Saturday 31 March 2018

Transform Her: Week 4

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have an egg-celent time (yay for egg puns). This week has been a funny one for me, obviously judging by the last post you will know that I was poorly, I got a lot worse after my last post. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t swallow and I only managed to do two exercise days. However, I am treating you all to a before and after photo because I am just beyond amazed with how this looks. This is a photo from just before Christmas 2017, I was obese but I wouldn’t admit it! The photo on the right was me this week.




Height, weight, measurements and BMI. 

GUYS I’VE GROWN. I’m being serious, I got measured today and I have grown 0.3 inches... maybe I’m just standing taller because of my new found confidence or maybe the machine just messed up and I’m actually still the same height as I have been since I was 14. I have managed to lose 2 pounds in the week, I think that was purely because I wasn’t eating though if I’m honest and I DO NOT recommend not eating as a way of losing weight! Last time I got myself weighed I had lost 2kg of my body fat mass, today I have gained back 1kg. I want to explain what happens when you’re ill as best as I can. Because I was poorly my body panicked and tried to store as much fat as possible, this means that is sneakily dipped into my protein storage for fuel which resulted in muscle loss and fat gain. It sucks basically, getting ill sucks. My BMI has gone down though and so have my measurements! My new BMI is 29.7! My new measurements are:

 Chest:                        Before 38        Now  37

Waist:                         Before 32        Now  32
Belly Button:             Before 36.5    Now  36
Hips:                           Before 39         Now  38
Thighs:                       Before 23         Now  21
Calf:                            Before 14.5       Now  14.5
Arms:                         Before 12          Now  12


What I’m eating. 
I am so thankful I can eat again, I’ve missed food so much over the last week. This week we have introduced feta cheese. I LOVE cheese. Most of my cheat meals so contain cheese and a lot of it so this new introduction makes me so happy. I’m focusing on upping my protein again so I will be eating turkey, chicken, meat, greens and eggs... everything stripped down to being as natural as possible and if some of those big supermarkets didn’t inject their meat with water it would be SO much easier, just saying. 

How I feel. 
I’m going to be completely honest, when I saw the print out of my weight and body mass fat I was actually upset with myself. Although I feel good in myself and I feel a lot healthier, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d failed a little bit this week. That’s until it all got explained to me and in fact, it’s not actually 100% my fault. It was my damn tonsils fault! I have so much more energy now that I’m better and I am ready for this week, I’m going to be back to smashing it! 

Goals set. 
I fell flat on my face with last weeks goal. I just couldn’t physically eat or drink that much at all so my protein was not at the level it should have been and my results have shown that. This weeks goal is to not give into temptation with the amount of chocolate which will be around my house for the next week. My children are having an Easter Egg Hunt in the garden and all of the eggs are currently sat in our bedroom and have been for a couple of days now.... I haven’t eaten any which is actually an accomplishment in itself, is it not? Will power is key!!! 

I am ready to get back into this journey, I’ve upped my weights, I’ve upped how many workouts and what sort of workouts I do. I am going to smash this week! I hope you’re still loving this series, if you’re not then that’s just tough. I will cyber speak to you all next week! 

Thank you for reading! 
Bryony x

Sunday 25 March 2018

Transform Her: Week 3

Hi everyone! I’ve survived another week, but only just. I had to go to the out of hours last night and have been told that I actually have tonsillitis, so as you can guess I’m in quite a bit of pain. However, I have still plowed through this week like the little champ I am and I have also done my measurements for this week too, however I am still only doing my weight every 2 weeks so you will have to wait until next week for my next weight update!

Height, weight, measurements and BMI.
Height is the same as ever and as I’ve mentioned above, I’m not weighing myself until next week so you’ll have to read next weeks blog to see how that is going. HOWEVER, I am treating you all to my measurements update:

Chest:            Before 40.5           Then 41              Now  38
Waist:            Before 33.5           Then 32.5          Now  32
Belly Button: Before 40.5         Then 37.5         Now  36.5
Hips:              Before 42              Then 40.5          Now  39
Thighs:          Before 24              Then 24.5          Now  23
Calf:              Before 15.5            Then 15             Now  14.5
Arms:            Before 13               Then 12.5           Now  12


Remember that the last 2 lots of measurements are only 7 days apart... 7 DAYS.

What I’m eating.
This week we introduced natural yoghurt which makes the berries extra scrummy! I am having to eat only soft things at the moment due to my tonsils being the size of a golf ball (that’s probably a slight exaggeration but I am in a lot of pain) for my lunch I have been reaching for salads with different cold meats, mainly turkey. I have also realised this week that tomatoes do not agree with me, I had quite a bad attack of acid reflux for maybe 5 days in a row and it suddenly dawned on me that I used to always have trouble with tomatoes giving me little ulcers in my mouth so maybe they’re just too acidic for me in general. Staying away from tomatoes from now on! With my soft food diet, I have also been advised to get some protein shakes and basically drink my meals, now that doesn’t sound appetising to some people, but it’s just the same as drinking smoothies all day, yum!!!

