Goal setting is important at any time of the year and luckily for me, I’m strong willed and determined and therefore don’t need the start of a new year to motivate me to make changes – it’s a never ending cycle of setting goals, hitting them, re-assessing and setting new ones.

However, sometimes it pays to look long term and think about what you want to achieve, especially with fitness goals.

So, I thought about what I’d like to achieve ideally in 2012 and this is what I came up with:

DIET:

To continue eating a primal (preferably paleo) diet
To continue intermittent fasting (this is with me for life!)
To include more variety in my diet, especially fruit and vegetables

FITNESS:

150kg deadlift
100kg squat (below parallel, preferably ATG)
BW bench press
10 unassisted chins/pull ups

PERSONAL:

To oil pull for a minimum of 10 minutes EVERY day, preferably 20 minutes
To write my blog more frequently

And there they are – my goals for 2012. Simple, straight forward and, I believe, achievable.

ARE YOU SETTING GOALS FOR 2012? IF SO, WHAT ARE THEY?

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Around this time last year, I wrote in one of my blog posts “I have a really good feeling about the year ahead” and I was so right. I never believed it would be such an important year in my life and that I would make the changes that I have but I’m so glad I had the courage to do so.

I started off the year knowing I had to make some important decisions and January saw me finally admitting that my marriage was over.

It had been on the rocks for a long time and despite efforts to change things, it was irreparable. Making that decision is possibly  the biggest and scariest decision I have ever had to make but now, almost one year later, I can say with my hand on my heart it was the best decision of my life and haven’t once regretted it.

The months following my decision were tough and I wrote some cryptic and depressing posts at the time but I was met with so much kindness and support – you all have no idea how much you helped me back through those dark months. However, out of the darkness comes light and I was soon bouncing back, to the old Jo from such a long time ago, I’d pretty much forgotten she existed – the fun loving, outgoing, bubbly, happy person I am now once again.

March saw me completing a 4 week Paleo challenge. With all the stress and negativity of ending a long term marriage, my exercise and diet had gone to shit and I needed something to help me focus. Who’d have known back then that it was the best thing I’d ever do for my health?  From the start I knew the challenge was going to be something I’d keep up in the long term – everything just felt so right, so many ailments cleared up (IBS, insomnia, aching joints, bleeding gums) and I was buzzing with energy.

To this day I still follow a primal style of eating with occasional white rice, unhomogenised milk and a little bit of cheese but I find it brings out unwanted side effects if I have too much – eczema, itching, increased mucus production and hay fever type sniffles – so it’s kept to a minimum.

April was a life changing month in more ways than one. Not only did I meet my amazing boyfriend, the true love of my life

I also transitioned into Intermittent Fasting which along with the change in diet has been the best thing I have done for my health, both mental and physical.  Whilst the paleo diet initially helped me to drop a bunch of weight, I really have IF to thank for helping me to lean out as much as I have.  I can proudly say I’ve not binged since March – that’s 9 months and possibly the longest I have ever gone.  I can say with my hand on my heart that I have IF to thank for that – I no longer obsess over food and though I’m not going to be arrogant enough to say I’ve beaten my ED and that I’ll never binge again, I think I’m the most recovered I’m ever likely to be.

Of course, I’m pretty sure being so happy in my personal life and no longer having the stresses of a failing marriage bogging me down has helped dramatically too :-)

Other awesome occurrences in April included an awesome progress shot of my back, which showed just how much mass I’ve gained in the previous 12 months…

and a deadlift PB of 100kg in my first ever deadlift session!

I really wish I hadn’t spent so much time arsing around trying to find a decent gym/training at home as I’d be so much further forward in my progress/strength goals by now.

May was an amazing month, mostly spent loved up with my man. It was the month we became official and declared undying love for each other – awwwwwwwwwwwwww!

By June, I was back in my goal dress from 2009…

and I also wrote a Guide to getting started with strength training

In July, I proved that weight is only a number by fitting into a bikini that I’d had since the age of 16. Most people that saw it said they couldn’t tell there was a 2 and a half stone difference in weight and everyone agreed that I look better in the bikini now at the age of 33 than I did when I was 16…

In August, I fell in love with my legs…

Hit a new deadlift PB of 105kg and wrote about how life can be awesome if you have the courage to make those tough decisions and stand by them.

