Fit Before 50 #FitB4Fifty

Well I have realised that I have just over 2 years before I hit my next decade and I have still failed to get into a healthy shape! Having battled with my weight for most of my adult life and it feels that for the last 8 years I have lost the same stone repeatedly over and over again... Oops! So now I need to get it right and keep it off so that I am a lot fitter and healthier before I hit my half century. 

Obviously its not going to be a quick fix as I proved in the past that it doesn't work as it doesn't stay off. It needs to be sustained and embedded into my lifestyle to get it off and keep it off for good. This mean that I have to look at both strands of healthy living:

Diet

Exercise

Most of what I have done in the past has concentrated on exercise which works until for whatever reason I stop exercising (this has been through injury, heat, the needs of my children or work pressure). Then I come unstuck as my diet is not up to scratch... Therefore I need to put a lot more effort into that strand...

My son realised yesterday that one reason I don't eat as healthily as I could because of his limited food choices. He struggles to eat things off this list. He has told me that I need to force him once a week to eat one of my more healthy meals! Wish me luck with that one... but it may be that he is mature enough to cope now.

So what do I need to do to improve my diet?

• eat more vegetables and fruit
• eat more whole grains
• reduce fat and sugar intake
• eat more fish and lean meats
• eat less processed foods

Of course I need to carry on exercising and keeping it consistent. This needs to include both cardio and strength exercises. My son is back into cycling now so we can do that together. Running I can do various lengths of run to mix it up a bit. I also need to do core strengthening such as yoga or pilates. At the moment I can't afford classes or gym membership so it will all be done at home or for free.

If anyone has any tips or wants to keep me on track then please shout! I am also up for working with brands as a partnership to get me in shape.

#FitnessFriday A Step in the Right Direction

So its time to see how I have done since last Friday when I committed to losing the weight  had put back on and running more! First up how is the 1000 km challenge going:

So that's another 25 km achieved and I am now only 119 km behind instead 122. I can still do this as I had worked out I needed to run 3.67 km a day for the rest of the year so with a few longer runs to make up for missed days I will earn that medal...

What about the rest of my fitness plan?

1) Diet

I have been increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables in my diet as I wasn't hitting the 5 day. Have to admit its probably more fruit than veg though... This week I also ate oily fish a few times at lunch with both tuna and smoked salmon as I know I have been missing out on this type of food. A good lunch looked like this:

#FitnessFriday Time for Action

Having had 2 weeks away on holiday after a very stressful half term my weight has been heading in the wrong direction! Not only that but I am slipping further and further behind in my 1,000 km running challenge:

So I need a multi pronged approach to getting back first of all to where I was 2 months ago on the weight front and then to keep up the momentum.

1) Diet

On holiday pretty much anything goes and portion sizes seem irrelevant! Now things are back to normal (if there is such a thing) I need to be more careful. I have started to drink herbal teas in the afternoon instead of caffeinated coffee:

I am making sure that my fruit and vegetable intake is increasing and that portions of protein and carbs are decreasing. Yesterday I even whipped up my own cupcakes so that they were a healthier naughty treat (although my son and his friend ate half of them straight off...):

#FitnessFriday Who cares about the scales!

The school holidays have a mixed effect on my fitness. I have more time to exercise but I also have more time to eat and drink rubbish! So the scales were not my friend this week but I am another 3 inches down on a month ago:

What I am pleased about is the amount of walking and running I am clocking up a lot of which is with my 10 year old! After a big family lunch on Good Friday  I went for a nip around our 2 km block at home with him:

#FitnessFriday on Good Friday

No picture of me at Fell Foot this week as we were away last weekend but I will be back there in the morning! With it being the school holidays everything is out of sync but I am trying to fit in as much fitness as possible even if its just walking to the train station for my weekend away... Speaking of which after over indulging with friends I headed out on Monday night for a gentle 5 km run around my favourite route:

So it wasn't the fastest run ever but I really didn't push myself. It just felt good to be out running in Kendal again:

On Tuesday we had our 18 holes of Foot Golf which was a nice gentle walk with some kicking of footballs on the way round! 

#FitnessFriday on a Monday! #FitBitchesMOVEment

Friday was a bit of a mad night as I was so late home from school thanks to the Lindal road works. It meant that I didn't have time to publish my fitness post and I have only just got around to it today. This makes for a double dose of me in my parkrun apricot! This was the one from a week ago Saturday when I had lost another 1.5 pounds and really starting to look slimmer:

Even more than being slimmer I shaved another 10 second off my parkrun time with an average pace of under 7 minutes/km:

I then went into town to Pete Bland's sports shop and bought some much needed new road shoes:

On Sunday I went out and tested them by trying out a new route up Hospital Hill and then back through Natland:

#FitnessFriday Season's Best

I am really starting to get folks comment on the changes in my body shape with 11 1/2 pounds off:

It will be harder to keep it up now I've done the easy bit. Keeping up the running - now at 108 km - will help but I will need to be more careful about what I eat. I have been careful about wine now that it is back on the allowed list but will need to be organised about my diet. However the running is going from strength to strength.

