[Sazzy890]

Hey guys,

Here's my start pictures

Goal

I'm doing this because I want to lose weight and get muscle showing through. I want to make the most of my gym membership and get physically fit. I'm hoping that this competition will motivate me to achieve these goals.

How I intend to achieve it

In order to achieve this I intend to change my diet and of course, exercise more. I will be running outside more, exercising in the gym more (lots of cardio and some weights), and I will attend more fitness classes.

It would be great if people could give me healthy meal ideas. I know what food counts as healthy I just wouldn't know how best to make a meal out of it. Note: I don't eat fish or seafood.

I particularly find it hard at work because I need to take healthy snacks and lunch in as the canteen only sells junk (and it's expensive junk at that, so I'm hoping to save some money too!!)

[AnonymityFTW]

Good luck

I think for students watching their diet, lunch time is the worst! I go to college and the food at the canteen is totally nasty (chips, pasties, yuck) so I always try and take something in. Have you considered buying some of those cheap Tupperware-type boxes from Poundland and making a batch of some sort of salad every couple of days and taking a nice portion in for lunch? If you don't eat fish, then you could make things like chicken salad? (I'm vegetarian so I'm not an expert on meat stuff haha).

Also as a healthy snack I always advise people to try dark chocolate. It has health benefits as well as being low in sugar and fat! Also you can make homemade flapjacks really easily and they're awesome for an energy boost. You can google healthy recipes.

Anyway sorry I'm waffling..

[Becca]

Roast chicken breasts with the juice of half a lemon squeezed over and salt and pepper in the oven at 200C fan/220C non-fan for 20 mins. Serve with salad with pine nuts, cherry toms, raw broccoli and a nice balsamic and olive oil dressing. OR oven roasted veggies. That is standard and you can make double and take some to work the next day. Change the meat to pork loin, or roast a whole chicken instead, then you can make stock from the bones. The broth is nice on its own in a thermos or you can make soup from it!

I like chilli with lentils mixed in - serve with sour cream and you don't need rice!

Also some of my favourite recipes:

http://www.route79.com/food/rogan-josh.htm
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9...cken-with-orzo
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9...espice-chicken

Good Food is amazing.

[ViceVersa]

Good luck Sazzy

[Sazzy890]

Thanks for the encouragement guys

(Original post by AnonymityFTW)
Good luck

I think for students watching their diet, lunch time is the worst! I go to college and the food at the canteen is totally nasty (chips, pasties, yuck) so I always try and take something in. Have you considered buying some of those cheap Tupperware-type boxes from Poundland and making a batch of some sort of salad every couple of days and taking a nice portion in for lunch? If you don't eat fish, then you could make things like chicken salad? (I'm vegetarian so I'm not an expert on meat stuff haha).

Also as a healthy snack I always advise people to try dark chocolate. It has health benefits as well as being low in sugar and fat! Also you can make homemade flapjacks really easily and they're awesome for an energy boost. You can google healthy recipes.

Anyway sorry I'm waffling..

Thanks for the advice I've just been taking small snacks in for work such as bananas, oranges, raisins, nuts etc. I will try to have something like a plain jacket potato or a salad at lunch, I guess I could vary it up though if I take in my own but I don't do that right now (will probably start doing that at some point, just need to have the "be bothered" to pre-prepare my lunches hehe).

Thankfully I rarely ever crave chocolate so that's not a massive concern. Crisps are my weakness I've been pretty good lately, though I did have one packet on Saturday.

(Original post by Becca)
Roast chicken breasts with the juice of half a lemon squeezed over and salt and pepper in the oven at 200C fan/220C non-fan for 20 mins. Serve with salad with pine nuts, cherry toms, raw broccoli and a nice balsamic and olive oil dressing. OR oven roasted veggies. That is standard and you can make double and take some to work the next day. Change the meat to pork loin, or roast a whole chicken instead, then you can make stock from the bones. The broth is nice on its own in a thermos or you can make soup from it!

I like chilli with lentils mixed in - serve with sour cream and you don't need rice!

Also some of my favourite recipes:

http://www.route79.com/food/rogan-josh.htm
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9...cken-with-orzo
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9...espice-chicken

Good Food is amazing.

Ooo, thank you, this all looks lovely I'm definitely going to give some of these recipes a go. And it's also a good excuse to learn some new recipes! Can surprise the boyfriend at the weekend

(Original post by ViceVersa)
Good luck Sazzy

Thank you!


Also, quick update:

- I went running twice last week
- Went to zumba class and body combat in a row, could barely walk the next day
- I've been doing my floor exercises for the muscle side of things such as sit-ups, crunches and stretches.
- On top of that I've also been eating healthier and I always walk to and from work at a fast pace.

I need to go to the gym this week and start doing a few of the weights as well cardio.

Didn't do much in the way of fitness at the weekend, but I did stick mostly to a good diet. I shall go for a run again tonight

[Sazzy890]

Proud of myself, been eating consistently healthy recently, even at work! And I'm having plenty of protein for those muscles And I've really pushed myself hard with cardio, but in particular with my strength exercises. My tummy is aching today from all the ab exercises and will probably ache even more tomorrow after the workout I had today... I take that as a good sign that I'm starting to make progress.