September was a great month in the gym – not only did I master Glute Ham Raises…

I also hit another new deadlift PB of 107.5kg!

October was a life changing month for me – I moved from my home in Walsall to go and live in Swansea with my boyfriend. Massive decision and not one that I took lightly but things are going fantastically well. I’m settling into my new job and passed my phlebotomy training with ease. The shifts are tough and it’s a pain in the ass having to work weekends sometimes but the potential for job advancement is making it worthwhile right now.

So where am I right now? Well, training and diet are still going amazingly well. I pulled a 110kg deadlift in the gym a couple of weeks ago and also got a video of me pulling 95kg for reps…

I’m still trying to get leaner, though I’m still in good shape. I took a quick picture of my back/v-taper the other day and am pleased to see it’s still looking pretty good :-)

Here is a quick run down of my progress pictures from the year so far…

I’ll be making lots more progress in 2012 – it will be the year that I will get a smoking hot body so watch this space!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Due to personal circumstances, I have to re-home my beloved kitty, Bitsi. I’m extremely upset about this as she’s been part of my family for the last 7 years and I genuinely love and adore her.

I’ve contacted various animal rescue centres in the Wales locality and they are all full. I don’t know anybody locally that can adopt her for me and therefore, I am putting it out here in the hope that someone can help me.

She is a gorgeous black female cat and is around 8-9 years old (she was approximately 1-2 when I adopted her). She is VERY affectionate and loves nothing more than to curl up on your lap and snuggle. She is neutered and litter trained though she prefers to go outdoors when possible. She is very playful though as she is getting older she spends more time sleeping.

I pray that someone can help and take her in for me. If you can help, or know someone that can help, please email me at jagsfitnessblog@gmail.com

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A massive hello to anyone still checking my blog, I knew I’d be back at some point but didn’t think it would take me as long as it has. HUGE thanks to everyone that has messaged me on facebook/twitter or emailed to ask how things are going in Swansea and asking when I’d be back to blogging – it’s always nice to know others are thinking of you.

Life has been pretty hectic since I moved back in October and it’s only now things are finally settling down.  I’m really loving my new home…

Living by the sea is awesome, even in Winter…

Diet and exercise are on track though I will admit it all went wrong in the first few weeks in my new home. Stress levels were high and my man and I had a 2 week wheat binge. Having suffered from wheat indulgence in the past you’d have thought we’d learned our lesson but no, we didn’t. 2 weeks of bread, pizza and cakes left us feeling utterly disgusting and again, my mouth flared up and was sore and inflamed for over a week after I’d took the wheat/gluten out.  Because our diet was so bad inclination to train went out the window and I had possibly my longest ever exercise hiatus of 3 weeks.  However, we’ve been back on track for a while now and diet and fitness is going swimmingly.  In fact, it would seem that our junk food binge helped in some way as now the bloat has gone, we are both looking slightly more muscular and we are both stronger in the gym.

In fact, I got a new deadlift PB last week of 110kg!

To say I was over the moon would be a total understatement – I could not stop beaming. I’m hoping for at least 150kg by the end of 2012 – watch this space!

My new job is going well though I’ve only done a couple of shifts due to the amount of training I’ve been doing.  I trained for two weeks in phlebotomy and I am now a fully fledged phlebotomist – hurrah!

My first day I expected to just be observing and shadowing so imagine my shock when after I’d observed 3 blood tests, I was told it’s now my turn! Though I’d completed the theory and knew what to do, I was terrified and would have hated to be the person I took blood from, seeing me coming at them with a needle trembling in my hand! However, I did it successfully and by the end of the first day my confidence was building.  On the second day, I was literally left to it and worked alone, though in a room with others and it actually did wonders for my confidence. My time was spent in between working in the path lab clinic and doing rounds on the ward and by the end of the second week, I was a pro. It’s funny now whenever I see bare arms with good veins I’m thinking “damn, I’d love to bleed you”

I’m going to leave it at that for now but I promise I will be back to more regular updating now and I hope to include some training videos of me in my next blog post.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year :-)

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

“What is Swansea, is it an animal?” – Neil Sutherland, The Inbetweeners

No fear my lovely blog readers, I’m not saying goodbye to you. I’m saying goodbye to my life as I know it.

