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Aaaaand…breathe

So my five weeks with Jonathan have come to an end. 

I’ve learned how to do aerobics on a moving treadmill - backwards. I’ve done so many leg kicks that my knees have actually sweated. And I’ve gone without alcohol for the full programme. None of which I thought I’d ever do.

But has it been worth it? Oh yes.

I came to love my workout sessions with Jon, and spending so much time with him has made me realise that the job of a personal trainer is a tricky one. Before now I’d always equated a successful trainer with one that shouts and pushes their clients to the ultimate max, with no regard to the individual’s limits or preferences, but that isn’t the case at all. Jon strikes the perfect balance between being kind and firm, so that I always wanted to do my best in every session, not through fear but so he’d be impressed and recognise my commitment to the cause.

In our final assessment, Jon brought out the weight scales and fat callipers that had caused me so much humiliation in our first session. But I can’t pretend I wasn’t pleased with the majority of the results.

Overall, I lost 6 kilos in weight, which is just a smidgen short of a stone, and we’ve reduced my body fat percentage from 26.9 to 23.9. According to the American Council on Exercise, this takes me from the ‘average’ range to the ‘fitness’ range. What that actually means I’m not sure, but there’s no doubt that I’m in a better, healthier position than I was five weeks ago.

In terms of the calliper measurements, Jon recorded the following results:

Back of upper arm: lost 3.5mm
Front of upper arm: no change
Back (under shoulder bone): lost 9mm
Midriff: lost 1.4mm

He, and I if I’m being completely honest, was disappointed that my arms didn’t change more, especially as we’d focused on them in the last couple weeks of the programme. But I’m going to invest in a resistance band that I can use to mimic the arm exercises that I did in Jon’s studio and see if I can battle more of my bingo wings away.

Next Jon brought out the tape measure for the final part of the assessment - et voila:

Upper arm: lost 1cm
Hips: lost 4cm
Waist: lost 9cm

Given that I’m most certainly a pear shape, and I carry any excess weight around my stomach and thighs in a heartbeat, I’m pretty chuffed to see the biggest difference was round my middle. That’s the area where I feel the biggest change too. I’m loathe to share the following fact, but I promised to always be truthful in this blog so here goes - one of the last pair of trousers I bought was before starting the programme and they were a size 8 Capri pant from my favourite high-street retailer (the Sky Living team won’t need a second guess at which shop that is). Now anyone who knows me, or at least who’s seen me in person, will know that I’m in no way a size 8, but these trousers were in the sale and the latest in a long line of ‘maybe I’ll buy them now and fit into them later (read: never)’ purchases. However, something made me dig them out of my wardrobe this weekend and pull them on, just to see if the last five weeks really have paid off. And lo and behold, they fit! I’m not saying I’m a size 8 - far from it - but there’s no way I could have zipped those bad boys up at the start of October, so I suppose the hard work has been worth it.

Now, the whole point of this review was to see if working out with a celeb trainer and following a celeb diet could indeed do the impossible and give me a celeb body, but I’ve already fit a lot into this little post. So come back later this week for my final blog post, and my thoughts on whether a celeb body is achievable for all of us real women.

