Do I enjoy it?

At last the pain in my head (from my wisdom tooth being pulled) has subsided so I can finally think straight. Just under a week I was feeling the after effects of the dentist for! I tell you I will think twice before I put sugar in my mouth again or 'accidently' forget to brush twice a day. Il never be too tired to floss again!!! Glad its all over though :-D.

So this is something I get asked alot or people pass comment on. Do I enjoy exercising so much and do I ever get a day off from my healthy/clean eating diet? The answer to both is a big YES. I can honestly say I love exercising and pushing myself to new limits. Because I was so over weight and unfit (in my past life haha) I get really excited when I see what my new body can do. I like to try new exercises, new routines, lift a heavier weight or walk somewhere new. I get bored very easily so Iv learnt how to keep my exercise routine interesting. The gym is great but a bit too monotonous for me, the treadmill is soooo boring, so I tend to stick to the weights area or try out different classes if im there. Not that I got to the gym much anymore though. Iv built up a nice little home gym for myself and the 'hubby' that pretty much fulfills our requirements and I can listen to my own music, not the rubbish some gyms have on. Plus nature is the best gym, the sound and picture always changes and its free. As far as my healthy/clean diet goes.....yes I love eating clean good food. Knowing im putting good high grade food into my body is satisfying. I try new foods and recipes when I can. It shows on the outside too. I still get embarassed when I get complemented but I am always getting told my hair looks healthy or my skin is very clear. My nails are strong and my figure speaks for itself. So many perks to a clean diet!

Its true you do need to be disciplined and I cant lie, it is hard. Thats why like many others, I give myself 1 treat/cheat day per week. During this day I eat what ever I fancy with no limits, no calorie or saturated fat counting at all. I take it easy with my exercise on that day too. Its my day of rest. And no matter how much chocolate or pizza I may eat I try to not beat myself up over it. It can all be undone and this 1 treat day helps me get through the other 6 days of being diciplined.

I am just like everyone else. Im not superwoman, I am just afraid of getting fat again! Even though I teach, train and walk a lot, I get tired too. There are days I dred going to class or to do a sweaty workout or walk another lap of Tymon park. But I make myself do it and after that class or workout I feel totally motivated and refreshed. I never regret it. So the next time you try to make up and excuse to not go for that walk or do that workout, please remember who you are doing it for and why. It will all be worth it in the end ;-).

Seens as the last few recipes got a good response, here is another one I like to make every now and then. Lean and clean. Simples!

Pesto and sundried tomato stuffed chicken. (less than 240 calories per serving)

4 skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp of your favourite pesto (shared equally between each breast)
Sundried tomatoes
1/2 lemon

Slice chicken breasts in half and spread pesto along the inside.
Stuff as many sundried tomatoes as you like into the middle.
Next squeeze lemon juice over the chicken.
Fold the chicken over the pesto. Grate 1 tsp of lemon rind over the chicken.
Bake in the oven for approx 25 mins or until chicken is cooked through.
Simples!

As far as the wedding plans go, its exactly 3 weeks tomorrow. Tour America® were kind enough to send out my itenery again. So much for being enviromentally friendly. Boots® seem to be making a small fortune out of me. My packing seems to have hit a wall. But other wise all is still going to plan.

Started writing another list for my mam on what my baby likes and his routines (shes minding the boys while we elope). She may have rared 4 children herself but my way of doing things is very different uno. Maybe if all fails with the fitness I could start up a list making company. Not a bad idea.

Below is a picture of my wedding shoes too. A few of you had asked to see them :-). Let me know what you think of the chicken! Chat soon. Remember stay motivated, clean and classy x

There is a lesson to be learnt here....

Evening all! I got my wisdom tooth out at last. Oh god it was horrible. I was numbed up to my eyes (literally) and as I squeezed the arms of the dentist chair, the tooth of death was pulled! My nerves were seriously shot but its over now. Hallelujah....what an ordeal. At least now I am pain free and can really start looking forward to the wedding. Plus I got a great night sleep last night :-).

I met a client on my way into Weight Watchers® yesterday evening. She had just got weighed and her weight was up. But hold on....her clothes were looser and she felt slimmer? So what was this? There is a very simple answer and my own weigh in results back this up. MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT!!!

