Lets get this show on the road!

In the airport now waiting for our flight. At long last we have made it, yay. Its been a very very long few months. A lot of exercise, dieting and planning. I have literally been running on steam for the last 3-4 days.

So I made it to 9st 2lbs. Im happy with that as towards the end I did need to turn to sugar and eat slightly bigger portions for energy and even stay awake at times. In all though, I made it. I lost half a stone of body fat in 9 weeks and gained a lot more muscle. I would say that right now I am the fittest I have ever been. I am definitely the lightest Iv ever been since joining Weight Watchers®. I may not follow their diet plan but I do eat clean, point and track everything! As we board our flight now to London Gatwick and onto Las Vegas to join my sister and her husband, I would like to thank all my supporters, followers and friends. It really has been lovely to share my knowledge and inspire people. Knowing that some of what I have wrote has helped others is a big deal to me! So thank you all. Please keep an eye on facebook and/or my future blog (undecided still) for the wedding pictures and stories. Best of luck with all your fitness conquests and weight loss journeys. Stay clean! Chemaine x

A dedication to.....

Hello everyone, this is most likely my 2nd last post (this side of the wedding). And I would like to dedicate it to, in my oppinion (many of you will agree), the best Weight Watchers® leader in the world. Mary McCaffrey, also know as my fairy godmother. Without who, I would definitely not be the person I am or indeed where I am today.

Since I first met Mary in July 2006, she has been the backbone of my success and my biggest fan/supporter. The support I lacked in other places, Mary made up for ten folds over! I came to Mary just under 18 stone, with a new baby and no real direction in life. Less than 2 years later she helped me to reach my goal weight of 9st 10lbs. Today I am just over 9 st, have another new baby and my own fitness business. I will honestly miss Mary something awful as I know many others will. She is a gifted lady! A god send to the Weight Watchers® company and anyone who has ever struggled to find the, how should I put it.......the base and beginning point of their weight loss journey.

Not only has Mary provided me with guidance and support, I have found in her a friendship like no other. Like the god mother in Cinderella.......my fairy god mother helped my dreams come true.

Mary I wish you all the best in your future, all the happiness your heart desires, as many good friendships as you can find and of course great weight maintenance ;-). A big THANK YOU for helping me become the strong independent woman I am today and for your friendship. I hope I can become half the woman and leader you are. I will miss you at the wedding but see you at the home wedding party xxx.

So before I wrap up this post, a little update. My weight is holding nicely at 9st 3lbs. With 4 days to go I will hopefully get them last 3lbs off. My wedding dress is ready to go, bags are packed, the hair is done, dollars are bought and passports are in date. Now to get through the next few days and were off. Please keep an eye on facebook for pictures.

Until then enjoy the back to school weather, stay clean and stay classy x

Tired now.

Another long week. Its definitely all catching up with me. Stress, tiredness, excitement, anticipation....you name it. My skins breaking out in dry patches and I find myself lieing in bed thinking/worrying about money and bills and what if the plane crashes or we get lost along route 66 or something. Mad I know but I cant help it. I am a worrier. And as a result im going around in a daze the last week and totally exhausted. Run down I think is what one would say. Roll on the end of this week. If I can just make it to Friday Il be ok. It will then be literally chapagne, cocktails and high flying all the way.

The bags are pretty much packed (see pictures below). Hair and tan appointments are made for this week. I got an offer off a dear old friend of mine for some lash extensions, hopefully I can find the time to take up her offer. Soooo sweet of her. She is based in 'the lash lounge' in Dundrum for anyone interested. My soon to be husband picked up his suit, shoes and nerves during the week. Bless him he doesnt know what hes getting himself into ;-).

I know Iv over packed (again pictures below) but it is 2 weeks with at least 2 wardrobe changes a day, so Id say im doing ok. Like the suitcase closes without me having to sit on it, thats good right?! I did throw some shoes and bits in the hubbys bag too though hehe.

This week we need to do all the laundry, clean the house, do the grocery shopping and make sure everything is at hand for my mam who is minding the 2 boys (and the cat). Im confident they will be fine. Iv wrote another list for her to work off and the older boy will help with the baby. They will be fine! (Maybe if I say that enough times il convince myself?!). Yes im sure they will be fine alright.

I tried on my dress again today, along with the shoes and veil. I do clean up well, even if I do say so myself. But alas I seem to have faultered on my hair style again. All the styles iv tried have either not looked right or are a pain in the @$$ to do. I might google some wedding hairstyles now while im lieing in bed.

