Right then a very big hello,
I'm back after just been on a massive eating bender, it's what addicts do, we get to a point where we are no longer enjoying our addiction, the poison of choice becomes more routine than it is fun, we face some stark home truths, clean ourselves up, embrace a period of abstinence, start thinking just the one can't hurt, have a hit, relapse, go mental for a couple of months and then the cycle starts all over again...
That's what i allowed to happen to me in the past few months, relapse, luckily for me i am addicted to food so when the light at the end of the tunnel does finally appear i still have a TV, a marriage and my criminal record is clean unfortunately though the physical changes from a food bender are weight gain not weight loss, week 24 i was 138.8kg and today i am 146kg, t-shirts are tightening, boxers are nipping and airplane seat belts are coming dangerously close to not fitting.
In light of the fact there is a chance in the near future i will end up with the food stained, dried sweat smelly orange airline extender belt i am back on the straight and narrow, back training, drinking water, eating properly, i now have 23 weeks left of my initial 62 week challenge to get under 100kg so i best get a move on, 2kg a week is achievable, jees it sure is so i am going to buckle down for the next 7 months and go hard at it like i did the first 4 months of the challenge.
Note to self - Don't under any circumstances visit the UK in the next 7 months and start demolishing Doner Kebabs close to extinction like you did in August... Oh and stay away from bread for goodness sake...
Meals yesterday
Breakfast - 60g Bran Flakes with 200ml skimmed milk
Snack - 40g dried fruit and a banana
Lunch - Cous cous and lentil salad
Snack - Apple
Dinner - Roast chicken breast with creamed spinach and butternut
Snack - 60g Bran Flakes with 200ml skimmed milk
Water - 3litres
Weight week 39 - 146kg...
Wednesday, November 04, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
One big blog - Week 28
I am determined to reach my goal by week 62, that was my initial assessment of how long it would take to safely drop a whole person i.e 80+ kg from my starting weight of 167kg, i am and have been plateauing around 140kg for the past 3 weeks, i know why and to be honest i am a wee bit bothered about it now, so i thought i would blog anyway to help those like myself who may find themselves in a similar situation, get it off my chest and start again.
I have found that there are three main components to successful weight loss and since i dropped 2 from my routine my weight loss has stopped, it's very interesting and just goes to show that yes i am eating properly and yes i am still creating a 1000 calorie daily deficit but i am not drinking 3 liters of water a day now, some days zero liters of water and neither am i exercising, i am still hitting my 10k steps a day 90% of the time but i am not spending an hour every day focusing on exercise, there's been no running or spinning i have just been going about my day as normal, goes to show that the science of water and it's effects on weight loss especially the metabolizing of fat is spot on and spending an hour with the heart rate in the fat burn zone really does make a difference.
I see a lot of people on weight loss forums moaning that they are using a sports watch but they are not losing weight, they are creating a deficit but question whether the data their watch is producing is correct, my advice to the majority of those people who are possibly in denial is be honest with yourselves, don't just count on the deficit to help with weight loss? Look at your diet is it balanced? Are you still eating rubbish high sugar high trans fatty foods either side of your hummus salad and even though you're hitting 2400 kcal a day you are expecting a change in weight? Are you being honest with your portion sizes, go and have another look at what a cup measurement actually looks like my bet is a lot of us imagine a cup measurement at twice the size it actually is. Do you partake in any real exercise or like me think the 10k steps broken up throughout your day counts? Are you drinking more coffee or diet drinks than water are you drinking any water at all? I dropped 30kg in 6 months whilst the trinity of diet, water and exercise where all in harmony with one another since i have removed the last 2 weight loss has stopped... This is what i am experiencing i know i have become a bad dieter i know where i have been going wrong because i have the proof and that is the number on the scales.
However...
I wonder how many people can identify with this, the motivation to lose weight decreases as the old clothes too small 10 months ago start coming back into play like jeans other than supermarket dad jeans, in February this year i was struggling to get a 48" waist relaxed fit jean fastened, 6 months later i am now removing my 42" regular Wranglers without undoing the buttons, i've gone down 8 holes on my belt, i have a cupboard full of 4xl t shirts mentally labelled as 'for sleeping in only', i'm rocking a bit of fashion now and on a whole feeling good about my transformation from wearing anything because it just fits me to being able to browse the clothing in the local department store without crying into my cream donuts because nothing is even close to my size. Point is i am still massive, i am still 140kg, sure people are saying to me 'wow you look great, you've lost so much weight' it is true i have but i started at 167kg and 140kg is just not good enough i cannot lose sight of that because i know i still have a long way to go for the 42" waist has to become at the very most a 38" the XXL shirts have to be a minimum fit of XL the normal XL the standard XL for want of a better phrase the Ben Sherman XL (chunky people who like the odd fancy shirt or polo know what i am on about).
If i don't get my current situation in check i will eventually start putting on weight again, i know this because this is the pattern of weight loss i have experienced my whole adult life, start a diet, go mad about it, obsess, tell loads of people what i am up to, lose a chunk of weight, start dressing better which in turn leads to more socializing then lose track of the main goal by enjoying a mid term goal slowly fall off the wagon and boom before you can blink that's 10% of the lost body weight back on...
I refuse to to accept what i have achieved as the end of my journey, i am back on the water, the fridge dispenser is full up again and my trusty filter bottle is back on my desk, i have dug out the measuring cups to refresh in my mind what a portion size is, i am going back to getting out of the house more walking in blocks, time for a reboot...
Friday, July 24, 2015
Exercise - Week 24
The main reason i haven't blogged in a while is i have had nothing in the exercise department to blow my trumpet about, i haven't been hitting my 10k steps during the week nor have i been on the bike, in the gym or hitting the weights, it is for a variety of reasons:
Reason (excuse 1): It's cold.
Reason (excuse 2): It's dark early, walking after work in the dark can be not very safe here.
Reason (excuse 3): Gyms smell and are expensive.
Reason (excuse 4): Laziness.
Reason (excuse 5): I am still losing weight steadily without exercise.
Reason (excuse 6): I can now fit into clothes which make me feel better about myself.
Reason (excuse 7): I've lost 28kg in 24 weeks and have another 38 weeks to go so no rush.
Reason (excuse 8): I'm now so far out of routine i am procrastinating heavily.
At the weekend i do try and stay as mobile as possible, my thinking is as soon as the nights get lighter and the sun shines a bit more i'll be out again wunning and also the fact i am losing weight still and i am in no rush is also keeping me off the exercise, if and i know this to be true if i get on the scales after 3 or 4 weeks and i haven't lost weight or hell of hells have gained weight i'll be motivated to be out on the roads at lunch time again or on the bike with the crazy viking after work.
I remember my last proper walk like it was yesterday (which it wasn't),
About 4 weeks ago i took my usual Saturday morning 3.5km walk down to the hairdresser, dressed as normal in a zippy hoody with t-shirt underneath, jeans, kicks, socks and pants as you do, the walk takes around 30 minutes, the route is out of complex 200m turn left onto path between the new bus lanes and stomp for 20 minutes to the end turn right into mall at traffic lights (aka robots in South Africa). So you get the picture, 20 minutes into the walk on what was a lovely sunny morning the skies darkened Marvel comics style and the heavens opened with rain drops so big i not only got soaked from top down but also the bottom up, within 30 seconds i was soaked to the skin with cold rain, i had just cleaned my kicks and they were so wet there was foam squidging out of them on every step, it was bleak but it got bleaker, the rain only lasted about 3 or 4 minutes and everything in a meteorological sense returned to as it was before the downpour, sun back out and blue skies, i gets to the right turn at the robots (aka traffic lights possibly everywhere else in the the English speaking world), crossed the road, reached t'other side and a massive white pick up truck purposely (i am a paranoid maniac) yes purposely drove through the huge puddle at the side of the road and broadsided me with a wall of water, cock, head to toe, it all happened in slow motion, the pick up came, hit the puddle, the water became a vertical wall 2m wide 2m high wall, i cowered pathetically to the right and sploosh, cheers buddy...
Kind of put me off winter walking for a bit...
Anyroad, 1.2kg more and i have lost 30kg, i've improved my BMI just shy of 9 and almost lost 10% body fat... In 7 weeks time i'll be half way on the weight loss journey, the sun will be back out, the sky blue and hopefully the pick up driver who drenched me will get some bad karma...
Reason (excuse 1): It's cold.
Reason (excuse 2): It's dark early, walking after work in the dark can be not very safe here.
Reason (excuse 3): Gyms smell and are expensive.
Reason (excuse 4): Laziness.
Reason (excuse 5): I am still losing weight steadily without exercise.
Reason (excuse 6): I can now fit into clothes which make me feel better about myself.
Reason (excuse 7): I've lost 28kg in 24 weeks and have another 38 weeks to go so no rush.
Reason (excuse 8): I'm now so far out of routine i am procrastinating heavily.
At the weekend i do try and stay as mobile as possible, my thinking is as soon as the nights get lighter and the sun shines a bit more i'll be out again wunning and also the fact i am losing weight still and i am in no rush is also keeping me off the exercise, if and i know this to be true if i get on the scales after 3 or 4 weeks and i haven't lost weight or hell of hells have gained weight i'll be motivated to be out on the roads at lunch time again or on the bike with the crazy viking after work.
I remember my last proper walk like it was yesterday (which it wasn't),
About 4 weeks ago i took my usual Saturday morning 3.5km walk down to the hairdresser, dressed as normal in a zippy hoody with t-shirt underneath, jeans, kicks, socks and pants as you do, the walk takes around 30 minutes, the route is out of complex 200m turn left onto path between the new bus lanes and stomp for 20 minutes to the end turn right into mall at traffic lights (aka robots in South Africa). So you get the picture, 20 minutes into the walk on what was a lovely sunny morning the skies darkened Marvel comics style and the heavens opened with rain drops so big i not only got soaked from top down but also the bottom up, within 30 seconds i was soaked to the skin with cold rain, i had just cleaned my kicks and they were so wet there was foam squidging out of them on every step, it was bleak but it got bleaker, the rain only lasted about 3 or 4 minutes and everything in a meteorological sense returned to as it was before the downpour, sun back out and blue skies, i gets to the right turn at the robots (aka traffic lights possibly everywhere else in the the English speaking world), crossed the road, reached t'other side and a massive white pick up truck purposely (i am a paranoid maniac) yes purposely drove through the huge puddle at the side of the road and broadsided me with a wall of water, cock, head to toe, it all happened in slow motion, the pick up came, hit the puddle, the water became a vertical wall 2m wide 2m high wall, i cowered pathetically to the right and sploosh, cheers buddy...
Kind of put me off winter walking for a bit...
Anyroad, 1.2kg more and i have lost 30kg, i've improved my BMI just shy of 9 and almost lost 10% body fat... In 7 weeks time i'll be half way on the weight loss journey, the sun will be back out, the sky blue and hopefully the pick up driver who drenched me will get some bad karma...
Meals - Week 24
I love winter porridge,
It's proper Cape Town cold right now, not a patch on UK cold but still to me it feels just as cold, 2 degree Celsius mornings greet me from my slumber (by the way over the past 24 weeks my sleep patterns have improved immensely) anyway it's cold, it really is, South Africa well Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate summer temperatures hit the high 30's daily so our homes and offices are mainly built to let the heat escape, we have no double glazing, no wall cavities stuffed with that itchy yellow stuff, no space age foiled lofts and no central heating so i say again it is cold,
Back to porridge oats the basic quick cook ones, 40g with 200ml water and a table spoon of honey, 2 minutes in the microwave and bish bash bosh warm breakfast, at only 220 calories with the benefits of slow release carbs it is a great way to start the day, my favourite.
Breakfasts have always been my downfall, or lack of breakfasts, inevitably by 10am hunger kicks in, boredom at work allows the brain to focus on the hunger and day dream about wadges of food and the local takeaway place appears to be the the only safe haven, not now i have my porridge, if the past 6 months of delivered meals has taught me anything it is the variety of healthy options available out there for breakfast such as (1 a day):
Porridge with honey 40g, 200ml water and 1 tbsp of honey
Yogurt (any flavour) with granola 200g lo fat with 40g of granola
Bran Flakes with semi skimmed milk 40g and 200ml of milk
Toasted wholewheat bread x 2 slices with butter 10g ( i like mine cold, it's a school breakfast thing)
Muffin carrot or blueberry small
Above is a working week of breakfast, quick easy, no fuss, healthy, affordable, and low enough in calories to start the day, get me through to 11am snack and fill me up at the same time.
It's proper Cape Town cold right now, not a patch on UK cold but still to me it feels just as cold, 2 degree Celsius mornings greet me from my slumber (by the way over the past 24 weeks my sleep patterns have improved immensely) anyway it's cold, it really is, South Africa well Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate summer temperatures hit the high 30's daily so our homes and offices are mainly built to let the heat escape, we have no double glazing, no wall cavities stuffed with that itchy yellow stuff, no space age foiled lofts and no central heating so i say again it is cold,
Back to porridge oats the basic quick cook ones, 40g with 200ml water and a table spoon of honey, 2 minutes in the microwave and bish bash bosh warm breakfast, at only 220 calories with the benefits of slow release carbs it is a great way to start the day, my favourite.
Breakfasts have always been my downfall, or lack of breakfasts, inevitably by 10am hunger kicks in, boredom at work allows the brain to focus on the hunger and day dream about wadges of food and the local takeaway place appears to be the the only safe haven, not now i have my porridge, if the past 6 months of delivered meals has taught me anything it is the variety of healthy options available out there for breakfast such as (1 a day):
Porridge with honey 40g, 200ml water and 1 tbsp of honey
Yogurt (any flavour) with granola 200g lo fat with 40g of granola
Bran Flakes with semi skimmed milk 40g and 200ml of milk
Toasted wholewheat bread x 2 slices with butter 10g ( i like mine cold, it's a school breakfast thing)
Muffin carrot or blueberry small
Above is a working week of breakfast, quick easy, no fuss, healthy, affordable, and low enough in calories to start the day, get me through to 11am snack and fill me up at the same time.
mmmmm, fit fine!
Week 24 - Time to hit the scales
Harro, tis I Baggy Cantona and it's been long time,
Have i been a good little dieter or a food maniac? Time to do the maths...
Weight 10/6: 141.9kg
Weight 24/7 138.8kg
Weight lost in 6 weeks: 3.1kg
Weight lost total: 28.2kg
BMI 10/6: 43.7
BMI 24/7: 42.8
BMI week 24 improved by: 0.9
BMI total improved by: 8.75
BF% 10/6: 45.44%
BF% 24/7: 44.36%
BF% week 24 improved by: 1.08%
BF% total improved by: 9.61%
Weeks to go 38 out of 62
Have i been a good little dieter or a food maniac? Time to do the maths...
Weight 10/6: 141.9kg
Weight 24/7 138.8kg
Weight lost in 6 weeks: 3.1kg
Weight lost total: 28.2kg
BMI 10/6: 43.7
BMI 24/7: 42.8
BMI week 24 improved by: 0.9
BMI total improved by: 8.75
BF% 10/6: 45.44%
BF% 24/7: 44.36%
BF% week 24 improved by: 1.08%
BF% total improved by: 9.61%
Weeks to go 38 out of 62
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Exercise - Week 18
It's winter in Cape Town, it gets dark quickly, it's too cold and wet... These are some of my latest excuses to not get out there into the big wide world and do some stomping, Namibia though was a whole different story.
