Summary of the last fortnight

So, I'm ashamed to say it's been a couple of weeks since i posted anything in here so wanted to update you all with a quick summary of what's been going on over the last fortnight. You'll be pleased to know you won't be getting a run down of fourteen days worth of meals but wanted to document how I've been getting on with the Challenge.

Two weekends ago I was away on a course at the EIS in Sheffield - training centre of Jess Ennis (good excuse for a photo) - learning all about how to make people accelerate quicker, run faster, jump higher and become better prepared physically for their sport. It was an excellent weekend of coaching and education but did unfortunately mean I had to miss the CrossFit Invitational in London that weekend. I knew this was going to be a challenge food-wise as I was based at a sports centre throughout the day, so prepared pretty well on the Friday. Got through the Saturday no problem on Egg muffins, a massive chicken salad, roasted veggies and plenty of fruit and nuts. Stayed with my sister in Sheffield on the Saturday evening and she made a delicious combination of halibut, green beans, brussels sprouts, potatoes and mushrooms. Hadn't told her I was doing this challenge so got lucky that there was no nasties in there. Though when it came to dessert my mum and dad (who were also visiting) had made a large fruit cake that everyone had with ice cream and mixed berries. I declined and ate my coconut bites (that i made with some banana protein powder) with the mixed berries which turned out to be a delightful mix.

Day 2 was a lot harder as I'd eaten everything I prepared for the weekend! Had 4 eggs scrambled on the morning. With an hour for lunch I was pretty stuck. There was nothing substantial I could eat at the sports centre cafe or in the vending machines (no surprise there) so went for a drive in the hope of finding a supermarket. Managed to come across a little corner shop and bought a litre of milk, 200g ham and got a banana and apple from the sports centre. Not ideal but saw me through until the course finished at 5pm.

I usually catch up on a load of work on the weekend but having been away on a course for two days meant I was a bit behind. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are my busiest coaching days at the gym so I built up a back log of work over the week which is why i started to get behind with my blog.

I generally reply to everyone who enquires about CrossFit Leeds within a couple of days but had enquiries from up to 5 days earlier that hadn't been responded too. This was one of the emails I received from one of the less patient individuals who contacted me by email just 3 days earlier:

"Hi

I thought CrossFit test the individuals fitness, strength, and endurance. However, i am surprised that it also test individuals patience!

Regards"

Nice play on words! Didn't think the individual would fit in at the gym with that attitude so apologised and let him know as much.


Over that week (Day 15-21) i didn't accrue any black marks for food but got 3 for lack of sleep. This has been standard for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday as I'm up by 6am and have only managed to get to bed before 10am once since the Challenge started. Got another 2 for poor fruit and veg eaten through the day, which would put me at 13 total black marks. Food highlights for the week were a delicious grass fed beef casserole made by Plowhead and a genuine Spanish Omelette and Spanish ham very kindly prepared and brought to the box by our resident Spanish fitness machine Javier. The Spanish omelette was delicious and couldn't have come at a better time after 5 hours straight of coaching. Javier, Smudge and myself had a little feast after the 7pm class. Awesome!

Had a decent training week too which included a new PB Clean on the Saturday. I hadn't cleaned more than 90kg since May and now that I was doing the movement pain free again I wanted to test where I was at. Built up to 100kg which felt like it was flying up. Tried 105kg which was my current PB and again seemed to move up comfortably. Would normally add 2.5kg when going for a PB but 105 felt so good i decided to go straight for 110kg. Received the bar sweetly and had to fight a bit to stand it up but again a good lift and really surprised myself. Time for smaller increments now so loaded 112.5kg on the bar. I have a habit of talking myself out of big lifts in training so tried some self motivating thoughts before stepping up to the bar. Must've worked as the clean went up nicely again. Standing it out of the squat was harder but managed to get up without losing the bar in front. Set 115kg on the bar but talked myself out of it and never actually attempted the lift. Next time! My PB clean is now the same as my PB Jerk at 112.5kg. Could be a while before I put the two together though as I haven't lifted overhead for 5 months.

My old school friend, Kren, who now trains at CrossFit Teesside kindly put together this little video of my return to training post shoulder dislocations.

This last week (days 22-28) have been busy again. The CrossFit Leeds website being hacked was a pretty scary time. Spoke to the guy who originally set it up for me and he thought I'd lost everything at first. The hackers did a right job on it but luckily managed to restore the website to its original state minus the photos. Thankfully I have all the main photos saved on my laptop and have just got round to re-uploading them, so if you see anything out of place please let me know. Biggest annoyance is I've lost over two years worth of pictures from previous blog posts.

Similar to last week, food has been good. Still haven't eaten anything I shouldn't have during the challenge and have never really had the urge to. I've been hungry a few times when I've been caught out unprepared without access to good food choices, but haven't had any cravings for grains, sweet foods or alcohol. Collected another 3 black marks for lack of sleep on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and just the single black mark for poor veg intake on Tuesday.

Current Black Mark total = 17

Training hasn't been what I'd like this week but will need to step it up a little over the next few days as I'm now going to be competing at DWF Games next weekend. Looking forward to getting involved but will have to be careful not to get carried away in the competitive atmosphere as I know my shoulders are far from fully healed.

I'm giving myself a black mark for each day I missed a blog post and setting a bad example so that's another 13 to add to the total making it a nice round 30. 90 Burpees plus whatever I earn in the next two days - might have a go at the 100 burpees for time record at the box!

So that brings us up to date with just a couple of days left of the 30 Day Challenge. Looking forward to a good meal with a great group of people at Fazenda on Wednesday evening.

Friday 12th October

Sleep = 9 hours

11pm until 8am seems optimal for me but can generally only do that on a Thursday and Friday.

9.00
Egg, banana, almond pancake with almond butter and 200g mixed berries
10g BCAAs

11.00
Handful mixed nuts
Apple
400ml FF Milk

14.30
4 rashers of bacon, 4 scrambled eggs, handful cherry tomatoes, 100g spinach.

16.30
2 Figs
Large Handful Mixed nuts
400ml FF Milk

20.00
4 Sausages, 200g Roast Veg (Courgette, carrots, red and white onions) in cumin seeds and sweet potato mash (used the sausage fat in the mash which was delicious).

22.00
Egg, banana, almond pancake with almond butter and 200g mixed berries

No training today.

F&V = 9
Black Marks = 0
Total BM = 8

Sorry about the brief blog posts. Playing catch up and just trying to get all the food and training down. Will be away all this weekend on a course in Sheffield so updates may be limited again. Still no black marks for naughty food and not had any real cravings for anything. On the whole I've been feeling great and really enjoying the challenge so far.

Thursday 11th October

Sleep = 9 hours

 

9.00
Stuck for breakfast this morning. Ran out of eggs!!! If it had been 6am I probably wouldn't have done this but decided to have last nights leftover spicy bolognaise and cooked some veggies to go with it. Went down surprisingly well for 9am, even with extra cayenne pepper.

12.00
A few Depth Jumps with Marcelo
EMOM 10
3 x Box Squat with 70kg (Safety Squat bar)
Joined Niki for a repeat of the WOD I did on Monday but changed the exercises up a little:

3 rounds for max reps:
1 minute max Ring Press Ups
1 minute max Front Squats 70kg
1 minute max Box Jumps 30"
Rest 1 minute

Press Ups = 22/22/20
Front Squats 15/10/13
Box Jumps = 14/13/11

Banana
Recovery Shake
Half Roast chicken brought down to the box by Plowhead. Hot food at the gym seems like a luxury.