I got weighed and had only lost 1/2 a pound. Yet I am definitely thinner. When I started this blog I weighed 9st 9lbs. 2 weeks in and I was 9st 7lbs. Then 2 weeks later I went down to 9st 4lbs.  Now I am back up. So whats going on? Well lets see. Iv increased the weight Im lifting, iv increased my protein shakes, iv increased my leg strength training (the legs having the biggest muscles in the body) and increased my daily protein intake. So in all I have put on approximately 6lbs of muscle over the last 6 weeks. Im definitely leaner and stronger. I look about 8st 7lbs. My clothes are hanging off me and I feel amazing!

In my clients case. I train her 2 evenings a week focusing on cardio improvement and strength work on all the bodies major muscle groups. Plus she walks and hill climbs. Combined with a healthy diet. Muscle is definitely getting built.

So the lesson to be learnt here is....that sometimes we cant always rely on the scales. A pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat. So if you have been working out hard or training alot then you may have gained muscle and lost fat. You cant be disheartened by the results on a scale! Connect with your body and notice how it feels. Watch how your clothes sit on you.

It really is a life choice. I have chose to be lean and strong. If I stop weight training and leave my muscles to waste away, the pounds will drop off me (on the scales). But I will loose my strength, tone, energy and my metabolism will slow down. My waist size probably wont shrink. So I will keep weight training but for the next 3 weeks I will increase my cardio intensity and clean up my diet. I couldnt quit now sure, could I?!

The wedding is still on haha. Just over 3 weeks now. September 3rd in a little chapel in Las Vegas. It seems iv so much to do but so little time. Il will get there. Just have to stick to my list ;-). Really hope I dont forget anything though!

I hope you find some of the information in my posts helpful. Until the next post. Stay clean and stay classy x

The three S's

Time for Some Serious Shredding!!!
With only 5 weeks to go im well motivated now to loose these last few pounds and get in the best physical shape of my life! Stocked up on 2 new tubs of Kinetica protein, some jars of almond butter and a few packs of quinoa rice cakes.

'Strong is the new skinny!'
- Oxygen magazine

How true is that? Myself and all my clients can vouch for that I think. If you feel strong....strong legs, strong core, strong chest etc.....you feel great. Achieve a strong lean healthy physique and set yourself up for a long healthy life. Am I right?!

After a great but exhausting weekend Im back on track and full steam ahead! I got a great sleep on Sunday night so woke yesterday refreshed. Egg white scrambled egg and seeded whole grain toast for breakfast. Then as the thunder was roaring outside I dived into an big cardio workout, working 85% of my max heart rate. It felt great. Then trained my legs, abs and 15 minutes of stretching. Protein shake and chicken salad for lunch. 2 walks throughout the day and a prawn and salmon stir fry with wholegrain rice for dinner.

I was waiting to see if I had got a place on a start your own business mentor ship programme and I did. Yay me! Im trying to expand and do it right so everyone benefits, off I went. My mentor worked with An post and helped his father run a fresh meats business. His input was very motivating and interesting. Il be with him for the next 5 weeks, right up to the wedding. Things are actually picking up. Not on the scales tho!

In the dentist at last. 4 weeks iv been in pain for. They insist its down to sugar while I insist I dont take sugar! The dentist looked at me and listed off sugary drinks that I must be drinking....coke, 7up, orange juice.....I was like no I dont even take sugar in my tea for god sake. So anoying! Why do they have to make the whole experience difficult? Any how im waiting for my mouth to numb now and the xray to show what I need.

There will be an update and the pictures I promised plus a treat later today. Until then, stay classy x

Hens......and beyond

Wow what a week! Where do I start?

Last Sunday I managed to get my hands on a last minute Longitude ticket. So glad I did, it was amazing and I really needed a bit of fun and sillyness! The build up to the wedding has me alot more stressed than I thought it would. I got to see Hotchip and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs which were brilliant (pictures below). Kraftwerk played last.....I wasnt too impressed with them at all at all. No hangover the next morning thanks to LifeLine, I actually cant say enough about them. Dont know how I survived in the past with hangovers. The tiredness caught up with me though, so I spent the following few days trying to get back to whatever normal is.

I did workout (not as much as usual) and walk. Weights on Monday, pilates on Tuesday, weights on Thursday and some aerobics and body conditioning before I started to get ready on Friday. I taught all my classes also. My diet wasnt great a couple of days. Im going to put that down to tiredness and stress. I havnt been sleeping well at all, as iv mentioned before. I seem to be waking up at all hours and worrying about the wedding, bills and the future. Im constantly counting figures in my head and even when I tell myself to stop, I just cant seem to let go. I know I am an awful worrier, I have been ever since I had kids but this is getting ridiculous. Then my baby wakes for his night feeds and I cant get back asleep. I couldnt be more exhausted if I tried!

