Turbulence Training 5th Transformation Challenge – end of wk 6

This week was week 6 of the 12-week Turbulence Training 5th Transformation Challenge. Overall it’s been a pretty good week although I didn’t reach some of my specific goals for the week.

Exercise:

I did all my TT workouts this week. I’m improving on the spiderman lunges and my new least favourite exercise is the side plank. I still can’t do the recommended 30 seconds per side, although I am making some progress, from (11,17,18) seconds per side in workout 1 to (25,20,21) in workout 3.

I also increased my RPE 9 30-second interval speed to 11kph and added a third interval workout aimed at trying to increase the amount of consecutive time I spent running. I did 2 mins RPE 7-8, 3 mins recovery (RPE 3), times 3. I was going to do 1:1 high-intensity to recovery, but was really struggling after 2 mins continuous jogging. It was extremely hot and humid that day though, so perhaps that affected me. Will let you know how I get on this week now that it’s a bit cooler.

Also this week I played badminton with hubby – he beat me lots of games to nil, again – and I dusted off the Wii Fit and had some fun. I’d forgotten just how much fun it was, so I’ll try and use it more often from now on, at least once a week. No pilates this week.

Nutrition:

I managed to get 5 servings of fibrous veg four times again this week, as per last week’s goals. Water intake still way too low though, especially in this weather. For some reason, I’ve just been craving a lot of tea.

Av cals: 1712
Av deficit: 660 (range ~200 to ~900)
25% Fat, 20% Protein, 54% carbs, 1% alcohol
Micronutrients: Hit my goal of over 100% RDA for iron (111%) but fell short for vit E (71% – down on last week, even) and just short on calcium (97% on average). Over 100% of everything else.

Lifestyle

I did manage to get to bed by midnight twice this week, so one up on last week, but didn’t manage the three I set myself as a goal. Will try and hit that again in week 7.
I did meditate once, but didn’t manage twice. It was nice. I think I will keep that one on my list for this coming week also.

Body:

I crossed another milestone this week, but I want to write a post all about this one, so you’ll have to check in again to find out what it was.

Here’s the rest of it.

• Weight: 14 stone 4.8 (200.8 lbs, 91.3kg). Down 1.8 lbs
• Body fat: 44.4%. Down 0.1%
• Waist: 107 cm. Down 2 cm
• Knee: 44 cm. Down 0.5 cm
• Hips, thigh, calf: No change

Mostly happy with that, especially the 2 cm off my waist, but am a little concerned about my body fat readings. They had consistently been down in the 43% range, and now they have been up in the 44% range for about a week, despite decent weight loss. It looks like I may not be maintaining my lean body mass. Possibly because I am on a new programme and am finding my way with the exercises, I am not yet lifting heavy enough. I will try and add some weight this week – at least in my workouts!

Specific goals for week 7:

You know, I think I’ll keep my goals the same from last week. Those I didn’t get I can have another go at, and even those I did are things I would still like to make more habitual. So here they are again.

1. Go to bed earlier – aim for no later than midnight at least 3 days this week
2. Get 100% RDA vit E and iron from food
3. Drink a litre of water every day at work
4. Do bonus cardio on three days
5. Use my WiiFit for exercise on one of my ‘off’ days
6. Get 5 servings of fibrous veg at least four days
7. Do 20 mins Transcendental Meditation twice this week