& that is exactly why I will never give up trying to lose weight.
I am not worried about how I look, it’s the fact that I feel sluggish, that I get puffed out much quicker than used to, that I have lost a lot of strength and confidence in my legs since my accident that bothers & motivates me.
We only have one body and I have finally realised if I want the best performance from it its time I started treating it a little better
I have been talking about this on Instagram for weeks but have yet to put my words into practice
While my eating has definitely been better there is still room for improvement, I am finding myself caught off guard where dinners haven’t been planned and there is nothing in the house.
Doing all the gym classes on offer aren’t going to help me if I am still eating rubbish.
So this week I am going to plan my meals in advance to ensure I stay within my allowances and to ensure I am eating to fuel my body, I have a 26.2 mile walk to do Saturday night, so my nutrition needs to be spot on.
This is so true, no matter how much I may not want to workout, I always feel so much better once I have
I so wanted to be writing a happier race recap of this years London Winter Run & I will, but before I start I wanted to share my experience of the start line
As we headed to the start line I went to do my usual pre race selfie & Facebook check in, when something caught my eye, my news feed was full of the words RIP Terry, the sad news broken that Terry Wogan had passed away, another life taken by cancer, we are only one month into 2016 and we have already lost so many British icons, David Bowie, Alan Rickman & now Terry Wogan to this awful disease
While everyone was excited to run, the start line definitely had a more sombre feel, there was even more of a poignance as to why over 15,000 runners were standing in the rain waiting to run 6 miles on a dreary Sunday morning & when the going got tough during the race it certainly made you think, yes this run is tough, but fighting cancers tougher & my struggle is nothing compared to what many others are going through
Those of you that have been following my journey for a while will remember me being so excited about polar bear hugs & snowflake bling at last years London Winter Run and instead I got a free ride to the first aid tent, lots of sugary tea, a plaster cast for my leg and my London Marathon dreams shattered (click here to read more)
I must admit as excited as I have been for the last 18 months about this run it has definitely been hanging over me like a dark cloud, I know its stupid, this race had nothing to do with last years accident, but pschologically it has been a barrier I had to pass through, maybe its because the 1st February marks a year since the accident but I have felt for months that if I can get through this race then I will be ok
In 2015 the race route ran along the Thames, unfortunately this years race was more inland (possibly due to road works down the embankment) & a little boring, I love running through London but today’s race was a lot of side streets and doubling back on ourselves, the only sights I spotted were Trafalgar Square at the start, St Pauls Cathederal & the Houses of Parliment at the finish line
Poor route aside the support along the route was great, snowmen, polar bears and penguins cheering us on, snow falling (thankfully only the fake stuff) & a fab bling waiting for us at the finish line
I ran the race with my friend Jemma, we are both running the London Marathon this year and our training runs have been around 12 minute miles, so baring in mind today was a fun run we were hoping for a finish time of around 1hr 15, so you can imagine our faces when we crossed the finish line in 1hr 8mins, its given us both a much needed confidence boost, I have a few niggles in my leg (I actually typed niggles in my head & I am wondering if that is nearer the truth & that the niggles are in my head) but I am hoping some stretching and a few days rest they will pass as the marathon training is starting to get serious over the next few weeks
If the London Winter Run sounds like a race you would like to take part in, why not click on the link below to register your interest in next years event.
Every where you look at the moment someone is talking about how sugar is bad for us
So you can imagine my distress when me the worlds biggest chocoholic started studying nutrition and even my text books were pointing the finger at my sweet best friend
The article above talks about Jamie Olivers #SugarRush campaign & as with all the other articles I have read makes a good argument as to why even at my 9st 7 & running half marathons slimmest self I was still able to pinch a lot more than an inch around my waistline
A few weeks ago my Sky+ was tuned to record Jaime on C4, & I wondered if the cute cockney could convince me to tackle my sugar addiction & dramatically reduce my often 2 bar a day chocolate habit
Unfortunately for me, the program didn’t quite hit the mark, there was no new news, I already knew about the risks of diabetes and the effect sugar can have on your teeth (can you believe at 42yrs old I have never even had a filing) & while I do not proclaim to be an expert in the ‘sugar’ field, I am an expert in my own weight over the years, my body & my chocolate addiction
So here are my insights into the ‘does sugar make us fat’ debate
Ultimately I do not think any food is bad for you, nor do I think any food or food group for should be banned from our diets, but I have always believed that moderation is the key for certain foods, I now accept that my beloved chocolate falls into this bracket, I found out many years ago that I have a wheat intollerance & for around a year I was made to eat wheat and gluten free (this was years before wheat & gluten free substitutes where readily available in the shops) thankfully I do not really like bread which is the biggest hurdle for many when being told to go wheat &/or gluten free but I do love pasta, I think my problem arose because I was often eating pasta for lunch and dinner so could end up eating pasta at least 8x a week now I limit it to once a week and touch wood I do not have the same issues I had in the past.
If I could just adopt the same approach to sugar, as I did to pasta, then maybe my pinch around my waist will reduce.
I am not prepared to give up chocolate, I personally do not believe it is necessary nor realistic but I do understand it would be better for me if I could reduce my sugar consumption, and something that has surprised me over the past few months is the hidden sugars in foods, even some foods that are considered healthy come very close to being labelled High Sugar, so this is an area I know definitely focus on to try and make savings in my daily sugar intake
I have slowly been trying to reduce my sugar intake for the last 2 months and have managed to reduce my body fat by 2% not a lot I know but its the first time I have seen my body fat go below 40% in around 10yrs, so I am going to continue trying to make small changes and continue to monitor my body fat %, I would love to see it below 37% before Christmas which would require a reduction of around 1% a month
If you missed Jamie’s SugarRush you can catch it HERE
Project Healthy Fit Me 