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Having you been working out for 6-12 months and felt that your progress has begun to plateau? If you have, I feel you, I had the exact same issue last year, and it wasn’t until I started mixing things up in my workout that my body started to show rapid changes. The below image is after only 8 weeks of working out, from February 22nd to April 25th. I noticed the bigger changes because I changed and started including the following 3 variable.
You’ve probable heard that when performing an exercise at the gym you should use “slow and controlled movements”. But what does this mean? As a gym newbie, I was surprised to see so many people working out with rapid, fast movements. It can be tempting to go fast, the faster you are, the more reps you can do and the burn is definitely lessened. You can also smash out more sets, reps and exercises if you’re short on time. This is when it’s important to remember, quality over quantity.
You guys asked for it, so here it is, my revised food diary! I like to keep things simple so I have the same pre-work and breakfast meal every morning. It’s a great way for me to get my calories in and both taste so delicious. All my meals are super easy. You’ll notice most of my meals follow the method of “combine in bowl”. I don’t have time to cook and I don’t like it, so all these meals are great if you’re busy like me! I'm currently bulking (eating in a calorie surplus) and eating between 2,300 - 2,500 calories a day. I'm working on incorporating more fruit and veggies into my day as I've realised by doing this that I'm severely lacking! Keeping a food diary for a week is something I highly recommend, you never realise how much you're missing out on (or what you're eating too much of).
Pre-workout: Protein Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
250ml oat milk
30g rolled oats
15g Women’s Best Whey Protein
1/2 frozen banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
Ice
METHOD
Mix all ingredients in a blender and blend. Pour to serve.
Breakfast: Bircher Muesli
INGREDIENTS
150g greek yogurt
70g rolled oats
1 grated apple
70g frozen mixed berries
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
10g Women’s Best Whey Protein
METHOD
Mix all together in a bowl and leave to soak overnight.
Snack: Carrots and Dip
INGREDIENTS
2 carrots
1/2 avocado
15g cream cheese
1/2 lemon
pinch of salt and pepper
METHOD
Dip: combine avocado, cream cheese and squeeze half a lemon into a bowl and blend with an electrical hand blender. Mix in salt and pepper. Chop carrots and serve with dip.
Lunch: Gnocchi Napoletana
*Gonna keep it real here, I very rarely eat lunch that I have made. My lunch consists of leftovers from UberEats (gnocchi napoletana or another low fat pasta option). Or I'll have left over Indian from Monday night dinner at my boyfriend's mums house. She's very healthy and doesn't use heavy creamy, oils or fats to cook her food. I also eat a lot of Youfoodz which is a healthy food delivery service in Australia.
Snack: Toast
2 slices of wholemeal toast with Nutlex, Peanut Butter and Nutella
Dinner: Cheese + Bean Quesadilla
INGREDIENTS
1 wholemeal flat bread
80g refried beans
50g grated cheese
2 tbsp light sour cream
Salsa: 1/4 can of corn, 1/2 medium tomato, 15g red onion and a squeeze of lemon
METHOD
Pre-heat oven to 180degrees. Prepare flat bread on a plate and spread the refried beans over the bread. Mix the salsa ingredients together and spread over one half of the bread. Spread the cheese over the other half of the bread. Transfer to a tray and pop in the oven. Take out when the cheese has melted (should be around 5-10 minutes). Spread sour cream on top of the salsa and fold bread in half. Use a spatula to remove from the tray and plate up. Cut into 4 triangle slices.
Snack: Tea and Chocolate
English Breakfast tea and a Tim Tam :)
I hope this helps you out, and questions please leave a comment on my Instagram post.
Love Maddy x
I do this exact workout once a week, on Mondays after my legs are nice and rested after the weekend. It's simple and easy to follow, but you may have some difficulties with the deadlift. It may be worth paying for a session with a personal trainer to teach you the correct way to deadlift as it's a complicated move that requires the correct posture and technique to gain the maximum results. I've been doing this workout for the past 4 weeks and have already seen an increase in the size of my legs. It is important when training for muscle growth, to eat, eat eat! You're not going to see gains without eating in a calorie surplus, so remember to fuel your body with the calories it needs to grow.
Okay this is going to be a biggie! As some of you know, I got into fitness at the start of January 2016 when I made the decision to download the Sweat with Kayla app. If you don’t know what BBG or Sweat with Kayla is, I recommend you read my blog post over here. In short, BBG stands for Bikini Body Guide and was developed by Australian personal trainer Kayla Itsines. It’s a 12 week resistance training guide and has also been released as the Sweat With Kayla app (complete with videos).
One of the reasons I love having this blog is I can share everything I'm learning through my Personal Training course, and this is one of the coolest things I've found out about. Most fitness knowledge is widely known, drink more water, focus on tempo, time your rests, lift heavy etc. But this is something that no-one in our class of 20 knew anything about, it's like finding the hidden level on Crash Bandicoot.
Probably the easiest protein powder recipe out there. Because who can be bothered making protein pancakes every morning? I like to make this and take it with me to my Personal Training course, it's simple, easy, affordable and delicious. Ticking all my boxes! I like to use a whole tub of greek yogurt and portion out 4 servings for my week, that way I just do my washing up in one go.
When I first saw people commenting on my photos with the words, “goals” and “she has the perfect shape” I was flabbergasted. I definitely do not feel like I have the perfect shape. I feel that my legs are too short, my thighs are too soft, my boobs are too small, my arms are too long, my shoulders are too broad and that my abs aren’t as defined as I’d like them to be!
I was lucky enough this time round to stay at one of them! I spent three magical days at the lovely Sahana Villas in Seminyak. Every other time I've stayed in Bali, I've stayed in Canggu which is a really cool area, but it is more difficult to get around. Canggu is for the salty haired surfer and Seminyak is for the shopper/degustation fiend. Although I like a dip every now and then, I prefer to stuff my face with tuna tartare and drink fancy cocktails.
