Ashley's blog - week 4

Hi guys, so this week I thought I would try and sound a little less like Oprah and a little more human and relatable.  HAHA!

So it’s the end of the first month and its now all about routine for me.  I love routine and base my life around structure and organisation. If I have an event or commitment in my iPhone calendar it’s locked in. In saying this, my calendar has been filled of late with commitments related to this competition. Like I said in my first blog I am training at least 5 times a week, with special mention to the 6am Boot Camps organised by Life Active.  It is a struggle to get out of bed super early but the energetic start to the day is well worth it.

This week I also went and saw Mike Badke at City Clinic to get him to take a look at my overall strength and muscle development.  His assessment came back with a glowing review and it looked like I was in good shape and could only get better with the dedication I am putting into my health thanks to this competition.

Unfortunately for a period in the last two weeks I was out of action due to illness.  This I found to be incredibly frustrating, as my body had gotten used to working out that the sudden stop really took a toll.  I had to listen to my body and take a step back and let it recover.  I have now resumed training and this illness hasn’t distracted me from my end goal, so I’m back on the proverbial horse and training to make up for lost time. 

I have taken to snacking on small amounts of nuts at work, which I find really tied me over till my lunchtime salad.  Another dietary tip I can pass on is for dinning out, as this week saw the annual work lunch to watch the Melbourne Cup I was faced with the challenge of selecting the healthiest option from the set menu.  I have learnt a rule from Andrew called the “3 S’s” when dinning out- Steak, Salad, Soda Water. This was a lifesaver for the Cup lunch as one of the options was Steak, which I ordered with as many vegetables as possible and NO GRAVY!! This rule turned a potentially unhealthy meal into a healthy high protein meal.

If your playing along at home and losing the weight and shaping up with me I hope your “Make Me Hot” Journey is going as well as mine and your seeing results.  Stick with it and you’ll really surprise yourself at what you are capable of… there I go sounding like Oprah again!