November 21, 2011
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The End Is Nigh While everyone around me is getting their knickers in an excitable twist about seeing the Coca-Cola Christmas ad for the first time this year, Amelia Lily being voted back into The X Factor and where the Sky Living team should head for our festive (read: boozy) Chrimbo lunch, I’ve got my eye on quite a different prize. In just a few days time, my body programme will be over - and I’ll be on my own again. No gruelling workouts with Jonathan, no scrumptious meals delivered to my door by MY Food, no snacking and eating-out advice from nutritionist Sarah. I can’t quite decide how I feel about it all coming to an end. On one hand, knowing that my final assessment is on Friday afternoon, it seems like I can finally have my life back. On what I’ll term ‘bad’ days during the last five weeks, I’ve gone to bed dreaming of polishing off an entire chocolate cheesecake in one fell swoop and sat on the sidelines nursing a Diet Coke as my friends have jumped aboard the Jägerbomb train in central London. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t counting down the minutes until I can bite into a white chocolate cookie from my local shop bakery without the fear of being struck down by lightning - or the consequences showing up on the scales the following week. That said, I’ve come to love my weekday workouts with Jonathan and I know for a fact that I won’t just miss them, but struggle to recreate them myself. To try and give myself a fighting chance, I’ve been making a more conscious effort to concentrate on our routines on the treadmill, in the hope I can remember most of the moves when I’m training alone. And I’ve got a resistance training band on order, so I can continue Jonathan’s fantabulous work on my arms - specifically the dreaded bingo wings - as well as a diagram of his dumbbell arm plan (above), which is surprisingly easy to follow. I’d hate myself if I let all the good work and results of these last five weeks go to waste by returning to my former exercise regime (little) and diet (processed carb-heavy), but therein lies the biggest lesson of this programme. I’m not a celebrity. People aren’t taking photos of me on a daily basis, I don’t score jobs based on what I look like nor are media outlets ready and waiting to pore over said pictures in a quest to find worryingly thin limbs on show or better still, a few extra pounds around my middle. So even if I don’t maintain or continue this programme, my working life, and my ego to a certain extent, doesn’t depend on it. But that’s no reason to throw the towel in just yet, so I’ll be back at the end of this week for another update.

The End Is Nigh

While everyone around me is getting their knickers in an excitable twist about seeing the Coca-Cola Christmas ad for the first time this year, Amelia Lily being voted back into The X Factor and where the Sky Living team should head for our festive (read: boozy) Chrimbo lunch, I’ve got my eye on quite a different prize.

In just a few days time, my body programme will be over - and I’ll be on my own again. No gruelling workouts with Jonathan, no scrumptious meals delivered to my door by MY Food, no snacking and eating-out advice from nutritionist Sarah.

I can’t quite decide how I feel about it all coming to an end. On one hand, knowing that my final assessment is on Friday afternoon, it seems like I can finally have my life back. On what I’ll term ‘bad’ days during the last five weeks, I’ve gone to bed dreaming of polishing off an entire chocolate cheesecake in one fell swoop and sat on the sidelines nursing a Diet Coke as my friends have jumped aboard the Jägerbomb train in central London. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t counting down the minutes until I can bite into a white chocolate cookie from my local shop bakery without the fear of being struck down by lightning - or the consequences showing up on the scales the following week.

That said, I’ve come to love my weekday workouts with Jonathan and I know for a fact that I won’t just miss them, but struggle to recreate them myself. To try and give myself a fighting chance, I’ve been making a more conscious effort to concentrate on our routines on the treadmill, in the hope I can remember most of the moves when I’m training alone. And I’ve got a resistance training band on order, so I can continue Jonathan’s fantabulous work on my arms - specifically the dreaded bingo wings - as well as a diagram of his dumbbell arm plan (above), which is surprisingly easy to follow.

I’d hate myself if I let all the good work and results of these last five weeks go to waste by returning to my former exercise regime (little) and diet (processed carb-heavy), but therein lies the biggest lesson of this programme. I’m not a celebrity. People aren’t taking photos of me on a daily basis, I don’t score jobs based on what I look like nor are media outlets ready and waiting to pore over said pictures in a quest to find worryingly thin limbs on show or better still, a few extra pounds around my middle. So even if I don’t maintain or continue this programme, my working life, and my ego to a certain extent, doesn’t depend on it. But that’s no reason to throw the towel in just yet, so I’ll be back at the end of this week for another update.

November 15, 2011
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I’m A Shrinking Violet

Alright, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but finally my body seems to have caught up with my efforts.

After a full week on MY Food’s Body Blitz programme, and week four of Jonathan’s workout regime, it was time for another assessment. I took to the scales and Jonathan poked, prodded and grappled with my fat to retake the measurements he has done every week since I started the programme. But only today was I rewarded with a brief smile and quick nod of approval.

Why? I’ve lost 11lb in total, and 1cm off the top of my arms just this week. Jonathan didn’t let me into any other results, so I’m not sure about my body fat percentage or how much the rest of my figure has changed, but I’m happy with that, fo’ sho.

Here’s hoping I can give it one final push this next week.

November 11, 2011
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Forget about achy-breaky hearts - my bum and legs have never hurt so much in all my life. After Jonathan ramped up our toning reps from 20 to 40 I can really feel the difference. If I’m honest, I really struggle with reps 30 to 40, as in my entire body shaking and my muscles screaming with pain. But hey, he’s the pro, so I’ll do as he tells me until I do actually keel over.  We’ve also begun to double up the toning exercises, so where I used to lie on my side and do, say, 20 leg lifts in the air and then 20 knee lifts towards my chest, Jonathan has changed it into one continuous movement instead. I think the reasoning behind this is that the body not only works harder because it’s working non-stop for a longer period, but also because the muscles are simply exhausted by the end. And, joy of joys, once they’ve been worked more than I could have imagined three weeks ago, it’s on to the treadmill again. Jonathan took my measurements on Thursday, because we hit the three-week mark, plus that was the first day of my new food programme. He didn’t let me into the specifics (I’ve told him ignorance is bliss for now) but apparently my winning body area is still my waist and middle, with arms and legs trailing behind. After focusing quite a bit on arm exercises, I could tell he was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more difference showing there, and on the scales. More cardio for Joy it is then. Something that is severely lacking in disappointment is the MY Food meal plan. The meals are delicious! Last night was Chicken and Spinach Stroganoff (to which I added a bit of steamed broccoli) and I was honestly blown away at the generous portion size and at how tasty the dish was. I’m starting to understand how the celebs manage on low-cal diets when they have top chefs preparing their meals.  Bring on the next few days.

Forget about achy-breaky hearts - my bum and legs have never hurt so much in all my life.

After Jonathan ramped up our toning reps from 20 to 40 I can really feel the difference. If I’m honest, I really struggle with reps 30 to 40, as in my entire body shaking and my muscles screaming with pain. But hey, he’s the pro, so I’ll do as he tells me until I do actually keel over. 

We’ve also begun to double up the toning exercises, so where I used to lie on my side and do, say, 20 leg lifts in the air and then 20 knee lifts towards my chest, Jonathan has changed it into one continuous movement instead. I think the reasoning behind this is that the body not only works harder because it’s working non-stop for a longer period, but also because the muscles are simply exhausted by the end. And, joy of joys, once they’ve been worked more than I could have imagined three weeks ago, it’s on to the treadmill again.

Jonathan took my measurements on Thursday, because we hit the three-week mark, plus that was the first day of my new food programme. He didn’t let me into the specifics (I’ve told him ignorance is bliss for now) but apparently my winning body area is still my waist and middle, with arms and legs trailing behind. After focusing quite a bit on arm exercises, I could tell he was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more difference showing there, and on the scales. More cardio for Joy it is then.

Something that is severely lacking in disappointment is the MY Food meal plan. The meals are delicious! Last night was Chicken and Spinach Stroganoff (to which I added a bit of steamed broccoli) and I was honestly blown away at the generous portion size and at how tasty the dish was. I’m starting to understand how the celebs manage on low-cal diets when they have top chefs preparing their meals. 

Bring on the next few days.

November 05, 2011
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Today Marks A New Phase…

In my celeb body programme. 

While Jonathan has been working me hard in the gym (our toning reps have doubled from 20 to 40 for each move and my cardio now includes some crazy-ass ballet leaps on the treadmill), I’ve been a little concerned that my portion control hasn’t been up - or should that be down? - to scratch. I’ve definitely been eating healthier than usual, in regards to both the actual food I’m chowing down and saying no to snacks making their way around the Sky Living office, but my body isn’t feeling any different to how it did three weeks ago.

Luckily (it’s like magic, this showbiz lifestyle), the gang at MY Food got in touch with me via my Twitter page to offer their services. The company puts together weekly hampers of delish natural food and drops them right at your doorstep, negating the need to prep and cook your own food, but also taking away the hassle of calorie counting. 

Essentially, when I arrive home tonight there should be a chilled hamper containing healthy, balanced breakfasts, lunches and evening meals for the next seven days. The thought of not having to plan my meals ahead and returning home from Jon’s hardcore sessions to a tasty dinner waiting for me is heavenly. X Factor’s very own Caroline Flack is a happy MY Food camper at this very moment, and Gabby Logan has waxed lyrical about the service in the past.