Sometimes we all have 'off' weeks. Its hard to be good 100% of the time. Still though, I did try to stay on track and like when practicing pilates.....its the effort that counts.

So Friday arrived, the hen day, bridal shower day, whatever you like to call it. I dropped the boys to my parents at 10am and off I went to class. I arranged that my mam watch the boys until my future husband picked them up after work. That way I would get some well needed alone time :-). I headed straight for Dundrum for a bit of retail therapy. Starbucks was first on the menu. Then a look around the shops. Its amazing what you see when you dont have to drag along a baby and an 8year old! Managed to pick up my wedding bras (no pictures haha), the nail varnish and make-up for the day plus some nice little pieces for the honeymoon, swit swoo you say.

Left Dundrum and went home about 2pm. The silence was priceless! I got to workout, do my make-up (while watching a bit of Tom Hardy ;-) ), do my hair, pack my bag and have a drink before leaving for my much anticipated hens. I was in such great form and super excited. The bit of 'me' time was what I needed too. I know everyone says it but it is very tough running a business, staying in shape, keeping a family and a house. Every mother out there doing the above, deserves a diamond encrusted white gold medal!

Any how, I arrived at the Beacon hotel at about 7pm and had some pricey cocktails. Worth every penny!!! Myself and my lovely friends got spoilt, had fun and got silly....... the rest is history.

Ah no I wouldnt leave it like that :-). So, there was 14 of us. We had cocktails in the hotel foyer for about 2hours before heading up to our rooms. I decided to go with a little cream dress that I hadnt wore since before I got pregnant (picture below). It was so good to relax and have a good rant about the men folk and all their 'flaws'. We headed to our rooms at 9pm to get into our pyjamas (pictures below) for the Beacons famous 'Pyjama party'. Which honestly, I think WE made it famous haha. Myself, my sister and our friend got the penthouse suite (pictures below), it was fabulous! We felt like royalty. I got a room to myself would you believe, things couldnt get any better.....but they did.

An army of 'free' women, sipping wine and cocktails ventured down the hotel corridors to the function room where we where met by a table of gift bags and waiters ready to tend to our every need. We were served tapas and free cocktails while we all rooted through our lovely Alice in Wonderland themed bags made especially for me by my lovely sister (its my favourite movie EVER you see). The bags contained sweets, bubbles, Alice in Wonderland wine glass charms, penis straws and lots more.

On went our movie, Sex and the City. A table filled with sweets, chocolate, crisps, a giant penis cake (pictures below), ice cream, bottles of wine, beer, cider and a 'sippy cup' filled with vodka. It was heaven. Good food, good friends and good laughs. By the time the movie ended we were well on our way as they say. Time for the games.....the Mr and Mrs quiz was first. I learnt, my future husband hasnt a clue about me :-/. Wedding dresses made out of toilet roll were couture (pictures below) and  would you believe its not that hard to find a fancy car to strike a sexy pose on in the hotel car park. Yes we were all still in our pyjamas!

It wasnt too crazy, it was just what I wanted. Relaxed, nice and fun. Then came the highlight of the night.......sleep! Yep sleep. At about 3.30am. All you working mums with babies know what im talking about. Our good old friend, uninterrupted sleep! A double bed in the penthouse suite all to myself :-). Breakfast in bed the next morning too. A big fry, tea, toast, a bowel of fruit and late check out. I could well get used to that! No hangover either as I was smart enough to take two LifeLines with my first drink. They really do work!!!

Checked out of the hotel and still had the day to myself. Went home and fell asleep, it was great. Myself and the future husband picked up the boys a 8pm and we all went for a big slap up dinner in Eddie Rockets mmmmm. I was worn out by the time we got home, I honestly still am. Im sure the tiredness will go by the time my baby is 16 or so.

Oh and I got a lovely gift of wedding jewellery today from the boys (I know my future husband paid for it ;-)). A fabulous white gold pearl and earring set for the wedding day (picture below). A nice little token of appreciation on their part. About time too haha.

