Three years later….

Wow! Three years ago! I have just sat and read through my blogs about taking on Tapout XT and cannot believe that it was three years ago! My last entry was about how it all gone a bit downhill but that I wasn’t giving up! Guess what? I gave up! And what a shame because we were 7 weeks in and had done so well!

After we had come back from our holiday in Devon & Cornwall, we just could not get back on it! I think we did a couple more days and then it all just fizzled out. The DVD’s gathered dust for a while before we eventually chucked them into a drawer, never to be seen again for three years!

Some pretty huge things have happened in the last few years, the biggest change to our lives is that we now have a daughter! Her name is Harper and she is now 18 months old! She is the cutest little girl. Has her Daddy’s looks and her Mummy’s attitude (God help her!) My pregnancy with her was straight forward and the birth was ok too, I didn’t find that the effects of it damaged my body too much in the long term. I was lucky not to get any stretch marks (I religiously rubbed cocoa butter in every night from day one!) and I lost MOST of my weight after I had her. I managed to put three stone on during pregnancy, I would like to say I don’t know how I managed that but that would be a total lie! I ate A LOT of coco pops and magnum ice creams!

After I had Harper, I lost two stone fairly quickly and then, when she was 10 months old, I ran a half marathon in memory of my Mum and my dear friend, Jill (and raised over £2000 in the process!) My training was pretty intense, getting up at 5am sometimes to fit runs in. I lost more weight and started the get some shape back. After I completed the half marathon though I made the fatal mistake of stopping! I have ran a couple of miles since but no more than that and I can’t even remember the last time I went to play netball.

For the last 6 months, I can safely say I have pretty much done zero exercise (other than a couple of hashes – that’s for another blog, but in essence it is a bit of running mixed in with a fair bit of drinking beer!!) and most recently the weight has started to creep back on.

I don’t know how much I weigh as I don’t weigh myself anymore (because is totally soul destroying!) but I know that my clothes are getting too tight and I am not happy with the way I look! On Saturday, whilst at a BBQ, a lovely little 3 year old asked if I had a baby in my tummy. There were a couple of pregnant ladies there so I assumed she was excited about all the baby talk. I told her there was no baby in my tummy and, whilst touching my stomach, she sweetly asked ‘What’s all this then?!’ You can always rely on a child to tell you the absolute truth!  I knew right there and then (with a glass of prosecco in my hand) that something needed to change.

So, here we are, three years later. The Tapout DVD’s have been dusted off and tonight I did Cross Core! Oh my god! It was harder than I ever remembered and there were almost tears tonight. The Boyfriend was here to help me through but he is recovering from a serious knee op (told you a lot had happened in the last few years) and so he cannot do it all with me.

I am heavier than the last time I took Tapout XT on, I am definitely bigger and to be fair to myself, I have had a baby. (Although I don’t know how long I am allowed to keep using her as an excuse!)

For those of you who followed me the first time along the way, I am back for a second chance!

Until next time….

Krystal xx

PS – For those that read my blog the first time round, or those that have read through all of them this time round… I never did get into that size 10 dress for my sisters wedding 😁😁😁

It has all gone a bit downhill!

First of all, I would like to say… This is NOT me giving up! It has all just gone a little downhill in the last couple of weeks and I need to get back on it!

Today should be the start of week 7 and by mid-week we would have been half way through the 90 day programme but about 2 weeks ago a certain thing called LIFE started to get in the way. Sustaining the level of training we had done in the first 3-4 weeks as well as my netball (twice a week), working full time, walking the dog, a social life and fitting some downtime in started to seem completely impossible! I was beating myself up if I missed a workout and in the end, something had to give. I had to be realistic about the training, yes I know it is less than an hour a day but fitting that in after work, as well as netball, walking the dog, making dinner etc, meant that we were finally collapsing into bed gone 11pm – which is never good when you are up at 5.30am for work.

