So, I had my Monthly Stats for Yesterday. February was quite a stressful month for me, progress was none existent. I let things get on top of me and it hindered my progress for last month.

March began and I realized that I have a month until I'm 1 month post op(where I go back to my surgeon) and only 3 months till my holiday and to get my body in the shape that I want where I will be happy and comfortable in a bikini and not self conscious.

So, I came up with a plan of what I wanted to do in the month of March and it's pretty jam packed!

Firstly, I'm starting Half Marathon training this week, my first run is tomorrow. Part of me is sort of looking forward to training for another HM.. the other half of me is dreading it because I know that I don't like doing long runs.

I have a training plan all setup and ready to go, I'll be running 4 times a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. That's already one more run than I'm used to per week. I'm going to be doing a new video on my youtube channel about the specifics of my training and everything like that!

Other than HM training, I've decided that the best way to incorporate Yoga and Cross training into my routine is to join in with some Challenges. So, this month I'm doing the following challenges:

Alo Yoga #JourneyToHandstand Challenge
Blogilates #30DayThighChallenge
Running Bug Ab Challenge
UK Run Chat - 30 Day Squat and Lunge Challenge

It's A LOT to commit to, but it's been doable so far, the challenges don't take very long to complete, it gets me in some extra activity throughout the day and it's motivating me, which is what I need right now!

The Yoga challenge is one of my main focuses as it's something that is making me practice Yoga on a daily practice. I do a short video or two to warm up and then do the practice on the pose for that day, it's actually working out pretty well.
On top of the challenges, I'm trying to cut out sweets, chocolate, biscuits. Basically any junk food that I don't really NEED to put in my body at all.. except the odd treat for dessert some days. I'd like to drink more water and limit my snacking throughout the day.

I've been doing it the last two days and It's going well. Today I had a high protein breakfast and lunch and I've actually felt really full and satisfied and not had the need to snack at all.

Basically, I'm making March my month. No more excuses, no more failure months, this time I'm going to kick ass. If there's no progress at the end of this month, given that I stick to my plans fully, then I'm not sure where I will go from there but I can't say I will be in a good place mentally, but I'm gonna give it everything I've got and we'll see where I end up!

SIMPLE. :)

Question: Did you achieve everything you wanted in February? What are your goals for March?

For full disclosure purposes, I received the teapigs Matcha Set for free in return for an honest review. I was not paid to write this review and all opinions of the product received are my own.

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So, a while back on my social media, I shared that I would be taking part in a 2 week Matcha Challenge in association with teapigs. They kindly sent me one of their Modern Matcha Kits which included a 30g tin of teapigs matcha green tea, an aerolatte electric hand whisk, a shot glass, matcha badge, a little spoon and a matcha info leaflet.
The challenge involved having half a teaspoon of their mighty Matcha powder everyday for two weeks in different forms and then report back with how I  got on and how I felt!

So, it's actually been about a month since I started the Matcha challenge, I did the challenge for the full two weeks and still had lots left over to continue taking the matcha for a while(on and off).

So, What is Matcha?
" Matcha is essentially a very concentrated form of green tea. The way it's grown and consumed means that it's packed full of essential vitamins and minerals. Matcha tea bushes are grown under shade which dramatically increases the chlorophyll and amino acid content of the leaf – lots of good stuff.
When you drink regular green tea, you throw away the leaves afterwards which a bit like boiling spinach, throwing away the spinach and just drinking the water – you’ll get some of the nutrients, but you’re throwing away the best bit. Matcha is drunk as a fine powder diffused in liquid so you actually ingest the whole leaf, consuming every little bit of lovely green tea good stuff. "
Quoted from teapigs

To find out more about how it's made, see HERE.

What are the health benefits? Did I notice any changes?
With the high amount of caffeine in the Matcha Powder, I definitely noticed a difference in my energy levels when I had a matcha shot in the morning and sometimes before a workout/run for a boost of energy.
I'm not a coffee person, so I usually don't get a caffeine boost of any sort in the morning until I had a cup of tea so I actually appreciated the higher energy levels that I got from having a matcha shot in the morning!

Matcha also contains a naturally occurring amino acid called L-Theanine. Along with caffeine, the combination is said to increase alertness and improve concentration.

Matcha contains 137 times the anti oxidants of green tea and 70 times the amount in orange juice!

According to teapigs, 60% of people who have previously taken the matcha challenge noticed an improved condition in their hair, skin and nails.I personally don't have many problems with my skin and didn't notice any major changes in any of these whilst doing the matcha challenge.

