Heres what I have achieved this month while doing my May Training Plan -

• Increased my longest distance run from 9 miles to 11 miles
• Increased my fastest mile time from 9.03 to 8.30
• Lost 3lbs
• Lost an inch from my waist and maintained measurements on my bust and hips
• Increased my top speeds on the treadmill from 7.2 to 7.5
• Increased my 'hard' intervals from 1.00 to 1.30

I've really enjoyed this months training and feel that I've made some good improvements, especially in my running. Having a Sunday as my rest day has certainly worked out well and I love doing my mixed cardio and strength workouts on a Friday morning. I haven't done loads of yoga, but I have done it when I feel my body has needed it and this has worked out better for me.

As I'm on holiday for a week this month I'm not too concerned about trying to increase my distance on my runs too much. I may try and go for a 12 miler but I'm going to see how my knee holds up over the next few days. To make sure that I don't burn out my legs I'll be focusing on upper body and abs strength training in my gym session but I will be looking at appropriate exercises that will strengthen my legs and knees as well.

So heres my plans for June:

Monday

Gym Cardio Workout 45 – 60 minutes (depending on morning / evening workout) - treadmill, cross trainer, step machine, bike. High intensity intervals - 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds medium, 30 hard, 30 seconds medium, repeat. I'll be using the same resistance / speed levels as last month for the easy and medium intervals but increasing for the hard interval. Continue to increase top speed on treadmill

abs sets - full sit ups 20 reps, crunches 20 reps, side reaches 20 reps, bicycle kicks 20 reps, toe touches 20 reps, plank, (as long as I can hold) x 2 / 3 sets

Tuesday

Strength Training DVD - Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred - 2 of the levels back to back to make a 40 minute workout

Wednesday

Mid distance run (around 5/6 miles) - alternating between a run at my target pace / speed work and a run with lots of hills

abs sets - full sit ups 20 reps, crunches 20 reps, side reaches 20 reps, bicycle kicks 20 reps, toe touches 20 reps, plank, (as long as I can hold) x 2 / 3 sets

Thursday

Strength Training DVD - Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred - 2 of the levels back to back to make a 40 minute workout

Friday

Gym workout - 15 mins cross trainer intervals, 15 mins step machine intervals

30 mins strength: 

Upper body and Abs Supersets (will use weights that really challenge me in the last 4 - 5 reps of an exercise)  -

 

x 3 sets:

bicep curl with a squat - 10 - 12 reps

tricep dips - 15 reps (BW)

sit ups on stablility ball - 20 reps

 

x 3 sets:

Tricep kickbacks - 10 - 12 reps

Chest press on stablility ball - 10 - 12 reps

Leg raises - 15 reps

 

x 3 sets

Shoulder press on stablility ball - 10 - 12 reps

Three point dumbbell row - 10 - 12 reps

Wood chop and reverse wood chop with medicine ball - 10  reps on each side

 

Saturday

 

Long distance run - this month sticking at my 11 miles, perhaps going up to 12 depending upon how I feel.

 

Sunday

 

Rest Day!

 

Anytime 

 

Yoga  

 

Depending on what things I have on with work etc, I might swap round my Monday and Wednesday sessions as well as my rest days when needed.

 

Holiday week

 

I've been thinking about what I may do while I'm on my holidays as I think I'll enjoy myself much more if I do a little bit of exercise while I'm out there so I'm not worrying about putting loads of weight on. I think I will try to get lots of swimming and walking in, as well as doing a few abs exercises and some exercises with body weight to keep me feeling fit!

 

Current stats - 

 

Bust - 37 1/2 inches

Waist - 28 1/2

Hips - 35 1/2

Weight - 9st 11lbs

 

So there we have it! I seem to be doing ok, and really find having a plan and workout schedule helpful, I don't like missing something I've planned so it keeps me on track! Wish me luck x 

I woke up really early this morning, just at the same time that I have been waking up in Majorca. I didn't mind as I wanted to get out for my first outdoor run in about a month!

As soon as I got up I thought I'd might as well see what the damage was and weigh myself. I have put on 6 lbs! I'm not too bothered by this as I was already 3 lbs under my 'happy' weight (10st / 140lbs) so thats only 3 lbs to lose.

I had a cup of hot water with lemon and then I set off on my 3 mile run. I wore my knee support and used my shoe inserts. I really enjoyed getting out and running in the fresh air. I could definitely tell that I was slower than usual but I managed just over 3 miles in just over 30 minutes. My knee was ok during the run but it has been quite painful during the day. I've iced it a few times and I'm hoping that it will be ok tomorrow. It seems that any hope of putting in a really good performance at the Great North Run is slipping away from me, at this rate I'll be happy to just finish the 13.1 miles! I have a new training plan in mind but even that may have to be scaled back, I think I'm going to have to just do the best I can.

