Tuesday 10th April

By Rebecca Maslin

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback and kind words I have received from friends, clients and colleagues since the first blog yesterday. It is a great feeling to know that so many of us have individual goals that we are striving to achieve and that with hard work, dedication and consistency can see them come to fruition.

Here is my Training and Food diary from yesterday. I took advantage of the slightly later start and bright morning and walked into work (the incidental exercise us trainers blab on about!) and by doing so first thing on an empty stomach the body will use fat stores as its preferred fuel source. When my working day allows I will also double train for the next four weeks (twice in one day) and cardio circuits with Ryan and an upper body weight circuit later in the day were on my schedule. I am still lifting as heavy as I can with weights but now aiming for 15 reps per exercise and completing between 3-5 exercises one after the other. An example of this would be Standing DB Shoulder Press, Lat Pull Down, Press ups and Bicep Curls hitting all the main upper body muscles. As a point I still take rest days in the week.

My carbohydrate intake was slightly lower with the majority being consumed before my intense workout so I could still perform to my maximum when it matters the most. However, my fat intake was slightly higher with some form being consumed with every meal: almonds, flaxseed, olives, egg yolks and olive oil. Fats (Good fats/Essential Fatty Acids) are an essential macronutrient and provide an important role in so many bodily functions and should not be excluded. I am keeping my protein intake relatively high as I want to maintain as much lean muscle tissue as possible whilst losing body fat (protein is the building block of muscles.) I put in too much effort with the weights in the lead up to now to lose all my gains through carless dieting and restricting the right foods the body needs and I also feel fuller for longer when I include it in my meals/snacks.

Food Intake & Training:

6.30am: double espresso

Fasted cardio including hill walking and walked into work (1 hour)

8.30am: 1 apple, 20g almonds and Yakult

10.30am: 1/3 cup of oats made with water, 1 TBSP ground flaxseed and 3 egg whites (hard boiled)

12-1pm Cardio Circuits with Ryan:

1min boxing pads (15secs off)

1min skipping (15secs off)

1min random cardio (tucks/sprints/burpees/squatjumps etc)

90secs recover and complete 6 times

Bike Hill Intervals (1min on hard/1 min off recover) x 4

Plank Variations

2pm: Organic Chicken Breast (baked with chilli, pepper, paprika, garlic, olive oil), steamed green beans & asparagus spears, 10 pimento olives

3.30-4.15pm Upper Body Weight Circuit

4.30pm: Post Training Shake

7.30pm: 2 hard boiled eggs and mixed salad (lamb’s lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and red pepper) Balsamic and olive oil dressing.

1 Americano, 4 Green Teas and 3 litres of water throughout the day