Round up of my week 06-12 Aug 12

MONDAY

So my husband Darryl has the week off with me this week which has been lovely! Due to my course we haven't had the opportunity to spend much time together these past few months, so a week together has been bliss! (Although he might tell you different!)

Monday we were really motivated to be active, I went to the Gym in the morning and we ate pretty well. I also have started VEDA which stands for 'Video Every Day in August' I haven't managed to do every day this week, and probably won't throughout the month, but I will do my best! If you use the hashtag #fitVEDA on twitter you will be able to find some other fitness YouTubers who are participating in VEDA

TUESDAY

So I started to get ill!! Arghhh!! Nothing too serious just a sore throat it only lasted a few days, but it prevented me from doing my workout! Our trip to Newquay was a bit of a fail, due to the great british weather! We did well again with our nutrition and Darryl even cooked for me! We ended the day seeing the movie Ted.....I would highly recommend AGAINST it!

WEDNESDAY

We finally had our trip to Newquay to watch the surfing competition, it was great fun and made me really want to go surfing! Unfortunately the surf has been pretty much flat for the rest of the week, so we weren't able too :(

Macy (our dog) had great fun on the beach

In the vlog below we discuss our thoughts on intermittent fasting after watching the BBC horizon programme on the subject

THURSDAY

Thursday ended up being a bit of a lazy day, I took Macy on a pretty long walk around where we live but that was pretty much the extent of my workout that day. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous evening so we decided to treat ourselves to tapas on the Hoe, we had quite healthy options although we did finish it off with an ice cream! It was however our first one of the year!

Our lovely view for our meal

FRIDAY

BBBBEEEEEAAAACCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I got a bit excited as it is rare in the UK to have a hot day, especially one in which both me and Darryl are both not working! It was such a lovely day at the beach, my workout on Friday was a swim in the sea, it was AWESOME! 

I had also decided to try alternate day fasting....well kind of fasting....I am having one day in which I can eat as much (healthy as possible) foods as I like, followed by a day in which I can have just one meal totalling between 5-600 calories. Friday was my first day having just the one meal, it was easier than I thought, although by late evening I was constantly thinking of food!

SATURDAY

I woke up and remained really lethargic for most of the day on Saturday, not sure if it was because of the lack of food, too much Sun or because I was up at 630 for work? I only had to do a short shift which was until 2pm, however I felt far too tired to do a workout, we had a few things to get in town and decided to go to starbucks for a 'pick-me-up' instead of having a high fat mocha or frappucino I opted for their new 'refresha' drink, which is made with real fruit and green coffee extract, so much better for you! I have to say it was 'refreshing' I truly enjoyed it so will definitely be having it again in future! On leaving town we decided to head to the barbican to have some fish and chips, we usually allow ourselves a cheat meal at the weekend, and have been very good all week (normally on a week off we would have had several take-aways and meals out). We then went to a friends party, and I only had one cider!

SUNDAY

Had work again this morning :( and it is my second day of fasting (one small meal). I had to remind myself not to have breakfast which I almost started to make! I felt much better today, surprisingly I've had quite a lot of energy all day, I normally feel terrible if I don't eat breakfast, and I even didn't start to feel hungry until about 11 and I was up at 630! I had a small meal again at lunch time which I was ready for, I have also had a few cups of green tea, and chia seed water. I haven't really thought much about food until about 7pm, in which I started to feel hungry, but only a few more hours until bed time, then I will get to have breakfast tomorrow! Woop! 

I have also been set a challenge from my friend @JustPostulate to do a 5 minute plank challenge

I accepted this challenge, although did have to go to my knees and have realised how terrible my form is, so I will endeavour to correct this, check out the below vid to see how I did

Leeds weekend

Wow what a weekend!!

So I travelled to Leeds for the weekend for the UK scentsy convention, I am an independent consultant for scentsy, scentsy sell lots of awesome items, from wickless scented warmers to travel tins for your car. I won't go on about scentsy as this page is not for my business however if you do want to check it out go look at my scentsy website and my Facebook page

Anyways.....so Leeds is a pretty awesome city! I also took my Gran with me as it was a long drive so was nice to have the company, and she is also from Leeds and hasn't had the chance to go back for about 20 years!