Drinking Matcha each day can also help to naturally boost your metabolism and drinking a shot before a workout can increase fat oxidization(helping you burn fat faster).

In terms of weight loss, I didn't see any difference, however, I've mentioned for a while now that I've been kinda stuck with my weight so I didn't expect this to help much in that regard.

How can you use Matcha?
Well, you can drink it the typical way, which is to have half a teaspoon of the matcha powder and mix with water in a shot glass and just down it in one. This was the typical way that I had matcha in the mornings, it was quick and simple and done in a minute.

Matcha just has very strong green tea taste, which can take some getting used to but when you take it in a shot or when you mix it with other ingredients such a s in a smoothie, it's really not bad at all.

A matcha latte that I made with 1 serving of matcha mixed with some hot water and added to some skimmed milk, I warmed the milk up and used the aerolatte to froth the milk up. It was pretty good!

You can use Matcha in cookies, in smoothies, have it with some fruit juice or even make a matcha Latte, I tried the matcha latte and I quite enjoyed it but didn't try any other ways to incorporate it.

You can find some simple recipes that use Matcha HERE.

***

Overall, it was a great experience to find out the benefits of taking matcha over the two week period. I definitely appreciated the extra energy boost that the matcha gave me when I took it in the morning and it's definitely something that I'm considering continuing(maybe not everyday) but every once in a while, maybe when I need an extra little boost.

Thanks again to teapigs for allowing me to be a part of the challenge!

Question: Have you ever tried Matcha or anything Matcha flavoured? What did you think of it?

Today was the day I went back to work.. and the day I suffered from some major DOMS(Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

Yesterdays workouts consisted of my second workout from the SKNY Box plan as well as my 2nd(?) day of #30DaysofYoga with Adriene.

Yesterdays SKNY Box workout was a HIIT workout. I've actually never done a HIIT workout before so I didn't really know what to expect but I've heard that it is HARD so I was apprehensive to start.

The workout consisted of 20seconds on, 10 seconds off with High Knees, Mountain Climbers and Squat Jumps. It was as hard as I'd heard of. I was dying after just 4 rounds out of 8 and wanted to stop.. I didn't as I knew there was a reason people said it was so good.

I was a sweaty mess by the end of it. After the HIIT workout, I did some stretching with the second day of Yoga with Adriene which was great. I really enjoy Adriene's videos and she has such a soothing voice so its easy to relax. If you've never seen or tried any of Adriene's videos, I highly recommend you do, you can find her YT channel HERE.

Tank is from V3 Apparel, Pants are from Buddha Pants (10% off code: laura_fat2fit_10)

Today, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post. It was the time to go back to work! Its quite hard to re-adjust after being out of work for 2 weeks. I struggled getting up early this morning as I haven't been over the Christmas Period.

I also woke up to some pretty awful DOMS that got worse as the day went on. My chest is tight and it is sore to lift my arms and also I'm waddling quite alot as it's difficult to walk and sit down properly.

However, they say if you're sore that means its working.. so I'll take it and put up with it!

I'm about to go swimming and will be doing the next day of Yoga with Adriene when I get home. I've not been to swim lessons for 2 weeks over the Christmas period so I'm hoping I still remember what I've learnt so far but I'll save that for a post tomorrow, it might be nice to update people on how my lessons are going!

Hope you've had a great day and I'll speak to you again tomorrow!

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Today has been a pretty good day for exercise. I've decided to start two 30 day plans this week to cover my exercise during the month of January.

I'm a big fan of Yoga with Adriene and when I saw before Christmas that she would be planning on doing the 30 Days of Yoga I thought it would be great to get involved with some daily practice and will also get me back into Yoga.

I haven't practiced yoga in quite a while.. I got lazy and decided not to practice. I do regret it and I always realise how much I've missed it when I get back to the mat. I was busy on New Years Day and yesterday it completely slipped my mind to start but I did today and plan to keep it up from now. I'm a few days behind but I'll stick to one a day and just go over a few days after January.

So today I did the first video from Adriene's 30 Days of Yoga and it was pretty fab! Some nice relaxed me time on the mat was just what I needed. I look forward to continuing daily practice.
If you're interested in doing 30 Days of Yoga, then you can find out more about it HERE.

I also decided to start the 30 Day Workout plan that came with my SKNY Box Subscription for last month. I was intrigued with the workout plan and decided to give it a go.

