A [Realistic] Day in my Diet and Exercise Routine [Covid Edition]

Since I've been eating clean again, training (at home, sadly, I'll be delighted when the gyms reopen) and getting back on a decent routine, I thought it might be fun to share an average day with you.

Before we get into it, I just want to note that my mentality is to favour a morning workout over an evening workout, but if that works for you, go for it. We are all doing our best, and that's what matters. While I'm here, I want to say that just becuase this is how I'm chosing to spend my time during this awful moment in history, I am not trying to shame anyone for coping in whatever way they see fit. This is my outlet and my distraction. 

Every day starts the night before, when I lay out a bottle of water, my workout clothes for the day (if it's a workout day, that is) and put my tech on charge. That means my phone, my watch and my headphones! If they're ready to roll, then I will be much more likely to just get up and at it. 

I've had an alarm set for every day since lockdown began, for 8am. Now, I don't always get up when that alarm chimes, but I try to. 

Once I'm up, I put on that workout gear I've laid out, lace my trusty Asics, put my hair up tightly, and get to it. I try to get an hour of Chloe Ting workouts in, and the days rotate based on the challenge day. Once that is done, a big glass of water and then I try to get out for a run or a cycle. If I go out cycling it's usually because I have errands to run in the village, and usually that entails groceries of some kind. I switch up the running routes I take once I get to the top of my road, and from there I just run. As for what I'm listening to on my runs, I've a running playlist that I am always adding and removing songs from on Spotify, or a good true crime podcast, like True Crime All The Time. 

Because I'm doing intermittent fasting, when I get home, I just have a pint of water, and get ready for my day as normal. I use Fushi Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash that I get in my local zero-waste shop. As soon as I'm dressed, I make a coffee with almond milk and get to preparing my breakfast. For me, with I.F, breakfast is at 12pm. If I'm ahead of myself time-wise, I'll eat at 11am, it's not a big deal really. 

Breakfast:

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100g Glenisk Natural Strained Protein Yogurt, 6 sliced strawberries, a sliced banana and a tablespoon of honey. Coffee with almond milk. 

Lunch: 

Egg-white omelette filled with 2 slices of turkey breast, two tablespoons of mature cheddar cheese with steamed vegetables and a coffee. I try to get a bottle of water into me also. 

Dinner: 

Chicken breast (usually rubbed with some kind of spice, like garam masala and garlic) a half a stuffed pepper from Supervalu (the stuffing is pictured, but the pepper disintegrated), and some veg. 

This is usually a one tray dish. I like things to be easy to clean up and as efficient as possible. Sometimes, I make a second chicken breast and use it in place of turkey in the next days omelette, and other days I will have fillet steak instead of chicken. 

Snacks:

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love snacks. I still snack, just a bit better than I used to. Usually in the evening, just before 8pm (which is when I start fasting again, I'm doing the 16:8 routine) I will have a bowl of cereal, either All Bran for a kick of fibre, or Special K for something a touch sweeter. I use unsweetened Alpro Almond Milk either way. Honestly, it's actually not as boring as it sounds, and it leaves me feeling full for the evening, which means I'm less likely to dip into a bag of Haribo until it's cheat day time! 

I try to get a walk in during the evenings, just a slow, leisurely walk with my friend or my niece and her dog, sometimes I'll just go alone and get some breathing space if it's been a day, but I think, like most of us, the new normal is Skype, Zoom, Google Meet and so forth. So I do try to get a video call in with various pals, ideally every other evening. Either way I try to drink another bottle of water and put myself to bed around 11pm. 

That's my average day of diet and fitness, pandemic edition. 

I hope it's been even vaguely interesting, and if you want to share your thoughts, tips or what you've been doing to keep sane during covid, please comment and let me know! <3 

If you want to follow my progress thus far and in the future, follow my instagram, @red_lips_red_hair 

xoxo

Amy

Top 5 Running Tunes

Today, I'm comign at you with a little bit of motivation for running, with my Top 5 Running Tunes (right now)! I've a big love for what I refer to as "stompers", so I've included my favorite stompers! I hope you enjoy, read on!

Madonna - Hung Up

An undeniable beat, calls to mind many a 5k race day. I've great memories of this song, and when it comes on while I'm pounding the pavement, it makes me work that little bit harder. Definitely recommend this for hill training, that's for sure!

