It's harder than it seems :)

Inspirational....

Don't forget :)

I'm ready....

Some of my latest purchases so now there really are no excuses! 

Next week we're gonna get serious about our training again :)

Reebok Realflex in yellow

Nike sculpt hoody in neon pink. This is absolutely lovely. 

It is so soft, warm, light to wear, super stretchy. Simply the best!

I bought the Puma move sweat jacket in black and raspberry. 

Love the tall and wide neck :)

I also needed a more comfortable sports bra and the Soc in yellow is both cheap and comfy! 

I would not recommend this for running but for the gym it's great.

My Inspiration Board....

I don't know about you but I seriously need some inspiration for starting going 

to the gym again. If I only could look like this...sigh!

My Next Goal...

I'm ready!

Exercise Update....

Oh, last week was brutal. Brutal!!

On Saturday morning we did our last session for the week. We did squats, lunges and military presses. Even before leaving the gym, I could feel pain in my butt, that's how fast the pain came. And from there it has only gotten worse, to say the least :( Even just turning in bed while sleeping woke me up in sheer pain. So, walking in stairs, getting up from a chair and going to the toilet will be left unsaid (but I'm sure you can use your imagination what that looks like).

This morning I even had to google extreme muscle pain because I was getting worried that something was seriously wrong (I can still hear my boyfriends voice in the back of my head -Sore muscles is the best feeling! WTF!)

I am also worried about tomorrows session, which includes leg extensions!!

Oh, I just got a message from the others doing the same schedule....and both of them will postpone the next workout because they can't move either (haha). So, I guess it's ok to push it forward a day :)

Wish me luck for this week!

A fresh start....

This week we are making a fresh start when it comes to exercise.

I lost my willpower for a second...or rather almost 2 weeks, but now we are back on track. Suddenly, the gym felt uninspiring, I felt extremely tired, period pain from hell and getting a cold are just a few reasons for feeling low.

We have read a lot about what Martin at Leangains.com has to say. It makes sense and we will give the lifestyle a go.

All in all it means that you fast from like 9pm to 11am.

Lift heavy....I mean extremely heavy 3 times a week.

Use RPT - reversed pyramid training.

Last but not least....cycle the carb load.

Every month we will have a weigh-in and "lift-in" with some people at Jonas' work.

This morning was our first session.

OMG! Luckily there were hardly any people there this morning because I made some noises resembling those heavy weight champions. I don't mean a minor grunt, but a big one - for every lift :) I though Jonas was going to die...

I have read about mental tiredness after lifting heavy but never really experienced it....until today! I feel mentally drained! I am almost sitting here with an empty stare and drool dripping from my mouth!

For those of you interested in our schedule:

1. Deadlifts

Leg extensions

Pull-ups

2. Bench press

Chins

(Biceps standing curl). Optional

3. Squats

Lunges

Military press

This one is on me :)

I know this is a blog mainly about interior decoration, which is a huge part of my life,

but I also do other things :)

This post is about food, exercise and the willpower to make a change

(in more ways than one)!

It all started 6 months ago when I found myself overweight,

nicotine free (hence the extra pounds) and rather miserable....

I hadn't really let myself go, just quitting smoking and the fact that I am 37 years old made me look like something taken from a horror movie.

I have always been a bit slack when it comes to exercise and I have always enjoyed my foods but it was time to make a radical change.

I started to follow the diet LCHF (low carb, high fat) to my boyfriends delight (lost a lot of weight) but to my horror. I gained even more weight. Probably due to the fact that I'm used to large portions and subsequently ate too much. Panic is an understatement! I then decided to eat more in the lines of GI (less and more healthier carbs). I need my carbs....I even lose weight when I eat them!

Note! My body is always acting against the norm! It's weird but true - I can eat a whole meringue cake (yes, by myself!) + exercise one week and lose more weight compared to another week with hardly any sugary or bad food + exercise?? Ok, this is not something I do every week but the body needs a break every now and then.....a week with no exercise (you WILL come back to the gym stronger, more focused and more determined than before), a few days of almost binge eating (for me, I know when this is what I need because I am hungry 24/7 - so eat!) and last but not least, change your exercise routine!! We are a bit extreme since we change things almost every second week but you should change it up at least every couple of months.

We have gone through a few different exercise regimens on this journey.

It all started with the classical 3 sets with 12 reps.

Not lifting heavy enough - not seeing much results!

We then changed things up my doing less reps with heavier weights.

Still not lifting heavy enough but made a little bit more sense.

I then hit a plateau and lost no weight at all! We then used the Max Workouts and that really helped. I started to lose weight again and the exercise was all new to me. Lots of compound exercises and a lot of cardio. This exercise is tough! I didn't shed any tears but not too far from it...sometimes you just want to scream in agony ;)

I think Max Workouts are great and we both saw some real results but it is tough and we started to miss lifting weights old style....

so we have now switched back to normal weight lifting.