I've taken before pictures and will take after pictures for the end of the month after I've finished the plan. There's 2 Body Weight workouts and 2 HIIT workouts that are set during the month with different reps and sets to complete each week.
I'm interested to see what results I get at the end of the month and I'll obviously update here at the end of the month :)

I'm definitely all set for workouts this month. Yoga coupled with the SKNY Box workouts and running 3 x a week, I'm hoping to make some progress with my weight loss this month.

Bring it on! I'm looking forward to the workouts this month and I'll speak to you tomorrow for Day 4!

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I've seen the #Janathon/#Juneathon hashtag floating around on social media before but never really knew what it was or what it entailed. Then I saw Katie and Steph discussing it on twitter before Christmas and had a look to see what it was all about.

Janathon is/was primarily a running challenge, however, if you don't run or can't, you can join in by cycling, walking, rowing, weights, swimming, building snowmen.. whatever takes your fancy and gets you up and active everyday for the month of January.

Original Image Sourced from Janathon.com Website

The part that intrigued me most about this challenge is the fact that it entices people that are doing the challenge to be social about it. Once you've completed an activity of your choice, you are to blog/tweet or tell the Janathon FB page and the rest of the participants about it within 24 hours.

Everyone uses the #Janathon hashtag and you can leave comments and encourage other participants to interact with each other. I love to find new bloggers and health and fitness addicts like me so I thought it was a great opportunity.

DAY ONE
So I completed Day 1 Yesterday, which was actually building up a desk in the living room for my new blogging/work space area. Prior to making the desk, I just had my hospital bed desk and a small living room chair to sit on. I had no room, no space for storage.

Since I really want to focus on my blog this year, I thought it would be a good idea to have my own little space to have all my blogging stuff and since I spend most of my time on a computer anyway, I thought why not.

Here's some pictures of my little corner. I love it, personally and it will enable me to be more organised throughout the year:

DAY TWO
I went for a 3 mile run this morning for day 2 of Janathon. I still wasn't feeling 100% with my cough and cold but I really couldn't stand just sitting around feeling sorry for myself so I went out.
It wasn't the best run ever. I had to stop a few times during my run because of coughing and a really tight chest but I still felt better when I got home than before I started.

 I'm definitely glad that I decided not to do the NYE run on Weds, I think I would have really struggled. I still have other races that I can enter and have the Winter Run coming up on the 1st of February so I'm going to focus on them instead.

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So that's it so far, I haven't decided if I will do a quick blog post everyday or whether I combine a couple of days worth on my blog. I guess we'll find out sooner or later, I'll have made the decision by tomorrow. Bring on Day 3!
If you're interested in joining in with the Janathon challenge, its not too late and you can find out more info and sign up HERE!

Question: Have you heard of #Janathon? Do you/have you participated in any month long challenges that you enjoyed?

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Yesterday was the last day of the Global Corporate Challenge. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but just to be brief, its a challenge that takes place every year that is aimed to help improve the health and well being of employees within companies around the world.

You join as a team of 7 and compete against those in your team, other teams in your company and teams all over the world to get the highest step count.

The challenge takes place over 100 days starting in May and ending in September. You wear a pedometer over the 100 days and track steps, biking and swimming - logging into the website to track your step count.

 I must say, I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished over the last 100 days..
I completed over 1 and a half million steps and 659 miles! I came first in my team of 7 with a lead of about 60,000. My PB was over 33,000 steps on day 46.

I think I impressed myself!

It's been a great experience and I will definitely be doing it again next year. When I started the challenge, I had only just returned to work after having surgery. The challenge has encouraged me to be healthier and have a more active lifestyle.

I was obviously active prior to the challenge, but I never walked anywhere really. During the challenge, I have been going on walks AT LEAST 3 times a day without fail, even if it was only short.

The GCC has also formed a very welcome habit into my life. After the 3 walks per day over the last 100 days,  those walks are now going to form part of my daily routine. I won't stop walking now that the challenge is over.

I'm proud of myself, of other members of my team and of the people I've never met in my company that have took part in the challenge. People have lost weight during the challenge and have made positive changes to their lifestyle by competing, so GCC has nothing but positive feedback from me.

I look forward to competing again next year and I hope to beat all the records that I made this year.

Lets see where next year will take me!

Question: What is your favourite way to keep active? Is walking a part of your daily routine?

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So, the three week challenge for Move Nourish Believe hosted by FitApproach and LornaJane officially ended yesterday.

It was an experience and I'm sad that its over, I might have to look for more challenges to do as this was a great way to keep me accountable.