Not long to go now, stay classy ladies x

Tick tock watching the pounds drop

It seems that all I do is watch the clock and scales lately. Time goes by so quickly and iv learnt to manage it well or the pounds wont drop. I am a creature of habit. I need a strict routine, I need to track my food and I need everything to run smoothly. If even 1 of these goes off plan then the whole lot goes to pot. I hate when things dont go to plan and I loose control, dont you? My eating will be bad, my stress levels increase, I feel like I cant function and it even rolls over into the babies routine. Its literally the end of the world!

But not this week. This week was good. I managed to keep to all my workouts so by Friday I felt super toned and strong. That shone through to my Friday morning class which was outdoors in the swealtering heat, I had my baby with too, and all went smoothly :-). I did 19 walks in total last week! I like to walk, I aim for 3 walks per day. It settles my baby as well as maintains my cardio endurance and keeps my legs strong. There are other benefits too for walking, such as calorie expenditure, stress relief, fresh air if your not in the city.....the list goes on.

I decided to load up on my weight training too this week. Wednesday was legs, abdominals and lower back day. Thursday was arms, shoulders, chest and upper back day. And Friday evening was a total body workout. So after 2 days rest I can really see an increase in my muscle mass. That also means im burning more calories when im resting. Yay me!

Finally decided to start packing. Excited! Just the essentials first (picture below) like facial wipes and scrub, bobbins, hair clips and safety pins, eyelashes and extra glue, LifeLine tablets (dont know if they work yet though).....I have my list made that I thick off as I go along :-). I have my wedding evening dress and a dress for the night before (pictures below). Wont pack them yet because I basically still like to look at them. And wait....the shoes I picked up for a steal in TKMax (picture below)! Actually now that I think about it, I think im just excited to wear something other than workout gear for a change haha. My hens is this coming Friday too. That will be fun! Il have to pick out something lovely to wear before we change into our pyjamas. You see we are doing the pyjama party in The Beacon hotel. A night off by myself AND uninterrupted sleep, yaaaay, im so excited I could burst! Im sure il have loads of juicy gossip for next weeks blog!

Any who, the clock is ticking........Until another day. Spend your time wisely x

Off the wagon!

Iv totally fell off the wagon today :-(. I started off well with low fat natural yog, 2 satsumas and a green tea for breakfast. For lunch I had a turkey salad and coffee. Then everything went down hill, with a bag of jellies and some biscuits. Its definitely down to stress. Im feeling under alot of pressure with the wedding, running my own business, 2 kids and a man child. Even the strongest of us crumble!

I know how to fix this and get back on track but for today I think il give myself a break!

I still have to teach pilates later and il go for a long walk after that. Im not going to stay off the wagon for long, just taking a little rest x

Sun....in Ireland?!

Sunny for the last 4 days in Dublin. And I mean proper sun with proper heat not like the 14 and 15 degrees (°) we had been getting. The news said its 22° today in Dublin, my car thermometer said 27°.......a bit optimistic I think. In saying that though it felt like 27° to me. Thats one of the downfalls to weight lifting. I sweat fiercely in hot weather and have to be sure to stay hydrated.

Iv taken a week off weight lifting to give my body a break. So in its place ive been doing high intensity iterval training. It gets the heart racing and improves cardio fitness quicker then running laps around a park. Im not a big fan of running either so this sort of training suits me to a tea.

Speaking of tea......It was way to warm to drink my hot green tea at lunch time today so I stuck it in the fridge and drank it cold with my dinner. It was actually quiet refreshing and I know it also helps with digestion. Cant go wrong :-).

Had a lovely 100% crunchy peanut butter (picture below) and chia bread sandwich for lunch. The  good stuff from the health food store. Nice to mix it up now and again. If your worried about saturated fat.....I would highly recommend their 100% almond butter mmmm. You can even use this instead of real butter. I like to use almond flour sometimes when im baking instead of  plain or self raising flour. Its yummy and packed with protein and good fats. Like I said....cant go wrong :-).

Pilates day today too. The baby was so good, he actually let me do a whole hour of pilates without interrupting. Didnt know myself!  I love uninterrupted pilates, it allows me to really focus and hone in on sculpting my muscles. Its very relaxing too. Great for destressing! And did you know that stomach or abdomen fat has been shown to be a major result of stress!!!

Not much happening on the wedding front this week. I got a lovely dress from Missguided (online ;-) ) for Vegas the night before the wedding. Its gorgeous and great value at €35. Their stuff is such great quality. Id highly recommend them too. I need to stop shopping though but its so addictive after loosing so much weight uno.

Any way enjoy the weather and dont forget the sunscreen x