I've noticed some stumbling blocks on the way to my goal of losing a stone before my work's Christmas party. I know, I know the excuses are coming out already, but it's true. This weekend is going to be a nightmare diet wise.
It is both of my son's Birthdays. Andrew is 1 on Sunday and Benjamin is 2 on Monday which has brought about 4 chances for me to ruin my diet. On Sunday lunchtime we are having a party with their friends and cousins, so a children's party with jelly and ice cream. Sunday night is a party with the extended family, so cheesecake and cocktail sausages. Ben is having a bike and Andrew is having a trike so there's a chance for me to run around with them and burn off a few calories before going to the German Market in Birmingham on Monday afternoon and stuffing myself with Bratwurst and Gluhwein. The weekend is then rounded off Monday night when we are going out for a Birthday meal.
Before all of that though, the worst (or best depending on perspective) is that I'm going to the BBC Good Food show at the NEC on Saturday. The finest food this country has to offer in one place with free samples; this to me is Jannah and Jahannam rolled into one, but with pork sausages. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell of this next week.
Then there are various things ahead such as a night out with the Karate gang, various visits to and from friends and family, and stollen for sale everywhere.
This week has been steady, lost another 2lbs so that's now 6lbs towards my target. I haven't been to the gym this week though, well I went there but ended up going into the spa instead.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Increased activity
My challenge to myself to lose a stone before the Christmas party is heading in the right direction. I've lost another 2lbs this week making it 4 in total since I started the challenge 2 weeks ago. I need to lose a little quicker if I'm to meet the target but I'll take it.
I've often wondered about why I put on weight when I have had a bad but not excessive week. If I eat between 2500-3000 calories a week I should stay the same weight but it never seems to work like that. I broached this subject with the personal trainer at the gym to see what he could suggest. Apart from my trips to the gym and Karate my activity level is equivalent to that of the Welsh space program. I work at a desk, I drive to work, I do like to get out rather than sit around but that's not enough. He suggested that I need to find ways to increase my activity level every day.
I have a lot on so finding time everyday is a struggle but he suggested doing 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening. He suggested by upping my activity level I could increase my calorie burn (metabolism) significantly.
One of the lads at Karate was telling me how he lost 5 stone this year, he said that apart from eating properly he did 50 press-ups every morning and every evening. He was telling me this when we were meant to be quiet, we got caught and given 50 press-ups funnily enough. After my second attempt at the first of those 50 press-ups I realised I would find this quite hard to do everyday but I soldiered on and managed to look like I did 50 press-ups. I'm going to give it a go though and see what I can do.
I've often wondered about why I put on weight when I have had a bad but not excessive week. If I eat between 2500-3000 calories a week I should stay the same weight but it never seems to work like that. I broached this subject with the personal trainer at the gym to see what he could suggest. Apart from my trips to the gym and Karate my activity level is equivalent to that of the Welsh space program. I work at a desk, I drive to work, I do like to get out rather than sit around but that's not enough. He suggested that I need to find ways to increase my activity level every day.
I have a lot on so finding time everyday is a struggle but he suggested doing 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening. He suggested by upping my activity level I could increase my calorie burn (metabolism) significantly.
One of the lads at Karate was telling me how he lost 5 stone this year, he said that apart from eating properly he did 50 press-ups every morning and every evening. He was telling me this when we were meant to be quiet, we got caught and given 50 press-ups funnily enough. After my second attempt at the first of those 50 press-ups I realised I would find this quite hard to do everyday but I soldiered on and managed to look like I did 50 press-ups. I'm going to give it a go though and see what I can do.
Monday, 23 November 2009
No sleep 'til Christmas
This is it, no more distractions until Christmas, or the Christmas party at least. That's about 5 weeks of very strict dieting. I won't be having the occasional night off that turns into the week off or having a dessert that doesn't fit into my daily calorie allowance, from now on there's no let up.
