Since last week another Brit has won the Tour de France, Kate has given birth to a future king and I’ve lost two pounds. It pales into comparison to those other accomplishments but frankly, in six weeks you have to take your successes where you can find them, and this gig doesn’t get any easier.
There are people, competitive driven people who want to achieve great things, to push themselves to their furthest physical limits. I cannot count myself among them. Don’t get me wrong, I push limits in other areas, fashion, dinner party conversation, parking restrictions. My progress has been good so far and yet it seems to have slowed. I’m annoyed with myself that at Barry’s I can cope with a beginner level class but I’m still not up to the intermediate yet and at week five, I have to ask myself why.
WEEK THREE
WEEK 5
Weight 7.7 stone
Bust 34.5 inches
Waist 26.5 inches
Hips 35.5 inches
Legs 21inches
If I’m honest, I’m fundamentally not too fussed about moving up levels. I’m not doing this for anyone else so I don’t think there’s anything to prove. I don’t think anyone expected me to be the Terminator. I can’t blame Barry’s, cos it really does push you. Oh boy does it push you. Anya regularly speeds up my treadmill if she thinks I’m not trying enough. The problem is that when I’m told I need to go faster to prove that I “really want this” the bald truth is, I don’t REALLY want to run tiny bit faster than I did last week. So it’s been a tough week, motivationally speaking.
Luckily my gorgeous cousin is in town and he’s the most motivating person ever. He told me that you should keep a ‘sanity list’ which will remind you why you’ve decided to do something when the going gets hard, however much you want a cold coca cola… mmm coca cola. So sanity list;
1. Get rid of ‘pregnancy’ belly
2. Feeling fit is awesome
3. Feeling healthy is also awesome.
4. um…
5. dammit coca cola why can’t I quit you..?
6. I’ll come back to this.
The Nourish meeting topic this week was on sex hormone balance and what they mean for diet and health. Like last week, it is monumentally complicated and surprisingly, to me anyway, it had very little to do with libido and more to do with your ability to absorb nutrients. As Alli pointed out, the really important thing to remember is the foods that can help. The things that support a good hormone balance in women are B6 (found in sesame seeds, brazil nuts and corn) Magnesium (in spinach, broccoli, chard, squash) and Agnus Castus. If chaps have high testosterone then they should need to make sure they’re getting enough zinc and Saw Palmetto.
Nourish meetings are rather different to traditional slimming clubs. The level of detail that Alli goes into is extraordinary, to the point she was worried she was overburdening us, but the group values the fact that you don’t just learn about food, you learn about the processes through which nutrition and the body work together. I knew that my student idea of a diet was bad. It was based almost entirely on calories and consisted of menus like a pint, a mars bar and celery for the rest of the day, now I know exactly how bad it was and I don’t think I’ll ever eat the same way again.
This week’s menu:
Breakfast – Slim pancakes with berries and honey
Lunch – Blackened Salmon
Supper – Roast chicken and vegetables (made by my boyfriend)
Fitness – Anya Lahiri Charm attends three weekly classes at Barry’s Bootcamp, the new super-gym that has a huge celeb following in the US whose fans include Jessica Biel, Sandra Bullock and Katie Holmes. It’s just opened a branch in London’s Euston where Charm will be guided through her paces by chief Barry’s instructor Anya Lahiri (left).
Diet – Alli Godbold Charm’s having total nutritional overhaul (no less) at the hands of Alli, a nutritional therapist who has worked alongside chefs Charles Amos and Alan Wichart at Divertimenti Cookery Schools in Knightsbridge and Marylebone, author of Feed Your Health (£13.99 from Amazon and feedyourhealth.co.uk)Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
