[Clare]

Today is a long run day and I did 10km today after my first meal, which felt really good. The weather was ideal, cold, but dry. I then had a few jobs to do at home, before going for a reflexology session, which was heavenly!

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[Clare]

For certain health conditions or lifestyle factors, fasting can be a very effective tool, however, if your goal is competitive bodybuilding or building as much tissue as possible, then it makes no logical sense, as Hilly has outlined well above.

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[Clare]

I didn’t ever think I would be a lady who ‘Pilates’, but here we are.. haha! I did a reformer Pilates class this morning and absolutely love it. This will definitely stay in as part of my routine now. I much preferred it to Yoga, so may actually get 2 sessions in a week sometimes if I can. The strength needed in the core is insane and I can feel I’m going to get a lot from it moving forward, especially as I get older, with doing more ‘functional’ resistance work. Yoga is more gentle stretching, whereas this reformer Pilates is much more challenging, which I liked.

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[Clare]

Weigh yourself at the same time every morning, after going to the toilet and before eating or drinking anything.

Be consistent with the time you have your pre bed meal and time you go to bed and wake.

Track trends during the week and month. eg.. Monthly cycle as a female and what you train on what day, as there will be an increase in water retention the week before/during a monthly cycle and days after training bigger body parts.

You don’t need to be concerned with daily fluctuations, so look at the bigger picture and take the average reading over a week and compare to a like for like week.

The more you are in tune with your body and how it responds, the more you will understand pattern.

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[Clare]

TD – 1850 cals
– M1 (pre)
malt loaf
whey (as a paste)

M2 (post)
0% greek yog
dates
honey
rice based cereal

M3
chicken
avocado
caramel rice cakes
kiwi
(this meal always tends to sit heavier/i feel a lot fuller compared to my other meals and not hungry for meal 4)

M4
whey (as a paste)
banana
dried figs
almonds/walnuts

M5 (i take a digestive enzyme with this meal)
either a lean white fish/prawns and ghee
or lean beef mince/steak with less ghee
sweet potato (mashed) or flatbread
pineapple

M6 (find this easy to eat/digest pre bed)
Brownie made from sweet potato
Dark choc

I have been trialling a few new food sources that i haven’t eaten for a long time since the digestive issues but i’m unsure what food sources to try.

I massively struggle with appetite/hunger although i love food it would be nice to be hungry for at least more than 2 of my meals for the day.

Since removing veg over the last few days ive noticed my digestion improve massively.

How could i improve my diet to help keep food volume low but for it to be more ‘optimal’ and to keep appetite good.

I am just worried as this is not a high amount of food yet, so when food increases in the future i haven’t got any tools like using high gi sources to utilise.

I would reduce your meals to 5 a day, to allow for better digestion and appetite.

I’d swap your first meal for eggs, avocado and sourdough bread.

Meal 3, I’d have chicken, sweet potato, green veg/salad, walnuts.

Drop meal 4

Meal 6 (Now Meal 5), I would switch for Oats, whey, berries and dark chocolate.

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[Clare]

Today is a run day, so I got that done this morning, then have just been getting on with some work and coursework since. My fitness has improved massively since I pulled back on the weight training and focussed a lot more on my cardio health. Runs are getting quicker too.

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[Clare]

What foods are you eating? From a health perspective, you may not be getting the nutrient requirements. Do you take any health supplements alongside your diet?

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[Clare]

Don’t worry about what others are doing. Eat to your own needs.

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[Clare]

Today was my first leg day of the week, and a really enjoyable session. My body feels good at the moment and I think I’m going to like this new routine set up. I also did a quick 3km run on wake, as I felt good and wanted to get outside and do some movement first thing.

Seated ham curl x3
Belt squat x2
Leg press x2
Glute drive x2
Leg ext x3
Hanging leg raises x3

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[Clare]

Hi Claire, when you say short/long runs, what distances are you covering typically?

Are you implementing different types of runs also?

My short runs are around 5km and long runs between 7-10km. I’ve done longer runs and have ran a couple of marathons for charity before, but they always result in overuse knee injuries, so I know that shorted distances suit me better. I also used to sprint competitively in my early years. Since I stopped competitive bodybuilding, health and fitness is my main priority now, so I do a mixture of cardio, weights, yoga/pilates, walking, cycling. Things that my body needs and that feels good, as opposed to putting my body through unnecessary stress any more. My diet is very varied and nutritious too and I eat more intuitively, as well as having a very strict health supplement routine.

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[Clare]

What’s the advice from the medical professional who has seen your MRIs? The shoulder issues may well need surgery to prevent the damage getting worse, and the tendonitis will need proper care in order to calm the inflammation and control it moving forward.

You then need to have a look at what has caused all of these issues at such a young age. It sounds like you may need some guidance one to one with a good coach who can set up a decent plan and guide you through your execution and set up to prevent further injuries in the future.

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[Clare]

I would agree with the above. 4 days won’t be enough to do much. You need to lower the activity and increase food for longer, as well as taking the 4 days complete rest from training.

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[Clare]

So a little switch up, after writing my workout plan I’ve decided to make a couple of alterations. Having said that though, I may still change things on the day still, depending on what I feel like doing or how my body feels..

Mon – Short run & Yoga, Tues – Upper, Weds – Legs, Thurs – Short run, Fri – Pilates, Sat – Long run, Sun – Legs.

So today was Upper. I don’t want to build anymore size to my upper nowadays, and actually spent some time after I stopped competing to lose some size, so now it’s just about maintaining what I have left and preserving bone health, hence only the one session a week!

Lat pull down x2
Back row x2
Incline Chest press x2
Lateral raise x3
Dips x3
Tricep ext x3
Bicep curl x3
Ab roll outs 3×20

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[Clare]

This is fine. As long as you are digesting the food well between meals.

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[Clare]

A good start to the week with a very cold short run first thing, followed by a Yoga session later in the morning, then it was back home to get the house sorted, get my head in some coursework and start writing some articles and researching for some nutrition/supplement content. I’ll break the afternoon up with a walk too.

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