If South Africa has taught me anything it’s how to become an alcoholic in just 9 days. No seriously. I don’t think I’ve drunk this much alcohol in 9 years, let alone 9 days.
Feeling a little more settled and into a little more of a routine here in South Africa, after all, I’ve been here for more than a full week now. But I’m feeling good, my habits and routines are settling and I’m feeling confident that this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My week in numbers:
- 5 Workouts
- 81,347 steps
- 5 Reading Days
- 6 Iced Caramel Coffees
- Only 3 days without alcohol
The week started out by joining the local gym, West Workout. It’s a retro place, like some seriously old kit but all good enough to get stuck into some good workouts and make even more progress. Actually run by a British guy called Howard, and he’s a decent guy and runs a tight ship with all his members. Thankfully he allowed me to skip under the rope and didn’t give me one of his famous conditioning programmes for new people. Maybe my 10 years of experience has finally paid off.
It’s a great place and has everything I need to get the job done, which is now trying get down to as close to 80kg as possible. I’m currently just sitting at 90.3kg (29th) and have come down from close to 100kg. It’s funny how easy this has been when all I’ve focused on is my consistency with daily actions. Those been ‘x’ number of weekly workouts and 10,000 steps per day. Which I must admit, is now something I really value in my health and fitness journey. Thursday night saw us eat out at the local pizza place, which is absolutely incredible. Their chicken mayo pizza is one of the best I’ve ever had. But their bacon and banana one is definitely on the list for this week.
It then somehow ended up in a bar, with a man and his guitar and Lou with a cider and drinking tequila. No idea, but on a Thursday night? OK then. Friday and one of the best leg workouts I’ve done in a long time. I managed to hit a 150kg squat for 4 reps, which considering I torn my hamstring 9 months ago, I’d say that’s fairly good going. What better to do post workout than to head to a local market (not the same as the UK) and refuel with burgers and cider. Unfortunately for me, the cider was absolutely delightful and it meant they went down a little quick…
…5 ciders later and I don’t really know what happened but it was an absolutely great night and well worth spending all day Saturday in bed, ha!
Russ and Becs wanted to drive the coast road on Sunday, which is absolutely stunning and made for a great day out. The scenery here is outstanding. Mountains and the wild sea create some weirdly dramatic but absolutely mind-blowing landscape that’s different around every corner. That and the prospect of spotting dolphins, whales and great whites out at sea made it one hell of a road trip.
But what else could beat that?
AFRICAN PENGUINS!
The cutest little fellas, and chicks, ever. The best bit? They were so close! We got to Bettys Bay around 4 PM and couldn’t have timed it better. They were all leaving the shore line and heading back to their little nests. TOGETHER. They’re so adorable it’s stupid.
Did you know that penguin is only found in the southern hemisphere?
The turn of the week, Monday, has been good. I’ve focused on walking to the local coffee shop. Which is always good when you don’t get mugged, stabbed or murdered along the way. Crazy how life is put into perspective when that’s your win for the day.
Once again, another week is done and dusted and I’m feeling really proud of the consistency I’m putting in. It’s really funny how at the end of December, I dreaded every single workout I had to do. I couldn’t get back into the routine or habit of working out.
But one thing that is keeping me motivated is that I’ve committed myself to work out 200 times this year.
Total workouts since January 1st? 20.
I’ve done 10% of my goal in less than 10% of the time allocated. That’s fucking unbeliavble and something that’s really keeping me going. But not just that. The classic momentum, once again, working wonders. Now that I’m into the habit of doing something, it’s now going to be much harder for me to stop. Both my steps and my workouts are changing the way I look physically and I’m already feeling 10x better because of it.
Ask yourself this…
How do you want to look and feel? Then copy the traits and behaviours that someone like that does and try to mirror their success. It leaves clues. And I’ll give you a hint. Those that are doing their steps daily and those that are working out consistently 10-12 times a week are the ones who’re most in control with their bodyweight.
How?
My online clients are absolutely smashing it just 7 weeks into their coaching and I couldn’t be more proud of the results that are already surfacing.
As always, if you got this far I appreciate you but if you’re not already following me on IG then please head over to @loubrierley and give me a follow to keep updated with my adventures in South Africa.