I recently spent 3 weeks in Nam, i took my food with me but as with all business trips i had dinners to attend and my eating patterns were out of sync, much to the delight of my PA who scoffed most of my pre-prepped meals for me so what to do, i set a goal of coming back 145kg a goal which i managed to hit, while i was up there in Namibia i didn't weigh myself once, i bit nails and fretted for a whole 22 days from one Cape Town weigh in to the the next, i ran about a lot, actual running, the great thing about the lagoon in Walvis Bay is the run around it, it is tarred and paved, flat and the lampposts are evenly spread out so i ran lampposts ( i never knew you spelt lampposts as one word with two p's [or the word 'spelt' does not exist]) at first i ran one lamppost and walked another repeat for the 5km it takes from one end of the lagoon and back, the following night two lampposts ran and one walked, the following night i had to stay in due to being on the verge of crippling my groin, i did weights instead and groaned every time i got up out of the chair... Anyway i ran the lagoon in a fashion about 12 times during my stay and two nights before i returned home i ran 4 lampposts and walked one cutting my 5km time from 56 minutes to 49 minutes, not very fast i know but at the time i was in the upper 140kg's. On my return i will take up the Wunning again (walking+running = in my mind wunning) and see if i can get that time down a bit more. The best thing about the wun is the moment you have got off the sofa after procrastinating, saying 'ah well i'll go out for a walk at least' getting outside and smiling wide when you are wunning the second set of lampposts.
Erm i also thought i would strengthen my core muscles by planking, didn't really work out for me though, i bought a purple roll up mat, got back to the flat, put it down on the table, stared at it for a bit, watched some telly, stared at it a bit more, got all self conscious about being a loser, rolled the mat out, got into the correct attire, found a 'planking for beginners' video on You Tube set that up and got into position for what the athletic 25 year old Lycra clad Hollywood hills lady by the pool explained was an easy 5 minute plank session to get me into planking.... so.... i hit start on the video and she goes on a bit about how planking frees the mind and loosens the soul, and instructs me to get into the basic planking position, on my toes, body stretched out, palms on the floor in line with my shoulders and PLANK... 30 seconds planking 30 seconds rest and repeat for 5 minutes, now unlike the toned fit instructor i resemble a well fed capital D in the stomach department and towards the end of the 3rd plank i was sure i heard my spine start to crack so i stopped... I'll get back to planking at a later date.
To combat the plank failure i found two very helpful videos for a beginners dumbbell (double b...) session and an abs session you can do standing up, i did both twice with not much effort well some effort but it was a lot more pleasant than the Hollywood plank, the next day i didn't really feel much but the day after yebo there's the pain, my abs especially in my lower and side abs and my triceps... I will continue this one.
Although exercise is grinding to a halt in Cape Town and i know i should be doing something, i am still getting out with the family as much as possible, walking to the shops as before and maximising my effort on the weekends, i should really be getting on that damn spin bike, maybe i will this week... i'll keep you posted...
I recently spent 3 weeks in Nam, i took my food with me but as with all business trips i had dinners to attend and my eating patterns were out of sync, much to the delight of my PA who scoffed most of my pre-prepped meals for me so what to do, i set a goal of coming back 145kg a goal which i managed to hit, while i was up there in Namibia i didn't weigh myself once, i bit nails and fretted for a whole 22 days from one Cape Town weigh in to the the next, i ran about a lot, actual running, the great thing about the lagoon in Walvis Bay is the run around it, it is tarred and paved, flat and the lampposts are evenly spread out so i ran lampposts ( i never knew you spelt lampposts as one word with two p's [or the word 'spelt' does not exist]) at first i ran one lamppost and walked another repeat for the 5km it takes from one end of the lagoon and back, the following night two lampposts ran and one walked, the following night i had to stay in due to being on the verge of crippling my groin, i did weights instead and groaned every time i got up out of the chair... Anyway i ran the lagoon in a fashion about 12 times during my stay and two nights before i returned home i ran 4 lampposts and walked one cutting my 5km time from 56 minutes to 49 minutes, not very fast i know but at the time i was in the upper 140kg's. On my return i will take up the Wunning again (walking+running = in my mind wunning) and see if i can get that time down a bit more. The best thing about the wun is the moment you have got off the sofa after procrastinating, saying 'ah well i'll go out for a walk at least' getting outside and smiling wide when you are wunning the second set of lampposts.
Erm i also thought i would strengthen my core muscles by planking, didn't really work out for me though, i bought a purple roll up mat, got back to the flat, put it down on the table, stared at it for a bit, watched some telly, stared at it a bit more, got all self conscious about being a loser, rolled the mat out, got into the correct attire, found a 'planking for beginners' video on You Tube set that up and got into position for what the athletic 25 year old Lycra clad Hollywood hills lady by the pool explained was an easy 5 minute plank session to get me into planking.... so.... i hit start on the video and she goes on a bit about how planking frees the mind and loosens the soul, and instructs me to get into the basic planking position, on my toes, body stretched out, palms on the floor in line with my shoulders and PLANK... 30 seconds planking 30 seconds rest and repeat for 5 minutes, now unlike the toned fit instructor i resemble a well fed capital D in the stomach department and towards the end of the 3rd plank i was sure i heard my spine start to crack so i stopped... I'll get back to planking at a later date.
To combat the plank failure i found two very helpful videos for a beginners dumbbell (double b...) session and an abs session you can do standing up, i did both twice with not much effort well some effort but it was a lot more pleasant than the Hollywood plank, the next day i didn't really feel much but the day after yebo there's the pain, my abs especially in my lower and side abs and my triceps... I will continue this one.
Although exercise is grinding to a halt in Cape Town and i know i should be doing something, i am still getting out with the family as much as possible, walking to the shops as before and maximising my effort on the weekends, i should really be getting on that damn spin bike, maybe i will this week... i'll keep you posted...
Meals - Week 18
Well, it still amazes me that this diet is working, who'd a thought hey? I am still off the junk, to my recollection in the past what is now erm 4 and a bit months i have had no chips, no crisps, sob no sausage rolls, no processed foods, no coke, hardly any booze and interestingly enough only 3 cans of diet soda...
I am sticking to my food diary and hitting my calorie targets of a 1000 calorie minimum deficit per day, some times it's ranges to a 1600 deficit but normally averages out over the week to a deficit of 1300 calories per day, i do leave room for any miscalculations i may make with my food diary and i try to be honest with myself when completing it, no point lying to myself and reworking entries to fit my goal and if i do put on weight i need to be able to look back and pinpoint where i am went wrong, i must be close with my calculations though because in the last 4 weeks i have lost 6kg, 5.2 kg is a 1300 daily deficit x 28 days divided by 7000.
I was away on business again since my last post but i will touch on that in exercise later on, foods i am becoming to rely on are:
Granola
Yogurt
Bran Flakes
Chicken
Spinach
Crushed wheat bread
Popcorn
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Biltong (a type of South African beef jerky)
Fish
Skimmed milk
Coffee
Honey
The list above does not constitute my whole diet but these are my top 15 according to my food diary.
And for the record i've been dining out, cooking at home, celebrating with friends and not once have i felt i am missing out on anything.
Soooaaa see you in a bit, i'll post The Pants Project sometime this week for all you lovely voyeurs out there...
x TBC
I am sticking to my food diary and hitting my calorie targets of a 1000 calorie minimum deficit per day, some times it's ranges to a 1600 deficit but normally averages out over the week to a deficit of 1300 calories per day, i do leave room for any miscalculations i may make with my food diary and i try to be honest with myself when completing it, no point lying to myself and reworking entries to fit my goal and if i do put on weight i need to be able to look back and pinpoint where i am went wrong, i must be close with my calculations though because in the last 4 weeks i have lost 6kg, 5.2 kg is a 1300 daily deficit x 28 days divided by 7000.
I was away on business again since my last post but i will touch on that in exercise later on, foods i am becoming to rely on are:
Granola
Yogurt
Bran Flakes
Chicken
Spinach
Crushed wheat bread
Popcorn
Apples
Pears
Bananas
Biltong (a type of South African beef jerky)
Fish
Skimmed milk
Coffee
Honey
The list above does not constitute my whole diet but these are my top 15 according to my food diary.
And for the record i've been dining out, cooking at home, celebrating with friends and not once have i felt i am missing out on anything.
Soooaaa see you in a bit, i'll post The Pants Project sometime this week for all you lovely voyeurs out there...
x TBC
Week 18 - Time to hit the scales
Hello again,
I've not stopped just been very very busy, busy losing weight woo hoo, here are the details
Weight 4/5: 147.9kg
Weight 10/6: 141.9
Weight lost in 4 weeks: 6kg
Weight lost total: 25.1kg
BMI 4/5: 45.6
BMI 10/6: 43.7
BMI week 18 improved by: 1.9
BMI total improved by: 7.85
BF% 4/5: 47.72%
BF% 10/6: 45.44%
BF% week 18 improved by: 2.28%
BF% total improved by: 8.53
Weeks to go 44 out of 62
Here is my chart from when i started in February... slow, consistent and heading in the right direction... still so much to do though...
This time next year Rodders!!!
I've not stopped just been very very busy, busy losing weight woo hoo, here are the details
Weight 4/5: 147.9kg
Weight 10/6: 141.9
Weight lost in 4 weeks: 6kg
Weight lost total: 25.1kg
BMI 4/5: 45.6
BMI 10/6: 43.7
BMI week 18 improved by: 1.9
BMI total improved by: 7.85
BF% 4/5: 47.72%
BF% 10/6: 45.44%
BF% week 18 improved by: 2.28%
BF% total improved by: 8.53
Weeks to go 44 out of 62
Here is my chart from when i started in February... slow, consistent and heading in the right direction... still so much to do though...
This time next year Rodders!!!
Monday, May 04, 2015
Exercise - Week 13
I am now running more and walking less on my trips around the block,
I am still hitting my daily steps goal of +10k and due to my massive stomach piling pressure on my groin muscles i am not able to run every day but never the less when i feel like i can i run.
My normal circuit takes me out of my house and i walk down to the complex gate on the way i start running at a speed hump to the gate which is about 150 steps, i take a left and down onto a backstreet and run the length of one block from the same road marking to the street sign again and then walk round the corner and run the next block from a pile of bricks to the end of the pavement, i huff and puff down to the next junction and run another block, walk up to the tree on the left and run until the second palm tree on the right, at the top of the road i run from a large plant pot to the next junction walk a bit more and start running again at the end of a small wooden fence until the driveway with the stone balls, I get back to the complex and run from the gate back to the speed hump walk a bit and run from the next speed hump to the one at the end of our cul de sac, its hard but i enjoy it for the sense of achievement.
What i have done is added more running sections, 2 more now where in the past i would walk and i have also lengthened the distance markers i run to by a few metres here and there also i reduce the time between running the sections as i get further in, i am covering 2.5km in 26.45 minutes (when i started it was 45 minutes) and i am slowly getting closer to my goal of running the Two Oceans 5km run next year with Shannons dad who incidentally was the 2nd person to complete 10 Two Oceans ultra marathons in a row (34 miles), he was there on the very first one when only about 15-20 people ran without a tv camera or sponsor in sight, nowadays 20 thousand plus run the televised main event...
I leave on business tomorrow and on a night time in the safety of my own room i will start some yoga type core strengthening techniques to try and work on the belly fat, i will of course also keep on walking and running.
I am still hitting my daily steps goal of +10k and due to my massive stomach piling pressure on my groin muscles i am not able to run every day but never the less when i feel like i can i run.
My normal circuit takes me out of my house and i walk down to the complex gate on the way i start running at a speed hump to the gate which is about 150 steps, i take a left and down onto a backstreet and run the length of one block from the same road marking to the street sign again and then walk round the corner and run the next block from a pile of bricks to the end of the pavement, i huff and puff down to the next junction and run another block, walk up to the tree on the left and run until the second palm tree on the right, at the top of the road i run from a large plant pot to the next junction walk a bit more and start running again at the end of a small wooden fence until the driveway with the stone balls, I get back to the complex and run from the gate back to the speed hump walk a bit and run from the next speed hump to the one at the end of our cul de sac, its hard but i enjoy it for the sense of achievement.
What i have done is added more running sections, 2 more now where in the past i would walk and i have also lengthened the distance markers i run to by a few metres here and there also i reduce the time between running the sections as i get further in, i am covering 2.5km in 26.45 minutes (when i started it was 45 minutes) and i am slowly getting closer to my goal of running the Two Oceans 5km run next year with Shannons dad who incidentally was the 2nd person to complete 10 Two Oceans ultra marathons in a row (34 miles), he was there on the very first one when only about 15-20 people ran without a tv camera or sponsor in sight, nowadays 20 thousand plus run the televised main event...
I leave on business tomorrow and on a night time in the safety of my own room i will start some yoga type core strengthening techniques to try and work on the belly fat, i will of course also keep on walking and running.
Meals - Week 13
I have cut out the nuts/fruit mix as a snack, at a 180 calories per handful i have figured their are better ways to 'spend' those calories over the course of the day than this, i have replaced the nuts with all bran/bran flakes or cracked wheat bread toasted,
I have been struggling though, i am still addicted to food, but i am meticulously keeping my food diary up to date and by making sure i am topping 2100 calories per day during the working week and a little bit more on the weekends (roughly +/- 2300) i am still losing weight and fat and at the same time i can feel my muscles strengthening especially in my legs and arms.
When i say i am struggling i still walk into the kitchen mostly on an evening a stare forlornly at the biscuit tin or visualize a cheese and pickle sandwich, the smell of pizza straight out of the oven still gets to me, i still have to stop myself from ordering a dessert at a restaurant or grabbing an extra piece of bread from the basket on the table... I am missing steaming hot sausage rolls the most, nothing like buying a sausage roll and nuking it in the microwave until too hot to eat and demolishing it when the temp drops a little, however i am not craving sugar, it is a long long time since i had a coke or a chocolate bar, i can also sit and eat a meal served with chips and not even think about touching them, i am enjoying my 2 fruit a day, the high fibre items and for me it is a natural instinct now to reach for the water at any given opportunity, i have raised my water intake from 2 to 3 litres a day now and although i pee every hour my skin feels amazing. I think the reason my cravings are not as intense is due to the fact that my diet is balanced correctly, my protein, carb and fat intake is within the recommended guidelines set out by various health authorities.
I think i will always struggle with food and by finally admitting to myself i am a food addict and treating my addiction like any other i am now in a happy place and content with the fact that i am keeping the addiction under control, taking every day one step at a time and not losing site of the end game which gets closer as every week goes by.
I have been struggling though, i am still addicted to food, but i am meticulously keeping my food diary up to date and by making sure i am topping 2100 calories per day during the working week and a little bit more on the weekends (roughly +/- 2300) i am still losing weight and fat and at the same time i can feel my muscles strengthening especially in my legs and arms.
When i say i am struggling i still walk into the kitchen mostly on an evening a stare forlornly at the biscuit tin or visualize a cheese and pickle sandwich, the smell of pizza straight out of the oven still gets to me, i still have to stop myself from ordering a dessert at a restaurant or grabbing an extra piece of bread from the basket on the table... I am missing steaming hot sausage rolls the most, nothing like buying a sausage roll and nuking it in the microwave until too hot to eat and demolishing it when the temp drops a little, however i am not craving sugar, it is a long long time since i had a coke or a chocolate bar, i can also sit and eat a meal served with chips and not even think about touching them, i am enjoying my 2 fruit a day, the high fibre items and for me it is a natural instinct now to reach for the water at any given opportunity, i have raised my water intake from 2 to 3 litres a day now and although i pee every hour my skin feels amazing. I think the reason my cravings are not as intense is due to the fact that my diet is balanced correctly, my protein, carb and fat intake is within the recommended guidelines set out by various health authorities.