MY Food have three different plans you can follow, but I’ve opted for the Blitz Body menu as it sits at around 1,000 calories a day and is packed with veggies. The meal plan, created by top chefs, promises to reduce bloating, improve skin tone and leave you feeling energised, as well as encouraging the pounds to drop off, so I’m excited to say the least.

I imagine the portion sizes may be smaller than I’m used to, so I’ll post some pics of the meals in my next entry.

Jonathan will also be retaking my body measurements tomorrow to see if these past three weeks have made a difference. Fingers crossed the sweat, tummy rumbles and sober nights out haven’t all been for nothing!

November 02, 2011
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I’m a fan of pumpernickel bread - who’d have thunk it? In terms of time and energy, it’s definitely the exercise that has taken my focus since starting this plan, but that’s not to say I’ve been ignoring the diet side. Following Sarah’s calorie-controlled recommendations has proven pretty tough, and to last the full five weeks I think the key is going to be variety and creativity. I’m already growing bored of salad, and the weather has definitely turned in the last week, so I was happy to learn that recipes based on cooked veg can easily be substituted into my meal plan. For example, while chicken or fish with salad is nice up to a point, I love ratatouille and vegetable chilli, so I asked Sarah if they were a fair swap, calorie-wise.  Happily the answer was yes, as long as I don’t get too carried away with my portion sizes. Because let’s face it, it’s much easier to gobble down a bowl of delicious turkey mince and veg chilli at lunchtime than it is to clear an entire plate of leaves. Knowing that, as long as I’m making good choices in terms of ingredients, there is leeway to alter the diet in keeping with my personal taste, makes it all the easier to follow. And my go-to breakfast has finally changed from porridge to two toasted slices of pumpernickel bread with a lick of low-fat cream cheese for good measure. The bread itself smells of fruit loaf (I used to inhale Soreen as a kid, so this excited me) but the taste doesn’t match up until it’s toasted. It does a fabulous job of keeping me feeling full until lunch - so it definitely gets a thumbs up from me. Having had Jonathan take my measurements again last Thursday, it looks as if the biggest difference is around my middle. Perhaps this is because I’m off the wheat (known to be a right bloater) and lovin’ my PN instead? I’ve made the wise choice of cutting back on my socialising this week, as 5am starts and daily exercise does not a perky Joy make. I’ll let you know if this makes a difference to the oomph i can apply to my training. Bring on the early nights.

I’m a fan of pumpernickel bread - who’d have thunk it?

In terms of time and energy, it’s definitely the exercise that has taken my focus since starting this plan, but that’s not to say I’ve been ignoring the diet side.

Following Sarah’s calorie-controlled recommendations has proven pretty tough, and to last the full five weeks I think the key is going to be variety and creativity. I’m already growing bored of salad, and the weather has definitely turned in the last week, so I was happy to learn that recipes based on cooked veg can easily be substituted into my meal plan. For example, while chicken or fish with salad is nice up to a point, I love ratatouille and vegetable chilli, so I asked Sarah if they were a fair swap, calorie-wise. 

Happily the answer was yes, as long as I don’t get too carried away with my portion sizes. Because let’s face it, it’s much easier to gobble down a bowl of delicious turkey mince and veg chilli at lunchtime than it is to clear an entire plate of leaves. Knowing that, as long as I’m making good choices in terms of ingredients, there is leeway to alter the diet in keeping with my personal taste, makes it all the easier to follow.

And my go-to breakfast has finally changed from porridge to two toasted slices of pumpernickel bread with a lick of low-fat cream cheese for good measure. The bread itself smells of fruit loaf (I used to inhale Soreen as a kid, so this excited me) but the taste doesn’t match up until it’s toasted. It does a fabulous job of keeping me feeling full until lunch - so it definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

Having had Jonathan take my measurements again last Thursday, it looks as if the biggest difference is around my middle. Perhaps this is because I’m off the wheat (known to be a right bloater) and lovin’ my PN instead?

