Back and Ready to GO!

Got back on Sunday night. I've had a great week, no booze, minimal food, more exercise than I've ever had in one week, sunshine and relaxation. I even finished 4 books (certainly a personal best).

I had a workout scheduled with my personal trainer this morning otherwise i wouldn't have gone. Really exhausted even though i had a full day of just sitting yesterday. Workout was the Buff Dudes workout A - it was a killer, thanks CB.

i had promised to take some progress photos today but I've not had the chance. Will do it tonight however I'm not as happy with the progress as i thought I'd be - weighed in at 98.9kg this morning where i fully expected to be below 98. But let's keep things in perspective - my pants are not as tight, my wife's first comment when she picked me up at the airport was "wow you look skinny" and there is no way in hell that the past week didn't do anything but make me healthier. and 900 grams is not much, let's see what the wednesday weigh in is (could be some water weight issues).

So, looking back on the previous posts i thought I'd get things into even more perspective. Goals, it is now crystal clear to me that the singular goal is weight loss. This is only achieved through the things that become sub-goals, get fit, eat right, lift heavy, be active - so it's all on track.

I have 8 weeks to go on the transformation challenge - if i can do only as well as i have in the last 4 weeks then i would finish at under 90kgs. i believe i can do a little better than that so it's GAME ON.

Pictures to come tonight!

Dan John changed my life!

I am excited! I watched a video of Dan John a few days ago giving a seminar on O Lifts. He showed that even the stiffest of people can squat, and squat properly down to their heels. I got home that night and tried it - wow, I can squat properly.
If this is not exciting then let me explain. I live in Asia where everyone squats. If you can't squat then going to the toilet is difficult. I have never been able to do this without extreme discomfort and always believed that because i didn't do this as a child and continue on a daily basis that my legs, knees and ankles were no longer capable of squatting - WRONG.

So if you can't sit in a squat or have pain/difficulty in the squat rack then this video is a god send. If front squats or overhead squats are hard then you need to review your approach.

Additionally he explains the RDL properly and how it should feel. In doing them today along with Good Mornings this information really made sense.

I absolutely love the way he explains things, so simple, so clear, no bull shit. Check it out!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6529481301858251744#

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.