I think i will always struggle with food and by finally admitting to myself i am a food addict and treating my addiction like any other i am now in a happy place and content with the fact that i am keeping the addiction under control, taking every day one step at a time and not losing site of the end game which gets closer as every week goes by.
The Pants Project - Month 4
Month 4 already and this month i can really feel a difference in the way my clothes are fitting, i packed away my 48 inch waist jeans this week and got out the 44's i have had for 3 years and never worn, they still had the labels on, still the Cantona is no where near baggy but i am getting closer (sort of, 49 weeks to go), this month i can see a visual difference with my back, the next job is to start strengthening my core muscles to work on that belly fat...
Week 13 - Time to hit the scales
Not only did i hit my next milestone set on the last weigh i blew it away, I have now broken the first 10% of weight lost but also i am 0.9kg off losing the first 20... So happy... I am off on business for 22 days from tomorrow when i return i am hoping to be sub 145kg.
Weight 15/4: 152.3kg
Weight 4/5: 147.9kg
Weight lost in 3 weeks: 4.4kg
Weight lost total: 19.1kg
BMI 15/4: 47
BMI 4/5: 45.6
BMI week 13 improved by: 1.4
BMI total improved by: 5.9
BF% 15/4: 49.4%
BF% 4/5: 47.72%
BF% week 13 improved by: 1.68%
BF% total improved by: 6.25%
Weeks to go 49 out of 62
Weight 15/4: 152.3kg
Weight 4/5: 147.9kg
Weight lost in 3 weeks: 4.4kg
Weight lost total: 19.1kg
BMI 15/4: 47
BMI 4/5: 45.6
BMI week 13 improved by: 1.4
BMI total improved by: 5.9
BF% 15/4: 49.4%
BF% 4/5: 47.72%
BF% week 13 improved by: 1.68%
BF% total improved by: 6.25%
Weeks to go 49 out of 62
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Exercise - Week 11.2
I had a revelation and it is so exciting,
With a calorie deficit diet if you feel you have eaten too much or made a mistake and you know what those extra calories were you can do something instantly to redress the balance, exercise...
A couple of weeks ago i had dinner booked with an auditor in Cape Town, as it was after hours and i wanted her to meet Ryan and Ethan i asked Shannon to book a table at our local Spur, the Spur rocks for kids and parents because as soon as we sit down Ryan buggers off to the well supervised play area and we can chill and enjoy a meal in relative peace.
Luckily the Spur have their full menu nutritional guide available on the internet so in preparation for the meal out i studied the list to find a combination of sensible items which would a. be more interesting than a daft salad to eat and b. not negatively affect my daily calorie deficit, in the end i enjoyed a starter of crumbed mushrooms with garlic sauce and a main of a 200g rump with pepper sauce, a baked potato with about 8g of butter and a little sour cream with a spoonful of mashed butternut and creamed spinach on the side, i drank coffee and water and that was it, 900 calories, added to my daily total i still came in below 2200 calories for the day so on a deficit level i was ok but mentally i could not help but think that 900 calories in one go after say 6pm was not a very good thing to be doing as some nutritionists advise for weight loss to make sure your evening meal is no more than 30% of your daily calorie intake so before we went to the restaurant i made a plan.
My plan was to make sure i was wearing shorts, t-shirt, thin hoodie and my trainers to the Spur, and after the meal drink an extra glass of water because on the way home i asked Shannon to pull over with about 2.5km to go, gave her my wedding ring, chain, phone and a kiss, exited the car and ran/walked home from there, i got in about 25 minutes later checked my calorie burn for the exercise and boom i had reduced the 900 calories i was worrying about by 360, i can live with an evening meal costing me 5-600 calories, 360 calories may look a bit high for only a 25 minute workout but remember i was running/walking a body of 150kg plus up the road.
No other diet i have ever been on has ever given me this amount of instant control over the weight i am losing, i am so happy i chose to cut calories and not carbs because waiting for that strip to turn purple showing that ketosis has kicked back in can be very painful...
With a calorie deficit diet if you feel you have eaten too much or made a mistake and you know what those extra calories were you can do something instantly to redress the balance, exercise...
A couple of weeks ago i had dinner booked with an auditor in Cape Town, as it was after hours and i wanted her to meet Ryan and Ethan i asked Shannon to book a table at our local Spur, the Spur rocks for kids and parents because as soon as we sit down Ryan buggers off to the well supervised play area and we can chill and enjoy a meal in relative peace.
Luckily the Spur have their full menu nutritional guide available on the internet so in preparation for the meal out i studied the list to find a combination of sensible items which would a. be more interesting than a daft salad to eat and b. not negatively affect my daily calorie deficit, in the end i enjoyed a starter of crumbed mushrooms with garlic sauce and a main of a 200g rump with pepper sauce, a baked potato with about 8g of butter and a little sour cream with a spoonful of mashed butternut and creamed spinach on the side, i drank coffee and water and that was it, 900 calories, added to my daily total i still came in below 2200 calories for the day so on a deficit level i was ok but mentally i could not help but think that 900 calories in one go after say 6pm was not a very good thing to be doing as some nutritionists advise for weight loss to make sure your evening meal is no more than 30% of your daily calorie intake so before we went to the restaurant i made a plan.
My plan was to make sure i was wearing shorts, t-shirt, thin hoodie and my trainers to the Spur, and after the meal drink an extra glass of water because on the way home i asked Shannon to pull over with about 2.5km to go, gave her my wedding ring, chain, phone and a kiss, exited the car and ran/walked home from there, i got in about 25 minutes later checked my calorie burn for the exercise and boom i had reduced the 900 calories i was worrying about by 360, i can live with an evening meal costing me 5-600 calories, 360 calories may look a bit high for only a 25 minute workout but remember i was running/walking a body of 150kg plus up the road.
No other diet i have ever been on has ever given me this amount of instant control over the weight i am losing, i am so happy i chose to cut calories and not carbs because waiting for that strip to turn purple showing that ketosis has kicked back in can be very painful...
Meals - Week 11.2
Blogy blog blog time,
I want to chat about a chemical compound which on a molecular level is made up of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms held together in a covalent bond, no? Here's another clue, it's behavior changes in different environments such as the top of Mount Everest to the shores of Greenland, no? This substance is transparent and can absorb high amounts of ultraviolet and infrared light, still no? Ok all forms of life on planet earth depend on this liquid and without it most would perish to extinction...
I am of course talking about water... And in this instance good old regular tap water...
More importantly i want to focus on water, the body, fats and it's effect on a successful diet. The only liquids to pass my lips in the last 11 weeks are water, coffee, green tea, milk and that one time in band camp when i had 10 single malts, 2 beers and demolished all the peanuts, biltong and porridge in the house, no diet sodas (i lie i have had 1 can), no fruit juices and definitely no extra thick double malted Oreo and hazelnut praline shakes which are never any good because the Oreo bits get stuck in the straw making it a faff to drink. And the result of mostly drinking between 2 to 3 litres of water a day i am still seeing remarkable weight loss but more importantly fat loss, why is that? How does water team up with a balanced low calorie diet and help us shed the kilos but most importantly make that t-shirt fit better or enable us to wear that ill fitting pair of jeans consigned to the top of the cupboard a year ago? The effects of water on our bodies is astounding.
First of all water is needed to transport energy giving carbohydrates and proteins to our blood, when we urinate the water carries away toxins from our bodies, water keeps us hydrated and taxis nutrients to our cells, is free of fat, cholesterol and calories as well as being very low in sodium, and more importantly for us water aids fat burning, without enough water in our system our kidneys do not function properly and because the main function of a kidney is to filter blood and clean toxin free blood is quite important for life to exist the brain will pull in the liver to help out, due to the liver now having a part time job it didn't really want it finds itself torn between effectively metabolising fat which is it's proper day job to helping it's neighbour of sorts out with blood cleaning duties, so the moral of the story is in order to keep your liver in peak condition for fat burning both your kidneys need to be lubricated with plenty of water.
It's not only the kidneys which require plenty of water, the liver also requires plenty of H2O if the liver decides it does not have enough water to metabolise our fat intake it will do what we all do when we do not have the correct tools for a job and cut corners, make a plan, procrastinate a bit by storing the unmetabolised fat around the body, for the liver out of sight out of mind appears to be it's idiom of choice, and as with all with all biological fasts the body not only knows how to bulk up it's fat and carbohydrate stores for future use it can also store water for future use, i am trying to get my head around this but i think i am correct in saying that the body prefers to store water within a carbohydrate called glycogen and the storage facilities of choice are the muscle tissue in the ankles, face and stomach, when we start a diet by creating a calorie deficit the body initially looks to our glycogen stores for energy and as the glycogen burns it also releases the water it has been holding onto which generally attributes to the initial loss of water and that instant weight loss in the first two weeks when we find people telling us or us ourselves telling others that the reason is 'just losing water weight'.
There are studies or dietitians who also believe that drinking cold water can burn more calories than room temperature water, when we drink cold water our bodies create a thermogenic environment to warm the water, for the heat the body needs energy and calories are burned for energy therefore the more energy the body requires the more available calories it will burn.
Now there are nutritionists out there who say that drinking water has very little effect on weight loss but still maintain the health benefits of water cannot be ignored, i say to them for the obese any effect no matter how little on weight loss is a huge step forward for us so any advantage we can give ourselves over gaining weight has to be seen as a positive one.
How much water to drink? It turns out that there are guidelines within physics on the amount of water a person should consume on a daily basis and this is based on their weight, i cannot find the source of this equation but it is as follows:
Your weight (kg) multiplied by 0.033 = Water (litres) to drink per day
So my equation looks like this:
152.3 x 0.033 = 5.026 litres of water per day.
I currently drink between 2 and 3 litres per day, never any less than 2, one quick fire way of checking if you are adequately hydrated is to check the colour of your urine, if it is dark and yellow you may be dehydrated if your urine is clear or almost colourless then chances are you are in fact adequately hydrated.
Although i believe i am adequately hydrated i will now try to add an extra 2 litres of water to my day and report back if it made any noticeable difference.
Obviously as i lose more weight i will be able to reduce my water intake too.
My top tip to hydrating throughout the day is always have water at hand, for example i have 2 x 1 litre bottles, one is on my desk right now and the other in the refrigerator down stairs, i always aim to finish the first litre in the morning before lunch then the second one in the afternoon, when i get home i fill both bottles back up and put them in the refrigerator, then i drink 1/3 of a litre of water and go out for my walky runny thing, when i get back i drink another 1/3 and then during the rest of the evening i finish the remaining 1/3, on the downside i also wee every hour but i believe i am ridding myself of all the harm my food addiction has caused and flushing it down into the sewer where it belongs...
I want to chat about a chemical compound which on a molecular level is made up of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms held together in a covalent bond, no? Here's another clue, it's behavior changes in different environments such as the top of Mount Everest to the shores of Greenland, no? This substance is transparent and can absorb high amounts of ultraviolet and infrared light, still no? Ok all forms of life on planet earth depend on this liquid and without it most would perish to extinction...
I am of course talking about water... And in this instance good old regular tap water...
More importantly i want to focus on water, the body, fats and it's effect on a successful diet. The only liquids to pass my lips in the last 11 weeks are water, coffee, green tea, milk and that one time in band camp when i had 10 single malts, 2 beers and demolished all the peanuts, biltong and porridge in the house, no diet sodas (i lie i have had 1 can), no fruit juices and definitely no extra thick double malted Oreo and hazelnut praline shakes which are never any good because the Oreo bits get stuck in the straw making it a faff to drink. And the result of mostly drinking between 2 to 3 litres of water a day i am still seeing remarkable weight loss but more importantly fat loss, why is that? How does water team up with a balanced low calorie diet and help us shed the kilos but most importantly make that t-shirt fit better or enable us to wear that ill fitting pair of jeans consigned to the top of the cupboard a year ago? The effects of water on our bodies is astounding.
First of all water is needed to transport energy giving carbohydrates and proteins to our blood, when we urinate the water carries away toxins from our bodies, water keeps us hydrated and taxis nutrients to our cells, is free of fat, cholesterol and calories as well as being very low in sodium, and more importantly for us water aids fat burning, without enough water in our system our kidneys do not function properly and because the main function of a kidney is to filter blood and clean toxin free blood is quite important for life to exist the brain will pull in the liver to help out, due to the liver now having a part time job it didn't really want it finds itself torn between effectively metabolising fat which is it's proper day job to helping it's neighbour of sorts out with blood cleaning duties, so the moral of the story is in order to keep your liver in peak condition for fat burning both your kidneys need to be lubricated with plenty of water.
It's not only the kidneys which require plenty of water, the liver also requires plenty of H2O if the liver decides it does not have enough water to metabolise our fat intake it will do what we all do when we do not have the correct tools for a job and cut corners, make a plan, procrastinate a bit by storing the unmetabolised fat around the body, for the liver out of sight out of mind appears to be it's idiom of choice, and as with all with all biological fasts the body not only knows how to bulk up it's fat and carbohydrate stores for future use it can also store water for future use, i am trying to get my head around this but i think i am correct in saying that the body prefers to store water within a carbohydrate called glycogen and the storage facilities of choice are the muscle tissue in the ankles, face and stomach, when we start a diet by creating a calorie deficit the body initially looks to our glycogen stores for energy and as the glycogen burns it also releases the water it has been holding onto which generally attributes to the initial loss of water and that instant weight loss in the first two weeks when we find people telling us or us ourselves telling others that the reason is 'just losing water weight'.
There are studies or dietitians who also believe that drinking cold water can burn more calories than room temperature water, when we drink cold water our bodies create a thermogenic environment to warm the water, for the heat the body needs energy and calories are burned for energy therefore the more energy the body requires the more available calories it will burn.
Now there are nutritionists out there who say that drinking water has very little effect on weight loss but still maintain the health benefits of water cannot be ignored, i say to them for the obese any effect no matter how little on weight loss is a huge step forward for us so any advantage we can give ourselves over gaining weight has to be seen as a positive one.
How much water to drink? It turns out that there are guidelines within physics on the amount of water a person should consume on a daily basis and this is based on their weight, i cannot find the source of this equation but it is as follows:
Your weight (kg) multiplied by 0.033 = Water (litres) to drink per day
So my equation looks like this:
152.3 x 0.033 = 5.026 litres of water per day.
I currently drink between 2 and 3 litres per day, never any less than 2, one quick fire way of checking if you are adequately hydrated is to check the colour of your urine, if it is dark and yellow you may be dehydrated if your urine is clear or almost colourless then chances are you are in fact adequately hydrated.
Although i believe i am adequately hydrated i will now try to add an extra 2 litres of water to my day and report back if it made any noticeable difference.
Obviously as i lose more weight i will be able to reduce my water intake too.
My top tip to hydrating throughout the day is always have water at hand, for example i have 2 x 1 litre bottles, one is on my desk right now and the other in the refrigerator down stairs, i always aim to finish the first litre in the morning before lunch then the second one in the afternoon, when i get home i fill both bottles back up and put them in the refrigerator, then i drink 1/3 of a litre of water and go out for my walky runny thing, when i get back i drink another 1/3 and then during the rest of the evening i finish the remaining 1/3, on the downside i also wee every hour but i believe i am ridding myself of all the harm my food addiction has caused and flushing it down into the sewer where it belongs...