After my run I made a blueberry green monster for breakfast. It included spinach, frozen blueberries, a scoop of vanilla whey, hazelnut and almond rice milk and for a little extra thickness and energy a couple of tablespoons of porridge oats. I had the smoothie in a bowl topped with goji berries and pumpkin seeds.

For lunch I started with a bowl of miso soup with some chopped spring onion (which I had a strange craving for)

Then I made myself a delicious Tuna Bean Salad inspired by a dish I had while on holiday.

Tuna Bean Salad (makes two servings)

1 small tin of tuna
1 tin of harricot beans, drained and rinsed
bunch of spring onions chopped
half a yellow pepper chopped
half a red pepper chopped
tablespoon of balsamic vinigrette

Mix all ingredients together and serve on top of some mixed salad leaves.

This was really tasty! I also had a golden delicious apple.

Mid afternoon I snacked on some lemon corridander hummus with sliced green pepper and cucumber for dipping.

Dinner was a bowl of freshly made Courgette and Watercress Soup

Followed by a bowl of greek style yoghurt with flaked and chopped whole almonds topped with some agave syrup.

I also had another apple, this time a pink lady.

I'm happy to have had a day of really healthy eats!

I have only three weeks until my next holiday when I'm heading down to Brighton to stay with my Aunt and Uncle. I'm therefore planning on having three very healthy weeks with plenty of exercise - a bit like my Summer Confidence Challenge again!

Post Holiday Detox

I think the body can naturally detox itself quite well but I feel that after last weeks eats I need a couple of weeks of healthy foods and no alcohol! To be honest I think doing a 'detox' for me is more mental than physical. I just feel better after cleaning up my eats a bit. I may have a day next week when I just eat fruit, veggies and nuts to give my body a break.

This week I'm going to be trying to keep an eye on how much fruit I'm eating. I ate a load of sugary fruits like pineapple and dates while I was away and along with the deserts and ice cream I feel a bit sugared out. I'm going to stick to just apples and berries this week, along with lots of veggies. I'll also be avoiding caffeine and alcohol for the next couple of weeks as well as keeping an eye on my portion sizes. I'm not going to be going down the protein shake route like the Summer Confidence Challenge as its just too boring for me! Hopefully this will be enough to lose the few pounds I've gained while away and reduce some of the bloating I've been experiencing because of that over eating.

I'm also going to start myself on a new training plan for the next three weeks. Theres not really much to review from my June training plan due to my knee injury and holiday so I think its just best to think onward and upwards and get an early start to July!

July Training Plan

Monday - Gym 20 minutes on crosstrainer (level 10 / 14), step machine (level 14 / 18) and bike (levels 7 / 12 / 18) doing 1 minute intervals (with 30 seconds of standing on the bike at level 18) - abs exercises - 20 x full sit ups, 20 x bicycle crunches, 20 x crunches, 20 x side reaches, 20 reverse crunches, 30 sec plank hold x 3 sets

Tuesday - DVD - Davina Fit - Top Fit section

Wednesday - Run / Gym / Yoga - I'm going to leave my Wednesday workout flexible and see how my knee fairs. If it isn't too bad I will try and do a 3 mile run, if not I'll do a gym workout like Monday but with a short treadmill run. I will also try and fit in some yoga or yogalates depending on what time I have available.

Thursday - DVD - Davina Fit - Top Fit section

Friday - Gym - 10 minutes on cross trainer (1 minute intervals) 10 minutes on step machine (1 minute intervals)

Upper body and Abs Supersets (will use weights that really challenge me in the last 4 - 5 reps of an exercise)

x 3 sets:

bicep curl with a squat - 12 - 15 reps
tricep dips - 15 reps (BW)
sit ups on stablility ball - 20 reps

x 3 sets:

Tricep kickbacks - 12 - 15 reps
Chest press on stablility ball - 12- 15 reps
Leg raises - 15 reps

x 3 sets

Shoulder press on stablility ball - 12 - 15 reps
Three point dumbbell row - 12 - 15 reps
Wood chop and reverse wood chop with medicine ball - 12 reps on each side

Saturday - Distance run (I hope!) I'm planning on gradually increasing my distance each week from this weeks 3 miles.

Sunday - Rest Day

I think this should be enough to get me back on track, and fingers crossed my knee will be improved enough to continue running. Have you ever done a detox diet before? If so what did it entail? Do you even believe in detoxing?

I'm also saying nothing about the football, what a joke! Hope you have all had a good weekend! x