My recent surges of enthusiasm have yielded quick results, but they've soon petered out and the gains are lost or at least reduced. Obviously this is better than putting on weight, but it's not what I want. It's been quite embarrassing writing a column such as the one I did a few weeks ago about how I've got this new found enthusiasm only to have lost it by the time people read the column and talk to me about it. I sound like David Cameron; what I say sounds good and positive but the words are pretty empty.
My latest strategy is to set dates to aim for; the office Christmas party is 19th December. The party usually consists of eating and drinking as much as possible being as the boss is paying, so I think this is a good date to aim for. I'll go back to logging all my food online; when I first stopped being strict about doing this I started to become more careless with what I ate.
I know you've heard it all before but so far this week has gone really well. I've kept well below my daily calorie limit and I've got back on the the cross trainer at the gym, even beating my record distance of 4km in 17 minutes. I'm going to set the target high, I want to lose another stone by the Christmas party; it's a tall order but I'm taller.
My recent surges of enthusiasm have yielded quick results, but they've soon petered out and the gains are lost or at least reduced. Obviously this is better than putting on weight, but it's not what I want. It's been quite embarrassing writing a column such as the one I did a few weeks ago about how I've got this new found enthusiasm only to have lost it by the time people read the column and talk to me about it. I sound like David Cameron; what I say sounds good and positive but the words are pretty empty.
My latest strategy is to set dates to aim for; the office Christmas party is 19th December. The party usually consists of eating and drinking as much as possible being as the boss is paying, so I think this is a good date to aim for. I'll go back to logging all my food online; when I first stopped being strict about doing this I started to become more careless with what I ate.
I know you've heard it all before but so far this week has gone really well. I've kept well below my daily calorie limit and I've got back on the the cross trainer at the gym, even beating my record distance of 4km in 17 minutes. I'm going to set the target high, I want to lose another stone by the Christmas party; it's a tall order but I'm taller.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Bang goes the diet
I love autumn, the scarlet and golden leaves scattered beneath the clear blue sky with the bite of the fresh cold air. I look forward to the seasonal parties around this time of year; in the last couple of weeks we've had a Halloween party and this week we went to a couple of bonfire parties.
We tend to go to see fireworks round other people's houses rather than organised ones. It's a good way of getting together with friends and family but best of all there's normally loads of food and it's free. Christmas is the excuse used by the supposedly tee-total to have a tipple; for me, bonfire night is the excuse for dieters to become salad-dodgers again for the night.
Anything goes tonight, except tinned hot-dogs. Dieting means that I read the labels and I have found out what they're made of, go on, have a guess. The answer is chicken, but not chicken as we know it, mechanically-recovered chicken, don't look it up if you're squeamish; it's meat residue blasted off the carcass. The burgers, sausages, pizza, soup, curry, chilli etc were all fair game and I would have my share as well as someone else's.
I'm well aware that a couple of episodes of bonfire-night binge-eating can have lasting affects on diets. They should perhaps put up posters warning of the dangers of this next to the ones illustrating the dangers of fireworks with a picture of a scarred child. It could have a picture of a sad looking fat man holding a burger and a sparkler pointing at the stretch marks on his belly.
I made sure that I visited the gym and cut down on my other meals to mitigate the damage but I'm still not going to weigh myself this week.
We tend to go to see fireworks round other people's houses rather than organised ones. It's a good way of getting together with friends and family but best of all there's normally loads of food and it's free. Christmas is the excuse used by the supposedly tee-total to have a tipple; for me, bonfire night is the excuse for dieters to become salad-dodgers again for the night.
Anything goes tonight, except tinned hot-dogs. Dieting means that I read the labels and I have found out what they're made of, go on, have a guess. The answer is chicken, but not chicken as we know it, mechanically-recovered chicken, don't look it up if you're squeamish; it's meat residue blasted off the carcass. The burgers, sausages, pizza, soup, curry, chilli etc were all fair game and I would have my share as well as someone else's.