I love my Gran, if it wasn't for her me and my sister would have had a pretty rubbish childhood, she is a big part of my life and an amazing woman, so it was a pleasure to be able to spend some time with her, however....my Gran is very fussy with her food and doesn't like 'foreign' or spicy food and prefers traditional plain, gravy type meals, so it was a bit of a challenge finding somewhere to accompany her tastes, which also meant the healthy choices were very limited and pretty much non existent! The breakfast in the hotel was also pretty terrible, there was cereal, toast, rolls, croissants, rubber cheese and processed ham, so not very nutritious and no protein!

My workouts were also non-existent! I took workout clothes with me, but time was limited, I was planning on getting up early and going for a run before my nan got up, but she always bet me to it! She is also from the war generation who believe the bigger you are the healthier you are, and she really doesn't understand the healthy lifestyle, and even gets concerned about it!

Not eating right or exercising this weekend left me feeling terrible, I was bloated the whole time, had stomach cramps, headaches, was really thirsty, and didn't sleep much I really didn't feel good at all, and had cravings for healthy food and to do a workout! Its funny how the human body is built to survive and we have so many instincts, yet our minds often crave this terrible food which makes us feel so awful! Well I'm pretty determined now to not eat this crap and continue and improve my healthy eating and fitness, I have certainly learnt my lesson! Although it was worth it to have such an awesome weekend with my Gran and with scentsy.

So that was the weekend, as it is the first Monday of the month it was weigh in day......it was not good.....
Bodyweight, body fat and measurements at body space
Everything increased! I am at the heaviest I have ever been, I could have cried when I jumped on the scales! I knew things weren't going to be good as we also stopped at the Trafford Centre in Manchester on the way home yesterday and my usual size was a little snug!
However rather than throw in the towel and give up, I have realised that it just means I can no longer eat crap all weekend and get away with it! I need to be a bit more strict with my eating, and work out more!

Throughout August I will be vlogging more, here is todays
vlog;

Powermeal A Week Challenge - Pizza!!

So again apologies for not making last weeks post!

However I have something yummy for you.......PIZZA!! Thats actually reasonably good for you!

One of my favourite meals is pizza but as we all know the stuff from dominos and pizza hut is not the best healthy eating option, so when I have a pizza craving this is what I make...

Ingredients (makes 2 pizzas, adjust accordingly for the amount of people needed to feed):

2 wholemeal wraps

4 tablespoons of tomato puree

1 handful of spinach

3 larges closed cup mushrooms

2 cooked chicken breasts

1 handful of low fat mozzarella cheese

2 tsp mixed herbs

Preheat your oven to gas mark 6, 400F, or 200c

Meanwhile spread the tomato puree onto the wrap, and top with the chicken, spinach, mushrooms, cheese and herbs. (These are the ingredients I like, but play around and find what you find most delicious!)

Bang it in the oven for about 10 mins, until crisp and golden...

....and boom, a healthy, quick, easy alternative to unhealthy pizza which is just as delicious!

Would also be great fun to do with kids, let me know how you get on, ENJOY!

Plans for the summer

So I must apologise for being rubbish about posting this last week, I have been rubbish at tweeting, face booking, tumbling, the lot! I even missed the powercakes 'power meal a week' update last sunday!! Things have been pretty hectic, I've been on placement a lot, working, and have had some family stuff to sort.

However...I have now finished my placement so will no longer be doing crazy hours, getting up at 5am and doing a 100 mile round trip each day....phew!!! I will still be working over the summer but no where near as many hours, and have no assignments due in..WAHOO!!!

