I'm going out, I may be some time....

No gym today. But I did walk in to work. And being as I now live much futher away it was a good walk. Didn't walk up bathwick hill but then that's a job in itself. I'll also have the walk home (including the down the hill) this evening.

To war men!

I went paintballing on Sunday which was great fun. Crawling around in the mud shooting other people with paint what more could a man ask for.

Today I am feeling rather stiff. Lots of running up hills, crouching down and running bent over and diving for cover. It's actually very good exercise. If it wasn't for the cost I think I would go more often.

Long time no blog

Haven't blogged for a while as I have just bought a house and it been a bit mad. The move itself was quite tiring. More so that some days on the Pennine way.

Been to the gym a couple of times this week. Went to do the rowing today but after 500 m I realised I couldn't breath. I think the cold whether is affecting my athsma a bit.

So today: 500m in 1 min 40 seconds

I will try again on monday to do the full 1000m.

A little faster

Todays time: 3 mins 37.8 seconds

Not had a great week this week. I've not managed to go to the gym as much as i'd like and my weight is stuck just above 19 stone. I really want to get it into 18 stone something.

I'll just have to try harder for the next week.

Challenge met!

My brother texted me this morning with the following message:

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily you'll beat 3:40 easily!

I of course rose to the challenge. Wore myself out doing so but managed it none the less.

Todays time: 3 mins 38.0 seconds

Entirely unlike a fish

Went swimming this morning for a change. I realised that I can't swim properly anymore. I know what I'm supposed to be doing but I can't. For example you are supposed to breath out underwater so that when you turn you head you can breath in. However, despite breathing out I still had loads more air left when I turned my head and ended up almost swallowing the pool. So I had to keep my head out of the water which is quite hard work. Still, it's quite a good work out more so in a way than the gym.

Hopefully soon I'll get back to being about to swim large distances as I did many moons ago.

Ándale! Ándale! Arriba! Arriba!

Todays time: 3 mins 46.7 seconds

Getting quicker all the time. I've found it's much easier to keep a steady pace to start and then faster at then. The distance is a bit too long to maintain a sprint (can you sprint whilst rowing) for the full time.

And so it goes

Nearing the end of week 7 and I am very pleased with my progress. Despite stress, tireness, pain and other things that try to get in the way, I am continuing to loose weight and that makes me very happy.

Weight: 19st 2lbs 12oz
waist: 45 5/8 inches

And the winner is....

Todays rowing time: 3 mins 52.8 seconds

Last friday I was only trying to row as fast as I could, today however, I was racing against myself. Having a previous time to beat meant that I pushed myself that bit harder to try and achieve a faster time. As you can see I won :-D

Stuck in the middle

For some reason despited going to the gym and eating better I seem to have ground to a halt as far as weight loss goes. It may be that I am gaining muscle as a result of the gym. I feel much better for going so it's definitly doing me good.

I've had stomach ache for the last few days (kind of like indigestion) not sure what that is.

Hopefully things will start moving again soon.

Go!

Great session at the gym today really felt good.

First speed rowing results are in.

Distance: 1000m
Setting: 5 ½ (10 is the hardest)

Time: 3 mins 56.4 seconds

No Jim I'm walking today!

Got up a little late and had lots to do before work so I didn't get to the gym. But I did walk to the bus stop rather than take the car. That's a 1.5 mile walk this morning and it will be a 3.5 mile walk home.

On your marks..... Get set.....

Another good morning at the gym. I have 2 programs. The first is mostly cardio stuff (cross trainer, rowing machine and treadmill) with a few abdomial and back exersices. The second is mostly weights. I do the first program on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the second program on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I decided that rather than having a rest day I would do a less energic program, that way I'm always doing something.

Whilst I was warming up on the rowing machine today I came up with the idea for a little test at the end of each week as an extra motivation tool. So every Friday gym session I am going to see how quickly I can row 1000m. I will post my times on this blog.

It will be interesting to see how my times change over time.

Jim says "Nice to see you again"

Despite having quite a late night last night and feeling really tired this morning I managed to wake up enough to drag myself out of bed. I thought about not going to the gym but after I'd had some breakfast I decided to go. I'm really glad I did as feel good. As many have commented on previous posts if you get past not wanting to go and force yourself you end up feeling better for it.

Hopefully I can keep this up.

Tiredness causes sleeping

I've been really tired this week and so haven't managed to get to the gym which I'm unhappy about. But I have managed to keep up with avoiding temptation and sticking to eating healthy foods.

Weight: 19st 6lbs 0oz
Waist: 47 inches

I have managed to lose another pound and it all counts so I shouldn't be too disheartened.

Breaking habits

Week 4 is all about identifying unhealthy habits and then analysing the events leading up to them each day to detemine the cause. There are several habits that I have identified in this way already which makes me feel quite please with myself. The two main things that were adding to my unhealthy eating were snacking on chocolate at work and getting takeaways at home. Both of these I have completely removed from my life.

The chocolate snacking was a result of not having any healthy alternative at work which I solved by buying a small fridge (which is under my desk) and filling it with fruit.

The latter was that on days when I was really busy I would get home tired and go with the easiest option which was to get a takeaway. This had the added problem of costing me money. I solved this by buying a healthy lunch such as a baked potato or salad for lunch at work and then I only needed a small sandwich at home.

