Stronger than yesterday

Well hello my lovelies!!

Today has been fab f***ing-tastic. Had another hard core day hooping, cycling and of course Interval training. It's been intense and tonight, oh boy am I going to sleep like a baby!! The amount of calories I've burnt today is hard to get my head round, I've done over 2 hours of hooping alone, 20 minutes of cycling (10 mins to the park, 10 mins back) and my usual 12 minutes of training. It's insane I can spend that much time hoop dancing, it's not without it's drawbacks though, my hands are bruised and swollen again as well as my arms aching and bruised from doing arm to elbow spins. It's all worth the pain though, because today I've cracked a move I've wanted to do since I started taking an interest in hooping and that's waist to lasso, I'm so chuffed there's no words to explain my happiness, but I need to work on it because it's still hit and miss, but with practice it will just come. Super chuffed is an understatement I tell you!!!

I genuinely am so happy with how things are going :) positivity all the way!! Today was the last day of week 9. I found out there's only 2 weeks left of HIIT Max :( but not to worry bodyRock.tv always have stuff to follow which is why I love working out to them.

Oh yeah the total solar eclipse was beautiful but only because I managed to watch a live stream online, otherwise I would have been extremely disappointed looking at the skies of London. Yay for the Internet!

Lots of love. Peace x

Just go with the flow

Well Hellooooooo!!!!!

If you haven't guessed by the flow reference this is going to be a post solely on hooping and how my first day went!! You can probably gather I am in a particularly vivacious mood today!!! That my friend is because, I got my hula hoop in the post, in all its gorgeous blue and silver glory. (See pics below) I got a bit Kodak happy ;).

You wonder why I am pleased you ask?? Because this awesome weighted fitness/beginner hoop cost me a mere £20 on the ol' Amazon with FREE P&P!!!! Hoops at 42" and the fact you can dismantle it into 6 and downsize it to a 38" (that's 2 hoops in one!) should cost me a good £60 maybe? I've seen other hoops like this but they are only made in the US, not in anything bigger than a 38" (what can I say I'm tall, tall beginners need large hula hoops too!!) so these are very hard to come by and expensive to ship and make (damn my tall genes!). 

So that's why it's amazing! Plus it's beautiful I can't really ask better than that, this thing doesn't weigh much to travel with and is easy to transport which is why its so fabulous!!

Of course I've been itching to get that hoop spinning, so naturally as soon as it got here I jumped on my bike and cycled 10 mins away to the park! 

I got into the center of the field stuck my headphones in and I was gone, I left the world behind as soon as that hoop was around my hips and that music started playing in my ears. I must say its therapeutic, I was fluffing about trying out Isolations, stuff I've done before and stuff I've never done before and just going with the flow (as the title suggests). I was gone for a good 3 hours just moving to the music (apparently 30 minutes a day should suffice) and in that time I re-awoke certain muscle memories, as soon as Sia- Chandelier, that was it, it came so naturally again.

I also managed to teach myself Lassos and elbow spins, I kept trying to learn getting the hoop off my hips into lasso's and getting it from Lasso's back to my hips but right now I'm not there yet, I really wanna be able to vortex :P (sorry if these terms don't make sense just give them a google). 

Anywho, the aftermath at the moment is not so great my right hand has swollen because of bruising due to the hoop (this is normal) and my core feels worked, which is just fucking amazing!! I don't know if I will be so optimistic tomorrow, but no amount of bruising is gonna stop day 2 tomorrow!!! Today is not even over yet I still have to do today's HIIT session. Cycling, hooping and HIIT, this fat is just gonna melt off!!! 

One love, MWAH! x

My Hooping Playlist

After doing some research into music great for hooping i combined peoples suggestions with my own tastes and came up with my own diverse selection of hooping music, all compiled into a playlist, when I get a chance I will try and compile all of these into a youtube playlist or even better a spotify one!!!

But I havent had time to day so for the mean time I've attached pictures of what it contains so far! Enjoy!!

