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3 Months, 3 Stone: Balls to the wall!
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Howdy folks!
Sorry, I didn't realise I didn't post last week. I had a post written out but I presume I must have X'ed out of the tab before actually posting it. I didn't realise until Sunday and at that point I figured I'd be best to just do a post for both weeks, today.
So I weighed in last week, with a hefty enough gain, of 5.5lbs (leaving me at 16st 6lbs).
I weighed in tonight with a loss of 3lbs (meaning right now I'm 6st 3lbs).
It's been a little tougher this week and last week cos the Christmas period means there's an enormous amount of chocolate, crisps, sweets, cakes, buns etc. hanging around the house. Also, everytime I meet someone they're forcing food on me. 'T'is the season' and all.
So I reckon I've a tipsy turvy week ahead and will see how I get on. I won't be making an extra special effort to under or over eat. I'll just take it as it comes. I know christmas day will be a write off, but I don't mind. I'm expecting a gain next week.
Early in the thread, I was getting advice that I should hover around the 16st mark for a while before trying to lose more, and it would seem like that's what I'm doing lately (albeit unintentionally). I've been yo-yo'ing up and down but hovering constantly just over 16st. So I hope that this will work in my favour as I attempt to drop another chunk of weight starting in January.
In terms of activities, I signed up for a 5k in Drogheda on Sunday (18th). It was the Drogheda & District Athletics Club's 'Christmas 5K' run. I didn't really overly prepare for it, but I knew i wanted to do it to keep up the fitness a bit. I did it in a new personal best time of 28:48 (which is probably poor to most people, but I'm obviously happy with it).
They also had a ("proper") photographer at the finish line, and they threw the photos on Facebook afterwards, which was a nice touch. So this is me at the end of my 5k efforts:
Speaking of pictures, here's another one, from before the above (2 weeks approx) where i did a 5k in Ardee and got a medal (the amount of people that mistook me for Kurt Angle started to get a little frustrating... :P )
I know photos aren't everyone's thing (I'm a photographer, so I like having them) but I think it's pretty class that DDAC had a chap there taking photos. I know the lad that was taking them to say hello to (I'd often be shooting events for the paper or such and he'd be at the DDAC stuff) and he's into the running himself. Plus it was a chilly morning. So hat's off to him for staying there and taking pictures of people rather than actually doing the 5k himself. A nice touch on behalf of the DDAC.
In other news, I'm trying to keep myself occupied and give myself deadlines, so I've signed up for another 5k in late February (not sure of exact date). It's a night run in Sandymount in Dublin. I've also signed up for the Tough Mudder (albeit, the half / 5k one, instead of the full one, as I figure, if i love it, i can do the full one again another time, and if i hate it, it won't last forever). But it gives me something to aim for fitness-wise.
I'm also very keen to up my distance on running to 6k, then 7, etc. and try to get into 10k in time for the Boyne 10k in Drogheda in... pfft.. May I think? Maybe June? Not sure when but it's far enough away that I can try and work up to it. They haven't announced the actual date yet.
I haven't been as active at the Jiu Jitsu lately, but that's mostly due to life interfering, rather than losing interest. Still enjoying it, although I'll be the first to put my hand up and say I'm pretty crappy at it. But sure it's a learning experience.
So that's about everything, really, for the moment. This week will be ugly, food-wise, but I don't mind. Then when the new year comes in, it'll be prepping for the Boyne 10k and the Tough Mudder (gonna be part of a team in Tough Mudder, so that'll spur me on, as I'm the one that suggested it to everyone, so i will want to be in respectable shape for it, to show I'm taking it seriously).
So will keep the head down for the next 10 days, and then get a burst of 'new year, new me, lolzeroonie' enthusiasm in January.
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Howdy folks.
Weighed in tonight, with a gain of 11lbs! As with a gain I had before, I have to attribute some of that to eating just before weighing (where you can still feel the food sitting in your belly, haha) so I'd say that will come off easily.
