Ain't no rest for the wicked

~ Cage the Elephant ~

When I received my exercise plan from Evo Fitness and saw Week 4 was a deload week I thought "Whaaaat? How can taking a break make me skinnier (yep, was much more focused on getting the weight off then getting stronger at that stage). But David said: "Week 4 is a “deload” week, or a back off week. It’s probably the hardest mentally to do, but your strength and results will continue to grow when you allow this back off week". 

It’s a simple concept very few people seem to grasp or actually give a damn about. You don’t get stronger by exercising, you get stronger by recovering from exercise. You’d think this would be something at the top of everyone’s list of training components…

Apparently the aspects of not training are just as important as the aspects of training. Scheduled training breaks are exactly what they sound like. They are

planned breaks you purposely take from training for the purpose of giving your entire body and mind a much needed break. There are mainly 2 different types of training breaks: taking time off or deloading/easy weeks.

Taking time off is just taking a full week off completely from all forms of weight training or exercise in general. In this case of deloading/easy weeks, rather than taking actual time off from training, you just take some of the “load” off from training.

Struggled to keep on track today foodwise - just was not hungry & for some reason craved fresh, hot white bread with peanut butter & cheese & syrup...

Up again at 4:30 tomorrow morning for the 5:30 WOD. Anyone else have bruises on their collarbones? See you guys next week - have an amazing weekend girls!

Picture

~ Kid Rock ~ (I couldn't find a title with the word 'pin' in it - so went with the next best thing)

I'm quite new to the pinning world. My friend, Mrs T, introduced me a while ago and she is a Pinning Queen. The introduction conversation went a little like this:

But seriously, what is so great about spending hours browsing other people's images? Images ranging from Hello Kitty cupcakes to nail polish and ornate wedding dresses.

If you have been living under a rock here is how it works: Pinterest allows you to create & manage themed photo collections and share them with your friends and other connections.  You can follow the boards of friends, like and comment on images others pinned or re-pin content to you own collections.

 

I use Pinterest purely for motivation.  If I see an image that inspires me, or motivates me, or just make me laugh I'll add it to my boards. Whenever I have a lazy day I go to my Pinterest board (Get of your Ass) & browse through the images. Just seeing those toned bodies makes me wanna work extra hard!

It can get a bit crazy though:  Jane Wang is the single most-followed user on Pinterest  & maintains 118 boards across a broad array of subjects. Among the more quirky: "Small things that work very well" and an entire board for "Octopus." (or octopi).  It makes me & my 9 boards feel seriously insecure over here...

You'll notice that you can now pin the images on this blog straight to your boards, and from there follow any of my boards.  Let me know if you are a regular - I love to get inspiration from other peoples boards! Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest. 

I'm hoping that I can straighten my arms by tonight - my biceps (silver lining - I have biceps!) are so stiff that my whole body has to move with my arm when I reach to pick up the phone. Looking forward to tonight's Crossfit class - wondering how we are going to challenge ourselves this time. [Side note - it was more arms, wtf...]

Had a craving for sushi tonight - ended up having some fish & salad as well. And wine. And a Kaluah Pedro. Yum. 

Yummy grilled fish & salad from Ocean Basket.

On the more tech side - Battlefield 4 is coming out in a few days & Boyfriend & I are already rock/paper/scissoring it out to find out who gets to play first.

L-Glutemine is currently my friend. Good night all!

The greatest reward

~ Celine Dion ~

 

I'm writing tonight's post with the worst DOMS in my biceps. We did SDHL (sumo dead-lift high pull) with a puny 13kg's. 50 times. Times 5. And today my reward is stiff butt, stiff shoulders, stiff arms - which I'm loving.

Living healthy is a reward in itself, but don't you just sometimes really want something pretty (or shiny) to show off?  Something tangible?  I have worked hard, don't I deserve something nice?

I would love to come back as a dog in my friend's home...

Most of the time people will reward themselves with food. Just remember that you are basically undoing all the effort spent on gym that day & just think of all the time that went into your food preparation. Just to be clear, I'm not saying don't 'treat' yourself (a block of dark chocolate perhaps), just don't say, "I lost 2kg, I'm eating this tub of ice cream".

