Nikina70's Journal

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08 January 2024

This morning I did:
Kaleigh Cohen Strength - 30-min Upper Body Strength Training with Dumbbells | Build Muscle at Home!
Followed by her: Upper Body Post-Workout Stretch

Only used 5kg and 2.5kg dumbbells and alternated and modified quite a bit. I'll aim for 3 x 30mins a week. Let's see if I can keep it going for the next 10 weeks. My flights are booked to spend 17 days with family in Cape Town over Easter, which will be amazing!

I've already ordered a beautiful Apricot summer dress on Vinted and I would love to have some killer upper arms by then and get rid of the pesky muffin top too. This was the holiday that got cancelled in 2020 and it's been 4 years before we are finally trying again. So much has happened since then so I'm trying not to build up too much expectation, but will just try to go with the flow of it all.

I would love to get below 1800 average daily calories, but last week it was 1900 on the dot. Will try to improve this week and see if I can take it down to 1750 using IF 14:10 to help. I'll try to keep my water intake up and at least 30g of fibre a day too. I think protein is hovering just below 70g a day right now and I guess I'm fine with that. Not going OTT on the strength training just now, but I might try to up my efforts once spring and summer arrive.

For the next 10 weeks, I'd just like to build some arm strength, reduce/remove the muffin top and get my weight below goal so I can feel comfortable. I feel like I've said this before and never really reached my goal, but I guess it's just a constant thing - and for me it's about lifestyle choices and not a "diet". Getting back to calorie counting is what works for me and that's just the way it is.

I see so many people on YouTube trying to lose weight and they end up not being consistent with their calories and don't track accurately or at all for days on end. Getting it to be a smooth, easy process is what will get them to the finish line. Oh, and they often all set their deficits way too high - I don't believe that any grown adult can exist on 1200 calories a day (unless they weigh something like 50kg). It's not sustainable and just a waste of time in my opinion. I think every person has to find their own sweet spot. Stick to it consistently for about 4, 6 or 8 weeks and then take a break of a day/weekend or even a week before getting back to it again. Once you get into a rhythm it's so much easier. And small adjustments along the way are easier to make stick - rather than huge drastic measures or changes that are hard or impossible to keep up.

I don't feel too unhealthy or unfit right now. I'm averaging just over 6k steps a day and my evening job is still keeping me quite active. I haven't maintained perfectly, but I feel closer to my goal again than I have been for some years, so I feel like this will be the year for getting back to maintenance solidly and then on to more strength.

Hope you all have a wonderful week 2! Let's crush it!
xxx

(12 comments)

05 January 2024

Happy Friday to all my FatSecret friends out there! It's been a while, and I've missed all of you and being on here properly. I hope you've all had a wonderful, restorative, joyful, and restful festive season, and I wish you all a fabulous 2024 ahead!!!

My Renpho scale says 67.85 kg today, and that is down from 69.6 kg last Friday. I have been counting calories since Monday, but I have not been too strict yet, just easing into it.

This week, and for three weeks last year I did some extra hours at my evening job, which has kept me quite busy because it's often meant walking there really early as well - in all sorts of weather. Thank goodness I got some good waterproof boots and a foldable pair of rain pants a while ago. Still haven't gotten a balaclava, but I remembered an old buff I have that does the trick of keeping my face warm on occasion (thanks to Katsolo for that idea).

We had a pretty good time, even though this time of year comes with some melancholy for me with missing my mom, who passed away in 2020 just a few days before Christmas. She has been in my thoughts throughout December.

We drove down to Bournemouth again on Christmas Eve to spend time with my sister-in-law and niece, and the drive was surprisingly quicker and easier than last year. We had a lovely vegetarian full roast dinner on Christmas Day and then a lovely walk to the beach on a not too cold and blustery day on Boxing Day.

Our drive back the next day was not as lovely because we got caught in traffic in the rain and only arrived home like 5 hours later. But, it was good to be home again! On Friday evening last week, we went to see some live jazz at a great little local venue, which recently opened nearby. The band wasn't that great, but we loved the setting, and the staff were all lovely, so we'll be looking out for more live music there.

