Fitness Friday - Week 1

Well, I managed to do it! Today marks 1 week of clean eating and regular exercising and I have to say - it was a lot easier than I thought it would be - GASP! Last Friday I made a conscious effort to change my lifestyle and here's what the scale is saying...

Weight loss this week: 1.4 kg

Total weight loss: 1.4 kg

Goal for this week: To lose 1.7 kg

I made small changes to begin with as I didn't want to send my poor body into shock. I am happy with that number up there, obviously I would love for it to be higher but I am still happy that I managed to lose something! Some of the changes I made to my diet are as follows:

• No more sugar... I have tried to cut out sugar as much as possible. I no longer have sugar in my tea or coffee whereas previously I would have two teaspoons in my tea or coffee.
• Speaking of coffee... I have cut it out completely. In fact, I have cut out all forms of caffeine and the only tea I drink is Rooibos or Chai Tea. 
• Smaller portions and more frequent meals... Before this week I would have 3 meals a day and I would often skip breakfast. I now make sure I'm eating smaller portions and I snack on fruit/biltong/popcorn in between lunch and supper.
• No more carbs... This has been a really tough one for me because there are carbs in everything! But I haven't had rice, potatoes, cereal or bread this entire week. I had to laugh at myself the other night when we were having dinner - we had roast chicken with veg, roast potatoes, rice and gravy and all I had was the chicken and veg - I never thought I'd see the day where I passed on the potatoes and gravy.
• No more salt... I've stopped adding salt to my meals, however, I'm not so worried about cooking with a bit of it.
• Better breakfasts... Instead of having my usual breakfast of three slices of toast with Bovril and cheese or scrambled eggs, cheese and toast I have been having low fat yoghurt with a banana or an apple. I thought this wouldn't full me, but surprisingly I haven't been hungry at all.

So those are the changes I've made to my diet. It's been a lot to handle in a week, but I can honestly say that I'm just feeling so much better! I have energy, I don't feel sluggish or lazy and it hasn't been that much of a shock to this little old system of mine. I do have to say that I have personally chosen to make these changes because I feel that this is what is working for me - I am no dietician and I understand my choices and styles may not seem right in everyone's eyes, but as I mentioned - this is what is working for me.

On top of the changes in my diet, I have worked out every day this week with the exception of Monday. I am so proud of myself because this is so not me! I even ran on Saturday and Sunday and I just felt so great about myself. Yesterday I attended my first ever spinning class and there I sat, worked my ass off for an hour solidly before heading home and doing 30 minutes of pilates. When I run, I only manage to do at the very most, 3km's, and I stop and walk often, but I'm doing something and I really can't wait to carry on and to finally see some results.

Its difficult to say no thank you when I'm offered a bowl of ice cream, its difficult to carry on putting one foot in front of the other when you feel your body turning to jelly and its difficult to hop on the scale and not see the figures you were hoping for after a week of working so hard, but, I know it will all be worth it!