Detox Diary : I’ve Finished!

I’ve done it! Yesterday was the final day of my 30 Day Shred so I am completely done and I can’t believe it. It feels like its taken forever but now that I’ve seen the results, I know it has absolutely been worth it. It has been difficult at times and there have been a few moments when I’ve considered just giving in, but I’m so glad I didn’t now. I now have even more motivation to keep up this healthy lifestyle and continue to get the results I’ve been aiming for for so long.

As you all know, my aim for this was primarily to tone up. Though I’m not totally at my goal yet, I’ve got a great starting point to build on. My arms are leaner, my legs are stronger and my core is definitely toning. The workout I was doing did get a bit tedious even though I was doing it cyclicly, but now I know what sort of exercises to be doing at the gym and I can also build on those with new exercises. I plan to try and do a bit of ab work everyday just so I can keep my core strong and hopefully I’ll be able to get some strength and cardio work in around my new work schedule.

As for the teatox, the results have been more than I could possibly have hoped for. My bloating went down with the first week, my energy increased and my body on a whole just felt so much cleaner. I’ve slimmed down too which I wasn’t expecting. As mentioned in a previous post, my skin is also clearer. I wouldn’t have thought that so much goodness could come from a tiny teabag and I can quite easily say I’m already missing drinking them since I finished on Friday.

Whilst on the teatox, clean eating is also recommended. This was the part I was most worried about but if anything, its the part that’s been the easiest. I haven’t really ad to sacrifice any of the foods I like to eat. I simply switched white for brown in terms of bread and pasta, normal potatoes became sweet potatoes and I cut out foods that had artificial sugars and sweeteners. I’ve now found I enjoy eating all of this clean food so much more because my body feels so good afterwards. I never feel bloated or lethargic. Controlling my portion size means my digestive system isn’t working overtime and I’m never too full, just full enough to keep me going until my next meal. Now that the teatox is over, I decided to treat myself to an oreo, and now my tolerance for sugar has gone completely. I know find sweets and chocolate too sweet and can’t stomach more than one mouthful. I haven’t craved those foods either. I just don’t want to eat them anymore which is great. I’m more than happy to continue on with the new, healthier diet I have now.

So after all of that, here are my results. On the top row are my before pictures and on the bottom, pictures taken just this morning. The difference is insane.

To anyone considering this, I say do it! You’ll feel better for it and its a great starting platform. I’ll leave links below to buy the teatox and if anyone else has done this let me know how you found it too.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Buy SkinnyMint Teatox

Detox Day 24 : Staying Motivated

So it’s been a long journey, but I’m now on the home stretch. I have just four more days left of my teatox and six days of my 30 day shred. I’m not going to lie and say it’s been easy, because it most certainly hasn’t, but I’ve managed to get through the wall and now I’m pushing to finish. I never thought I’d be able to get this far. I’d imagined I’d get bored with the repetitive workouts and that my clean diet would go out of the window after the first week, but I’ve made it and now I want to share some tips with you to help you stay motivated.

The first thing to remember, is not to expect change to happen overnight. It won’t. It takes time for your body to readjust to a new diet and exercise routine and I’ve heard that it can take up to two weeks for you to begin to notice any change, so it’s important to keep pushing through that tough first week so that you can start seeing results. Seeing results will make you want to push more. It’s also important to take note of the little changes. Think about how much energy you have, or how your skin looks and feels and also your stamina when working out. They are usually the easiest things to notice, but people overlook them because they want to see their body change. My advice is to look at these changes as the first stepping stone. Once you see these, you know your body will be next on the list.

Next, I would say tracking your diet and progress is another great way to stay motivated. As well as blogging about my experience, I’ve also being keeping a diary of what I’m eating and the exercise I’m doing. It helps when you’re trying to have a varied and balanced diet and also gives you a prediction of what you would weigh in five weeks if you continued to eat and exercise as you have on a certain day. I would advise not to get too caught up on calorie counting as then it can become obsessive and you will ignore foods that you want to eat based solely on their calorific value and that is not how a diet should work. You should still enjoy the food you’re eating!

