I'm Back

Right sorry, I've been away over April. Partly because I've been on holiday most of the time, but partly because I had enough of everything so went for a break.

May was my official re start, however on Monday I came off my bike and knocked myself so my new official start date is on this coming Monday.

However over April I rode the most I have ever done and I'm feeling good. My weight as of this morning is 145.1kg so I've lost a tiny amount....

Anyway new target is 114kg by August the 5th which is my target weight, but I think I'll want to loose a bit more.

Anyway here is for the new push.

Spot the difference.

So Skiing was excellent. Almost as good as the first time..... But, I ran every morning bar one, stuck to my diet except for at lunch, and only drank diet coke, and still put on weight! Not quite sure how that happened.

My weight went upto 150.1kg on sunday, but by tuesday had levelled out to 148.3kg all a bit odd. However it is what it is. I'm starting to feel the difference too which is always nice.

I've attached two photos, they are almost exactly 3 months apart, spot the difference....




The bottom was taken on Wednesday the 22nd of dec, and the top one was aken on the 30th of March....

Those following the exercise dairy, yes, the gym has been slacking, this is mainly due to my elbow hurting, and a general lack of motivation for the gym, I'm going to switch it up with more exercise outside of it, it was getting a bit tedious just going to the gym.

Wednesdays is now going to be football after work, and tuesdays and thursdays a night ride after work, mon, fri, sat and sun, will be gym sessions.

On a positive note, this week I completed the Couch to 5 km training app. I never used to be able to run more then 800m without dieing, and now I can go for a gental 7km jog.

I shall now be following the couch to 10k app, though I'll be starting on week 6.

Well on the way.

Right, so on Sunday I jumped on the scales. I was 146.7kg, which is amazing. That means, by friday to reach my target I only need to shed 0.7kg. Now here's the but, This week so far has been shocking. Work sucks, home life sucks, my car is pissing me about when I'm meant to be driving to the alps on friday, I've been pretty tierd all the week, and so far nothing has gone right.

The problem is I'm not one of these people who takes their stress out exercising, I'd preffer to wallow in self pty infront of the tv eating a tub of ben and jerries. Luckly, I have not done that. Which makes a nice change, and I have been going for my morning funs and evening gym sessions.

To make matters worse, I was doing press ups in te gym yesterday and today I can't move my elbow, so I guess it's not properly fixed.

Nevrmind, I'm sure this week will turn around, it damn sure can't get any worse (touch wood)

By the way, on sunday it was a nice morning, so I got up at 6 and went for run. I ran 7km, thats the most i've ever ran so I'm pleased about that, took just under 50minutes. I'm not doing anything to strenuous this week, as I'm get a bit worried about damaging myself before skiing.

I'm not going to update it next week as I'll be skiing, though I will speak to the people who own the chalet and i'll be sticking to my diet and skiing all day, and next week is the final week of my couch to 5 k runs.

Worst week yet

Last week was officially the worst week I've had.

I did loose 0.3kg but thats not really the point, yes a loss is a loss, however there was no reason to be so lazy and eat so poorly. Everything went out the window.

Not that I have much of a deffence, I did work for 24 hours on the friday unexpectadly, and at 2 in the morning there are not many places open selling food. Then on saterday morning, when i go back from work, I locked my keys in the house, so I had no option but to stay up, go for a bike ride, eat out for every single meal. When your tired, having worked for 24 hours and gone for a 6 hour bike ride the last thing you want to do is stick to a diet.

Anyway, so even though I didn't deserve it, I was glad I didn't gain weight last week. This week is a 'Ian must try harder' week, so far thats been the story of my life.

On my tombstone it will probably read something along those lines.

Never mind, I'm still going to hit the target by a week on friday then it's off skiing. I can wait, work is begining to get me down, not because I don't enjoy it, just I'm tired, and due to the early nights, morning runs, and evening gym sessions not much of a social life, so I just need a holiday. roll on next week :)

Motivation

So just oer a year since I started I have finally hit the half way mark. I weighed myself this morning because the next few days are going to be flat out and i wanted to get this post out.

I'm not sure what is motivating me, sometimes I wonder why I'm doing this, after a long week of exercise and not much food, I'm tired and grumpy, I stand on the scales and the loss doesn't make me happy anymore, it used too but now I expect it. Good things are happening though,; my eating habits have changed, simple things like take aways are now treats rather then normality, and for me this is new territory..... My weight now is 150.7kg. I've never been this weight as a fully grown adult. When I stopped growing I was over 24st. I've been reading other blogs written by other people and they go on about how they would like to do the things that they have not been able to do and this is what drives them.

Well, I've never thought that, if I wanted to do something I went and did it, I've don't know what it's like to be a fully grown adult who weighs 18 stone, because it's never happened. So these are new times, everything from this point is new as far as I'm concerned, and so far, I've not noticed any difference except for now I can run just over 4k without stopping which I could never do before, but on the other hand I've never tried.

I'm sure as i start to loose more weight, things i like doing will become easier and I will enjoy them more, become better at them and so on but I never didn't enjoy doing things.