Last Saturday, we also went on holiday to Devon & Cornwall. We actually took TapOut with us and intended to do it in the mornings before going out for the day. Monday morning, we got up and we started it. The DVD player in the lodge we were staying in kept freezing – whether it was the quality of the player or all the jumping around we were doing, I don’t know. But when you are doing killer moves and they are prolonged by the fact that the DVD kept sticking, it wasn’t much fun, so about half an hour in we gave up trying. We tried to get it working on the laptop but it wouldn’t recognise the disc. In the end, we had a week of no TapOut but plenty of Cornish Pasties, Cream Teas, Cornish Ciders and Chocolate – it was lush!

But here comes the problem – I have exactly 19 days until my sister’s wedding and my dress is just a little on the small side! I have no doubt that if I got back in the game and put my mind to it like I did in the first couple of weeks then I will get into it – so here goes! I am back on it today and I am determined to get into my dress!!

This week will see me take on Cardio XT, which was something I did do just before we went on holiday. It is, by far, the most challenging workout on the programme to date! It says something when the people on the DVD have to stop during the workout!! What a killer! Rather than jumping to week 7 today, we are starting back at the beginning of week 5 to make sure we still get the best results possible.

I appreciate this blog hasn’t been particularly inspiring – I had a friend who shared my previous blogs with a friend of hers as she found it helpful as she was taking on Insanity! I promise to make my next one as good as the first couple! All I have to avoid are the best parts of the darker nights – snuggling up on the sofa, eating too much and drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate!! This is going to be tough!!!

 

Krystal x

Blood, sweat, tears and injuries!

Today is the start of week 3, so here is a quick summary of week 2!

Day 8 (Monday) saw me take on Competition Core and I had to do it on my own. The Boyfriend was working until 8pm so I had a choice of doing it as soon as I got in from work or waiting until 8.30pm. I knew if I sat down and settled into Emmerdale, it was never going to happen. So, as soon as I got home, I got going. There was no dignity in my workout. Because I was alone, I grunted a lot, screamed, shouted and was generally really loud and un-ladylike! And it felt great! There had been a lot of sweat and tears last week and now, there was blood. The carpet burns we had got last week, were sore and scabby and now there is blood on the mats – lovely!!

Day 9 was another day where it felt really good. I did wait until 8.30pm this time and worked out with the Boyfriend. I couldn’t believe how different the same workout as day 2 felt on day 9. It amazed me how quick the body adjusts to whatever you are doing. My nutrition was spot on and the effect it was having on me was really noticeable, I seemed to have so much more energy and my 5.30am wake up calls weren’t such a struggle. The boyfriend got a little injury during this workout. The resistance band slipped off the back of his foot and hit him on his bare back. The noise of it was awful but the girly scream that came from his mouth was quite entertaining! I have attached a little picture of the injury below – I am sure he will thank me for that.

Day 10, we worked out late again as I had netball. It was Plyo XT, which is definitely the hardest workout and lasts nearly an hour. About three quarters the way through (about 10.10pm,)we stopped. Neither of us had eaten properly and I was up at 3am the next morning for work – it just wasn’t happening. It really surprised me how different working out felt when we hadn’t eaten properly, it really does make a huge difference.

By Day 10, the programme says you should see a difference. I seemed to have lost an inch here and there and a couple of lbs on the scales. I took a photo on day 1 and again on day 10 – I will let you have your own opinion but I reckon the difference is pretty good and was a good incentive to carry on!!

 

Day 11 & 12, I worked out alone again. They were ok days, nothing really to report. Oh, other than the fact that on Day 11, I did Yoga in the shorts that were a little too tight on my initial photos and they felt comfy!! I went to a friend’s house for dinner on Friday and whilst they had pizza, chips and red wine, I settled with chicken salad and a cup of tea. I felt proud of myself but also realised I have very unsympathetic friends 🙂 

On Saturday though, it all went downhill. I blame my sisters! I went down south for the weekend and they force fed me wine by the bottle!!! I ate really badly and topped it all off on Sunday by having a bacon sandwich for breakfast, a massive carvery for lunch and chocolate for my dinner. This morning, as I did Cross Core Combat, I regretted it all! It felt like I was back at day 1. I felt like I had no good fuel in my body!