We now follow MAX OT and we love it! We do between 1-3 sets with 4-6 reps and we lift as heavy as we can. It's not very lady-like grunting like a pig in the gym but it really delivers so we will keep doing it for a while. I plan to throw in Max Workouts for a couple of months here and there but right now we are in a good place.

So, my starting weight was 65 kg and my current weight is 59.5. I still want to lose 1.5 kg if we just talk numbers but I can't since the goal is to also gain muscle so the exact number is impossible to guess. Let's just say that one smaller size in my jeans would be great and to tone up a bit more!

So for exercise, I really recommend Max Workouts and MAX OT!

They both worked really well for me.

OMG! I can't believe I'm letting you all see this :( This is 6 months ago.

Now, let's talk food!

I have no character when it comes to food so I need a regimen that fulfills me....or I will be the first one with the hand in the cookie jar. I could have lost a lot more weight if I had followed a more strict program but the chances are that I would have failed or got bored. The goal is to find something that works for you for the rest of your life...basically :)

Example of last weeks dinner menu:

Chicken, roasted vegetables (broccoli, beets, parsnip, carrot, beans, sweet potato) and bearnaise sauce (or any other high fat sauce).

Oven baked chicken with wine, garlic, chili, olive oil and parsley with mashed cauliflower, cucumber.

Panfried white fish covered in polenta, potato, cucumber and sauce made from low fat yoghurt, mayo and pickled greens.

BBQ chicken (no skin), small serving rice, cucumber and sauce made with low fat yoghurt, mayo, curry powder and shredded green apple.

Sushi

Beef with lots and lots of panfried onions and bearnaise sauce and a mix of cucumber, red onion and cherry tomatoes with vinegar and spices.

Panfried mix of sausage, broccoli, mushrooms and onion.

What about breakfast and lunch? We exercise first thing in the morning when the gym opens with no food in our stomachs. All we consume is a drink of amino acids before leaving home. If the tummy rumbles, I eat a handful of nuts. It works really well to exercise with no food! As soon as we get home we drink another drink with amino acids. I then try to fast until lunchtime. Usually I get too hungry so I eat lunch early, like 11 am. Then in the afternoon around 2-3 I eat more nuts. Then we have dinner between 5 and 6 pm.

We also take supplements....mainly basic ones. Unfortunately, half of the time we forget to take them so it's not an everyday thing :)

beta-AMIN-X from NutriVision (this is my favorite! Taste great and works really well)

Vitamin B

Zink

Omega 3

Vitamin C

ALA

Calcium

Casein before bedtime in the form of mousse

Well, this is how we live, breath, eat and exercise...

I would love to know what works for you!

Push-ups....

Do you remember that I challenged myself in doing 10 proper push-ups! Well, I friend asked about that the other day and YES I can do 10! Now, it's just a matter of showing you the proof :) Hopefully it won't be too long before I post a video! Here is a reminder of what it looked like not too long ago.....

Yes!

I can't believe it!

I have finally reached my first goal in achieving a proper push-up.....The goal was ONE but I did TWO in case you missed the first one :)

No more crappy ones or on the knees!

Maybe I should set my second goal?.....is 10 a good number? Ok, lets say 10!

Be prepared to laugh :)

I have always wanted to be able to do push-ups.....not necessarily good ones....just ANY really!

All my life I have tried and not being able to do one....kinda sad really :)

But one day, not too long ago, I tried again and suddenly I managed to make 7!! Just like that! I have no idea how that happened but since then I have decided to practice, practice, practice....

My first goal is to be able to make ONE with proper form. For me, a proper push-up is one with your feet together and your elbows tucked to your sides :)

......I have a looong way to go!

This is after I made 30 bad push-ups so I was extremely tired, plus it's in the middle of an upper body workout.

It's incredible sad looking but I think that by showing this I will have to keep working.

Goal: 1 proper push-up!

Exercise from hell.....

Oh, did I over-do it yesterday!

We started the day with a spinning class at 7 am....YES! 7 am. Who is this crazy person that set up my exercise schedule? (that would be myself :))

Then afterwards when normal people hit the showers, I did legs and abs weight training for an hour.

As soon I got home I felt so tired....not exercise tired but sleepy tired. Managed to stay awake the whole day but at 7.30 pm I fell asleep on the couch.....woke up around 10 and drank 1 litre of water.....then fell asleep and slept the whole night!!

I think my body just had enough :)

But tonight, hell continues with a 60 min pulse spinning class..

Phys Ed

Här kommer lite mer träning som du kan göra hemma......helt gratis.....och med min favorit Bob! Hur bra som helst, så ta ut handen ur chips påsen och KÖR! ♥

Phys Ed

12 steg till att bli en löpare!