Still, though, I enjoyed Christmas, and I deliberately over-ate on all the sweets and junk of the day, so I would 'get it out of my system' so to speak.
So that means that right now I'm bang on 17st. Which means I'm about 3 stone off where I'd like to be in about 3 months time, for a holiday, to Finland, where I'm aiming to attempt skiing.. So, to paraphrase my opening post:
My Info
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Height: 5' 9.5"
Weight: 19st 1.5lbs 17st, 0lbs
BMI: 38.6 34.5
Quick Backstory
So I've a holiday booked. A place I've never been before, Finland. It's supposed to be a bit of a skiing effort, and I'm going with two friends (both in better shape than I am).
Motivation
Although skiing itself isn't necessarily weight-dependent, and I'm fairly sure anyone can take a shot at doing it; I would like to feel confident and comfortable approaching it. I know that if I attempt it, i'll have to rent some gear/clothes/whatever the case may be, and I don't want to be 6XL and squeezed into a 5XL cos that's the biggest they had. I'd also like to not feature in several YouTube videos as 'fat guy falling over' if I can avoid it. Haha.
Deadline
So, my flight leaves on the 3rd of April. That gives me 13.5 weeks. My aim, is to reach 14st 0lbs in this time frame. I'll be completely honest and say I'm not quite sure if that's feasible or not, but I figure I'm better off aiming higher, as I'll (arguably) push myself that little bit more. Especially now that I've written it on a public forum.
Approach
I'll sit down and make up a little workout schedule I will try to stick to, and make a diet journal. I predict most of my efforts will be from Crossfit style classes, Jogging and Cycling. I recently picked up a cheap and cheerful roadbike, which I aim to get stuck into using in the coming weeks. I'm going to add swimming in there, too.
I've pulled back from the Jiu Jitsu at the moment as, although I enjoy it, I want to lose a bit of weight before returning (aiming to get back into it for the start of February. Just want to drop a stone if I can, as I feel awkward/embarrassed being 17st walking in the door, to be bluntly honest about it).
So, as the thread title says, my new goal is... 3 Months, 3 Stone: Balls to the Wall!
In the words of David Brent, 'A good idea, is a good idea forever'.
(You have to love Lesnar for imagery; he's so animated!)0 -
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Cheers CE.
I'm not one for 'selfies' (truth be told, I hate the bastarding things!) but here i am being a hypocrite.
I had intended to get up Slieve Foye again before the year ended. I attempted to do it 2-3 times with people from September onwards, but something always came up, and it always went on the long finger. So I had a spur of enthusiasm on Friday night to do it the following day (so i'd be doing it on the 31st.. technically still getting it done before the end of the year!)
I went up alone, so i wouldnt have to worry about other people's excuses or nonsense, and I have to admit, I really, really enjoyed it.
Only met one other person on the way, but it was great exercise. I think I will make an effort to to it every month or so from now on. Just as something do to. Heart was pounding during it during the uphills, but my legs weren't as bad as they were before. I'll contribute that to the running making the legs a little tougher (even though it's not really the same exercise, I admit).
Took me four hours all in all, which is fine with me. I'm sure there are people that could moonwalk up and down quicker, but I was happy to be even doing it
With Gary the Goat (he followed me for a wee while for some reason.. make sure i wasn't thieving I presume):
At the top:
and the MapMyRun data from the phone:
At the top, it was incredibly windy and overly cold up there, but it was actually quite pleasant for most of the ascending/descending. There was a fair bit of cloud up there, too, which was arguably slightly dangerous as my view was impeded a tad, but really added to the atmosphere of doing it
Will definitely be making it a regular thing. Brilliant way to end the year. Pity I'm dosed with a cold now, though!