So we shall see, as the loss starts to slow I'll need to find new things to motivate me, perhaps smaller waist trousers or longer runs, for the time being I'll keep plodding along.

So there goes February

Right, today is the 1st of March so pinch punch etc etc......

I had my weigh in yesterday, and even though last week I had a few set backs such as a 4 day holiday, general laziness, and a cracked bone in my elbow my weight was 153.6kg

That puts my monthly weight loss at 7.4kg which isn't bad for 4 weeks.

Infact, I think it's quite a lot.

I went to the pharmacy on sat to get some more vitamins and spotted this stuff called alli. It's a weight loss pill which stops you absorbing 1/4 fat into your body that you eat. Apparently it helps you loose 50% more weight then you would normally. So Over the next 4 weeks I'm going to take it, if I loose more weight then I shall go to the dr's and get it prescribed, if I loose the same amount or less then I won't bother taking it any more.

Anyway time for work, oh and on sunday I ran 4km for the first time ever!

So this week I kinda had enough of all this dieting, I was tired and aching so I had a weekend (and Monday) off from the gym. I did stick to my diet though so all was not lost, however my third cheat meal of the day did consist of a dominos pizza, that's more then my daily calorie intake.

Any this lead to a rather uninspiring 0.5kg loss for the week, however I weighed myself this morning and things are looking up for this week.

Anyway, after getting into trouble with my elbow at the gym I decided to take myself off to the hospital to get it looked at, turns out that small pain in my elbow is actually a small crack. Oops, so for the time being any weights are out, so just aerobic exercise for the week coming. That's not to bad as I have a ling weekend off so i'm going to venture further afield on the bike.

So I'll update after my trip to the fracture clinic on wednesday, keep following that spread sheet for info on diet and exercise.

Target achived..... And a bit more

Well last week, you know the week that got off to a bad start with two McDonalds, well I lost a staggering 3.5kg, taking me down to 155.6kg. I didn't quite believe this, so I weighed my self in the evening and again yesterday and it all seems to tie in so I'm putting it down to a large water loss rather then proper weight loss. (weigh days are always post weekend binge on Mondays)

My target for this week then becomes slightly more complicated, if it was water loss, then I could easily put back on a couple of kgs however I still need to loose weight. So My target this week is 1.1kg, taking me down to 154.5kg. That's still on target to be 23 stone by my next skiing trip, but still achievable if last week was an error reading.

I have also damaged my elbow, i think I have a trapped nerve in the joint because I can't straighten it, not that I've ever been able to fully straighten it but no it's worse then usual and it actually hurts which it's never done before. I'm sure I'll get this sorted by August, but until then expect some more whining over it.

I'm getting a bit tied of exercising before and after work, my few nights off become kind off sacred and I'm not sure how sustainable it is. However I have 3 holidays coming up, end of feb, march then half of April, so these should give me the break that I'm looking for.

Thanks again for following, it does actually mean something.

Don't forget to keep a tab of my diary......

weight < age

Well, on Monday I achived it, I got to 159.1kg which is just under 25stone, this means that my weight in stone is now less then my age. For some reason this was pretty significant, even though it was bound to happen at some point, it was always a case of this year .... then next year... then the year after, well now the time has come.

I've decided to do a diary of my exercise, it's a bit rushed and needs some editing, and not all of it is filled out at the minute, but by the weekend it will all be good. Here is the link so feel free to have a gander.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtmGmKv7fQ4MdENBR01pSFhYY2tqWFRTQWpiOXd5U0E&hl=en&authkey=CLS6jvsM

Anyway, it's late and I'm going to sleep.

New short term target, by Monday I want to be 157.5kg, though given the bad start to the week it might not be achived!

It's happened

OK, so officially the diet went to pot on the flight over there and didn't really ever had a chance, hence my early warning last week. Going out every night until 2 or 3 then up at 8 for a day sight seeing whilst only buying food on the go doesn't equate to a healthy diet. However, I did walk alot and I did go for the odd run in Central Park, which was the best part of New York IMO. My weight this morning was 161kg exactly, this is 0.1kg heavier then last week. In some ways I'm glad it's not more, but I'm still disappointed, never mind, I might just jump on the scales tomorrow when I'll probably be back under 160.9.

Still for next week the target stays the same as it was last week. 159kg by Monday. So far since Monday, I've been running once, and to the gym twice and I'm back on the diet. TBH I'm finding it rather easy to follow this diet and I'm not sure why. I'm going to buy a tape measure and start taking waist measurements now to see an improvement in that because I'm not sure what I was when I started, something around a 52 inch waist, and what I am now, then only difference I can tell is when I started I couldn't really put my belt on the first hole, and last week I had to buy a new one because it was too big.

Some long term goals I would like to set are 23 stone by the end of March and then 19 stone by my birthday on the 5th of August, whilst these are tough goals, I feel they are achievable with a bit of hard work!

Anyway it's late and Wednesdays is run day, so I'm off. Once again thanks for taking time out to read.