Friday, April 17, 2015
Exercise - Week 10.5
Cor spinning is tough hey!?!
Yes that's right, exactly 10 weeks after purchasing the fabled spin bike i took it for a spin last night, a day of serious inactivity sat at my desk spurred me on coupled with the fact that between me and you on Monday this week i'd put on 0.4kg over the weekend (amazing how a scare gets you going if you are feeling complacent), even though i put the slight weight gain down to the possibility of muscles developing from the running/waddling it still hit me hard.
So last night before my walk i opened the garage door, positioned the bike at the back so i was less visible to my neighbors to protect them from the gruesome sight that was to come, in front of the bike i put Ryans old high chair and popped my tablet on the tray, i found the beginners spin bike session i had favourited on You Tube, connected my Bluetooth speaker and positioned it behind the screen, hiked up the volume, made sure i was comfortable on the bike of death and hit play.
Aye well, wow, and as I previously stated cor, the guy in the video is cool, he is some mad, Nordic spin bike enthusiast, the backdrop is white and there are many colourful bars of progress digitally imposed on the screen around him, the music is just your bog standard garden variety banging gym Euro house, and he talks and motivates you as he takes you through the 15 minute workout, 15 minutes a doddle or so i thought, a man who is 150kg+ should not be seen on a spin bike, has no right to spin, this is intense cardio for goodness sake but i am prepared to give it a go.
The workout starts at low resistance, cycling at what must be 130 odd BPM, the Scandinavian crazy man cajoles you to add more resistance every now and then, reminds you to keep your shoulders loose and your bum in the back of the saddle, after 3 minutes the music drops it's BMP to say 110 and with increasing resistance added the loose shoulder but slower spinning goes on for another 3 minutes, as Mr Norway points out you should start to feel sweat building up on your forehead by now, keep breathing and feel those leg muscles work, as Tour de France man counts down the last 10 seconds of this section he announces it's now time to add even more resistance and get out of the saddle and work those upper leg muscles, apparently he will not tolerate it if your bum is swaying uncontrollably from side to side, you must keep your shoulders loose and continue to breath in through your nose like an actor in a decongestant advert and out through your mouth like an 1980's telephone pervert, with the BMP back at 130 and 2 minutes to go i am on the BOD (bike of death), my backside is all over the place, the breathing is making me dizzy and the frame of the spin bike is straining as it's feet rock from side to side, but i stay focused, from previous experience of stair masters, rowing machines and elliptical trainers it is at this point i tend to panic and start frantically looking for the time remaining read out, i find it and to my horror there are still over 7 total minutes of the 15 to go, i also spot his heart rate monitor reading 85bmp, i tap my watch and see mine is around 150, my mind races through all my stored expletives looking for an appropriate one to describe the situation i now find myself in but before i know it the Spandex Superman is counting down the final 10 seconds, so now my thoughts turn to 'what are we going to do for the last 6 minutes? The same again, please no not the same again' when the 2 minutes are up Norway's answer to Sir Bradley Wiggins (CBE) instructs me to get back in the saddle and to my absolute elation reduce the resistance and warm down...
What i found very professional about this video was with 13 minutes gone my new best friend from Oslo reappears and takes you off the bike to do some stretches, wishes you a great day and wanders off stage exit left...
Another milestone achieved, after the spin i guzzled some water and now warmed up fully and motivated from my 15 minutes with the bike i went out and completed my 10k steps for the day too...
Even today i am looking forward to hooking up with Norway man tonight for some more cardio abuse...
Remember i am 150kg+, smoke (for now) and haven't exercised in years so if i can do it anyone else can...
Good luck
Yes that's right, exactly 10 weeks after purchasing the fabled spin bike i took it for a spin last night, a day of serious inactivity sat at my desk spurred me on coupled with the fact that between me and you on Monday this week i'd put on 0.4kg over the weekend (amazing how a scare gets you going if you are feeling complacent), even though i put the slight weight gain down to the possibility of muscles developing from the running/waddling it still hit me hard.
So last night before my walk i opened the garage door, positioned the bike at the back so i was less visible to my neighbors to protect them from the gruesome sight that was to come, in front of the bike i put Ryans old high chair and popped my tablet on the tray, i found the beginners spin bike session i had favourited on You Tube, connected my Bluetooth speaker and positioned it behind the screen, hiked up the volume, made sure i was comfortable on the bike of death and hit play.
Aye well, wow, and as I previously stated cor, the guy in the video is cool, he is some mad, Nordic spin bike enthusiast, the backdrop is white and there are many colourful bars of progress digitally imposed on the screen around him, the music is just your bog standard garden variety banging gym Euro house, and he talks and motivates you as he takes you through the 15 minute workout, 15 minutes a doddle or so i thought, a man who is 150kg+ should not be seen on a spin bike, has no right to spin, this is intense cardio for goodness sake but i am prepared to give it a go.
The workout starts at low resistance, cycling at what must be 130 odd BPM, the Scandinavian crazy man cajoles you to add more resistance every now and then, reminds you to keep your shoulders loose and your bum in the back of the saddle, after 3 minutes the music drops it's BMP to say 110 and with increasing resistance added the loose shoulder but slower spinning goes on for another 3 minutes, as Mr Norway points out you should start to feel sweat building up on your forehead by now, keep breathing and feel those leg muscles work, as Tour de France man counts down the last 10 seconds of this section he announces it's now time to add even more resistance and get out of the saddle and work those upper leg muscles, apparently he will not tolerate it if your bum is swaying uncontrollably from side to side, you must keep your shoulders loose and continue to breath in through your nose like an actor in a decongestant advert and out through your mouth like an 1980's telephone pervert, with the BMP back at 130 and 2 minutes to go i am on the BOD (bike of death), my backside is all over the place, the breathing is making me dizzy and the frame of the spin bike is straining as it's feet rock from side to side, but i stay focused, from previous experience of stair masters, rowing machines and elliptical trainers it is at this point i tend to panic and start frantically looking for the time remaining read out, i find it and to my horror there are still over 7 total minutes of the 15 to go, i also spot his heart rate monitor reading 85bmp, i tap my watch and see mine is around 150, my mind races through all my stored expletives looking for an appropriate one to describe the situation i now find myself in but before i know it the Spandex Superman is counting down the final 10 seconds, so now my thoughts turn to 'what are we going to do for the last 6 minutes? The same again, please no not the same again' when the 2 minutes are up Norway's answer to Sir Bradley Wiggins (CBE) instructs me to get back in the saddle and to my absolute elation reduce the resistance and warm down...
What i found very professional about this video was with 13 minutes gone my new best friend from Oslo reappears and takes you off the bike to do some stretches, wishes you a great day and wanders off stage exit left...
Another milestone achieved, after the spin i guzzled some water and now warmed up fully and motivated from my 15 minutes with the bike i went out and completed my 10k steps for the day too...
Even today i am looking forward to hooking up with Norway man tonight for some more cardio abuse...
Remember i am 150kg+, smoke (for now) and haven't exercised in years so if i can do it anyone else can...
Good luck
Meals - Week 10.5
Hey good morning, i'm hiding in the world of blogs today, I've had my favourite breakfast, granola and strawberry yogurt, a fresh coffee is steaming away on my desk, i can feel the Friday vibe in the air all over the factory as my coworkers always seem to get a bit chirpier as the weekend crawls into view, quicker to say 'good morning' and have a certain spring in their step, the sun is out and table mountain looks as majestic as always...
And this morning i am extra chirpy (sickening isn't it) because i just weighed myself, i'm not going to kiss and tell just yet as I only report my weight once a month and also the weekend is here, so once the family breakfasts, lunches, nibbles in the afternoon are a fading memory i will weigh myself on Monday to see if the reading today was in fact accurate and my weight has regulated...
It is still blowing my mind that weight can be lost at similar rates to the media promoted, body beautiful, celebrity endorsed fad diets if the time honored tradition of reducing calories, eating smaller portions more often with a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and fats is followed. As a serial lo carb dieter i always thought lo cal would be too mathematically difficult to follow and maintain, this is proving at the moment to be wrong, sure though there is maybe an argument that i am so big and have lots to lose that any diet plan at this stage couldn't fail to work and there is a possibility as i get closer to my goal weight of 85kg (on that day the heavens will open and a beautiful rainbow will descend unto me, toned and in my speedo, heraldic music will play and unicorns will whisk me away to the land of green ginger...), i digress, yes as i get closer to my goal weight there is an argument for hitting a plateau and i will experience the same frustrations as everyone else in Normalville and start living off cardboard, cloth and cabbage to get the last few grams off?
However my counter argument is that my main goal is not the weight loss, anyone can lose weight in a number of funky ways no my main goal is that magical place called Maintenance, when i get the weight down and the baggy Cantona is indeed baggy i want the new me to continue to be wear the baggy Cantona for many years to come, I could not in the past manage to maintain a lo carb for life attitude for more than 8 months at a time, for me it always gets a bit boring missing out on carbs for any extended period after goal weight, but i could very well see myself maintaining a diet of 2100 +/- 10% calories for life, for that i get a hearty diverse breakfast, a morning snack, lunch plus a snack, an afternoon snack, a dinner plus dessert of sorts and still have room for a midnight feast (for 'feast' read bran flakes with lo fat milk), i know this to be true and all you have to do is read through my first month of daily meal posts to see the range of foods i meticulously blogged about, the vast diversity of those meals and snacks fills me with confidence that when i do land at maintenance i'll be able to hang around for a very long time without temptation getting the better of me, in fact i just counted the items in my food diary to date an there are 340 different items i have eaten over the past 10 weeks in various combinations so for me surely maintenance will be breeze.
And so i go on, i am honestly not trying to preach, in fact i detest that type of dieter, the one who asks if you are on a diet and when you answer yes they say 'me too' and spend the rest of the conversation trying to convince you that their way is the best way and you are doing it all wrong, and so and so said this and studies have found this.... mer... at dinner a couple of weeks ago i was sat with a good friend of mine who is following a shake driven, protein powered, i am putting on weight but it is muscle type diet, the sort of diet that sponsors American Major League soccer teams say in Los Angeles to be more precise, a couple sat at another table announced they were lo carbing, banting, they came over and joined us, all 4 of us were in the honeymoon period of of our diets of choice and so pumped about the paths we had each chosen, a debate fired up with all off us throwing advice at each other, questions were raised and accusations dealt out and i took a moment and stepped back from the ensuing diet fest AGM and thought 'all 4 of us are overweight, each one of us has found a way to kick off the weight loss, for us the obese it doesn't matter at this stage of each of our respective journeys who is right and who is wrong, maintenance can wait, and reaching maintenance is a huge out of this world goal achieved in itself, the most important thing to remember is everyone around this table has taken a choice to become healthier and as i full well know how difficult a decision that is to make whatever works for you works for you'.
I will follow that sentiment up with this though, although i stand by my thoughts that evening i still and believe them to be true a food addict can only maintain their goal weight by switching to a well balanced, calorie controlled, portion size conscious way of eating when they get there...
Have a lovely weekend chubbers... x
And this morning i am extra chirpy (sickening isn't it) because i just weighed myself, i'm not going to kiss and tell just yet as I only report my weight once a month and also the weekend is here, so once the family breakfasts, lunches, nibbles in the afternoon are a fading memory i will weigh myself on Monday to see if the reading today was in fact accurate and my weight has regulated...
It is still blowing my mind that weight can be lost at similar rates to the media promoted, body beautiful, celebrity endorsed fad diets if the time honored tradition of reducing calories, eating smaller portions more often with a balanced diet of carbs, proteins and fats is followed. As a serial lo carb dieter i always thought lo cal would be too mathematically difficult to follow and maintain, this is proving at the moment to be wrong, sure though there is maybe an argument that i am so big and have lots to lose that any diet plan at this stage couldn't fail to work and there is a possibility as i get closer to my goal weight of 85kg (on that day the heavens will open and a beautiful rainbow will descend unto me, toned and in my speedo, heraldic music will play and unicorns will whisk me away to the land of green ginger...), i digress, yes as i get closer to my goal weight there is an argument for hitting a plateau and i will experience the same frustrations as everyone else in Normalville and start living off cardboard, cloth and cabbage to get the last few grams off?
However my counter argument is that my main goal is not the weight loss, anyone can lose weight in a number of funky ways no my main goal is that magical place called Maintenance, when i get the weight down and the baggy Cantona is indeed baggy i want the new me to continue to be wear the baggy Cantona for many years to come, I could not in the past manage to maintain a lo carb for life attitude for more than 8 months at a time, for me it always gets a bit boring missing out on carbs for any extended period after goal weight, but i could very well see myself maintaining a diet of 2100 +/- 10% calories for life, for that i get a hearty diverse breakfast, a morning snack, lunch plus a snack, an afternoon snack, a dinner plus dessert of sorts and still have room for a midnight feast (for 'feast' read bran flakes with lo fat milk), i know this to be true and all you have to do is read through my first month of daily meal posts to see the range of foods i meticulously blogged about, the vast diversity of those meals and snacks fills me with confidence that when i do land at maintenance i'll be able to hang around for a very long time without temptation getting the better of me, in fact i just counted the items in my food diary to date an there are 340 different items i have eaten over the past 10 weeks in various combinations so for me surely maintenance will be breeze.
And so i go on, i am honestly not trying to preach, in fact i detest that type of dieter, the one who asks if you are on a diet and when you answer yes they say 'me too' and spend the rest of the conversation trying to convince you that their way is the best way and you are doing it all wrong, and so and so said this and studies have found this.... mer... at dinner a couple of weeks ago i was sat with a good friend of mine who is following a shake driven, protein powered, i am putting on weight but it is muscle type diet, the sort of diet that sponsors American Major League soccer teams say in Los Angeles to be more precise, a couple sat at another table announced they were lo carbing, banting, they came over and joined us, all 4 of us were in the honeymoon period of of our diets of choice and so pumped about the paths we had each chosen, a debate fired up with all off us throwing advice at each other, questions were raised and accusations dealt out and i took a moment and stepped back from the ensuing diet fest AGM and thought 'all 4 of us are overweight, each one of us has found a way to kick off the weight loss, for us the obese it doesn't matter at this stage of each of our respective journeys who is right and who is wrong, maintenance can wait, and reaching maintenance is a huge out of this world goal achieved in itself, the most important thing to remember is everyone around this table has taken a choice to become healthier and as i full well know how difficult a decision that is to make whatever works for you works for you'.
I will follow that sentiment up with this though, although i stand by my thoughts that evening i still and believe them to be true a food addict can only maintain their goal weight by switching to a well balanced, calorie controlled, portion size conscious way of eating when they get there...
Have a lovely weekend chubbers... x
Thursday, April 16, 2015
The Pants Project - Month 3
It's that time of the month again when a fat guy posts semi naked photos of himself on t'internet and i get over 300 hits...
Also this month on one persons advice i have added Month 1 for comparison purposes, except the new tattoo on my back i can't see much change but it's early days yet...
Also this month on one persons advice i have added Month 1 for comparison purposes, except the new tattoo on my back i can't see much change but it's early days yet...
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Exercise - Week 10
Aha, now we are on to the good stuff, in answer to what you are all probably thinking 'no' i have not given up, in fact i have progressed...
I am now sort of in a fashion doing something that loosely resembles running, i am in no way claiming to be the new Mo Farah and Usain Bolt your 9.58 second 100m is safe. But never the less i am beginning to self propel my immense body along the road at snail worrying speeds of up to 8km/h.