15.00
4 egg Omelette in butter with chicken, tomatoes and spinach
2 figs

17.00
1 hour shoulder rehab

18.00
200g Chicken
Apple
500ml FF milk

Competition Training this evening was absolutely brilliant. Went through a few kettlebell snatches and finished with what looked like a classic workout. Didn't join in but was loving watching everyone push through. The WOD was:
In teams of 3 complete:
Row 2k
100 Bench Press @ 70kg
9 x 30m Prowler Push @ 100kg

21.30
A late one at the gym and was feeling pretty tired so had the same for tea as for breakfast! Leftover bolognaise from last night with 250g mixed veg.

F&V = 7
Black Marks = 0
Total BM = 8

Wednesday 10th October

Sleep = 7.5 hours

6.20
3 Egg Muffins
Apple
10g BCAAs

10.00
Banana
40 minutes Shoulder rehab

11.30
Leftover chicken, peppers and onions on a salad of spinach, lettuce, rocket, tomato and avocado with home made vinaigrette
Apple
400ml FF Milk

15.00
3 egg omelette cooked in butter with chicken, spinach, tomato

17.00
10g BCAAs
Bulgarian Split Squats 5 x 5 each leg with 15kg DBs
3 rounds:
90m Sled Pull @ 50kg
5 minutes handstand practice
Recovery shake

19.00
Banana
Nuts and currants

21.30
Beef mince, onions and tomatoes in loads of spices (and too much cayenne), 250g mixed veg.

F&V = 11
Black Marks = 1
Total BM = 8

Tuesday 9th October 2012

Been very slack on the blogging front of late. Have written everything down in my phone but not had a good chance to get everything written up on here. As Nick Butters kindly pointed out this afternoon it would've been much easier to download an app and write everything straight onto my blog on my phone - never thought of that! Ideally would like to write everything up every evening but that eats into my sleep time and the fact I'm trying to keep electronics off just before bed. Got to prioritise these things :)

Sleep = 7.5 hours

Think I'll be getting black marks every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for lack of sleep as I have to be up at 6am and struggle to get to bed by 10pm.

Breakfast

6.20
3 Egg Muffins
Apple
10g BCAAs

10.30
Gammon Salad
Apple
400ml FF Milk

Training and lunch

 

13.00
Banana

14.00
WOD with Niki from Outlaw - Run 1 mile then 30 Muscle Ups.
Did the mile in 6.40, had a stroll to the rings, chalked up and got on the rings at 7.20. Finished in 12.08. Was hoping for sub 12. Muscle ups didn't feel as good as they have at other times recently (run must've taken its toll!) but pretty pleased all the same. Was great having Niki right in front of me. Seemed like she was doing hers faster than me which made me get back in the rings quicker.

Banana
Recovery shake

Knew I'd be staying at the gym all afternoon so was very organised and brought food in to eat. Hadn't planned on the leftover Thai chicken broth being disgusting when eaten cold. Ate the chicken and left the soggy veggies and sauce. Settled for 200g ham, 500g grapes and an apple.

17.00
More training - this time it was today's Outlaw WOD with Sazzle and Simpson.
3 rounds of Row 500m/75 Double Unders
9.42
Did all the rows at 1.50 and only missed 1 double under. Did stop once in each of the second and third rounds to let arms recover though. Could've pushed a little harder on the rows in hindsight.

Recovery shake

19.00
Handful of nuts and currants

20.30
5 small pieces of coconut bites

Tea

21.30
Chicken, onion, peppers chilli, paprika, garlic and cayenne cooked in coconut oil with tomatoes and avocado.
400ml FF milk

F&V = 13 (fruit severley outweighing veg!)
Black Marks =1
Total BM = 7

Monday 8th October

 

Sleep = 7.5 hours

Got to bed for 22.30 and slept through until alarm at 6.00. Not quite the 8 hours i set myself but happy at a full nights sleep and felt great getting up.

Breakfast

6.20
3 Egg muffins
Apple
10g BCAAs

Couple of hours coaching then 1 hour of shoulder rehab.

