My Fitness Journey Week 7 & 8

Hi Everyone,

Over the last two weeks, since returning from holidays I went a little bit off track with my workout routine, however I have still been more aware of eating right but have not been as strict as I was for the first 6 weeks building up to my holiday. I have been taking Raspberry Key-tones over the past week or so which I think have helped me keep the weight off since before my holiday, I weighed myself this morning for the first time since returning and thankfully, despite how I felt, I have not gained the weight back.

I decided to purchase a detox tea 'TeaTox' today to help boost my metabolism, but this is not a quick fix, you do not substitute meals with this tea, you drink it as well as a low calorie, healthy diet. I want to lose 3-4 stone altogether so I know this will take time and hard work but there is no harm adding a natural supplement that can help hopefully the process along :) If you have already been following my journey so far you will know that I have an under active thyroid which slows your metabolism and can cause weight gain, so I think taking something natural to help boost my metabolism might help me lose weight at a more regular, frequent pace. I purchased mine in Holland & Barret but for more info or to buy yours online click HERE!

The TeaTox I decided to go for is a 14 day natural detox by BooTea, consisting of 14 morning tea's and 7 night time cleansing tea's. The aim is to have 1 morning tea a day and 1 night time tea every second day. I am only starting tomorrow so I will be back with an update in 2 weeks to let you guys know what I thought and how I got on.

Talk to ya soon,

Lots of Love,
SassieDoll
xXxXx

My Fitness Journey...Week 4, 5 & 6

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to my Fitness journey, I missed the last couple of weeks as I was on holidays in the beautiful Puerto Banus, Spain.

I just want to do a quick catch up on how I've been getting on. Obviously while on holidays I did drink alcohol (including beer) and we ate out every night (as you do on holidays) so it was hard to stick to a strict diet. Therefore as of this week I am not down any further weight since before holidays. While on holidays I did go to the gym once or twice and myself and my boyfriend would do a few crunches, planks and press ups in the hotel, but you know the saying 'You can't out run an unhealthy diet'! So on Monday, after returning I headed to the supermarket after work and picked up my usual yogurts, chicken fillets, salad and veg and am trying to get back into my routine this week. Today will be my first proper day back at the gym as-well since returning so I'm looking forward to that since my workouts on holidays weren't very intense. (I was on holidays after all) :)

I do believe that clean eating and exercise are the right way to do it but I am considering a detox after holidays to help get back on track and really push myself so any suggestions and success stories would be great?! You can contact me through private message on Facebook HERE! or e-mail me at sassiedoll.outlook.com

Until next week...

Lots of Love
SassieDoll
xXxXx

My Fitness Journey... Week 3

It's Fitness Post time :) And I have just finished my 3rd week of healthy eating and exercising!
I am currently down a total of 4lb in 3 weeks which is a slow and steady pace but like I said in my first post, with an under active thyroid it can be hard to lose weight so once I see the scales going down even a small bit each week then I'll be happy! :) This day 2 weeks I will be in Peurto Banus so my goal is to lose 2lb each week before then so that I will have lost just over half a stone for my Holiday! Just think... that would be 8lb in 5 weeks, so if I keep that up (or push myself even harder which I defo think I can) I could be down nearly 3 stone by Christmas!!!

I want to start this post by saying that the support and encouragement from everyone both friends, family and readers since I started my first fitness post only 3 weeks ago have been amazing. I have received messages saying my honesty in my first post has been motivating and inspiring for others and I think that is just so Amazing and has spurred me on even more to make sure I reach my goals not only for myself but for anyone else who is struggling or has a medical condition that contributes to weight gain and makes it harder for you to achieve your goals. I am lucky that I can take tablets to regulate my thyroid but I know how much of a struggle weight loss can be for so many people no matter what their circumstance so if I can even help one person by posting both my struggles and achievements then I will be one happy Girl :)

I started my week off great with my usual breakfast of berries and yogurt, or scrambled egg on 1 slice of wholemeal toast. If I had egg for breakfast then I would sometimes have fruit and yogurt for lunch, but if I started my day with fruit and yogurt then I would have chicken salad for lunch! I think I only had egg on toast twice for breakfast this week as I am trying to stay off heavy carbs such as bread and I am not a big fan of egg on it's own so I find the berries and yogurt a better option personally! I also went to the gym this week Tuesday, Weds, Thursday and Saturday! I introduced weights into my workout this week so my typical workout has been about 20 mins of cardio on the cross-trainer and then 20 mins weight/resistance training such as the leg press, squats, arm/shoulder/chest weights, planking, press ups etc. I usually do about 3 sets of 15 reps on each machine.