I'm well aware that a couple of episodes of bonfire-night binge-eating can have lasting affects on diets. They should perhaps put up posters warning of the dangers of this next to the ones illustrating the dangers of fireworks with a picture of a scarred child. It could have a picture of a sad looking fat man holding a burger and a sparkler pointing at the stretch marks on his belly.
I made sure that I visited the gym and cut down on my other meals to mitigate the damage but I'm still not going to weigh myself this week.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Karate man
I've got the eating side of the diet back on track but it's now the exercise bit I need to get in order. A trip to the gym used to consist of 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and 20 minutes on the weights. It is now 5 minutes on the rowing machines, 20 minutes of weights and then 20 minutes punching punch bags. It's not too bad but not enough to improve my fitness, plus I'm going once a week currently as oppose to 3 times previously.
I'm still keeping the karate up though. This week I had my first grading session and my lack of fitness showed through. I had to do 20+ kicks in a row, each one had to be right, my technique started to wain the more out of breath that I got. I did pass in the end thankfully but the new belt only just gets around my waist. I walked out with it thinking no one will mess with me now, although this was due to all the sweat pouring off me.
I have another belt that needs replacing also. It seems that although over the previous few weeks I wasn't losing any weight, my waist has got a little smaller. My jeans belt is a little too big for me so my jeans keep falling down; if you see me in the back of a police car this week, you'll know why. I think this is down to me gaining more muscle as I lose the fat. 2 hours of karate a week plus practice is really changing my physique, I stand upright, I'm a lot more flexible, my balance has improved 100% and I have really noticed my muscle building-up; it's still wrapped up in fat like a fleshy Christmas present though. It would be nice to have it unwrapped for Christmas, unlikely but I'll do my best.
I'm still keeping the karate up though. This week I had my first grading session and my lack of fitness showed through. I had to do 20+ kicks in a row, each one had to be right, my technique started to wain the more out of breath that I got. I did pass in the end thankfully but the new belt only just gets around my waist. I walked out with it thinking no one will mess with me now, although this was due to all the sweat pouring off me.
I have another belt that needs replacing also. It seems that although over the previous few weeks I wasn't losing any weight, my waist has got a little smaller. My jeans belt is a little too big for me so my jeans keep falling down; if you see me in the back of a police car this week, you'll know why. I think this is down to me gaining more muscle as I lose the fat. 2 hours of karate a week plus practice is really changing my physique, I stand upright, I'm a lot more flexible, my balance has improved 100% and I have really noticed my muscle building-up; it's still wrapped up in fat like a fleshy Christmas present though. It would be nice to have it unwrapped for Christmas, unlikely but I'll do my best.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
The death of a diet
This is the story of how my diet died. In the past when diets have failed, I haven't just woken up one morning and decided to give up. It's normally one of two things. The first is an event when the diet is pushed aside for the night, such as works night out, a wedding or christmas party. This would lead to other nights off shortly after eventually leading to having every night off. The other is a slow unravelling of the diet where I'm still eating the right meals but I gradually start snacking more and more in-between meals until I'm eating so much I can no longer say i'm on a diet.
I've been affected by both of these. After my wife's birthday party I spent the week picking bits of the leftover cake and buffet. When that ran out it was anything I could find in the cupboard, baby biscuits, curry paste, hot sauce, anything I could put on my tongue and taste. I had started putting on weight again. Shortly after, I went to a christening, rammed the buffet down my throat without any thought to my diet. It was then I realised that my diet had ended.
As I left the reception a cold wind blew against me and I pulled my suit jacket together to shield me. This suit gets worn 2-3 times per year for Christenings, Funerals and Weddings. The last time I had worn it was for my youngest son, Andrew's, baptism earlier this year. When I pulled the jacket together it wrapped right around me. There have been times when I have grown too fat for this suit but now it was too big for me. I was on the verge of giving up but now I could see how much weight I'd lost. The signs to say my diet had failed were all there, but I didn't have to accept this was the end. I had to start again, properly this time.
