Abbie's Health and Wellbeing Blog

Reflections on my health, fitness and wellbeing

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Parkrun PB

August 17, 2024 /

Until last week, my only goal for running was getting to the end of the run. It felt like that was a big enough achievement. However, I have signed up for an extra 2 months health and fitness coaching with Jazzy B fitness and Beth, my coach, wanted me to have a goal to work towards. As I’ve lost most of the weight I was planning to lose, a weight goal of a few pounds didn’t seem enough. So I’m aiming to run Chatsworth 10K on 22 September in an hour or less. To help me work up to this, Beth has set me some running goals for the week and one of them was to do parkrun in 30 mins (which is a personal best for me). Well I totally smashed that goal today as I did it in 27:30 mins!!

Delicious breakfast smoothie

August 4, 2024 /

I haven’t been organised enough to make my overnight oats this weekend but I wanted to get back into my routine of having kefir every day so I threw together this breakfast smoothie which was delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 250ml semi skimmed milk kefir
  • 10g oats
  • 80g mixed berries
  • 50g Green smoothie mix (mango & spinach)
  • 10g chia seeds

Yorkshire three peaks

August 4, 2024 /

I am so incredibly proud of myself for completing the Yorkshire three peaks! I honestly don’t think I had it in me before starting this health and fitness coaching. I am stronger, fitter and weigh less which all contributed to my being able to tackle the 24 miles with over 1,500m elevation.

Cottage Cheese bread

July 17, 2024 /

I stumbled across this recipe the other day and I have made it twice since as it is soooooo delicious! Also really easy to make. It’s full of protein and fibre so a great addition to my day! If you cut it into 12 slices then it has around 123 calories, 7g protein and 2g fibre.

Overnight oats with home made kefir

July 15, 2024 /

I’ve been reading, watching TV programmes and listening to podcasts about the gut microbiome quite a bit recently and I’m becomming increasingly interested in doing what I can to make mine healthy (particularly after having a bowel cancer scare 18 months ago). After a couple of friends told me about their home made kefir, I decided to give it a go and I’m obsessed!

I have used the Kefir Company starter cultures which are so easy to use! I will have a go at using some live grains at some point but, for now, this is so easy.

I blend the prepared kefir with what ever soft fruit I have got around and then pour it over oats, leave it in the fridge overnight and have some delicious over night oats for breakfast every day. I usually add some grapes, a chopped up pear or what ever fruit takes my fancy.

Before I add the extra fruit, the overnight oats with home made fruity kefir comes in around 10g of protein and 5g of fibre so a great start to the day!

There’s lots of information about the health benefits of kefir on the internet but I’m not an expert so I’m not going to say which sources are the most accurate. It’s worth having a google though if you’re interested!

Round Sheffield Run

July 2, 2024 /

What an achievement! Fee and I completed the Round Sheffield Run on Saturday. I was a bit apprehensive about it as it is further than a half marathon (although you only run 20Km of it) but we both found it relatively easy and we didn’t ache nearly as much as we did at the end of Brighton Half Marathon 2 years ago. So what has changed? Well, losing weight will obviously make running easier but also we are both doing regular strength training which is really paying off

It’s not all about weight loss!

June 26, 2024 /

Although I’ve had a really good week of sticking to my calorie allowance and exercising, I haven’t lost any weight this week. So, I thought it would be a good time to remind myself of all the other wins that I’ve had over the last 11 weeks and why I am doing this:

  • My blood pressure is now consistently under 120/80 after being on the high side for several years.
  • I don’t wake myself up with my own snoring anymore!
  • I sleep much better.
  • I regularly don’t have to go to the loo in the middle of the night (bizarre as I’m drinking more water!)
  • I have more energy.
  • I am more productive at work.
  • I rarely feel stressed.
  • I often feel happy.
  • I fit into so many clothes that have been in my wardrobe taunting me for many years.
  • I’m clearing out some clothes that are too big for me.
  • I’ve bought some size 12 clothes recently that fit me nicely.
  • Running is easier.
  • I don’t hate exercising.
  • I’ve got some definition/muscles in my arms.
  • I don’t need chub rub shorts under dresses anymore.
  • I can have fun on a night out without drinking alcohol.
  • I therefore wake up with a clear head more often than not.
  • Even though I haven’t lost weight, I’m losing fat (according to my scales which have some magic way of measuring my body composition!)

So I haven’t lost any weight this week – who cares! It is definitely worth sticking to the programme so I can reap all of those benefits!

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