The Photoshoot!!!

Saturday was tough, the toughest part, the lack of water. 100ml of water with 3 meals and then 200ml to sit in between those meals. Real tough going. But I got through it, made it to the Studio and we have some cracking photos!!!

I am very proud of my efforts. You'll have seen the "Results" blog post and the achievement I have made with the scales and the measuring tape... the photos do however complete the tale, they are the front and back cover of the book!

Where there is pride, there is a little disappointment. I took a Cheat Day after the shoot, with a hangover and a headache, I went wild, too wild. This morning (Monday) I woke with a 7 pound gain on the scales. Most of this will be water retention and by next week I should have lost a good few pounds. All that hard work in 8 weeks and the abs are in hiding!!!!

This is what I consumed;

I have a holiday to Egypt 3 weeks today. Every effort is going in to look good in a bikini in 3 weeks time. It was silly to binge like that, but my "this is serious" hat is back on with a vengeance!!!

A thank you to Jonathan Addie Photography and to Natalie Louise Fearnley Garcia MUA. Great Team! Great day had by all!!

A HUGE thank you to both Lainey and Sharon of Nemesis PT. You girls are SUPERB!!!

This is the end of the blog. I am going to continue to keep what I achieved (once I lose that binge weight!!) and enjoy life!!! Thank you to everyone who followed my story!

Laura x

^^ Lainey busted me with the mini Milky Way - check out my freaking abs!!!

^^ The "money shot" 2015 against 2014 - NAILED IT! 

^^ Larking around - just a brunette and a blonde with an unbreakable bond!

I would also like to share a couple of solo shots of my incredible mentor. She is just off a bulk, and put herself in front of the camera. She looks amazing. Trophies this year for sure!!!

#Team Lainey

Nemesis PT Website

The beauty of 1 day out...

I thought I would share a bit of today. It was manic and I was here there and everywhere... but it ended well... as you'll see from my final snap!!

I had my fingers and toe nails done today (as well as a back, neck and shoulder massage - no photo of this!) The reason for the colours... my outfit tomorrow night had blue and purple in it, hence the toes to go in my peep toe Jimmy Choo well done present to myself. My finger nails I wanted a neutral colour with a bit of "bling" on the "ring" finger.

^^ Yes freaky toe photo! Some people hate toes!! ^^

I prepared post photo shoot food. Lainey and I are coming back to mine to get some munch in us. Kimberleigh and Lindsay are also joining us for their pre going out munch and drinks. Now... I am not normal, most folk know this... so there is no "party Susie" or crisps and dip. Oh no! I give you... the ultimate nibbles...

Andrew Gordon chicken burgers, chicken sausages and kebabs. We then have Sainsburys venison sausages, turkey bacon and to accompany the protein... CARBS! Wholegrain rice, micro chips and white bread!! A feast can most certainly be made from this!!! That is good friend material right there!!!

I also prepared my meals that I have tomorrow. 6 hours pre shoot, 4 hours and 2 hours pre. Then comes the real tasty bit... 30 minutes and 5 minutes pre... and here is what I have!!!

Yes... 2 x salted rice cakes with NUTELLA and fun size Milky Ways! These Milky Ways will come in handy during the shoot, if I need a sudden bit of quick energy!!!

My evening meal was to die for, even if I do say so myself. My main was an Andrew Gordon chicken burger, this one is honey mustard flavour. 200g of fajita vegetables (available from Asda) and then 300g of sweet potato chips. This was washed down with a glass on water (my water intake stopped at 7pm!!) and RED WINE! I am not a red wine fan in all honestly... but I actually enjoyed this, even if it took me 2 hours to finish! Oh and how could I forget... my dessert... 170g 0% Total Fage yoghurt, 65g raspberries a sprinkle of flaxseed and 30g of Nutella, I mixed it all up, and used a teaspoon to consume it so I ate it slower and fully appreciated the taste! HEAVEN!!!

So folks, I have the power ballads blasting, I have applied the 2nd coat of dark tan to the lower part of my body and now I need to go finish my upper. It is time to get my head down on a pillow very shortly and get in my beauty sleep, even though I actually feel too excited to sleep.