Monday was my rest day, yesterday I went to body combat and did my stretches and strength exercises (crunches, sit-ups, the plank, squats, leg raises), today I went running and did strength exercises, tomorrow I shall go to the gym doing cardio and a few weights (my cardio exercises usually include the walking machine as a warm-up (not sure if it has a specific name), treadmill and rowing machine, I also like the cross trainer and exercise bikes if I'm feeling energetic!), Friday will be my day off, then I'm playing a game of badminton on Saturday

[Sazzy890]

Going out for a picnic with friends this evening. I think that is really going to be difficult with all the cakes and what not on offer! I'm taking fruit, so hopefully that'll encourage me to steer clear of the cakes! To be honest, I never have much of a sweet tooth so I am a bit concerned about the sausage rolls etc, but sure I can have something a bit healthier

[shorty.loves.angels]

(Original post by Becca)
Roast chicken breasts with the juice of half a lemon squeezed over and salt and pepper in the oven at 200C fan/220C non-fan for 20 mins. Serve with salad with pine nuts, cherry toms, raw broccoli and a nice balsamic and olive oil dressing.

Good Food is amazing.

You eat raw broccoli!!! I got ridiculed the other day for a) munching a raw piece while preparing a salad and b) using the whole big fat stalk, not just the fluffy dark green bit (brain fail). I'm re-directing said ridiculers here

(Original post by Sazzy890)
Going out for a picnic with friends this evening. I think that is really going to be difficult with all the cakes and what not on offer! I'm taking fruit, so hopefully that'll encourage me to steer clear of the cakes! To be honest, I never have much of a sweet tooth so I am a bit concerned about the sausage rolls etc, but sure I can have something a bit healthier

Well done for being so good so far! Have you been doing Zumba long? I tried it but found it boring. Body combat sounds more fun though

I was just looking through the Transformation Contest thread at the things people had put for their 'guilty pleasures', don't you find picnics/ party food some of the worst things to be around when you're trying to watch what you eat? It's so easy to nibble continuously, never feel full, and stuff yourself with crap that is never gona satisfy you I think I'd just take a big piece of chicken so that I'm full before I get the urge to snack!

[Becca]

(Original post by shorty.loves.angels)
You eat raw broccoli!!! I got ridiculed the other day for a) munching a raw piece while preparing a salad and b) using the whole big fat stalk, not just the fluffy dark green bit (brain fail). I'm re-directing said ridiculers here



Well done for being so good so far! Have you been doing Zumba long? I tried it but found it boring. Body combat sounds more fun though

I was just looking through the Transformation Contest thread at the things people had put for their 'guilty pleasures', don't you find picnics/ party food some of the worst things to be around when you're trying to watch what you eat? It's so easy to nibble continuously, never feel full, and stuff yourself with crap that is never gona satisfy you I think I'd just take a big piece of chicken so that I'm full before I get the urge to snack!

YES I eat raw broccoli all the time! Ate it yesterday, in fact. Only really in salads with different dressings on, but i'm building up to just having it plain as a snack to take to work. It's by far my favourite veg. If I make a salad I chop the stalk up really small and throw that in, though I don't go too low down cos it gets a bit woody then. Always throw it in soups and stews though - all those vitamins and iron go to waste otherwise! I eat raw cabbage too. Actually gonna make cabbage slaw to go with barbeque food next week

And yes, party food is generally really hard. So easy to just walk by the buffet and just grab one or two things. Usually there are some chicken legs or skewers or something and a bit of salad though, but at a party you don't want to stuff yourself with just one thing or there won't be enough for anyone else!

[Sazzy890]

Ewww raw broccoli

(Original post by shorty.loves.angels)
Well done for being so good so far! Have you been doing Zumba long? I tried it but found it boring. Body combat sounds more fun though

I was just looking through the Transformation Contest thread at the things people had put for their 'guilty pleasures', don't you find picnics/ party food some of the worst things to be around when you're trying to watch what you eat? It's so easy to nibble continuously, never feel full, and stuff yourself with crap that is never gona satisfy you I think I'd just take a big piece of chicken so that I'm full before I get the urge to snack!

Thank you!

Tbh I'm not a massive fan of zumba as it doesn't really get me sweating, but my mum goes and she likes me to attend with her. I figure it can be quite fun if the dances are fast. But body combat is definitely my fave! It's really fun and a good work out.

Yes, picnic/party food is sooo tempting. Thankfully at our picnic there was a lot of fruit, plus we had carrot sticks and low-fat dips which was a lot healthier than crisps and cake. I didn't have much junk, though did indulge in one scotch egg Tbh I find my biggest temptations ever are chips and crisps (as I posted in the transformation discussion thread about guilty pleasures), but I've been really good so far I find that lately as I have in my head that I can't have things, I want them more, and it's been a real battle in my head not to have naughty snacks. So far I'm doing pretty good

Thanks for the tip/idea Tbh I did want to do that... I was thinking chicken, boiled eggs and some chopped peppers/onion, but I didn't have time to make it as I went straight from work.


Update:

Continued doing my tummy exercises and did badminton at the weekend. My boyfriend says that he can notice a difference already Was a bit gutted today as I double booked myself with the doctors, so I had to cancel body step... was looking forward to it

[Sazzy890]

I feel dreadful today Must've eaten a million calories. It started off well with healthy breakfast and then went down hill.


GAH

[Willum Infanta]

(Original post by Sazzy890)

I'm sure you and CJ can do a good amount of cardio together?

[ViceVersa]

(Original post by Sazzy890)
x

Knock knock, it's been 4 weeks