My go-to reward has turned into exercise clothes. I used to be the girl in the tracksuit pant & over sized t-shirt. I've probably got about 9 workout tops now - I know this is not a massive number - but I've come a long way in the last year, 9 is a lot for me. Another reward was some neon pink socks, or a new bottle of slightly more expensive protein powder.

Decided to run to TKD class tonight (probably about 3kms one way) and back afterwards. Not sure if that loosened up the muscles or just made everything worse....

I finally managed to add a Pin It button on all images for all you Pinterest users - let me know if you are a regular - I love to get inspiration from other peoples boards!

Remember to follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest, then you will get notified of any new posts!

Night all!

Monday Monday

~ The Mamas & the Papas ~

I woke up cheery for the first time in a long time. Not because I'm depressed, I am just THE WORST morning person (activate Jeremy Clarkson voice) in the world. But yesterday something clicked - I'm doing as much as I reasonably can to eat better, look better & feel better. I should take it a bit easier on myself when I do make an "unhealthy" choice, because 8/10 times I do the healthy thing.

I chose to make healthy biscuits instead of sending Boyfriend out for chocolate cake. I made smoothies & frothy protein shakes. I put the chocolate back on the shelve, dammit (OK, I did take the sour rascals though - compromises). And I had a FMIL (Future Mother-In-Law) cupcake - 'cause that woman can bake. But there was this little aaah moment yesterday, between all the dishes & cooked chicken & roasted veggies: I'm working on it, and I can only do so much at a time.

Anyone tried the Coconut Intense from Lindt yet? Dying to try it...

I also decided that there I won't be blogging over the weekend - it's me time.  So Friday to Sunday you will have to get your fix by re-reading the older posts...and there will be a pop-quiz.

Ok, I'm gonna be that girl. I've only done 4 classes & I already love crossfit and have decided to embrace the crossfit "lifestyle". I cannot wait to compete in a crossfit event & I'm excited to go to class & to push my body further. Had such a laugh over these though: Shit Crossfit Girls Say and Shit Crossfitters Say. Is this you? Come on - be honest now... 

Whip Marks. I have them.

Only had one gym session this weekend. Boyfriend hurt his wrist in class last week & we decided to take it easy.  Practiced double under's (and have beautiful whip mark all over my butt), pistol squats & handstands. Also added some 400m sprints & rowing. And guess what the WOD for tonight is - rowing & dead lifts...

I got a new toy this weekend (after burning out the previous one) and we tested it out a couple of times!

1 Ingredient Banana Ice Cream, Berries & Yoghurt Smoothie, Chocolate Protein Powder & PNButter Smoothie

Friday, plus chicken salad for lunch

Saturday

Sunday
~file not found~ (i.e. got lazy with taking photos...)

But I do have a photo of all the prepping.

Monday, plus a protein shake.

Seriously, how can I remind myself to take photos BEFORE I eat!! Good night all.

Hey, is that Jason Khalipa?

Don't let your eyes go shopping

~ Nat King Cole ~

Courtesy of The Oatmeal

Shopping when hungry or eating when bored - two things that make me fall flat on my face every so often.

First up - shopping when hungry, AKA how did Chuckles & a double toffee milkshake make it into the bag. We split the weekly grocery shopping between PnP & Woolies (there are just some stuff that I prefer to get from the one or the other) and PnP is not that bad, but yoh, getting to the tills at Woolies' is like going through the trenches on a fricken battlefield!

That is why there is still a can of "Braai Flavour" Baked Beans on the bottom shelve...

I go in, head down, past the lovely croissants & muffins in their bakery section, not making eye contact till I enter the fresh produce section. Is your shopping expedition the same as mine? Do you have to walk past all the yummies just to get to the basic necessities? What makes it worse is that some of that junk is cheaper then the healthy alternative! AND then you have to look up at the ceiling while you are standing in the queue of evil. Most of the time I can control myself, but don't let me walk in there hungry...