But first... thank you to everyone who has sent me well wishes for tomorrow. Thank you to my friends, you've shone through these past 8 weeks! Thank you to those who have supported me during these 8 weeks, checked in on me and put up with my crazy behavior. Thank you to all my followers of my blog for reading my journey. I know I talk some p*sh! A thank you to my housemate Steve, you've had to put up with my cooking (sometimes burning), you've dealt with the dishwasher being constantly full of tupperware and really just let me take over the kitchen!! The biggest thank you... Lainey you have been a great friend, ever since you drove into DL with the same car as me last year, you've supported me through more than just diet/training and I am more grateful than you'll ever know. Work that "bitch face" tomorrow babe! Very proud of you... you are a fitness success! 

The photos will be published very soon, but tomorrow is all about fun, photos, champagne and my friends!!!

Laura x

The Results...

The photos will come, but behind those photos is the indicators of a successful cut. The measurements, the weight loss and the body fat. To see how far I have come, we need to look at Week 1 and Week 8.

Every week I took selfies, weighed myself and measured myself, and I was on track, even when I had a mishap (oops) but I don't think Lainey nor I expected where I have got to in 8 weeks. So here it is... THE NUMBERS!!!

Data as @ 28/12/2014                                                   Data as @ 27/02/2015

Weight - 147 pounds                                                     Weight - 135.5 pounds
Chest - 83.5cm                                                            Chest - 80.5cm
Hips - 83.5cm                                                              Hips - 81cm
Waist - 70.5cm                                                            Waist - 66cm
Thighs - 51.8/51.5cm                                                   Thighs - 49.4/49.3cm
Biceps - 27/26.5cm                                                      Biceps - 26/25.8cm
Calves - 37cm                                                              Calves - 37.5cm

Body Fat Mass- 12.4kg                                                 Body Fat Mass - 10.1kg

Body Fat % - 18.6%                                                      Body Fat % - 15.5%

I think, you can firmly say "Team Lainey nailed it!!!" BRING ON THE PHOTOSHOOT!!!

Laura x

1 day out...

8 weeks ago I could not imagine blogging about 1 day out, but here we are!!! I can say TOMORROW is the big day I have been gearing towards since the start of 2015.

I am priveledged to be sharing tomorrow with my dear friend and coach Lainey. I am flattered she agreed last year to take part in the shoot alongside me and that she took on the huge task of coaching me for it too. Tomorrow does not just showcase my abs and hardwork, but her hardwork also. I am not an easy task, we have had a few bumps along the way when it came to my macros and I but tomorrow is going to show we nailed it as a team. Without Lainey, this new body would not have been possible. She is in my eyes, the best and I hope people who have been following me throughout my journey feel inspired to trust her with their fitness/health goals!

Today I am blogging from the nail salon as my toes get glammed up. I bought myself a pair of Jimmy Choo heels as a "well done" to myself, so its only right to wear them tomorrow night with a set of good looking toe nails!! I am then off to David Lloyd for my final pump workout, the same one as last night but 30 minute duration and 15 minutes cardio.

I enjoyed last nights pump workout, the 40 minutes passed very quickly as I darted from machine to machine. Lainey was there at same time and as I was working out noticed definition in my back, so we definately need to get back shots tomorrow, as I did not do that last year, but then last year I did not have back muscles to really show off!! I also noticed myself some shoulder veins, yaaas. A friend who had not seen me for a number of weeks also commented on my efforts and lean mass. Wooohooo!!

Woke up with very dark skin after 1 coat.... Another coat to apply tonight, but I think I shall avoid the hands, they are a bit risky today!! A tan definately helps confidence though and showcases the muscles much more!!

I have had my final body fat reading done, I was squealing and jumping around the room! Goal smashed!!! I also did my selfie for Lainey this morning. I managed to fit in weighing myself and measuring my chest and waist before I had to dash off.. So will complete final measurements later... But arms, legs, calves etc should not have altered too much.

So my body fat... 15.5%. 3.1% drop in 8 weeks. I started at 18.6%, after 4 weeks dropped to 16.1% and the final 4 weeks saw me lose another 0.6%. Delighted is an understatement. The lower the body fat a female is, the harder it is to keep dropping. Next week I will present all statistics along with photos but I just wanted to share that as I blooming chuffed!!!

