Some Mornings...

The last two mornings I have woken tired and needing my dose of caffeine, and I expected to start feelings a bit more energized in the morning by now. Maybe it is the fact I am working out more and my body is still adjusting to the new style? As long as I can remember most mornings I have been a zombie. So maybe I am just not a morning person and never will be, as I have always been more of a night owl.
One thing I have noticed on a positive is I am sleeping better. It's not taking countless hours tossing & turning trying to get to the land of nod anymore. Just last night I remember starting my nightly chat to the boss up stairs and then nxt thing I'm waking up this morning. I must make a note to see if any changes do in fact happen, i guess an earlier night will be a help.

I have started week 2 of C25K this week and today completed day 2. It was a lot less on the feet today and I made the effort to stick mostly to the paved pathways instead of the grass and metal ones. And my decision was for the better as I lasted better and it showed in my times.So going forward this is the way I will set out my course until i have lost more weight but also built up more stamina.
I am really enjoying this program though and feel excited about progressing into the later stages with more confidence in what I can still achieve. Going to get another C25K app as the RunDouble free period expires after week 2, and  to continue on with the rest of the app you need to upgrade, which is a shame as  I can't afford it unless I can pay it from my mobile credit.  I however do highly recommend it and will link it from my page so you can go check it out yourself. Note: All my apps are for Android.

Sorkit. A new app I trialed on Tuesday to help me do some strength training on my non C25K days either before or after my walks. It's a killer! I tried it on overall body for 10 minutes and boy was I puffing like two steam trains. My lungs were screaming.  So I will be putting myself through that again tomorrow, as so far it suit's me as no equipment needed. I will see how this plays out for the rest of the week and if I run into now issues will link it also.

My new eating targets are working well, and it was pointed out to me last night by a trusted MFP friend that my days meals were a bit lite. And yeah, she was correct as I had only put away around about 1300 cals, the thing is I never felt the need to add to it as I felt totally satisfied. Bare in mind this is after exercise cals burned have lowered it down to that total. Still a lower amount than expected.
But I always appreciate advice, suggestions and observations especially from any of my MFP friends as they are all in the same boat and look at things from a different view point and this in my opinion is a great part of MFP. Thanks bec's much appreciated!

RE-ADJUSTING THE SEAT

This is the shot of the start of this mornings C25K session, 7am and what a sight. Yep I was out starting my training at 0700 today and did It start with a bang or what!

2.5kg…2.5 KG that is what I lost last week, for a total of 6 KG in two weeks!   to start the day! That is what motivated me to head out for an early training, and what a great way to wake up. No coffee or breakfast first, nope straight out the door and off I went.

Went a slightly different route this time and I enjoyed the pace for a majority of the session, at the end I was pushing it but I made it. On week 2 of C25K the running legs increase to 90 sec but the total laps are now only 6. I was slower than last week, but that's to be expected as I re-adjust. My total pace over the 2.19km (warm up/down not inc) was 9:34 but the best run leg was in 7.51 min/km over 190m. In total I burnt 458 calories (warm up/down inc). And I felt real pumped and ready to smash it today!

So got home and added in the new weight of 127kg and was prompted to re-adjust my targets, which I did and with some smart advice changed my activity level from couch potato to light activity due to the amount of exercise I have/am doing now. And yes it does look better.

Then the day basically went to NOTHING, I did not want to be home and felt the need for some interaction and get out and about. But that never did happen instead after breakfast and around about 11:40 I had a nap till waking around just after 1500. Bugger! day wasted, lunch missed. So decided I would have a bigger dinner and abit earlier so if I did feel hungry later due to not having lunch I could maybe have some toast. Still had an afternoon apple which got me to dinner and I feel satisfied at the moment which is good. Still can’t take away the great feeling of losing another 2.5kg and completing my Day Week 2 C25K, because I achieved it!

I have been looking to up the training mostly on the non C25K days instead of just a walk, and one of my MFP friends tested out a new app and she recommended it. Its called Sworkit. Its basically an app the help work out using no equipment and you can do it at home. So I am going to try that tomorrow afternoon after my morning walk.

