Yesterday was me and the wife's 20th anniversary. I was hoping to do this blog yesterday, but got a bit busy.
She's a special person, I know that, because I know myself, and she gets along with me. And handles four children, of which the youngest is really emotionally draining on her. Here's to you my love!
We went to Kream restaurant and boy was it a great experience. Kream is easily one of the best five restaurants in Pretoria, if not the best. In any case, we had everything, from champagne, made in the cap classique style, to starters, mains and dessert. Everything was top notch. Hopefully the after-effects will be financial only...
For reference purposes, this was me before the I started to loose weight:
I am so embarrassed. How did I let it happen?
Today I tried to hit the undo button on all that anniversary food in the gym. Lost one kilogram in perspiration only! Since the start of this week, I'm adding kettle-bell weight swings to my routine, as I understand it helps your abs a bit. I also do 40 sit-ups and 40 leg pull-ups after my circuit. It helps I hope, as I have a lot to lose in my abs, which I consider to be my worst aspect at the moment. I've got the stretch-marks to prove it!
As always, thanks for reading! You guys help me to keep going.
Today of all days we are reminded how the world is changing. This is true also for me.
My weight loss process has become decidedly more difficult. I think for two reasons: Because the new leaner me needs less food to get by with and the new fitter me needs more exercise to actually burn fat, more than my lunch-time routine seems to allow time-wise. But what the heck, it is starting to become fun. People are noticing and that is really great.
Because of all the salads we now eat, I started a vegetable garden in the spring. This is now beginning to bear... well... vegetables. Last night we had chicken salad, with home grown tomatoes, parsley, peas, lettuce and basil. Farmer brown is eating healthy baby!
My weight loss up to now is just over 26 kg. To put that into perspective, this is just a bit more than one of these containers, filled with filthy, unadulterated, disgusting, wobbly, FAT:
One has difficulty grappling with this. Have you ever carried one of these around? It's hard work. I did it daily without noticing. Now I cannot imagine having to climb steps, getting up from chairs, carrying that around. My world is changing.
Weekends are setting me back big-time. I eat when I'm inactive. Bad, bad, bad. I need to find something to keep me busy weekends. What made this past weekend worse was that my daughter had a swim gala. You basically sit around, eating peanuts, biltong, pretzels, cookies, for six hours, to essentially watch 10 minutes of swimming. It took me almost three days to get back to where I was on Friday.
To all my American friends, I hope Trump really makes America great again. At least political correctness is dead and buried now. Honesty is always a good idea, especially when you are honest with yourself.
Why am I doing this? Health issues? Maybe so, but lots of people get by by taking medication to offset their unhealthy lifestyle. I believed so in The Beginning and sure, I was developing some serious health issues!
But I must admit, if that was 100% true, I would have stopped by now. My heart-rate and blood pressure is down, I tie my shoelaces without developing a brain aneurysm, I walk up stairs without the steam-train effect, no more re-flux while I'm sleeping... In short, health-wise I feel great! But somehow I don't feel validated at all. In my mind, I am very far from done, in fact I'm not sure I will ever be done.
You see, although I have lost 24 kg (Yeah!) up to now, I need another 16-20 kg before I will be satisfied, but will I? Yes, by then my BMI will be within normal range, but what will I be? A lanky guy? Is that me? Even worse, does what you look like define who you are?
Of all people I should understand that. I mean, for 37 of my 46 years, I've been overweight and very aware of that fact, virtually every moment of my life it's there, like a defining attribute of what is "me". I constantly remember the day the school nurse poked her finger into my navel as a "test for the amount of body fat you have", looked at me and declared me grossly overweight, or the day the boy next door looked at me and declared that I look "pathetic". It stung like hell and I believed it, because I saw the same thing in the mirror.
I did not allow that to get me down, however. To some degree, I drew strength from that. It helped me to knuckle down where I had real talent, like academics. My motivation was that if I did not make that work for me, I really was nothing. And I made a success, today I have a good job, with degrees in Engineering and Law behind my name and I feel proud of that. Granted, my school friends that didn't care for studies and went into selling cars are doing financially much, much better, but that's another story for another day. To some degree I've grown to be a bit of an intellectual snob I think, but I am shaking that as fast as possible. I began to define people by their education and academic ability, mainly because it helped me look good when measured by those same means. Since then, I've met people who are extremely wise, without flashy degrees, and it made me do some introspection.