I am finishing this post up from the treadmill... Oooft this is it, the last bit of cardio. Muscles have done their final pump... Just to spend the day eating the rest of my meals and the other bits of beauty treatments I have left... A massage this afternoon!! Turn off water at 7pm and spend the rest of the night sipping on my large glass of red and stinking of fake tan!

Enjoy your Friday folks!

Laura x

2 days out...

Cannot believe it, 2 days to go! Today has been emotional to say the least, and not because of the training/diet in fact that is all great and thank goodness I am on high carbs or my emotions would have really been all over the shop! It is down to the fact today is my last day on my project, after 2.5 years it is time to move on.

My team surprised me with a presentation of gifts as they bid me farewell and good luck in my new role within the company. Most assume I would like being centre of attention, I was however over whelmed, rendered speechless and got a little teary and chocked up! To be given such wonderful thoughtful gifts truly blew me away! Look at that Jimmy Choo clutch!!!! WOW!!!! Guess what I will be cracking open on Saturday... oh yes that bottle of LPR!

Tonight is my circuit workout. 40 minutes, 14 exercises at 60% of my 1 rep max, followed by... yes you guessed it, CARDIO! At least it is only 20 minutes. 

I am one for saying it how it is, and unfortunately bowel movements were non existent yesterday... looks like I had emptied myself and then some on Tuesday that I had literally nothing left. It was a bit of a panic of no movement today, however SUCCESS! 

Lainey and I are both buzzing about Saturday, literally cannot wait! I need to get sleep in the next 2 nights, I did not sleep last night due to my thinking about today being my last day with my team.

Tonight I start of the tanning process, coat 1 of St Tropez Dark Mousse (for those that are interested in what I shall be using!) I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow, but it is busy busy! I had to write myself a little itinerary, slotting in all that eating and my final workout!! Tomorrow is the final statistics, I will do my body fat at Banks of Dee and then my measurements and check in with Lainey so she can calculate what we've achieved together!

Enjoy your Thursday evening and will check in with you all tomorrow!

Laura x

A cheeky comparison...

I will be doing comparisons against my professional photos last year and my photos this year, next week.

However, here is the FINAL sneak peak to see where I am at already, before I "fill up" and "dry out" for the photos on Saturday. I have compared side by side an iPhone selfie from Monday morning this week, against a professional photo from 27th February last year.

As you can see in the above image, I look leaner, sharper and less fluffier in the image taken with my iphone taken a few days ago, compared to the professional photo last year. My thighs are also more in proportion with my body and inline with my shoulders. I think last year I relied a lot on lighting to help those abs come across in the photos... don't get me wrong though, my achievement last year was amazing, but this year was about bettering myself! With 3 days to go... I have already done that!

#TeamLainey

Laura x

3 days out...

I am certainly torturing myself today... There is a delicious Costco vanilla sponge with cream and jam filling on my desk. It is my "moving on" cake to my project team. (I decorated it myself!!) There is also a giant tub of sour Haribo right next to it... I love Haribo! That sponge on that cake looks so soft, luffly and light!! However 3 days out, and it all to play for, cake can wait!!

I have been weighing myself and taking daily pictures every morning since Sunday. Today I came in at the lowest weight ever... 135.5lbs. That is an epic 11.5lb loss in 8 weeks. I felt very petite this morning, so I got out the measuring tape, the waist is in further also. That's 4cm gone in 8 weeks. I then had a thought... my outfit I plan to party in on Saturday, I purchased at Christmas when I was those 11.5lbs heavier... will it fit?! A lot of my clothes do not fit at the minute, none of my bras do, and I had to go out and buy one a couple of weeks ago to suit the new frame. I do not want to rush out and buy a whole new collection yet though... as I will put a little bit of weight back on after this cut! I have had to put a pin in jeans etc, to keep them up. It is not all perks in weight loss!

Today is my final full on weights session (shoulders and triceps) followed by Core and 30 minutes cardio. Tomorrow and Friday is a half body circuit (no leg exercises!) with 15-20 minutes cardio.

I again did not sleep too well last night, thinking too much. Need to get the head down earlier tonight... only 3 more nights to get in decent sleeps or Natalie (MUA) will be applying heavy concealer under my eyes come Saturday!

Laura x