Fitmas is Finished! Week 5 and Thoughts

Over the last five weeks, I have been taking part in Corinne's Fitmas challenge from her fitness blog Slimmed Cartree. Well I'm happy to say that this week was the final week so as well as updating you on my progress, I wanted to reflect on the challenge as a whole:

Image from Slimmed Cartree

Workout 1:
Arms workout, combination of machines and dumbbells

I've grown to really love Corinne's arms workout, especially now I superset a couple of the exercises. It takes about half an hour to complete, which is perfect to fit into a busy day but still feel like I've completed a good workout. It's a workout I'm looking forward to continuing to use even though the challenge has now ended.

Workout 2:
45 mins cardio

I hate cardio. So much. However, another positive from Fitmas is that I have actually done some cardio. After 23 years, I have finally learnt that if I take my iPad onto my treadmill, I can watch videos and make that cardio session much more enjoyable. By watching YouTube videos or catching up on a TV programme whilst working out, I feel like long cardio sessions have become far less of a chore and although I don't think I will ever be a runner, I'm happy to be including some much needed cardio in my fitness regime.

Workout 3:
4 sets x 12 reps deadlifts
4 sets x 12 reps rack pulls
3 sets x 12 reps bend over rows
superset with 3 sets x 12 reps bent over reverse flys
4 sets x 12 reps lat pulldowns
superset with 4 sets x 12 reps straight arm lat pulldowns
20 mins cardio

I finished my final week of Fitmas with my optional routine - hurrah my brother is back from uni! I'm looking forward to Christmas because I can eat all the food but also justify it because I know my brother is going to make me work out - if you read my post about my fitness inspiration, you will know that he is a great influence on my exercise routine. Today we trained back and finished the workout with some cardio - it was a good session which pushed me the right amount and I'm relying on my brother to keep me motivated over the festive period, especially now Fitmas has finished.

Overall, I am fairly pleased with how Fitmas went but not overwhelmed - the challenge pretty much went how I expected it to for me. The first week was amazing and I was really proud of myself, but I just failed at keeping it up. I can't pretend that this was a surprise but this is exactly what I was trying to get better at as a result of the challenge; consistency. By attempting shorter workouts, I was hoping that I would go to the gym more regularly but it really is all about motivation for me - proven by the fact that I've been to the gym every day since my brother got back from university.

If you didn't take part in Fitmas, why not try it in January? Check out Corinne's Fitmas challenge eBook and let me know how you get on! 

Jess

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Fitness Friday: #Fitmas Week Three and Florette

It's Fitness Friday! After a successful first week of #Fitmas, followed by a somewhat less successful second week, I was excited for Week Three of the challenge. Yet again, however, things didn't go quite to plan:

I started the week off with Corinne's legs workout, as detailed in her plan. After skipping my exercise class, I was pleased to still complete a workout to start the week. And then... I failed. My week has been so busy (I know, excuses, excuses) so I simply haven't had the time or energy to complete my other workouts. I feel really guilty about my poor attempt at #Fitmas so far, despite a positive first week. Next week, I've got a less busy week planned so I'm hoping to get back on track - any words of encouragement?

Unhelpfully, I've spent about half my evenings this week eating out, so my healthy eating has also taken a knock. I've tried to balance out my evenings with some healthy salads for lunch, thanks to the brilliant A Salad for All Seasons by Harry Eastwood. Florette sent me this book alongside some of their salad and some recipe ideas. I love the look of this stilton, pear and walnut salad for a healthy salad with a Christmassy feel. I always think that salads are a Summery food so I was pleased to see some Wintry and Christmas-style salads included in the book to inspire me in the colder weather to still eat healthily.

How are you getting on with #Fitmas? I've got a very unhealthy weekend planned so I'd love some motivation - and any great salad recipes you might have!

Jess

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Fitness Friday: #Fitmas Week Two

It's Fitness Friday so I wanted to update you on Week Two of Slimmed Cartree's Fitmas challenge. In short? It's been rubbish!

Last week in Week 1, I was really pleased with my positive start to Fitmas. Despite some busy days, I managed to fit the four workouts into my week and I was excited to get going with Week 2. 

This week, I have less to update. I had planned where I wanted to fit in my workouts and they just....didn't happen. I managed to squeeze my arms workout and abs workout during my break at work but I didn't complete the legs set or optional workout. I know that two workouts (although this was back to back on one day) isn't awful, but I feel pretty disappointed after such a positive start. The only positive is that I did superset some of the exercises in Corinne's arms workout, in order to increase the difficulty. 

I still have the weekend before the week ends, so I'm planning on completing the legs workout on Sunday. Keep an eye on my Twitter to see if I succeed or not!

I've planned my workouts for next week and hopefully this week, I will stick to them! Have you been taking part in #Fitmas? How was your second week?

Jess

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#Fitmas: Week One

If you follow me on Twitter, you will have seen me talk about a blogger challenge I am taking part in – the #Fitmas Blogger Fitness Challenge, created by Slimmed Cartree. Corinne is a huge inspiration of mine when it comes to working out; she lives one of the busiest lives I know, posts on her main blog daily as well as running two other blogs and still finds times to work out. She is also a huge believer in making changes ‘now not later’ so when a couple of us mentioned we were feeling demotivated in the gym, she devised a fitness challenge and turned it into a positive event.

As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been struggling with my consistency in the gym recently and I couldn’t wait to start the challenge. I will be updating you weekly how I get on, including my successes and failures (I’m sure there will be some!) For me, my main challenge is to complete all, or as many, workouts as possible. I want to prove to myself that I do have time to work out three or four times a week, regardless of my job, travelling or other commitments. I know it’s possible and this challenge is the perfect way to prove it!

So how did my first week go?

Workout 1

5 sets x 10 reps squats with 20kg

5 sets x 12 reps straight leg deadlifts with 20kg

5 sets x 12 reps vertical traction machine 20kg

5 sets x 12 reps downward row 6.25kg

I wanted to start the challenge with an all-body workout to cover all the bases. I intentionally chose lighter weights than I normally train with as I didn’t want to leave myself with heavy DOMS which would ruin the rest of the week. As a result, I was pleased with how hard I worked – whilst still being able to walk the next day!

Workout 2 and 3

30 mins uphill walk

Abs day workout

Leg day workout (no weights)

Because I missed my planned workout on Tuesday, I had to double up on Wednesday to keep up with the challenge. This was a huge step for me, as if I didn’t have my fellow bloggers motivating me I would probably have missed the workout completely and have already been one step closer to stopping!

Workout 4

Arm day workout, combo of machines and dumbbells

I squeezed this workout in-between getting my hair cut and heading to London for a day of events. Again, this was a really positive step for me – I would have normally completely written off this day as a day to workout but in order to hit the four workouts target I had to make time, and it was surprisingly easy to do.

I’m really pleased with how this week went. I was also pleasantly surprised how working out without weights or with light weights still left me feeling sore and happy with my workout. I am still a big fan of weights and will be introducing the bar and dumbbells to my workouts as the weeks progress, but I definitely still felt the burn! Overall I felt it was a really positive start and I’m excited to complete the weekly challenge at the end of the week before starting Week 2!

Are you taking part in Fitmas? How did you find Week 1?

Jess

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