I am mixing up running with the walking so at first i set myself goals of running between lamposts or running from one block junction to another and so on, i started this exactly 2 months after i started the 10k steps per day goal, 4 reasons why, well number 1 is i need to start adding cardio training to my day, 2 is finding the time every day to walk 3-4km in one session is proving difficult so by adding the running i can half the time it takes to cover the distance i need to add to my daily routine, the 3rd reason is i am worried about saggy skin developing while my weight decreases so i need to do something to build or tone muscle and finally the 4th reason is i dream of the day i can go out and run a full 5km at a decent pace and not require the services of either a coroner or an ambulance and as with all things we have to start somewhere, some is better than none and to all the people i see sniggering at me as i wobble by at least i am trying.
So i have figured out a routine, i run for 100 paces then walk for 200 then run for a 100 paces and so on over approximately 2km, as the weeks go by i will increase the 100 paces ran by 10 at a time and similarly decrease the paces walked and see what happens.
Also following up on my last exercise post i had a word with myself and completed the 10k steps for the day and have done every day since. 10k steps even as a smoking unfit 150kg+ male is a doddle i promise you.
I am now sort of in a fashion doing something that loosely resembles running, i am in no way claiming to be the new Mo Farah and Usain Bolt your 9.58 second 100m is safe. But never the less i am beginning to self propel my immense body along the road at snail worrying speeds of up to 8km/h.
I am mixing up running with the walking so at first i set myself goals of running between lamposts or running from one block junction to another and so on, i started this exactly 2 months after i started the 10k steps per day goal, 4 reasons why, well number 1 is i need to start adding cardio training to my day, 2 is finding the time every day to walk 3-4km in one session is proving difficult so by adding the running i can half the time it takes to cover the distance i need to add to my daily routine, the 3rd reason is i am worried about saggy skin developing while my weight decreases so i need to do something to build or tone muscle and finally the 4th reason is i dream of the day i can go out and run a full 5km at a decent pace and not require the services of either a coroner or an ambulance and as with all things we have to start somewhere, some is better than none and to all the people i see sniggering at me as i wobble by at least i am trying.
So i have figured out a routine, i run for 100 paces then walk for 200 then run for a 100 paces and so on over approximately 2km, as the weeks go by i will increase the 100 paces ran by 10 at a time and similarly decrease the paces walked and see what happens.
Also following up on my last exercise post i had a word with myself and completed the 10k steps for the day and have done every day since. 10k steps even as a smoking unfit 150kg+ male is a doddle i promise you.
Meals - Week 10
Well the past 4 weeks have been a roller coaster,
I had a 2 week business trip to contend with which meant i had to negotiate some very tricky eating out options, for a food addict trying to stay focused when presented with a menu laced with unhealthy, large portioned, yummy treats is difficult to say the least especially if your dinner guests are 80kg, fit and healthy, a starter, main course polished off with a dessert is not just an offered choice but expected to be bought and paid for, it is equally challenging to try not to partake in the courses which sandwich the main, alcohol is also washed down liberally especially if the payer of the bill is not the guest but the supplier hosting i.e. me, which leads to all sorts of networking problems because in my experience great business connections are forged not only in the board room but also at the bottom of a bottle. However faced with such a challenge i saw it exactly like that a challenge, if you navigate the menu sensibly there are many items to be chosen which will not negatively affect the weight loss and portion size doesn't matter if the rules of eat slowly, chew the food, stop when you feel full and wait a minute or so after feeling full before piling another fork full in are followed. It is tough though, possibly the toughest of all situations any addict finds themselves in is the social get together. But stay strong, keep focused and always remember that the junk may look appetising but in reality it will most probably taste bland (especially chips) and just make you feel terribly guilty afterwards.
Also in the past 4 weeks i have had to navigate my 40th birthday (thank you), the cake, the 'go on it's your birthday, treat yourself' thoughts, the 'wayhay lets get wasted, it's a milestone birthday after all!'
Looking back on my food diary i did quite well on the day, my meals were as follows:
Breakfast: Strawberry yogurt and granola plus 30g of nuts, seeds and berries.
Morning snack: Apple/ginger booster juice plus a banana.
Lunch: Tuna pasta salad plus a handful of peanuts.
Afternoon snack: Apple
Dinner... cough... dinner, Shannon booked a table at our favourite Mexican restaurant, it is probably the best in Cape Town and a booking has to be made two weeks in advance to guarantee a table, they even call you on the morning of your booking to confirm you are still coming and send you a reminder sms, one thing i am starting to realise with calorie control is 'if in doubt give Mexican a shout', why?, well a tortilla is filling, corn tortilla is a healthy option, jalapenos, salsa, guacamole and small amounts of sour cream are lo-cal, chilli spices can raise the metabolism and all ingredients are fresh but also well balanced for protein, carbs and fats,
So my evening dinner was as follows:
3 x chilli poppers
3 Taco self filled with chilli beef, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and a little chedder cheese.
1/2 serving of 'go on it's your birthday' dark chocolate mousse
Drinks: Coffee and a large glass of water.
Total calories for evening meal: 856 calories
Total calories for the day: 2082 calories
I'll get on to Easter weekend later in the week... The evil choc fest that it is!
I had a 2 week business trip to contend with which meant i had to negotiate some very tricky eating out options, for a food addict trying to stay focused when presented with a menu laced with unhealthy, large portioned, yummy treats is difficult to say the least especially if your dinner guests are 80kg, fit and healthy, a starter, main course polished off with a dessert is not just an offered choice but expected to be bought and paid for, it is equally challenging to try not to partake in the courses which sandwich the main, alcohol is also washed down liberally especially if the payer of the bill is not the guest but the supplier hosting i.e. me, which leads to all sorts of networking problems because in my experience great business connections are forged not only in the board room but also at the bottom of a bottle. However faced with such a challenge i saw it exactly like that a challenge, if you navigate the menu sensibly there are many items to be chosen which will not negatively affect the weight loss and portion size doesn't matter if the rules of eat slowly, chew the food, stop when you feel full and wait a minute or so after feeling full before piling another fork full in are followed. It is tough though, possibly the toughest of all situations any addict finds themselves in is the social get together. But stay strong, keep focused and always remember that the junk may look appetising but in reality it will most probably taste bland (especially chips) and just make you feel terribly guilty afterwards.
Also in the past 4 weeks i have had to navigate my 40th birthday (thank you), the cake, the 'go on it's your birthday, treat yourself' thoughts, the 'wayhay lets get wasted, it's a milestone birthday after all!'
Looking back on my food diary i did quite well on the day, my meals were as follows:
Breakfast: Strawberry yogurt and granola plus 30g of nuts, seeds and berries.
Morning snack: Apple/ginger booster juice plus a banana.
Lunch: Tuna pasta salad plus a handful of peanuts.
Afternoon snack: Apple
Dinner... cough... dinner, Shannon booked a table at our favourite Mexican restaurant, it is probably the best in Cape Town and a booking has to be made two weeks in advance to guarantee a table, they even call you on the morning of your booking to confirm you are still coming and send you a reminder sms, one thing i am starting to realise with calorie control is 'if in doubt give Mexican a shout', why?, well a tortilla is filling, corn tortilla is a healthy option, jalapenos, salsa, guacamole and small amounts of sour cream are lo-cal, chilli spices can raise the metabolism and all ingredients are fresh but also well balanced for protein, carbs and fats,
So my evening dinner was as follows:
3 x chilli poppers
3 Taco self filled with chilli beef, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and a little chedder cheese.
1/2 serving of 'go on it's your birthday' dark chocolate mousse
Drinks: Coffee and a large glass of water.
Total calories for evening meal: 856 calories
Total calories for the day: 2082 calories
I'll get on to Easter weekend later in the week... The evil choc fest that it is!
Week 10 - Time to hit the scales
Hello again,
I've been so busy recently i have not had the spare time to justify blogging, as well as focusing on my weight loss and fitness i have been away on business and completed a couple of official ISO audits with Dekra, but now i am back i am going in with some hard facts to kick off my return, so here are the weight loss figures:
Weight 16/3: 156.6kg
Weight 15/4: 152.3kg
Weight lost in 4 weeks: 4.3kg
Weight loss total: 14.7kg
BMI 16/3: 48.3
BMI 15/4: 47.0
BMI week 10 improved by: 1.3
BMI total improved by: 4.5
BF% 16/3: 50.73%
BF% 15/4: 49.4%
BF% week 10 improved by: 1.33%
BF% total improved by: 4.57%
Weeks to go 52 out of 62
By losing 1 kg per week in the past 4 weeks i am ahead of my expected goal of losing only 0.5kg per week so i am happy and most of all i have not starved myself to get to 152.3kg, my next milestone is 150.3kg which will mean i have shed the first 10% of kg weight.
I've been so busy recently i have not had the spare time to justify blogging, as well as focusing on my weight loss and fitness i have been away on business and completed a couple of official ISO audits with Dekra, but now i am back i am going in with some hard facts to kick off my return, so here are the weight loss figures:
Weight 16/3: 156.6kg
Weight 15/4: 152.3kg
Weight lost in 4 weeks: 4.3kg
Weight loss total: 14.7kg
BMI 16/3: 48.3
BMI 15/4: 47.0
BMI week 10 improved by: 1.3
BMI total improved by: 4.5
BF% 16/3: 50.73%
BF% 15/4: 49.4%
BF% week 10 improved by: 1.33%
BF% total improved by: 4.57%
Weeks to go 52 out of 62
By losing 1 kg per week in the past 4 weeks i am ahead of my expected goal of losing only 0.5kg per week so i am happy and most of all i have not starved myself to get to 152.3kg, my next milestone is 150.3kg which will mean i have shed the first 10% of kg weight.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Exercise - Days 34-36
The problem with diets and people on diets is they only speak about the positives they are doing never the negatives, in my blogs i want to be as honest as possible, i need the people who read it to not only take some sort of inspiration away but also act as my conscience, you are the ones following my journey you understand the bold statements i have made and will be able to pick up on any hypocrisy within my musings and hopefully take me task for it.
Therefore yesterday i did no walking, no exercise, didn't hit my TDEE, i went to work, went home and sat in front of the tv all night, i did get an early night though which is a healthy thing to do i suppose.
Why no walking, i couldn't be bothered to be honest, and it is not like i didn't have the time available i just preferred not to.
This is the first time since i started this lifestyle change that i have not hit my daily goals (except when i had the Man Flu), so what is going on, am i at that point every dieter gets to when they see positive results and start taking their foot off the peddle, eye off the goal, i don't know.
I even heard myself procrastinating yesterday saying to myself 'do double tomorrow' and thought 'well i did 12000 yesterday so i have 2000 in the bank.'
I have already taken to also not blogging every day, but i think this is more to do with the initial excitement wearing off and now i am settling into a blog when i have something i want to share or say pattern.
Am i in a slump? I know from previous diets the first month goes quickly, steaming on, full of self motivation and then the slump happens, i become a bit complacent. The food side has not changed i am still on track with that, i just can't be faffed with walking about everywhere every day.
So by blogging about it I can reboot, re-assess and get back onto the matter in hand and that is my own personal fitness, tonight i am going to spin, remember the spin bike, blogged about all the way back in week one, well tonight i am jumping on it, going to spin for 30 minutes and see what happens. If i can't be bothered right now with keeping up the 10,000 steps every single day i have to substitute it with something else.
So i'll let you know how i got on tomorrow.
Therefore yesterday i did no walking, no exercise, didn't hit my TDEE, i went to work, went home and sat in front of the tv all night, i did get an early night though which is a healthy thing to do i suppose.
Why no walking, i couldn't be bothered to be honest, and it is not like i didn't have the time available i just preferred not to.
This is the first time since i started this lifestyle change that i have not hit my daily goals (except when i had the Man Flu), so what is going on, am i at that point every dieter gets to when they see positive results and start taking their foot off the peddle, eye off the goal, i don't know.
I even heard myself procrastinating yesterday saying to myself 'do double tomorrow' and thought 'well i did 12000 yesterday so i have 2000 in the bank.'
I have already taken to also not blogging every day, but i think this is more to do with the initial excitement wearing off and now i am settling into a blog when i have something i want to share or say pattern.
Am i in a slump? I know from previous diets the first month goes quickly, steaming on, full of self motivation and then the slump happens, i become a bit complacent. The food side has not changed i am still on track with that, i just can't be faffed with walking about everywhere every day.
So by blogging about it I can reboot, re-assess and get back onto the matter in hand and that is my own personal fitness, tonight i am going to spin, remember the spin bike, blogged about all the way back in week one, well tonight i am jumping on it, going to spin for 30 minutes and see what happens. If i can't be bothered right now with keeping up the 10,000 steps every single day i have to substitute it with something else.
So i'll let you know how i got on tomorrow.
Meals - Days 34-36
I am gladly still losing weight, having lost just over 10kg in the first month i'd like to share a few best bets with you, i understand the initial week one weight loss of around 4kg was due to mostly losing water weight but the other 6kg is a different matter, i didn't lose the 6kg by eating a pack of salty bacon every morning, handfuls of macadamia nuts throughout the day, boiled eggs for lunch and a tuna, spring onion, mayo mixture at night nor did i lose the weight drinking specialised milk shakes or eating only cabbage soup, kale or porridge, i have taken no supplements or new age fat burners, CLA tablets or appetite suppressants and my stomach is still in one piece and has not been surgically altered to be the size of a banana. And i tell you this that i have tried all of the above at some point in my life and i sit here today blogging about my journey to go from 167kg to 85kg, which in my mind is proof to me at least that the weight loss concepts above are only short term solutions. And interestingly enough i am finding that i am shedding weight at the same rate as i did previously following the fad diets with similar amount of personal effort the only difference being my meals are more diverse, i am feeling a lot healthier and i am more positive about future goal weight maintenance.
I did in December last year decide that surgery specifically bariatric was my only hope and i had convinced myself and the doctor that 'i've tried everything doctor, and gave it my all but i cannot seem to shed the weight, once i even went to the gym for 56 days in a row sometimes twice a day, i've lost 30kg only to put 40kg back on, it is as if i am allergic to carbs and fats and it goes straight to my backside, stomach and thighs, being fat is ruining my life and i am suffering mentally from it all.'
After extensive research of the surgery i decided for many reasons the cons outweighed the pros and had a word with myself, faced some home truths and eventually accepted the fact that i am a food addict and just like any other addicts i would have to face reality, make serious lifestyle changes and stop blaming everyone or everything else but me for my current condition.
So here are some best bets i have realised since i started this weight loss lifestyle, i understand that some maybe just me specific but i also understand and maintain that honestly and trust me if i can do it anyone can, i am very serious about this, i class myself as the bench mark obese guy and out there are many like me, there has to be, my situation cannot be unique. My best bets are for us, the morbidly obese they may not be of interest to anyone of a smaller size, they may not work but i am convinced the following is working for me and can work for anyone who is huge in size.
Best bets:
1. Portion control, reduce your portions to 25% of the original size you are used to eating, none of this size of a deck of playing cards, dice dimensions or a plate with guides on, just simply follow my golden rule that you can within reason eat whatever you like as long as visually you can estimate the size of the portion is smaller than what your pre-lifestyle change food addict would eat.
2. Stay away from anything which you know to be obviously unhealthy, it is not rocket science to determine that a pie is full of bad fats or a fizzy drink has too much sugar, anyone who is 167kg has to have a fair idea of the foods we ate and the amount we of those foods we ate contributed to our current size and simply cut them out and replace with healthier options.