If you guys have anymore suggestions please let me know :)

Motherfucking progress!!!

Before I start my ramble for today, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely bunch! I hope you have shown your appreciation in some form for that special woman who brought you into this world!

So I start week 9 tomorrow of HIIT and this week hooping begins (when the damn hoop arrives).
So as you may know my progress is slower and I know exactly what the culprit is, now the other day I was feeling down (emotions all over the place anyways, bloody hormones!) because progress is slow and its frustrating as hell! But something today changed my view on my body....

I put on a fur coat that was tight on me when I got back from Thailand, now there's extra room around my bust, arms and torso. This changed my thinking immediately just because I am so impatient I haven't cut myself any slack and I'm mad at myself and the past month every Friday, Saturday and Sunday my clean regime goes out the window (hence the slower progress), this is down to many factors and without trying to play the blame game, these occurrences have only occurred when I've been with friends for those days.

Now theres times when I would say that were justified, but other times I feel were just pure disregard and lack of respect for my health regimen. So I'm avoiding every situation now where this may occur, sorry but I value my health more than eating bad food and jeopardising my progress (yes, i'm gonna be that guy). I'm determined to get back down to a size 12 again and so far I've probably made it back to a size 16, maybe a 14/16?  Size is just a number I cant stress that enough, it doesn't define you, but I don't fit into any clothes I have, I'm limited on what I can wear from my wardrobe, and I can't afford to buy new clothes for every time I put on weight. I need to be more self aware of my body, It's not a vanity thing, its a health thing and a body confidence thing.

Anyways, I'm super chuffed I have learnt that things are getting there and maybe the slower path is better because I am not so strict on myself, that I have completely cut out things I know I will crave, now I'm not saying I eat this stuff on a regular but I'm trying to limit my intake as much as self restraint can allow me, therefore I'm not left craving foods instead I have a little of something now and again rather than over consuming everyday and not exercising (a major difference).

I took this pic today now, my double chin has yet to go but It's getting there but my cheek bones are becoming more and more apparent which makes me so pleased!!! Just one of the few things that are apparent at the moment that I'm progressing :D (view pic below).

I think I'm in love....

...with hooping!!! (come on what did you think I meant?)

So yes after the realisation I had the other day and more and more obsessing online over it I can safely say I think hooping is the love I have been looking for, (reasons mentioned in my last blog).

I have gone full blown hooping obsessed!! So I've ordered a gorgeous weighted blue and silver 44" hoop that can be taken apart in 6 pieces and down sized as I progress, and means yes I am taking it across the world with me :). But the more and more i look into hooping the more and more I think I should also pay to get a hoop that is also light weight and thinner for other tricks. Now the predicament now is whether I fork out £67 out of my credit card to get a stunning collapsible 38" rechargeable LED hoop. (see vid below), or order a £25 non led dance hoop. Every ounce of me wants the LED for obvious reasons and the fact its on sale at an affordable price makes me want it more (LED Hoops retail anything from just under £70+). Decisions, decisions....

So I'm dying of anticipation for this hoop to arrive, as you may or may not know since I returned from Thailand a whole 6kg heavier (i was already a whole stone heavier then I used to be before I left!!!) I have been training and just finished week 8, this hooping thing has not only got me more excited about having a new way to shred some fat and lose my tummy, but the sheer fact I can do this whilst having fun and maybe one day looking awesome whilst doing it!!! Don't get me wrong I love my High Intensity Interval Training, I get to lift weights and I have seen progress already, but the progress is slower than usual and this may be down to the fact I am not still being active enough throughout the day. So the new way I think this will help me is to get a hoop, jump on the bicycle get down to the park, stick on my ipod and hoop as well as upkeep the HIIT 5 days a week. I'm growing impatient as my progress in strength is growing and my legs have toned and my butt looks fabulous, but my stomach by now should have shifted more than it has, which in all honesty is p*ssing me right off! Last time I trained I dropped a whole stone in a month!!! It's the end of month 2 and results that I have at the moment are noticeable just not as drastic as last time :(

Cherry's back from the dead!