Hope everyone had a good start/end to the year and hope 2017 is good to ye all. A lot of people seem to be coming out of 2016 a little upset for some reason. Most people saying it was a tough year, but for me personally it has been great. Have really enjoyed it and enjoyed having this thread, too. Cheers to everyone for the positive and inspiring comments. Really appreciate that anyone even bothers looking at this. But thank you very much for it 0 -
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Cheers Alf
I completely get what you mean. To be honest, the diet has been slacking a bit here and there and sweets and such have become more common than I'd like. Especially the ould binge eating sessions. They're more common.
I actually think part of the problem is because I started eating them in the first place. I find that if you have a bag of Doritos or Haribo or whatever, you end up wanting them even more. I've given up sweets before or a month or so at a time and I never really crave them, but end up buying or eating them out of boredom or for the sake of it. And then because I've had them, I end up wanting them more and more. They're addicting.
One thing I find works well (or has in the past) are deadlines. This thread was started with the rollercoaster ride in mind, and I did well in the run up to it.
So I've decided that if I commit to things, i'll be much more likely to stick to things in general. So as a result, I've signed up for (and paid, etc. so I know I'm definitely gonna do them) the following handful of events:
Feb 28th - Dublin Night Run 5k Sandymount.
April 3rd - Finland Holiday for a week (to include Skiing).
April 23rd - Duleek Cystic Fibrosis 10k.
April 30th - Coca Cola Boyne 10k.
May 6th - Drogheda Darkness into Light 5k.
July 9th - Tough Mudder (5k/Half).
So that's a few events to keep my head in the game, I hope. My hope is to progress to 10k before April so I can actually jog for the entire Duleek and Boyne 10k events without stopping (which I think is reasonable). Then Tough Mudder, as far as I know, requires a bit of upper body strength, so that'll hopefully keep me active with weight lifting, as I know I won't want to be embarrassingly out of shape for it (plan is to do it as a group outing).
I want to add a couple more bits (something for the end of January/early February would be nice, and something in March, too) so I'll keep my eyes peeled.
I also picked up a road bike which has not really been used yet, but I am hoping to get into cycling a tad more on that. Would like to sign up to some beginner style bike race (ala a 5k for joggers) to give me something to work towards on the bike, but I have no notion of where to even start looking, in that regard.
But that's my plan anyway. Something to keep occupied and work towards.
As an aside, if anyone has any suggestions on things that could be worth signing up for, feel free to let me know So long as they're not events that require Olympic Athlete levels of fitness, and are open to beginners, I'd be very interested! 0 -
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Sometimes allocating a 'break' or just building sweets into your week/fortnight etc means you can take a break from them bit have them to look forward to. It also helps if you have the smaller bag of Doritos.
I don't pretend to know all the answers...I've had my own food issues to deal with but some principles might be the same
Keep up the good work anyway!0 -
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I think the SBG Wimp to Warrior thing might be a tad too intense for me. I'd like to be able to whoop ass and beating up 17 fellas in one go (ala Bruce Lee) is the kinda thing I'd like to be capable of, but I think you'd need to be a bit closer to the place to be able to commit to it realistically. Would also probably help if you were fully unemployed, or had a job with the same set hours each week, so you knew your schedule (I generally don't).
The Drogheda Wheelers takes my interest, but I'm gonna give cycling a whirl on my own first. Just to see how I take to it. I also realise my first cycles will be relatively shortish at about 30-40 minutes a piece, as I know that if i spend hours on the bike, my ass will be in bits for days to come! :P (haven't been on a bike in a while, and those road bike saddles are narrower than the mountain bike ones, so I'm not looking forward to 'that feeling' you get when you first start cycling again.
Once I can comfortably cycle 2-3 times a week and feel comfortable, I'll look into an event to work towards. A cycle outing over a certain distance or the likes. Drogheda Wheelers do leisure cycles each week I think though (meeting every Sunday for a spin?). So I could try that a little down the line and see how I get on.
The chap that trains the BJJ where I go, is trying to get me to hurry up back into it. But I still don't feel comfortable enough at the moment. So I'm setting a deadline in my head for the first Monday in February to return to that. Try and lose a little weight in the meantime and get a bit more confident in my efforts first. 0 -
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Cheers folks.
