Tag Archive for 'zuzana'

A few of my online friends have recently embarked upon the p90x exercise/healthy eating regime.

It was back in February when I was still living in the USA, that I decided I needed to visit the gym. I had begun working from home, and needed some structure in my life. The gym, and its fitness classes, became it. It was also my escape from a very negative atmosphere at home, where I was sharing a house with a(n ex-) boyfriend who was long-term unemployed, addicted to video games, and whose paranoia had him monitoring my every move, phonecall, etc.

I’ve always been small, never really had any weight on me, but I was shocked to find when I first joined Gold’s Gym, my bodyfat percentage was in the overweight category! I had no appearance of fat on my body – the reason for the high percentage of bodyfat, was the low percentage of muscle mass.

I was almost pleased when I was given this result. I knew it would be a huge motivator for me. I immediately quit my almost daily addiction to broccoli and cheddar soup from Panera Bread Co., and heavily cut down on my chocolate intake, which – combined with exercising only only once a week (tennis) – were the main culprits for this gloomy diagnosis. I don’t like junk food, I don’t like fizzy drinks, and I rarely consume alcohol, so once the soup and sandwiches were out of the picture, my diet needed no further adjustment.

I started visiting the gym on a daily basis – and more often that not, twice daily (to attend different classes) – and when I requested my next body test ten days later, I could see the shock on the employee’s face at the progress I had made. I had gone from ‘overweight,’ to healthy, and closer to the ‘athletic’ level than ‘overweight’ now!

I left the USA in April, and returned home to the UK. I have a gym membership here, and go every day unless there’s an extreme exception, but I no longer have a motivation or goal for going. I don’t need an escape any more. I don’t have a high bodyfat percentage any more. And I don’t see any change in my appearance, either, despite doing a lot of weight work. Like I said, I’ve always been slim. Apart from a possible slight increase in the size of my arms, maybe a slight decrease in the size of my bottom (which I can’t notice anyway, I don’t have eyes in the back of my head), I doubt there’s any change that can be observed.

I even purchased a Salter MiBody scale, but (almost disappointingly), it has me as healthy/athletic, which again leaves little to really aim for. Herein lies my dilemma!

However, I recently stumbled upon bodyrock.tv. Wow! Zuzana is really muscular, yet she clearly retains her femininity. I have been checking Google Images for “fit woman,” “athletic woman,” “muscular woman,” for weeks for inspiration – to make me think “yes, that is what I want to look like” – but all I ever get are semi-naked models, or gross bodybuilders. Zuzana, on the other hand (despite clearly using her body to make money, but hey, if it gets people into exercise, she’s doing something more constructive than most), is neither the typical supermodel look, nor a male-female hybrid. If she can have those kinds of muscles and still look feminine, so can I (although I admit her large chest helps her out a little while).

So, starting today, I am going to embark upon a stricter diet and exercise regime. I’m going to cut down on the chocolate, big time. Maximise on the protein. Work hard at the gym. Here is my ‘before’ picture. Let’s see what I can achieve in one month!

Exercise done today: 35 minutes of cardio (cycling).
Breakfast: 1 bowl of porridge with raisins.
Snack 1: 1 banana, peanuts.
Lunch: Protein drink.
Pre-gym: 1 piece of grilled salmon.
Post-gym: 1 bowl of porridge.
Dinner: 1 fillet steak, 1 small boiled potato, 4 green beans, 1 carrot
Dessert: 1 slice of home-made coffee cake (my mother made it, what could I do?!)