My final tip would be to keep in mind why you’re doing this. The end goal. Keep it at the forefront of your mind, especially when you feel like you might as well give up. Whether it’s to tone up, lose weight or simply you just want to be healthier, keep that goal in mind! If you have a certain piece of clothing you want to fit in to, hang it on the front of your wardrobe so you can look at it when you hit the wall. Keep your before picture on your phone so you can keep looking back and remembering what you don’t want to be like, that should be enough of a push!

Hopefully you find this helpful. The finish line is in sight for me and it can be for you too.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Detox Day 5 : Refueling

Now that I’m at Day 5, I’ve done one cycle of all three levels of my workout and I’m onto Level Two of the second cycle. It has been intense and tiring, but what makes it worth it is that I can feel my muscles getting stronger and my stamina increasing.

Before I got into all of this however, I looked into what it’s best to eat/drink post-workout in order to get the best out of it and to get back to your normal state after exerting all of that energy. Of course, it depends on your aim. A lot of gym goers will turn to a protein shake because it helps to build muscle. But what if you just want to replenish your system?

A glass of water will rehydrate you, but that’s it. That’s all it does. It simply replaces the water you’ve lost by sweating. Of course you could turn to sports drinks like Powerade or Lucozade, but they simply provide the sugar. I, personally, don’t like the taste of these drinks because they’re so high in sugar content. They’re far too sweet for me.

After a bit of researching, apparently, the best refuel drink post-workout is…CHOCOLATE MILK. I know, it sounds crazy but according to fitnessmagazine.com, compared to other sports drinks, or plain milk, it has double the carbohydrate and protein content which will replenish tired muscles much more efficiently. It also has nutrients that help to retain energy and water to prevent dehydration.

I have tried this myself, and I have to say, it really does work. Usually I get jelly legs for a while after my workout and all I can do is sit around and just wait until my breathing returns to normal and the shaky feeling dissipates. Since trying this, my recovery time has shortened significantly and I don’t feel like I need to go to bed straight after.

If you’re still a bit skeptical, you can read the article here, or better yet, just give it a go and see if you notice the difference!

I’ll be back with another update soon.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Day 3 : All About Abs

Now one of the main focuses for me during this detox is toning up. While I need to tone areas all over my body, the main focus is my abs, as it is for a lot of people who want a great bikini body.

There are loads of things you can do to tone up your abs and there are loads of workouts available. It just takes consistency and motivation and you’ll be able to get those washboard abs in no time! There’s no need to spend exorbitant amounts of money on all those technological things that claim to give you abs without the hard work. It can be as easy as trying one of the 30 Day Challenges just to get you started. They’re great because you can print off a calendar and stick it up which will help you to keep track and stay motivated. I actually tried one from Blogilates before I went on holiday earlier in the year and it was great. They provide a great starting point before you go into the more intense exercises. I’ll link it here for you to check out if you fancy it.

YouTube is also another great resource. There are loads of videos available for all levels and for different amounts of time. The variety in exercises is also vast, you’re bound to find something that suits you. I’ll link you to some of my favourites at the bottom of this post!

So after trying loads of different exercises, I’ve compiled a list of my Top 5 exercises to work on the abs which you can find below. Explanations on each can either be found in the videos I’ve linked you to or they’re easy enough to Google.

Hopefully this is of some help to you, and remember, you can do it! Push through that wall and work for that six pack!

