Bikini Series 2014 Week 1 in Review (May 12-18 2014)

What to say about this week? There have been highs and there have been lows and lots of new things!

I want to remind you all that the 2014 Tone It Up Bikini Series officially began in the last week of April, so I am behind the Tone It Up website. My Bikini Series started on Monday May 12th and is due to finish on Sunday 13th July 2014.

Food-wise I have fallen off the bandwagon a fair couple of times this week, which is why I am not expecting a weight loss when I weigh in tomorrow. I am very much an emotional eater and I suffer from compulsive overeating;  something that I am hoping to be able to control better as I get further into the Bikini Series. The support on Twitter and at the Tone It Up Community has been amazing and I want to say a big thank you  to all the Tone It Up girls who have been cheering me on this week - particularly Lauren!

I am proud that I have worked out every single day this week - if even just for 30 minutes. I have been particularly en pointe with my workouts and even on those days when my nutrition was far from perfect, I still made sure to exercise.

The Tone It Up girls have challenged us to achieve #100bysummer (or #150bysummer for TIU veterans). Each 10 minutes of cardio exercise you do counts as 1 mile towards your #100bysummer. This week's exercise breakdown is as follows:

Monday 12th - 64 minutes
Tuesday 13th - 97 minutes
Wednesday 14th - 164 minutes
Thursday 15th - 61 minutes
Friday 16th - 31 minutes
Saturday 17th - 225 minutes
Sunday 18th - 26 minutes

Total Week = 668 minutes

668 minutes divided by 10 = 66.8 miles towards my #100bysummer !!!!

I'm amazed that in one week I'm already past the halfway mark! 

Even though I'm assuming there will be a gain on the scales in the morning, I'm really hoping that my measurements will have gone down because I really have tried hard all week long with the exercising!

I've done my first ever pilates workout! I've done the Bikini Body routine twice this week! I've tweeted more this week than I think I have ever done!! There are so many amazing women out there who are empowering each other to live better, happier and healthier lives and I really am loving that aspect. 

I've also vlogged a couple of times this week over on my YouTube channel:

What are my goals for Bikini Series Week 2 (May 19-25 2014)

• Minimise bingeing / Give it 100% to stick to my food plan
• DRINK MORE WATER - minimum of 3 litres daily
• Be grateful for every day!
• Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes
• Daily Wii Fit Body Tests
• Compliment someone every day
• Carry out at least one random act of kindness
• Follow the TIU and Blogilates Workouts and calendars

What are your plans for the week?

Day 2 of the Tone It Up 7 Day Slim Down

Today marks my second day on the Tone It Up Seven Day Slim down! 

The Seven Day Slim Down is a one-week weight loss plan which forms part of the wider Tone It Up nutrition plan, lifestyle and online community, developed by the Tone It Up Girls, Karena and Katrina from Tone It Up.com. The plan is available for a range of dietary requirements (currently, regular, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free) and can be downloaded from the Tone It Up site for a flat fee of $150, which entitles you to lifetime membership, along with back issues and updates. Karena and Katrina also work tirelessly to bring the community free workouts available on their YouTube Channel and a free weekly newsletter.

OK, so back to Day 2... pretty much a repetition of Day 1, except today I feel . I imagine that the headaches are coming from toxins which are being released from moving to eating lean, clean and green vs.the dreadful catastrophe that was previously my diet (not to mention, giving up smoking and learning how to workout twice a day whilst recovering from neck surgery). 

Today's Food:

• Meta D Original
• Meal 1: Slim Down Scramble
• Meal 2: Grapefruit
• Meal 3: Salmon with Mixed Veggies
• Meal 4: Hummus and Cucumber
• Meal 5: Chicken with Mixed Vegetables
• Meal 6: Tea, Yoghurt and Cinnamon

I have been overweight and unfit for such a very long time. Around half of my lifetime. That makes me terribly sad inside to realise how much time I have wasted, simply because I have been unable to control what food I put in my mouth. I am a very emotional eater and in my defense, a lot of things have happened in my life over the past fifteen years, which have possibly (probably) cemented my reliance on food as a way to control my emotions, yet it is time to break out of this cycle and that is why I find myself turning to the Tone It Up plan. 

The plan is very sensible, in that it asks you to eat regular, healthy meals throughout the day - focussing on alkalising your body and regulating your metabolism. For someone with insulin-resistant polycystic ovarian syndrome and thus a compromised metabolism, this is really important and I am enjoying learning about how the time that I eat food, as well as the quantity, play an important role in keeping my weight under control.

I'm surprised at how much motivation I have for the Tone It Up plan as I would usually be rather laissez-faire about trying out yet another diet plan. The thing is, I don't feel like this is 'yet another diet plan'. Tone It Up is a lifestyle and since joining the programme, I have been absolutely floored by the support from fellow Tone It Up Girls across different social media. We are encouraged to check in via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc., after every meal and workout and the support from the community is simply amazing. This is what I firmly believe is what is going to help me more than anyone else can know. I often lose self-belief and I am pretty sure that my family are sick and tired of me telling the same old same old, that this time it's going to be different. Yet I know in my heart that this is a lifestyle that I can stick to long-term. I didn't put this weight on overnight, I didn't swallow all of my sadness in one huge lump but I think that this is the plan that is going to help me to chip off the weight, bit by bit, and help my soul be lifted, too.

Thank you, Tone It Up Girls, in 2 short days, you've already made me a believer in the TIU philosophy.

Never Give Up

Clare x