 

Still moving….

Wow, its been two weeks since I purchased another ticket on the weight-loss/rediscovery express and this last week I have had to make adjustments to my mentality and attitude in a few ways. I have hung my head out the carriage window and taken a small taste of the over eating breeze but sat back down and made plans to move to the next seat, along the way asking for help this time and getting a lot of helpful suggestions (They know who they are & hopefully reading my blog..Thanks!). I have started really putting them into practise these last few days/nights and the need is not so much (if at all) to poke my head out the window.
One week ago I set down some small targets to try and achieve and they were:

1) Complete Week 1 of the C25K programme. COMPLETED!
2) Maintain 5 days of exercise (any days). COMPLETED (Surprised to just discover did 7 days worth, though yesterdays wasn’t proper exercise still 6 days is great!)
3) Have a bread free day. COMPLETED 23/24th!
4) Have a cheese free day. COMPLETED 23/24th
5) Look for other things to do instead of TV/Games. COMPLETED! This Blog is perfect. Had less TV this wk more Radio!

So I am very happy with how I went! It was not easy doing the C25K, but found the rest hardly noticeable, especially the food ones. I set Wednesday to be cheese free and not until later that day did I realize I had not had any bread. BONUS! So this was continued into Thursday as I had planned this to be bread free. Now I am not sure if having these days lead me to purge on sandwiches around midnight that night or not but I dealt with that in my last post. 

I had a great day today. Got out and pushed my walk with a PB for 1km of 10.21 followed by a 11.07! I use Endomondo for my walks to track them and find its a great app and tracks well! So after I felt BUCKING AWESOME!
I actually did quite a lot today. I found myself reading through two great and helpful/inspiring blogs by fellow MFP friends and have linked them to my blog so please click on the links and follow their amazing work, a little bit about them….

On a Jam Hunt is a great blog where you get to “Pimp the Beast” as the author puts it and is full of great pages from playlists to daily thoughts and suggestions like finding another way to incorporate Chia into her day and being honest about having bad days!

Move Love Eat is another great blog and I spent a good deal of this afternoon reading through and also being inspired by another great blog author. This blog is all about fitness, loving life and eating good through her eyes as well she shares some of her plans and is also honest about the bad days as well as the good!
So please go to their sites and gather some inspiration and honesty from two wonderful bloggers!

I have notes that I plan on putting into blogs in the near future one will take a while to compose as its going to be an open and honest account of how I totally buggered up the promising life I had and will be close to the heart with raw emotion in it, so it may happen this year or not its going to be a work in progress.
Something else I did today was make an exercise plan and actually put it into a calendar. Never really thought of this before but was inspired to do so and now I have done it make perfect sense.
So with this week checked off and a new one only 2 hrs away it is time to make another 5 targets…

1) Complete Week 2 of C25K
2) Follow my exercise plan (6 days)
3) GET A JOB!
4) Be HONEST in all my blogs/logging
5) Start the garden!

That's all. For all the NZ folks ending their long w/end and making the trip home tonight/tomorrow drive safe and look after each other! To the rest of the world take care of each other and yourself.

Today Is A REAL TEST Day

That’s, what I wrote on Friday morning in my notes. I woke feeling really bloated/big/Full whatever you want to call it, that morning as I had a cave in and had a midnight feast. Okay it was two sandwiches with cheese,lettuce, and the works so not that bad you may say, which sure is true. But I just hauled it down and I will say IT FELT GOOOOD! Maybe having no cheese/bread for two days didn’t help, who knows. I have no excuses for it as I was aware of what I was intending to do before I did it and I carried through with it totally at ease, with the decision. I told myself I would log it tomorrow and not beat myself up over it. And to be fair, that's what I did. I logged it under Fridays lunch and have not felt guilty about it. I have accepted it and sought help from a great support group of MFP friends to avoid this in the future.

