Chivs' Blog- Upping the ante!

28th January 2013

So, I’ve now had a couple of ‘gentle’ sessions at the gym with David putting me through my paces! The first session felt quite ‘easy’ to be honest, although I suspect David was just assessing what he could get away with…. I did press-ups / push-ups / squats / weights / bench-press etc and felt quite good by the end of it, which surprised me!

During the second session, David upped the ante, and I came away feeling just about every muscle in my body! Wow … that gave me more of a feeling of what to expect. My heart was pounding so hard by the end of it, I thought everyone else in the gym might hear it! The thing is, I think David was still being gentle with me …which is a bit of a worry! Hopefully with more practice/sessions under my belt it won’t feel quite so hard!!

I have a weakness in my back which needs to be treated carefully, so David has been concentrating on exercises that focus in this area, so there has been much pushing to and fro of my body weight on various pieces of equipment…. All I need to do now, is to keep at it at home and in the studio, when I can!

This week another couple of sessions in the offing …so wish me luck!

Posted by Stephanie Lawley at 3:23pm

Chivs' Blog- Clearing out the junk food!

22nd January 2013

Well, having deciphered my photo-diary, David assessed my ‘diet’ and has made a number of recommendations… mainly, if it’s not reared or grown out of the ground – DON’T TOUCH IT! It appears a large chunk of my food intake is processed, and I need to reduce that immediately, or end up in a bad way! Probably the wake-up call I needed.

Therefore, my regime has had a major shake-up! I’ve removed sugar from my coffee and reduced the number of mugs of the stuff I drink each day, as well as cut back on my reliance on sandwiches and fast-foods! Having said that, I need to eat more, apparently…but it needs to be the right foods. I have a list to work through of good, wholesome and nutritious food-stuffs – so watch this space!

Posted by Stephanie Lawley at 3:19pm

Sally's Blog- Sticking to the diet on a girly break!

21st January 2013

This week is going to be interesting, I’m off for a girlie weekend to Prague on Thursday – 5 nights of sightseeing and possibly the odd cocktail! I know I’ve got to put in some work at the gym both before and after to counteract some of the damage so Monday at 10am I’m off to see David. After I admit that at the weekend I wasn’t terribly good (although I can highly recommend Mr Wu’s in London for an utterly delicious Chinese, Shrek was absolutely brilliant too!) and that the coming weekend (or 5 day break!) was possibly not going to be much better David really put me through my paces. Some new exercises means I know I’ll be a bit achy by Tuesday evening as my muscles didn’t already have them in their memory. Plus he finished me off with what I will refer to as the bike of death!! 8 minutes on an upright bike doing some high intensity interval training. 2 minute warm up then 8 reps of the following – 20 seconds as hard and fast as you can on gear 9, followed by 10 second recovery time at gear 4. Then a 2 minute warm-down at the end. Easy I hear you say – well you try it then!! By the 5^th rep I was shattered, 20 seconds has never felt so long and 10 seconds so short in my life! There are lots of benefits you can read about interval training and for those really short on time it’s a great way to get your heart rate up and lots of people swear by it, personally I think they must be sadists – give me the weights any day!

I genuinely had no idea at this stage if I have lost any weight at all (muscle weighs 3 times more than fat apparently) but I feel amazing. My nails are growing super fast, my skin has never been so good and I wobble less! I’ve got tonnes of energy and I really never thought I would say this, but I’m really enjoying the gym! The weights area is not daunting at all once you know what you’re doing and everyone (staff and members) at Westgate is so friendly. If you get stuck or are doing a move slightly wrong they’re quick to help without making you feel stupid which is great. So I’ve been to the gym doing my programme with David on Monday and Wednesday and did spinning on Tuesday. Makes me feel a little less guilty as I sit at Gatwick sipping a banana daiquiri for breakfast on Thursday – it is one of my 5 a day after-all!

Posted by Stephanie Lawley at 10:46am

Sally's Blog- Nutritional Advice

14th January 2013

I knew this week was going to be hard food wise as I had a 40^th Birthday meal, it was my Birthday (so another meal out!), 2 lunches out and a trip to the theatre in London with lunch and dinner in the big city! I still managed to fit in my 3 trips to the gym but no sessions with my David this week. Food wise I’m still doing OK Monday to Friday but must plan my weekends better to stop myself being somewhere at 2pm having had no lunch and nowhere to buy something that’s fits with my caveman diet! I’ve found a new love for a protein rich breakfast, yet again my David was right it really does fill you up. Having sugary breakfasts, even porridge and honey (which I thought was quite healthy!) was sending my blood sugar level sky high early on in the day and meaning I was having sugar lows by mid-afternoon and craving something sweet – usually chocolate from the Spirit tuck box!! What I love about having My David on my side is that he explains things in a way I can not only understand but that makes complete sense. Plus he’s not that much of a hard task master and has said I need to follow the 90/10 rule, be as good as I can 90% of the time and don’t beat myself up if 10% of the time I can’t find caveman food or have the odd chocolate button!! I’ve missed My David this week though, it’s amazing what a difference it makes having him beside you when you’re working out. He is always on email though, so if I have any questions I just drop him a line (which I’ve done a few times this week!). I’m actually looking forward to seeing him on Monday.

Posted by Stephanie Lawley at 10:41am

Chivs' Blog- The Background

9th January 2013

Well my ‘get-fit-for-2013’ regime is finally underway. David at Westgate Leisure has today checked me over and put me to the test during my fitness consultation!  The conclusions were…I need to get fit …and lose some weight! We did some tests to check my back-ache problems, and an appropriate programme is now being drawn up. My next task is to make a photo-diary of everything I eat and drink over the next few days, to present to David on Monday at my first ‘proper’ session. In the meantime, more walks and a few sessions on the exercise bike beckon..!

Posted by Stephanie Lawley at 4:22pm