Week 1 Update

Hey everyone! So as I promised in my last post about health and fitness (which for all of those who don't know what I am talking about, it can be read here) I am going to be writing weekly blog updates about how I am going with the BBG (Bikini Body Guides).

Week 1, like anything, is when I feel you have the most motivation. You've started something new, so you want to stick to it. I don't think I know of many people who swear by something and then give up in the first week. I may be wrong, but then again I am not one of those people. I usually like to give something a bit more of a chance before I quit (not this though, I swear I will stick it out). 

Sunday

My start day. It might be weird to a lot of people because they think their weeks start on Monday. But this is the day that I made my fitness post and I already spoke about this day so I will briefly recap.

I did 45 minutes of LISS (I walked a moderate rate) and I did not eat one piece of junk food. I had a roast dinner with lots of veggies so I felt really good about myself.

Monday

I woke up early today. Today I decided I would give the legs and cardio Week 1 workout a hit again. I completed it. Sweaty, muscles aching, sore. I know it was worth it. 

I ate relatively well all day also. Oats and fruit for breakfast. Yoghurt, muesli and fruit while I was at  uni. A toasted sandwich with cheese ham and tomato when I got home. I drink so much water during the day so I suppose that's always a good thing. Also for dinner I had an amazing salad, couscous and a piece of salmon. 

Tuesday

Woke up not feeling to well today. I had a chicken snitzel and sweet potato roll for lunch and tacos for dinner. I spent the day doing groceries, cooking and cleaning the house. I got in about 40 minutes of LISS today which is what I wanted. It wasn't a good day, I spent most of it feeling pretty crappy. I also ate a banana and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream for dessert. 

Wednesday

Woke up today feeling even crappier. I haven't been able to sleep very well the last week which is annoying because I know it impacts on how well my body functions and how efficient my exercising is.

I ate tomato, eggs, salad of greens and a piece of Lebanese bread for lunch. For dinner I ate steak and veggies. I also had some corn chips after dinner because for some reason I was still hungry. 

I didn't get to my arms & abs workout today, but I swear I will try tomorrow. Instead today I spent about 2 and a half hours mowing the yard. Due to all the rain recently and then the sunny days, the grass grows uncontrollably fast. Plus, when the ground is wet you can't mow. So I think mowing my backyard and front yard totally counts as a workout for the day because my arms and legs were so sore the next day.

Thursday

Another uni day. I almost didn't even get out of bed this morning. I didn't have much of an appetite this day either. I completed about 30 minutes of LISS when I got home from uni (I would've kept going but it was dark and I don't feel very comfortable being outside at night in my area haha). 

I ate a salad roll for lunch, some fruit for a snack and mango chicken and rice for dinner. 

Friday

Almost the end of the week. Today was pretty average. I got in my arms and abs workout during the day. I can't even remember anything about what I ate during the day, but oh well.

I worked from 4pm-12am today so that was my night gone. I ate butter chicken for dinner and pineapple as a snack later. I feel like I get a lot of exercise in during my shifts at work because all I do is continuously walk around the very large store.

Saturday

I had to wake up early today because once again I had work. Work means more exercise walking around for 7 hours. I ate a 'healthy' burger for lunch. I didn't get any real workout in today which was sad and I ended up eating a cheeseburger meal for dinner. Oops.

So this pretty much quickly sums up my first week back at the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guides. It was a pretty good week for me. Obviously I am not going to be 100% perfect with my workouts and with my eating habits but I believe in the end I will get there. Each week I want to improve. But at the same time I also want to still live my life how I would before. I don't want to sacrifice too many things I love, I just want to incorporate the healthy lifestyle into what I currently know.

To date I have lost 5kg and I don't have any plans to lose anymore weight. All I want to improve on is what I see in the mirror.

Thanks for reading,
Kristelle xxx

Fitness and Health

Hey everyone! I think I will start this post by saying I love Kayla Itsines! She is amazing, her plans are amazing and her followers are amazing. The BBG community is something I just love and I am proud to be a part of the #k2movement. Something with so much power and support for each other is truly inspiring. You can check out my journey on my Instagram at @ krristelley  

I purchased the Bikini Body Guide quite a while ago now and I have given it two attempts. The first time, I was mentally not prepared and it lasted only two weeks. I barely even bothered. My head just wasn't in it and I wasn't excited enough to workout and get fit. So I stopped and I left the guides waiting for my motivation to come to me because I knew it eventually would. I continued to follow and admire girls who are really into their fitness and the bikini body guides. 

The turning point came for me on Valentines Day. I went out with my boyfriend and we found some amazing views at the beach over a cliff. We had the GoPro with us so naturally we snapped up a couple of what we thought would be amazing looking photos. I was in my bikini top and shorts for a few of the photos and looking at the way my body looked, I felt so uncomfortable and uneasy. I loved the photo but looking at my body, I couldn't handle how awful I felt I looked. 

Check out my journey on my Instagram, @krristelley

I started the following Monday on the bikini body guides. I did the four weeks of pre-training to try and build up a bit of fitness before hitting the real thing. I got up to week 5 of the real thing. I was eating well at the start, stopped eating take-away foods and cut out the junk food completely. I ate healthier and I felt better. I could see the progress in the mirror. I had photos with a few weeks in between and the difference was amazing. 

Then I got sick. Life got full on and I got lazy. I was extremely busy with working, which resulted in my eating habits sliding off towards the end. I had stopped working out and it honestly had been 3 weeks. I gave up.