I think overall I eat healthy food, for the most part my food looks good. The bad part is the emotional side of my diet. I don't eat when I'm stressed. Uh-uh. My issue is eating while bored.

I saw a recent poll that asked: "What are your top three triggers for overeating?" Tied for first place were boredom and stress. The problem is that when you stop eating, you're bored again. So you have to eat again! I can finish a big bag of crisp (on my own) while I watch a movie or read a book - and then go look for more. It's something a lot of us do without thinking and when you eat for the wrong reasons, it so often leads to binge eating.

The thing to remember is that you must redirect your attention away from food not because you are depriving yourself, but because you don't need it at that moment.

I stayed strong in the Woolies aisle today, allowing myself only a little trail mix packet (for which I'll have an extra glass of water to make up for it).  Lunch was an old fave - tuna, sweet potato & coconut oil, all mushed together!  I can still remember the first time Elan Lohmann recommended this when I just joined Sleek Geek - it was a "wtf" moment.

Don't stress - there were two pork chops - I just keep forgetting to take the damn photos beforehand!

On the 3rd try we finally got the egg steamer thingy (or as Boyfriend has dubbed it - Thomas Eggerson) making hard eggs - hey, you have to claim the small victories. 

Sadly no crossfit tonight. Teaching the little monsters TKD & then practicing handstands for a bit...at some point they are gonna be part of a WOD & I at least want to be comfortable falling on my face in private, before making it a group experience. To max out our quota we are going to a 05:30am (holy balls) class tomorrow morning. 

Have I mentioned that I'm not a morning person?

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Breaking the habit

~ Linkin Park~

Like lyrics that get stuck in your head all day (eyyy macarena - you are welcome), bad habits are easy to pick up and nearly impossible to shake, especially if you've practiced them for years.

We've all said “I need to try harder this time”. It is not about trying harder, but breaking (or changing) that bad habit. 
 
Remember how overwhelming it was learning how to drive? Now I don't even think twice about it (that's why boyfriend refuses to let me drive - wuss). The same goes for checking Facebook every five minutes or checking my phone every time it buzzes. 

The interwebs says in order to build better habits you have to reduce the amount of brainpower required to complete good habits and make it an effort to complete bad habits. Basically - make it easy for yourself to choose the right thing, make it hard for yourself to choose the bad thing, and over time you'll have that shit down to a T!

Apparently our brains look for the path of least resistance when doing any activity, and the more you complete an activity on a regular basis, the less and less brainpower is required.

That's one reason why I don’t keep junk food in the house (it's definitely not because I only eat healthy foods).  I know that if I have it in the house I will not be able to stop myself from eating all of it. On weekends we'll eat takeouts, drink fuzzy pink drinks & beer, but for the other 90% of the week I know I need to surround myself with healthy options. It’s a lot tougher to binge on crap at 9pm when your only options are nuts & nut butter.  

Sometimes when there are leftovers from a party I will catch myself mindlessly picking at it every time I walk past. Most of the time I realize what I'm doing and in a split second decision (because sometimes the binge-er in me wins) I throw it all in the bin. I have never been desperate enough to take it out & eat further...

So make it easy for yourself to choose the right thing, and after a while it will become a habit!

We did an amazing crossfit workout tonight. After never having done front squats before (I've only done back squats), I found out that my 1 rep max at the moment is 77kg. Was quite chuffed about that :)  Then we did a routine that involved squat clean push jerks, 120 skips & 15 pull-ups. My shoulders are gonna be amazing at the end of this year!

Food wise I managed to have a good day.

Sleep well!

BTW - how awesome was Linkin Park when they were in SA last year. Anyone of you go?

Plateau

~ Nirvana ~

One of our Sleek Girls (and Winter Warrior Winner), Nicola Davidson, recently broke through her weight loss plateau - haven't we all been there? [Nicola - something for you at the bottom of this post] Apparently being stuck eventually happens to everyone who is trying to lose weight. And the only way to get through it is to persevere.

My weight "loss" over the last 11 months can be seen on the graph below.  This doesn't take into account any water retention or muscle gain - purely weight.

4.8kg (since November 2012) / 4.6% body fat (since January 2013).

