One last post

I have just started this year’s weight loss blog with a quite depressing post.  I will no longer be posting in this blog, so to keep up to date with my progress and other rubbish I post, visit me for a 2k11 Weight loss.

12.5k cycle: Day 1

So today’s gym work-out didn’t go as expected.  I did my walk for a warm up as planned and did my 12.5k cycle as planned – sort of.  I say “sort of” because I didn’t plan on it taking as long (30 minutes 47 seconds) nor did I anticipate my knee hurting loads in the middle of it all.  I’m somewhat annoyed with myself for taking so long to get through 12.5k as it shows how unfit I have let myself get…again!  To put things in perspective, way back in January when I was starting out with all this, or not too long after anyway, I managed 11.5k in 25 minutes which means that 1km took me 5 minutes and 47 seconds over my January pace.  Not at all amused!  I am, however, determined to get this down as time progresses.  I’m hoping that before Christmas I can have that time down to sub-8 minutes!

So aside from the cycling not quite going as planned, the weights machines were really busy so I fit in what I could and did some core work too.  Got really tired and probably burned somewhere in the region of 500 calories in that hour.  Not bad going.

Not quite feeling finished for the night, before my bath I did some bicep curls at home.  It’s only about 12Kg weight, but I did it to the point where I couldn’t go any more with it on each arm.  My right one got 22 on the first set, 18 on the second.  My left got 19 on the first set, but only 11 on the second.  I wonder how that improves over the coming weeks.  Tie will tell!

And back to it

So after a week of not being able to go to the gym properly because of (yet again) injury, and missing this weekends training session because of, yup, injury; I will be back at the gym today.  Last week’s injury was a blister on my hand which meant I couldnt hold anything and was very uncomfortable.  That healed in time for badminton on Friday night where I over worked my back and so I was aching over the weekend.

I’ll be back in the gym today working to burn some fat with a program designed to do just that, and which will also keep my strength up and work my core muscles to strengthen them.  Hopefully then the back injuries will go.

My program starts out with a 10 minute brisk walk on the treadmill to raise my heart rate, followed by 30 minutes on the static bike.  My goal here is to get through 12.5km a session for the next few weeks which, at 4 sessions a week, means I will be clocking up 50km a week.  I’ll be looking to build on this as I get fitter.

Following that there is some weight work to give all my muscles a nice work out, and some core training to build my strength and stability.  Once all that is done, it is on to the rowing machine to blast out some intense rowing, 1 minute of full on effort followed by 1 minute of rest.  Five efforts from that, and then a 5 minute sedate row, cycle or walk to help cool down.

My goal for this month is purely to shift the weight and strengthen my core!

Food and gym today

I was doing well for food through most of today.  I had breakfast the same as yesterday, and lunch was the same, but with a raspberry and cranberry yogurt instead of cherry.  I also managed to get through my full 2 litres of water again today.  It’s actually really easy: just have a glass every hour.  When you work 9-5:30, you fill up 9 glasses.

My evening meal, after my work out, was jacket potato and meat skewers.  Very nice.  My sister made dessert too, so I was a little naughty and had apple crumble and custard.

I had a bad day at the gym, probably stemming from being very tired all day long.  I spent 30 minutes walking on the treadmill at a brisk pace on a cross-country setting.  That was followed by 15 minutes of core work where I did sit ups on an exercise ball, elbow to knee sit ups, and plank holds.  I went for a cycle after that, but put the bike on the wrong setting.  When I thought it was going to get challenging it didn’t, and I got bored after 7 minutes.  That disappointment, coupled with the tiredness got me to call it a night from the gym and come home.

I’m not proud of it, but it was better than getting frustrated.

Tomorrow at work we are going out for lunch meeting.  Fish and chips the democracy voted so I am going to have to work hard in the gym tomorrow to work that off.  Joys of meetings!

Today at the gym

Today was my first day back at the gym, so I thought I would weigh myself to test the damage I had done to my good work.  I knew it was bad, but to what extent I was unsure.  I’m 120Kg at the moment, 4Kg lower than in January, but 9Kg higher than when I was my lightest a couple months ago.  I blame myself, as that’s where the problem lies.  Illness, injury and holiday aren’t reasons or excuses.  They may be contributing factors, but ultimately it is me who takes the blame, and myself who is to blame.

I started off my work out with a 2Km row to warm up.  Took my 9 minutes 5 seconds.  I used to be able to go faster than that, but I will lower that time as I progress.

That was followed by 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill through different inclines.  I started off with walking back in January, and I still find that if the pace is high enough, you get one hell of a work out!

Weights next: 3 sets of 15 x 30Kg tricep extensions; 1 set of 15 x 60Kg chest press; 2 sets of 52.5Kg chest press after I realised I would never make another 2 sets at 60Kg; and 2 sets of 12 x 10Kg bicep curls after I did my core work.

My core work consisted of 3 sets of 15 sit ups using the ab cradle and then 2 sets of side sit ups, 15 reps each.  I should maybe have done more, but I was really flagging at this point and thought it was a good re-entry into the gym.

More tomorrow!

Just say No!

