So...after last weeks attempt to get back on the wagon we are still going alright after a few days! For those of you who care and are following the journey (probably nobody out there, that s alright not the point of the blog really it is more for my own sake) we are back into action.
After the weekend we had a few ups and downs consuming lollies and kebabs and beer but you get that. Back into action yesterday and we went pretty much the entire day with no carbs! Even turned down the best looking desserts ever at bible study last night. Brownies and apple crumble and choclate pudding and ice cream and orange and poppy seed cakes. You have come a long way when you can turn down all those home baked goods that smell so nice.
In better news, I am back to where I was a month ago. Back around the 114.5 kg mark. Only 14 to go now. But I am genuinely surprised how quickly I returned here as I was up around 116 a week and a half ago so thought it might take a few weeks to drop it again. So it is like being back at the start and we just progress from here. Trying to squeeze in the execise really helps. Last week I managed 5 days which is good and I am playing soccer which I enjoy so that makes it really fun as well. I do end up sore afterwards but it is fun!
Tuesday 19 May 2015
Friday 15 May 2015
Humans are weird...
So I got back on the proverbial horse this week and decided to try and get some exercise in. It was good I tried to get back into the c25k program on my phone. It is an app that supposedly can get you from the couch to running 5kms in 8 weeks or something like that. It had been a month since I had done any decent exercise or been to the gym so I was not looking forward to starting again but the sooner you start the easier it gets...yeah right thats what they tell you anyway. It is actually way easier to just not start and not do anything really lets be honest but points for persevering and getting back into it.
so the plan was eat healthy and exercise this week. That went ok. The eating healthy part not too great as coffee rules my life. I am trying to give up carbs but the odd sweet here and there and coffee just takes over me and I give in. Next week we are going to try a new tactic of not taking my wallet to uni so I cannot give into temptation. Only problem there is cardless cash with my phone is always an option so I will have to have some will power and self control. Really I need to tighten the old budget as I am low on the old savings due to purchasing a new washing machine so if there was ever a time to tighten the belt and save money and my waistline it is now so I will aim to start next week again and this time hopefully succeed. In two weeks I am yet to go a full day without carbs which is sad seeing as that is my aim but hey gotta start somewhere right?
But why are humans weird? Well it all comes down to this weeks exercise. My running routine is run for 1 and a half minutes and walk for two and repeat this 6 times. Sounds easy enough. Well I lasted 4 repetitions and nearly died which was alright considering I had not done anything. Tuesday I had soccer training which was death as well. Wednesday I went to do my running routine again and couldn't fully complete one repetition before I got shin splints and had to stop. Friday once again I went in there to do the running and was aiming to do at least 4 repetitions again but I managed to do all 6...only just but I did do it. So waht the flip? how does that even work? How can I barely do 1 rep then two days later do all 6? I am so confused. Next week I am going to do the same week of running again to make sure my body is used to it before going up to the next level.
so the plan was eat healthy and exercise this week. That went ok. The eating healthy part not too great as coffee rules my life. I am trying to give up carbs but the odd sweet here and there and coffee just takes over me and I give in. Next week we are going to try a new tactic of not taking my wallet to uni so I cannot give into temptation. Only problem there is cardless cash with my phone is always an option so I will have to have some will power and self control. Really I need to tighten the old budget as I am low on the old savings due to purchasing a new washing machine so if there was ever a time to tighten the belt and save money and my waistline it is now so I will aim to start next week again and this time hopefully succeed. In two weeks I am yet to go a full day without carbs which is sad seeing as that is my aim but hey gotta start somewhere right?
But why are humans weird? Well it all comes down to this weeks exercise. My running routine is run for 1 and a half minutes and walk for two and repeat this 6 times. Sounds easy enough. Well I lasted 4 repetitions and nearly died which was alright considering I had not done anything. Tuesday I had soccer training which was death as well. Wednesday I went to do my running routine again and couldn't fully complete one repetition before I got shin splints and had to stop. Friday once again I went in there to do the running and was aiming to do at least 4 repetitions again but I managed to do all 6...only just but I did do it. So waht the flip? how does that even work? How can I barely do 1 rep then two days later do all 6? I am so confused. Next week I am going to do the same week of running again to make sure my body is used to it before going up to the next level.