Hopefully get the chance to do another couple of blog posts before the end of the week. Until then, dont forget to stay clean and stay classy!

Ps;
My weight is still good at 9st 3lbs :-).

No pain no gain!

12 days and 4.5lbs to go (see picture below). Delighted with how my weights coming off. All the pain is most definitely worth all the gain!

I so excited now, to feel good in myself on my wedding day and also have a few pounds to play around with. Actually because we are away for 3 weeks and I dont want to deny myself anything, I gave myself a stone to play around with. Looking forward to all that tasty food stateside, yeh ;-).

Its been a long few weeks and im not quiet there yet. Heres an idea of what its took to get my body prepared and wedding ready......lots of weight training {legs, back, chest, arms, shoulders}, body conditioning {abdominals, obliques and neck}, alternating days of pilates, alternating days of high intensity interval training {working approx 85% of my MHR}, 2-3 moderate 30 minute walks a day and 1 day rest per week. Its a lot I know but I would say that I am in the best strength and physical fitness shape of my life, so far. A LOT OF PAIN AND BIG GAINS.

And the food......high protein and as much clean food (food with only 1-2 ingredients) as possible. I wouldnt be a big water drinker, maybe 1.5litres on a good day. Id average 2-3 cups of green tea a day and always a coffee before a workout (to help with endurance). I always make sure the cupboards are filled with wholgrain pasta, rice, rice cakes and noodles. Jars of mixed nuts, almond butter and 100% natural crunchy peanut butter. There is always fresh fruit at hand. Green apples, bananas (for a post workout snack), pears, lemons and limes. In the fridge we have blueberries, gooseberries, fresh broccolli, peppers, red onion and mushrooms. Always plenty of natural low fat probiotic yogurts too (very important for the reproductive system). I also keep a big glass jug of cold water in the fridge flavoured with either sliced lemon, lime or cucumber. The freezer is filled with lean meats and fish. And if all else fails......the are protein shakes in the press.

So theres and idea of my lifestyle. It takes a hell of a lot of planning, preparation, motivation, endurance, persistance and fear (of getting fat again). You have to keep working for what you want and never give up.

This is one of my fail safe recipes. If I have nothing else ready I throw this stirfry together and all the family enjoy it.

Beef stirfry with blackbean sauce and mixed veg (picture below);

Sliced beef
1/2 Red, green and yellow pepper sliced
Punnet of button mushrooms sliced
1/4 red onion sliced
Chopped broccoli head (as much as you like)
1 small tin of chick peas
Blue dragon blackbean sauce
Rainbow pepper (optional)

I steep the broccoli head for 2 mins to soften it up while I dry stirfry the strips of beef and season with fresh ground rainbow pepper.

On a separate pan I dry fry the mushrooms until they are browned.

Once the beef is done I add the mushroom and the rest of the veg. Stir for 2 mins and then add the sauce. I usually let the stirfry sit for 5 mins on a low heat to let the flavours mix.

Serve in a nice bowl and enjoy. If you like you can add 1/3 cup of quinoa or wholegrain rice. A blue dragon wholegrain noodles nest is yummy too. Plenty of complex carbs, protien, vitamins and iron.

Try it out and let me know what you think. My next post will be all about the wedding etc. So have a nice week and stay clean/classy x

Getting there!

Half way through another week already! Where does the time go.

Having a good progressive week so far. The mentorship course is going brill, really got the juices flowing.Wrote a list of the clothes I want/ need to pack. Im nearly done would you believe. Just the few last minute bits and pieces to get and double check iv packed all the essentials. When I actually get into a project I can get a lot done. Plus I had a break from my baby on wednesday morning. That helps too!

I havnt got around to trying my wedding dress on again....im not sure whats holding me back. Some sort of fear that it wont look good maybe?! Or pre wedding jitters? Il have to do it soon I know. I think il do a demo of my wedding hairstyle this weekend when I get the chance. That way I can see if I like it or not.

The weight is coming along great. Down to 9st 5lbs today. Hopefully I hit the 9st target but if I dont im not going to beat myself up, at least I tried. The exercise is going great too as is my diet up until the afternoons, when stress kicks in. Some days I can beat it and some I cant, I just have to give in and feed my hormones. Looking forward to the cold weather coming in so I can really burn some calories.

If you dont mind I would like to day a big congratulations to my friend Jenny who gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy yesterday. Well done, its over now. Il see you soon to get that pre baby body back ;-).