Yes, I’m moving to Wales! As you know, I’ve been in a long distance relationship for the biggest part of the year with my gorgeous boyfriend, best friend and soul mate…

Back at the beginning of September mini JAG approached me and asked if we could move to Wales. We’d discussed the probability of us moving once his GCSEs were over on numerous occasions but sadly, he’d been having some problems at school with a group of lads who used to be his closest friends. He had finally had enough and wanted to make a fresh start.

I interviewed for a job back at the beginning of October and found out a week later that I’d been successful. It’s a complete job change for me, moving from working in a clerical role in a GP surgery to working as a Nursing Support Assistant on a busy Acute Assessment Unit in a hospital.  There is a lot of training available to me and could even lead to a secondment for Nursing so I’m extremely excited.

I’ll be sad to be leaving my current job and of course, my family and friends but I’m massively excited to be starting this new chapter of my life.

I’ll still be writing my blog, nothing with diet and training is going to be changing. I’m gutted to be leaving my awesome gym so soon after finding it but it means I get to join my boyfriend’s gym, which I really love, and we’ll get to train together a lot more frequently. With him motivating me, inspiring me, pushing and encouraging me, I can only see my training going from strength to strength in the future.

So, until I’m settled into my new life I may be quiet on the blog front but it’s only temporary – take care all!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Earlier this week, my boyfriend and I had a craving. A beer and pizza kinda craving.  As you all know, I’ve been wheat/gluten free since March 13th this year and though I’ve indulged in non-gluten grains a couple of times, I’ve been pretty strict with the whole grain elimination.  My boyfriend suffers with Crohn’s disease and has been wheat/gluten free for over 18 months. Out of all the medical advice and medication, eliminating gluten grains has been the only thing to keep my boyfriend free of flare ups in the last 18 months.

However, this craving was strong and we decided to go with it, indulge in what we craved and then get back on track with our regular diet.

We enjoyed pizza, dough balls, banoffee pie and a couple of beers. We both thoroughly enjoyed it and there was no guilt whatsoever.

The next day, we were out enjoying the sunshine and we both craved a full English breakfast.  As we both practice intermittent fasting, breakfast became a thing of the past a long time ago but our little taste of normality the evening before felt kinda nice and we decided to go with it. We found a lovely little cafe in the Marina and sat outside in the glorious sunshine…

Typically, a full English would be a safe option as long as you steer clear of the sausages (they contain gluten) and the toast that accompanies the meal.  However, on this occasion we enjoyed both.

I’m not going to lie, I bloody enjoyed eating pizza and sausages and drinking beer. I’m not enjoying the after effects though.

First came the bloat…

The first picture (a gratuitous picture sent to my boyfriend to show him what I was wearing to cut my grass!) was taken 5 days before the second. The comparison is purely to show that I haven’t secretly become a heffer and am blaming the wheat ;)

The second side effect I noticed is the most INTENSE wheat cravings. I’m not kidding. You guys know how strong my willpower can be, how I don’t really struggle with compliance and how much better I’ve felt in myself since eliminating wheat and gluten grains.  However, despite bloating me and making me feel tired, drained and lethargic, I still wanted more.

This is a side effect of wheat and is why your body goes through withdrawal type symptoms when it is deprived, such as irritability, shakiness, intense cravings, light headedness, etc.  It has an opiate type effect on our brain chemistry and produces those kind of side effects when it’s eliminated.

I’ve craved bread, cakes, biscuits – you name it, I wanted it.  I’ve struggled to keep those cravings at bay and have given in a couple of times.  What harm can a few wheaty products do right?

