Days 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 - Still on track!

All is still going to plan and I have managed to keep up with the routine, I have just struggled to find time to update my blog over the past few days!

I am also getting back into my healthy eating habits and really enjoying cooking with lots of fresh, organic and healthy vegetables :-)

Tomorrow I am scheduled to do the Pure Cardio workout, the toughest of them all and I am looking forward to it!

Day 21 - Early morning "Pure Cardio"!

I got up early again this morning and completed today's workout: Pure Cardio. This is probably the toughest workout for me with the Plyometric one coming in at a close second. However this morning I felt great and really did push myself to my limits. I am starting to really get used to the movements which I think is helping me with my form. I still have to stop and rest and the 'drills' are still very challenging; my arm strength, although better than when I started, its still my weakest area so I do find myself having to adapt the push-up type drill exercises...but I am getting better. 

The biggest area of focus for me now is my food intake and nutrition. I have started to use MyFitnessPal.com again to track what I am eating and drinking and I have started to cook myself some 'clean and lean' meals using mostly vegetables (from my Riverford Organic Food veg box that I get delivered each week). I am getting back into the nutritional routine that I was doing earlier in the year, when I lost quite a bit of weight. I hope to combine the benefits I got earlier in the year from healthy eating with my workout challenge so that when I have finished this challenge in December I will be in the best shape of my life! 

I have also sorted out my workout schedule so that I can catch up on the now two additional rest days that I have taken this week. So I am still scheduled to finish this superb challenge on the 18th December (41 days to go)!

Day 12 - Cardio Power & Resistance...and a few principles!

What a great workout this morning. Day 12, which was a full-on Cardio Power & Resistance session. It was tough getting up again today but once I did, I felt great. I pushed myself further this morning and I feel I am now starting to see signs of better strength, flexibility and I can definitely last longer before having to break. 

I still sometimes find it hard to get my co-ordination right on the movements but I am also getting better at this. I feel I am at least able to carry out the whole workout now with only the occasional few seconds break...its all stepping stones in the right direction!

Today I have also started taking a whey protein drink after my workout to aid in recovery and maintenance of lean muscle. Although after taking this I couldn't face any breakfast as the protein drink is really quite filling.

In addition to this, today I have decided I am going to go back to recording all of my food intake in MyFitnessPal. I did this a few months back and it really helped me to track how many calories I was consuming and also enabled me to lose weight - for me its all about getting into a routine and taking control of my diet.  I am determined to get the most out of this challenge and it feels like now is the right time to make this additional step on the nutrition front. 

To help me focus fully as the weeks progress I have also come up with a handful of principles that I intend to follow and that will hopefully ensure that I do really get the best out of the next couple of months. My core principles are as follows:

1. I am not going to drink any alcohol (except on special occasions, e.g. I have my Birthday in November so I will allow myself a glass of wine or two then!)

2. I am going to aim to do most of my workouts in the morning (early, before the 'real' day begins). However, I appreciate that on some odd days here and there (e.g. when I have got to take my mum to the airport in a couple of weeks time at 4am - that I may have to do the workout in the evening!)

3. I am going to track all of my food intake and calories consumed throughout the remainder of my challenge in MyFitnessPal - aiming to not exceed 1200 calories a day

4. I am going to aim to eat smaller portions in all of my meals and try to eat more often (5/6 times a day)

5. I am going to eat healthy, nutritious food that will fuel my body properly for the workouts that I am doing

6. I am going to aim to drink lots more water (at least 10 cups a day)

7. I am going to spend 5/10 minutes every night before I go to sleep relaxing and/or meditating

That's it for now - I may add to these as the weeks progress!