But this morning as I scrolled through my Instagram feed, I made the choice to stop making excuses. A one hour workout is only 4% of my day. I can spare that much. If I need to get up an hour earlier to start my day with a workout I can do it. Meal prep when I know I am going to be at uni and work so I won't be tempted to eat chips or sneak a few chocolates. I am motivated. I went and did my 45 mins of low intensity steady state (LISS) workout after I posted my confession/photo on Instagram and afterwards I was sweaty and out of breath and it rained on m multiple times, but I felt so much better. It makes me happy, so why wouldn't I give something that makes me happy my all?

I am going to make weekly posts now about my BBG progress to keep me up to date with it. How my exercises are going and roughly what I've eaten. I would love to be able to post up progress photos and be incredibly happy with how I look and feel. 

Here's a progress shot of me. Top photo is before I started the BBG and the bottom photo is the progress shot at the end of week 4. 

In the above photo (the bottom one) I was semi-happy with how my stomach was starting to come along. But I would love to be super confident all the time in how I look in photos and not have to question whether it is just a 'bad angle' making me look bigger than I am. 

I don't take measurements and I don't really believe in weighing myself either. Although I can say I have always fluctuated between about 55-57kg and before I started the BBG I was up towards 60-62kg. That made me extremely upset that I had let myself gain weight like that. I am now back down to 56kg on most days and I'm not overly fussed with that. If I can see differences in the photos and mirror, that's what will make me happy, not the scales. 

Anyway, thank you all for reading and until next post.
Kristelle xx

It's a Crazy Life

Hey everyone! So for some reason I seem to still have time to make a quick post even though I am crazy busy with everything right now (hence the title of the post).

I've noticed I have had a lot of new readers recently so I would like to quickly share a little bit about who I am and what I do for those of you out there to get to know me a bit better (my last post is so outdated and I'm not even sure I am the same person anymore!) So alas, here are some quick facts about me!

- My name is Kristelle and I am 19 years old, turning 20 in just over 6 months

- I have the sweetest boyfriend named Kieran and we have been dating for 4 and a half years (we are high school sweethearts)

- I am a uni student at Macquarie University and am studying a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Marketing & Human Resources (I enjoy both and want to keep my options open)

- I usually work about 3-4 shifts a week at work

- I love the people I work with because they are all so friendly (when I actually get to work with people and I'm not rostered on by myself lol)

- I spend approximately 5 hours on a Tuesday cooking for my boyfriend (I am his personal meal prep chef and I actually enjoy it because I love cooking so much)

- I am 100% a BBG girl! I love Kayla Itsines and I believe she has changed my lifestyle for good. I used to be really into drinking all the time, eating nasty take away several times a week (Maccas was literally my life) and I didn't really do much exercise (other then when I would play netball). Now I haven't eaten McDonalds in over 2 months, I exercise regularly and have a healthy diet. I do eat some 'unhealthy' foods but I limit my intake and choose the 'healthier option'. E.g. nights at Wenty I will still eat my chicken snitzel and chips, but I'll get the smaller meal and add a side salad. It's what works for me

- The beach will always be my go to place when I want something to do 

- I have one tattoo (hoping to make that two soon) and double piercings in each ear + my bellybutton pierced

- I love to go on adventures and I have 3 big adventures set up for this year (you'll find out the first two soon and the third is the biggest because it is overseas!)

- I love to read and write & my all time favourite book series will always be Harry Potter, all time favourite book is Looking For Alaska and my current favourite books are the Paradise series by Simone Elkeles 

That is all I can think of from the top of my head!

Here is an old photo from September 2012 of Kieran and I at my Year 12 formal (we weren't allowed +1's that's why he is only in a T-Shirt).

I just want to say that I have been kind of struggling lately trying to balance everything in my life. I know it comes super easy to some people but it is hard for others. It's hard for me to balance going to uni, studying + homework + assignments, working, exercising, spending time with my boyfriend, going out with my friends, spending time with my family, having alone time. I don't want to miss out anything and I am not happy to ever have to sacrifice one thing for the other. I can't even tell you which of these is my number 1 priority because I feel like they all are. I have a planner and I write everything down I need to do, sometimes it makes things easier! If you have any tips on balancing life, please let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

BBG Lifestyle

For a long time I have struggled with my body weight and self-image. When I was younger (13 years old and below), I was extremely skinny. I was in to all kinds of sports and I loved netball and athletics above everything else. I was fit and I was a young girl. I had muscular, yet skinny legs and I even had abs (looking at photos I still can't believe it lol).

10 year old me loved little athletics

 I kept with the sports through high school, but as I got older I became more and more self conscious about how I looked. I didn't really know how to handle it at times either.

During Year 11/12 2012

There were times when I got extremely skinny and I was underweight for a period of time (I won't post these photos). My first year out of high school was difficult for me. I went through a lot and I ended the year about 5-7kg heavier than I started. Out of shape. Unfit. Untoned. 

Then I decided it was time to purchase Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Training Guides. I purchased the Training Guide and the HELP Nutrition Guide. I am motivated to try and get back into shape. The workouts are amazing and I haven't been seeing much progress yet (then again, we are all our own biggest critics) but I can feel it in my body and I just feel more energetic and happier after I have worked out. 

I try and maintain a healthy balanced diet. It is hard at times and I try not to give myself a hard time when I eat something I shouldn't. I don't necessarily go out of my way to eat bad food (i.e. I have stopped eating McDonalds). Having a balanced diet is hard. But it's a lifestyle change for me so it is going to take time. 

I love looking at all of the transformation photos of other people, it gives me so much hope and makes me happy. I really am starting to feel better about myself and I can't wait until the day I can write my blog post and post my transformation photos. I am happy to say that I am enjoying the BBG Lifestyle.

Thanks for reading, 

Any tips + recipes + advice anyone has I would love! Feel free to email me at kristellemaytee@homail.com if you want to talk about your fitness journey with me !

Stelle xx