My entire mouth is sore, inflamed and ulcerated.
My throat is swollen and sore.
My joints are painful even though I’m not exercising.
My head is fuzzy and aching constantly.
My IBS has flared back up with stomach cramps, diarrhoea and bloating.
I’m so tired and lethargic in the afternoon that I have needed to take a nap in the afternoon for the previous 3 days.

These are all problems I suffered with on a regular basis before eliminating wheat and within a week of re-introducing it, the problems have all flared back up.

Today is the first day that I’ve not consumed wheat and even now, as I type this, I’m craving it. It’s so difficult to not give in but I really can’t stand feeling like shit any longer and there is no way I’m giving in, as much as I might want to.

You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing this with you but I felt like you deserve to know. You’ve followed my paleo/primal journey from day one and I wanted you to know that I’m not infallible and that I do slip up occasionally.

But, the most important reason for sharing this with you is to show you just how much my health is suffering at the moment, after re-introducing wheat for a mere 4 days.

Death warmed up does not even come close!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh boy, I’m loving this hot weather! Just when I thought it was time to retire the summer clothes, the sunshine explodes back into my life – I love it!

I just got back from spending some time with my gorgeous boyfriend and the weather was just as nice to us…

which meant lots of ice cream. And lots of smooching :-D

It also meant we hit the gym together and I pulled a 107.5kg deadlift! I had planned to get him to film me but an attack of nerves and lack of confidence stopped me and now I wish I had as he said my form was text book perfect.  Definitely next time!

The one thing the heat is not good for is leg training. Oh my goodness, it was so hot yesterday! I was training with my friend and sports therapist Marvin from West Midlands Injury Clinic. I can’t recommend Marvin highly enough, he really knows his stuff.  A month or so ago, my boyfriend hurt his back whilst he was visiting and the first person I called was Marv. He not only sussed what the problem was straight away but really helped relive his symptoms and gave him some advice to correct the problem. The guy is awesome and I can’t speak highly enough of him.

He followed along with my workout as he hasn’t trained heavy legs for a few years – mwahahahaha! Heavy front squats, stiff leg deadlifts, leg press, glute ham raises, calf presses & seated calf raises made sure he is feeling it today. I’m suffering with some murderous DOMS in my ass at the moment as I try to perfect my glute ham raises – ouch Ouch OUCH!

One thing Marvin did notice is that my pelvis is still tucking under slightly at the bottom of my squats. Thankfully, nowhere near as bad as it used to as I have been focussing on my stretching a lot more.  He got me laying down and stretched out my hamstrings for me and said there was a definite improvement so I have to ensure I stretch before I squat from now on!

I’m still loving my gym though I have noticed a few “regulars” who appear to have a severe case of Fuckarounditis!  The majority of the guys training really do bust their ass and it’s nice to see a select few incorporating squats and deadlifts but the owners still tell me I’m one of the hardest working members there :-D

Before I sign off, I want to leave you with a couple of links.  Two of my lovely friends are doing the Shine Half Marathon Walk on Saturday and really want to raise a lot of money for Cancer Research. If you can spare even just £1 they would be eternally grateful for your generosity…

Rachel’s sponsorship page

Liz’s sponsorship page

This is a cause close to both girls’ hearts so any donation, no matter how small, would be very much appreciated – thank you :-)

And for something a little more light hearted, my gorgeous friend Debs has created her own site called Calamity Dames – “a wry look at women doing their best to make it through the day without turning to gin. At least before breakfast”.  The site already has some fantastic, funny, witty, intelligent articles and I really recommend you check it out!

I’ll leave you with a relatively new picture of me, snapped one morning on my way to work. Still have my love glow…

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I have had so many emails/comments about people that have missed my updates and I can only apologise to you.  I’ve really not had that much time to blog but I am going to make a real effort to post every week, even if it’s just a weekly round up of my exercise/diet/life.

