Things to do before I’m 40

I feel like I’m mainly using this blog as a way of trying to motivate myself to train. Most of my posts these days are about me feeling like I’m not making the most of Freeletics, not training enough, not seeing results etc etc

And here I am again.

Here in the UK the clocks have gone forward, the nights will be getting lighter and the weather warmer. Out go the carbs and the red wine, in comes salads and gin and tonics.

And today, Sunday, I’m at the end of a week off, ready to go back to work and I noticed that my Freeletics coach has just renewed for another year.

So in the spirit of using this blog as some kind of accountability, here’s where I’m at:

1. Switching up the diet again and focusing on fewer carbs, less calorific booze and more vegetables
2. I’ve been consisent with my running so I’m going to keep up with that and continue trying to run further, faster. I’m also going to research getting a new training programme for running as that tends to keep me on track
3. I’ve been consistently doing Freeletics twice a week. Needs to be three times minimum. Fridays have slipped so I’m bringing them back
4. Need to build strength again so I’ve started this Men’s Health Pushup Programme which is tougher than it looks.
5. Lots of water
6. Less sugar
7. Good sleep

I’m 40 in July. My goal is to have lost the lockdown belly and feel healthy and full of energy by then.

Let’s go.

This is probably going to be my last entry of 2018.

I’ve been really slack on Freeletics these past few weeks. This time I really don’t have any excuses. I’ve been lazy or hungover for most of December and also unwilling to get cold, blah blah… Been feeling guilty. I did do one Coach work out last week that was kind of okay, but I think I’ve been kind of waiting for the end of the year to restart everything.

And so yesterday I redid the assessment to end the current coach week I was stuck in. And low and behold, it presented Hell Week as my next Coach week.

The thing is, it’s Boxing Day today and I’m on holiday until the 3 January when I fly to New York for a 10 days for work (which will mean working into the evening/social events etc). All of which isn’t very inclusive to doing Hell Week properly. I won’t have a pullup bar etc. So I’ve decided to do some low intensity workouts over the next week to get myself back into it before tackling Hell Week on my return from NYC. Today I did Rhea, which was quick and easy.

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And as the year draws to a close, I’m reflecting on how well I’ve been at sticking to my habits/goals.

Here are my goals for the year, and how I did:

Take four weeks’ holiday – FAIL (although I did take three, which is better than usual)
Visit a continent I’ve never been to before – FAIL
Pay off my credit card debt – FAIL
Read 26 books – I read five 😦
Have four days per week when I don’t drink – I managed at least two days every week
Do Freeletics at least three times per week – on average I managed 2 times per week
Inbox zero every week day – there were 21 working days when I didn’t do this, which I think it pretty good!
Swim once per week – I did this 39 times
Eat 5 fruit and veg per day – 188 times over the year
Drink 3 litres of water – usually managed this

There were also a few other work-related ones which won’t mean anything to you.

So, a mixed bag.

Over the next couple of days I’m going to set my goals for the coming year and I’ll let you know what they are.

For any productivity nerds out there, I’ve just switched from the Momentum app to ‘Done’, which is a lot more pleasing and flexible. Looking forward to using it in 2019 to track my habits.

A bad week

I had such good intentions. But this week didn’t go so well. This is mainly due to having a friend/colleague visit from another country. I’ve been on tour-guide duty, making sure she met the right people, saw the sites and ate at the right places.

It started well. I did a good swim on Sunday and I did fit in a Freeletics workout on Wednesday morning. But the rest of the week has been pretty lazy. And I’ve been eating out and drinking alcohol.

I’m trying to save money at the moment, so both of those things aren’t supposed to be on the agenda.

But I guess I’m going to cut myself some slack. It was important to be there for my guest. And I’ve had a really nice week.

Today is Friday, and I’m working from home. I’m going to get a good few hours work under my belt and then do a workout later on. And I have to get up super early on Saturday to go to London for work so it’s no drinking and an early night tonight. Lots of water.

You can always reset and start again. And next week is all fresh and new.

7 Little Changes You Can Make Very Easily

Swap the latte for black Americano

Some lattes have as many as 300 calories, more if you’re adding sugar. Even if you go skinny, it still all adds up. Get your coffee hit with an elegant, cool black Americano. Virtually no calories and still delicious.

