Hello readers!

I am, again, at the halfway mark of my second round of the Aston Rx 28 day program. Things have been a little slower this time round re weight loss – i.e 5kg down in two weeks as opposed to about 6.2kg last time, but there has been a marked difference in the overall feels about it this time. I’m a lot less hungry between meals, making fasting a lot easier (although the bout of flu I caught two weeks ago and the ensuing yukkiness I felt even when better might account for some of the appetite suppression). I have also broken the program a couple of times by eating dinner after the allocated time of 5pm-7pm, having carbs (unavoidable when dining out) and killing my portions. It’s not recommended, but a little extra fasting periods and encouragement from the support team got me back on track.

I do have a valid reason for breaking the program – some of it was work related, but most of it came down to car troubles. My beloved 3-Series decided it would be fun to have issue after issue before having catastrophic problems AFTER I had fixed everything. Think alternator, shocks, brakes etc. He (yes, my car is a boy) then decided to pop the check engine light on after he went through my savings, and the cost of repairing the new faults would be worth more then what I paid for him a few years ago. So I made the decision to trade him in for something newer and cheaper to run and ended up with a 2016 Mazda 3. Buying a 2nd hand car in the midst of a pandemic means that there is no leeway on the price posted, but I was lucky enough to get a fairly generous trade in offer for the old buy (given he popped the check engine light back in right as we rolled up to the dealership) and the car I now own only had about 20,000km on the clock. The stresses of the changeover and the somewhat lacklustre service from the dealership added to my already astronomical stress levels and triggered the need to eat. I did keep to salads but I did have the cheeky pancake which would have triggered an insulin response and kept the weight loss lower than projected.

However, now that car issues are solved and I’ve successfully weaned myself off the migraine medications with very little adverse effects, I’ve resolved to kick the second half of the program’s butt with renewed dedication. This means meal prepping, time prepping and dragging my somewhat exhausted self to pilates at least three times a week. The flu knocked my progress back quite significantly and I have moved back down to a 3kg dumbell for my warm ups rather then the 4kg I was quite proudly lifting. But the flu also taught me to slow down and listen to my body. I am proud to say that I can hear it better now and have cancelled sessions when I don’t think I will be able to perform well – I have a major leg-cramping-in-my-sleep issue that tends to affect my early morning classes but I have invested in some magnesium which should settle all that right down soon enough.

Another aspect I think that is working well with the Rx program, is the fact that I am now sleeping better. The hours are about the same; 6-7 hours a night, but my FitBit recorded sleep scores are around the 90/100 mark rather than the low 80s I was having through my most tired periods. I also think that working out is helping too – burning 400 calories in each pilates class is certainly making me tired enough to go to bed about 9:30pm if I’m not meal prepping for tomorrow’s lunch.

To help with the weight shifting, I’m going to go back to F45. Before my shoulder surgery two years ago, I participated in a few of the challenges ( #21 and #22 I think) and was admittedly in super good shape and heading positively towards my goal weight but had to stop because of the surgery. As pilates practice has helped significantly with shoulder mobility I feel like I’m ready to go back and get lifting. Cardio has never been my thing, and luckily Aston Rx recommends strengthening exercises over straight cardio provided I get around 8,000 – 10,000 steps a day. (Ooops) This should all work holistically together even through the next challenge (even though I will be going with the Aston Rx food program over the Challenge ones as it’s too involved and there are a lot of things I struggle to eat i.e chickpeas, maca powder and buckwheat flour and broccoli bake *shudder*)

I am hoping to get back down to my pre-sedentary lifestyle weight and dimensions by around September, and the Aston Rx program promises to get me there, but I don’t see any harm in supercharging my routine with a mixture of F45 and Kx Pilates – I’m thinking Pilates three days a week, F45 three days a week and rest day on Saturday. As I get fitter, I might look to do Pilates on the evenings of weights days to keep the momentum up. I’m turning 35 in a few months and I’m pretty sure if I don’t get back onto the fitness wheel soon, I run the risk of issues with bones, cholesterol (runs in the genes), diabetes (also thanks, Fam) and various other lifestyle illnesses that, given the past two years I have had in and out of hospitals, I’d like to avoid that if possible.

It is hard to stay motivated, especially since I have been quite ill lately but between my partner who is my biggest cheerleader in life, a wardrobe full of fairly expensive and pretty clothes I don’t fit into and more than one health professional suggesting that less stress and weight is better for me overall, I think I can do it. Also, the Aston Rx program doesn’t ‘forbid’ too many foods I love (don’t mention chips) and knowing that I’m seeing results even if I have a naughty cheat meal here and there makes it less of a chore and more of a lifestyle choice – just don’t expect any influencer type selfies on here :p

Stay safe, healthy and happy.
Bx