This post ended up being longer than I anticipated.. and it's mostly nonsensical rambling so you can feel free to ignore it.
On the diet front, I will be completely honest and say I count approximate calories, and try to be sensible with my eating and avoid binge-eating on Haribo and such (but unfortunately, it does tend to still happen!).
I don't know what Keto is, and I'm only mildly clued into why you'd intentionally eat a low carb diet. I know why people favour protein foods generally, etc. But most of the general diet advice I get or see around the place, I opt to ignore, to be honest.
I can't really cook properly, and I like having a caloric number, so most of my foods are store-bought ready-made. For example, I often buy a Spaghetti Bolognese ready meal that's made by Birds Eye. It's about €3. I find it filling, and I know that it's bang on 280kcal. I don't have to figure out portion sizes, spend time batch cooking etc. so it suits me.
I eat a lot of shepherd's pie. I eat a lot of bread, too (I know bread is the devil, etc.). I only eat Brennan's 'Be Good Wholemeal' bread, though, because I find it tasty, makes good toast, and it's 60kcal a slice (which is very reasonable, in my opinion).
I'll often bang a tin of spaghetti hoops in the microwave (210kcal for Heinz tin) and have it over a slice of Be Good Wholemeal bread.
Lidl do a €2 ready meal frozen dinner with a choice of chicken or roast beef (it's a sunday dinner style meal). It's in and around 350kcal and has spuds, meat, veg, gravy. Very filling, very cheap, very easy to cook, very easy to calorically calculate.
I'm not a big fan of fizzy drinks, but will opt for Diet Coke or 7up Free over the higher-calories options, and although I drink an enormous amount of tea, I don't measure, weigh, etc. my milk portions (I use low fat milk, though). I eat sausages and rashers, but opt to grill them instead of frying them. I'll have Turkey/Chicken Burgers from the local butcher now and again too (grilled also). I'll usually have these with a slice of Be Good Bread and a dash of red sauce (Heinz reduced salt ketchup is low enough in calories).
To be honest, I pay attention to my diet, in that I'm not completely oblivious to it. I know 'you can't outrun a bad diet' is true, but at the same time, I don't get too into the small details of it, because it'd quickly become a chore.
I find calories are kind of like money. If you're unemployed and get €500 per week, you'll spend that money on anything and everything. You'll splash the cash and not have a care in the world. If you work 50 hours a week, and get the same €500 per week, you'll appreciate the money a lot more, and you'll be very careful about how you spend it, and will be wary of wasting it.
I find this is true of calorie counting. If a packet of Cheese and Onion Tayto is 200 calories, and you're just lying around the house, then you'll chomp them down like it's no one's business. Sure what's 200 calories?
But if you've just spent an hour jogging the bollocks off yourself and are sputtering and coughing like a mad thing because you pushed yourself as hard as you could.. and you burned 200 calories... all of a sudden that packet of Tayto seems like a much bigger sacrifice to make. Those 200 calories have much more meaning to you because you invested so much time and effort into them. You're not as likely to waste those calories.
When I stop exercising or make an effort physically, the diet usually slowly but surely dies with it. But if I go out jogging, cycling, swimming (or whatever your preferred choice of exercise is) then i find it's much easier to make sensible eating decisions because all of a sudden the food that's loaded in calories just seems like it's not worth it.
You can read for hours, days, weeks on end about diet related topics (I have), but at the end of the day it's all just common sense. Unfortunately, common sense would tell you not to binge eat on sugar-loaded nutritionally-void foods, but we all still do it. So it's a balance of keeping a clear head and not being one of those people (like I did over Christmas) who has a bad day, then deliberately ruins a week because 'sure it's all ruined now anyway' :rolleyes:
Everything in moderation, as they say. The only food that I have completely ruled out are biscuits. I simply can not justify them in any capacity. I will never buy a packet of biscuits and only have one or two. I always eat the whole packet. A digestive, or a HobNob etc are generally around 70cal per biscuit. I know you could say "well just eat two of them you fat prick", but I know I will always eat more than that, and usually finish a packet off in a single sitting. So I just don't entertain them at all.
