Sport and salads

Lately I’ve been eating a lot of salads.
This is due to the fact that I no longer lunch in our cafetaria at work every day. I’ve been bringing my own lunches, which are mostly salads. Much healthier than the dishes served in the canteen, which are often greasy and salty.

The reason why I no longer go for lunch every day is because I now use my lunch break to sport. A colleague and I are currently on week six of the Top Body Challenge!

The Top Body Challange (TBC) is a training schedule of 12 weeks, for which you do a half hour work out on 3 set days of the week in order to achieve stronger and more toned muscles.
On Monday you train the thighs and abs; on Wednesday the arms and glutes; and on Friday you do all muscle groups.

Each session is made out of 3 circuits of 3 exercises each. The first two circuits need to be repeated twice, while the third is done only once. All this should be finished in half an hour. So pacing is key.
Additionally the programme also recommends cardio, like running, on the intervening days, especially if you want to burn fat. And the programme also comes with a nutrition scheme.

I have enough with the basic TBC-programme. No extra cardio or special diet for me.
Personally, I think 3 sessions of sport a week is already more than enough, especially knowing it was 0 before that. To then also include a start-to-run programme would be a bit much.
And dieting is not meant for me. Only thinking the word makes me want to grab a bag of crisps. No perseverance for diets at all.

But as I said, we’re already on week 6 of the challenge!
This is the longest ever that I’ve followed a training! This is probably due to the fact I’m not suffering through it alone. If I feel like giving up or just don’t feel like beginning, then me colleague is always there to give me a push.
Also doing the training during lunch break is a much better option than doing it in the evenings after work.

It’s not an easy programme, but that’s why it’s called a challenge, right?
Week 1 was really tough, especially the days after a session with massively stiff muscles. But from week two onwards it became easier. I still felt my muscles had worked out, but no extreme pains or stiffness.
As for each training, there are exercises I find easier than others. That’s normal, I think. Everyone has muscles that are stronger than others. But again, thanks to my colleague I manage to not give up. And yes, this is a two-way street, I also enourage here (even though she needs fewer pushes than me 😉 ).
And just like that we’re already on week 6, past the halfway point!

And the results?
Well, honestly, I don’t really see any. I take pictures every week to compare, but they don’t show any noticeable changes. And yet I remarkably get more remarks that I look good and questions whether I lost weight than before *grin*. So there must me some change visible, even though my overly critical eye doesn’t see it.
But, what I find much more important, is how I feel. And there I must say I feel a huge improvement in my physical condition. Where I could barely utter a word and had a head like a tomato during week one; I can now keep talking during the exercises and have a less deep colour. I can also feel that my muscles are firmer and tighter underneath my skin, even if it is not immediately visible. That’s maybe still to come.

But now I’m on to the next 6 weeks. Those will be harder I fear, especially since I have my summer holidays planned for those weeks coinciding with weeks 10, 11 and 12 of the programme. Woops… We’ll see! I’ve come this far that I refuse to give up now!

Wow, I wrote more about my sporting exploits than I initially planned. I was actually going to write about the home-made packed lunches I mentioned in the beginning.
What I find most difficult when making a packed lunch, is to keep changing it up to keep it interesting. So I thought it might be fun to keep track of my lunches here, for future reference and for whomever is interested.
But since this post is already quite lengthy, I’ll save if for the next time!

In the mean time, do you have sporting routines? Are you following a certain training schedule?
And what do you do for lunch? Do you have a favourite packed lunch to take with you to work/school?

Cheers,
Charlotte