So am I secretly vain? Is that why I am doing it? A friend mine has this pearl of wisdom: "Beware of a guy with a six-pack ladies, as he did not go through the trouble of building that to charm just one girl." No, I'm not doing it for female attention either. I love my wife just fine. On a side note, she's lost 10 kg herself and looks amazing!
The answer is that I'm doing it for self-respect. I'm doing it for that little 10 year old boy who was so hurt by that nurse and what that friend said. It is as if there's this gap in my being where I believe I am inferior to every other person out there in this regard. I want to fix that gap. I want some self-respect. However it goes further than just how you look, it seems that the world believes that if you are overweight, you have no impulse control, emotionally not that stable and not to be taken too seriously. You need to prove your own worth in all situations. What a sign to have to carry around. Unfortunately the world is a superficial place.
The locker-room talk at the gym is strangely tot about losing weight, it's about gaining weight! Guys that look like the fellow above complain bitterly because they are not building muscle fast enough. To me that's as alien as can be... Would I mind looking like that? Not at all! Is it possible for a 46 year old with stretch marks and flabby skin? I guess not. But I am trying to get close and once I'm close, to stay close.
Isn't that an insane video! I think my eldest would love it. His sense of humour is way out there. Rusty spoons, Happiness and Cyanide type of stuff.
First the bad news; I gained 3 kg this week. Now the good news; I lost 3.3 kg this week, bringing it to 20 kg in total! Yeah! How did this happen?
Remember how I complained about dizziness before? My suspicion was that my fitness was improving and therefore my blood pressure medication was becoming too strong. So on Friday, I decided to go without and to check my blood pressure that evening. It was actually normal: 121/79. A also did not take it on Saturday and Sunday, it stayed normal the whole week-end. But I could feel myself bulging in the process. By Monday, I was up by 3 kg.
So I checked my medication. The tablet I take is Co-Pritor, which actually contains a diuretic as well. By Monday my blood pressure had crawled back up to 140/90... It is clear that I'm not a very good cardiologist after all. On Tuesday I started taking my medication again, like a good boy. Weight dropped the next day by 2 kg and day after by another 1 kg. Mostly in the first 30 seconds after getting up...
Diet-wise, it was a difficult week. I will need to up my game. On Tuesday we had a working lunch at Irene Country Lodge. I went the whole nine yards. Moroccan lamb soup starter, grilled chicken breast with baked basmati rice, french beans and coconut-curry sauce main and fruit salad desert. At least I skipped the ice-cream with the desert... They have some idea how to cook, I can confirm that. What I should have skipped, was the popcorn lollipop.
Today, I need to attend a business lunch at AAD, which has all the potential to turn out sinful again. I need to learn to control myself, I guess old habits are hard to break.
Tomorrow morning the Springboks are playing the Spiritual Guardians of the holy game of Rugby. Good luck boys, you are going to need it. Very, very, very much. If only my weight could drop as quickly as my estimation of the Boks.
This morning I am down by 19.7kg. I was hoping for 20, but missed it by 300 grams. That's ok, still down 1.5 kg for the week. Not to be sniffed at.
Last week I was on my way to the Bulls Lions game, watching it from the company's box at Loftus. I was quite fearful of the snacks and the readily available (free) drinks. Alcohol is loaded with kilo-joules! I also did not give the Bulls much of a chance.
In the end, the Bulls ate the Lions for dinner and I kept my dinner well within control. Bravo to them and me!
This week was a terrible gym week. Work was really hectic and I had to work through lunch on many occasions, missing my regular appointment. All in all just two sessions, plus a few guilt-laden, limp push-ups, sit-ups and stairs last night at home. At least I broke a bit of a sweat, for what that's worth. I may have broken the 20kg barrier if it was not for that lack of exercise this week.
I went through a bit of a depression patch this week. At gym, there is this huge mirror in the change room and I accidentally caught a glimpse of myself in it. As an obese person, you teach yourself to avert your eyes when mirrors are around.