But yeah.. other than that I don't get too worked up over diet. It's the most important part in weight loss, no doubt about it, but for me, mentally, it's the exercise that keeps the diet in check, so i focus more on that and the diet tends to just fall in line.0 -
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I didn't weigh in this week, so I'm not 100% sure where I am weight wise.
Taking a stab in the dark I'd say I possibly gained this week (had I weighed in). I've been dosed with a cold for the last week or so and although it was annoying, I've still been trying to be active. But for the last 3-4 days I've had a very sore pain in the lower back making everyday movement a bit difficult and painful.
As a result, boredom and generally illness has resulted in a bit of comfort eating. Nothing too over the top but there have been Haribo digested (feckin' local centra never sells Haribo StarMix, but when I want comfort food they have no end of the €1 offer bags!! Pricks!! :P )
It seems to be going now, though, so hoping that by tomorrow I will be back to normal. Also have an annoying cough (and every time I cough, my back hurts! Great combo!), but again, that seems to be on the way out too (or so I hope).
In the meantime, what I have been doing, is adding a few extra 'upcoming events' to my to do list. As it stands, I've signed up (+ paid, so made a financial commitment) to the following:
January 29th: Axa Raheny 5mile/8k
February 28th: Dublin Night Run Sandymount 5k
March 4th: Carlingford 10k
April 23rd: Duleek Cystic Fibrosis 10k + Virgin Media Night Run 10k
April 30th: Coca Cola Boyne 10k
May 6th: Drogheda Darkness Into Light 5k*
July 9th: Tough Mudder (5k/Half)
August 13th: Dublin Rock'n'Roll 10k
(two 10k's in the same day on April 23rd is daunting, and the * on the May 6th is cos I haven't actually signed up for it (as you can't yet) but I know I'll be doing it as it's a friends 'goal' event that she's intent on jogging and I'll be doing it too).
As it stands, I'm not able to jog 8k without stopping (and my personal goal is to do all of the above without stopping, or it doesn't count
) so I'm hoping to be feeling better to get back out jogging so I can try to up my distance for the 8k in 17 days. Most I've done is 6.4km, but did a 5k on Monday and I was not feeling too confident during it. Didn't stop, but didn't exactly breeze along either. So that'll hopefully keep me motivated to improve myself.
I noticed PhotoBox emailed me with a sale, and although I never really use them, I did see you could get an 8x12 inch print off them for 88c in their sale. So I fired together a few 'posters' to stick on the wall of the upcoming events. My idea is to scribble my time on the back of each and throw them into a binder after each is done, to keep as a souvenir.
I've only a few done, so far, as they had a 'timer' on the sale, so I rushed these together. I've since re-done the Coke one and have some made for the other events, but I'll wait til photobox are doing their give-away pricing again before ordering.
So that's pretty much been my week. Not a whole heap happening.0 -
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Weighed in this week with a gain of 2lbs, to bring my current weight to 16st 7.5lbs.
My short term goal is simply to get to 15st 8lbs (13.5lbs away). Thats what I was when I posted the before and after picture earlier in the thread.
On the upside, other than the cough still coming and going a little bit, I'm back to being healthy and being able to be active again.
Because the last two weeks have been so iffy with feeling ill and not exercising, I'm hoping that any kind of a half-hearted effort this week will give me a decent loss. So I'm planning to put a bit of effort in and try to do what I can, but I'll take it as it comes and not set specific goals (as I'll only annoy myself if i set out to do something and don't get it).
To hit my 3 stone in 3 months target, I need to lose 35.5lbs in 75 days. Not sure it'll be completely achievable, but I'll give it a whirl. 0
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