Tuesday 12 May 2015
Falling off the bandwagon
Somewhere out there somebody came up with a saying one time, falling off the bandwagon. Now honestly I have no idea what a bandwagon is but I do know a thing or two about falling off it! When it comes to weight loss and life changing well flip, that is one hard thing to do. My best advice is you will fall off at some stage and if you are like me you will fall off a few times but it is the struggle of getting back on that is important.
What happened to me? Well a few weeks ago it was Easter and I went home to my parents house, then my uni work got heavy, then we had a giant storm where trees were down everywhere and my power was out for a week and all of a sudden I was left with lots of excuses, not much healthy eating occurring and no desire to change it back for good. But there is hope. Sure I went close to a month almost without caring and I put back on 1.5kgs of my hard work. But this is the week we get back on again and start. This week we try to give up carbs and sugar and push forward. This is the week that we need to cause there is only 4 weeks of uni left and once uni is on break I have no routine and I will struggle more.
For me the secret is to keep busy. I obsess over things in my mind so dieting sucks cause when I give up sugar all I can think about is sugar the entire time. Makes it hard but also makes it so much more rewarding when I achieve it as if you can give something up that you are constantly thinking about then you must have finally developed self control!
So keep going guys. Keep pushing on cause I am on struggle street to but we are in this together!
What happened to me? Well a few weeks ago it was Easter and I went home to my parents house, then my uni work got heavy, then we had a giant storm where trees were down everywhere and my power was out for a week and all of a sudden I was left with lots of excuses, not much healthy eating occurring and no desire to change it back for good. But there is hope. Sure I went close to a month almost without caring and I put back on 1.5kgs of my hard work. But this is the week we get back on again and start. This week we try to give up carbs and sugar and push forward. This is the week that we need to cause there is only 4 weeks of uni left and once uni is on break I have no routine and I will struggle more.
For me the secret is to keep busy. I obsess over things in my mind so dieting sucks cause when I give up sugar all I can think about is sugar the entire time. Makes it hard but also makes it so much more rewarding when I achieve it as if you can give something up that you are constantly thinking about then you must have finally developed self control!
So keep going guys. Keep pushing on cause I am on struggle street to but we are in this together!
Tuesday 31 March 2015
Update!
So...bad news everybody. Turns out I suck at sticking to the plan. I have been quite good a sticking to my kilojoules but I have skipped the gym everyday this week due to a couple of factors.
As far as weight loss goes this week, well let's not talk about it just quite yet! That should give you an indication of where we are at.
- Laziness, well duh!
- Uni work, it is the second last week of uni and I have been a bit busy with assessments but not over the top so not the best excuse really
- Netflix, it launched in Australia this week and I watched it.
As far as weight loss goes this week, well let's not talk about it just quite yet! That should give you an indication of where we are at.
Wednesday 25 March 2015
Weekly Weigh in!
So I have heard it is a good idea to weigh in and record your progress weekly so you can see how you are doing over a long period of time. Sounds fair enough I suppose and I have been doing this for a number of weeks now seeing my weight fluctuate up and down a fair bit. I started at 119 kgs and have since dropped down to today's figure which is...114.4kgs! Booya! Only has taken me 5 months to drop almost 5 kgs because of my lack of effort. But in good news in the last 2 week I have managed to drop a kilo and a half.
For those of you playing at home the theory behind weighing yourself once a week is to show your overall progress as weight loss takes flipping forever and there is no quick fix. There are ideas that you should weigh yourself at the same time every week which is a good one as weight fluctuates a fair bit. Some people will argue Wednesday is the best day just because if you have a big weekend it takes a while to wear off. I say who cares? Just pick a day and commit. The morning works best because you will be lighter ;) but beware because it can be a little inaccurate if you ate really late the night before it may effect your results a little bit that week (but then next weeks might look even better when you have lost heaps) but over time it balances itself anyway so who cares!