How I feel.
If I leave aside the fact that I obviously feel like death warmed up, I’m actually starting to get my confidence back. I can see myself getting smaller and I can feel myself getting healthier. I have to walk up 4 flights of stairs at work every day- multiple times a day. When I first started I couldn’t get up those stairs without getting out of breath by the second flight. Now I can walk up and down those stairs however many times a day and I do not even feel it! I know how much I am progressing because I have now upped my weights during my workouts! Hell yes! Your girl is getting fit.

Goals set.
If you follow me on Instagram you will see that I did actually go for a walk with my children this week, we met some horses, then it started literally hailing on us so we had to get home and fast. I also took them to the park on Thursday after picking my son up from Nursery. I was planning to do a lot more but I just haven’t got the energy with being ill. However, half term is coming up and I have so many plans! My goal this week is to try to keep my protein intake up while I’m poorly and still try to do my workouts even if I don’t feel like it. That doesn’t seem like a big goal but you should all know how gross you feel when you are ill and how little you want to do and eat.

I really hope you are loving this series of blog posts! Let me know if you are! If you don’t already then go follow me on instragram.com/thebbblog
If you want to follow Poynton Fitness who run this programme (which you should) here are their social media’s:

Instagram: instagram.com/poynton_fitness
Twitter: twitter.com/SLIMM1NGSECRETS
Facebook: facebook.com/PoyntonFitness/
Website: https://www.poyntonfitness.co.uk/

Thank you for reading!
Bryony x

Sunday 18 March 2018

Transform Her: Week 2

What is with the snow in the middle of March? Like, seriously. It’s messing with my emotions. Although, it could lead to me having a day off from work tomorrow so I won’t whinge too much. Anyway, moving on to why you all clicked on that little link, week 2 of the Transform Her programme. Oh my god, I have never felt so good! Mentally, physically... just all round I feel amazing. You are what you eat and I am healthy! *sassy finger click*

Height, weight, measurements and BMI. 
I’m still a short arse, that will never change. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed with my actual weight loss, I’m now 12st5 and my BMI is 30.4. However, what I am happy with are my measurements which are below:

Chest:            Before 40.5   After 41  
Waist:            Before 33.5   After 32.5
Belly Button: Before 40.5  After 37.5
Hips:              Before 42     After 40.5
Thighs:          Before 24     After 24.5
Calf:              Before 15.5  After 15
Arms:            Before 13     After 12.5

What I’m eating. 
On Wednesday, which was exactly 2 weeks of when I started the Transform Her programme, I started to eat berries!!! You have no idea how much I have been wanting fruit over the last couple of weeks -and that’s not like me at all, I would choose chocolate and cake over fruit any day before I started this journey... it has changed my mind set. I would be lying if I said I NEVER craved chocolate or cake but I definitely know and understand how to repress those cravings. Also for after my workouts I have found these scrummy little protein bites by Graze, you can get them in 3 different flavours that I’ve seen but I always seem to reach for the cocoa vanilla because they are DELICIOUS. However, since I found them and fell in love with them, it seems everyone else has too because I cannot for the life of me find a shop that has them in stock! There’s just empty boxes! Other than that I am eating clean and healthy, keeping my protein high and my carbs low. 

How I feel. 
So freaking good. I am currently a little bit poorly with my ears, obviously this has nothing to do with  the programme but I want you all to feel sorry for me. The workouts have been kicked up a notch so I feel like my body is burning 24/7 but that just shows I’m doing something right! I am loving my new outlook on life and I cannot believe how much a switch in diet can do so much for your mental health. I was allowed a cheat meal on Thursday so I went straight in with pizza because, you know, pizza is life but after I had eaten it I felt so sick and for the whole night I was genuinely in the worst mood and that’s even after the nausea surpassed. Headaches wise.... I seem to be getting them again after a good week without them but I think I’m going to put that down to me feeling a bit under the weather. 

Goals set. 
Well last weeks goal worked a treat, I made the conscious effort to drink more water and I did it! I was drinking about thrice as much as I did in the first week so I can firmly say that goal was accomplished. This week I going to set the goal of going for more walks with my children, that may not sound like a big goal but at the moment I am also taking an online course which I am putting all of my energy into and as much as I don’t want to admit it, I haven’t been paying as much attention to my children. That makes me sound like a horrible parent and it’s not like I never pay attention to them but I’m so focused on making a better future for them that I’m not there in the present. So, my children are coming first and I’m going to start taking them out a lot more. 

This programme is starting to change my life for so many reasons and I am so grateful to Poynton Fitness and Ben for letting me be a part of it! If you’re getting to the point of wanting to go through a complete lifestyle change that I strongly recommend you sign up to this programme, either their online programme or if you live near Poynton, then their local programme which means you get to use their gym and take the many classes that are available. You’ll also be added into an amazing VIP Facebook group where we share recipes, meal ideas and have a generally awesome chat every day. 