Efter nästan ett helt liv av rökning har jag nu slutat för sista gången! Det har man ju hört förr men den här gången är det sant. Till följd lägger man ju på sig en del extra kilon, dels för att man oftare dyker ner i godispåsen, dels för att en rökare väger ca 2 kg mindre än icke-rökarna pga av förhöjd puls eller nåt. Så nu har i allafall jag fått nog. JAG HAR BESTÄMT MIG! Jag ska bli en löpare!.....och kommer att kämpa för en superfigur beach 2011 :) Börja du med!

1. Ha tålamod

Träning sker gradvis. Du kommer att få börja med att springa väldigt lite och långsammare än vad du hade tänkt dig. Acceptera det från början.

2. Planera

Schemalägg dina pass, precis som om det vore möten på jobbet. Skänk dig själv en halvtimme varannan dag. Se det som en halvtimme mindre tv, surfande eller något annat oengagerat som du inte kommer att sakna.

3. Införskaffa det allra viktigaste

Löpning är väldigt enkelt, men för att starta behöver du ändå införskaffa det allra nödvändigaste, ett par bra skor. Gå till en löparbutik och köp ett par löparskor av personal som kan löpning. Fuska inte med det! Löparskor ska sitta tajt utan att klämma åt och bör definitivt inte ge några skavsår.

4. Börja långsamt

Det ska inte gå fortare än att ni kan prata med varandra. Det är säkerligen mycket söligare än vad du hade föreställt dig, men det kommer också att bära längre.

5. Var avslappnad

En avspänd inställning till träningen bör också motsvaras av ett avslappnat genomförande. Skaka loss armarna, de ska inte sitta stelt uppe hos axlarna, som i sin tur inte heller ska rotera. Knyt inte händerna till nävar. Håll överkroppen upprätt, det är lätt börja sätta sig när man blir trött. Rikta all kraft framåt, inte uppåt eller sidledes.

6. Alternera med styrka

Ditt hjärta kommer snabbt att bli mer effektivt av de regelbundna halvtimmespassen. Men skador uppstår när konditionsnivån överstiger styrkan. Börja därför med att springa i lite mer kuperad terräng efter några veckor, när du klarar premiärturen utan pauser.

7. Spring inte genom smärta

Var beredd på att de första träningarna kommer att medföra värk. Det är högst naturligt och snarast ett gott betyg på att du har sysselsatt muskler som legat i träda. Det går snart över. Däremot ska du ta akut smärta på allvar. De första kroppsdelarna som brukar protestera ifall man går fort fram med träningen är benhinnor och knän.

8. Pröva på något fartigare

Ett vanligt problem bland nybörjare är en tendens att ta för långa steg. Foten ska landa i en lodlinje rakt under höften.

9. Utöka ett av passen

När du har gått igenom stegen att du…

a) …klarar av att springa en halvtimme utan att ta gåpauser

b) …fartleker minst ett pass i veckan i mer kuperad terräng

c) …avslutar med koordinationslopp

…kan du börja förlänga ett av passen. Fortfarande gäller det att skynda långsamt med tålamod som främsta honnörsord.

10. Slarva inte med maten!

En och en halv till två timmars träning i veckan slukar kalorier. Ät något så fort du är klar med passet, allra helst innan du hoppar in i duschen.

11. Ha roligt!

Träningen får aldrig bli ett självändamål. Leta efter det som skapar lust. Shoppa träningskläder (undvik bomull!). Anmäl dig till ett kravlöst lopp tillsammans med dina träningskompisar. De allra flesta är fyllda med andra motionärer. Åk ut till områden som du inte varit i förut eller överraska dig själv med hur långt du kommer på en sightseeing i din egen hemstad.

12. Förslag på träningsskiss – 14 veckor för att komma igång

Vi har i denna text vänt oss till dem som inte tränar alls. Den som redan håller på med andra sporter kan börja med längre pass och bör klara sig utan pauser, men följa samma principer:

spring regelbundet, mycket långsamt till en början och sikta på att förlänga passen. Räkna i minuter i stället för kilometer för att undvika att hetsa fram rekord på varje löptur.

OBS! Nedanstående är bara en skiss. Bli inte stressad om du behöver fler veckor för att klara av att springa en halvtimme i sträck. Blir du sjuk och tappar en vecka eller fler, återgår du till där du var eller backa några steg. Följ inte heller minutförslagen slaviskt. Du förstör inte din träning om det till exempel blir det åtta eller tolv minuter gång i stället för föreskrivna tio.

(via marathon.se)

Phys Ed

Phys Ed: 20 min cardio workout

Målet är att ha en sån här kropp Beach 2011 ;).....så det är väl lika bra att sätta igång! Men först middag med vänner !