3. Eat slowly, don't wolf food down without chewing it properly, enjoy every mouth full, satisfy your food addiction by savoring every 'hit' each morsel gives you.
4. Eat breakfast, if you can mix it up, try smoothies, granola with yogurt, all brans or bran flakes with semi skimmed milk, a piece of fruit, every fat person can surely relate to the issue of missed breakfast then by 10-11am meals that should be classed as lunch are consumed followed by a normal lunch at 1 o'clock?
5. Eat at 2/3 hour intervals, keep your metabolism interested, have breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and dinner even add an evening snack if you feel you have too.
6. Do not starve yourself, why would anyone do this especially a food addict, if you are hungry and it is at least 1 hour since you last ate and you are at least 3 weeks into your new regime, eat, no matter what time of the day, yes it is advised to lose weight avoid eating after 8pm but if your hungry and it is affecting your mental state therefore becoming detrimental to your overall weight loss regime have a snack, if you are lying in bed trying to get to sleep but hurting over mental hunger get something into your stomach, just make sure a late night snack is not stupid, half a cup of bran flakes with a splash of milk, an apple or a handful of unsalted nuts/raisins eaten individually does the job just fine, a chocolate bar, toast or chocolate biscuits does not.
7. Drink water, plenty of it, use it for hydration, cleansing and also filling your stomach between meals, i have 2 x 1 litre bottles i fill every night with tap water and put in the refrigerator for the following day, it takes me 60 seconds to prepare, 1 minute of filling water bottles is not much to sacrifice for a day of positive weight loss, even if you are in the anti tap water camp you can buy water and if like me buying water every day is a hassle, expensive and puts you into contact with purveyors of unhealthy food you can now buy reusable water bottles which have carbon filters built into them and they are not expensive and in some the filter is good for over 300 refills, if you have a water dispenser in the fridge, fill it and use it, when you are wandering around the kitchen opening and closing cupboards looking for a food fix have a glass of water, 3 mouth fulls of water from a 3rd off a glass does wonders for your appetite as well as all sorts of advantages for your skin, internal organs and weight loss.
8. Do not miss out, if you are invited to a party, eat, don't sit watching others at the buffet table while you sit punishing yourself mentally, it will make you sad and again this situation you find yourself in if not dealt with correctly could affect your over all weight loss, if there is a buffet set yourself a limit of the amount of items you can allow yourself to eat, when setting that limit always imagine what your unhealthy obese self would have demolished and eat at least 25% less, i went into this in more detail in a previous blog i limit myself to 3 items off the buffet, it helps. If your out and about and everyone you are with fancies some fast food join them, visualise what you used to eat, for me it would be a xlarge burger meal with a shake and an extra side, reduce this to a small burger, small fries, small water or at a push a small shake, for me eating a 32cm pizza in one go takes no effort at all, if the family wants pizza sure no worries but now i eat 1/4 instead of the whole thing. Meeting the in laws for a breakfast again no problem, instead of the hungryman breakfast where everything is doubled up served with chips have the early bird breakfast of 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 egg, a couple of mushrooms and a piece of toast, i've taken to having oatmeal porridge or fruit with yogurt and granola because sometimes it tastes better than a greasy fry up but i have to my recollection had one early bird type fried breakfast in the past month ( i used to have 1 a week, now 1 a month, 25% less.)
9. Keep healthy snacks in the house, i buy large 1kg bags of fruit, nut and seed mix from a factory shop i dispense them into a small dish that holds about 30g when i want a snack, have fruit available cold apples out of the fridge are great so are hard pears, bran flakes, simple biscuits like rich teas (marie biscuits) and only have 2 occasionally instead of half a packet a night, popcorn is a great low calorie snack, pop it yourself or even buy the microwave ones, i do, calorie wise they are not so bad but there is maybe an argument that chemically they are not good for you and i only eat popcorn 2 or 3 times a month, but we are 167kg a lot of damage has already been done, concentrate on that when we are 100kg, instead of eating the whole bag share half with someone else or put half in a zip lock bag/tupperware for a later date. If all you have in the house is junk then all you will go to when you are feeling down and hungry is junk, there is a fair amount of junk available in my house because i have small children and a partner who is of a healthy weight, by junk i mean my version of household junk such as white bread, chocolate biscuits, crisps, mini chedders, ice cream, sweeties that kind of thing which is no crime but to have an alternative available to me does really help.
10. Stay away from diet sodas, from what i have read and i may go into more detail about his in the future, diet fizzy drinks do more harm than good, they can effect you mentally due to the fake sugar tricking your brain into thinking it is getting sugar only for it to find out you pulled a fast one on it ending up with your brain looking for revenge by increasing your sugar cravings and laughing like a bond villain as you freak out and drink more and more diet soda, it is not refreshing and does little to quench a thirst and some studies are coming out that show it actually adds weight especially mass to stomach and waist areas. If you are to have a diet soda and i have in the past month, 1 can, do just that drink it in total moderation if you have to but make sure that it is 1% of the liquid you are consuming, have a can a month on a hot day for a change up in texture and flavour, to be honest i don't miss it but i am no saint i used to drink a litre a day, but a can every now and then is enjoyable.
I hope this helps, it has helped me to blog about it, get it down in writing so i can read it back and see how far i have come, just to reiterate i am reaching out to the obese here, the guys and gals like me, with 50%+ body fat, i understand that my best bets do not appeal to everyone and also some may disagree with them which is fine, but us obese food addicts need to start somewhere, all i can say is from my experience the above points are helping me, i have a history of failed diets following others advice, not every diet out there can be followed by a food addict without any mental strain, we are only losing weight after all there is no point making ourselves miserable while we are at it, we are after all miserable enough about the whole obese situation to start with.
In addition to my best bets, please also consider reading my previous blogs about BMI, BMR, calorie deficits and METs to give yourself even more ammunition for your battle with food addiction.
Good luck and never forget if i can do it anyone can!
I did in December last year decide that surgery specifically bariatric was my only hope and i had convinced myself and the doctor that 'i've tried everything doctor, and gave it my all but i cannot seem to shed the weight, once i even went to the gym for 56 days in a row sometimes twice a day, i've lost 30kg only to put 40kg back on, it is as if i am allergic to carbs and fats and it goes straight to my backside, stomach and thighs, being fat is ruining my life and i am suffering mentally from it all.'
After extensive research of the surgery i decided for many reasons the cons outweighed the pros and had a word with myself, faced some home truths and eventually accepted the fact that i am a food addict and just like any other addicts i would have to face reality, make serious lifestyle changes and stop blaming everyone or everything else but me for my current condition.
So here are some best bets i have realised since i started this weight loss lifestyle, i understand that some maybe just me specific but i also understand and maintain that honestly and trust me if i can do it anyone can, i am very serious about this, i class myself as the bench mark obese guy and out there are many like me, there has to be, my situation cannot be unique. My best bets are for us, the morbidly obese they may not be of interest to anyone of a smaller size, they may not work but i am convinced the following is working for me and can work for anyone who is huge in size.
Best bets:
1. Portion control, reduce your portions to 25% of the original size you are used to eating, none of this size of a deck of playing cards, dice dimensions or a plate with guides on, just simply follow my golden rule that you can within reason eat whatever you like as long as visually you can estimate the size of the portion is smaller than what your pre-lifestyle change food addict would eat.
2. Stay away from anything which you know to be obviously unhealthy, it is not rocket science to determine that a pie is full of bad fats or a fizzy drink has too much sugar, anyone who is 167kg has to have a fair idea of the foods we ate and the amount we of those foods we ate contributed to our current size and simply cut them out and replace with healthier options.
3. Eat slowly, don't wolf food down without chewing it properly, enjoy every mouth full, satisfy your food addiction by savoring every 'hit' each morsel gives you.
4. Eat breakfast, if you can mix it up, try smoothies, granola with yogurt, all brans or bran flakes with semi skimmed milk, a piece of fruit, every fat person can surely relate to the issue of missed breakfast then by 10-11am meals that should be classed as lunch are consumed followed by a normal lunch at 1 o'clock?
5. Eat at 2/3 hour intervals, keep your metabolism interested, have breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and dinner even add an evening snack if you feel you have too.
6. Do not starve yourself, why would anyone do this especially a food addict, if you are hungry and it is at least 1 hour since you last ate and you are at least 3 weeks into your new regime, eat, no matter what time of the day, yes it is advised to lose weight avoid eating after 8pm but if your hungry and it is affecting your mental state therefore becoming detrimental to your overall weight loss regime have a snack, if you are lying in bed trying to get to sleep but hurting over mental hunger get something into your stomach, just make sure a late night snack is not stupid, half a cup of bran flakes with a splash of milk, an apple or a handful of unsalted nuts/raisins eaten individually does the job just fine, a chocolate bar, toast or chocolate biscuits does not.
7. Drink water, plenty of it, use it for hydration, cleansing and also filling your stomach between meals, i have 2 x 1 litre bottles i fill every night with tap water and put in the refrigerator for the following day, it takes me 60 seconds to prepare, 1 minute of filling water bottles is not much to sacrifice for a day of positive weight loss, even if you are in the anti tap water camp you can buy water and if like me buying water every day is a hassle, expensive and puts you into contact with purveyors of unhealthy food you can now buy reusable water bottles which have carbon filters built into them and they are not expensive and in some the filter is good for over 300 refills, if you have a water dispenser in the fridge, fill it and use it, when you are wandering around the kitchen opening and closing cupboards looking for a food fix have a glass of water, 3 mouth fulls of water from a 3rd off a glass does wonders for your appetite as well as all sorts of advantages for your skin, internal organs and weight loss.
8. Do not miss out, if you are invited to a party, eat, don't sit watching others at the buffet table while you sit punishing yourself mentally, it will make you sad and again this situation you find yourself in if not dealt with correctly could affect your over all weight loss, if there is a buffet set yourself a limit of the amount of items you can allow yourself to eat, when setting that limit always imagine what your unhealthy obese self would have demolished and eat at least 25% less, i went into this in more detail in a previous blog i limit myself to 3 items off the buffet, it helps. If your out and about and everyone you are with fancies some fast food join them, visualise what you used to eat, for me it would be a xlarge burger meal with a shake and an extra side, reduce this to a small burger, small fries, small water or at a push a small shake, for me eating a 32cm pizza in one go takes no effort at all, if the family wants pizza sure no worries but now i eat 1/4 instead of the whole thing. Meeting the in laws for a breakfast again no problem, instead of the hungryman breakfast where everything is doubled up served with chips have the early bird breakfast of 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 egg, a couple of mushrooms and a piece of toast, i've taken to having oatmeal porridge or fruit with yogurt and granola because sometimes it tastes better than a greasy fry up but i have to my recollection had one early bird type fried breakfast in the past month ( i used to have 1 a week, now 1 a month, 25% less.)
9. Keep healthy snacks in the house, i buy large 1kg bags of fruit, nut and seed mix from a factory shop i dispense them into a small dish that holds about 30g when i want a snack, have fruit available cold apples out of the fridge are great so are hard pears, bran flakes, simple biscuits like rich teas (marie biscuits) and only have 2 occasionally instead of half a packet a night, popcorn is a great low calorie snack, pop it yourself or even buy the microwave ones, i do, calorie wise they are not so bad but there is maybe an argument that chemically they are not good for you and i only eat popcorn 2 or 3 times a month, but we are 167kg a lot of damage has already been done, concentrate on that when we are 100kg, instead of eating the whole bag share half with someone else or put half in a zip lock bag/tupperware for a later date. If all you have in the house is junk then all you will go to when you are feeling down and hungry is junk, there is a fair amount of junk available in my house because i have small children and a partner who is of a healthy weight, by junk i mean my version of household junk such as white bread, chocolate biscuits, crisps, mini chedders, ice cream, sweeties that kind of thing which is no crime but to have an alternative available to me does really help.
10. Stay away from diet sodas, from what i have read and i may go into more detail about his in the future, diet fizzy drinks do more harm than good, they can effect you mentally due to the fake sugar tricking your brain into thinking it is getting sugar only for it to find out you pulled a fast one on it ending up with your brain looking for revenge by increasing your sugar cravings and laughing like a bond villain as you freak out and drink more and more diet soda, it is not refreshing and does little to quench a thirst and some studies are coming out that show it actually adds weight especially mass to stomach and waist areas. If you are to have a diet soda and i have in the past month, 1 can, do just that drink it in total moderation if you have to but make sure that it is 1% of the liquid you are consuming, have a can a month on a hot day for a change up in texture and flavour, to be honest i don't miss it but i am no saint i used to drink a litre a day, but a can every now and then is enjoyable.
I hope this helps, it has helped me to blog about it, get it down in writing so i can read it back and see how far i have come, just to reiterate i am reaching out to the obese here, the guys and gals like me, with 50%+ body fat, i understand that my best bets do not appeal to everyone and also some may disagree with them which is fine, but us obese food addicts need to start somewhere, all i can say is from my experience the above points are helping me, i have a history of failed diets following others advice, not every diet out there can be followed by a food addict without any mental strain, we are only losing weight after all there is no point making ourselves miserable while we are at it, we are after all miserable enough about the whole obese situation to start with.
In addition to my best bets, please also consider reading my previous blogs about BMI, BMR, calorie deficits and METs to give yourself even more ammunition for your battle with food addiction.
Good luck and never forget if i can do it anyone can!
Monday, March 16, 2015
Week 4/5 - Time to hit the scales.
As i was 'dying' with Man Flu i didn't record my results last week so really the new results represent the last 2 weeks of my new lifestyle, also you may notice my BF% has nearly doubled, this was due to a mistake with the formula, i was subtracting the age portion from the BMI portion when i should have been adding them together, so the real equation for me looks like this:
(1.2 x BMI) + (0.23 x age in years) - (10.8 x gender) - 5.4
57.96 + 8.97 - 10.8 - 5.4 = BF% 50.73%
N.B. gender values are Male = 1 and Female = 0
Weight last week: 159.1kg
Weight today: 156.6kg
Weight lost week 5: 2.5kg
Weight lost total: 10.4kg
BMI last week: 49.1
BMI today: 48.3
BMI week 5 improved by: 0.8
BMI total improved: 3.2
BF%
BF% last week: 51.69%
BF% this week: 50.73%
BF% week 5 improved by: 0.96%
BF% total improved by: 3.24%
Weeks to go - 56 out of 62...
(1.2 x BMI) + (0.23 x age in years) - (10.8 x gender) - 5.4
57.96 + 8.97 - 10.8 - 5.4 = BF% 50.73%
N.B. gender values are Male = 1 and Female = 0
Weight last week: 159.1kg
Weight today: 156.6kg
Weight lost week 5: 2.5kg
Weight lost total: 10.4kg
BMI last week: 49.1
BMI today: 48.3
BMI week 5 improved by: 0.8
BMI total improved: 3.2
BF%
BF% last week: 51.69%
BF% this week: 50.73%
BF% week 5 improved by: 0.96%
BF% total improved by: 3.24%
Weeks to go - 56 out of 62...
Exercise - Day 33
As you may have read in 'Meals - Day 33' i contracted the debilitating and possibly near fatal Man Flu,
Between 5th and 12th of March not a lot of exercise took place, i slept more than i walked, when not sleeping i sat around feeling sorry for myself and became a veritable recluse only venturing out of the safety of my home for visits to the pharmacy to try various combinations of over the counter remedies in the hope my life could be spared.
