OK - so it has been a bit quiet on the site recently - a month off to be precise. But I’m back and super motivated.
I had 2 weeks in the South of France which were amazing. Had a series of exercise plans worked out before I went to make sure I kept up some of my muscle strength whilst away. I planned to do at least 3 sessions a week. Here are the main points:
- It was bloody hot so daytime training wasn’t really an option. I had to choose morning or night. In the end it worked out much better at night (5ish) - the sun had cooled and I had at least an hour before eating dinner and getting tucked into the red wine. Morning time was too hard as I always woke up dehydrated (partly from the heat and partly from the red wine).
- The training sessions were either upper body (with various press up and core exercises) or lower body (with various squats). They could be done without any weights or equipment which was great.
- Managed a couple of decent 7K runs too.
- Plus lots of swimming.
- I ate a fair amount - some days more than others - and had loads of thin crust pizza (my biggest treat).
- I drank most nights (totally required when on holiday in France).
When I came back I was measured for weight and body fat percentage. My weight was actually down by a few hundred grams but my body fat percentage was up by half a percent (to 18.25%). This basically showed a drop in muscle mass and a bit of fat gain. But I’m happy that I now know what damage a 2 week holiday can do and how much work it requires to put it right - because let’s face it, we all need a blow out occasionally. I can’t go the rest of my life without eating pizza.
So all in all I’m really happy that I understand what I can do with my body. This really helps to motivate you when deciding whether to sneak a treat or not.
Since being back, I have trained really hard 5 days a week (1 upper body, 1 lower body, 1 core, 1 run, 1 cycle). I also had a big drinking weekend in the middle which added a bit more fat again! But I feel amazing - really in control. Now I’m going to push on for the next few weeks with a tight diet, good sleeps and not too much drinking. That elusive 6 pack is only a few months away. And Australia is looming….
I had the big weigh-in today and was really dissapointed with myself. My official weight at the start of my regime (4 weeks ago) was 92.5KG. This morning it showed 90.6KG. That is a loss of half a kilo or one pound per week. Now that would all be OK but I know I was lighter in the middle of last week - I was definitely under 90 KGs (at the same time of the day). I’ve had a really bad cold for a few days and my diet went to shit on Thursday/Friday/Saturday - comfort eating and gorging on some chocolate etc. I also had a pretty stressful week which didn’t help.
Scott says this is OK as I should have been rewarding myself for getting to the end of month 1. But to be honest I was saving that for next weekend (I’m going to a fancy hotel in Mull with a fab restaurant). I’m really pissed off at myself for not holding on until then. I’ll blame it on the bad cold but in reality I could have been stronger and avoided eating the crap.
However, I’m now focused on month 2 and going to be more strict with my diet again. It is scary how quickly you can fall off the wagon though. I think I really need to get to a good point of body definition so that I’ll be desperate not to lose it and it’ll be OK to stick to the diet. I’ll also be able to learn what makes me put weight on and what helps me to keep it off - when I can snack and when I can’t.
Cheers, M
I weighed myself this morning and am now down to 89.7KG - Wow! I am so chuffed. That is a really huge milestone for me. I was the best part of 95KG 3 months ago. It is in thelast two weeks (since starting a proper diet and full training) that I have lost around 3KG. I’m really, really happy. The biggest reason I feel great is that I don’t actually feel like I’m on a ‘diet’. I’m just eating really healthy stuff and no carbs after 4pm. Piece of piss;-)
My digestion has also never felt better. Plus no fatigue during the afternoon or dinner time.
I cannot sing the praises of this approach highly enough. I will be making a plan for anyone else to follow who reads this site. Two thirds of the progress is down to diet, one third down to weight training and cardio training. But you cannot get the same results with just one of the approaches.
PS - after the upper body training on Monday morning, I got DOMS (sore muscles) on Wednesday afternoon. It is only in my biceps - but I cannot straighten my arms at the moment. Slightly painful but I know it will go by the end of today.