I’m still training my ass off and my diet is still going well though I’ve inadvertently been eating more than usual, which has been caused by me not being as attentive to logging my food.  Thankfully, I’m not looking any worse for it and the scales are not showing any massive gain (though I am weighing in around 5lb heavier at the moment due to supplementing creatine).  The only real noticeable place the extra weight has gone is to the twins which has made my boyfriend a very happy man ;-)

I was due to take progress pictures last week to mark my 6 months of changing diet (Paleo/Primal and Intermittent Fasting) but I was recovering from surgery so I didn’t bother.  I had my gorgeous man here taking care of me and we indulged in foods that we ordinarily wouldn’t on account of me recuperating, such as ice cream, coconut macaroons and the evil haribos!  Suffice to say I felt the worse for indulging and I’m back on the straight and narrow now.

It’s been just over two months since I joined my new gym and it’s the best decision I ever made – I really love the place.  I took my boyfriend with me a few times to train and he likes it too though he’s not too impressed with some of the leg machines- the leg curl machines REALLY suck!

Thankfully, I have finally mastered the glute ham raise and OH MY GOD, I love this exercise! I’ve been working on my technique for the last few sessions and I have finally nailed it. I’m only doing body weight reps at the moment but look forward to adding in some resistance.

I have to say, this exercise hits my glutes and hamstrings more than any other single exercise out there! It’s evil and I love it :-D

Here are a few pictures of me and my man from our last lower body training session…

Perfect Form

Thank you ATG squats for my squat booty! I squat lower than this but the picture was taken on my way back up out of the hole.

Check out the pain! Good job I don’t give a damn about looking pretty in the gym!

I was going through my notebook the other day and I’m really pleased to see my front squat weight has gone up by 20kg since I joined my new gym. Not bad considering I only do an upper/lower split so some weeks I’m only hitting legs once.  My deadlift hasn’t progressed too much as I’ve been doing them in the same session as my squats.  As I can’t really focus on both of them during the same session I’ve put them into my chest/back workout.  However, I must have been having an evil moment when I decided to put them in at the end of my workout. Brutal doesn’t even come close! But, what an awesome way to finish up a workout :-D

I’m sure those of you who follow along with me on facebook will have already seen this but I got a new vest for lower body training – I saw the slogan online and just had to get it put on a top for training…

I love it!

And here is an up to date bicep shot – they’re really filling out since I started taking creatine about 5 weeks ago…

I was due to start my bulk at the end of the month but in all honesty, I’m not feeling lean enough to want to start just yet.  I’ve decided to postpone it til the end of October instead and keep up with the fat loss until then.  Progress pictures will be taken prior to bulking so mid-end October.  The pictures I’ve taken recently for my boyfriend have all shown incredible progress so I’m really excited to see how much more progress I can make in the next 6 weeks or so.

In the meantime, here’s a lil pic to show my glow is still present…

I’ll be hitting the gym tomorrow for my upper body workout and I’m going to make a real effort to get online and get my workout down in black and white.

Have a great evening everyone!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It’s funny how it turns out. One minute you’re plodding along, wondering if this is your lot and then life gives you something amazing that turns everything on its head.

When I think back to the start of the year, I can’t believe how much my life has changed in 8 short months. Back then, I was stuck in a failing marriage, wishing for things to change but not really having the guts to do anything about it and wanting to go to sleep and wake up to a different life.  I was a big ball of negativity and couldn’t see a way out.

This was my theme tune for my life back then…

and this quote was going around in my head…

“A year from now you may wish you had started today”

I knew what needed to be done but I was scared. Scared of the effect it would have on my son, scared of being alone, of struggling financially and most of all, I felt guilty. The thing is, these reasons had already kept me there for a lot longer than I should have been and I knew that it had to be now or never.

Immediately after making the decision to end my marriage, I felt at peace, inside and out.  All of my negativity seemed to evaporate instantly and I was left with a feeling of calm.  It was at that moment I knew without a doubt I had made the right decision and that things would be ok.

My motivation came flooding back and I looked forward to getting up each morning and starting a new day.  My emotional eating stopped instantly and I had renewed energy for working out and eating healthily. I felt happy again for the first time in years and that had a positive, knock on effect on my son, who noticed a huge difference in his mum.