Thanks for reading! 
Bryony x

Friday 9 March 2018

Transform Her: Week 1

Just over a week has gone by since I started the Transform Her programme and yes, this blog is a little later than I would’ve liked! I’d like to start this blog post by saying this is not easy but it’s worth it. My experience is being made so much easier by Ben, who is helping me all the way the programme and is literally just a text or email away.

Disclaimer: just before I delve in I would like to point out that my weight and BMI from my last blog post were wrong. I was using my bathroom scales at the time and then went and used the one at Boots. My actual weight and BMI from last week were 12st7 and 30.7. Its safe to say I prefer my scales at home.

Height, Weight, Measuremants and BMI.
I did get told before I started not to focus too much on my weight and measurements because chances are, they won’t change in the first couple of weeks as this is more of a detox stage. However, I have managed to lose a couple of pounds! I now weigh 12st3 and my BMI is 30.29. I’ve decided to take my measurements every two weeks instead of every week, just because I don’t think it would be good for my mental health to focus on my measurements every week.

What I’m eating.
Protein... and a lot of it. I tend to start my day with eggs, either poached or scrambled, with a side of salmon or sausage/bacon. Sausages need to be 90% pork and bacon has to have the fat cut off. For lunch my go to is some sort of salad, making sure I have either chicken, prawns or fish as my protein source. For dinner I seem to orbit towards chicken breasts or some sort of fish fillet a long with lots of leafy greens. The programme does say to have 2 snacks a day too but by the time I’ve eaten my 3 main meals, I can’t physically squeeze anything else in!

How I feel.
Honestly? I feel so good. I feel a lot better in myself, I feel generally happier in life. I feel a lot healthier and I’ve not felt like this for a very long time! The first week of headaches were pretty intense and made me pretty cranky but now I’ve come out of the other end feeling fabulous. Another thing I should mention is how much my skin has cleared up! I used to blame my breakouts on hormones but it’s  becoming clear that it was my diet... or lack of.

Goals set.
My goal is to drink a lot more water, I’m not drinking near as much as I should so I’m going to buy myself one of those water bottles with the amount you should be drinking an hour on it, I think this will help me to achieve my goal.

I’m really enjoying this programme at the moment. The workouts are killing me but are so worth it. I never thought I would enjoy a diet but here I am, complete lifestyle change and absolutely loving it.

That’s it for another week! I’ll be checking in with you all next week.

Thanks for reading!
Bryony x

Thursday 1 March 2018

Transform Her: The Beginning

If you have read any of my blog posts you may know that I am quite open about my weight struggles. Since having my second child my weight has become somewhat of an issue for me, not only physically but mentally too so when I got offered to try a 6 week fitness programme called Transform Her by Poynton Fitness I accepted almost instantly and I thought I’d bring you all on this journey with me. 

Height, weight, measurements & BMI.
So my height will not likely change throughout these 6 weeks, although I wish I would grow to be 6 foot tall, at the moment I am 5ft3, I weigh 12 stone exactly (168 pounds/ 76.2 kg) and my BMI score is 29.76 which is only .14 off from being classed as obese. My measurements are:

Chest: 40.5 
Waist: 33.5
Belly Button: 40.5
Hips: 42
Legs: 24
Calf: 15.5
Arms: 13 inches 

What I’m eating. 
These first two weeks are classed as a detox stage and it is very strict! No alcohol, which isn’t too hard for me anyway, no sugar, no caffeine, no carbs and very high protein intake. I’m eating a lot of egg, fish, meat and green veg. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do, with there being a very limited items I can eat I thought it would get very boring very fast but I’m really enjoying it and it’s interssted to see just how much protein you find in certain things. 

How I feel.
With every blog post detailing my weight loss and fat loss journey I will also tell you about my emotional journey, detailing how I’m feeling that particular day. For instance, today I am feeling motivated to get this programme started. I’m tired and I feel drained but that is an everyday occurrence for me, hopefully this programme will put a little bit more life back into me.

Goals Set.
Each week I will be setting myself personal goals, not just in weight loss but in everyday life too. Little things like taking the stairs, drinking more water, take care of myself a bit better. Then the following week I will report back as to whether I achieved these goals or not.

At the very end of the 6 weeks I will be posting a picture of me before and after. If you follow me on Instagram, you will see these posted 2 weekly when I redo my measurements. You will also see some pictures of my meal ideas and possibly some of the workouts I do. 

I really hope you all enjoy reading this series of blog posts on my weight loss journey in the next 6 weeks. I’m very excited to be sharing this with you all.

Thanks for reading!
Bryony x

Transform Her: Week 5

That’s another week done and another week of being poorly. Honestly, no idea what I’ve done wrong but I’ve been ill for like 2 weeks straigh...