackered

Star Wars Secret Cinema costume

All in all my summer is turning out to be a cracker. Work is crazy busy too, which is definitely contributing to my lax blog writing commitment. I’ll try and be better, although I realise I’ve definitely said that before in the past few months! And I really need to write some more posts about my trip to Vietnam before I forget the details (quite likely given my memory).

One thing I may end up blogging about is my latest attempt to get fitter. I have always enjoyed exercise (and food and booze) but I’ve always been on the “larger” side of things. So I’ve signed up to The Body Coach in the hope it can help me shift some of the wobble! It will probably be horrific so I will likely moan on here, but as long as it’s worth it in the end, then that’s ok. Right?

Until next time..

Dreams, barriers and determination.

We all have dreams, right? I don’t mean the thoughts that go through our minds when we are asleep, but rather the desires that drive our lives. Surely everyone has things they are striving for in one way or the other?

I was talking to my colleague about this on the train back from Manchester today as he has just started writing his bucket list. He spoke of how when he started to try and write the list of things he aspired for that he really struggled. Identifying exactly what we want from life when we have a clean slate can be quite difficult I guess. Go on, try it.

Got some ideas? Now really challenge yourself; are they truly your dreams, aims and goals? Or are they in some way influenced by what you subconsciously think you should do, maybe based on friends, family or popular culture? My colleague gave the example of wanting to own an Aston Martin. At first he thought it showed that he was materialistic, But then he thought about it some more and realised it was not the car he wanted, it was the experience of driving a fast car. So this bucket list item morphed into driving fast cars around a track.

I think it’s really interesting to consider whether what we are dreaming of is really what we want, or how much is dictated by social constructs. We are all influenced by society, friends, perceptions of ourselves and so on, but each of us is affected to a different extent. The idea that our long term, or even short term goals, may not actually be ones that will make us happy is something which feels alien. Surely we all know what we want, what we enjoy doing, what we want to see? I also think it’s key to acknowledge that what we want to be can change. When I was younger I was not remotely bothered about seeing the world, but now it is my top priority. It may not be in the future, and that’s OK. We adapt, we learn, we grow and we re-prioritise. But we should be on top of that; aspire to do what makes you happy!

“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life”

I stumbled across this quote by Mark Twain on Goodreads when I was browsing the other day. It’s one which really resonated with me; good friends and good books are two of the most important things in my life. Add good food and travel into the mix and I’d be as happy as a pig in mud.

“Good friends”

My friends are probably the most important thing in my life. The old adage goes “you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends” and is so true. Friends bring an extra layer of joy to every positive experience in life; they make the good things great.

It’s all gone a bit quiet…

No really, it has. I have lost my voice after spending Saturday getting totally engrossed in the final day of this year’s Six Nations tournament; I shouted, sang and drunk a lot so my lack of audible speech is to be expected.

I started this blog three months ago with good intentions, high spirits and a plan to write at least two posts a week. I actually stuck to this relatively well for a couple of months, but it has been a mad March and I have apparently mindlessly neglected my blog. Oops.