Progress!

Well i feel that this transformation period got off to a shaky start but that now we are beginning to see progress.

Progress because i was 100 even on the scales yesterday - i won't hit 96 by next Monday but i will be in Vietnam that week and hope to weigh in at 96 when i return.

Shaky with the first two weeks being completely carb free. I did not like this and honestly feel that it did no good. I'm glad to be back eating healthy foods again.

I've got a personal trainer twice a week which really pushes things up a notch. I'm forcing him to stick to the TT programme but just having someone push you that little bit more in resistance and intervals is really good. He's also helping me with foam rolling and stretching which i really like and am beginning to see the benefits of.

Food wise i'm now comfortable with whole foods and intermittent fasting. i like some of the concepts out there like the paleo diet, cheat days/refeeds, protein at each meal etc. But i'm not getting bogged down with it. i combined some of this on Sunday by beginning my fast a noon on Saturday, working out really hard Sunday morning and then having a big BBQ on Sunday afternoon. In my mind it's like going on the hunt, tracking down the animal, wrestling with it for half an hour and then lugging the thing home for a feast - might not have any real nutritional or metabolic relevance but the thought process made it enjoyable. Plus i got a good cheat/refeed in that was high protein. Back to eating normal food today.

People have started to notice my weight loss, my clothes are starting to fit better and i can see a difference in the mirror. Upon my return i will post some before and after pictures - i'm actually looking forward to that.

Personal Trainer

Today i started with a personal trainer - the dude is very expensive so i hope with is worth it. After today's session i know that this just what i need.

As i'm in the TT Transformation No7 i need to stick with that programme - which PT Dude hates because it hit on his territory of being the know-it-all. But i don't care, the objective is that he helps me with form and motivation (pumping up the effort a little here and there). I also want him to help me with interval/intensive cardio with things other than the bike or treadmill. They have the TRX and Kettle Bells there which i'd like to use for that but also just someone pushing me really hard on body weight circuits would be good.

This morning he really got me going, this is truly good stuff. Because there was a lot of introduction etc we didn't get to the intervals but i was stuffed anyway. I am only going to use him for twice a week for a couple of weeks so i need to make the most of it. once i've completed the TT competition i might do a three month course with these guys.

i believe that the TT workouts are great but this will push me through to the next level.

Results are good to date. I know the scales don't say much but i have had some really good comments lately. Sunday someone i haven't seen since last year commented on how amazing i looked and yesterday three people commented on how much weight i'd lost, how fit i looked and how i'd lost the recent fat look - all these coming form very different perspectives. Also i can see a difference in the mirror - you'll have to wait till week 4 to see that.

TT Transformation #7

Well well, i had planned to do this 12 week transformation all on my own. Then Craig B. of TT launched another transformation contest so i had to join. This is great as it will give just that little more motivation to stick at it and to get the best results. Also the social aspect will help etc.

Down side is that i started on the 26th of December but didn't take my pics (see below) until the 1st of Jan, which means that essentially i have an extra week in the programme. but then this is good too, one more week will mean just that little bit more fat loss etc.

Today i weighed in at 102 kg a full 2 down from last Monday (again i only count the monday weight as relevant and all others are just a guide). as Monday the 28th was two days into my low carb diet i think that most of the water weight was already lost and therefore the 2kg i've lost since then is real weight loss. it should be, i've been spot on my eating and working really hard in and out of the gym.

Took my pics for the competition on the 1st. this is very sad for me in a few ways. firstly if i compare the pics to the beginning of last years 12 week challenge then there is no difference (eventhough i am almost 9kg lighter and much fitter). Secondly i just look so damn fat. When i watch 'The Biggest Loser' i always think of them as being much bigger than me. Also as i've lost some weigh i feel that i'm better than before (almost feel slim) as today i'm down at least 16kg from my heaviest - i can wear normal sized clothes etc. But in those pictures the truth is there and cannot be denied - i am very very fat.

All the more reason to stick at this 12 week challenge and shake this 'fat man' thing forever.

Back to it, 12 week challenge

I've been bad! I see that the last post was back in October so any idea that i've been tracking well is completely lost.

Yes i am over the 100, and i'm well ashamed of myself for that. No excuse for any of it.