That’s what I have had to learn.  I was good today and managed it when I was offered some cake at work.  As much as I would have liked to say “yeah, sure”, I said “No, I’m fine thanks” and that was that.  No fuss or anything.  As I wait for my main meal of the day to cook, I am finding trouble distancing myself from the calls of the cake tin.  I like cake!

I think all this stems from when I was younger and I was often told that if I didn’t eat all my food, I would get it for the next meal, and so on until it was all gone.  From there I guess I just ate all my food and, well, all of any food I could.  I don’t like seeing food go to waste.

It’s a difficult mentality to get out of.

I know there is food in the house which is about to pass its expiry date, and I know that normally I would eat it for just that reason, but tonight I won’t.  I’ve done well all day, I’ve done well in the gym (more on that later) and I shall keep on going to undo all the badness I have done to myself!

Just remember, say No!

Planned meals for July 26

I have already had breakfast today, my usual two slices of toast with spread on.  I need to find a nice toast topping which is healthy so I don’t have too many fats from the spread in my diet.  It was washed down with a glass of pineapple juice.

I have made todays lunch; I take a packed lunch to work.  I am having ham and cheese sandwiches, a cherry Muller light yogurt, a medium granny smith apple, medium banana and large orange.

For my evening meal tonight, pasta.

I have my 2 litre bottle of water ready to take to work with me to get through that, and I am at the gym tonight starting a fresh so I can get back on course with that.

I’ll post anything else I have through the day when I get home.

Health has a reset button: but only back to “unhealthy”

And mine has been pressed.

Over the last few weeks I have had illness, injury and all kinds which meant I was just feeling awful, rundown and entirely un-motivated.  That was followed by the last two weeks of holiday, catching up with old friends, going to graduation parties and doing all kinds of fun things, but not much exercise.

It’s funny, but really annoying, that 6 weeks of being off the ball a little (or a lot for some of those) can undo 6 months work.  I have been reset.  Not as bad as I used to be, but not far short.  And as a result, I am back with the same issues I started with, namely feeling lethargic and having trouble with my back.

I thought after my birthday, and having eaten loads, done little exercise and not put much back on, that I might still be reasonable and comfortable with myself, and not have undone everything I worked hard on for so long.  That’s not been the case.

As a result, I am changing lifestyle, once more, re-focusing and having more grit and determination that ever before.  My back is in pain again, my knees are feeling the strain and my fitness is nothing short of floor bound once more.  The problems with my back have made me accept that I am out of hockey for another season until I am a. fit and b. able to cope with it all again.

I can’t be going into hockey with a bad back and hoping things will be alright.  I wont be.

There is a possibility that I have been pushing things a little hard for myself and not getting much rest, so I need to set myself a strict bed time too.  I’m going back to having 11pm bed times.  Sometimes earlier, depending on what my girlfriend is doing; and not for the reasons you may think as we live apart.

11pm bed time for me from now on.  I’m going to get up 20 minutes earlier than normal so I can have a stretch and get my body ready for the day ahead, so 7am wake up.  As I get fitter and more accustomed to all of it, I will be doing sit-ups and press-ups during those 20 minutes before I have my breakfast, make my lunch, shower and go to work.

I need to drink more water through the day, so I will be taking a 2litre bottle to work with me, and making sure I get through that to keep my hydrated and hopefully prevent me from snacking.

Monday-Thursday, and Saturdays, I will be in the gym.  After work through the week, and on a Saturday it will be on a morning.  I will rest on Sunday.  Friday I have badminton which is my social time with friends and is good to get out and about.  I will stop drinking coke during this time, and opt for a fruit juice instead.

I have been very relaxed with keeping my eating in check, and I have paid for it with adding the weight back on.  As a result, I am going to be posting on here everything I eat through the day so I can be frowned upon by those who occasionally read this, and also so I have to go through the shame of documenting it.  I’ve heard it has worked for others, now it is time for it to work for me!

I’ll also be posting what I did in the gym on here too, so there will be a lot of post updates coming.  Some of them will be the same week on week, some will change, depending on how my gym program changes, and which machines are free at the gym.

I’ve brought this on myself, but it is time to get tough!

All I want to do is eat

Lately I have been feeling hungry.  Very hungry.  It’s a crazy sort of insatiable appetite which is annoying.

I’ve been out of the gym for the last 2 weeks with back injury, and I have been eating more than I shoukd have been, but only put on 1KG.  Yes, that’s not good, but I expected more than that.

New program on Sunday.  Going to be a lot of fat burning cardio involved ready for my summer holidays.

I need to stop eating so much though…

Quick update

Well I was worried that today I wouldn’t have lost weight over last week seeing as I took it easy last Thursday in the gym and didn’t go to badminton last Friday or the gym last Saturday.  Not to mention the cookies I had on Monday and the donuts I had on Friday (not the plural and shame me!).

I got on the scales today and my weight was somewhere between 113.5Kg and 114Kg, so I had still lost a little over last week, though that could be just 1 glass of water less through the day.

My mam was working really late tonight and I got in a little later than expected so food plans went out the window and we had pizza.  I sort of deserve that after my work out.  I’m less deserving because of the evils I mentioned at the start.  Still, I am back to full health now from my injuries and am working hard at the gym.  This new program is going to work well.

Thursday tomorrow….morning workout due to working late.