10.30
Final portion of leftover chicken chettinad. Cooked this on Thursday - never sure how many days to give things in the fridge after cooking but this is over three days and still tasted good, and no ill effects so far!
200g mixed veg with coconut oil and lemon juice.

Training and Lunch 

1300
Modified an Outlaw WOD  and did it with Plowhead which is always good for my competitive nature!
3 rounds for max reps:
1 minute max HSPUs
1 minute max Front Squats 60kg
1 minute max Chest to ring strict pull ups
Rest 1 minute

HSPUS = 19/13/10
Front Squats = 13/12/13
Pull Ups = 13/9/8

Plowhead beat me by 1 on the HSPUs. Smashed her on the front squats!

Banana
Recovery shake

15.30
Leftover Thai chicken broth

16.15
Egg, banana, almond flour pancake with mixed berries

Worked some back squats during a 20 minute slot in the open gym. Haven't back squatted more than 80kg since doing my shoulders. It's only in the last couple of weeks I've been able to rack a bar on my back properly. Built up to a heavy single high bar back squat.
10 @ 80kg
5 @ 100kg
1 @ 120kg
1 @ 130kg
1 @ 135kg
1 @ 140kg
Stopped there and happy with that. PB is 145kg so no complaints. Bar felt pretty uncomfortable on my back. Not sure if its just in my head and I'm conscious of loading weight through my shoulders or if it's just because I haven't loaded a bar on my back for ages.

1900
Handful of nuts and currants to keep me going. Was going to have a couple of egg muffins but Rosie decided to eat all 4 that we took to the gym!

Tea

21.00
250g Sirloin steak, 250g mixed veg, half a sweet potato and fried onion, garlic, cream and almond sauce.

F&V = 11 (best so far!)
Black Marks =1 (sleep again!)
Total BM = 6

Sunday 7th October

 

Sleep = 8 hours

 

Breakfast

 

8.00
Egg, almond flour and banana pancake with loads of mixed berries. Made enough batter for two but only had time to cook and eat one :(
10g BCAAs

Coaching and a bit of training

11.00
Protein shake

Did 3 hours of coaching at the gym this morning (9-12). Don't normally work Sundays but struggling to fit people in through the week. Gutted to miss hill sprints - looked like a great session competently led by Coach Wully Bully. Can't make the next two weekends either due to work :(

Was nicely warmed up by the time I finished last coaching session so got a quick set of deadlifts in:
10 @ 50kg
10 @ 80kg
5 @ 100kg
AMRAP @ 125kg = 10 reps

13.00
3 Egg muffins freshly baked by Plowhead.

1400
Cottage Pie and 200g mixed veg
Apple

15.30
Handful of nuts and currants

18.30
Was going to leave the pancake batter until tomorrow but the banana was starting to brown and didn't want to see it go to waste so had another pancake with mixed berries and added a blob of almond butter which was certainly a good addition.

Watched TV for the first time since starting the challenge - can't miss The Chase for a great quiz show with a high questions per minute ratio (unlike Who wants To Be a Millionaire where you get about 8 questions in an hour!). Here's one of the questions from The Chase:

What do the Germans call the cartoon character Andy Capp
A) Dick Tingeler
B) Helmut Schuffler
C) Willi Wacker

Can't beat a programme with questions like that. Oh, and if you haven't seen it already check out another great moment below

Tea

21.00
Big portion of Thai Chicken broth. This was delicious and I'll be making it again. Heres what's in it.
800g chicken breast sealed in coconut oil with half a packet of Green Curry Paste (see picture - all natural ingredients and takes the hassle out of making your own paste), thumb sized piece of ginger, 5 garlic cloves, spring onions, 4 green/yellow peppers, 150g broccoli, 150g cabbage, 2 tins coconut milk. Took about half an hour to make and there's a good 4 portions there.

Another hour of TV watching Homeland 9-10pm then straight to bed.