In April 2013 I weighed the lowest over the entire period.  I just finished my first Sleek Geek challenge (Feb - April) and I only focused on clean eating and cardio (running). Since then I have learned so much more about my body, and this time around I'm focusing on strength rather then weight.  It came as quite a shock when I realized that the weight I lost during that time was most likely muscle and not fat.  

About 3 months ago I started with the new eating & exercise plan. We were eating quite healthy before this, and have always been active, so it wasn't a major change, just minor adjustments here & there and eating & exercising with a goal in mind. I have gained so much strength in the last 3 months, lifting weights that my April'13 body wouldn't even dream off.  

That is why I have forsaken the scale (I'll pop on every now and again, but only take note of it once or twice a month) and rely on measurements & photos. 

The plateau over the last 4-6 weeks have been excruciating. Every now & again I'll have a good day, ask Boyfriend to take photos or measurements, look at it in disbelieve because I am sure it should be looking better then that & then get mad at Boyfriend, because somehow it's his fault. But then I just remember my body is getting stronger, just be patient - that bitch is gonna budge at some point....

Another Sleek Girl, Lindy Noel Diamond, posted this handy article on how to ascend your weight loss plateau.

Food for today...think I ate way to little.

Tomorrow night is Crossfit (yay!) & we'll also be joining them for a nutritional talk afterwards - will give all the deets tomorrow.

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Night all!

For Nicola :)

Rainy Monday

~ Shiny Toy Guns ~

Have you ever had one of those mornings where the temperature in your bed is just the right amount of cozy, the blankets are just the right amount of heavy and you have found the perfect swastika sleeping position? And then to further encourage you to phone in sick it start raining ever so lightly on the tin roof. 

Unfortunately (truly how I felt at that stage) I made a commitment to start fresh today, and that means not leaving the house with my handbag, shoes & keys in one hand, gym bag in the other & hairbrush in my mouth. AND then leaving half my food in the fridge. Cause on this bed-weather day I will surely end up with something warm & starchy from Spar if I'm not prepared.

One of the main things that keeps me eating healthy during the week is the weekend food prep. We try to prep every Sunday and we’ve found that spending an hour or two on the weekend preparing food makes it much easier to throw together quick, healthy meals during the week when you are busy or tired (or just lazy) after a long day of work.  We are not anywhere close to some expert "preppers", we just throw a load of chicken in one dish and a load of veggies in another dish... At some point we should probably start experimenting with some variety.

Food prep on a Sunday.

Tonight's Crossfit WOD was killer. It consisted of Isabel, "Power" Isabel and then a complex consisting of a power clean, snatch push press (hahaha...try saying that 10 times fast) and an overhead squat. All for what felt like a thousand times. My shoulders were on fire, my left butt cheek twitched every time I went down into a squat and I have now realized why they wear those socks...since I have almost no skin left on my shin. At this point Youtube and the search phrase "how to" are being used on a daily basis.

Dave Levey took us through a beginner foundation course that covered all the basics. Dave recently placed 1st in the Africa regional, and 32nd in the Crossfit Games, so I think we'll be in good hands. I also broke a new record on how long I can keep nail polish on for (2 hours 35 minutes)...
 

I give up...

Kept the food good today.  Supper was a lovely coriander & cashew chicken stir-fry. 

Too little water today.

Supplement stuff.

For desert I tried to make some banana ice cream (frozen banana pieces + blitzing = ice cream!). I burned out the food processor and couldn't find the blades for the smoothie-maker, so at the end of the day we ate semi-smooth, semi-chunky frozen banana mush & pieces.

Hey, it's something...

Sleep well!

Sunday bloody Sunday

~ U2 ~

Or in my case, ice cream.

We don't talk about Sunday. Sunday never happened. Sunday is the redheaded stepchild of the week. It involved this:

At least I am ready to get back on that wagon tomorrow morning first thing.  Chicken has been prepped, veggies have been roasted and lunch has been packed.

So much chicken...

Hope everyone is ready for the new week! Follow K&C on Google+ | Facebook | Pinterest.