The last three weeks the challenge has had me moving, nourishing and believing in myself. I've also been keeping up with everyone else's posts and pictures this week and everyone has done SO well!

Some of the challenges were hard, sometimes I almost forgot about the challenge and had to whip something up but I completed every single day.

Week three of the challenge was all about self love and believing in ourselves, lets see how I got on - My recap for week 3 - Believe!

Monday - Spoil Yourself!
This was a time to do anything we wanted, to spoil ourselves. I chose to have a nice relaxing night catching up with The Walking Dead with some light choice snacks.
Tuesday - 5 Mindful Minutes
Tuesday was to take 5 minutes to Meditate. This was initially quite hard, I had Phillip walking in and he decided to copy what I was doing. I did manage to get some peace and quiet and it was quite soothing.
Wednesday - Be Happy
Wednesday was Showing your happy place! and mine is with my little baby. She brightens my life, when I'm upset she is there to make me smile. She is always around during my workout to spur me on when it gets tough. I just love her and she's so cute too! ;)
Thursday - Thankful Thursday
This was letting people know what you are thankful for!
For me, it was Phillip, my family, friends, work colleagues, and of course all my followers on my social media.  All of which have been there to support me during my weight loss.
Friday -  Share the love!
S/O to your #1 supporter/motivator! - Again, Phillip, he's been my absolute rock throughout the whole of my weight loss journey. He's been an inspiration to me from when he lost his own weight. He's always been there for me and supports all of my decisions.

So, that's it! The Move Nourish Believe Challenge is over.

To celebrate the accomplishments everyone has made over the last couple of weeks, FitApproach and Lorna Jane are hosting a Twitter Party on Weds 26th at 5PM PST / 8PM EST, which is 1 AM on 27th UK time, Eeeek! I'm gonna be so tired but I don't want to miss it! Just use the hashtag  #MNBChallenge to get involved!

That's not to mention that the winner of the #MNBChallenge will be announced who will win $1,000 to Lorna Jane Active from participating in the challenge! Exciting! :)

Question: What is one thing you're thankful for?
Have you ever been to a Twitter Party?

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So, first off! I received confirmation last night that I have been accepted as a #sweatpink Ambassador and I'm over the moon! I feel completely honoured to be part of such an amazing community of inspiring and motivating ladies.
It's because of some of the amazing blogs I read that I found FitApproach and the #Sweatpink community in the first place.  Every single one of the beautiful ladies in the community is inspiring and motivating and I wanted to be a part of that.

I hope that I can further improve myself  and my blog and provide motivation and inspiration for others who inspire to live fit and healthier lifestyles. Especially for those that are on their weight loss journey as that's where my story began. Hopefully inspiring and motivating people they way I was when I first started!

If you'd like to know more about the sweatpink community, then check out the website HERE.

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Now that I've got my exciting news out of the way! My recap for #MNBChallenge Event for NOURISH week with Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Active!

I'll admit, this was was pretty tough for me, but I'm glad I persevered.

Monday - 2/10: Go Meatless!
We had to have a Meatless Day. I don't remember the last time, if I ever have.. had a meal without meat. So this was a challenge in itself. It's been an eye opener to the other foods that are out there.
Tuesday - TYLTW! – Take Your Lunch to Work today!
I do this everyday, so this wasn't much of a challenge, I had a Wholemeal Wrap with Honey Roast Ham, Lettuce, Grated Carrot and Red Cabbage. It was yummy, I've had the wraps before and they've always been filling for me.
Wednesday - Write it down!
I do this everyday too, so this was normal for me. I've mentioned before that I track everything that I eat via MyFitnessPal, but cut down to only logging at the end of the day, rather than working everything out during the day.
Thursday - Smoothie Day!
I think I've only made 1 smoothie before and that had 3 simple ingredients and was easy to make. I didn't want to do the same thing again. I ended up making a Peanut Butter, Banana and Oat Smoothie, yummy but SO filling!
Friday - Go Raw Friday!
This was the biggest challenge. I wasn't feeling very well and I've had severe stomach ache for the last couple of days. I had a smoothie with fruits for breakfast.. just to eat something. For lunch, I had a salad with Avocado. It's the first time I've had an Avocado before and I wasn't very keen on it.. maybe it needs something with it, I'm not sure. For a snack, I had a Nakd bar which is raw fruits and nuts smooshed together into bar form. Delicious.
I didn't have a raw dinner because I hadn't planned very well (bad on my part) but I'm glad I managed up until then!

I'm pretty happy with what I've managed to do this week for the challenges. I thought I would struggle more than I did.

Next week is BELIEVE in mind and body. I'll go over whats in store for the challenge on Monday!

Until then, have a great weekend!

Question: Do you like Avocados? Have any favourite ways to use them?

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So, at the beginning of this week, I posted that I was involved in  #MNBChallenge Event with Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Active!

The week was MOVE.. and here's how my week went down:

Monday - Sweat it Out!
We had to show what our favourite way to sweat was with a picture on Twitter or Instagram, my NEW favourite way to sweat is Yoga. It's surprising, I've really gotten into it and I enjoy challenging myself with the different poses.
I managed to balance my legs on my arms for a headstand, but if I try to move my legs upwards, I lose balance. I'll get better the more I try!

Tuesday - Change It Up!
We had to sweat a new way today! I chose a workout on the Move Nourish Believe called Love your Legs. It was a tough one. I don't normally do exercises that focus on certain parts of the body so this one was definitely a challenge!
Wednesday - Let's Get Planking!
To do a 5 minute plank. If I'm honest, I hated this. I hate planks but like the challenge. Unfortunately, I'd done my Daily Yoga from the Do You Yoga 30 Day Challenge and it was focusing on Abs, just the day before, so my core was SORE!
I struggled with the plank and was only able to hold a plank for 1 minute at a time with a 30-40 second break in between.

Thursday -  Buddy Up!
Now, for this one, I wasn't too sure what I was going to do. All my workouts are done in the comfort of my own home, the only time I exercise with someone else is when I go running with Phillip and his Mum on the weekend so I couldn'd do that either.

I decided to do my Yoga and as usual, my favourite furry thing in the world decided to join my for my workout. For some reason she really enjoys sitting/lying very near by whilst I'm doing my workouts and sometimes I'm worried that I'll trip over her.
I NEVER have a bad workout when she is in the room as she always makes me smile.. So, she was my workout buddy for Thursdays workout!

Friday - Fave Friday!
Annnd then the last part of Week 1 Move, we had to show our fitness favourites. Mine were pretty easy and all related to exercise. First was my Tree of Life Yoga Mat that I got from my Dad and his partner at Christmas. I think the print is awesome.
Then there's my kettlebells and I love finding new kettlebell workouts to do. Then the rest was running related, including my Yurbuds headphones, my Asics running shoes and ofc my Garmin 620 watch.


So, that's it for my Move Nourish Believe recap for week 1. I've been REALLY enjoying the challenge and have been loving getting involved in the community.

I'm quite looking forward to Nourish next week. A lot of things that I haven't done before will be done next week. I'll go over next weeks challenges at the beginning of the week :)

I hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Until Next Time!

Question: Are you participating in the challenge? or any other monthly challenges?
What are your Fitness/Health Favourites?

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I've been following Fit Approach for a while now on social media and their mission just resonates with me. Their community is filled with Motivation, Inspiration and Support and its great to follow people along.

FitApproach have partnered with Lorna Jane for a month long challenge, Move Nourish Believe Challenge and I jumped at the chance to join in, why not?!

I had heard of Lorna Jane before but never bought any of their items. I recently discovered their website MoveNourishBeleive which has great motivation and tips for everyone.

Image Sourced from the Lorna Jane Facebook Page

Everyone is free to join in on the challenge, you can RSVP to the event HERE.

So, here's what's going on for the first week!

Week One -  #Move
2/3: Sweat-it-out! -Show us your favorite way to sweat!
2/4: Change it up! – Sweat a new way! Select a workout from movenourishbelieve.com/category/move and show us your post-sweat session selfie.
2/5: Let’s get planking! – Plank for at least five minutes today! You can split the planks up.
2/6: Buddy up! – Workout with a friend today!
2/7: Fave Friday! – Show us your five fitness favorites! Exercises, people, whatever gets you moving and motivated!
*Recap your week in a blog post!

You can post an image everyday on Twitter and Instagram, tagging @fitapproach and @lornajaneactive and using the #mnbchallenge and #sweatpink hashtags.

If you take part in the event daily for all of the 3 weeks, you can be in with a chance of winning $1000 to spend at Lorna Jane!

Let me know if you decide to join in on the fun!

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Now onto my weigh in for this week:

Last Weeks Weight: 136.4 This Weeks Weight: 137.2 Weigh In Results: + 0.8 Total Weight Loss: 120.8 lbs

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Question: Whats YOUR favourite way to sweat? 
Right now, I'm really enjoying my Yoga Practice :)

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