Il try do another post and recipe over the weekend. Until then, good night and stay classy x

The last stretch.....(& some clean eating)

I hope you all enjoyed the 2 recipes in my last post?! I love the peppermint ice cream. I actually add peppermint extract to my vanilla protein shake when I want a change and its absolutely fabulous. You can buy clean food flavourings in the health store if you want to keep all your recipes clean too!
Im sure there are a few of you wondering what clean eating is....it seems to be the new buzz on the street. Well clean eating means eating natural, non processed, organic (if possible), fresh foods. So you have your fresh organic vegetables that haven't been tampered with or genetically modified. We have natural nut butters which contain nothing but ground nuts. Meats, chicken and fish should be bought fresh and organic (if possible). Organic cheese and yogurts are everywhere now days, Glenisk® are great. Avoid foods that are processed and refined...like white flour, sugar, bread and pasta. Read the label! Clean foods contain only 1 or 2 ingredients, anything more is human made. If you can, buy organic. Prepare your meal fresh and eat 5-6 times a day. 3 meals and 2-3 snacks. Include lean meat, fresh fruit or vegetables and a complex carbohydrate with each meal. This will keep your body energized and burning calories.
Its alot to remember but with clean eating, practice makes perfect!

Iv been keeping to my shredding plan. I can see iv lost weight but iv also gained a lot of muscle. Id a busy last few days so I actually haven't weighed myself in a week. I plan to go to Weight Watchers® tomorrow evening so we shall see what the scales and my wonderful leader have to say.

People ask how I stay so lean and keep a flat stomach, well the truth is consistancy. If I miss a day of exercise I always try to make it up in some way. Even if its an extra walk, clean the house non stop for an hour, a couple of ab curls or stretches before bed. It all adds up. I must say though, since I increased my weight training at the start of the year everything has tightened up. My stomach is tighter than ever and the backs of my arms have really improved. I seem to be comfortable with showing a little more flesh and I definitely put it down to weight training.

Iv seen such a great improvement in my personal training and class clients too. From the new to the old, every one is getting results which is great. Some come to me hating cardio or with improper technique when doing stomach work or weak  upper body strength or despising burpees! I have pre natal and post natal ladies, ladies with me only a few weeks and ladies with me a few years. I think all can say with some hard work (we have laughs too) and consistancy, we all get positive results.

Iv been trying to shake things up the last 2 weeks by making each class routine different but working the same muscles. We have been doing some Russian twists, Chinese sit ups and bananas to name a few. Its been fun.

Myself and my parter got our wedding rings this weekend. I went for a 2mm 18ct white gold ring. Its really lovely. And he went for a 6mm Paladium ring, I must say he looks good with a ring on ;-).
Our car is booked for driving Route 66 and travel insurance is paid for. Only 4 weeks to go, the last stretch!!! Im so excited I could burst.
We got our very first wedding present this weekend too. Off my aunt and uncle, it was so lovely of them. Again, EXCITED!!!!

I know I said in my post last Tuesday that I would fill you in 'later' on what happened with the dentist. Well after a week of antibiotics, the saga continues! Its ridiculous. I have an appointment for tomorrow to get it pulled for definite (I hope) so I shall keep you all posted ;-).

Until then, wish me luck and stay clean x

Photos, ice cream & salsa

I dont know why all the pictures didnt attach on my 'hens and beyond' post but heres another go at it below......
Also check out my favourite clean protein recipe and a tasty salsa that can be used instead of salad dressing. Both are super easy to make! Enjoy x

Peppermint Protein Ice Cream.
Serves 2.
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 cap of peppermint extract
1/4 cup of natural low fat probiotic yogurt
1 peppermint sweet crushed (optional)

Mix all the ingredients, except for the peppermint sweet, in a bowl. Blend for quicker results.
Pour mixture into a lunch box and sprinkle with the crushed sweet. Allow to set in the freezer until creamy and nearly set. Mmmmm.
{106kcals, 2g sat fat, 13g protein per serving}

Refreshing Peach Salsa.
Serves 4.
1 pear peeled and diced
1 peach pitted and diced
1/4 cup of red onion diced
1/4 jalapeno minced
2 tbsp of mint finely minced
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch sea salt

Combine pear, peach, onion, jalapeno and mint in a bowl.
In a separate small bowl mix the orange juice with the olive and sea salt.
Pour the orange mix into the salsa mix. Make sure its mixed evenly and allow to set in the fridge for 2 hours before serving. Really delish!
{68kcals, 0.5g sat fat, 2g fiber}