On week two of her strength training challenge, Thelma is feeling great after every workout. But food is constantly on her mind
Man, the reality of this transformation is kicking in big time and I am starting to realize that half the battle of this challenge revolves around preparation, especially where my food is concerned.
Every single meal is cooked from scratch, and because it’s so clean and restrictive I really need to plan what I am having in advance and put it in the fridge. This is really hard for me to do because I usually decide on the day what I am going to eat, nevertheless I am going to try and get organized with my food.
I’ve place an order for all my meat and some of my fish from a fab company called Muscle Food which allows you to order lean cuts of meat and fish.
What I love about it is that all their products have no added water so they still retain their shape and moisture. They also come in at a fraction of the cost of what I’d pay in the supermarket and have way more variety too.
I ordered some chicken breast, extra lean steak mince, chicken drumsticks, tilapia fillets, giant beef meatballs and some boneless chicken thighs. It’s been a lifesaver to be honest because once it’s delivered all I have to do is unpack and separate into portions and freeze. I still had to go to the supermarket to get a tray of eggs (seeing as I consume four a day from Monday to Friday).
A typical meal plan this week looked like this
Pre workout – protein Shake
Post workout – protein shake
Meal 1 – Four whole boiled eggs. I prefer boiled when I am training because I can pack them up and eat on the go
Snack – 20 almond nuts. These are sooo boring but the lowest of fat of all of the nuts
Lunch – whole can of tuna with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber (I forgot this at home) so had to think on my feet whilst out and opted for a Turkish restaurant where I had an amazing grilled chicken breast kebab and a salad which was beyond delicious and still enabled me to stick to my diet plan.
Snack – more nuts, I just can’t do the cottage cheese option
Dinner – steak mince with cauliflower and broccoli
Looking good right? Except I failed this simple task already by having a banana. That’s ok I hear you say, not when you are doing a body transformation and trying to get as lean as possible, Clara told me when I confessed.
Another strange thing that has happened is that I am always thinking about food, bad food at that. All my conversations now start with the words: ‘oooh I could really eat a fry up’ or ‘have you seen that new Indian restaurant, bet the food is really nice’. I am pretty sure my friends and family are getting fed up of hearing me talk about food ALL the time. That’s why I live for the weekends when I can have my cheat meal, I start planning way in advance about what I am going to have –it’s almost become the highlight of my week.
Taking the minerals and vitamins can be a pain. I’ve never been a fan of taking tablets, and my kitchen shelf is starting to resemble something that wouldn’t look out of place in Holland and Barrett. I know I need to get on top of taking them though because they will help boost and support my immune system during this process.
During our sessions, Clara tells me that I need to forget about traditional weight loss diet plans if we are to achieve any kind of result at the end of the twelve weeks. I am also supposed to ignore the scales and just concentrate on getting strong and building up my muscle and losing the body fat.
The four-times-a-week training is so tiring. Whilst I enjoy the training sessions the fatigue afterwards is unreal. I definitely can’t recover from training the way I used to in my 20s and 30s or maybe it’s just because I have sat on my arse for so long that I have forgotten how long it takes to build my fitness levels back up again. Either way, I’ve taken to having a cheeky nap when and where I can just to speed up the recovery process.
Clara is a stickler for technique which I respect a lot because I am the same when I teach my clients, and she sees everything. She is a big fan of ‘adding on weight’ and taking me way out of my comfort zone. I noticed that when she asks me how the weight feels and I say ok she always adds on and it hurts even more!!
I am also not used to doing my cardio at the end of my session. Usually I’d do it at the beginning and then do my strength work. Let me tell you it’s tough after you’ve done a killer legs session and then you still have to do 25 minute interval session on the treadmill. My legs almost gave way when I stepped off, but I did feel amazing once I completed the whole session.
Contact Thelma’s trainer Clara Mosha: claram@fitnesschoices.co.uk, Facebook Twitter: @UPTByClaraMosha, You Tube
Thelma Mensah is personal trainer, founder of the uber-cool blog kicksandkit.com and Healthista’s Kit Diva blogger
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