Day 2:
- 6.20am - woke up to take the dog out for an hour.
- 6.22am - went back to bed as it was pissing it down and blowing a gale. I’ll do it tonight instead.
- 7.00am - got up - just - my legs are as stiff as anything. Not agony, just really stiff and heavy from yesterday’s leg workout.
Sticking just fine to my diet of porridge/banana/smoothie for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch, natural yoghurt and nuts mid afternoon and fish/chicken with vegetables at night. I feel totally full and don’t feel like munching chocolate. Let’s see how long that lasts 
I’m not going to start on the chocolate but I am expecting to have cravings for it soon.
Another workout at 6.30am tomorrow - let’s hope my legs can keep me upright!
Right. So I haven’t been blogging for a few weeks - this has been down to a lack of focus and a lack of consistency - pretty much sums up my last month’s running!
Anyway - I met with my new personal trainer (Scott) nearly two weeks ago. We talked through what I wanted out of training and set somes goals and some tasks. We agreed that we would have a tough regime for 3 months and then see where we are. So I can confidently say that by the end of June, barring injury or death, I will be in much better shape than I am now. I’ll post a before and after photo like the kind you see in Men’s Health and see what a difference it has made.
Scott gave me a sheet to record my food diary for 4 days and my sleep diary. I’ll discuss these in more detail over the next few days. We then met 5 days ago to discuss the diaries and made a plan based around them.
The Goal: lose weight, tone up and be fit for running a half marathon.
The Timescale: 3 months (April-June)
The Diet: The diet is really critical and I’ll go into more detail soon, but the basic idea is high protein and low/zero carb after lunch).
The Tasks: Mon/Wed/Fri - 6.30-7.30am workout with Scott. Tues/Thurs - 6.30-7.30am walk dog for 4 miles. Sat - anytime - light run (2 miles) or core work.
Sounds pretty full on but also very doable. Scott is very motivational and it is great to have someone to kick you up the arse when the going gets tough.
I’ll keep a tight blog on what happens during and after each session and let’s see where it takes me. Cannot wait.
Cheers, Mark
I’m just back from a great 7 days in Sydney - looking out for a new place to live at the end of the year. Fabulous place.
The wheel has completely fallen off my running though - I feel really pissed off with myself. I had been having a few niggles (sore knee, dodgy stomach virus) but I could definitely have got myself back on track sooner than now.
My reasons/excuses for not running more in the last 2 weeks are:
- The week leading up to when I went away was totally filled up with work and prep for leaving (4 kids to be left with grandparents needs a lot of prep!) - I can forgive myself that week because it was really unusually busy.
- The week while I was away - I took my trainers and Nike+ but I didn’t manage to get off my arse to do a run. We were really busy throughout the whole week - it wasn’t a holiday - it was a mission to find out everything about living in Sydney. However, if I am being honest with myself I could easily have squeezed in a couple of good runs. We did lots of good walking though!
So all in all I’m pretty annoyed at myself and know I could have done better.
What is frustrating as well is that while I was there I met up with Pete (an old friend from Uni) and he has done a great job of losing weight. He has spent the last 5 months with a personal trainer 3 times a week and has lost around 15KG. Down from 85KG to 70KG. He looks great on it too - it takes years off him. I was really jealous but really inspired at the same time. Here’s how he did it:
- He worked 6-7am Mon/Wed/Fri with his trainer and did an array of fat burning exercises. On Tues/Thurs/Sat he spent that hour running.
- He cut out lots of carbs from his diet and completely banned them after 3pm.
All sounds pretty simple doesn’t it. He lost all the weight he wanted to but he isn’t ‘ripped’ in terms of muscle. That is his next challenge.
So - today I’m researching personal trainers to see if I can follow the same model. I’ll let you know how I get on.
By the way, I weighed myself this morning and I was down to 92KG - that is really reassuring. I’m still losing a little weight each week despite my crap running. Just think what I could do if I kept my running on track!