But as of Saturday i am back on track and working on a new 12 week plan. This was to start 1st of Jan but as i've been particularly bad over xmas i thought it best to start a week early and avoid too much overdoing it at the new year.

so, 12 weeks. I have set myself three goals:

1. Get back to lowest weight from last time - don't know what i am today but lowest was 96kg. i think i can do this in 4 weeks and i'm taking the 30 day fat loss from TT for this as it has a four day work out which i will feel more comfortable with.
2. Get below 90kg. this is a great milestone and at 6 kg below the first goal i think it will work well for the four weeks. Buff Dudes and Hot Chicks for this one.
3. Finally, to be below 85kg at the end. Reformed Meat Heads for that one.

My nutritional plan is firstly no drinking of any kind. not a drop must pass these lips - make the reasons for this clear in many other posts. Secondly it's low carb and low cal. I will stick to three meals a day each of only 500 cal and no carbs. This i will combine with two ESE days per week. I know this is hard but i must be strong. If i hit my goal before the end of the 4 week period i will go onto a more healthy diet but maintain till the beginning of the next goal - this is a blitz process.

I intend to do a lot of additional cardio work, not HIIT because i have that with TT and it will kill you if you do too much. Also not tread mill, bike blah at the gym - four times per week is enough of that place. no, i will just do the walking the streets, playing with the kids, go shopping, clean the car type stuff.

Very important is that i've also given up televison - this will help with the above.

So, today is the end of day two of no carb. i haven't been too strict on the calories so far as i know the low blood sugar affects my moods, also haven't been working out too hard - that starts tomorrow. But come tomorrow i will be low cal, low carb and burning it like crazy. i will also begin a 30 hour ESE after lunch tomorrow. I will take the boy to the beach on Tuesday and not eat till the evening of that day.

I will also post regularly from now on - please if anyone is reading give me some support.

What are your Goals?

Firstly i weighed in today 1 kg down from Monday. Not much but it's something - i hope i can keep it off given the trip to China next week. Good workout this morning, I'm keeping it down on the weight and the sets for the following reasons. 1. It's mostly food that must be controlled to lose weight 2. Some exercise is what is important, if i hurt myself then i might miss even some. 3. Stress has been the major cause of weight increase in the past few months, therefore i need to reduce the stress caused by working out also. 4. i can build up the weight while concentrating on form.

I'm quite comfortable with the logic above and do feel good from my workout - even though they feel too short and don't push the limits like before. I worry a little that i'm not hitting that 11 in terms of effort in my workouts - with the BFL programme it was always about getting to that extreme and going beyond what felt physically possible - or in his words going with will power alone as strength had been exhausted. i guess i need to build up to that point again. This is to some extent the reason for the subject of this post.

Today while listening to a Podcast in the car i was hit with the question 'What are your Goals?' For some reason this seemed to hit home hard. I could answer quite easily - get down to 80kg by March and be fitter. But is this a good enough answer - i don't think so as it just looks short term and is quite shallow.

So what are my goals? i don't really know, i mean to be fit and healthy (in the context of this blog, obviously there are other life goals but lets keep to the subject). but to develop an action plan and monitor progress then goals need to be specific. define 'healthy' or 'fit', does it just mean healthier and fitter - because this can only ever be true to a point.

I don't have the answers, but I'm going to contemplate this point a lot over the next few weeks, and blog my thoughts in the hope of finalising a plan. for the time being i can focus on the goal at hand - get to 80kg by end of March and then to stay there.

I can then break it up that i need to be below 94 by year end and expect a tough 12 weeks from there to the end game.

Stress

It's been a while, a long while. i think that the subject here has been a topic before but it's been such a big part of my life in the past two months that i need to talk about it. Stress messes you up! Previously i would say that when the body goes into melt down then you know that you are stressing about something, sometimes you can't figure it out until the problem goes away and the pain also disappears - then you have an aha moment and realise what was stressing you out.

Well this time was different - i have been stressed out for over 6 weeks and i clearly knew all the things stressing me out but could only use the means at hand to deal with it without being able to stop the causes. Issues with clients, serious illness at home, lack of sleep, long flights with disabled children, money issues etc.

Methods of coping - lots of alcohol, comfort food, denial etc. the end result was of course putting on a lot of weight and feeling pretty low about myself. What i found interesting was how much this affects me and how it affects my wife differently. I put on weight and she loses weight under stress.