So feeling very please with myself I move into week 4 well ahead of my target. My back is better now so I am going to reintroduce my trips to the gym and hopefully get things moving quicker.

I am actually quite excited with the thought of getting to the end of the 12 weeks and being ahead of the 4 inch goal.

Stress

I'm quite stressed at the moment for various reasons. In the past this would be the time I turned to unhealthy foods like pizza, burgers and chocolate as comfort food. I can't do this which is unfortuately not helping the stress but I am resisting dispite how hard it is. This is mainly due to the fact that everything is going so well. I really feel that this time I am actually doing something I can stick to.

Weight: 19st 7lbs 0oz
Waist: 47 inches

Here are some graphs of my progress so far:


As you can see things are going well.

Be gone you evil cake

A little disappointed with myself. Possible due to the combination of back pain and pain killers I gave in to a piece of birthday cake last night. Though I think that I shouldn't kick myself too much about it. The gradual approach of the fatmanslim program seems to allow for a few moments of weakness. As long as in general I keep things going and don't let things like this dishearten me too much I should be ok.

Just by writing this I am feeling better, not about eating the cake but about keeping going and not letting this one moment of weakness affect my ultimate goal.

Hurt back

It's the start of week 3 and I very pleased with my progress. I am well ahead of the targets for the program.

Weight: 19st lllbs 8oz
Waist: 47 4/8 inches

Week 3 is all about increasing activity. I have already started doing this by going to the gym and walking more than usual. I haven't being going as much as I would have liked but I plan to increase that this week. Unfortunately I have hurt my back. Nothing major, just a pulled muscle. I have been told to take it easy by the doctor. I think it a little unfair that I can walk the northern part of the Pennine Way and not have a problem, but as soon as I start trying to loose weight something like this happens!

Oh well, I'm not going to let it stop me. So I can't do as much exercise this week, well I'll just have to make up for it next week. As long as I keep watching what I eat I'll continue to go in the right direction.

Weekends

I find that weekends are the hardest when it comes to temptation. Two whole days at home. Since removing unhealthy things from the house being at home is not too much of a problem. However, going into the city is quite hard. Wandering round trying to find something to eat that isn't full of fat is a nightmare. It's no wonder so many people are overweight. Luckily I found a local sandwich shop that did a very healthy baguette.

I'm obviously doing something right as it's paying off.

Weight: 19st 11lbs 0oz
Wasit: 48 3/8 inches

Feeling great

Feeling really good today, awake and full of energy which is odd for a Friday.

The changes I have made have already started making a difference.

Weight: 20st 3lbs 12oz
Waist: 48 6/8 inches

It's not much but it's a start.

Resisting temptation

This week is all about resisiting temptation and once you start actively thinking about it there are a lot of temptations. On my way home I walk past a fish and chip shop, a kebab shop and a burger place. All pumping luring smells of tasty food out into the street. I thought as I passed the kebab shop, "mmm, I could really fancy a kebab, but no I'm losing weight so keep walking". And I did keep walking. As I moved away from the shop I realised that had I not been trying to avoid unhealthy food I wouldn't have wanted to eat a kebab! As unhealth foods go they are probably my least favourite. So why I ask did I feel like one now? The answer is, that I didn't really. It was all in my head. My body is so used to getting what it wants when it wants that the fact that I am telling it NO is causing it grab at the first thing it sees. "What are you doing?", it's saying, "are you trying to starve me to death!" By resisting temptation I am teaching my body that it doesn't need unhealth food to live.

My body is trying other ways to get me to give in as well. I find that I sometimes feel like I have less energy as a result of me having less food. It's saying "your not feeding me therefore I have no energy". What it has to learn is that it is carrying all the energy it needs as excess weight. Once I start ignoring the signals my body is currently sending me, I feel full of energy and much more awake.

End of week one

It's the end of week one. I am a little dissappointed that I haven't lost any weight, but I have made the descision to change which I think is half the battle. Although I'm not on target yet, I think the things I've discovered about myself and the changes I have made so far are good.

I didn't feel very well yesterday afternoon / evening. Possibly due to a slight detox, maybe even some of it was psycological. But I slept much better last night and today feel nice and awake, better than I have in a while. So something must be working.

The journey begins

So here I am. A 28 year old man.

Weight: 20st 5lbs 12oz
Waist: 49 inches
(actual measurement, not trouser size)

I have been trying without much success to lose weight for the last 4 or 5 years. I have lost a stone here and there but always put it back on some of it at least. I have decided that enough is enough.

I have signed up to the Fatmanslim program online. A service designed especially for men for helping guide you though losing 4 inches off your waist over a period of 12 weeks.

This is day 6 and I am starting this blog to chart my progress and to add another incentive to lose the weight.

DAY 6

I have been writing a food diary since day 1 and I realised that despite my best efforts I have been eating complete rubbish! So on day 6 i am making a conscious to change. I have removed all unhealthy food from the house (except the cheese which I just remembered, will get rid of that tonight). I pre chopped a load of salad vegetables this morning for making healthy sandwiches for lunch. My little fridge at work is stocked with apples for an easy hunger fix. So I'm not tempted to wander down the corridor for chocolate and crisps.

Things are definitely changing for the better :-D