The view from the pool

So this past week has been a bit wishy washy with workouts, I managed to squeeze 1 gym session in where I focused on doing compound movements, including; pushups, pull-ups, squats, deadlifts and bench press. I was hoping to go for a run yesterday but it was far too hot (not something we have been able to say often here in the UK this summer!) however I decided to still get a cardio workout in and went to my local outdoor pool, which was absolutely gorgeous! It was quite busy, but they sectioned a part off for length swimmers which worked well. I have swam ever since I can remember, me and my sister would spend hours in the water as kids, we loved it and still do. The pool I went to is free (bonus!!) so hopefully will be visiting there a few more times this summer, it also is right by the sea so has an awesome view.

The past weeks weather

Although I haven't got as many workouts in this week as I hoped I have been keeping active in the lovely weather we have been experiencing, I have spent a fair few hours gardening, which was quite a workout hacking at the bushes! We've also been on several evening walks, and went to the beach for a cheat meal BBQ yesterday evening.

About 8pm up on the Hoe

Nutrition wise I have kept on track, although I did get enticed in by a few chocolates at work this week, they were small ones though!! Haha! But because the weather has been hot, I have eaten quite a lot of salad, I love it when its hot as all I want to eat is salad and fruit! Today has not been quite so good though, we had sausages and bacon left over from last nights BBQ so had them for breakfast! And as the weather was hot we also had a frappucino and ice cream this eve! OOPS! But as I have said many a time before tomorrow is a new day!

I really enjoy weight training, and get results from it, so have also spent some time this week finding a plan I can hopefully stick to, the plan I am going to hopefully start tomorrow is from Bodybuilding.com and it incorporates both weight training and cardio, for my cardio I am going to continue with my 10k training plan, and maybe throw in a few classes here and there for fun, when my sister is free. I will probably do this plan for a few weeks, which will give me time to finally get around to reading Brad Gouthro's book 'Awaken the Abs Within' I love this guy and find him so inspiring, many of my friends now also follow him, so if you don't already, you seriously need to! We bought this book a few months ago, my husband has read it, and is in need of new clothes as his now no longer fit, his physique has changed so much! Unfortunately for me uni has gotten in the way, however now its summer break 'Awaken the Abs Within' is on the top of my reading list, along with Mr Grey of course!

Blogger it is...

So general feedback is that you guys prefer blogger to tumblr....so I think I'm going to mainly use blogger.

So today has been a pretty good day fitness and nutrition wise. I started the day off with a breakfast smoothie, I made it in a vlog a while back  

 

The smoothie was originally from oxygen magazine although I can't find it on the website!

I was up early as I had to drop my sister and her friend to the airport (she's off to spain the lucky so and so!)

As I was in Exeter I decided to take the opportunity to go for a run there for a bit of a change of scenery, I ran around the quay and although it was cloudy it was lovely!

I continued with my training using the Runtraining app on the iPhone as I did in last weeks vlog  

I've used many running apps and this has to be one of my faves! Its great if you're just starting out and are aiming for a race like I am. It has lots of great features, may have to do another vlog to show it more! 

My stats for my run today aren't as good as last time my avg pace was 14.53/mi today whereas last time it was 13.29/mi, I'm not sure why? If anything the route today was easier as it was flat! Maybe it was because I didn't have my running partner with me

Although I did meet these guys

Newbie

Hi guys,

So blogging is new to me...I usually vlog: http://www.youtube.com/user/jenbefit

I figured blogging might be easier?? Maybe less time consuming? And enable me to get more thoughts out?? Also maybe give me more of an umph to get my arse into gear and live up to the name 'Jen Befit'

Please bear with my whilst I get used to this!

I have also started using tumblr: http://jenbefit.tumblr.com/ am undecided as to whether this or tumblr is better/easier??

I notice lots of other users of blogger have widgets (if thats what they are called??) with links to other accounts such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc, I would be very grateful if someone could enlighten me on how to do that! Also any other tips on how to/how not to blog and how to use blogger, and get the best out of it.

Anyways my main purpose of blogging will be to keep myself accountable and track my progress on the journey to 'Jen Befit'

For now until I work out how to do the widget thingy here are links to other places you can find me: 

twitter: https://twitter.com/jenbefit

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenbefit/414487581908394

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/jenbefit

Tumblr: http://jenbefit.tumblr.com/