And in that pic, I'm wearing two fleeces, my skiing jacket and a tshirt, which is why I look quite puffy. It's the jacket sir... Honest!!

What happens in New York stays in New York

Well, turns out you can try as hard as you like but when you don't have a kitchen and your going round in groups then it's really hard to stick to a diet, wherever you are in the world. This week has kind off turned into damage limitation. Most days I'm getting less then 2000 calories in total so hopefully all is not lost. Hopefully the weight will stay in New York and not follow me back to England

On a side though I think I have walked about 25 miles in the first 3 days, not so much today as I have been shopping rather then sight seeing. Also today I bought some new Nike trainers so I can track my runs in the morning. Speaking of which I have not run so far in New York. I think it has something to do with being out of the hotel from 8 in the morning and not getting back until midnight, though even if I did get back at a better time my legs are always so tierd.

One day I should just go on a beach holiday.

It's holida time

Just a short update because in 3 hours I have to get up and pack to go on holiday which unlike my skiing holiday over christmas, this one might not be so benificial to my weight loss. A week in New York, whilst exciting it might not help the cause. I do plan to stick to the diet, though I think breakfast consisting of muffins and waffles means it's probably not going to happen.

We shall see.

On a positive note i'm now down to 160.9kg and hopefully when I next weigh in I'll be 159kg. Tis is significant because 159kg is 25 stone exactly, and it will be the first time size I was 18 that I will weigh less then my age. I know this was bound to happen at some point, but it's a big milestone for me.

Also, I have been keeping an eye on body fat percentage. I know the readings are not always accurate I use the same machine under the some conditions so the results shold at least be consistant. It has shown that out of the last 15kg I lost, 13.3kg of that was pure fat. In other words, 91% of the weight I lost was fat, the other 9% well, I'm not sure what that was.

As far as exercise goes, this has been my best week, 5 times swimming between 1k and 2k, 3 weights sessions, 3 morning (5am!!) 40 minute runs, and two afternoons on a bike.

Next week I hope to go swimming at least 3 times an runnng in central park 3 times too.

We shall see.

Have a good week

New years resolutions

So I don't normally do new years resolutions, I've never really believed in them, or perhaps I've never believed in my ability to actually complete them. Well last year I decided to give up bars of chocolate (please note the word bars, cake doesn't count) and I'm pleased to say I went from eating a couple of bars a day most days, to not having any, and what's more I didn't have any all year.

So obviously I'm not going to start having it this year either, however, I've decided that this year I'm going to make a new years resolution. Those that know me quite well will know that for day to day things I'm quite lazy, by this I mean shopping, cleaning etc.... Generally leaving it until I can no longer stand it. This also goes for other things like sport, for me sport is hard because I'm quite heavy and instead of getting on and doing it I'll always make an excuse as to why it is better to do it tomorrow rather then today.

So this year I'm not going to leave for tomorrow what can be done today. It's going to be hard as I want to change my whole mental attitude, but if I can get it sorted I can make the changes to my life that I want to. Only time will tell.

And I weighed in at 164.4kg, which is better as it sounds because last week I rounded down to 165kg :)

The first week of the year done

So one week into the new year, and what along week it was. I managed to work every hour of daylight.

On a positive note, I didn't cheat on my diet once, breakfast generally consists of three eggs scrambled, then brazil nuts and carrots for snoack during the day with soup for lunch, folled by meat and veg for dinner. Not exactly high tech but keeps me going.

I'm off to new york at the end of the month, I'll be honest now, I don't think there is going to be much sticking to anything whilst I'm there.

I have not weighed myself, I forgot to before I had breakfast so I won't be able to tell the true weight. I'll do it sometime tomorrow or wednesday. I got a few good rides in too, but not many trips to the gym.

Back to work

What a depressing day, I got up and went for a quick run, well not really a run because I don't run. But I'm following the coach to 5k running app on the iphone.

After that I went back to work. The picture will show you just how much fun I have at work. Sometimes I wonder, well all the time I wonder, why am I still working on that project.

On a positive note we are 4 days into the new year, and so far so good, I have done some form of exercise everyday and so far have not cheated on my diet. We shall see how long this lasts. I'm going to new york at the end of January, the big apple, are you allowed to relax your diet over a holiday?

So there goes 2010

Well, last year I managed a whle 3 and a bit stone lose, whilst ok, I actually lost close to 7 but put 4 stone back on.

Never mind, 2011 is a fresh start, I'm leaving England in September so I now have a deadline to meet. People have asked how I was doing, well up until may last year I was using exercise to shift it, but when I started my new job I just was too busy and put it all back on. In october I started a diet where I cut out carbs, fruit, and dairy and lost the weight I had put back on.

Now for this year I'm going to do both. I'm also going to get into a routine of doing a dialy update to this blog. I work well with routine and I found a few new people who are going to help me out and loose weight too.

Here is a picture from todays ride over at Surrey Hill,s and tomorrow I'm going to get up early and go for something call a run.

I'll let you know how that goes.