For those of you playing at home the theory behind weighing yourself once a week is to show your overall progress as weight loss takes flipping forever and there is no quick fix. There are ideas that you should weigh yourself at the same time every week which is a good one as weight fluctuates a fair bit. Some people will argue Wednesday is the best day just because if you have a big weekend it takes a while to wear off. I say who cares? Just pick a day and commit. The morning works best because you will be lighter ;) but beware because it can be a little inaccurate if you ate really late the night before it may effect your results a little bit that week (but then next weeks might look even better when you have lost heaps) but over time it balances itself anyway so who cares!
Tuesday 24 March 2015
Tools of choice!
I have decided to implement a little something I call the tools of choice section. What I am going to do is just write down a thing I have used to help me every now and then and talk about it. For our first one I want to talk about HIIT. (Also known as High Intensity Interval training)
HIIT is doing a lot of hard work for a short period of time followed by a break then doing it all again. It can be on a treadmill where you would sprint then walk then sprint then walk then sprint then walk maybe for like 2 minutes then 1 minute and repeat that 5 times. Or it can be in a circuit situation with movement like push ups, burpess, sit ups, box jumps each for 30 seconds then a rest for 2 minutes then go again 4 times. I tried doing a circuit this week because I was bored at the gym with running on the treadmill and doing cardio that way.
My circuit I just made up myself not knowing what to do or how it would go. Here is what it ended up looking like:
HIIT is a method that is good for getting the heart rate up and keeping it high. It is apparently supposed to be good at getting your fitness level up quicker as you are elevating your heart rate then letting it drop then elevating it again over and over. Fitness after all is the hearts ability to pump blood efficiently and provide oxygen to muscles to keep working. Hence someone who is fit has a lower heart rate. The faster your heart rate can decrease the fitter you generally are. (All these claims I just made I have done some reading on line a little bit but don't trust me or anything you read on line do your own research!!!!)
HIIT is doing a lot of hard work for a short period of time followed by a break then doing it all again. It can be on a treadmill where you would sprint then walk then sprint then walk then sprint then walk maybe for like 2 minutes then 1 minute and repeat that 5 times. Or it can be in a circuit situation with movement like push ups, burpess, sit ups, box jumps each for 30 seconds then a rest for 2 minutes then go again 4 times. I tried doing a circuit this week because I was bored at the gym with running on the treadmill and doing cardio that way.
My circuit I just made up myself not knowing what to do or how it would go. Here is what it ended up looking like:
- 10 box jumps
- 20 mountain climbers
- 10 lunges
- 10 frog jumps
- 10 push ups
- 20 second plank
- rest for 2 minutes and repeat 4 times
HIIT is a method that is good for getting the heart rate up and keeping it high. It is apparently supposed to be good at getting your fitness level up quicker as you are elevating your heart rate then letting it drop then elevating it again over and over. Fitness after all is the hearts ability to pump blood efficiently and provide oxygen to muscles to keep working. Hence someone who is fit has a lower heart rate. The faster your heart rate can decrease the fitter you generally are. (All these claims I just made I have done some reading on line a little bit but don't trust me or anything you read on line do your own research!!!!)
Monday 23 March 2015
But why...
I think this is a really big question that needs to be asked when starting any form of weight loss sort of journey. I am the kind of person who needs a reason and motivation to do things or else it just is not worth my time or effort. Weight loss is one of those things that I really struggle with because it takes such a long time and it is so easy just to say no to exercise and do other things...kinda like uni work.
I guess to know the reason you will have to understand who I am first so here are some of the details:
Anyway back to my reasoning...I guess that I have been struggling with my weight for the last 5 years. Ever since school finished my metabolism slowed down and I suddenly went from sport 6 days a week to almost nothing which made me add on the kilos fairly quickly. When I finished year 12 I was 105kgs. Most of my teenage years were spent in the low 90kgs until I finished my final exams. After I finished school I worked in outdoor recreations (running school camps) for a couple of years. Now this may sound like it should help being outdoors and active running things like abseiling and rock climbing and running around with kids. I am sure it did help a little bit but it also meant I spent two years eating every hour and a half. The way camp works is that happy customers are well fed customers and they were highly refined carbs most of the time. Eating breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, dessert and supper everyday started putting a few more kilos on. By the time I finished working there and started uni I was fluctuating around the 118kg marks or so.