It was a bit mental to be honest, on the 5th at 1500 hours my step count was 257! It if the count had not been so tragic the whole situation would have been funny.
The only helpful thing to come out of those 5 or 6 mostly bedridden days was the fact that i was able to monitor my BMR and TDEE (see blog Meals - Day 9 for more info), during this period of inactivity i still wore my fitness watch which was able to track my heart rate and level of METs, and sure enough it was kicking out figures of a daily total calorie burn of around 2900.
I am back on the horse now, well back in the trainers, my step count is back up over 10k per day, the family are once again enjoying outdoor excursions together and last night i started a light weights regime working on my arms by doing 6 reps of 20 baby bumps, basically the technique involves me lying on my back and whilst holding baby Ethan in my hands i then proceed to lifting him up to a straight arm position and then lowering him until i feel the strain on my biceps, holding this position for 2 seconds then repeating.
Don't worry no babies where harmed in this workout in fact baby Ethan appeared to really enjoy it with huge smiles and cute little noises, my only worry was Ethans propensity to vomit all over me whenever he comes near me which would have proved disastrous to my calorie intake if he had 'got me' when in such a vulnerable position. I wonder if their is a way of calculating calories in baby vomit?
Between 5th and 12th of March not a lot of exercise took place, i slept more than i walked, when not sleeping i sat around feeling sorry for myself and became a veritable recluse only venturing out of the safety of my home for visits to the pharmacy to try various combinations of over the counter remedies in the hope my life could be spared.
It was a bit mental to be honest, on the 5th at 1500 hours my step count was 257! It if the count had not been so tragic the whole situation would have been funny.
The only helpful thing to come out of those 5 or 6 mostly bedridden days was the fact that i was able to monitor my BMR and TDEE (see blog Meals - Day 9 for more info), during this period of inactivity i still wore my fitness watch which was able to track my heart rate and level of METs, and sure enough it was kicking out figures of a daily total calorie burn of around 2900.
I am back on the horse now, well back in the trainers, my step count is back up over 10k per day, the family are once again enjoying outdoor excursions together and last night i started a light weights regime working on my arms by doing 6 reps of 20 baby bumps, basically the technique involves me lying on my back and whilst holding baby Ethan in my hands i then proceed to lifting him up to a straight arm position and then lowering him until i feel the strain on my biceps, holding this position for 2 seconds then repeating.
Don't worry no babies where harmed in this workout in fact baby Ethan appeared to really enjoy it with huge smiles and cute little noises, my only worry was Ethans propensity to vomit all over me whenever he comes near me which would have proved disastrous to my calorie intake if he had 'got me' when in such a vulnerable position. I wonder if their is a way of calculating calories in baby vomit?
Meals - Day 33
You may be asking where have i been? Speculation has reached epic levels, 'has he fallen off the wagon and into a huge box of sausage rolls?' 'as usual the fat guy gives it all the large talk for the first 2 weeks then loses interest!' 'Did TBC lose so much weight so quickly he doesn't have the energy to even type out a blog?' 'has he decided fat is the new thin?' and so on but the truth is way more devastating than that, please allow me to tell you the dark tale of the poor dieter who got the dreaded Man Flu!
Man Flu exists, it has been proven (sort of, by random unqualified people on the internet), the virus can only be contracted with those with the XY chromosome i.e men and in no way can the severity of Man Flu be compared to normal flu which is a far less aggressive strain of flu which only targets those with the XX chromosome namely women, in fact in every unsubstantiated study it has been unofficially proven that women are in fact immune to the hateful, debilitating and near fatal strain of Man Flu only men are susceptible to contracting.
Wednesday the 4th of March, I remember that fateful day as if it was yesterday, the itchy nose and throat, the general miserableness of my behavior and the all telling sneezes, immediately i self diagnosed myself (as all men are qualified to do) with the onset of severe Man Flu, and as expected the following day i was man down, bedridden, shivering and contemplating who would attend my funeral, Shannon was informed immediately of my condition and reminded of it constantly for the following 6 days, potions were hastily provided; tablets, hot drinks, sprays, pillows were fluffed and the bedroom sealed off for obvious bio hazard reasons, TV remote controls were provided and an ad placed in the local paper warning others to leave me alone and only make contact with me if they had genuine messages of condolence, support and empathy.
I soldiered on for 6 long days, regularly drifting in and out of consciousness, sleep was my only friend and Man Flu was my nemesis.
Fortunately i made it through, i am now feeling much better but the legacy of Man Flu is still with me, the odd snotty nose, mild feverish moments during the day and my ears are constantly blocked. I am just happy i am still around to tell you the tale.
One thing i didn't do was feed the flu, i couldn't remember if you feed a flu and starve a fever so i prompted for the safer option to starve the fever, i kept up my 6 meals a day, managed to get plenty of fibre and other nutrients into my body, i raised my carb intake by 10% and made sure i was eating plenty of fruit for vitamin C, my only let down was i didn't drink my daily 2 litre plus of water per day and possibly the fact i was eating more after 7pm due to sleeping most of the day but even then i stayed away from anything with a high fat content.
I am back now, back on my meal plan proper and happy that i didn't let my food addiction get the better of me when i was at my lowest.
Regular service has been resumed.
Man Flu exists, it has been proven (sort of, by random unqualified people on the internet), the virus can only be contracted with those with the XY chromosome i.e men and in no way can the severity of Man Flu be compared to normal flu which is a far less aggressive strain of flu which only targets those with the XX chromosome namely women, in fact in every unsubstantiated study it has been unofficially proven that women are in fact immune to the hateful, debilitating and near fatal strain of Man Flu only men are susceptible to contracting.
Wednesday the 4th of March, I remember that fateful day as if it was yesterday, the itchy nose and throat, the general miserableness of my behavior and the all telling sneezes, immediately i self diagnosed myself (as all men are qualified to do) with the onset of severe Man Flu, and as expected the following day i was man down, bedridden, shivering and contemplating who would attend my funeral, Shannon was informed immediately of my condition and reminded of it constantly for the following 6 days, potions were hastily provided; tablets, hot drinks, sprays, pillows were fluffed and the bedroom sealed off for obvious bio hazard reasons, TV remote controls were provided and an ad placed in the local paper warning others to leave me alone and only make contact with me if they had genuine messages of condolence, support and empathy.
I soldiered on for 6 long days, regularly drifting in and out of consciousness, sleep was my only friend and Man Flu was my nemesis.
Fortunately i made it through, i am now feeling much better but the legacy of Man Flu is still with me, the odd snotty nose, mild feverish moments during the day and my ears are constantly blocked. I am just happy i am still around to tell you the tale.
One thing i didn't do was feed the flu, i couldn't remember if you feed a flu and starve a fever so i prompted for the safer option to starve the fever, i kept up my 6 meals a day, managed to get plenty of fibre and other nutrients into my body, i raised my carb intake by 10% and made sure i was eating plenty of fruit for vitamin C, my only let down was i didn't drink my daily 2 litre plus of water per day and possibly the fact i was eating more after 7pm due to sleeping most of the day but even then i stayed away from anything with a high fat content.
I am back now, back on my meal plan proper and happy that i didn't let my food addiction get the better of me when i was at my lowest.
Regular service has been resumed.
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Exercise - Day 22
Cape Town at 43 degrees Celsius was for a brief period the worlds hottest city yesterday, it is a simple fact of meteorology that when the wind doesn't blow in the Cape of Storms the mercury hits record heights, Tuesdays temperature was also Kapstaads hottest recorded day for over 100 years in light of that fact i didn't take a lunch time walk yesterday, Noel Coward may have sung about 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun' but this expat was staying put in his office with the fan on surrounded by empty bottles of chilled water, no way was i lugging myself around in that heat if i had braved it and gone out i may well of been writing todays blog from a hospital bed having to over hear doctors and nurses referring to me as a daft tourist...
Luckily though after 6pm the temp dropped and with still no wind on the cards it was perfect weather to hit the beach with the family for a stomp, we walked the opposite direction to last time past the rock pools full of kids armed with small nets and buckets, we strolled past the locals who are in the know sat round their portable tables adorned with brightly coloured table cloths and picnic fair and watched the sun disappearing over Robin Island after it's long day of baking Cape Town to a crisp.
The period just after sunset on the beach is magical, photographers refer to is as 'The Golden Hour' because the light reddens and softens giving everything a rose tinted spectacle look to it.
So we walked 4km, i hit my step goal for the day, walking in the soft sand gave my upper legs are well needed workout, Ryan got soaking wet, Shannon looked hot in her white cap, big sunglasses, pink top and shorts and everyone had a fun time,
Apparently this constitutes exercise, i find this very appealing as exercise to me in the past has always meant near killing myself with a heart rate of 180bmp on a stair-master in a smelly gym!
Luckily though after 6pm the temp dropped and with still no wind on the cards it was perfect weather to hit the beach with the family for a stomp, we walked the opposite direction to last time past the rock pools full of kids armed with small nets and buckets, we strolled past the locals who are in the know sat round their portable tables adorned with brightly coloured table cloths and picnic fair and watched the sun disappearing over Robin Island after it's long day of baking Cape Town to a crisp.
The period just after sunset on the beach is magical, photographers refer to is as 'The Golden Hour' because the light reddens and softens giving everything a rose tinted spectacle look to it.
So we walked 4km, i hit my step goal for the day, walking in the soft sand gave my upper legs are well needed workout, Ryan got soaking wet, Shannon looked hot in her white cap, big sunglasses, pink top and shorts and everyone had a fun time,
Apparently this constitutes exercise, i find this very appealing as exercise to me in the past has always meant near killing myself with a heart rate of 180bmp on a stair-master in a smelly gym!
Most people picture exercise to be like this...
...when sometimes it can be like this!
Meals - Day 22
Shhhh be careful, don't talk about this too loudly they might hear you!!!
Advertisers know i am on a diet, i don't know how they found out but they know, i know they know and once i have finished todays blog they will know i know they know...
I am not paranoid either, food adverts are all over my daily life all of a sudden, huge billboards are starting to appear like shining gateways of joy on my route to work, big juicy burgers with fresh lettuce and gleaming tomato slices jump out at me from every advertising hoarding, vans and trucks drive along side me tempting me with crisps, fizzy drinks and chocolates, the advertisers have even stooped as low as putting sign toting people on street corners with pointy arrows to guide me to fast food relief.
And it is not just in the real world either, the virtual world online is stalking my every move, when i check my gmail i have to make a choice of reading my inbox or salivating over a banner ad for fish and chips, i read the daily news which is super imposed over and next to the latest sweet pastry based combination that shouldn't work but it does fad (fish paste stuffed eclairs anyone?).
Even social media is out to get me, my buzzfeed is littered with posts such as 'top 10 things to do with chocolate' or 'pies to try before you die', facebook keeps suggesting fine dining restaurants to me and twitter's latest campaign is directed at promoting the latest food blog account.
It's a minefield out there for us food addicts, any dieter who can resist the natural urges to fall to their knees, stuffing a sausage roll into their mouth whilst screaming 'I can't take it anymore, you win, what is the point of trying' is a saintly hero in my books, but i keep resisting the cravings, i will get through this, yes the fish and chips in the ad look like the creation of a master chef or the cheeseburger has award winning looks but at the end of the day in reality the fish will be full of bones, the batter will fall off, the chips will be greasy and over salted and the burger will look like it has been sat on for an hour so right now i would rather eat something a bit more appealing.
Like yesterdays meals which were as follows:
Breakfast: Strawberry smoothie with granola.
Mid morning snack: Biltong plus a pear.
Lunch: Low GI mushroom, pepper & cheese macaroni plus a handfull of trail mix.
Afternoon snack: Apple at 3pm, single slice peanut butter sandwich at 5pm.
Dinner: Peanut satay chicken with oriental stir fry.
Dessert: Caramel swirl cheesecake.
Drinks: 3.5 litres of water, 2 coffees and 1 green tea.
Total calories: 1872 calories
Advertisers know i am on a diet, i don't know how they found out but they know, i know they know and once i have finished todays blog they will know i know they know...
I am not paranoid either, food adverts are all over my daily life all of a sudden, huge billboards are starting to appear like shining gateways of joy on my route to work, big juicy burgers with fresh lettuce and gleaming tomato slices jump out at me from every advertising hoarding, vans and trucks drive along side me tempting me with crisps, fizzy drinks and chocolates, the advertisers have even stooped as low as putting sign toting people on street corners with pointy arrows to guide me to fast food relief.
And it is not just in the real world either, the virtual world online is stalking my every move, when i check my gmail i have to make a choice of reading my inbox or salivating over a banner ad for fish and chips, i read the daily news which is super imposed over and next to the latest sweet pastry based combination that shouldn't work but it does fad (fish paste stuffed eclairs anyone?).
Even social media is out to get me, my buzzfeed is littered with posts such as 'top 10 things to do with chocolate' or 'pies to try before you die', facebook keeps suggesting fine dining restaurants to me and twitter's latest campaign is directed at promoting the latest food blog account.
It's a minefield out there for us food addicts, any dieter who can resist the natural urges to fall to their knees, stuffing a sausage roll into their mouth whilst screaming 'I can't take it anymore, you win, what is the point of trying' is a saintly hero in my books, but i keep resisting the cravings, i will get through this, yes the fish and chips in the ad look like the creation of a master chef or the cheeseburger has award winning looks but at the end of the day in reality the fish will be full of bones, the batter will fall off, the chips will be greasy and over salted and the burger will look like it has been sat on for an hour so right now i would rather eat something a bit more appealing.
Like yesterdays meals which were as follows:
Breakfast: Strawberry smoothie with granola.
Mid morning snack: Biltong plus a pear.
Lunch: Low GI mushroom, pepper & cheese macaroni plus a handfull of trail mix.
Afternoon snack: Apple at 3pm, single slice peanut butter sandwich at 5pm.
Dinner: Peanut satay chicken with oriental stir fry.
Dessert: Caramel swirl cheesecake.
Drinks: 3.5 litres of water, 2 coffees and 1 green tea.
Total calories: 1872 calories
"WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE!!!!"
Tuesday, March 03, 2015
Exercise - Day 21
I was out of office for most of yesterday afternoon running errands here, there and everywhere so hitting my 10k step count for the day was easy and passed with no real effort.
So after work last night there was no real need for me to go out for a walk, or was there?
Sat on the bed reading my fitness app stats for the day i could see i had indeed hit 10,000 steps but my activity minutes were very low for the day, below the 30 minutes of light to moderate activity per day recommended by The American Heart Institution.
How does my app know that i have not completed enough activity minutes for the day? By measuring Metabolic Equivalents (METs)...
What are METs?
A MET is a unit representing the amount of oxygen used by the body during any physical activity, 1 MET is equal to the amount of oxygen used by the body whilst in a sedentary state of lying in bed and surviving for 1 hour, to calculate how many calories burned by 1 MET we have to go back to my blog Meals - Day 9 and calculate our Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR).
My BMR as i am right now is 2991.51 per day and to find my BMR per hour i divide that figure by 24 hours
2991.51/24 = BMR 124.65p/h
So with a sedentary MET of 1 the amount of calories i burn per hour being alive and doing not much else are 124.65 calories.
For me to work out my BMR per minute i divide BMR p/h by 60 minutes:
124.64/60 = BMR 2.08p/min
I now know i burn 2.08 calories per minute in a sedentary state.
So now i go about my daily business of getting dressed, brushing my teeth, commuting, working, walking etc i move out of sedentary and into categories such as:
Light intensity activities.
Moderate intensity activities.