The next morning my diet was reborn, and today five days later I've already lost 4 pounds.
I've been affected by both of these. After my wife's birthday party I spent the week picking bits of the leftover cake and buffet. When that ran out it was anything I could find in the cupboard, baby biscuits, curry paste, hot sauce, anything I could put on my tongue and taste. I had started putting on weight again. Shortly after, I went to a christening, rammed the buffet down my throat without any thought to my diet. It was then I realised that my diet had ended.
As I left the reception a cold wind blew against me and I pulled my suit jacket together to shield me. This suit gets worn 2-3 times per year for Christenings, Funerals and Weddings. The last time I had worn it was for my youngest son, Andrew's, baptism earlier this year. When I pulled the jacket together it wrapped right around me. There have been times when I have grown too fat for this suit but now it was too big for me. I was on the verge of giving up but now I could see how much weight I'd lost. The signs to say my diet had failed were all there, but I didn't have to accept this was the end. I had to start again, properly this time.
The next morning my diet was reborn, and today five days later I've already lost 4 pounds.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Not my fault
Another week passes and I've put on 2 pounds, what's that all about? There's got to be some sort of conspiracy against me losing weight. Perhaps the shops that sell clothes for larger men are feeling the effects of losing my business and have got together to ruin my diet, I wouldn't put it past them.
I think they've been going around subsidising all the high-calorie food in the supermarkets as there seems to be bargains everywhere at the moment, mainly on cakes, puddings, sausages and bacon. I'm a sucker for a bargain, if it's half-price, I'll have it. Even if something's of no use, I'll get it anyway just in case. It always ends up in the cupboard alongside the betamax video-recorder I bought last year.
I spotted some pots au chocolat at half-price, they weren't just any pots au chocolat, they were... well you know the rest. I picked them up hoping that they were 50 calories each; unfortunately they were more like 400. I gestured to put it back hoping that my wife would come up with an excuse to keep them; she reminded me what a bargain they were and they went straight back in the trolley, so it's her fault not mine.
I've started to pick at food again. My success so far has been sticking to meals and having nothing in between. There's been leftover Birthday cake lying around the house this week taunting me, I'm always finding excuses to walk past so I can pick off a bit more icing.
When things haven't turned out as I'd like them to, I tend to feel that it wasn't my fault, after-all, I tried hard to make it go right. When I think about it though, i notice that I'm shifting the blame, it's not my wife's fault and there isn't a conspiracy against me; I'm making the errors, I need to learn from them or I'll never lose the weight.
I think they've been going around subsidising all the high-calorie food in the supermarkets as there seems to be bargains everywhere at the moment, mainly on cakes, puddings, sausages and bacon. I'm a sucker for a bargain, if it's half-price, I'll have it. Even if something's of no use, I'll get it anyway just in case. It always ends up in the cupboard alongside the betamax video-recorder I bought last year.
I spotted some pots au chocolat at half-price, they weren't just any pots au chocolat, they were... well you know the rest. I picked them up hoping that they were 50 calories each; unfortunately they were more like 400. I gestured to put it back hoping that my wife would come up with an excuse to keep them; she reminded me what a bargain they were and they went straight back in the trolley, so it's her fault not mine.
I've started to pick at food again. My success so far has been sticking to meals and having nothing in between. There's been leftover Birthday cake lying around the house this week taunting me, I'm always finding excuses to walk past so I can pick off a bit more icing.
When things haven't turned out as I'd like them to, I tend to feel that it wasn't my fault, after-all, I tried hard to make it go right. When I think about it though, i notice that I'm shifting the blame, it's not my wife's fault and there isn't a conspiracy against me; I'm making the errors, I need to learn from them or I'll never lose the weight.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