Before work today, I went to the shop and spent £20 on fruit, veg and salad!! I am back on it … Roll on week 3!

Until next time,

Krystal  xxx

Week One… done!

Today is the first day of week 2! So, here is a quick summary of week 1……… HELL!

I finished my last blog on day 3 where we were taking on Plyo XT. For those of you who don’t know, Plyo training is all to do with ‘’exercises based around having muscles exert maximum force in as short a time as possible, with the goal of increasing both speed and power.’’ Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? …… It was!!  All I remember was a lot of jumping into squats and it hurt! I really struggled with it to be honest and again, it was well over 45 minutes! After Plyo, I played netball – Surprisingly, it felt great, really loosened up the muscles.

Day 4 was Yoga. I was really looking forward to it. I thought I was good at Yoga. Done it before and loved it. I felt relaxed and happy on previous occasions…. not this time!! XT style, it was hard. It was not helped by the fact that day’s 1-3 had completely ruined by body. I was struggling to walk and sitting down was an issue too so sitting in a lunge position with my arms out to the side, breathing deeply for a long time, was horrendous. And I have decided I hate ‘’downward dog!’’ On a positive note, if it was all hurting that much, it has to be working, right?

Anyway, back to Yoga XT… Halfway through, I cried! I actually stopped the Yoga, lay on the floor and burst into tears. Not silent ones that trickle down your face…. Big, fat, loud tears… Full on sobbing! The Boyfriend stood over me, looking down at me as if I had gone mad and then I realised how pathetic I must have looked, so I started laughing. Laughing and crying all at the same time. The Boyfriend did not know what to do. I finished the workout on a high though, with a whole minutes worth of sit ups (first time I have done sit ups in a Yoga class!) After Yoga, I played netball again. Thought I was going to die.

Day 5 was Legs and Back. I was dreading it as my legs were killing me and my arse felt even worse. But, wait for it… You won’t believe what I am going to say…. I loved it! It was a relatively short workout (about 40 minutes) and at the end of it, I felt like I could do it all again! It involved a lot of squats and work with the resistance bands. The Boyfriend struggled a bit and didn’t enjoy it as much as me. I think if he was sailing through it all, I would have quit by now but knowing that there are days when we both struggle, makes it seem not so bad.

Day 6 should have been ‘Sprawl and Brawl’ (sounds exciting!!) See how I said ‘should!’ It didn’t happen! By the time the Boyfriend got home from work, did a food shop and made dinner, it was too late… and the X Factor was on. We said we would do it Sunday. Instead we went to Birmingham and treated ourselves to a glass of wine and a Pear Cider… You have to treat yourself everyone once in a while!

So, we are a day behind, which we will have to catch up on one day. All in all, week one was extremely hard and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster (I cried twice in total!) But I am still alive, 3lbs lighter and eating far cleaner than I ever have done before (I actually felt guilty having a glass of wine!) At day 10, I will repost my measurements as the programme says I should see a difference!

Oh, before I go, another major highlight was that THE Mike Karpenko (the Creator and Trainer of Tapout XT) liked 3 of my photos on Instagram. Knowing he is watching my progress is definitely a reason to carry on… Maybe I will send him my blog?

See you on Day 10…

 

Krystal x

Measurements and wobbly bits!

So here it is as promised… A blog (literally) bearing all! I am putting my measurements out there along with a few photos to give me the incentive to finish the programme!

I am on day 3 so far and there are two words that could probably sum up the last couple of days. HARD & SORE. The workouts are extreme (yes, I know it says it on the tin!) Day 1 saw us taking on ‘Cross Core Combat.’ 45 minutes worth of kicks, punches, rolls, planks (a lot of planks!) and exercises with the resistance bands. It was hard and it was a shock. Afterwards, I thought I would feel great but I actually felt like I just wanted to cry. What had I taken on? A couple of hours afterwards though I felt good about myself and wished that I had tried harder (although I was convinced I absolutely could not at the time!) There were a couple of exercises that I didn’t do towards the end as we worked out on the carpet due to forgetting to pick up exercise mats the day before. The only thing you get from exercising on the carpet are burns! During the workout, the Boyfriend had to shout at me a few times and pull me up off the floor once too – I swore at him in return!

