Its the same ol', same ol' going on around here. Weekdays on track 100% diet and gym, struggling on the weekends. I'm not posting daily diet coz most days are the same, just different protein and different veg - low carb veg! I'm lifting a bit heavier this week - db chest press 4 x 8 x 10kg instead of 9kg each hand, shoulder press db each arm up 1kg to 8kg, still cant really get past 5kg single lat raises without losing form after a few reps. Anyone suggest some good exercises for saddlebgags? squats, deadlifts, lunges hit my glutes and quads but miss the side bits. I do ad/abductor machine but you can only do so much on that, do cable with ankle cuff. Who believes in floor exercises with ankle weights?
Kinda gone off cardio a bit this week. Read somewhere that you get more bang for your buck lifting heavy weights than cardio (I already know this but it prompted me to do it) and i'm a bit time deficient this week and can spend no more than an hour in the gym per night. Dont have time to do both so i'm opting for weights only (my favourite) - am i taking the easy way out? thoughts anyone? (goal is still leaning down whilst keeping muscle - in caloric deficiency atm).
Anyway, love to hear some opinions!!
cheers, Amanda

I kow this is not fitness related but i've been having facial treatments for anti-aging. ive had IPL 2 weeks ago, backing up with CIT needling next week, then 2 weeks after that another IPL treatment and then a multi vitamin infusion 2 weeks after that. I've always looked after my skin coz its quite problematic !!! and i feel i'm struggling lately. nearing 50 my skin is changing, doesnt respond as quickly or effectively as say 5 years ago. The mind is early 30's, however the body is alway telling me otherwise!!!!! I have before photos so when ive finished in 4 weeks i'll take more and post them. Does anyone else spend alot of time and money on their skin??? I'd love to hear some tips on anti-aging. I know diet and exercise are number one and two on the list. Supplements??? any thoughts appreciated.

Its amazing how quick your body responds to clean eating. When I started this 3 week mini challenge I had gone off the rails a bit and my jeans where feelin a bit tight. My skinnies are such a good guide for me, i dont believe in scales anymore - i only weigh myself out of curiosity - and the tape measure only measures key areas and not the bits in between. Skinnies, however, tell me what's going on from my muffin top all the way down to my calves. I have no fat on my calves so if my jeans get tight there it can only mean muscle - yay (although this is the only place on my body that is naturally muscley and I rarely do specific calve exercises).
After 4 days of clean eating and gym workouts I've lost all bloating and my butt is already starting to firm up.
Now if I can only stay on this path and get over that hump from good results to spectacular results i will be a happy chappy !!!!

Tuesday

Warning: the following post may cause drowsiness ...
Meals:
M1: Allbran cereal and skim milk (only coz i have to), protein pudding
M2: 13 almonds, 100g chicken, veges
M3: skim soy capaccino, protein bar
M4: 100g rump steak, veges
M5: 1/2 small tub fat free yoghurt

Dont think i ate enough today - must do the sums ...
Couldnt go to the gym due to brooke's dancing commitments but i managed to do a light w/o at home for chest and tris - better than nothing i suppose.
Sorry about the boring post everyone. will try and make it a bit more interesting soon - maybe some photos !!

Monday

Meals as follows
M1: AllBran cereal and skim milk
M2: 13 almonds, skim soy capaccino
M3: protein bar and tea
M4: pre workout meal : 1 egg and 2 whites scramble in 1 tab olive oil and 1 cup veg
M5: post workout meal : 100g chicken and 1/2 cup sauted mushrooms
M6: protein pudding

Gym
50 mins hiit cardio (made up of xtrainer, rower, mountain climber and tready
shoulders, glutes and bis

sorry, boring post - just entering data !!!!

Day 5

Diet pretty much the same as yesterday. Gym as follows:
4 x 8 db press s/s with
4 x 8 seated cable row
4 x 8 incline db press s/s with
4 x 8 reverse pec dec
4 x 20 leg press - feet low and close s/s with
4 x 20 calf raises on leg press
4 x 8 lat pulldown
a few extra sets of quads
Cardio - 35 mins hiit - xtrainer, rower, bike, mountain climber
did i mention i HATE cardio !!!
slept well last night so i must be training good!

Day 4 / 21

Better day today, must count the cals but i'm sure it would come in no more than 1200

M1: 5 egg white omlette with tomato and spinach cooked with a bit of olive oil, tea
M2: 15 almonds, 1 apple
M3: 100g chicken, 1 cup veg, protein pudding (1 serve protein powder, 1 tsp cocoa powder and water) - was feeling VERY hungry
M4: tea, protein bar
M5: steamed fish and veges, 10 almonds
Couldnt go to the gym, took 3 kids to dentist then worked in "mums taxi" driving around for kids sports. not too bad, sciatica was playing up today and it was leg day so just as well i suppose.
Cheers

Day 3 Tuesday

I dont think i ate enough today. I didnt prep, didnt have enough good food in the house yesterday to set up a good day today.
M1: AllBran cereal and skim milk, tea (have to have this for the plumbing, dont want to, though, but ive got to.
M2: 15 almonds, protein pudding (protein powder, 1tsp cocoa powder, water and nuke) top with 1 tab fat free yoghurt, tea
M3: apple
M4: plunger coffee (gloria jeans) and skim milk, protein bar
Workout
M5: 100g beef steak, 1 cup veg

Workout:
I havent been in nearly 2 weeks - kids sick, hubs sick then me sick! so the weights were only 1kg lighter than norm - not too bad!
All done with dumbbells:-
4 x 8 bench press s/s with
4 x 10 seated cable rows
4 x 8 delt circles s/s with
4 x 8 lat pulldowns
4 x 8 skull crushers s/s with
4 x 8 pec dec
4 x 8 dumbbell curls s/s with
4 x 20 weighted ab crunches on ball
3 x 8 shoulder press
cross trainer 15mins hiit
tready 15mins max incline (15%) 7kph
Feels good to get back into it. Havent done measurements yet will do that later tonight.
Have prepped heaps of goodies so food will be more on track tomorrow
:)

Mini Challenge

I have a day out soon that i want look hot, hot, hot !!! I'm meeting up with some friends I havent seen for a while so i want to rock my skinny jeans that have got a bit tight over the last few weeks. So i'm setting myself up for a mini challenge - 3 weeks to be exact. I'm geting my son to take a close up photo of my bum before and after - not sure if i'll post the before now or with the after !!!!
I know you can't spot reduce but this is the area i need to work on for the skinnies - between the waist and thighs.
Plan of attack? eat 100% clean, 9 hours sleep a night and 110% effort in the gym 4-5 days a week. 2-3 litres of water a day - that's getting a bit hard coz its winter over here, and to take my supplements - something i don't do coz i hate swallowing capsules. Just for 3 weeks to start with - TOTALLY ACHEIVABLE !!! My friend Charlotte is going to do it with me (thanks Charlotte! always good to do it with someone). I'm going to diarise food and exercise on my blog daily so i hope it doesnt get too boring! So, today is day 1, Sunday 12th June - finish date Saturday 2nd July. Ready, set, GO !!!