F&V = 8
Black Marks = 0
Total BM =5

Saturday 6th October 2012

 

Sleep = 8 hours

Breakfast

8am
3 egg omelette cooked in butter with 100g ham, 50g cheese, handful of cherry tomatoes
Apple
3 Pure Pharma Fish Oils
1 Vit D capsule

Spent the morning at the box coaching a great, fun partner WOD involving med balls, running, throwing and burpees for those that couldn't catch!
Competition Training was at 12pm and we had an excellent turnout which is great to see, 4 weeks out from a big competition - DWF Games in Swansea in November. I needed a rest day after the last few days training. Spent about 30 minutes working some shoulder rehab.
Here's a little clip of everyone working their cleans and push jerks in competition training.

13.30
Banana

Lunch

 

14.30
A group of us went to arc in Headingley after training to take advantage of the excellent offer Wully Bully has given us - 50% off their Fit and Healthy menu. Funnily enough I ordered a CrossFit Leeds burger - hadn't eaten since breakfast so ordered an extra burger.
Two beefburgers, cheese, fried egg, sweet potato wedges, avocado and bacon salad

Felt pretty full and tired when i got home so had a little lie down...woke up 2 hours later!

18.30
Apple and 400ml FF milk
Went out to Sainsbury's and did the big shop for the week ready for food prep tomorrow.

Tea

20.30
250g Gammon, 2 thick slices of pineapple, Large portion of boiled cabbage

22.30
200g Mixed Berries and 250ml 10% greek yoghurt.


F&V = 8 (still needs to be a higher veg to fruit ratio)
Black Marks = 0
Total BM =5

Friday 5th October

Sleep = 8.5 hours

Got to bed late again (midnight) but straight to sleep and slept right through until 8.30am.

Breakfast

9am
3 egg omelette cooked in butter with 100g ham, 50g cheese, handful of cherry tomatoes
Apple
400ml FF Milk
3 Pure Pharma Fish Oils
1 Vit D capsule

Lunch

12.30
Big portion of leftover cottage pie from the other night
Coffee - first one since starting the challenge. Never been a big coffee drinker but like one now and again.

Training

15.00
1 hour of shoulder mobilisation and strengthening. I have a new routine that I am going to try and work through at least 4 times per week. Didn't think it would take this long though. Felt brilliant afterwards and will definitely help my continued rehab.
10g BCAAs
Banana

WOD with Simo and Briggsy
In 10 minutes do 3 rounds of the following (rest the remainder):
6 Power cleans 80kg
10 HSPUs
4.35

In 10 minutes do 3 rounds of the following (rest the remainder):
6 Front Squats 80kg
10 Ring Press Ups
3 Rope Climbs 15'
6.54

In 10 minutes do 3 rounds of the following (rest the remainder):
10 Box Jumps 30"
10 Toes to Bar
3.44

Loved this. Felt a bit achy from yesterday going into it but felt great as soon as i started. Can't help but feel motivated and the need to push yourself when training with the likes of Niki and Sam. Surround yourself with the people you aspire to be like and it all rubs off.
Did all sets of HSPUs unbroken which is big progress. The third WOD was the hardest. Box jumps were easy to get up but absolutely gassed me. Not done many light fast WODs recently. Shouldn't really be doing toes to bar as they don't feel too good on my shoulder. Aggravated my left shoulder last week doing pull ups. Note to self, do that kind of work in the rings as it gives shoulder more freedom of movement.

17.00
Recovery shake
Handstand race with Big Dan Campbell. Managed to get about 10m unbroken but Danny boy was already at the finish line grinning and stroking his massive abs. Will get him next time!

18.30
Leftover chicken chettinad from last night and a small jacket potato.

Tea

21.30
250g sirloin steak, 200g of steamed leeks, broccoli and cabbage with a ground almond, cheese and cream sauce. Feel like I'm cheating eating this!