Surprise, I still look really really fat! Even though I've lost almost 20 kg, I am still about 20 kg overweight. And a person 20 kg overweight is still a sad sight to behold, especially without a shirt. As an adult, I've only once weighed less than now, but that was 15 years ago. Basically I feel great inside but still look crap outside. To top it off there were some really well built guys in there at the same time. I stood out like a fat, fat thumb.
My use of MyFitnessPal is tapering off. Using it, I have learned what is bad and what not, so I only use it when I try something new and to track my weight. The novelty has worn off a bit as well. They have a forum where you can discuss your experiences and I actually got a "You have been warned" from the moderators, for inviting people to read this blog. Go figure. Their loss.
To conclude, isn't that song a blast from the past? The last moments are really moving. That little dog's name is Dennis, you can read all about him. He dropped all that weight by cutting fast-food.
It's been a while... Since my last blog entry, I've lost another 3.2 kg, for a total of a little over 18 kg. This implies that since starting, my average rate of weight loss is 294 gram per day. I think that is good going. I am now well entrenched in doing circuit training. I remember that first day in the gym well, thinking it must be extremely painful to spend time on those machines. Now it is my favourite area! What I like about the circuit is that you get to do a lot, without getting over-tired. Just as your arms get tired, you move on to abs, then legs etc. I am slowly adding more routines as well, which I chain onto the end of the circuit. I do a sort of "abdominal turn" on a strange looking machine. You basically lift a weight by rotating your upper body. I also do a 45 second plank and 20 "half-squats" where I do not bend beyond 90 degrees. Half, because my quadriceps ligaments still hurt like hell and I do not want to risk further knee injury. This is in response to the Linda Kriel 30 days plank challenge that our weight-loss group have taken on.
Exercise is definitely easier now. I think it is due both to improved fitness and reduced weight. My resting heart-rate is down from 95 to 65 now. I think that is quite a dramatic change. I am still taking blood pressure medication, but I think I must see the doctor soon. I am having dizzy spells when I get up quickly, it may be due to blood pressure getting too low. I've been negligent in that regard, as I am doing this whole thing without medical advice. It is incredible how much harm I have been doing to my body. Every single day that I face the man in the mirror, it becomes more and more clear. Stretch-marks, skin-tags, hanging flab and those are just the obvious things. Add to that high blood pressure, gout, gastric re-flux, worn joints and it is clear that my warranty is well and truly voided by now. Last night I had the guts to look at my body-shape again. I am still carrying a lot of excess weight in the form of fat, water and lose skin in my lower abdomen area, but my upper torso is definitely improving. I can see the beginning of my lats forming there! That typical triangular shape is starting to peek at me.
The past weekend, I did an experiment using two bags of 8 kg dog food. I picked it up in the grocery shop and walked around with it for a while... must have looked a bit silly. It was however a bit of a schlep to carry it around. To think I have been doing that for years already and I have another two or more bags to drop on top of that. I am not sure of what my ideal weight must be. I am not of slender build at all, fat aside. My shoulders are wide and my chest "depth" is quite deep, so much so that a 2XL shirt is the smallest I can wear, regardless of whats going on around my middle. I am 1.87 meter tall, and according to BMI I should be 85kg. Without looking for excuses, I do not think that will be practical for me. I think I will wait until I dropped more weight to properly judge that. Our weight-loss group has lost 31 kg in total up to now. Congrats to all of you! Tonight I will be watching the Bulls take on the Lions at Loftus, in the company's box. Afraid of the free access to food, drink and snacks... I do believe that for this lifestyle change to stick, I must learn to handle these kind of situations, so I am heading to the valley of the shadow of death. I have a feeling it will be that for the Bulls as well. I predict a hard day at the office for them.
Last week the expert from the gym suggested that my diet is not optimal, because I cut out carbs completely. He also suggested I start to do some circuit training as well, which I duly did.
I got my hands on a diet by Linda Kriel, who is a well known fitness and diet guru. She used to feature in the Body Beat clips that was part of "Good Morning South Africa" in the 80's to 90's. Oh man it was such a good way to start your day. Just check out the video clip from back then:
Fast forward 30 years and she still does it quite well...