Robbie Williams - Party Like A Russian

Another absolute stomper, perfect for getting through a tough kilometer or so. A deliberate beat will drive you, that much is for sure, and this couldn't be any more deliberate if it tried. I'm obsessed with this song, and because of it, I've been rediscovering Robbie's oldies lately. What a great artist, am I right?

The Bloody Beetroots - Warp 1.9 (Feat. Steve Aoki)

One, two, whoop whoop! This will absolutely motivate you to finish strong, I swear! You will plough through a run with this backing you up, and if you ever get the chance to see them live, do it!! They're unbelievable live, one of the best shows of my life!

Hozier - Jackie And Wilson

One of my favorite songs of all time, and a beauty to run to, too! Can we all just agree that Hozier is an incredible artist whose music can be applied to any situation? Thinking, running, cooking, I can listen to his music anywhere. This track, in particular is very good for running!

The Darkness - Last Of Our Kind

One of my favorite songs, by one of my favorite bands, this song will get you through the shittiest of runs, Children, we are the last of our kind. So deep is my love for this song, that I would love to have a tattoo to commemorate it. I've always got The Darkness in my running playlist, because everything this band do is immense!

So there you have it, my Top 5 Running Tunes right now. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you want to leave some links to your favorite running/workout songs, pop them in the comments, I'll wrap my ears around them! 

Amy 

xx

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Fitness Update #2

Another week, another post. This week is a proper calendar week, 7 days, rather than 5 like the last post, which you n read HERE. I've been tracking my mileage with Map My Run, and trying where I can at least, to run loops that mean I don't get bored of my surroundings.

Image: Pinterest

Asics Gel Galaxy 7
Image: Pinterest

On Saturday: I broke in my new Asics Galaxy 7's and broke 5k!! What a good day to be alive, eh? Chris joined me and we ran a 4.4km loop to the park behind his estate, and I wanted to break 5k so much that I made him go through the park, which has loads of up and down hill terrain. Talk about finishing strong. I was dying when we got in for breakfast.

Distance: 5.18km in 42.5 minutes

I also registered for a 4km fun run on Sunday June 1st to keep me motivated and focused on a goal.

Sunday wasnot very nice but we still trundled along. After almost 4k, Chris went home and I powered around the last km just because I'm a stubborn you-know-what and then I followed Chris  home. 

Distance: 5.2km. 

Monday, I went out on my own at around 8.30am, headphones pumping out some upbeat tunes and just let it be me and the pavement. Of course, Murphy's law being what it is, meant that my original plan of doing some hills at the start, and then a nice flat route home was totally scuppered when my hills still had the gate locked on them. Boo to you Dundalk, open at dawn, ha, right!! 

Image: runnersworld.com

When the little voice on my app told me I had 5k done, I was about .5k from home. So I did it and it sucked but I still did it, mainly because I had to get home. 

Distance: 5.4km 

Tuesday: REST DAY

Wednesday I did just over 5km in the glorious sunshine! I even remembered sun cream, though not sunglasses. I over took my uncle who was out walking but somehow he beat me home... A 5k jaunt at 8.30 in the morning is one way to get rid of a hangover, that's for sure!

Distance:  5.28km

Thursday I wasn't feeling it so I took it easy with a 3.5km run with one stop halfway through! No rest day til Monday now!! I made up for missed kilometers with a 1.5km cycle which I felt really benefited the muscles in my upper legs.

Distance: 3.63

Image: sparkpeople.com

Friday: I slept in til 10am and carb-loaded, as well as indulged in protein and salad, and then after the whole day passed I threw on my running stuff and braved the awful weather in thermals and a light waterproof jacket. Apparently my perception of distances is muck because after what I thought was maybe 5.5km, I was over 7km. Whoops.

Distance: 8.10km

Total: 32.59km

So that's my running update for the past 7 days, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and check back next week for another update, in the "run up to" my 4k Fun Run, if you'll pardon me the pun! 

Happy Saturday, 

Amy

xxx

Review: Primark Workout Wear

Getting fit is a tough; challenging endeavour, without adding on the price tag of getting decent apparel to do your running/cycling/sweating in. 

As a Penneys girl through and through I decided to make the journey to Dublin earlier on Tuesday to get some work-out wear. 

Since I am the proud owner of one pair of Nike Dri Fit shorts and I've been running in Archery shirts, which is not what they're designed for, the list was simple; Sports Bras, Shirts, and Shorts. 

The Penneys range is quite varied, from short shorts to Capri pants to hoodies and crop tops in all the colours of the rainbow... They even sell light workout equipment like Pilates bands. How cool!  

