I’m not doing so well on blogging my progress at least once a week but the rest of my June challenge isn’t going too badly!
I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol but that is just becoming part of life now and dry June just doesn’t feel like a huge challenge (which in itself is amazing and I never thought I’d get here!)
I’ve mostly stuck to no refined sugar – I’ve caved in twice so far. Once with birthday cake and once with a bar of dark chocolate. However, I still feel like I’ve “cut out most refined sugar” and I’m learning that a blip shouldn’t define me so it doesn’t sabotage my efforts. I’m re committing now to continue to cut out most refined sugar.
The running part of my challenge is on track and I’m doing between 2 and 4 runs a week. I’m struggling to get back into strength work outs but I have put some 6kg weights in a room where I spend a lot of time so I just pick them up and go three sets of shoulder presses regularly.
All in all, I’m pleased with my progress but there’s still room for improvement. It would be a boring world if we were all perfect though!!
I’ve been a bit slack at blogging and also keeping up healthy habits – although I have remained alcohol free for the last 82 days and I do run regularly so that’s a huge achievement! However, I’ve developed a bit of a sugar habit over the past few months. It’s crept up slowly but I’ve realised I’m now eating a lot of sweet stuff most days. I haven’t lost any weight this year so I’m still half a stone heavier than when I finished my coaching and I’m not feeling quite as great as I was when I was at the height of coaching last year. I’m doing Sheffield round run at the end of June and that is the perfect reason for me to make a few changes and get healthier in preparation! So here are my goals for June:
Remain alcohol free for the whole of June.
Cut out most refined sugar (to clarify “most” I’m going to cut out cakes, shop bought chocolate, boiled sweets and biscuits but I am going to allow myself to eat my rhubarb cake (which only has 100g of sugar across 16 portions), home made raw chocolate (with minimal sugar) and home made things sweetened with dates and dried fruit).
Run 2 – 4 times a week.
Do 2 strength work outs a week.
Drink more water.
Log my food in MyFitnessPal (and revisit all the healthy recipes that I logged in there while I was coaching.
Blog my progress at least once a week!
I don’t think any of this is too ambitious as I am already alcohol free and running. I have let the strength workouts slip but think that will be easy to get back into. I just need to get back into the mindset I was in last year.
So watch this space! I don’t even know if anyone reads my blog but putting this out there on the internet will make me accountable. Even if it’s only me reading it!
Cognitive dissonance is something that I suffer with a lot! It’s that annoying argument that you have with yourself about two opposing viewpoints. We waste so much energy on these arguments and it can be mentally exhausting! It happened a lot for me around alcohol until I decided to quit drinking for 90 days. Now there’s just no argument! I’ve made the decision so there’s no discussion! It is so freeing! (It is also what is making me think I might just quit alcohol for good!)
However, I noticed recently that a new argument had started up in my brain about going to the gym. I started a new job a few months ago and it means I’m not working from home as much as I used to. That in turn means that I don’t have as much time to go to the gym. What I’ve realised (after lots of reflection which is something else I do more of these days!) is that the cognitive dissonance around going to the gym or not was actually stopping me from doing strength workouts altogether even though I am perfectly well equipped to do them at home! By the time I’d finished arguing with myself, I was too exhausted to do a workout! The solution? I’ve cancelled my gym membership! So not only is that cognitive dissonance quiet now, I’ve saved myself £54 a month! Win win!
I occasionally have an internal argument with myself about going for a run but I’ve developed such a good running habit that it doesn’t happen very often and I know from the experience of building up that habit that I might as well just go for the run as it makes me feel so good! Coupled with the fact that my dogs like running with me so it kills two birds with one stone, that argument rarely gets air time these days.
So my advice to you is this – if your head is filled with a constant battle about something, take a step back, reflect and make a change that stops the cognitive dissonance. It is liberating!
I’ve been a bit rubbish at blogging but I thought I should at least post an update 6 months on from my health and fitness coaching!
Where do I start? Well firstly, I’m really proud of myself! I put on weight over Christmas and I put on weight on an all inclusive holiday in March. The holiday weight is gone and the Christmas weight is well on its way! Im currently half a stone heavier than when I finished the coaching but im feeling so great in every other way that I’m OK with that! All my new smaller clothes still fit me.
The biggest achievement is that I’ve only had alcohol on 6 days this year! That means I haven’t had alcohol on 94 days! it’s been a huge learning experience but I’m mostly loving it. I still have moments of really fancying a drink and I did give in on holiday but I’m coming to the conclusion that alcohol gives me nothing and takes away so much. I would never have got here without the support of Beth throughout my coaching. She got me to see things differently and build long lasting habits.
What does alcohol take away from me?
