Energised and revitalised after the Easter break…..

Something happened in my head over the weekend, a penny or three dropped and I realised that in TWO MONTHS time I will be trying on wedding dresses!  All of a sudden hot cross buns and Easter eggs/chocolate didn’t appeal to me as much (ok there was that little bit of disappointment come Easter Sunday morning when I remembered we had agreed NOT to buy each other Easter Eggs). But we survived.... well red wine became a good distraction...

I had done so well last week eating clean & training mean and was feeling really good, energised, full of beans and motivation was WAY HIGH.  This is the feeling that I wish everyone could feel at least once or twice if they are embarking on a healthy lifestyle change, so they realise how easy it is to not feel lethargic and tired all the time.

Easter weekend, so much chit chat on Facebook about eating chocolate, making chocolate, buying chocolate and eating hot cross buns and the like I was thinking, nope, not for me.

Friday I embarked on a 6km walking trek from Taronga Zoo to Balmoral Beach, it truly is a gorgeous walk and accompanied by a good friend we got a bit side-tracked taking pictures of all the gorgeous flowers, plants and small little coves hidden that we missed the turn off to Balmoral Beach, going the longer way through the Gunners Barracks, a nice detour I must admit, stunning beach at Chowders Bay and Clifton’s Gardens.  Was so nice to be back with nature, I miss bushwalking! We had a delicious lunch on the beach and headed back by ferry into the city.   My knee was being a bit of a princess.

Saturday I had a great session at the UFC gym! Love love LOVE that place, the vibe is just awesome, not busy and bustling in the weights area and they play the best tunes LOUD and not like a radio station repeating the songs over and over… it is varied for the time of day and goes well to pump up my motivation during training (not to mention the UFC fights broadcast on TV)!  I am enjoying functional training and HIIT training – good solid full body workouts, less time and smarter training.  Less cardio for me!  The HIIT gets that heart rate up enough!

Sunday & Monday did a couple walks around here and there – meeting friends for lunch and checking out wedding venues with the boy – gorgeous weather, nice to get out and about and explore new places – going to be fun finally picking our wedding location!! So many options wonder which one will just jump out at us and say YES THIS IS THE PLACE!  It will happen soon …..

Yesterday I did some good food prep, got my salads ready for lunch at work, baked some chicken thighs, cooked up some quinoa with coconut milk for breakfasts (serve with cinnamon and berries), baked sweet potato in coconut oil and whipped up some of my protein balls! So prepared it got me so excited and motivated for the week ahead to continue eating clean with no excuses and training mean with all this great fuel!

This morning after a couple days off the gym I was so excited to train I was wide awake at 4:30am… so got to the gym at 5:10am, was so dark and quiet outside, there were a few people already inside the gym, got to love shift workers and I had a cracking workout!  My knee was being a princess again (for those who don’t know I need knee recon on both knees, wear and tear from too much sport over the years, so it plays up from time to time and I have to focus properly and work on stabilising muscles to alleviate the muscles pulling the knee cap also… fun, games!)  The good thing about the knee feeling it is it improves my technique ten-fold!! So this morning I did my favourite circuit which I like to smash a couple times a week:

 

One warm up round, then four complete rounds

 

Single arm db clean (db from ground)

Deadlifts

Single arm db. row

Barbell upright row first two rounds & then clean and press

Single leg reverse lunches with db stabilising same leg

Full body push-ups on bench or medicine ball

Bent over row with same barbell weight as deadlifts

 

I mix and match some of the exercises, today I added barbell curls into the mix also as was feeling good, alternate with triceps dips also and plank holds to mix things up.

I am getting some good weights going now, also with good form, so feeling strong! Deadlifts today was 40kgs (same for barbell rows), single arm clean with 15kg, upright row 25kgs (same for bicep curl today), reverse lunges with 15kg db! My pace, my challenges.

I am feeling so focused, so in control which is great, New Year, new job and so many great things to look forward too!  Let the fitness goals challenge continue, onwards and upwards.  I love change, love adapting to change and amending my body and mind to cope with these challenges and changes, keeps me intrigued and excited!  This week am trying a new class at the UFC gym - called Adrenaline (makes me think of PINK) plyometric drills with intervals of strength, power & resistance using bodyweight!!