However the opinion it left me with wasn't great. It was difficult to get Capri pants for my size, a UK 6-8. Everything was from 12-14 upwards. In fact there were more 18-20 sized items than anything else, and that's fine, but I want to get fit too, just as much as anyone else. Why were there almost no bottoms in my size but the whole section was heaving with the bigger sizes? I felt quite offended, as if my size doesn't warrant a need or a desire to get fit. I can't run for more than 2 minutes without feeling the need to heave. Surely that's more than enough valid reason to need something to run in? 

Eventually I found a pair of size 8 shorts among a rack of size 18 ones. 

I must admit that these shorts are very well made, with light reflective patches and a hidden pocket which is nice. They are deep grey and pink, which as a happy coincidence, will match my running shoes very well. 

They have an elasticated waistband and a drawstring which means I can tuck my phone into them without fear of it moving or falling out. Handy, when you have no decent pockets!

I picked up two sports bras, one grey with teal trim, one pink with black trim; €6 a piece. It wasn't hard to get them on my size thankfully. They seemed to be good quality and true to size but I guess the real test comes with a run. They fit ever so slightly bigger, so I would suggest sizing down, but either way, they're really good quality and they keep your basoomas in check.

 Very good, Penneys, well done you guys!

I also picked up some trainer liners and a loose-fitting, light tank top. 

What do you think of Penneys workout gear? 

Would you invest in higher end stuff or are you tempted to save a few Euro? 

Amy

xoxo

Fitness Update #1

Image: Pinterst

Image: Pinterest

I've been going on about it for days now, but if you haven't fallen victim to my incessant tweets, I took up running this week. I started on Monday, with a brisk walk, though, broken up with short jogs of about 1min a piece. It was torture, but I did it. 

Tuesday was better though it rained while I was out. I did the same distance but tried to go longer with running segments, even if it was only "just get past that big tree up ahead!". I ran, had a shower and then went off to college to sit an exam. At one point during my outing, I had to keep telling myself that I was "not going to fall/puke/die, and that I was able to get to the top of my road, now stop being a whiny bitch!" It worked though I must admit that I had to really berate myself! 

On Wednesday I went out before breakfast because I was still full from my pre-bed snack of porridge and a banana the night before and I got caught in the rain once again! I met my neighbor on the way back and we stopped for the chats but I was done in under an hour even so. I did some planks and ceiling kicks for my core when I got in before my shower.

Image: Pinterest

Thursday wasn't intended to be a rest day but a rest day it ended up being! I was in so much pain. Honestly, I've never felt pain like it... I did stretch and gently got my heart rate up before I did some planks and crunches because there was so excuse not to... Then I downloaded the Map My Run app to take my running a bit more serious and give me some structure as well as motivation. I went to bed feeling much less stiff and sore as I had woken up.



Today, Friday, I got my app all calibrated, togged out and was on the road at 8.45am. It was cool enough when I started out but by the time I capped the first kilometer, I had to take off a layer and stick it on a tree branch to get on the way back. I was delighted to have done almost 5km in 37 minutes when I checked the app after coming home. Not bad for a newb, eh?! 






Notes: 

Map My Run. Image: Pinterest

Map My Run is a great, free app that you can use to design routes, track an open route, count calories, keep time and a few other things too, if you upgrade. My favorite things about it are the GPS mapping of my run, the fact that is plays your music through the app and also lets you know when you've complete each KM, giving you your total time so far, split times, and plots them on a graph for you to look at later. 

Also, over the course of this week, I've listened to some awesome music and I'm here to tell you that Paolo Nutini's new album is amazing, and The Darkness and Fall Out Boy's new albums are very upbeat for running to. 

Even after 4 days running, I've noticed my mood is so much better which is good news for my anxiety and depression. I've also been eating healthily and have cut down drastically on salty, sweet, processed and greasy foods. 

Honestly, I have never felt better and and actually raring to go out tomorrow for another sweaty jaunt down the royal canal. I have a running (and complaining about other exercise moves) buddy in Kayliegh, who is also on a fitness kick so I might even drag her out on Sunday for a few km around Dundalk so we won't be as inclined to quit as if we were to go it entirely alone. Solidarity, yes? Yes. 

What do you think of this new journey in my life?

Have you any tips for me or motivational quotes??

Do share them down below and lets have the chats!

Amy

xxx

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