23.00
400ml FF milk

F&V = 6
Black Marks = 1
Total BM =5

Today was a good day

Sleep = 9 hours

Didn't get to bed until 11.30pm but knew i had chance to sleep through in the morning. Woke up at 8.30am. Ideally I'd prefer to go to bed earlier than this but didn't eat until 10pm then had blog and emails to do.

Breakfast

9am
100g ham, 50g cheese, 50g nuts, banana, 400ml FF milk

10am
Cycled to the box and knew I was going to be there until around 9pm. Took some supplies but not enough for the whole day. Luckily Rosie came to the rescue in the evening.

Training

13.00
10g BCAAs
Depth Jumps 18" to 30" 3 x 5
Front Squats 3 @ 80kg EMOM (every minute on the minute) 10 (minutes)
5 rounds:
20 KB Swings 32kg
10 Ring Press Ups
Rest 2 minutes

Front squats felt good. Kept a good speed on the bar throughout. Ring press ups are easier on my shoulder than normal press ups at the moment due to the hand position. Back was tiring during swings.

Lunch

14.00
Recovery shake
Leftover (cold) Cottage Pie from yesterday (and still another two portions in the fridge to get through). 200g blueberries.


17.00
4 Chicken wings kindly brought down to the gym by Plowhead.
A miniscule portion of stir fry tender stem broccoli and carrots stingily brought down to the gym by Plowhead!
Banana

Training

19.00
A few muscle ups
Partner WOD with the big man Luke Holmes in competition training:
50 30" Box Jumps (non working partner holds handstand against wall)
30m Buddy carry + 32KG KB each
50 Toes to Bar (non working partner holds handstand against wall)
30m Buddy carry + 32kg KB each
50 KB Swings 32kg (non working partner holds handstand against wall)
30m Buddy carry + 32kg KB each
10 minutes (ish)

Recovery shake

Tea

21.30

Chicken chettinad - got recipe from Sunday Brunch. Recipe is here http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/sunday-brunch-recipes/guinea-fowl-chettinad-recipe
I subbed rice for 200g mixed veg.
400ml FF milk
3 x Pure Pharma Fish Oils
1 x 5000IU vitamin D3

F&V = 7
Black Marks = 0
Total BM = 4

Since uploading photos of food seems to be the in thing here's a few pictures from the past days that I've  not got round to posting yet.

Tuesday 2nd October

Sleep = 5.5 hours
Another poor night. Working until midnight and up at 6am. Got an unbroken 5.5 hours and another black mark!

Food
6.20am Protein shake, apple and 50g nuts
9.30am 2 Egg muffins (why do i feel like I'm cheating when i eat these?), 400ml FF Milk
11.00am Mixed leaf salad with cherry tomatoes, 2 pork loins marinaded in a lemon, thyme and olive oil and home made vinaigrette
13.00 50g mixed nuts and currants
15.00 3 Roasted sausages (97% pork) and 1 onion with 200g boiled mixed veg with an cream, almond and cheese sauce.
17.00 Managed to get in a 15 minute warm up but no training.
19.00 Protein shake and banana
21.00 2 Sausages, 1 roast onion. (a good day of food until this evening)

F&V = 6 (Black Mark!)
Black Marks = 2 (sleep and veg)
Total BM = 3

Usually catch up with emails on an evening but putting sleep as priority so in bed before 10pm.

Now I keep track of everything and write stuff down I'm starting to realise that work dictates pretty much everything i do! Need to put time aside in my calendar for training. Routine is impossible due to the random hours I'm working each day but definitely need to make it a priority. Another day of no training.

Wednesday 3rd October

Sleep = 8 hours
Slept from 10 right through until 6am. And woke up a couple of minutes before my alarm - always feel more awake when i wake up without an alarm.

