Shut Up and Stop Talking...

Sorry about the late post, my video took ages. Might have to restrict the videos!

The post title I have used today is quite appropriate because I think Franklin must have said those exact words at least 10 times during our 30 minute training session. 'Jessica shut up and stretch...Jessica shut up and skip...Jessica shut up and listen to me....Jessica just shut up and do what I tell you...Jessica just SHUT UP!' I think the 'Shut up and stop talking' bit is somewhat appropriate though. Sometimes we spend so much time saying or planning what we are going to do, or what we want to do that we don't end up doing much about it at all. I know I do that and its always because I get hooked on some new TV show 'I'll just sit down and watch this and then get to it...damn those drama serials I'm so addicted to Southland at the moment!

But regardless of all his bossing around (HAHAHA) it was loads of fun and my body wasn't as rusty as I though it would be. There was NO vomiting! We did some stretching and then 3x3 minute rounds of skipping, followed by some shadow boxing and pad work with Franklin before the dreaded ground work and warm down stretches. Franklin was pretty happy with how I did too. Here is some pictures and a video to prove it!

 

Me ready and rearing to go.

 

  

The Boss Man takes no prisoners!

 

 

But my cheer squad had my back.

 

 

Ouch, skipping after such a long break is hard work, most of the 3x3 minute rounds were spent tripping on the rope.

 

But I haven't lost my touch with the pads...

 

 

 



Overall a great session.  What did you do today? I'd love to hear about the exercise you completed, especially those of you who are trying to do the same...if you didn't get a chance to do any today what have you got planned for next time? My next PT is on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to slowly seeing some results in my general fitness over the next few weeks.

Jess

Franklin says:

Boxing and training may seem hard at first but stick with it and it will be great fun. Everyone should know how to defend themselves and honestly speaking, after training, you'll be too tired to get into any trouble. Now shut your mouth and give me 20!

Weight for it!

For the most part I think I will try and post regularly from Sunday through Thursday...because as much as Franklin loves telling me what to do while in training, he also likes to talk to me without my face in a computer...BUT seeing as I did my job today I figured I would post my second ever blog.

My first PT (personal training) session with Franklin is all set for this Sunday. Now just for the record, and apologies if it is far too off topic from boxing and training for some but stick with me as I'd like to make it clear that I don't actually have a problem or major concern with my weight and thankfully neither does Franklin. I honestly believe that people are far too worried about their body image these days and it can and does have devastating effects for many people. In its extreme form it can result in people having a completely distorted view of their body and for many others it results in them becoming obsessed with every reflective image they can find, trying to squeeze into (or hide within) ill fitting clothes and feeling uncomfortable or embarrassed and paranoid (life's too short). I think its one of the things I hate most about western culture, the pressure to be what the media considers sexy and gorgeous all the time, many of the African people I have met don't understand it at all.

Anywho that's my two cents, I'd love to hear yours? A friend of mine commented on Facebook that she didn't remember me being chubby when we first started boxing. Thanks to my friend, its a reminder to me how even subtle body image issues can manifest...BUT I guess I also have to acknowledge that a majority of my extra weight at the moment is around my middle and with a family history of diabetes its the worst place to be carrying extra kilos.

So drum roll please...I stepped on the scales today (something I will only do every week or so) and I currently weigh 85 kilos. Not too bad but I put on about 10 kilos with my pregnancy and would like to at least get rid of them again and maybe an extra 5 if I can. Would anyone like to share their weight and weight goals? Its actually quite liberating (for girls more so I guess)

So there we have it for this Friday the 12th of April. I will try and post some pictures of me and my current figure in the next few days to have as a reference and my next blog will have a look at my diet goals Anyone else who would like to do the same and (if you are in the vicinity) anyone who would like to join my PT sessions with Franklin, just let me know.

Crackerdoodles for now.

Jess

Lets start at the beginning...

After 4 years of working, living and partying in London, I was chubby, lonely and bored. A good friend and travel buddy had recently moved back to New Zealand, all of my workmates lived north of the Thames (I was living south) and as happens to many living over there, I had put on some weight (Heathrow injection times 10) and I was unfit from too many cold winter nights spent on the couch or warm summer nights spent at the pub. So I decided to start a new sport, with the aim to lose some weight get fit and hopefully make some new friends. So I started a kickboxing class, a class which was destined to change my life.
The class was great fun, (I didn't realize how much fun kicking and punching things could be!) and after a few weeks I was finding the workouts easier and I had made some wonderful new friends. One day, Mel, the senior instructor suggested I might like to go with her and some mates to a local gym where you could do some boxing training for the bargain price of 2 pounds.
When we walked through the doors on that first night, the first person we saw was a very tall (6ft4) Nigerian man with a loud voice, piercing eyes and long dreadlocks. He was Franklin, a professional heavyweight boxer and former IBF African champion and he provided some of the most fun, most intense and fantastically addictive exercise programs my friends and I had ever done. He was also to become the love of my life.
To cut a very long story short...which I'm sure I will expand upon as time goes by...after 6 months of training with Franklin I was looking and feeling fabulous, I was strong, fit, healthy and at the lowest weight I had been for many years.  Now, fast forward 2 years and we're a far cry from where we were, we now live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, married with 2 kids (my step daughter who's 12 and our daughter who is 7 months) I'm carrying considerable post pregnancy weight and am terribly unfit with considerably less time on my hands.  Hence I have decided to create this blog (ahh now we're getting somewhere!) to document my road back to fitness, a healthy weight, strength and my size 14 jeans!
So with the help of Franklin, and (hopefully) the inspiration of a few readers I'm going to get back in shape. Who else out there is trying to get fit and back into some much loved but currently far too tight clothes? Tomorrow its time to set some goals and to step onto those scales!