I went for a run last night and found it pretty tough. I had a dodgy stomach beforehand (without going into the details of how long I spent in the bog!) - but I felt OK when I started out for the run. However, I felt really tired in my legs - not the heavy legs that you get after weight training or hill climbing - but just a lack of energy in them. I’ve never had that before. My speed just felt way off and when I tried to push myself harder there was nothing left in reserve. Totally different to the way it has been for the last month.
So I managed to run 5K (although I was hoping for 7-8K) and I walked for another 3K afterwards to try to warm down. My left knee was hurting too - I’m becoming concerned that I am damaging my knees with my running style. If I kneel down on the floor, both my knees are sore - but I’m fine when I’m walking about. I may look into going to a running clinic to analyse my style of running. I know there are many things to look at such as cadence and foot fall.
At least I managed to get the Ks in though, which is all contributing to my gradual weight loss and general well being. I weighed in at 93.2KG which means I’m losing a little weight but not a massive amount. I am happy though as this is probably a sustainable amount - I’m not starving myself or missing out on too many luxuries - I feel like I could keep going with this regime for the rest of my life. Plus I definitely feel much tighter around my belly and my jeans fit better so I think I’m losing weight in the right places.
I’m going to Sydney in 10 days so a couple more pounds off would be nice
Cheers, Mark
I’ve been away for the weekend with all my extended family and I haven’t managed a run (despite taking my kit with me). It was just really difficult to find the time (even 30 minutes) as there were 7 kids and a mad rush to try to squeeze lots of fun stuff in for everyone.
The only time I could possibly have done it would have been on Sunday morning. I left all my gear by the door and staying away from the booze on Saturday night but I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t like running in the morning - full stop. I wish I did. I do get up early to work but I always feel like I would really hurt myself if I tried to run.
Anyway - this means that I am really pissed off with myself as all my good work is starting to tail off. People have started to comment that I have lost weight and it feels great. I’ve started wearing T-shirts that I got for a present last year but couldn’t wear as they were too tight. I just need to focus on that goal and keep going.
I’m doing OK with my food - staying away from junk and not snacking. But I do feel like this is a bit of a hurdle at the moment. It has been neraly two months since I started this and no the complecency can set in. Time to kick myself up the butt again and go for the next level. I am currently exactly 94KG - I wan’t to be below 90KG in a couple of months.
Here we go…..
Went to the dentist last night with the whole family and then went for good old fashioned Scottish fish supper - apparently this is traditional but I don’t remember ever doing it before. This was seriously greasy but tasted great. I felt really guilty after it though and went out to 5-a-side football a couple of hours later to burn it off. Footie went well although I though I was going to see my fish for a second time
I have definitely slipped a bit in my diet, nibbling bits of chocolate here and there. I’m also not doing long distances for running at the moment - 5K rather than 10K. My times are getting much better though - a new PB with each one. I need to get a really good 10k in again to make sure I can still do it OK.
Cheers, Mark
I am feeling pretty crap today. I haven’t run since Thursday and I feel bad about it - I feel like I’m undoing the hard work I’ve put in for the last month. I had plans for Friday night, all day Saturday and Saturday night - so no running. I thought I may manage Sunday morning but something came up at work and I had to spend a couple of hours sorting it out.
I also went to Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon to watch Scotland get humped by France. Murrayfield is an alcohol fuelled day by tradition and this was no different. I ate chinese chicken and chips from a burger van, drank a few pints of Guiness and a hip flask of very nice whisky. On returning home, we also ordered a curry which was the final nail in the coffin.
Today I feel a bit dodgy - I’ve been working since 6am and felt OK but now I feel really lethargic and crap. Chocolate is calling and I’m not sure if I should have it as a quick fix or whether this is slipping back into old habits. I’m supposed to be playing football tonight but I’m not sure if I’m going to manage it.
Alcohol is a lot of fun but it is definitely having an impact on my training. I don’t want to cut it out altogther but I think I should cut down at the weekends. It would mean so much to me to be able to do a good half marathon that I think it would be worth it.
Cheers, M