I was given great advice and suggestions from snacking before lunch/dinner and having a tea in the evening,(Alpine suggested) to reducing the amount of starchy carbs and get them from more fruit/veg. Also increase the amount of protein I am consuming. Another helpful piece was that as I am more active and this week have started more running so will have an increase in appetite until the body adjusts.Looking at changing my goals to try and avoid this happening again, Its been suggested perhaps I am not consuming enough Calories…What do you suggest??

So that’s how Friday started and It had the potential to decrease more really. I was mentally trying to avoid the exercise today,probably because I felt big and heavy. I also had an interview at 10:30 and was really looking to use it as an excuse not to exercise due to lack of time when I get home before heading off to the school before 14:00 for my girls assembly performance.

BUT……. I did the C25K Wk 1 Day 3, and I feel sore and Bloating went and was not an issue for me at all. Its hard to believe the feeling I had this morning was how I used to feel a lot of the time when I woke up, and this morning had been the first time I had felt this way since starting back with MFP. I think I also need to harden up a bit more mentally when this happens again, and go for the water instead of the food! Rest day for Saturday and plan on doing some reading etc, as its the start of the long weekend here in NZ. Be safe and take care of each other!

C25K and WOGGING

MONDAY 21/10/13

A good day to start off week 2, began with my weighing in at 129.5 kg which was a loss of 3.5 kg! It may have been more however as I was rinsing my plate from breakfast when I realized OH shit! I need to weigh in today, so raced off and stripped down to boxers jumping on scales ha-ha.

Only 1 coffee today and noticed that yesterday I also only had one, which is good and may be why I have slept a bit better. So I am going to try and maintain that.

Lunch was wow fantastic….OK so it was only a grapefruit grilled w/brown sugar but oh boy did it taste great. I have had it before when I was growing up, mum would do one now and again for breakfast. And the other day at the fruit and veg shop I saw fresh ones and instantly the thought popped into my head, for an alternative to breakfast. The fact I had it for lunch weeeellll who cares.

Yesterday I had downloaded an app to help get me started running it’s called C25K-5k it uses a popular beginners running program to slowly introduce you from Couch to five km running (C25K). Anyway so I was going to pick up my girl from school and walk her home as I usually do on nice days, this time I thought I would try it out on the way there (Its also one of my goals for the week)

So I left a 14:00 and headed off via the local gardens and away I went wogging (a the term I have heard and like ha-ha). Now last week I tried adding tiny runs into my walk now and again but made sure NO BODY not even a dog was about before I would wog off and as soon as I heard or glimpsed the tiniest hint of any life other than the birds I would stop. That’s because I am so extremely self conscious of what other's may think or perhaps say it’s also because I know physically I am not a sight to see in a good way,and that’s with shirt on.

But yesterday while reading up on this program and getting feedback on the MFP (MyFitnessPal) website one of the forum topics was about starting out running and why some ppl do it at dawn or dusk and the comments there were 100% correct. WHO CARES! What the ppl in their cars or walking past may think. Whatever they think will only stay with them for a split second like a fish, and what they say doesn't matter either they don’t know you and chances are will not see you again anyway.
This got me thinking and yeah ya know they are right, I am doing this for me not them, let them stay at home and eat or watch TV or go to the shops in their car. I am going to walk and then wog my way into better shape, and ya know what? Next time they may see me, they could very well go wow look he is still doing it and man he looks better; and you know what? I will be better! Now applying this to going to the pools or beach to swim is another block I have yet to even attempt,that’s another day.

So off I went as planned at 14:00 started the app and after the 5 min warm up the dreaded tone said "begin running"……so I did and I took about 4 strides and low and behold ahead was someone working in the garden. So I kept going and it felt good, even better when the tone said "begin walking" phew breath.
This continued for 8 more running laps (60 sec each) and was followed by 90 sec walks. I ran and then stopped in plain view of someone with their dog, but I stopped because my 60 sec run lap had stopped and I was supposed to walk, not because I saw her.
I also ran onto another track as a group of people where in plain view this time I had to START the running so I did. The track I took led me to the main road BUGGER! But I kept going I was struggling but then I had to began the warm down. I had done it!!! I was absolutely sucking in the air even the 3 little pigs hadn't seen so much huffing and puffing.

But I had done it, I had actually completed it and I had to be seen by people too. As I was cooling down the app shut off and closed down for no bloody reason, thus began my day of frustration with phone apps!

So I lost DAY 1 WEEK 1 of the C25K I had just finished, man I was beyond annoyed. So I logged onto Endomondo to track the short walk to school where I could pause it while waiting for the bell to ring before resuming it for the walk back home. At least I would have this data logged…HA! Not likely! The resume never stared; the app closed itself down and the battery was not at fault this time, man now I was fuming! All I could think of was all the excellent effort I had done was now a complete waste of time, how many calories had I burnt etc ahhhhh. I so wanted to smash my phone onto the concrete and then stamp on any parts that survived.

So all today’s exercise logging was estimated as I really have no idea what I burnt, so very frustrating. But I thought about it when I calmed down and OK so I lost any logging etc, but it wasn't a waste of time. I HAD DONE IT! I had done the c25k and the walk today even though I don’t know what I had lost I still had and I feel bloody good about that! Oh yes the phone never did meet the concrete.

So anyway home and homework done I decided to look into this app more and I was not the only one having linking issues and shutting down, so I have uninstalled it and installed another one called RunDouble C25K which has linking issues due to how MFP logs in FB users but at least it will track and show my progress and I can then copy this over, so that will be trialed out Wednesday my next C25K day.

Eating went well, did less than 1200 cals and was under in my Carbs/Fat & Sat Fat amounts, and I do feel good not bloated and unable to move. Tomorrow will be a walk to school if the weather is good otherwise I’ll make it a rest day. Now the blocks on so I’m gonna bugger off and watch that then Person of Interest before hitting the sack!

TUESDAY 22/10

Had three crumpets with Peanut Butter on two of them and Jam on the other for breakfast this morning, along with my wake up coffee. Did the school drop and now looking about for good blog sites etc… Have decided that tomorrow will be cheese free day and Thursday bread free day.

Not too sore at all from yesterdays C25K session + walk, so may walk to do the school pickup this afternoon, as I think if I don’t I may feel guilty even though I have planned only five days a week for exercise. I may potter outside in the garden or attack the garage later, not really sure yet.

Spent the day setting up my blog and publishing what I have done so far, time will tell how well it is received and I do hope people will feel the need to follow. But at this stage its more about me being able to document my day to day progression and express my thoughts etc. Work in progress!

Did the walk to school, which was good. Did feel a bit more puffed than usual and that may be down to yesterday’s exercise and also perhaps the lower intake of food, which I think my also be why I have felt hungrier today.

So today was a less active day in comparison but still a good one. I did well food & exercise wise, and me and my daughter have invented a new ball game called GO! Tomorrow is my DAY 2 C25K day and also no cheese day. Check back and see how it went……..

WEDNESDAY 23/10

Today saw the recent sunshine we have been blessed with,fail to show. Instead it was a drizzly overcast day, but still a nice temperature. The usual school run was done and dusted with ease, today’s goals were to complete day 2 of the C25K program and also have a day without cheese.

Not sure if it was the weather but I felt a little sluggish mentally, and I was fussing about doing nothing of any real value. I even posted online if people who run use backpacks or anything else all because i was indecisive about running with my bag on. I did eventually take the bag and once my jacket,cap,keys & water were loaded I felt it would be weighted enough not to bounce about to much. After this it was 10:45 by time I got the runners on and changed my top about 4 times before I was happy I would be warm enough in the drizzle before my run started and not to hot once I got going. So any way I eventually made it across to the gardens where I loaded up the RunDouble app and started my training………….

I felt better today doing this program and maybe it was due to the drizzle and cooler day we had or maybe it was also because I had started the app earlier, so when my run started I was slightly ahead from last time which probably made it feel like I was quicker. Who knows; most likely the answer was (D) all the above!

Throughout the training I felt better until maybe the 6th leg of running and then it really kicked in, I managed to just complete the 7th lap and by time I had completed the 8th and final run leg to begin the warm down, I was puffing more than a steam train!!

 

After the cool down I sat, rested and had some water. I had recovered quite well and I was very happy with how I had done and looking at my stats was pleasantly surprised that I had averaged 9:03 m/km for 2.21km not including my warm up and cool down (WU/CD). for a calorie burn of 445 (inc WU/CD). I now have a valid time/distance target to judge my progress by for next time.

I didn’t walk for the school pickup as I wanted to give the legs a rest, but to be honest I still felt good, sure the legs were a bit tender as to be expected but nothing that made it a struggle to move. I guess tomorrow morning will be the test but I still feel good physically now at 21:15 so I have no concerns.

The food went well also, I ate about 1700 cals today so my day totals were Calories 1701/2175 (-474)/Carbs 263/299 (-36)/Fat 44/72 (-28)/Sat Fat 22/24 (-2). I also set myself a food goal today which was to not eat one of the foods I consider a weakness and that was NO CHEESE. All I can say is Mission COMPLETED! and a bonus food goal I had set for Thursday was a no bread day and I also completed that today YEAH! That’s two of my weekly goals I set on Sunday night completed and I am also 75% towards my major exercise goal which is to complete Week 1 of C25K!!!

NEW BEGININGS

Monday 14 October

No exercise today due to the back to school fun and interview in town at 11. Home in time for lunch and back to school again. I was gonna walk to the school but just as I was gathering my bits an bobs got a call for some temp work starting at midnight and needed to be handy to pen and paper + phone so in the car it was. I put down to exercise 5 times a week and that’s still more than do able so I am not worried.

Good food today I am happy about that. Gonna have a meal around 22:30 to help restart the engine for my work, taking a ham/chz sandwich and two apples which will be logged on Tuesdays diary. So that days food may seem a lot so a challenge to get into a new food rhythm fast!

The rest of the week went well, no major blow outs like pizzas etc, and from Wednesday been walking so that’s my 5 days of exercise.

Sunday 20 October 2013

I feel really good most of the time now. Slowly starting to have better sleeps and less and less coffee needed. I have been good with my eating and if I have small slips I don’t beat myself up, I just dust it off and keep on going.

Buying more fresh fruit and veg and looking at nutritional info on the back of some things and man it’s amazing some of the amounts. Most of my walks this week have had tiny jogs in them and I dusted off the old Mt. Bike the other day to fix up and rediscover my joy of cycling.

Really want to swim again, but due to my physical appearance I have -100% confidence to take off the shirt and jump into a pool yet alone the sea. That’s a goal I am aiming for. As a kid/teen I LOVED the water and sports etc, now it’s about rebuilding confidence again to do things I once took for granted.

I have made no promises to myself that I will actually do it this time, which never works and makes the feeling of stumbling worse, so I end up giving up altogether. This time I am just accepting each day’s progress as it comes and making the effort to improve and challenge myself. It’s always easier when I am not working however so the real challenge will come when I get back to full time work. But the want is there and that makes me feel good!

Went for a nice walk this afternoon, about 4.3km which I really enjoyed in the nice warm sun and cool breeze. Noticed that towards the end I felt like I could have kept going (which led in part to the 7.5km walk yesterday ha-ha), so headed home where I topped it off with some water and slices of Orange.
Before the walk d/loaded an app on my phone called C25K which I tested out for a few mins at the beginning of my walk. I will look to make Monday, Wednesday & Fridays my C25K days to mix up the exercise.

Not much of a big goal setter but gonna make some at each weeks end and see how I did, so for next week:

    Complete 3 days of the C25K challenge

     Maintain the 5 days a week exercising 

    Have a bread free day

    Have a cheese free day

   Look for other things to do in my down time instead of TV/games.

Feel free to offer hints, or help to me for these!