On Saturday we were on the alternate hillier, loopy Fell Foot parkrun course. I lined up at the new approximate time sign I thought I would achieve:

My official finish time was just under 35 minutes although Strava was later as I forgot to stop it!

#FitnessFriday A good start to 2017

The end of my first full week of getting fit in 2017 and how did I do? Well here is the one week on post parkrun picture next to last week's:

I had to tighten up the waist band on the running belt as I had lost 3 1/2 pounds! So that is a great start to giving up booze and exercising more. My daughter is now running with me and on this Saturday completed her unicorn medal event. I also received my first bling of the year:

Having her wanting to come out with my when I do my 2k block on a weeknight is a great motivator. She was so proud of herself when she ran the whole way without any walk breaks at all (and had energy left to sprint off and leave me at the end!):

Fitness Friday: Brathay Half Marathon training week 6 #ThisGirlCan

I kicked off this week's training with a pace session at Fell Foot Parkrun (blog post here). The new course provides some great hill work for fitness:

Next time I aim to get up cafe hill twice at a run and build from there! I definitely need to reduce the time gap between my son and I as he was 10 minutes faster than me...

As I am trying to do some form of exercise every day this month I went swimming with my son on Sunday. Of the hour in the pool I am not sure how much was actually swimming apart from 4 lengths at the beginning! We did do diving, floating and other aquatic bits of fun though.

Monday was the only day that I definitely had time for the long run as this takes me over an hour. Typically the weather was cold and very, very wet but I planned a longer route than last week and set off. On the fly I adjusted it which made it longer but also reduced the climbs. As a sign of improved fitness I ran the whole length of Valley Drive for a new PR! There was an enforced walk as the verge was a bog to get to the summit but the rest of the run was Jeffed with 5 minutes of running and 30 seconds of walking. Got me to my first 10 k of the year in the same time as my last one last year:

Fitness Friday: Brathay Half Marathon training week 5 #ThisGirlCan

This week we haven't had any medical crises so I have managed to fit more of my marathon training schedule into the week! I would like to do some form of fitness every day in February in order to keep me on track and make best use of my gym membership.

So on Monday I headed across to the leisure centre for a 30 minutes on the cross trainer to kick start my week. Its such a great feeling to get those endorphins pumping after a stressful weekend!

One of my difficulties has been getting a longer run in each week. So on Monday I plotted an 8km / 5 mile route using the Run Go app so that I had a loop of the right length.  The route combined hills and level bits for variety and I listened to an audiobook on the history of England to keep me going:

I think I was pleased with myself:

As Wednesday is my son's running club I was out for a couple of kilometres of stop/start running. Just enough to count as exercise but not a proper run!

Yesterday I decided that I needed to work on my stamina. The training programme said an easy 40 minute run but instead I aimed for a non-stop 5 km (something I hadn't managed yet this year!). Again I plotted a route on Run Go, so that I had no excuses for cutting it short, but tried to avoid hills so that I could plod on. Very pleased that I not only didn't walk at all but a) kept a steady pace b) ran my fastest 5 km of the year so far (still not back to my PB from this time last year...):

My end of run grin was even bigger:

Today I have been to the cyclone spinning class at the leisure centre for some cross training. Boy is it hard work "and up another quarter turn.."

All of the hard work this week has paid off with a decent 1.5 pound weight loss! Yay. So its onwards and downwards with the weight and upwards and faster with the running... Let's see what happens tomorrow at Parkrun..

Fitness Friday: Brathay Half Marathon training week 3 #ThisGirlCan

Well my cold did prevent me from running the new course at Fell Foot Parkrun last week but I did manage to complete my first ever fell race on the Sunday! First of all I supported my 9 year old in the under 12s race:

Then it was my turn to head out in the snow and mud:

Fitness Friday: Brathay Half Marathon training week 1 #ThisGirlCan

I have joined in with Kate's new weight loss linky to help me with my half marathon training. A combination of ill health and the school holidays meant that I had a couple of weeks of going backwards to I have decided to start again this week! Being a bit behind means that I am paying catch up on the official training plan and I have a few extra pounds to lose... Kate wants us to kick start by answering a few questions:

What are your weight loss and healthy living goals for 2016?
I want to get my weight closer to a healthy range as at the moment I am a long way from there... I know I need to eat more vegetables and fruit whilst encouraging the children to do the same! This is what I am working from:

In an ideal world losing 1 and half stone before the half marathon would get me round a lot faster!

What tools are you going to use to help you succeed?

ParkLives from Coca-Cola and Partners

Sponsored Post

Like many people I was very aware that Coca-Cola is involved in sport and sporting events through their sponsorship of global events such as the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and the Rugby World Cup. In fact I won a trip to the London Olympics by writing this post about being an outdoor sporty family.

What I wasn't aware of until I went to the seminar before Blogfest was that they started working at the community grassroots level of sport with the launch of ParkLives in 2014 in partnership with local councils and sports charities. They wanted to piggy back on the success of the London 2012 Olympics to get people active in their own communities.