I’ve made the wise choice of cutting back on my socialising this week, as 5am starts and daily exercise does not a perky Joy make. I’ll let you know if this makes a difference to the oomph i can apply to my training. Bring on the early nights.

October 24, 2011
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I’ve Turned A Corner

In fact, I feel like I’ve cruised round an entire roundabout in a flashy sports convertible.

A relaxing weekend away obviously upped my energy levels, as I’ve managed to complete all the cardio steps that Jonathan has thrown at me this week. While it’s very intense, and I could probably crumple in a heap after about five minutes, we’ve actually cut down the amount of treadmill work that Jonathan usually does with his clients. 

His reasoning? Following a diet with the primary objective of creating a calorie-deficit should be a good enough shove towards weight loss, so Jonathan would rather his training work focus on toning my wobbly bits and creating a lean silhouette. Sounds good to me.

In that vein, for the past couple of days I’ve sweated my guts out on the treadmill for between 20 and 30 minutes, leaving a good hour or 70 minutes for toning work. I won’t lie - this makes me happy. Focusing on ridding my body of bingo wings, saddlebags, stomach paunch etc etc has given me a good work ethic, and I’ve managed to finish all the reps that Jonathan sets me. 

One thing he really wants to get to work on is my arms. According to him (and why believe any different?), I don’t use my upper arms nearly as much as I should in usual daily life, which has left them flabbier than he, I, anyone would like. 

Have a little look at one of Jonathan’s videos to get an idea of just what he’s putting me through:

Another reason for Jonathan to favour rep exercises over cardio is that we’ve discovered I have quite a substantial misalignment in one of my shoulders. I noticed about a year ago that my right shoulder sat a little higher than my left, but it’s definitely got worse and Jonathan is keen to find out the cause. It may well be lifestyle - carrying heavy bags on that shoulder, cradling my phone on that ear etc - but it may well be something a little more serious, so I’ve booked an appointment with my GP just to check. Until then, it’s very important that I keep my chest broad and open and lower my shoulders while exercising, so as not to make the problem worse.

But enough from me, I need to go work out. So until Monday, that’s your lot.

October 20, 2011
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Friday Was A Toughie

Rising with the birds at 5am every weekday morning for a 7 o’clock start left me feeling seriously fatigued by the end of the week, which made Jonathan’s workout all the more strenuous.

We started off with a little stretch sequence to limber up my body and then took it straight to the treadmill. Programming the machine at the same levels as the previous two days, I started off on my skipping forwards, sideways and backwards, but after just a couple of minutes I could feel the lactic acid pain kicking in. My movements were obviously slower, as Jonathan asked if I’d eaten that day (in a manner of speaking - breakfast was a feast of, erm, yoghurt and fruit and I’d stuffed myself with salad leaves for lunch) or if I was coming down with a cold. 

Having him ask me that in his gentle, enquiring tone was almost worse than having him shout. I felt immediately disappointed in myself, but try as I might, I couldn’t muster any more vigour and we ended up doing just 30 minutes of the usual 45-minute cardio session. Never fear though, because those extra 15 minutes were slogged out on the mat in the toning part of the workout. From ab crunches to bum lifts, to leg repetitions, to arm circles, I think I ended up sweating more during this aspect of the workout than I had on the treadmill. There were puddles by the time I finished. Actual puddles. 

Happily, after the workout it was home to bed. I spent the weekend at a spa resort near Cardiff, being massaged by expert hands and kicking back in the sauna, which definitely helped remedy my Jonathan-induced muscle ache. It did, however, throw up my first diet battle. 

Saturday’s dinner was to be enjoyed in the hotel’s restaurant - but could I avoid the fresh bread to start, the gorgeous creamy pasta main and the brownie dessert? Miraculously, yes. While my friend gorged on ciabatta and cheesecake (not together, obvs) I chose a protein-heavy surf ‘n’ turf and left the baby potatoes on the plate, poor loves. 

Breakfast the next morning was another Everest to climb. After a quick session in the hotel gym - smuggity smug - I managed to bypass the cereals and pastries for a yoghurt and fruit combo. However, the cooked brekkie on offer was far too good to pass up, so I treated myself to a poached egg, one rasher of bacon and a spoonful of beans. Sorry Sarah, for I have sinned.

