Monday, 13th August

Well I got off to a really good start in July and enjoyed all the different classes I attended, especially the cardio tennis which was really good fun as well as being a great workout! And then comes the 2 week holiday which I was looking forward to but with a bit of trepidation as I knew we would be travelling a lot and also staying with friends and family and going to several events where the diet was definitely going to be a challenge. Going in, I knew that exercise would be difficult but my goal was to enjoy my holiday without going too overboard on the food side. Happily I arrived to New York City where my health conscious sister and her partner decided that we would be dining on vegan Japanese for my first night back and as much as I was a bit unsure of how that would be - it was delicious and besides the bottle of Japanese beer - all was on track and it was a good start. However, a couple of days later, I'm on a plane again with my two sons and we are stuck in an airport for lunch but we managed to find a seared salmon wrap which didn't look that appetising but tasted great. Anyway, not to bore anyone with the details, mostly I just ate small portions of the things I knew weren't great and volunteered to cook while at my parents just to have some control of what we were eating. Let's be honest, there was some wine involved as I saw both my sisters while I was there, but after all it was a holiday and besides the horrible jet lag I am now suffering from, I am ready to jump back on the wagon. I don't feel like I've put on weight but sure that combat class tonight is going to hurt! Onwards and upwards!!

Thursday, 19th July

After nearly two weeks I can say that I am into a routine and have adapted to Corey's clean eating program which does not include ANY processed food including flour, pasta, sauces and no sugar, dairy or alcohol. I've been up every day preparing my lunches to take to work and organizing what will be for dinner later that day which has gone amazingly well. The only slip up the first week was a restaurant meal where there was a bit of polenta with cheese and mushrooms and two glasses of Prosecco that put a dent in my diet but I was back to the program the following day.
 
Turns out that drinking alcohol seems to be pretty much the center of most of my social interactions which I hadn't been aware of before. Not drinking while your friends and your partner continue as before has been very difficult. What's more, because I am not drinking, I don't really want to be around it which means limited socializing lately. On the upside, I feel great - I go to bed at a normal time during the work week and without the haze of alchohol, I am just better prepared to deal with whatever the day brings. The classes I have been attending at Dubai Sports World have been great and I have tried most of them! However, nearly died at an outdoor bootcamp session last Monday and would gladly forfeit a limb to never have that experience again!!
 
I can't say for sure what the results have been in numbers as I haven't had the official weigh in yet due to timings. However, I don't need a scale to tell me that my clothes are looser, my muscles are starting to tighten up and I generally feel much healthier.
 
The wrench in the plan is my 2 week holiday to the States coming up on July 27th. It's only 2 weeks and I am hoping that I can stay on track at least with the eating plan. If I can do that and work in a bit of exercise at least then I can get stuck in again when I am back. Fingers crossed!!

Sunday, 8th July

I had the fitness assessment last evening and as expected things are not looking so good and that's not just in the mirror. As I am no running snake, the 1 mile run was like 10 minutes of torture that I was later informed should be alot more like 7 minutes so not a very encouraging start. However, after the hard work and stress of the weight/BMI etc measurements, I sat down with Corey and had a very frank talk about just what needs to be done and how to do it. He answered all my questions about the nutrition program as I have been on so many different ones, that I can no longer keep the rules separate from one another. As I have been following Dukan, it was great news to find out that on this plan there can be a potato or two which is a huge relief if you haven't eaten carbs for 3 weeks!
 
Anyway, I feel inspired and am going to give it my best shot for the 3 weeks I have before my 2 week holiday and be motivated enough to come back and get going again.

LOCAL NEWS

News is proudly sponsored by: