Days 33 to 50 – 11th February to 28th February 2012

Hello everybody! 

I’m been very undisciplined regarding the blog for a couple of weeks now, as those of you who take an interest may have noticed. In fact I’ve actually written the blog post offline twice but didn’t quite finish it and the moment passed by without publication. As I am now at Day 50 in this change of lifestyle it seems a good moment to pull my finger out and update the blog ! Maybe some bullet points are the best way to summarise the salient points since the last blog post.

·         Clare & I had a great night out on the 11^th February and it’s fair to say that I broke several dietary rules!  I had already decided that I wasn’t going to worry about the weigh-in consequences. Read on for the results

·         Despite the above I still haven’t had beer since 7^th January !

·         I’m back on full weights at the gym and my previously reported back injury has been more or less fine until …… I got back on the cross trainer!  It was really bad after that and, even though I enjoy that type of exercise, I won’t be back on it again for a while.

·         Have been using the pedometer for 22 days now and the results have made me think about how active I am at the weekend. I’ve made some changes, but not on a regular basis as of yet.

·         I’ve stopped taking diet drinks. Maybe this is too paranoid. See the Food section for details.

·         Continuing with the nuts for snacks approach. They are great and they take the edge off hunger really effectively.

·         For some reason last weekend I got incredible cravings for everything that I shouldn’t have. Choco, wine, beer, toast, potatoes, chips !!  Still don’t know what was the catalyst for this as it’s usually never that bad as constantly as it was. However I resisted temptation and going back to the gym seemed to sort it out.   

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Well, the night out with Clare (which included, amongst other things, lots of wine and Jaeger bombs) did seem to have an impact on my weekly weight change. The Tuesday weigh-in after it showed my lowest weekly drop in weight since I started this regime (0.7kg). At least it’s still going in the right direction, and I haven’t plateaued yet as you’ll see from the graph below.

FOOD
I had introduced some standard paragraphs into this section in previous posts, but I’ve decided to ditch them and to become a bit more random again. Partly because I didn’t always have content for each sub-section!

I want to explore further my earlier statement about not taking diet drinks any more. I have read(!) that taking diet drinks might not be so good for a couple of reasons.

1.       They are made from chemical rubbish which isn’t really any good for you.

2.       They stimulate your pancreas by fooling it into thinking you need to process sugar. This can gave you a greater craving for the real thing.

Any thoughts on this? At the moment San Pellegrino is my favourite tipple!

EXERCISE
It’s been pedometer crazy ! (well, not quite)

Obviously a pedometer counts the number of steps you do, but it will also extrapolate other data if you provide it with additional information. For example, it can use your average stride length to calculate the distance you’re covering and it can use your age and weight to estimate the number of calories you are burning. However, when I started using it on the treadmill in the gym I quickly noticed that not all strides are created equally. Seems obvious really but your running stride is significantly longer than the walking stride. In my case my average when walking is 60cm, but when running it’s 85cm! I was able to work this out by triangulating the distance covered as shown on the treadmill with the number of steps and the distance travelled as shown on the pedometer. The stats below take this into account where appropriate.

The stats below also show the huge difference in steps taken during the week and at the weekend. Especially the aerobic steps (which are fast walking or running). You’ll see that I’ve already taken steps (ho ho ho) one weekend to improve things, but I need to introduce this more regularly.

Losing the will to live yet? J

Bye !

Days 26 to 32 – 4th February to 10th February 2012

Hello everybody! 

Another week has passed and I’ve finally got myself a pedometer!  I have been very impressed with the Omron pedometer that I bought from Argos for 14.99 GBP.  There are more details of its results in the Exercise section, but I can tell you that I’ve put it through some fairly rigorous testing and it’s pretty damn accurate in terms of steps, distance covered and calories burned.  I have to confess I was initially skeptical about the effectiveness of these devices, but I am a convert.  If you would like to have a nosey, here is a link.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500002951&langId=-1&searchTerms=9279430

I’ve also been sent a link by Eugene for the Sheraton Fitness website. It has some very useful fitness tips for travellers and it is worth checking out. Here’s the link.

               

http://sheratonfitness.com/#tips

More good news on the weight loss front, although this may be tested at the next Tuesday weigh in. I’m going on a date with Clare this Saturday and I fully intend to have a glass of vino of three!   

I’m also using various types of nuts when a few slow release carbs are required (pre-exercise, etc). They are very effective. More details in the Food section.

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Another week of weight loss I’m pleased to say. This time I equaled the biggest drop in a single week (1.2kg)

As I've said before, I'm also weighing myself using the Wii Fit. This is both to corroborate the weigh in at the gym, and for another method of recording the history of my weight change. Both methods are aligned so far. (And the Mii is getting less round!)


FOOD
1.       A review of anything new I’ve tried that is ‘in scope’.
Scarlett and I made Susan’s excellent Sweet Potato & Lentil soup. If this sort of stuff is allowed in this dietary regime then bring it on!  Add lots of chilli for extra oomph. If you’re in a household with various tolerances to spiciness then you might have to add it to the bowl and not the pot. After the success of that soup I’ll be choosing another one in the nearish future. If anyone would like to know the recipe then hopefully Susan won’t mind if I share it here.

2.       Passing on recommendations from others. (Do’s and Don’ts)
Nuts !!  As I’ve posted before, I’ve had these recommended to me by various folk, including trainer Jimmy. I finally checked them out in some detail and have concluded that Almonds and Brazil nuts are the best option for delivering ‘good carbs’ when you need them quickly. They’re also great for a snack if you need something to keep you going. If you know of any other nut types that are worth considering, please let me know !

3.       Stories of me straying from the true path (and seeking forgiveness!)
Had a few whisk(e)ys on my birthday, but that was it. I stayed off the really bad stuff, like Guinness, despite some well meaning encouragement from certain folk who shall remain nameless (Gordon). As I said earlier I will be having a glass of vino or two this weekend. Having already done this at the Burn’s supper to no adverse effect, I’m not expecting too much damage to the plan. We shall see!  

4.       Questions that I haven’t been able to get an answer to (yet).
Nothing this week as I’ve now found a resource that is very good when it comes to facts on nutrition. Check it out here. Comprehensive.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

EXERCISE
Got rid of my back injury (or so I thought) by doing the light exercises for the affected muscles, as recommended by trainer/physio Jimmy.  However, I must have returned to the full programme too soon, because it’s back (if you pardon the pun!). Need to ease off again.

One thing that hasn’t been affected is my running, which I have ramped up from the initial suggested programme. I’ve now gone from  4x4 minute runs at 8kph (with 4x1 minute walking intervals  at  5kph) to 5x5 minute runs at 8kph (with 5x1 minute walking intervals at 5kph). It’s quite tiring but I feel I still have more in me.  I don’t want to spend too much more time actually running so the next change will probably be upping the pace. Not sure when that will be yet though.,

So, the pedometer. It’s very good and very accurate. Its only deficiencies are that its mechanism seems to struggle with counting stairs and its calorie counter doesn’t factor in gradients (or other > 0% resistance). However, I can live with that. My numbers have been quite high this week (average 12500/day) as it has included my gym running. I suspect these might drop over the weekend though when I’m not going to the gym. We shall see. On the next blog post I’ll have a full week of stats to look at, so we can see where/when there is room for improvement!  

Bye !

Days 19 to 25 – 28th January to 3rd February 2012

Hello everybody! 

When I initially started this blog I stated that it was a tactic to help me improve my diet and my fitness habits by almost shaming myself into actually doing something about it. At that time I was blogging on a daily basis and this was fuelled by the excellent contributions quite a few of you made during that initial period, in the way of advice, encouragement or both. As I’ve been developing good habits over the first few weeks  (as predicted by Eugene), I have been using the blog less as a daily motivation tool and the frequency of posts has lengthened. It’s now been a week since my last post and maybe that’s the correct frequency for sharing my experiences and canvassing your advice.  Of course if I stray off the path of righteousness I may have to start blogging more frequently again!  

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Once again I have made progress at the Tuesday weigh in. I’m now at the stage where I will be crushed if I don’t because I’m getting too used to it!  So, between the week 3 and week 4 weigh-ins I lost another kilo (or 2.2 lbs in old money ). Here’s the story so far…

Week 1 – 101.7kg

Week2 – 100.5kg

Week 3 –  99.6kg

Week 4 –  98.6kg

Haven’t checked the Wii fit numbers yet, but I will before the next blog post.

FOOD

1.       A review of anything new I’ve tried that is ‘in scope’.

Susan, I still haven’t made any of your recommended soups yet, but I shall tonight! Will report back on the success or otherwise of the venture.

I’m sticking to the porridge plan for brekky, but when I’m away it is only available as raw oats in the hotel breakfast bar. I just add milk and some light yogurt to a couple of tablespoonfuls of this. It is surprisingly good, however I stick to the cooked stuff at home. By the way I still add salt to porridge, which is a particularly Scottish habit I believe. Do others do this too?

2.       Passing on recommendations from others. (Do’s and Don’ts)

A recommendation from my trainer Jimmy is to take a handful of nuts before exercising at the gym. They’ve got carbs but they are slow release and good for supplying the wee bit of energy that you need during a workout. I’ve just been using plain old peanuts but my colleague Neill tells me that almonds are particularly good for this job.

3.       Stories of me straying from the true path (and seeking forgiveness!)

Sorry to be boring, but I’ve been pretty good this week!  I’m occasionally adding ingredients to things that I make that are dodgy in their own right, but which are a small percentage of an overall healthy meal. (e.g. Soy Sauce). That’s as naughty as it gets at the moment.

4.       Questions that I haven’t been able to get an answer to (yet).

It seems to me that all I’ve really cut out of my diet significantly is bread, rice, potatoes (all forms) , wine , beer and sugar (all forms). Everything else is more or less available to me, albeit sometimes in small quantities. Is that it? Is that all that is required? If so then my confidence in sustaining this lifestyle is increasing. In tandem with the weight loss each week this is very encouraging. Maybe it will be challenged when the weight loss finally stops!

EXERCISE

I took some advice from a trainer at the Copenhagen gym about the back muscle injury I sustained at the Eastwood gym and I got some surprising advice. I was expecting to be advised to stop any back related exercises until it was better, but instead I was told the following…

·         Continue the full programme

·         For exercises impacting the injured muscle….

o   Change from 3x12 repetitions to 1x20

o   Half the weight used in each exercise

The theory behind this is that it keeps the muscle from tensing up without causing it additional damage. You know, this counter intuitive advice has worked a treat. The muscle has improved all week.  I did have a setback on day 25 though when I hauled bags of shopping up from the car. It wasn’t the best thing for the muscle and I suffered a bit that evening. Back out with the Deep Heat and the paracetamol !

Bye !