Wind of change

~ Scorpions ~

'Nough said.

I foresee that I'm going to become one of those people who talk about Crossfit a lot...I'm fighting the urge to tell everyone that can to go & try it out. GO & TRY IT OUT! CrossFit is making working out fun. It will leave you sweating, smiling, and wanting more. This morning's WOD consisted of hang cleans, push jerks & toes to bar (all of which I scaled the hell out off) for 10 reps, 9 reps, 8 reps, 7 reps...you get the picture! 

And standing next to me was the answer to every lady's question "Won't weightlifting make me big?". This woman was probably half my size and she did the full workout, with weights (where I only used a bar), and she finished way before me. Boyfriend is also not to charmed with the fact that she was using the same weights as him and she made it look easy. I might also have creeped her out a tiny bit with all the staring at her amazingly toned arms.

PE is living up to it's "windy city" fame again today, so other then venturing to the Box (check that lingo) this morning, we stayed at home & cleaned up a bit.

It had nuts in...

I would love to know how you keep it clean over the weekend? What makes you stick to your goals & guidelines? Post your stratagy down below. Pretty please.

Lunch consisted of the ever present ingredient in our fridge - chicken leftovers. And later the rock/paper/scissor match we had to see who would be cooking dinner turned into a stalemate. So supper consisted of a double helping of mug cake.   

PS: I've created a Facebook page for the blog, please LIKE it  (www.facebook.com/Kettlebells.Cheesecake) & it will automatically notify you if there is a new post, just saying.

For the ladies with Pinterest accounts - you can follow the blog board here, and my "Get of your ass" board here.  Let me know if you have any of your own boards to share.

Tomorrow I think will be a much needed rest day. Peace out!

Ready for the weekend

~ Calvin Harris ~

Pretty much me, minus the pants...

I've got a love/hate relationship with weekends. Weekends are a little "aaaaaah" if you had a week of suck. But with weekends my exercise & healthy eating go out the window. 

Example: two weeks ago we decided to take to the bed (i.e stay in bed & catch up on tons of series). Our breakfast was oh so healthy - scrambled eggs & bacon. Lunch, supper and snacks consisted of a large Tupperware container filled with sour worms, gummy bears, skittles, rascals, jelly tots, sour jelly tots, chocolate jelly tots, sour gummy bears, liquorice-all-sorts,  smarties...and red bull. Cause when you come off that sugar high you need something to keep you awake. Not good.

I think the big problem is routine - your time might be non-existent over weekdays, but at least you are following a routine. Wake up, go to work, go to gym, go home, eat, sleep. Repeat. Weekends are a free for all. If I don't want to comb my hair I'm not going to. The same goes for pants.  But now I've got this shiny new blog to showcase, so I have to at least keep up appearances for the first couple of months. It's like a new relationship - you wait until they fart first before you do...

Today was dead-lifts day. I love the burn in my bum while doing it. At the same time I hate the awkwardness of sticking my butt in the air. Cause some days I have an awesome butt, and other days I see every crease & dimple & wobble in that mirrored wall. Add in a 150 weighted lunges for fun.

Food was 95% clean today (refer to supper below for the 5%). Again routine comes into play. And being prepared. If I had to go out to buy food for lunch every day it would be a colossal cluster of f*cks. I have learned that I do not go out to buy groceries if I haven't' eaten yet. Because that is when you come back with the 3 for 2 donuts special (coconut is a fruit), yogisip (dairy is healthy) & a pie (for the protein).

Hmm...Nachos...

Supper was some amazing cheesy chicken nachos from Chingadas. I know, I know, not the healthiest thing out there, but Friday night is our semi-cheat night. Normally we look for a take-away that's at least real food (so not McDonald's) and not 90% starch (pizza). Last week it was sushi & sashimi. Also made some yummy pre-bed mug cake (recipe courtesy of Musclemunchies).

We try to a least get one gym session in over the weekend. Most of the time it alleviates my weekend-sloth guilt. Tomorrow morning we are joining Algoa Crossfit for a weekend WOD - have no idea what we'll be doing yet. Hoping it's not leg based...

Have a good sleep!