Vigorous intensity activities.
Luckily for us Dr Bill Haskell from Stanford University in the USA devised a basic chart which shows the various METs and to which activity they are associated with:
Light intensity activities such as;
Sleeping: 0.9
Watching television: 1.0
Writing, desk work, typing: 1.8
Walking, 2.7km/h on level ground, strolling, very slow: 2.3
Walking, 4km/h: 2.9
Moderate intensity activities;
Bicycling, stationary, 50 watts, very light effort: 3.0
Walking, 4.8km/h: 3.0
Calisthenics, home exercise, light or moderate effort: 3.5
Walking, 5.5km/h: 3.6
Bicycling, 16km/h, leisure, to work as pleasure: 4.0
Bicycling, stationary, 100 watts, light effort: 5.5
Vigorous intensity activities;
Jogging, general: 7.0
Calisthenics (e.g. push ups, sit ups, pull ups, jumping jacks), heavy, vigorous effort: 8.0
Running jogging, in place: 8.0
Rope jumping: 10.0
There are many other categories from ironing clothes to mountaineering, gardening to deep sea diving, use a search engine and search for "The Compendium of Physical Activities Guide" for an extensive .pdf file available for download.
So how many calories am i burning when completing tasks or exercises on the activities guide? I multiply my BMR/min by the minutes i spend in the activity zones for example if i was to walk for 30 minutes at a consistent speed of 4.8km/h i would calculate my calorie burn as follows:
(2.08 BMR/min x 3.0 MET) x 30min = 187 calories burned per 30 minutes of walking.
Back to the matter in hand, my activity minutes, i could see i was 17 minutes short at 1800 hours last night, so i went out took a good 30 minute walk with Ryan, i even did a bit of running!!! (a very small bit mind!), i'll save that story for another day.
So after work last night there was no real need for me to go out for a walk, or was there?
Sat on the bed reading my fitness app stats for the day i could see i had indeed hit 10,000 steps but my activity minutes were very low for the day, below the 30 minutes of light to moderate activity per day recommended by The American Heart Institution.
How does my app know that i have not completed enough activity minutes for the day? By measuring Metabolic Equivalents (METs)...
What are METs?
A MET is a unit representing the amount of oxygen used by the body during any physical activity, 1 MET is equal to the amount of oxygen used by the body whilst in a sedentary state of lying in bed and surviving for 1 hour, to calculate how many calories burned by 1 MET we have to go back to my blog Meals - Day 9 and calculate our Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR).
My BMR as i am right now is 2991.51 per day and to find my BMR per hour i divide that figure by 24 hours
2991.51/24 = BMR 124.65p/h
So with a sedentary MET of 1 the amount of calories i burn per hour being alive and doing not much else are 124.65 calories.
For me to work out my BMR per minute i divide BMR p/h by 60 minutes:
124.64/60 = BMR 2.08p/min
I now know i burn 2.08 calories per minute in a sedentary state.
So now i go about my daily business of getting dressed, brushing my teeth, commuting, working, walking etc i move out of sedentary and into categories such as:
Light intensity activities.
Moderate intensity activities.
Vigorous intensity activities.
Luckily for us Dr Bill Haskell from Stanford University in the USA devised a basic chart which shows the various METs and to which activity they are associated with:
Light intensity activities such as;
Sleeping: 0.9
Watching television: 1.0
Writing, desk work, typing: 1.8
Walking, 2.7km/h on level ground, strolling, very slow: 2.3
Walking, 4km/h: 2.9
Moderate intensity activities;
Bicycling, stationary, 50 watts, very light effort: 3.0
Walking, 4.8km/h: 3.0
Calisthenics, home exercise, light or moderate effort: 3.5
Walking, 5.5km/h: 3.6
Bicycling, 16km/h, leisure, to work as pleasure: 4.0
Bicycling, stationary, 100 watts, light effort: 5.5
Vigorous intensity activities;
Jogging, general: 7.0
Calisthenics (e.g. push ups, sit ups, pull ups, jumping jacks), heavy, vigorous effort: 8.0
Running jogging, in place: 8.0
Rope jumping: 10.0
There are many other categories from ironing clothes to mountaineering, gardening to deep sea diving, use a search engine and search for "The Compendium of Physical Activities Guide" for an extensive .pdf file available for download.
So how many calories am i burning when completing tasks or exercises on the activities guide? I multiply my BMR/min by the minutes i spend in the activity zones for example if i was to walk for 30 minutes at a consistent speed of 4.8km/h i would calculate my calorie burn as follows:
(2.08 BMR/min x 3.0 MET) x 30min = 187 calories burned per 30 minutes of walking.
Back to the matter in hand, my activity minutes, i could see i was 17 minutes short at 1800 hours last night, so i went out took a good 30 minute walk with Ryan, i even did a bit of running!!! (a very small bit mind!), i'll save that story for another day.
Meals - Day 21
3 weeks in already, time flies when your not eating buns...
For the whole of last year i felt terrible, extremely unhealthy, i couldn't sleep properly normally waking up 4 to 5 times a night and experiencing madcap lucid dreams, my pillow would be soaked wet through and stink like a damp towel, at one point Shannon bought me a special anti bacterial pillow from a local pharmacy and waterproof pillow protectors. I would and could sleep for up to 12 hours in one go and wake still feel grotty and tired, at times i would spend all day in bed slipping in and out of consciousnesses but this made no difference to my energy levels. My mood swings were shocking, i was always down in the dumps and physically i was experiencing hot flushes, sweating profusely to the point i had to carry tissues around to mop my brow and neck and my hands and fingers would swell up and become painfully itchy.
The sleep issue i put down to a stressful year in business, we had opened a new division which came with the usual 'will it be as successful as the data shows' thoughts, a large supply contract to a good customer in transition was being negotiated and i had an unfortunate falling out with another large customer constantly playing on my mind. The constant tiredness i explained as part of my diagnosed depression and anxiety which i will explain in greater detail sometime in the future. The hot flushes i thought were being caused by a serious long term bout of severe man flu and the swollen hands and itchiness i couldn't pin down but it was explained to me that it could have been an allergic reaction to something maybe the chemicals i put in the swimming pool.
As the symptoms worsened the more angry about the whole situation i got, i could see it was affecting the whole family and i decided once and for all go and see the GP, be as open and honest about my issues as possible and try and get a diagnosis.
At first the GP thought i maybe had TB and suggested a chest x-ray and he also recommended i see a physician for further diagnosis, woo hoo i thought hoping i had a curable disease which was the answer to all my problems including my weight issue, what if all these years i have been carrying around a medical issue which has made me feel and look like this, it wasn't to be, the physician diagnosed me with possible sleep apnea, at first i was dubious and heartbroken i didn't have a one pill fixes all problem, the physician booked me in for a sleep study and 2 weeks later i found myself in hospital with a number of monitors strapped to me recording heart rate, breathing and the oxygen levels in my blood, wow my lifestyle had landed me in hospital! The results of the study showed i was stopping breathing up to 60 times an hour and my blood oxygen level was at 55%, severe sleep apnea was diagnosed.
3 weeks later i was back in hospital to trial a ventilator to ease the apnea, so now my lifestyle had led me to having to sleep with a machine to aid breathing, when the realization that i would have to use this machine for the rest of my life dawned on me and a friend asked me 'how my oxygen machine was working out' to say i was embarrassed and ashamed with myself is an understatement, it was at this point i took the signs as the final straw and decided to man up and take my food addiction on in the correct manner once and for all, i put this change in thinking down to many things like personal vanity, being pragmatic about my many medical conditions, standard of happiness within the family unit and the fact that the ventilator had indeed made a difference by finally regulating my blood oxygen levels which in turn gave me the get up and go to realise my failings and do something about it, hence the change in lifestyle.
There are many reasons i chose to take on this epic journey to better health and at some point over the next 50 odd weeks i will cover them all but number 1 was the final push that the feelings and thoughts plus proper diagnoses of sleep apnea brought on.
I had to rush off at 1130 yesterday so i missed my prepped lunch and had to improvise so Mondays meals were as follows:
Breakfast: Homemade granola with blueberry yogurt.
Mid morning snack: Sour cherry & apple juice booster plus a banana.
Lunch: Beef strips & jalapeno wrap with guacamole, sour cream & salsa.
Afternoon snack: Trail mix plus a bowl of bran flakes with semi skimmed milk.
Dinner: Chicken & calamari vegetable pilaf.
Desert: Baked apple.
Evening snack: Small portion of popcorn.
Drinks: 3.2 litres of water, 4 coffees.
Total calories: 1946 calories.
Monday, March 02, 2015
Week 3 - Time to hit the scales
Well well well, i was freaking out about todays weigh in, it is not that i have been eating outwith my set parameters but as i am 160kg+ i understandably still feel big, fat and uncomfortable but look below it seems i had nothing to worry about and i am happy i am losing the weight nice and slowly, for the record though my last weigh in was 4 days late on the Thursday instead of the Monday:
Weight last week: 161.1kg
Weight today: 159.1kg
Weight lost week 2: 1kg
Weight lost total 7.9kg
BMI last week: 49.4
BMI today: 49.1
BMI week 3 improved by: 0.3
BMI total improved by: 2.4
BF%
BF% last week: 34.11%
BF% this week: 33.74%
BF% week 3 improved by: 0.37%
BF% total improved by: 2.89%
Weeks to go 58 out of 62...
Weight last week: 161.1kg
Weight today: 159.1kg
Weight lost week 2: 1kg
Weight lost total 7.9kg
BMI last week: 49.4
BMI today: 49.1
BMI week 3 improved by: 0.3
BMI total improved by: 2.4
BF%
BF% last week: 34.11%
BF% this week: 33.74%
BF% week 3 improved by: 0.37%
BF% total improved by: 2.89%
Weeks to go 58 out of 62...
Exercise - Days 18, 19 and 20
It's official i am according to my fitness app a Weekend Warrior, 30,980 steps Saturday and Sunday, my weekly total Monday to Sunday last week was a foot blistering 97,074, in the space of one month i have added 50,000+ steps to my weekly routine, for a man who is still carrying around 160kg+ i think this is a great effort and i am proud of myself for keeping the walking going.
On the app i use it allows me to compare my data next to a demographic of choice of others using the app which for me is Male, 35 to 44 years, Obese, last weeks 97,000 steps was 189% more than the median average of guys my age and size, even compared to Male, Any age, Any size i am clocking up an extra 61,000 steps rated at 180% more... I walked 77km in total, for 77,000 metres i lugged this massive pile of fat, muscle and bones around, my feet are killing me...
Get a fitness app, it can give you a great boost if you think you are not doing enough and it also stops you for doing too much and if you are lazy like me this data is greatly appreciated.
On Saturday i dropped my car off at the car wash this time and walked home accompanied by Ryan on his bicycle, the walk is about 4km so Ryan did really well, sort of, well he did but as expected i carried his bicycle the last 1.5km because his legs were hurting, however a small weights workout never did anyone any harm.
We are very lucky, for 3 years the main arterial road feeding traffic in and out of our area was a nightmare due to road works specifically the building of dedicated bus lanes for the new Rapid Transport System, the diggers, tractors and fag smoking propped up on shovels staring at cell phone screens construction crews have gone but they have left a fantastic landscaped walk hosting urban art right up the middle of the bus lanes which hits a distance of 5km, safe and not taxing at all (remember if i can do it at 160kg then anyone can)...
Here are some photos of our ride/sherpa-esque walk/hike back home from the car wash...
On the app i use it allows me to compare my data next to a demographic of choice of others using the app which for me is Male, 35 to 44 years, Obese, last weeks 97,000 steps was 189% more than the median average of guys my age and size, even compared to Male, Any age, Any size i am clocking up an extra 61,000 steps rated at 180% more... I walked 77km in total, for 77,000 metres i lugged this massive pile of fat, muscle and bones around, my feet are killing me...
Get a fitness app, it can give you a great boost if you think you are not doing enough and it also stops you for doing too much and if you are lazy like me this data is greatly appreciated.
On Saturday i dropped my car off at the car wash this time and walked home accompanied by Ryan on his bicycle, the walk is about 4km so Ryan did really well, sort of, well he did but as expected i carried his bicycle the last 1.5km because his legs were hurting, however a small weights workout never did anyone any harm.
We are very lucky, for 3 years the main arterial road feeding traffic in and out of our area was a nightmare due to road works specifically the building of dedicated bus lanes for the new Rapid Transport System, the diggers, tractors and fag smoking propped up on shovels staring at cell phone screens construction crews have gone but they have left a fantastic landscaped walk hosting urban art right up the middle of the bus lanes which hits a distance of 5km, safe and not taxing at all (remember if i can do it at 160kg then anyone can)...
Here are some photos of our ride/sherpa-esque walk/hike back home from the car wash...
Ryan rode this hill under the bridge 4 times...
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Meals - Days 18, 19, 20
The weekend has come and gone, for me i think i controlled my eating the scales will tell me yes or no later.
I am getting the hang of this portion control story though, when out at the weekend all i have to do when i order a meal is stay away from obvious fatty foods like chips and burgers and even then i am getting myself into the habit of picturing what the chubbier me would have ordered one month ago and going for less helpings or smaller portions, two weekends ago i even had a McDonald's, granted i didn't munch my usual large quarter pounder cheese deluxe meal with a strawberry milkshake and a side of 6 nuggets plus an extra dip nope i had a kids meal (without the box or the plastic toy although the toy was a clockwork eyeball so in hind sight i wish i could have got one instead of having to share Ryans) the meal consisted of a simple cheese burger and small fries with water for the drink, now i worked for McDonalds for 10 years prior to coming to South Africa so i am no stranger to the humble cheeseburger or three but for the first time since possibly my first ever cheeseburger i savored every mouthful, i ate it in as many as 10 bites which has beaten my personal best for eating one in the most bites by 9.
My only gripe was the pickle was not in the middle and the re-hydrated onions were over to one side so i didn't get the 'full flavour experience in every bite' (quote courtesy of my old Franchisee.)
On Saturday we took Ryan and Ethan to the Community Carnival, a festival of food, drink and fairground rides, after queuing a total of 1 hour for two rides which once going lasted 3 minutes tops it was time to have a munch, we wandered around the stalls promoting their own countries such as India, China, Bulgaria but plumped for Germany, bratwurst roll with sauerkraut and mustard, the Germans sure know how to make a decent sausage and as i once said to my bemused flatmate "you know me mate, i'm a hard man to please with a sausage" Maaaaatron, much sniggering followed that comment!
Imagine my shock when i logged the bratwurst roll into my meal diary and saw one bratwurst registering at 300 calories, one roll at 308 calories and the sauerkraut plus mustard rounding off the total by an extra 20, i didn't beat myself up over it because i know full well the previous festival 2 years ago i had 2 plus a beer before heading off to Holland for many croquettes and appleflappens...
Portion control, it doesn't have to be this hard...
Fridays meals were as follows:
Breakfast: Homemade granola with strawberry yogurt.
Mid morning snack: Triple berry smoothie plus a pear.
Lunch: Low GI spaghetti with spinach and pesto plus 6 small rice cakes.
Afternoon snack: Apple at 3pm and 1 slice peanut butter sandwich at 5pm.
Dinner: Low GI roasted red pepper, lean bacon, chicken and baby marrow pasta.
Desert: Amarula cheesecake.
Evening snack: Bran flakes with semi skimmed milk.
Drinks: 2.6 litres of water, 2 coffees and 1 green tea.
Total calories: 1828 calories.
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