I am out of this period of stress now. I wound down with a weekend of rest and good food. No Alcohol since Friday night and a good workout this morning - also on ESE since lunch yesterday.

I weighed in today at 101.5 KG. while this is a long way from the June low it's only 3.5 kg from my hovering weight over the past three months. Pretty good considering the things I've eaten and the lack of exercise. But quite sad also that now i have to start again and it will be weeks before i get down to where i was! (and just between you and me i'm now obese again which is cause for depression) So, what to do about it.

I'm back doing TT workout. One issue I've had trying to get back into it is that i was hurting myself trying to get back to where i was. Even the hotel room workout proved too much for me. So I've started the TT for fat loss once again but at the Beginner level. What's more I'm doing only two sets and 10 mins interval. next week I'll look to moving up.

You really can't discount the beginner level - i am surprise how hard it was. Now I'm looking forward to moving through the whole programme again.

Diet wise i need to focus. I'm trying to do 2-3 ESE fasts per week. I have conferences, football trips, board meetings and visitors for xmas in the coming months. I really need to be focused otherwise it will all slip again. I've set out a plan which takes me back to end of March which is the beginning of this one year journey. I need to lose an average of 1kg per week to hit my target of 80kg by then. Need to be focused, lose each week and never have a gaining week!

Alcohol will play an important part in this. i will be off it from the new year till i reach goal, but also i need to keep it in check the rest of time.

Wish me luck!

Two Weeks Of Hell

This past two weeks has been the most incredible time of bad news, bad luck and bad experience. Let me put it down here to record it in its horribleness.:

• Started with putting my back out in the gym. After months of squats and dead lifts i could not believe that a rear deltoid raise would pull a muscle in my back.
• Then my oldest sprained his arm playing football at school.
• The winds were good all weekend so even though my back was hurting i went kite surfing - this ended in the need for some serious rescue - a 'fast as you can' 2km swim and then a run to the club to get the rescue boat. Some serious damage to the kite but got most of the gear back and am still alive. So seriously tired though - this lead to coming down with the full flu (not swine though)
• Monday i was so sick but had to meet some important clients. Got back from a very long drive to go to the hospital to see the doctor. as the boy's arm still hurt i took him to the doctor too. I was in no mood to have them x-ray and waste my time and money. Turns out it was broken so that had me looking like a bad parent.
• Then we all got sick, three boys, wife etc.
• A full weekend and some of looking after sick kids and the fun involved in that, just as they were getting better i had to go on a business trip - at last a chance to sleep.
• Two days into my conference i get a call, my second son's care giver had a stroke - she has not insurance, no money and is my total responsibility

Just when you think you have it bad some one or something let's you know that it can always be worse. I've been through three hospitals and had arguments with seven doctors - we are mentally and physically drained. But who are we to complain - we can walk and talk. It is a cruel world.

So, as this is a fitness and weight loss blog I'd better turn this into a fitness and weight loss topic. What has all this meant to my condition? well for the first 10 days i actually lost weight, not working out meant that i was less hungry - that combined with the illness etc.

At the conference i was good, skipped breakfast, had only the healthy snack options at coffee break and restricted what i ate at meals. Everyone commented on how much weight I'd lost - that was good confirmation.

BUT, as soon as the impact of someone you care for being struck down like this i went for comfort food. I had to rush back from Hong Kong to deal with the situation and when straight for Burger King. I want to say that after 6 months of eating healthy it was really hard to eat a Whopper - no wonder the world is fat if that is what we try to put forward as a meal. it was quite sickly but I'm not going to say i didn't like it - just that it was soooo big.

Then after getting home i went for all the comfort foods i could muster. Chocolate, potato chips, plus more crap. The result being that i put back the weight i lost in a very short time.

But Monday i started back the exercise and the diet. I'm off the booze for three weeks, started a new TT program and today I'm having an ESE. Yesterday i weighed in at 98 kg which is only 2 over my lowest of 96. So i think i have a good chance of coming out of this look even better.

Changes in the gym: I've reduced the weight (so that i can build up again) and I'm concentrating on form - for squats I'm trying to get really low which i could not have done before with the high weight (it is amazing how much more heavy things are when you get down). And I'm stretching after each session - putting most of my effort into the glutes and hips as this is sooo tight and needs work.

I will also not do intervals on weight days - i think this is better.