Weight loss update!

So if you follow me on social media and my other blog you will be aware that I have been on a weight loss journey since I returned home to London, well I have now left London and have been happily living in Korea for just over 3 weeks (already?!) time is flying!!! (more on my exploits in Korea here.) I can safely say this place is bloody amazing!!! I put weight back on because for 3 weeks I haven't worked out (1 week before leaving for Korea and the first two weeks in Korea). I have so far done 5 days of workouts, a day out cycling for a couple of hours and eating a Korean diet & clean eating (pretty much the same thing). I did have a binge of bad foods in the first week here, jam on toast for breakfast, chocolate at one point as there was a huge halloween pack of mini american chocolates that got devoured everyday, plus I did go out had a few beers, ate quite a hefty amount of unclean food in one sitting. But after that its been good, I'm usually eating fish and/or eggs mainly and sometimes chicken, with lots of vegetables and not even a full portion of brown rice and some wholemeal bread for breakfast. I have had my cheat days too but I don't count those as they are well needed! I've had no need to use butter or oil (not even coconut oil!) but I have yet to find coconut oil anywhere, but never fear I'm still getting my healthy fats through fish and seaweed and plain yogurt!

Moving onto the reason I'm writing this post, I have lost 3kg since my medical check which was just over a week ago which is absolute madness! I'm doing nothing crazy just eating right and exercising. I sadly don't have a pair of calipers with me and the ones I did own weren't the best, so I'm waiting to get paid so I can order a good set to keep track of my body fat. But I've been measuring and its been good results!!! I can also see in photos I don't look as chubby as I did in Thailand which is a good sign for such little time, better results than the 3 months I spent working out and TRYING to eat clean in London (carbs are my enemy). Without further ado, here's my results!

Thigh-  61cm (lost 3cm) (total lost: 3+ 3.5= 6.5cm) 
Neck- 36cm (lost 1cm) (total: 1+1= 2cm)
Forearm- 25.5cm (lost 0cm) (total: 0 + 1.5cm)
Waist- 91cm (lost 4.5cm) (total: 4.5+ 7.5= 12cm)
Chest- 109 cm (lost 1.5cm) (total:1.5+ 3.5= 5cm)
Hips- 104cm (lost 6cm) (total: 6+9= 15cm )
Arm- 38cm (+2cm) (total lost: -2cm)
Calf- 36cm (1cm) (total: 1+ 3= 4cm)

Week 9 Progress!!!!!

So I've measured myself 18 days ago, I don't know why I did not measure myself 9 weeks ago (I do really, I had let myself go quite a bit, I could't face to see how much fat I had gained)

I wasn't going to measure my weight and fat percentage for another month, but seeing the progress I've had after 18 days I'm going to brave it tomorrow!

Thigh- 64cm (lost 3.5cm)
Neck- 37cm (lost 1cm)
Forearm- 25.5cm (lost 1.5cm)
Waist- 95.5cm (lost 7.5cm)
Chest- 110.5cm (lost 3.5cm)
Hips- 110cm (lost 9cm)
Arm- 36cm (2cm)
Calf- 37cm (3cm)

I say that calls for a celebration!!! That's motherf****ing progress and there was me getting down about how slow my progress is coming along but after 18 days theres that much noticeable difference, give it 3 months i'm gonna look fabulous!

Super happy as always! :)

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

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 :(