I also got some good news yesterday that my Spouse Visa extension was approved. I spent November working on the application, and it was all done and dusted by the 3rd of December, so it only really took a month for the decision. I am so very grateful and relieved!!! Now, it's just 2.5 years until the next one.

I look forward to catching up properly and reading up on everyone's journals over the weekend, and then perhaps from next Friday, I'll start to get serious about losing these last 3 kilograms. It's about time! This is the year to get back to strength!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!!! xxx

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
67.8 kg	18.2 kg	2.8 kg	Reasonably Well

(15 comments) Losing 0.1 kg a Week

08 December 2023

Still tracking calories, but much less walking this week than last week. And still no workouts. I need to clear my head a little bit, I think, and I'm hoping that once all my work is out of the way around the 14th that I'll start to feel mentally lighter. I also want to do a deep clean on our living room this weekend and hang some festive lights in the window. Maybe get the 10k piece puzzle out for the season.

Hope you all have a jolly weekend! x

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
68.4 kg	17.6 kg	3.4 kg	Reasonably Well

(12 comments) Gaining 0.2 kg a Week

01 December 2023

First week of calorie counting for a while and started off because I wasn't feeling too well on Sunday, and hence, it was easy to bring back IF at the start of the week because I had no appetite. I'm not sure what I ate on Saturday, but my digestion system was not very happy with me - it was just a feeling of nausea and bloat, though, so thankfully, it didn't get worse.

Back to normal by Tuesday, and I'll try not to overdo it henceforth. Some weekends can get a bit carried away with 'treats'. I don't really believe in treats because I think anything and everything can be accommodated within calorie counting, weekend or not. And because this is a lifestyle, not a diet, I want to be able to partake in all the things I enjoy, and I have been successful at losing weight that way before so I know it can be done. But, saying treats is just an easy way to describe what I ate last weekend and lately, which was just a bit too much indulgence - and I will reign it in, not only because it made me feel like crap, but because it's so utterly unnecessary, and I know better than that.

All of that being said, I enjoyed a small slice of chocolate cake last night, and I've been having hot chocolate every evening after my very chilly walk to work. Have walked 4 times this week, but I'm driving this evening. So will hopefully fit in a walk in the park on the icy crispy, crunchy grass tomorrow (yes, I will wander off the path), and then on Sunday, we are visiting a Christmas Market. It will be my first one since we moved to the UK for many reasons, one of which was a bad cold I got last year in the first week of December. This year, I want to try to enjoy a bit more of the festivities, and I even got some lights for our apartment window.

The weather has been so lovely with clear blue skies for the little sunlight hours we have, which is making it a bit easier (so far) to withstand the cold. I am missing the balaclava of my childhood, though, because my face always feels like it's freezing, so I need to wrap my scarf a bit higher and tighter in the future.

My whole visa process will also wrap up this Sunday, so hopefully, all will be done and dusted, and the butterflies, nerves, and uncertainty will cease then as well.

I still don't know when I'll get back to my goals. I actually laid out my workout mat yesterday, but then I had to roll it up again. Still catching up on a two week work backlog. But, we will get there.

Hope you all have a Fabulous Friday! xxx

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
68.2 kg	17.8 kg	3.2 kg	Reasonably Well

(7 comments) Losing 0.5 kg a Week

24 November 2023

Had a spike last week that I didn't record here. No calorie counting, IF, or strength workouts right now, but I'm still trying to include some walking when I can and keeping water intake up.

Not sure if I'll be able to get back to a better routine next week. Work has been a bit hectic, too.

Hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving had a good one!!! And here's to a lovely, relaxing weekend! xxx

Weight:	Lost so far:	Still to go:	Diet followed:
68.7 kg	17.3 kg	3.7 kg	Reasonably Well

(4 comments) Gaining 0.0 kg a Week

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