Bikini Guide Version 3

So a year ago in January, I blogged about having bought the LDN Muscle Bikini guide version 2. I'd hit a nasty plateau (both mentally and physically) and needed some new motivation.

I completed the guide but due to my lack of consistency and hectic work schedule my results weren't so great. My strength definitely improved and is still improving but my diet still needs some serious work and my hatred for cardio means I'm not burning much fat. My butt has lifted and my shoulders have a good definition but the troublesome bits in between have made very little change.

Still being an active member of the LDNMLadies and LDNMFamily on Twitter, the next natural step was to move onto the Bikini Guide V3.

I'm three weeks into the Bikini Guide. It's an 18 week plan. It's got a 4 week rotational training programme that keeps things really mixed up and targets all the right types of movements in a contact cycle and, so far, it's not been even a little bit dull. The great thing is that there's a huge emphasis on weightlifting, which I absolutely love. The amount of cardio you do is recommended in the guide but dictated by you. Naturally, your results show which you pick. If you're not looking to cut fat but just to add muscle tone, then you can scale the cardio down, and vice versa.

I've done plenty more research on body types and discovered that of the somatotypes, my body is definitely an endomorph. This means I gain muscle easily but I also retain fat. Endomorphs tend to have long torsos (check), short limbs (check) and gain fat easily (check). Lots of reading (and stressing) has helped me to discover that carbs are not my friend.

I realised that I need to work a lot more on my diet and I need to learn a lot more about macronutrients and what to eat and when. I've reached out to a couple of absolute gems that I've met on Twitter and they're helping me slowly figure this macro business out. My nearest and dearest will all tell you that it's ridiculous how bad I am at maths for a supposed intelligent person; this food maths is going to take me some time to crack but I'm sure it's a big piece in this puzzle so I must be determined and get through.


My learnings over the last few months, mixed with this guide, mixed with common sense has lead me to conclude that I definitely need to incorporate more cardio into my training regimen. Luckily, the guide gives you a ton of options so it doesn't only have to come in the form of an hour bashing away on a treadmill, thankfully!

So, I have my 6 week, 12 week and 18 week alarms set to take progress pictures. I don't expect a huge amount of difference at the 6 week mark due to my diet but I'm hoping to make up for it by week 12.

Wish me luck!

Workout Wednesdays... New Year, New Me?

Happy New Year to you all!

This is a brutally honest post. I'm slightly ashamed but I'm only human and can't succeed all the time. I know I'll be judged but some of the harsher "fitties" out there but I hope the fit gods will forgive me and appreciate my new abundance of enthusiasm.

Christmas entirely sabotaged everything in my health and fitness journey. I only exercised once a week, only stuck to about 10% of my diet and ate total junk a lot. Apparently I'm not yet strong-willed enough or well-enough equipped to cope with being out of my routine. I did gain weight but not as much as The Metro says the average Brit does so all is not entirely lost.

My attitude is that this journey of mine is not a diet, but changing lifestyles for a permanent, healthy future. I don't believe I'll ever bee 100% 'clean' all of the time but life is too short to deprive yourself of the fun things in life like cocktails.

I'm not weighing myself again until the end of January. I think it'll make me too sad and demotivate me!

On a brighter note, I am back into my clean eating and routine and loving my new gym! Plus, my yoga teacher has moved to my new gym with me so I can still have my hour of heavenly sanity every week!

My proudest moment so far happened yesterday... I flexed my biceps and actually saw something appear! I couldn't be prouder.

This week my challenge is to incorporate a new exercise / move into each of my workouts.

My most recent fit purchase is this little beauty - a Beurer heart rate monitor watch. I'm still learning all about heart rate and different zones and things but this is a great motivation tool, right on my wrist. At the end of a session, it also tells me how many calories I've burnt which is such a satisfying little nugget to end a workout on!