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Jan and Feb catch up

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Nearly March already – 2017 is flying past! I thought it was about time for a recap on what I’ve been up to. Most of my focus since the turn of the year has been getting myself ready for my next Strongwoman competition – the England’s Strongest Woman Southern qualifiers, which are now less than 3 weeks away. Gulp.

I’m competing in the under 82kg category and having got down to around 83kg during December I was a bit annoyed to start the year with the scales reading 85kg after the Christmas and New Year period. I knew most of that was water weight from the increased level of carbs and in particular alcohol that I’d consumed but wanted to get rid of it, and under 82kg as quickly as possible. I decided that I’d try out the Sirt diet. I’d heard good things about it and someone that I know, who is in great shape already had great success with it and lost the promised 7lbs in 7 days.

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Sirt foods are foods which have high quantities of compounds which activate proteins in the body called sirtuitins. There’s some research that suggests that sirtuitins mimic the effects of fasting and exercise in the body and therefore help the body to burn fat, but without losing muscle.

The top sirt foods are all things that you will have heard of – kale, parsley, rocket, citrus fruits, capers, turmeric, green tea, olive oil, red onion, chilli, coffee, red wine, dark chocolate (yes you read those last ones correctly!).

 

20170106_184245The 7 day diet is in two phases. The first lasts 3 days and during this phase calories are restricted to around 1000 per day. I drank 3 sirt food rich green juices throughout the day and then had a really filling meal in the evening. And a couple of squares of dark chocolate.

In Phase 2 which lasts for the rest of the week, there are two meals, two juices and overall calorie intake is around 1500 per day. Again the meals that I had were filling and genuinely delicious. After that it’s all about eating a normal diet but adding in plenty of Sirt foods and keeping in a regular sirt food rich green juice each day.

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So how did I do? Well I lost the promised 7lbs and another 1lb on top which I was delighted about. Now whether this was due to the sirt foods, or whether it was because I simply restricted my calories so much I don’t know. But the thing I can say is that all the food I ate that week, including the green juice, was genuinely tasty and filling. I felt fantastic at the end of the week and managed to keep up a full training schedule, even on days when I’d only had green juice and one meal. Some of the meals have now become regular parts of my weekly menu like the miso baked cod and sage turkey escalopes shown in the photos.

 
screenshot_20170226-150527My training has been going well. I’ve continued my once a week PT session with Jess and she’s also given me a programme to follow on another day of the week. These have been focused on squats and deadlifts. On a Saturday I go to my regular Strongwoman session and then on a Sunday I do another session where I tend to focus on log press and anything else that’s been missed out during the week.

I’ve had fun learning how to lift a keg over a yoke and have reached a new PB and competition weight for the yoke at 180kg. I’m feeling confident that I’ll do well on the day and hopefully walk away with some new PB which is my only aim. Some of the women at this competition are super strong and I’m under no illusions about that.

Fat loss wise things have been going really well. I’ve been keeping a close eye on my calorie intake and making sure to get plenty of protein. My body has responded well to this and the increased strength training. I took some comparison shots the other day and was pretty delighted with what I saw. Left is August 2016, middle is November 2016 and right is February 2017. My body weight is hovering just over 80kg now, I’d like to get it under before the competition so that I can step on the scales without worrying about making the weight class. But whatever the scales say the changes in my shape are evident!

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So while I’ve not blogged very much so far in 2017 I have been pretty busy! I’ve also been active over on Instagram which I’m loving at the moment and posting regularly over there, so if you don’t already follow me come over and say hi.

 



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