In 2014 they set up events in Birmingham, Newham and Newcastle which were so successful that they set up events this year in Glasgow, Manchester and Nottingham. This video gives a taste of what has being going on:

The great thing seems to be that there is something for all ages and its all free. For example today in Birmingham the programme included:

• Nordic Walking
• A led walk
• Tai Chi
• Zumba
• Family Fun

As a runner I am pleased to see that all the parks offer a range of running classes to suit all abilities:

• walk to run
• couch to 5 k
• active running
• 5k to 10k groups

I now need to work on persuading my local council to work in partnership with Coca-Cola to get ParkLives up here in Cumbria!

Muffin Top Magic Week 7

Just as well Kate changed the name of this linky as I am posting on a Tuesday not a Monday! Its been one of those weeks that if I had been on a traditional diet I might have had a hissy fit as the scales once again weren't showing the results I want. So back to the trusty photos:

Great to see that since last week's photo (on right) things have once again tightened up. My top is reaching lower down my body. It's even more obvious on comparing the side view from 2 weeks ago:

The running is really paying off on sorting out my core! I just need to keep it up and keep listening to the Slimpod, Chillpod and Fitpod..

Muffin Top Monday: Week 6

Sponsored Post

It's hard to believe that I restarted the Thinking Slimmer programme 6 weeks ago! Since then I have been able to access their Slimpod, Chillpod and as of last week Fitpod. The first is helping me make healthier food choices, the second helping me relax sleep better, whilst the last is encouraging me to be more active. Ironically the last week I have my exercise curtailed due to parenting commitments. I missed virtually all my Fitbug targets:

That probably explains why my weight didn't go down this week. I am feeling slimmer and more toned but the scales aren't budging:

So today I got out the measuring tape to see how the 6 weeks has impacted on me:

Inches lost: neck -1, bust -1, waist -4, hips -1, thighs -0.5, right bicep -0.5.

It's the waist one that is making the biggest difference to making me look and feel slimmer. I noticed my running bra is looking loose so I need to go and buy a new one.. 

My fitness is certainly better when time permits and the weather isn't against me. I seem to be plagued by strong winds at the moment! As well as Parkrun on Saturday I went out on Sunday for a longer run. I managed a few trophies on Strava for that one:

Let's hope it all carries on going in the right direction. I went out for another 5km run tonight even though I didn't want to!

Muffin Top Monday: Week 5

How these weeks are flying by! Not every day of them is a good one but I think I am doing pretty well. Still temporarily sober (90 days of sober) and mostly eating healthily. This week has been a bit manic so the running has taken more of a back seat than I would like. I only clocked up 17 km over three runs:

My speed is increasing with my 2nd and 3rd fastest 5km times ever! I have invested a whole 69p in a running for weight loss app to try and mix up my runs. It is a combo of jog, sprint and walk which should improve my fitness too.

Muffin Top Monday: Week 4

Well this week was proof that scales are not a good way to measure getting slimmer! For whatever reason I gained a whole 0.4 pounds.. Oh my what a disaster - well it would have been at one of the Weight Watchers meetings I used to go to. Instead I am relying on the more obvious Lycra photo test:

So apart from my face and neck looking thinner I can see a reduced muffin top and a much looser running top. I am still getting comments from people I haven't seen for a whilst about how good I am looking too.

This week wasn't my best food wise with it being the school holidays and I was home around temptations all week. However I kept myself active either doing house sorting or running and ate a lot less than I would normally do when at home all day. The 90 Days of Sober even coped with a night out when I tried alcohol free wheat beer!

With a busy half term ahead and lots of pressure lets hope I can keep this up...

Muffin Top Monday: Week 3

Well things are still going well with my combination of running and Thinking Slimmer slimpods. On the whole I am making healthier eating choices and stopping when full. My energy levels have rocketed as proved by my race on Saturday. 

There are 4 other ways that I can see how things are going:

1. Scales - down another 1.5 pounds and I am now just fat not obese!
2. Tape measure - this week an inch off my hips
3. Other people - several people have commented on my weight loss this week especially from my face
4. Photographs - I have put my Saturday pre race photo next to my kick off photo and I can see the difference myself:

So let's see if a week off school with being at home with temptation turns out to be a positive test of the slimpod..

#CountryKids An active outdoor Sunday

On Sunday my daughter was invited to go on a bike ride with Gramps from Kendal to Staveley. The longest and toughest ride she has done since she got her grown up bike for Christmas. Whilst they were gone my son and I headed out for run together:

It was a freezing cold day but the sky was pretty blue. My son set a good pace but he needed some well earned walking breaks as we went round. There was even time for a family selfie whilst he got his breath back:

90 Days of Sober

Now in the past I have signed up for Dry January and Sober in October in order to do myself some good whilst raising money for charity. For next year I am upping the stakes and inviting folks to join me in raising money for the Alzheimer's Society by giving up alcohol for 90 - yes ninety - days from January 2nd to March 31st.

If you want to join me sign up to the team page on JustGiving at 90 Days of Sober Crew or if you just want to sponsor me then that is fine too:

Let's hope I can get enough support to ditch the booze and do my little bit to help a worthwhile cause whilst getting healthy myself!