And that is where it all had to change. I struggled for a year at uni with trying to eat healthy but with not great budgeting skills and laziness I often turned to fast food out of convenience. So Here we are in 2015. I got engaged last September and am getting married in November and have decided it is time to start getting serious. So far I am down to 114kgs which I am proud of so far seeing as I have not really tried that hard but last week we got even more serious about it all so we will see what happens. The main reason is about marriage. It is a little selfish and materialistic of me as I do not want to look fat in my photos mainly because I have to look at them forever but I think more of the reason is so Em (my future wife) can be proud of me and not have to tell me she doesn't care or mind which she probably doesn't but it is so hard to believe so it is time to start.
Most people say it is good to have a goal in mind when starting a journey and my original goal was to give it a go and try and get to 110kgs by Easter. Probably not going to happen seeing as there is only 2 weeks left til Easter but I feel like I have done well still. My dream goal would be to go under 100 and into double figures for my wedding and we still have 8 months to get there so hopefully we can stick it out!
I guess to know the reason you will have to understand who I am first so here are some of the details:
- I am a 23 year old guy
- I currently study at university hoping to one day become an industrial arts teacher (high school teacher who teaches woodwork and metalwork and fun stuff like that)
- I am a Christian who loves God (that one might not seem important but I think it is one of the most important parts of me)
- I have a fiancé whom I am due to marry in November (Heck Yes!)
- I don't really get up to much besides uni, church, bible study, studying and catching up with friends
Anyway back to my reasoning...I guess that I have been struggling with my weight for the last 5 years. Ever since school finished my metabolism slowed down and I suddenly went from sport 6 days a week to almost nothing which made me add on the kilos fairly quickly. When I finished year 12 I was 105kgs. Most of my teenage years were spent in the low 90kgs until I finished my final exams. After I finished school I worked in outdoor recreations (running school camps) for a couple of years. Now this may sound like it should help being outdoors and active running things like abseiling and rock climbing and running around with kids. I am sure it did help a little bit but it also meant I spent two years eating every hour and a half. The way camp works is that happy customers are well fed customers and they were highly refined carbs most of the time. Eating breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, dessert and supper everyday started putting a few more kilos on. By the time I finished working there and started uni I was fluctuating around the 118kg marks or so.
And that is where it all had to change. I struggled for a year at uni with trying to eat healthy but with not great budgeting skills and laziness I often turned to fast food out of convenience. So Here we are in 2015. I got engaged last September and am getting married in November and have decided it is time to start getting serious. So far I am down to 114kgs which I am proud of so far seeing as I have not really tried that hard but last week we got even more serious about it all so we will see what happens. The main reason is about marriage. It is a little selfish and materialistic of me as I do not want to look fat in my photos mainly because I have to look at them forever but I think more of the reason is so Em (my future wife) can be proud of me and not have to tell me she doesn't care or mind which she probably doesn't but it is so hard to believe so it is time to start.
Most people say it is good to have a goal in mind when starting a journey and my original goal was to give it a go and try and get to 110kgs by Easter. Probably not going to happen seeing as there is only 2 weeks left til Easter but I feel like I have done well still. My dream goal would be to go under 100 and into double figures for my wedding and we still have 8 months to get there so hopefully we can stick it out!
Sunday 22 March 2015
Hi guys,
Welcome to my blog. It is weird that a guy in his early twenties who is a bit rough around the edges is sitting here and starting a blog (well it is to me anyway). I guess there is only one reason for this blog. That is to document my efforts in trying to lose some weight. I am not here to promise anybody tips and advice for quick fixes or that sort of stuff. I am simply here to write random thoughts down and stuff as we go along. So if you are reading this, Thank you for dropping by I hope our time has been enjoyed by both. :) Here is a photo of me to share a little bit more of myself.
Welcome to my blog. It is weird that a guy in his early twenties who is a bit rough around the edges is sitting here and starting a blog (well it is to me anyway). I guess there is only one reason for this blog. That is to document my efforts in trying to lose some weight. I am not here to promise anybody tips and advice for quick fixes or that sort of stuff. I am simply here to write random thoughts down and stuff as we go along. So if you are reading this, Thank you for dropping by I hope our time has been enjoyed by both. :) Here is a photo of me to share a little bit more of myself.
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| This is me down at Head of Bight in South Australia watching the whales |
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