Day 2 saw us doing a mammoth 70 minute work out. I could have sworn that it only said 45 minutes a day on the advert? We did 55 minutes of ‘Strength & Force Upper’ and then 15 minutes of ‘Ultimate Abs.’The workouts were made harder by the fact that under my arms and all down my sides ached so much from the day before. Once we got going though, time seemed to go so fast. There were a lot of push ups this time and a lot of work on the resistance bands (you MUST wear trainers as I didn’t and have a blister now from the bands.) On a positive note though, we picked up the exercise mats so no more carpet burns. I only managed girly press ups on my knees but hopefully I will be doing full on manly ones by the time we finish!  After the workout, I felt great and felt even better when I filled up on a post workout smoothie of Chocolate Soya Milk, Peanut Butter and a Banana (something I found on Pinterest – I knew it would come in handy!)

Today, we have ‘Plyo XT’ and then I am off to play netball (I must be mad!)  I had a cheeky little weigh in this morning…. I know I shouldn’t have, but I have lost 2lbs in 2 days so something must be working!

Anyway, I digress… Here are the measurements and some (pretty awful!) photos of me before we started the workout. I would like to point out the shorts are too small for me. I am hoping by day 90 both me and the Boyfriend will fit into them… at the same time!!

 

Until next time…

 

Krystal x

 

Weight 11st 5.6 lbs – Bust  38” – Waist 32.5” – Hips 40” – Arms  11.5” – Legs 23”

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And so it begins…

I am just an ordinary girl. A busy girl with a full time job, a full time Boyfriend, a full time home and a very full time Puppy – Milo! I am an ordinary girl with the usual body hang ups that I am sure most women experience.  The most exercise I get is a couple of games of netball a week and walking the Pup. This year I turned 30 and now it is about time that I did something about my hang ups rather than sitting on my backside looking through Pinterest and just wishing I had a body that I loved. I can sit for hours looking through all the inspirational quotes about ‘What you eat in private is what you wear in public’ and ‘Progress doesn’t happen overnight, keep going.’ But you have to get going at some point for there to be a reason to read the said inspirational pins!!

 

So, here we are. I have ordered Tapout XT – an extreme 90 day programme which promises great results. Well,  I say ‘I’ but I mean the Boyfriend.  He has ordered Tapout XT and I am going along for the ride! 90 days of strength and upper workouts, Plyo XT, Cross Core Combat, Competition Core, Buns and Guns XT, Yoga XT, Sprawl and Brawl, Muay Thai, Ripped Conditioning, Ultimate Abs XT, Cardio XT and Legs and Back workouts. Funny thing is, I have no idea what half of those even mean. I am looking forward to Thursdays as they are Yoga days but I am especially looking forward to Sundays as they are REST DAYS.

 

It isn’t just about the training though, it is about the nutrition plan that it comes with it too. So, in ‘preparation’, I am eating all the junk in the house (kitkats, choc ices, crisps, crunch corners etc etc) so I am not tempted to scoff my face after a workout. I squeezed in a McDonalds breakfast this morning and this weekend, I have my sisters staying over so I am cooking a big fat Lasagne and will be downing a couple of bottles of wine! All in time to give it all up for 90 days…

 

It all starts on Monday 19th August 2013. One of my goals is to get into a Size 10 dress for my big (older, not fat!) sisters wedding on the 25th October so watch this space!  I am currently a size 12-14 (mostly 14!) Before we start on Monday, I am going to put myself out there and post all my measurements, my weight and even a photo with my flabby bits on show! My thinking behind that is by putting myself out there, I have to complete the programme!

 

So, wish me luck and follow my blog! Feel free to send me comments to spur me on as I am going to need a little help. The Boyfriend’s job is twice as hard, he has to keep me motivated as well as himself! The main difference between us is that he eats a kilo of chocolate and loses weight. I LOOK at a kilo of chocolate and can feel my hips expanding! Never good for your self-esteem when you weigh more than the other half!

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy following my journey!

 

Krystal x