Above: Scrambled egg with tomatoes and cucumber on wholemeal toast

Above: Dinner, Lemon & Thyme chicken with Roast Veg

I want to be honest in these posts so I am going to start by saying I had quite a bold weekend when it came to food and drink, On Saturday I ate well but I went to the Dublin match on Saturday evening and of course ended up having a few too many beers, which led to a hangover the following day and indulging on a few slices of oven pizza and a few oven chips (I had hardly eaten any carbs up until this point apart from brown rice and the odd slice of wholemeal toast)! Although the drinking and eating was bad I did still go to the gym on Saturday morning before going to the match as I knew I would probably have a few drinks. But if there is anything you can take from this post it is learn from my mistake, if you are serious about your health, fitness and weightloss then avoid drinking too much beer and eating hangover food :P I know I won't be doing it again anytime soon, haha! If I do want to have a few drinks I'll stick to Vodka with diet 7up, but I think it's the next day that is the worst when your body is trying to recover from the alcohol and craves carbs so probably best just to avoid drinking alcohol as much as possible until you reach your goals. I have been feeling a bit guilty about the beer and carbs, but no point dwelling on something and getting bogged down so after having 2 days off from the gym Sunday and Monday I have picked myself up and am back in the gym today putting in an extra tough session and I had a breakfast of berries, yogurt and flaxseed this morning and for lunch I had a chicken fillet with veg and brown rice.

I think that's all for this week, if you have any questions or any suggestions that you would like to see me add to My Fitness Journey than you can contact me on Facebook HERE or E-mail me at sassiedoll@outlook.com

My Fitness Journey...Week 2

Hi Everyone, 

I have just finished week 2 of my new Healthy lifestyle and I am feeling great already :) I have lost 3 pound this week and I am delighted! I know it's not a huge amount but slow progress is better than no progress, right? :) I have also been told that losing up to 2lb a week is the average healthy pace for long term weight loss and prevents muscle loss!

Aside from actually losing weight I have noticed my moods improve and my energy levels have improved a serious amount! I have been waking up earlier and I have been getting straight up and making my breakfast and then preparing my lunch for work. 

So, what have I been doing this week? Well, a friend of my Sister's who has lost 5 stone in less than a year e-mailed me some of her tips on both diet and exercise and I found this really motivating as she has really worked so hard to see results, so the next day I went grocery shopping and picked up some of the things she recommended to start incorporating them into my diet. Some of these included, Flaxseed, Natural/Greek Yoghurt, Coconut Oil and berries. Most mornings this week for breakfast I have had strawberries and grapes mixed with Greek Yogurt and sprinkled on top with Flaxseed, it is so yummy and is so refreshing first thing in the morning. Flaxseed is great to add as it contains Omega 3, Protein, Iron and Magnesium among many other things that are health beneficial. 

For my lunch I have stuck with my marinated chicken fillet and salad, I have been cooking the chicken in coconut oil this week. I

also want to start using coconut oil on my skin and hair so I will do a separate post on that :) 

I was really craving chocolate this week so on Sunday I had a lil cheat and had a bowl of Cocopops with low fat milk and a low fat hot chocolate. I know cereal isn't great and is full of sugar but you have to allow yourself a lil treat sometimes so as not to deprive yourself and end up binging! (Excuses, excuses!) Haha! 

I worked out 4 times this week and I tried yoga with a friend. It was fun and relaxing and I had sore muscles in my stomach and arms the next morning so it must have done something right! And another day I went on an hour long cycle in the park to mix things up a bit! For the week ahead I plan on sticking to the same eating plan as last week and just increasing my weight training in the gym as I have still been doing mostly cardio this week with just a few weights mixed in at the end. However I know that the more muscle you build, the more fat you burn as well as shaping your body and toning up so I am defo going to take that on board this week in my workouts! 
I think that's everything for this week :) and remember if you have any questions or any advice you'd like to share with me then you can e-mail me at sassiedoll@outlook.com or Private message me on facebook HERE

Thanks for reading, I'll be back next week with another Fitness update... 

Lots of Love, 
SassieDoll xXxXx

A bit of celebrity Body Inspo for this week...