My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here

Monday

Legs. Felt like week 1 all over again, 180 degree jump squats are so hard!

Tuesday:
Half an hour of biking for cardio.

Wednesday:

My arms are so much stronger now, I could do almost all moves without pausing! Definitely felt sore the next day.

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Abs! I'm seeing the most results in this area, although abs are made in the kitchen these workouts really helped define mine.

Saturday:
Biked half an hour for cardio.

Sunday

Rest.

And here are my final results! (week 1 left and week 12 right)

I'm so happy with my final results! The workouts were very hard (especially in the beginning) but the results were worth it! I'm going to repeat the last 4 weeks and add in more strength training to maintain these results an hopefully lose some more body fat. I would recommend the guide for everyone who wants to tone up and is willing to work for it. It may seem pricey but compared to hiring a personal trainer for 12 weeks it's a good buy!

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

Legs. Those x jumps are impossible!

Tuesday:

Half an hour of biking for cardio.

Wednesday:

I'm very surprised to say that I'm actually liking working on my arms more and more!

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Abs, love seeing results in this area! Definitely my strongest muscles.

Saturday:
Biked half an hour for cardio.

Sunday

Rest.

 Only one week left! I will be posting my final before and after this sunday, those of you who follow me on instagram have already seen it!

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

Legs. So hard! Especially the burpee bench jumps.

Tuesday:

Half an hour of biking for cardio.

Wednesday:

Arms was also very hard this week, never thought there were so many types of push ups!

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Abs, in comparison to the other workouts this one was a walk in the park!

Saturday:
Biked half an hour for cardio.

Sunday

Rest.

Only two weeks left, can't wait to share my final results!

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

Last day of my 3 day festival! (Pinkpop).

Tuesday:

Spend the whole day sleeping, so tired!

Wednesday:

Decided to do abs today and skip legs this week, after spending 3 days on my feet my legs were so sore! Abs were hard, felt them for 2 days after this routine!

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Arms! All these burpees are killing me! Least favorite exercise ever, but so effective.

Saturday:
Rest.

Sunday

Rest.

Not my best week... But that happens and I'm getting back on track for week 10! I've been doing the bikini body guide for 9 weeks now and I'm so glad I started it. I've seen a nice change in my body, I've gotten leaner and stronger! Here are my progress pictures (week 1 on the left, week 9 on the right):

It certainly looks like I lost some body fat! Especially my stomach and upper legs look a lot slimmer. I can't wait to post my final before and after in 3 weeks!

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

Arms and abs. I love how strong my arms are compared to week 1, imagine I couldn't even do one push up!

Tuesday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Wednesday:

Abs and cardio. I actually don't mind cardio that much when it's in between other exercises, makes it less boring!

Thursday:

Walked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Legs and cardio! Broad jump burpees and tuck jumps are so hard, I had to pause so many times to catch my breath.

 

Saturday:

Walking around and dancing at Pinkpop

Sunday:

Same as Saturday!

And that concludes week 8, I can't believe I've only got one month left! I'll be posting progress pictures with the next review (week 9). At the moment I'm at Pinkpop (a 3 day festival) so sorry I can't reply to any of your comments or emails. I'll be back on Tuesday.

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

Legs and cardio today. I can finally feel things like sumo jump squats, burpees and weighted walking lunges getting easier! I still struggle with jump lunges so that's something I still need to work on.

Tuesday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Wednesday:

Abs and abs. This workout was pretty easy, I can feel my arms getting stronger every week and (except for commandos) I can do all exercises without taking a break to rest my arms.

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Abs and cardio! Abs are still my favorite muscles to work on, it feels like rest in between the cardio bits!

Saturday:

Half an hour of power walking for cardio.

Sunday:

Rest!

I'll be posting new progress pictures with my week 9 review instead of week 8 because I'm going to a three day music festival (Pinkpop) this weekend! I'll still post the week 8 review on Sunday.

You can buy the guide here.

As those of you who follow me on Instagram (@escapingconrete) might have noticed, I've been eating mostly vegan for the past week. Vegan basically means eating no meat, fish and dairy products. I'm not sure if eating strictly vegan is something that is attainable for me but I do like to try new things and it's been a lot easier than I thought. I've never been a big meat eater, same goes for dairy. I do enjoy fish (especially salmon!) so I'm not sure if I will be able to remove it from my diet completely. 

I do not wish to start a discussion about the moral and health benefits for (not) becoming vegan. 

I used to think that banning whole food groups from your diet was wrong and unhealthy but those views have changed now. I do not want to command people to stop eating animal products either, I think that's a choice everyone must make for themselves. Now that's out of the way, let's look at some delicious vegan meals that I've tried this week!

Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta

(Photo by Oh She Glows)

This was my first time making pesto and now I don't know why ever bought pre-made pesto. Making it yourself is so easy! This recipe does take a while because you have to roast the tomatoes but except for that it's very quick and easy. Oh and absolutely delicious! The recipe is from Oh She Glows and you can find it here. This is what my version looked like:

Strawberry Vanilla Overnight Oats

(Photo by Fit Food Finds)

I first made overnight oats a few months ago and I absolutely hated it. I only used milk, cinnamon and oats and it tasted bland, slimy and just downright horrible. I didn't understand what the hype was about, how could people enjoy this? But I kept seeing overnight oats recipes everywhere so a few days ago I decided to give it a second try. I found this recipe, which isn't strictly vegan because it contains Greek yoghurt but I made it with vanilla soy yoghurt instead, and loved the way it looked so I decided to give it a last try. And luckily it turned out to be just as delicious as it looked! The vanilla soy yoghurt gave it a nice sweet taste and the texture wasn't runny and gross like with my first try. I already made it twice this week! Do any of you guys know any other vegan overnight oats recipes? I want to try them all! The recipe is from Fit Foodie Finds and you can find it here. This is what my versions looked like:

Creamy Avocado "Carbonara"

(Photo by Crunch and Chew)

Another pasta recipe (what can I say, I love pasta!) but this one is a lot quicker to make. I love avocado so when I came across this recipe I just had to try it! I don't like the original pasta carbonara sauce but this one tasted so good! The avocado makes it really creamy and the walnuts add a nice bite to it all. Even my little brother who isn't too happy about my enthusiasm for healthy eating ate a full plate! He did add a ridiculous amount of Parmesan but oh well, baby steps. The recipe is from Crunch and Chew and you can find it here. My version looked like this:

Vegan Sugar Free Banana Bread

(Photo by De Groene Meisjes)

I have a love/hate relationship with banana. On its own, I can't stand it. But in a smoothie, overnight oats bowl or apparently in bread, I really like the sweet, subtle flavor it creates. I was looking for healthy, vegan snack ideas when I found this one. It's vegan and gluten/sugar free! (Mine isn't gluten free because I used regular oats instead of gluten free ones.) For the filling I chose walnuts and dried apricots. I was a little wary because I had baked a bread with mango filling once which turned out to be a complete disaster (it stayed wet and doughy on the inside while the outside turned hard as a rock). Luckily this did not happen here. 

The bread tasted so good it only lasted two days! I topped it with some homemade peanut butter and it made a great snack or even lunch. The recipe is from De Groene Meisjes and it's unfortunately all in Dutch. I'm sure if you google "vegan banana bread" though, you will find loads of English recipes. You can find this recipe here. Mine turned out like this:

I hope you found this blog post inspiring, even if you aren't vegan/vegetarian. Should I do more food related blogposts? I you are interested in seeing what I eat on a daily basis you should follow me on Instagram (@escapingconcrete), I post pictures daily!

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday

This week started with arms and abs, so hard! Especially the drop push ups were a challenge.

Tuesday:

Biked an hour for cardio.

Wednesday:

Abs and cardio. There's a lot of cardio this week, not sure if I'm loving it or hating it... Definitely gets my heart rate up!

Thursday:

Biked half an hour for cardio.

Friday:

Legs and cardio (again). Am I the only one having trouble with jump lunges? I can never do more than five in a row...

Saturday:

Hour long power walk for cardio.

Sunday:

Rest!

Sorry my review is one day late this week but I spend all of yesterday in Amsterdam attending a free concert by Passenger! It was amazing, really love his music. Today I'm starting week seven, which means I'm half way done with the guide! 

You can buy the guide here.

Last Sunday I went on a brunch date with my mom and brother. We ate at Anne&Max, a cafe in Haarlem. After we had finished I asked my brother to take some pictures of my outfit, I think he did a pretty good job! Although the angle makes my feet look a lot bigger than they really are, sandals don't really flatter my feet either.

Top: Best Kept Secret

Skirt: H&M

Sandals: H&M

Sunglasses: Six

Bracelets: H&M

On to the food!

From left to right: organic apple juice, iced latte macchiato and an iced tea.

From left to right: club sandwich with smoked chicken, bacon, rucola, tomato and mayonnaise, salad with grilled veggies, olives, tomato, parmesan, pesto dressing and walnuts, salad with sheep cheese, beets, rucola and lentils. Both salads served with bread.

From left to right: iced tea, jasmine tea and a cappuccino.

Same club sandwich as before and a baguette with cucumber, hummus, avocado and mixed salad.

Everything was so delicious! Definitely recommend this place to everyone for breakfast or lunch.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday:

This week's legs and cardio was so hard! Felt like week 1 all over again. Had sore muscles for three days!

Tuesday:

An hour long treadmill run/walk for cardio. Somehow I can run farther on a treadmill than outside?

Wednesday:

And my enemy (commandos) returns again... Liking the decline push ups though. Abs are giving me good results!

Thursday:
An hour of power walking for cardio.

Friday 
Abs! Never felt them burn as much as today. I feel like my abs are my strongest muscles? Sounds weird I know.

Saturday:

Half an hour of power walking for cardio. The weather was so nice!

Sunday:

Rest!

You can buy the guide here.

My weekly review for the bikini body guide! My reviews for the other weeks:

 week 1 here

week 2 here

week 3 here

week 4 here

week 5 here

week 6 here
week 7 here
week 8 here
week 9 here
week 10 here
week 11 here
week 12 here

Monday:

Decided to take my picture after I finished my work out for a change, god I look terrible. Legs and cardio still kick my ass!

Tuesday:

Biked for half an hour.

Wednesday:

Arms and abs, commandos are definitely my least favorite exercise ever. Getting better at push ups though!

Thursday:

Biked half an hour through the rain, welcome to May in The Netherlands.

Friday:

Full body workout today. Love feeling the burn in almost all my muscles. You may have noticed that I have done all my resistance workouts at home this week. With a few heavy books and something you can step on (I use a low chair) you don't even need a gym!

Saturday:

Biked for half an hour (sorry, my cardio was pretty boring this week).

Sunday:

Rest day!

And now I've completed four weeks of the guide! I know you're all wondering, have I made any progress? Did I lose weight? Do I look different? Well obviously four weeks is not a lot of time so I haven't made any mind blowing progress. I did lose 2 kilos (4.4 lbs) and I feel a lot stronger especially in my arms and abs. Here is a comparison, the pictures on the left were taken on my first day of doing the bikini body guide four weeks ago, the pictures on the right were taken today.

I tried to take the pictures at the same angle and with the same posture. I didn't look terrible before but I had some toning up to do (in my opinion). There's not a huge difference but I still have eight weeks left! I will be posting my next progress pictures in week eight.

You can buy the guide here.