Sleep – it ruins it
Heart rate – it increases it
HRV – it lowers it
Self respect – it removes it
Memory – it erases it
Motivation – it’s crushes it
Exercise – it stops me from doing it
Anxiety – it adds to it
The list goes on but you get the picture! I’m a happier, calmer, more motivated version of myself without alcohol.
I’m still not ready to say never again and I’m hanging on the the fact that I can drink the bottle of champagne that’s chilling in the cellar but that just means I need to keep working on myself. I’m not fully recovered but I’m going to carry in reading, listening to podcasts and revelling in the unexpected joy of being sober (to steal a phrase from one of my favourite quit lit books with the same name!) So watch this space!
The ultimate test was going to Day Fever recently. This is a night club experience during the day. Curated by Rob McClure of Reverend and the Makers. I went with 3 drinking buddies and I stayed sober. It was a brilliant afternoon and I danced for 3 hours straight to banging tunes. I even got up on stage to dance. I left early as I had other commitments but I would have (and will next time) stayed longer. It made me realise that if I do things that I love, I don’t need to drink. I clocked up 30,000 steps that day so it was great exercise as well!
I’ve also started a new job since I last posted. I took voluntary redundancy from the university which was a scary prospect but I got a job at Nexus Multi Academy Trust which I am loving at the end of week 4. (Staying sober through the redundancy and job hunting was hugely beneficial.)
Exercise is now just part of my regular routine. I’m running 2 – 4 times a week and doing regular strength and mobility training. I just feel meh if I don’t exercise regularly so it’s a non negotiable.
I’m eating more healthily and I’ve developed the best sourdough starter but that deserves its own post so stick around if you’re interested…….
Today is the final check in with Beth after 6 months on her coaching program (which you can find out more about here)
Beth’s coaching has totally and utterly changed my life. In the last 6 months I have lost over 2.5 stone but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I could not have believed 6 months ago that my life could change so much for the better.
Before I started coaching I used to have an internal battle with myself about which 2 or 3 days I would exercise each week. If I managed 1 or 2 workouts/runs then I saw that as a win. I needed Beth to hold me accountable so that I would exercise. 6 months later Beth is lecturing me about the importance of having rest days as I just can’t get enough of exercising!
I initially said that one of my goals was to try and have at least 4 dry nights a week and to drink moderately on the other nights. I have drunk alcohol moderately on 3 nights in the past month and had several months of not drinking at all. What is most amazing about this is that I have loved every minute of it. Why would I get drunk and not be able to get up for a run the next day?? I don’t recognise myself and this is down to the videos, podcasts and coaching that Beth has shared with me. I haven’t had to be a hermit either – I’ve still really enjoyed sober nights out, parties and several camping trips.
Other positive side effects of this coaching are:
I have more energy
I sleep much better
I am happy
I am calm
I am mindful
I rarely get stressed and if I do then it passes quickly as I am much better at taking control of situations
My blood pressure is normal
I am more productive at work
I don’t usually need to get up for the loo in the night
I don’t hate photos of myself
I don’t have to wear baggy clothes anymore
People keep telling me I look great
I spend all the money I used to spend on booze on clothes (good job I don’t drink much as I can’t stop buying clothes as everything I try on looks great!)
My dogs are getting great walks/runs
I’m setting a good example to my kids
I no longer spend lots of time worrying about my health
I no longer have constant internal battles with myself about drinking, eating healthily and exercising. It just comes naturally.
No food is off limits
I no longer avoid carbs
I don’t get stressed if my hubby puts a huge glug of oil in the pan when he’s cooking
I can run up hills without stopping
I can run 10 km in under an hour
This coaching is the best money I have ever spent and can’t thank Beth enough. Having someone in my corner who is so empathic and passionate about me and my health has been amazing. I’m going to have to carry on attending Beth’s boxercise classes so that I still get my Beth fix every week.
I am astounded at how I managed to do Chatsworth 10K in 56 mins 45 seconds yesterday. With 192m elevation – most of which is in km 2-5 – it was very challenging. Previously my fastest 10km was 69 minutes! 6 months of health and fitness coaching has really paid off!
I have to say I’m not the best at moderation, particularly when it comes to alcohol. I’m great at having no alcohol but once I have one drink I really struggle to stop until I fall asleep (sometimes in the middle of a party!) Then I wake up the next morning feeling rubbish and waste the day feeling sorry for myself. So, this week I had an internal battle going on in my head about whether to drink last night or do parkrun today. In the end I gave myself a good talking to and made myself drink in moderation. It worked! I got up feeling fresh as a daisy this morning and smashed Graves parkrun! It was mostly easy to drink moderately but there were moments where it could’ve gone either way. I did it though and practise makes perfect!
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!!