One ‘good food’ thing to come out of Cardiff was that I finally found the pumpernickel bread Sarah suggested - so I’ll give that a try before Thursday’s blog entry. Until then, here’s a sample day in the new life of Joy:

Breakfast
200ml pot of fat-free Greek yogurt with 1tbsp chopped almonds and 1-2tsp honey
Banana 
150ml apple juice

Lunch
Grilled chicken breast
Salad with 1/2 avocado
Peach

Dinner
Grilled plaice or lemon sole fillet
Broccoli
Baked sweet potato

It would be nice to say I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s workout to burn off those extra cheeky calories I consumed over the weekend, but my mother always taught me to be honest. So I’ll just keep schtum for now…

October 17, 2011
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Start As I Mean To Go On

So, my first day living by Sarah’s nutrition rules is over and I’ve completed my first session with the fitness powerhouse that is Jonathan Goodair.

After chatting with Sarah and enlightening her to the fact that my workouts are scheduled at 3.30 in the afternoon, she explained that my ‘energy meal’ as it were (read: the one which includes a notable amount of carbohydrate) would be best eaten at breakfast. Chomping on a plate of carbs at lunchtime will do me no good, as the energy it releases once my body has done its work to break the food down wouldn’t be ready to spend until much later in the day.

I’ll include a sample day’s menu in my next post, but basically I’m looking at eating around 1,500 calories a day, with carbohydrates like oats or pumpernickel bread included with breakfast, leaving lunch and dinner a combination of fish or meat and vegetables.

Essentially, I’m eating what we all know is good for us, before the vending machines, office cakes and lack of willpower get in the way.

In terms of my time with Jonathan, yesterday’s session consisted of, as he put it, an introduction and assessment. In reality, this was actually half an hour of humiliation, where I was poked, prodded and even had to whip my top off in order for Jonathan to tally my weight, body fat percentage and problem areas (after standing in front of a mirror the entire time this was going on, I think it’s safe to say I’m battling one big problem area - my body in its entirety).

After Jonathan had made his notes, trying his best to keep the mortified look off his face as the reality of the challenge ahead of him dawned, it was time to take the funtimes to the treadmill.

For 30 minutes I indulged in what can only be described as treadmill dancing. It’s far too difficult to describe in words (skipping, knee-ups, side-stepping and 90-degree twists all played their damning part) so a video is soon to follow, I promise.

Anyway, I’ve got two more sessions this week, and then a spa break weekend to recover (hooray!) but I’ll be back on Monday with the next update.

Until then readers, keeeeeeeep exercising!

October 13, 2011
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Get Me A Celeb Body…Now

As a celebrity journalist, my days are spent poring over images of beautiful famous faces and figures.

Ever heard the mantra ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’?



Well, I’m on a quest for an A-list body - come and join me on my mission.

I’ve found a team that can help me on my mission.

Jonathan Goodair is a personal trainer to the stars, boasting Stella McCartney, Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna among his client list. 



He has set up residence in Marylebone’s Home House, a private member’s club, running his state-of-the-art gym with the help of his team of trainers.

 

So it is there that I’m headed, every weekday for the next five weeks, to work out with Jonathan himself. I’m told each session will involve a mixture of dance-inspired cardio and high-repetition toning exercises that focus on lengthening the body to its ultimate leanness.



In fact, Jonathan has taken inspiration from the Tracy Anderson method, after working with Tracy years ago. She’s the pint-sized fitness demon responsible for whipping Nicole Richie, Gisele Bundchen, Courteney Cox and of course Gwynny into shape, and she’s shared her wisdom with Jonathan so that he’s best placed to train her clients based in London.



Safe in the knowledge that exercise is only half the battle, I’ll also be following a diet plan compiled by nutrition guru Sarah Schenker. She’s forewarned me that soup and salads will be the order of most days, so my veg box is fully stocked and I’m raring to go.



Can a regular girl get an A-list body when armed with a celeb trainer and nutritionist? I’m about to find out. Stay tuned to learn all about my journey and I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Tags: celebrity fitness review diet gym
October 11, 2011
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