Fitness Friday: My Realistic Week #1

So it’s time for Fitness Friday! All the fitness bloggers I seem to follow are absolute inspirations – they eat clean, they train hard and they look incredible. I’m not pretending that I am anywhere in that league; I enjoy talking and writing about fitness but I am definitely no example! Sometimes this means that I find it hard to write my Fitness Friday posts, as there is a certain amount of pressure to be the demonstration of what I preach. I think it’s easy to beat ourselves up, spending hours pouring over Instagram and Googling ridiculous diets in frustration, so today I wanted to share my weekly fitness routine. However there is a twist – not only am I sharing my planned routine, I’m also sharing what I really did!

Monday: 
The Plan:
Work an early shift at my local leisure centre until 1pm, then head straight to the gym.
The Reality:
I started off the week well and actually completed this. I completed an arms set, followed by some intense cardio on the stepper machine. I also got my body fat percentage checked, and although I have gained weight since my last record a few months ago, I have lost body fat and gained muscle, so I was really happy (not to mention surprised) by the results.

Tuesday:
The Plan:
A study day at university, followed by either a circuits or TRX class in the evening.
The Reality:
After a long yet unsuccessful study day, I headed home and promptly went to sleep. No exercise for me tonight! The only saving grace was the fact that I had opted for salad and dried fruit as study food rather than chocolate whilst studying.

Wednesday:
The Plan:
Work another 6am-1pm then head to spinning. A university lecture followed by my weekly adult ballet class.
The Reality:
I completed both ballet and spinning – hurrah! Working part-time in a leisure centre makes my gym routine much easier in many ways, because exercise is much harder to avoid if you are already in the gym! However, it can make you rather sick of the place, and working shift patterns means getting into a routine can be a nightmare.

Thursday:
The Plan:
Rest day: Internship all day then lectures until 8pm.
The Reality:
I always plan a rest days on Thursday as it’s impossible to fit in any exercise. This Thursday was slightly different, because after my seminar I also had my cocktail masterclass at The Snug. Let’s just say that my diet went to pot this evening!

Friday:
The Plan:
Body Blitz class at 9:30, followed by lunch with a friend.
The Reality:
I woke up with a sore head from last night’s cocktails and couldn’t face jumping around for an hour. I definitely couldn’t have coped with ‘blitzing’ my body. I weighed myself for the week and had miraculously lost two pounds – so I obviously headed to meet my friend and ate a packet of triple chocolate biscuits and three chocolate rice crispy cakes. Oops!


Saturday:
The Plan:
TRX class at 9:30, followed by a day of studying.
The Reality:
However well I start the week, it all seems to go to pot once I get to the weekend! I didn’t get out of bed in time, so I instead spent my day watching the Six Nations on TV, accompanied by a gin and tonic, rather than doing any exercise myself!

Sunday:
The Plan:
Nothing specific, because I have accepted that I am a lazy sod on Sundays and there is little chance of me doing anything!
The Reality:
I got called into work last minute in the afternoon, which promptly gave me an excuse not to bother with any exercise for the day. I promised myself I would get up early tomorrow for the gym and start the week afresh. (Did it happen? Of course it didn’t…)

So what have I learnt?
I actually quite enjoyed logging what I planned to do vs what I actually did this week. I’ve learnt that I start the week well then seem to get worse towards the weekend. This week, I exercised three times, over the space of two days, which isn’t too terrible for such a busy week and I don’t feel too disappointed in myself.
The main change I’m going to make is to weigh myself on Monday. This will hopefully stop me from overindulging too much over the weekends, as I know that I will need to step on the scales on Monday morning. I’ve also started Yoga with Adrienne’s 30 day challenge, in an attempt to complete some form of exercise every day; I’ll let you know how I get on!

Do your weekly fitness routines go to plan? Or are you more like me? I’d love to hear your thoughts!