My bad...

So yeah I went AWOL for over a year to be precise (oops..), sorry about that guys, my heads been a mess. I had graduated from uni, I put on loads of weight, I was in a dark place for a very long time, my long term relationship had ended after 6 years and I had no idea what to do with my life or what I wanted to do with my degree.

Then this miracle happened, I won a competition abroad to train in Thailand and work as as a qualified TEFL teacher, there's more on that if you check out my travel blog here.

Cue the violins...

Anyway, the real reason why I'm here is to have a bit of a bitch and moan and just to update you lot on my life, obviously a lot has happened over a year so, I'm going to try my best to compact this down as much as possible.

This is mainly going to focus on why I'm blogging again and that is because I have put a SHIT ton of weight over the past year and this is not me being a girl about it and moaning because I put on a couple of kilos. I'm talking from a UK size 12 to a UK size 18!!! I was fully aware after dissertation I was packing the pounds on, but in all honesty I had no time to eat at home, sleep a lot or leave my seat in the university library. I was really depressed and had started locking myself in my room at weekends and drinking everyday to cope (this was for various reasons, mainly because I was back on the dating scene and every bloke I thought was decent turned out to stamp on my heart on top of the stress of dissertation deadlines). I had come across one guy who was so manipulative and controlling, me being so vulnerable at the time, lets just say he really milked that situation.

Anyways back then I must have been a 14 approaching a 16. Then I won this competition thinking not to worry it will sort itself out go to Asia, eat asian food, lose weight :D During TEFL training yes I genuinely think I dropped a few pounds but it all started to pile on again when It ended :( I left England already at an overweight 89KG (which already had been the heaviest I had ever weighed), I returned back to London weighing a good 95KG.

Coming home...

Well I came back to London after experiencing more ups and downs than a yo yo in Thailand and I knew I had put on some weight but the realisation didn't hit me until I tried to put on clothes I missed wearing... It quickly dawned on me how much weight I had put on. The good news is, I was determined before getting back to London to lose this body fat I had gained. 

Pushing to the limits...

I got straight back on the clean eating and 5 day High Intensity Interval Training and at first it was fucking hard! I'm no going to lie, being pumped full of oil, refined sugars and processed food for 4 months and then going cold turkey is pretty hardcore!! It was a fucking struggle, I had mood swings because I missed certain foods, I would still give in to cravings, I hated myself in all honesty, I had left myself get that big and that weak and not even realise.

The silver lining....

So finally we get to the good part, that was 8 weeks ago now I started the process, I still go through the struggles of cravings now and again, but I have progressed!! I'm stronger, I've lost girth all over my body. Now i'm not saying that I am satisfied, I am far from it! But I am still so determined and seeing notiecable progress in reps etc. feels fucking amazing. I can gladly say I have dropped one dress size already, so I'm now back to square one where I started my fitness journey 3 years ago!! But I also forgot the uzz i get from working out and reaching a goal and seeing changes in my body.

Which leads me onto...

The Epiphany...

During this journey so far, I've noticed a change in myself I decided along with the food that doesn't belong in my diet, nor does negative behaviours. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but the changes in my mood and thinking has changed also, I'm a lot happier, I'm more comfortable with myself, I find joy in seeing others happy. Sometimes I do get hit with the emotional stick (beaten with it more like) but we all have ups and downs and how you deal and recover from it is important. I literally had an epiphany, just when I thought I couldn't be anymore positive, I was hit with this thought that totally blew my mind, when I say a thought I mean like a feeling but with more purpose. (I probably sound like i'm talking c***) It's just very hard to explain. It happened and I am astounded things could get this good.

Until the next one...

To end this ramble, these blog posts will be more of a regular thing now... I want to jot down my fitness journey and anything else that is blog worthy in all honesty!!! 

Be prepared for more positivity coming your way.

Peace! x