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Fitness, Health, Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 9

April 27, 2014

What a wonderful week this was! I hope the same goes for all of you lovely people too.

Kayla Itsines Week 9

I have now finished week 9 of Kayla Itsine’s bikini body workout and OMG .. I do not understand how I got through it. Weeks 9-12 differ from the first 8 weeks because now you incorporate 1-1 HIIT session (for an explanation of what HIIT is, click here) and the strength circuits are now fully targeted on certain parts of the body. It is such an amazing feeling to have such sore legs, arms and abs every single week. You get through one week and you think ‘surely next week, I won’t be as sore’ but you are, every single time. I love it, and I cannot wait to show you all my progress at the end of the 12 weeks. It may not be as dramatic as some of the others, but I am noticing the difference, and that makes me happier than you could know.

Whilst I am on this fitness thread, I went to a fabulous spring open house held by Mint Studio’s in San Francisco! I am planning on writing a dedicated post to the event, so for now I will give you all a quick recap. Mint Studio’s offers pilates, barre and yoga classes, and were offering free classes for the night, and had partnered with vendors such as Project Juice, Ensoma and Premier Nutrition to bring a host of complimentary goodies. I was particularly enamored with the healthy juices offered by Project Juice and definitely plan to try more! I tried my first everrr pilate’s reformer class and now I know what all the fuss is about … my abs are SORE, even now two days later, and it was such a fun and new way to workout. Can’t wait to try it again. Who wants to go with me?!

Kayla Itsines Week 9 BBG

This photo is from Mint Studio’s website and is an example of the hardcore Pilate’s Reformer class I did

Kayla Itsines Week 9 BBG

 Mmm, all the juices I got to sample from Project Juice!

My relationship with food has also become so, so much healthier. Instead of constantly worrying about the occasional slip up, I have a much more balanced approach to eating and just living life in general. I do not binge anymore (everytime I was presented with a tasty and ‘bad’ food I would eat it until I felt ill) and I genuinely look forward to making healthy meals and doing my food preps at the start of the week. Obviously I still have moments where I feel a little guilty, but I am usually able to stop myself eating more than I need too. I love how I have been able to shape this aspect of my life and I am so grateful for it; your body deserves to be nourished with the correct foods and kept active and in shape. I am not a fan of the whole ‘food is fuel’ thing because come on, our bodies are not machines. They are unique and INDIVIDUAL creations that require personalized attention, and only you can know what foods and exercises truly make your body flourish. That being said, I think that I do tend to eat a bit too much sugar (foods with sugar in them, I’m not knocking back tablespoons here lol) so I think I may post some of my meals in next week’s Sunday Summary as a way to keep me on track .. we will see.

That’s all from me this week! I am curious to see how many of my readers are living in the Bay Area, so please leave me a comment below if you are. I would love to meet up with you all at some point, maybe for a gym date 🙂

And as always, if you have any questions or requests for posts please either leave me a comment below or shoot me a message at honestlyfitness@live.com

Honestly yours,
Alice

Fitness

Girls, please lift weights

April 9, 2014

I feel as if most girls are allergic just to the idea of lifting weights.

“No, I just stick to cardio.” “Are you kidding, the weight room is full of guys!” “Mmm, but my legs will get bulky, right?”

I am sure many of you have heard this before (or have said this), and honestly the only one I kind of get is the second comment. Because yeah, most weight rooms are full of guys, but don’t let this put you off. Sure they may stare at you, but that’s just because it is a rarity to see a girl lifting weights. If anything, take a friend with you so it won’t be as intimidating or ask one of the personal trainers at your gym to teach you a few exercises.

Lifting weights will not make you bulky, UNLESS you are eating a diet which will not aid in fat loss. I used to think I was getting bulky from lifting weights but in reality, it was because I still had some extra fat. So because I was not losing any fat, I looked bigger because there was muscle AND fat. Although I still have some excess fat I currently want to lose (it is a long process ..) when I first starting lifting weights and following an eating plan that aided in fat loss, I saw a big change in my body. Cardio will only take you so far. Cardio can help you lose fat but lifting weights (or just resistance exercises in general such as using resistance bands or TRX) will help shape and firm your ‘problem area’s.’