Food
6am 2 Egg muffins, 50g nuts
10.30am 3 egg omelette cooked in butter with 100g ham, 50g cheese, 100g tomatoes. 400ml FF milk.
11.30 50g nuts and currants
12.30 Jacket potato with 3 rashers bacon, 1 roasted onion and 100g tomatoes.
14.00 Had marinated 2 pork loins in chilli, paprika and lemon. Cooked it ready to take to work but smelt a bit funny. Didn't taste right. Checked packet and had use by date of 1st October (only bought them on the 30th September!). Hate throwing food out and many times before I've gone ahead and eaten the meat but it never ends well! Chucked it in the bin and shed a little tear.
17.00 Managed to get in half a training session during open gym:

3 x 5 Box squats @ 60kg (first time squatting with a barbell on my back since injury. Felt a little awkward racking the bar but the squats were ok)
Build up to AMRAP of deadlifts at 120kg = 10.
Banana

20.30 400ml milk. Apple
21.30 Cottage pie (beef mince, onions, tomatoes, herbs and spices. Half and half mashed potato and sweet potato), 200g mixed veg.

F&V = 6
Black Marks = 1
Total BM =4

Will try and jazz future posts up with pictures and better layout but haven't had chance to have a good play around with all that blogger has to offer just yet.

Day 1

Monday 1st October

10.30pm on the first day of the CrossFit Leeds 30 Day Challenge and I've decided to keep track of everything in a blog. Was going to write everything down on a simple online spreadsheet but thought this way would be easier to follow and allow me to add pictures and some boring text.

Bringing it back is the start of my campaign to get back to the level of strength and fitness I was at 6 months ago pre-shoulder injury. The end goal is to earn a place on the CrossFit Leeds Regionals team again next year, but I think my shoulders may dictate whether this is feasible or not. Since dislocating both my shoulders at the end of May I've struggled with motivation and my training has been inconsistent and lacking direction. I'm planning on using the next month (and beyond) to focus on increasing strength and trying to put on the 3/4 kilos i have lost since injury, while continuing my rehab to improve shoulder mobility and stability.

Got measurements taken today:
Weight = 74kg
Can't remember hip and waist circumference - will update tomorrow!
Body Fat = 13%


Ideally I'd like to get to 78kg and maintain the same body fat percentage over the next 30 days.

I'm eating into my 8 hours sleep here so going to try and get through this quickly with a summary of day one.

Sleep
Sunday night sleep = 6.5 hours. Was quality sleep but definitely wasn't ready to get up (sure none of the 7am class noticed though!). Looking like it'll be less tonight!

Food
6.20am - Protein shake and Apple
11am - 3 Egg muffins with bits of red onion, bacon and pepper. Banana. 400ml Full fat milk.
4pm - Mixed leaf salad with cherry toms and 200g chicken zorba* and plenty of vinaigrette*
5pm - 100g fresh blackberries and 100g Nuts and currants (hazelnuts, almonds, cashews)
8.30pm - 400ml Full fat milk
9.30pm - 200g sirloin steak, 200g broccoli in coconut oil and lemon juice and 1 fried onion in cream, almond and pepper sauce. Sweet potato is still sitting in the microwave as forgot to cook it!

F&V = 7 (anything under 7 will be a black mark for me)
Black Marks = 1 (too little sleep - anything under 8 will be a black mark for me)
Total BM = 1

*Chicken zorba - 400g chicken marinated in juice of 1 lime, 1tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, half tsp turmeric. Lovely!

*Vinaigrette - 3:1 Olive Oil:White wine vinegar, half lemon juice, 3 garlic cloves, salt, pepper, thyme, arrowroot to thicken. Good simple dressing for anyone looking for a recipe.

Also been drinking water with the juice of half a lemon and half a lime squeezed in. Think this will become a regular thing so going to stock up on plenty of lemons and limes.

Overall a disappointing first day, especially this morning as had back to back classes/clients from 7-11am and food choices were poor. Didn't get any training in as too busy. This is a common theme, so no excuses. Need to make scheduled time to train and be more sensible with work schedule.