Sometimes, the scariest path in life is the one we have to take.  I’d spent too many years sticking to the safe path all it did was bring me back to the same point over and over again – feeling like I was living the wrong life.

I read a lot of inspirational and motivational quotes during this time and it really helped me to keep things in perspective…

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but simply moving on with dignity despite that fear”

“When one door closes, another one opens but we often spend so long looking at the closed door that we don’t notice the one that has opened for us”

“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering”

“Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been and look at what can be”

“If you want life to be a magnificent story then begin by realising you are the author and every day you have the opportunity to write a brand new page”

I love reading inspirational quotes and for anyone else that does, there is a fantastic group on facebook that you must check out!

After becoming newly single, I told everyone that was how I planned to stay for a while. A new relationship didn’t interest me and I didn’t feel I had the energy to even contemplate dating.

But then came my something amazing.  I met my awesome boyfriend.  We started off as just friends but this progressed into a romance and eventually a relationship and I can say with my hand on my heart that I have never been happier in my life.

Family and close friends have said how lovely it is to see the old Jo, with eyes sparkling and a smile on my face every day.

This Jo was in hiding for so long and it feels awesome to be back!  I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing, kind, caring, loving, decent man in my life.  We have so much in common and are so alike that people that know us both have actually said that we are the male and female version of each other!

My point to this whole rambling post is that we have no idea what life has in store for us.  During the bad times, never give up hope.  Keep the faith that just around the corner lies your happy ever after!

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.

and I’m loving it!  It’s been just over a month and I’m still the only female training there during the day but I kinda like that. It’s fun seeing guys do a double take when they see me at the squat rack lifting heavier than they probably could.  I was doing deadlifts at the weekend and there were a small group of guys watching me from across the gym.  As I loaded the bar to go for the 100kg I heard one of them say “christ, she’s going for 100!” It made me chuckle to myself.  My hands proved how hard I worked that day…

and my legs bore the bruises…

It’s also (on 13th) 5 months since I changed the way I eat. Wow, I can’t believe it. Almost half a year. And to think I was only going to do this for 2 weeks! It’s still the best decision I ever made. Since my boyfriend’s birthday weekend, I’ve been completely grain/legume free again with the occasional bit of dairy and my body has got back to it’s normal self, the IBS has cleared up and I’m back to feeling amazing.  I definitely won’t be doing that to myself again – ever!

I won’t be taking progress pictures this month, simply for the fact that I want to wait now until the end of September which marks the end of my cutting phase.  As the changes are getting smaller (but are still noticeable – the boyfriend had the pleasure of seeing a new picture yesterday and said I’m still leaning out and that he is still seeing changes – woohoo!) I want to leave a little more time in between pictures. I may take some just for my own records, then I will have tracked throughout the whole of the 6 months,  but I won’t be sharing them.

Time is passing so quickly and pretty soon it will be time for my first ever bulk. I’m massively looking forward to this, not only because I want to see my strength progress but it means I get to EAT! Though, I have to admit, my calorie intake has been through the roof of late, my calories have been way exceeding the 1700-ish I should be sticking to and a couple of days last week I consumed between 2500-3100 calories – oops!  I’m really knuckling down though for the last 6 weeks – pre-planning food so that I’m not over eating and the treats are going to be kept to a minimum – a grain free carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and maybe a little ice cream when I see my boyfriend – but nothing else.  I want maximum results in the last 6 weeks so that I can go ahead and bulk without being unsatisfied with how I look.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures.  First of all, a facial comparison from March/August…

Though the angle is different, you can see the jawline/chin is more defined and my hamster cheeks have kindly fucked off ;)

A comparison picture of my legs…

March/May/July.  What a difference huh? I didn’t actually lose that much scale weight between May/July but the shape of my legs has changed completely. I remember being really happy back in May to see how my legs looked yet now I think they look pretty chunky!

And finally, a bicep pic. Just because :D

Starting to look leaner and more pumped. Hurrah! Oh, and excuse the crap in the background, it was a laundry day!

Back with a workout update tomorrow.

©2012 JAG's Fitness Blog. All Rights Reserved.