There are also certain area’s of the body that you just will not be able to tone up unless you use weights. Case in point: the back. My body has this lovely (sarcasm people) tendency to store fat in my back (it’s disgusting) and I only started to see improvement in this area when I started using weights to strengthen and tone my back. It’s pretty exhilarating actually to see my progress, and how I am able to use heavier and heavier weights .. and a more defined back!

So please ladies, rethink your approach to weight and fat loss. Cardio is an important factor but not the ONLY factor. What you eat also plays a role, and using weights will help shape your body. Plus food for thought – a lot of yogi’s will train using weights to help them do advanced balancing exercises which require a great deal of upper body, core and lower body strength. And I do not know about you, but I have never seen a ‘bulky’ yogi.

What are some of your favorite exercises? Mine are currently cable back rows and doing sit ups on a bench with a 10 pound weight 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice xxx

P.S. The gorgeous lady in the features image is Juennifer, and she lifts weights 😉

Sunday Summary, Uncategorized

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 5

March 30, 2014
Kayla Itsines Week 5

Hey everyone!

What a whirlwind spring break week this has been! I had work from Tuesday-Thursday so it really was not much of a break lol. My lovely friend Shivvy who I have known since high school has come to visit me for just under two weeks, so we have been doing lots of fun and tourist-y things. This is her first visit to America so of course we have been sampling all the food. Surprisingly we actually ate quite well save for tonight when we ordered loads at a Japanese restaurant in Lodi, CA called Haru Sushi.

San Francisco (and California in general, but particularly the bay area) is such a fun place to visit! It is great having a friend visit because it forces me to do tourist-y things that I normally wouldn’t do. On Friday, we went to Haight-Ashbury and spent hours shopping and had some lunch at the Citrus Club. They specialize in Asian food and noodles, and attempt to us less oil  by substituting it with citrus. You MUST go to Haight-Ashbury if you want a good shopping experience – they have a lot of unique boutique shops and thrift shops. I found the black shirt I am wearing in a few photo’s below for only $8!!

We then went to explore Buena Vista park and took some photo’s.

Kayla Itsines Week 5

After that we ventured to Chinatown. I think Chinatown is awesome but OMG the traffic is horrendous, and I swear that the steepest hills in SF are on the way to Chinatown!!! I wish we had just walked from the BART (bay area rapid transit – train basically) but eh, it was worth it in the end. We got some really delicious boba (this is milk tea with tapioca pearls) from Cool Tea Bar. Naaaht healthy haha, but I asked for 50% less sugar so at least you can customize them a little.

Kayla Itsines Week 5

Saturday was gross and rainy so let’s just skip that recap haha. This morning we went to the beach; we oohed and aahed at all the sweet dogs and puppies that were also at the beach, and just had fun walking around in general. Naturally I had to show off my yoga skills hehe. Ick, I really need a tan …

Kayla Itsines Week 5

Kayla Itsines Week 5

Kayla Itsines Week 5

Kayla Itsines Week 5

Kayla Itsines Week 5

I finished week 5 of Kayla Itsine’s bikini body guide, woo hoo! This week set of workouts are definitely more advanced in nature, particularly the arm workouts. I absolutely loved it, although I am not loving the amount of cardio. We have to quite a bit more cardio but oh well .. it is so worth it. I am seeing improvement in my legs and my abs look more toned 🙂 The only thing I wish it would focus more on is the back. I have some really gross fat on my back and although I KNOW YOU CAN’T SPOT REDUCE, it would be nice to have workouts that focused on the back.

I hope you have all had a great week everyone! Please let me know what type of posts you would like to see, or if you have any questions; I would love to hear what they are 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice