It’s week 2 of my 12 week body transformation at UP and I’m already experiencing a tonne of emotions that I wasn’t quite prepared for. The first one being ‘you always want what you can’t have’…like cake. I love cake and if you gave me one, I would demolish it without thinking twice but I’ve never been a huge ‘cake craver’…until now.
Now I can’t have cake, I want all of it. I can smell cake more than I ever used to, the supermarkets are putting up more cake bargains and there are a lot more adverts on the telly too, about CAKE.
Now I’ve mentioned the word ‘cake’ more times than I can imagine, it’s worth noting that saying no to all of these sugary items and training hard is starting to be worth it. I’m noticing small changes to my body, feeling ‘tighter’, feeling brighter and feeling…well, pretty good if I do say so myself.
Day 8 – Strongman Training
“NEVER AGAIN” – I won’t lie and say that’s not how you’re going to feel from time to time. But what I really mean is ‘Never Again Will I Get Lazy’.
Day 8, Manchester had sunshine so I mixed up my training with some outdoor ‘prowling’ and farmers walks. I’ll be honest and say I struggled. The sun was belting and as a result of being overheated, when I felt like I was sprinting at the speed of lightning, I was actually walking at the pace of worm.
“The lesson here is when you hear the fitness experts say how great you’re going to feel because of working out…well you will, but you have to push yourself and feel the pain to reap the benefits.”
So no, you may not feel like a unicorn whilst training but suck it up for just 40 minutes and you’ll get there.
Day 10: Clean Eating with Friends
I reckon throughout these next 12 weeks, you will most likely hear me complaining about food more than training. Being motivated for training is never an issue for me but that’s not to say I don’t whinge about it. I’m sure Steve (UP trainer in charge of my training) will agree with me when I say I complain a lot, though I have noticed I only tend to complain when there’s someone there to complain to…poor guy.
When it comes to food however, bearing in mind you already know my views on cake, I honestly thought I would struggle with the clean eating more. To make it easier for yourself, just be prepared. I was off on a day out, paddle boarding with a good friend of mine, so to make sure I ate everything I was supposed to, I made the same for her too.
Roping your friends in to eat clean is much easier than watching your friends eat burgers and fries whilst you cram spinach into your mouth.
Day 11: Being Your Own Motivation
Today I craved KFC; I wanted nothing more that day than to eat Colonel Sanders’ fried chicken…so for day 11, I take my previous statement back about finding clean eating easier. Today, the struggle was real and the only thing you can do is fight it and make sure you ignore that smiley colonel and keep driving past.
It’s funny how quickly you forget just how bad you were feeling before you started the 12 weeks, so do your best to remind yourself why you started in the first place.
Training on your own can be difficult if you really want to achieve the best results. For day 11, my goal was to make sure that after the end of the session, I knew I couldn’t have possibly done anymore. I’ve learnt that although you might think you’re working your arse off, there will be an extra push missing that you would usually get from your personal trainer, that you may not be able to do yourself. So today, I had an imaginary PT (me) that told me to keep going, man up and stack on more weights and I have to say, IT WAS AWESOME.
Day 13: Dehydration
Stay hydrated kids – day 13 (fancy that) and I felt super rough after training hard the day before, being a dozy Sam and not drinking anywhere near enough water.
It’s important that you remember to take care of yourself whilst you are putting your body through these changes. I’m the worst at drinking water so to make it more enjoyable, I now buy lemons. If you’re like me and don’t quite get a buzz from drinking the old H20, adding a slice of lemon into your water can give it a boost of flavour and encourage you to appreciate it that little more.
I HEART LEMONS.
Until next time.
Sam
PR & Content Manager at Ultimate Performance
Can You Relate To Sam’s Fitness Journey? Learn More About the 12 Week Transformation Programme with Ultimate Performance
Liked this? Read Sam’s Journey From The Beginning or 10 Ways to Fight Depression With Fitness