Sparkle on! – Ellie .xx

Fitness Blender 10 Minute Ab Workout
Fitness Blender 8 Minute Ab Workout

Detox Day 2 : Clean Snacking

I’ve completed my first day of the detox which included my 30 Day Shred workout and my Night Cleanse tea. My workout was brutal and I’m paying for it today – getting up the stairs is a real task! But I also felt really good afterwards. It was the good type of tired when you feel like you’ve accomplished something. Even for Level 1, it was a really vigorous workout but like Jillian says, when you’re only working out for 20 minutes, it has to be intense to see results! The Night Cleanse tea is going to take some getting used to. I’m not a huge fan of peppermint flavoured goods so for the first couple of sips it was hard to stomach, but once I took a couple of gulps it was rather nice. It was quite calming and relaxing and I certainly slept well.

Today, I want to talk about snacking. I’d like to believe we’re all guilty of it, especially when we’re moody or bored. I can hold my hands up and say boredom is the worst cause for my snacking. However, to get the most out of this teatox, the leaflet recommends cutting out artificial sugar and sweeteners and obviously anything that would be considered unhealthy. So, I’ve had to wave goodbye to my Birthday Cake Oreos and hello to cleaner snacks.

Most people will probably roll their eyes and think of boring snack that don’t contain much flavour and therefore don’t satisfy your tiny cravings, but healthy snacks don’t have to be boring at all! You can still get your chocolate fix in good moderation if you eat chocolate covered almonds. To make it even better, switch to dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is the best of all the chocolates to eat when you’re on a health kick. (It also happens to be my favourite which is good for me!) Almonds are also a good source of protein and a handful can end up being quite filling.

Here are the suggestions from my SkinnyMint leaflet:

I am quite a fussy eater when it comes to fruit, which are a great clean eating snack and count towards your five a day, but I’ve gone for apple slices and grapes with the occasional melon thrown in, and I’ve gone for almonds and cashews. Whilst I was in Holland & Barrett, I also picked up some sweet chilli thai crackers that I’m pretty sure I’ve had in a graze box before and taste great, and also some peanut butter protein balls. Hopefully these will satisfy my cravings for the duration of my detox and I’ll no longer want crisps and biscuits!

I’ll put links below to the snack bags I bought from Holland & Barrett in case you want to try any of them. If you’re a graze box subscriber, you can find a lot of what they put in their snacks in bigger bags for really good prices.

I’ll be back with another update tomorrow.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx

Oh My Thai Crackers – Holland & Barrett
The Protein Ball Co. Peanut Butter – Holland & Barret

 

Detox Day 1 – The Before Shot

Here we are at Day 1 of my detox and I’ve kicked off the day with my Morning Boost tea from SkinnyMint. For those who don’t know how the teatox works, you are supplied with 28 Morning Boost tea bags – one for every day of the detox – and 14 Night Cleanse tea bags – one for each alternate day to be drunk before bedtime. With at least 30 minutes exercise everyday and cleaner eating, the teatox helps to get rid of bloating, curbs your appetite, cleanses and tones your body.

The Morning Boost tea is actually really yummy. I’m a green tea lover and this is a really fruity blend that is quite refreshing for the morning. I’m looking forward to trying an iced version a little further on in my journey.

Which is another thing I should mention: When you purchase the 28 Day Teatox, you also receive a booklet of tips as well as a journey calendar which gives little ideas of what to do each day. Really handy and helpful!

As advised on the calendar, I have taken a picture of my pre-teatox bikini body ready for a comparison picture at the end. It’s taken a bit of courage, but I’m also posting it here so that you can see real results as they happen!

PRE-TEATOX BIKINI BODY!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m also undertaking the 30 Day Shred, which is a workout DVD consisting of three levels of 20 minute workouts that are set out in a way that burn fat and build muscle in the most effective way possible. After reading up on different ways people have done it, instead of doing 10 days straight of each level, I’m going to go cyclicly, so each day I’ll be doing a different level, which will hopefully mean it won’t be too monotonous and I’ll be working different muscles in different ways each day. Today is Level One and I’m most definitely ready to sweat!

I’ll be back with another update very soon.

Sparkle On! – Ellie .xx