Hello again chums :)
My 2012 New Years resolutions went down so well last year i decided to make a whole list of them for 2013. One of my resolutions for 2013 was to return to the world of blogging, so here I am. For those of you who don't know, I'm a blogging novice and blogged for 30 days last year whilst I carried out my 30 day vegan challenge. This year I hope to return to your screens more permanently & with lots more yummy recipes and fitness talk.
So where to start? By the time I finished my challenge in May last year I had learnt more about nutrition than I had ever planned and felt ready to continue with my healthy lifestyle - and I did to a certain extent, I ate a pretty balanced diet, I continued running and completed my half marathon in September however I still allowed myself regular indulgences and drank a lot of booze. My goal last year was to complete my half marathon without injury and I did... but my time was nothing to be super proud about. (2 hours 42).
By the time the weather took a turn for the worst, I was over eating and drinking heavily on the weekends and opting for nice warm lie ins rather than cold morning jogs in the dark! I felt I'd lost my way and decided 2013 would be a fresh start, and I'm glad to report, it has been! My first step was to sign up to Cancer Researches Dryathalon and I have been booze free 3 weeks now (I think the last time I went this long without alcohol must have been when I was underage and even then I'm skeptical...)
I'm feeling more inspired and motivated than ever to get healthy and into the best shape of my life. I've signed up for another half marathon at the end of April and intend to beat my previous time...even though I haven't started training yet ;). My focus has completely changed from last year and I'm going to be doing a bigger spread of exercises, dropping fat and building muscle to improve my running.
I'm sure most of you know that when it comes to weight loss 80% comes from diet and 20% from exercise so I have totally retuned my diet this year. I'm avoiding refined carbs such as pasta, rice and potatoes and getting my carbs from more natural sources like fruit & veg and focusing on eating a high protein diet. I'm trying to practice clean eating, and that means no processed foods.
I can't even begin to tell you the changes I have already felt! I only wish that I'd taken a before picture on the 1st of January because already my stomach has shrunk by a significant amount - and thats without any exercise.
Now I specifically tried to avoid calling this a low carb diet because I don't want you guys to start imagining me on Atkins or anything, believe me my diet is balanced and varied. It's clean & healthy :)
I will be totally honest and say that the first week was tough for me, I have NEVER ever cut out pasta and bread from my diet before so it took some getting used to. That's not to say I wasn't enjoying the food as much but for about 2 days I kept getting a little dizzy and had to call on a close friend of mine who I recall giving up carbs quite regularly. She told me its normal and after a bit of research I discovered that the light headed ness comes from your body making the switch from taking its energy from carbs, to your already stored fat. Makes sense doesn't it?
I hope this blog is useful to some of you and I hope you will keep track of my progress, I fully intend on making 2013 my healthiest year yet and hopefully I will motivate and inspire some of you to live a healthier life.
So stay tuned for some soon to come recipes, updates and of course exercises!
Much love,
Minnie
Xxx
P.s I just want to clarify that although I mentioned weight loss, this is not my goal! If the scales tell me I've gained a stone, so be it. I've taken my measurements and I'll be going by how I feel and look by taking photos of my progress. XxX