Where was I... My lovely wife joined me in this quest, although her weight is very close to ideal in any case. (Did I mention before that she has natural grace and beauty?) So we are both eating according to this diet. I also exercise using the super-circuit at the gym. My routine is as follows; Start with 5 min stationary bike cardio, burn about 50 calories, then do the super-circuit, with climbing steps between machines. I do 20 repetition per machine and I set the effort level so that the last repetition is almost impossible to complete. At least I am not that guy forever adjusting it to lower levels any more.
The most difficult part is actually the stairs between machines. That last step is like a mountain. I finish off by doing another 5 minutes on the stationary bike, burning another 50 calories. Normally I need some help to get down the stairs by then. I think stamina is not my forte, I am more a speed and strength guy.
I found a cure for the lazy weekends as well. I've started laying out a vegetable garden at home, to supplement all these veggies we are now supposed to eat. So after a few hours of swinging a pick ax, digging trenches and general manual labour, I now have the beginnings of a vegetable garden, a few bad blisters on my hands and huge respect for people who do this kind of thing for a living!
Now for the good news. It really works! After my session on Friday, the weekend, yesterday and today, I am down 2 kilograms already! I have broken the 15 kg barrier!
I missed my goal for this week, by almost a kg! Lost a measly 600 gram. And I have not been cheating. To be honest I feel cheated. I've been reading up on weight loss theories. One thing remains true at all times: Diet is a noun and not a verb. Because if you are "on a diet", it implies you will be "off a diet" at some stage. It's like driving your car without a fuel gauge. You need to know where you are, what you've taken in and if you need to take it easy. I notice now that I get grumpy when I don't go to the gym. I guess that is a good sign in some way? My gym partner still has some effects of the flu, but yesterday we could go, and last night I felt much better, like I am more in control again. Of course the scale shattered that illusion this morning... I will just need to work through it. Spoke to one of the experts at the gym yesterday. He says I might actually be eating too little. According to him, your body needs some nutrients to be able to metabolize your body fat. It sounds like sound advice. He also says I should start on weight or circuit training, as this is accelerates weight loss. I am prepared to try and I will do it from now on. My fitness has picked up a bit, so it is not as uncomfortable as before. At his advice I am going to see a dietitian as well, if my medical aid covers it. So this afternoon, it's me and this place:
On a lighter note, I see that a proper Hankey Pankey burns about a hundred or more calories. I think it's time my wife should start joining me in this quest...
I must admit, this blog entry is just an excuse to post a great song, but I am going to make it fit all together. Continue reading. I commute to work by motorcycle. Yes I know it's dangerous and so on, but it is the only way I can mange to have some semblance of a presence in my children's school life. It allows me to zip home within 25 minutes regardless of traffic. It's also a great money saver, as it is light on fuel and I maintain it on a shoe-string budget. My bike is a simple 2005 Kawasaki KLE 500 cc. On the excitement-scale, it's about two heartbeats per minute away from a lawnmower.
In the last six months I've noticed that acceleration is getting more and more sluggish. I put it down to old-age, as it did tick over 100000 km this week, which is a lot for a bike. As it turns out I should have done a little more introspection. I'm down by 13 kg now and all of a sudden, my bike has a bit more grunt again! I guess that BMW 1200 GS will have to wait for now... In other news, my gym partner has the flu this week, so I am stuck at work lunch times. It feels strange and I can tell my weight-loss progress is slowing down. Need to get out and do something! I have almost lost 10% of my starting body weight. That is my next target and I hope to reach it this week.
Last night, for the first time, my friends noticed that I am losing weight. It really is a nice feeling to be honest. Thank you to all of you. Some of you are working through your own personal issues, much more intense that losing a bit of weight. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I still have about 40 kg to go and to be honest, it seems like a huge mountain to climb. At the moment I am losing weight at about one kilogram per week. In the beginning it was between two and three kilograms per week. There are various theories about this. One theory is that you lose the fresh flab first, sort of easy come easy go. I kind of believe this, as I am now at a weight that I have maintained for years before recently losing control. That mirror is still a horrific sight though. I also think I am not drinking enough water. According to Livestrong your body needs water to burn fat, in fact you actually burn calories when you drink water! I have been holding back on the water in order to cheat the scale, seems I've been cheating myself.