Ditch the fruit juice

For ages I’ve been drinking loads of fruit juice, primarily as a way of ticking off one or two of my five-a-day. But then I went to the dentist and he told me to cut down immediately. Fruit juice contains loads of sugar and many of the nutrients and vitamins have been squeezed out. Much better to eat proper fruit and veg throughout the day.

Get eight hours sleep minimum

It just makes you feel better. More energy, better mood, clearer mind. That’s it really.

Download coach.me

I use coach.me to try and build new habits. You can join pre-existing programmes or start your own, and you can pay for an actual coach (I don’t do this). For each habit you want to build, you can select the number of days you want to do that task each week and tick off when you do them. It has a really simple interface and I’ve changed a lot of my bad habits using it (including stopping smoking).

Cut out alcohol

I enjoy drinking and socialising too much to quit alcohol altogether, but I’ve been making a conscious effort in the past year to really cut down, and now try to only drink at the weekend. I’m also trying to stop drinking beer and move onto spirits and wine. The hardest thing for me is the impulse to reach for alcohol when I’ve had a hard day. Trying to replace that impulse with exercise.

Don’t snack

Alongside drinking, snacking is the main reason I put on weight. I’m now trying not to snack at all. I was never allowed to as a child, so it’s a bad habit that’s developed in recent years. If I do need to snack, I try and eat almonds, dried and fresh fruit and protein. 

Drink as much water as you possibly can

Joe Wicks recommends 3-4 litres a day, which I think is soooo much. I aim for 1.5-2 litres. And then I’m in the toilet a lot! When I exercise I drink more. It keeps you healthy and also reduces the craving for snacks.

I completed Freeletics Hell Week and this is what happened…

That was tough. I’d had a month away from Freeletics and when I picked up where I left off, I realised I had one week left of the initial 15-week programme. So I didn’t feel like I was entering Hell Week at peak form. My diet hadn’t been great, I’d been drinking quite a bit and I hadn’t exercised for ages.

But I made a promise to myself to complete the week in the correct time (i.e. not leaving any gaps between days) and I bloody well did it!

Here are my observations on the rest of Hell Week:

• I read somewhere that your mind underestimates what your body can do. This is totally true. So many times throughout the week my mind was telling me that I couldn’t do any more, but if I just pushed my body one step further, pressed go on the next set, forced myself to do just 10 more burpees, it was amazing how much I could achieve. I really didn’t think I’d be able to do all the exercises back-to-back, but now it’s done it doesn’t feel so daunting. And now I look at next week and think ‘what a breeze’
• Sleep really helps. You can do so much more when you’ve had a good night’s sleep
• I don’t think I’ve ever drunk as much water as I have this week, and yet I seemed to always be thirsty. Maybe like 3 or 4 litres a day.
• My appetite was also huge. I tried to make sure I ate well this week.
• There were a lot of pull-ups in my workouts this week. I still can’t do the correct form, so replaced them all with Jumping Pull-ups. I’m getting stronger though
• It’s a clever trick of Freeletics to give you Hell Week at the end of Week 15. I saw my body transform more quickly that it has been, and I reckon if I’d stuck to good nutrition and done the programme in 15 weeks rather than 25 I think I’d have been submitting my transformation photos to Freeletics. But I still feel like I’ve got some more work to do.
• I like Krios. It’s a nice workout
• I hate 3x Metis Strength. Hate it.
• I really like working out in the open air rather than inside. Especially in summer.

I also downloaded the Freeletics Nutrition app this week and signed up for the Coach. But then I have to say that on looking at the recipes, I got an immediate refund. I just didn’t like the look of the programme, and have seen better and more tasty lean recipes elsewhere. Food is just too important to me. So I’m going to continue eating lean and healthy, but I don’t really want to have that level of control over what I eat. It’s enough to have a work-out routine. Sorry Freeletics. Not for me.

So there we go. 15 weeks down and where am I?

• I am much stronger, fitter and in much better shape than when I started
• My stamina and endurance has increased hugely
• Freeletics has had a positive effect on my mental health, reducing anxiety and giving me a cheap, enjoyable way of escaping work
• I have more self-esteem and more pride
• I have a better diet, drink less and look after my health in ways I never used to before.

Here’s to the next 15 weeks! Who knows where I’ll be then!