I've also been thinking about these so-called fat burner tablets for a while. Will it actually help me accelerate the process? If things continue at the current pace (which I doubt), I will be on target by May 2017. That seems like a lifetime away. To be honest, I'm a bit impatient for that. For now I will avoid it, but I haven't dismissed the idea completely. I did 30 minutes of Cardio today and yesterday, worth 360 calories per day. We had a long weekend and it really is not good for losing weight. You need that daily routine and activity of going to the gym, feeling what 100 calories feels like, in order to control your eating habits. It is also better not to be confronted with readily available food, especially for somebody who tends to eat out of boredom like myself. What will I do one day when I retire? Hopefully my relationship with food will have improved by then. I still need to lose 200 gram to reach my goal for this week. Hold thumbs for tomorrow morning!
My body is declaring war on my mind. Who will win? Losing weight has become a much slower process this week. I've been taking in 1200-1500 calories per day and lost only 1.1 kg. I feel a bit cheated. This moment was always coming, it's just a matter of working through it. I am starting to hate mirrors. My weight loss up to now is 11 kg so you actually feel lighter on your feet, you ascend stairs much easier and so on. But that moment you get out of the shower, you realise that you are still carrying a huge hunk of lard around. Unfortunately this is not going to be a quick fix... Burned 300 calories yesterday. It was quite painful. It is clear that this is the time for gritting my teeth and to be dedicated to the cause. Unfortunately no gym today, as my my partner is having a weekend off. Maybe I should cycle a bit with the children. Luckily it's Friday today. Planning to rest a bit over the weekend to allow some recuperation to put in a good effort next week. No binge eating though!
The day before yesterday, I had a meeting at work that dragged into lunch time. This resulted in us missing our normal lunch-time gym session. We decided to pop in after work, as the traffic was hectic in any case. Because yesterday was an day off, due to the municipal vote in South Africa, we did a bit extra to compensate. I did 320 calories on my two cycles, as well as some walking and running training. We did our walking and running training as follows: The track is 200 meters long, and we basically sprint 50, briskly walk 150. We kept this up for 15 minutes or so. The last sprint nearly killed me. It's more or less my take on what HITT traning should be... for absolute beginners. I estimate 500 calories burned for the whole gym session. Driving home, I almost did not have enough power left in my legs to operate the clutch on my car. The end result of that was that I basically needed a full body Voltaren rub just to get out of bed yesterday, not that my wife wanted to oblige... At least I know this pain is for a good cause. I think you might say it hurts so good... We had some friends over last night for some of these:
It was really difficult not to go crazy, but in the end I persevered. Had mine with rye bread and a side salad. I prepared the tomato relish without sugar, using artificial sweetener, and nobody noticed. I was so uncomfortable from all the food. Strange how quickly your stomach adapts.
Just want to express my thanks for all those reading my blog. You help to prop me up when I start to fall over.
Nobody that has never been grossly overweight realises how intimidating a gym really is. On our very first day, we walked into the place behind a real Tarzan Boy. He was about 1.9 meters tall and was wearing extremely tight tights and a very small sleeveless top. He had muscles in places where I do not even have places. What made it even more intimidating, was that he was walking with a distinct cross-dresser type swagger. I was following this guy into a locker room that seemed extremely lonely... Fish, dry ground, you get the picture. As it turns out, that was the strangest day so far. In the mean time, I've been meeting normal people just like me. About half of them are regulars, while some are new faces that disappear soon. You get basically two groups: The young body building types, and the older health conscious types. The former group talks supplements, impact training and such things. The other group does not talk at all. They just stare blankly in front of them. I guess they are concentrating hard to un-see the things you see in these locker rooms. I still find it disconcerting to look up and be faced by some very ugly realities! Why do these places not have more privacy?
I burned another 330 calories yesterday. Sadly my weight was up by 400 gram even though I was eating very carefully over the weekend. I am guessing this would be due to my body trying to prepare itself for a period of "famine".
I am finding MyFitnessPal a very handy tool, although I can tell it annoys my wife a bit when I log everything before starting to eat, which makes it fun as well! Last night I could not close the dairy. It demanded that I eat something more for health purposes, which I did.
We have a bona-fide psychopath living in our house. She manipulates people (especially me), she has no empathy for others and cares only for her needs. Yet, she is also perfectly normal. She is a two-year-old. The other children got through this stage beautifully, I believe it will be the same. She also has the most beautiful smile that makes the sun shine brighter and makes the world a more beautiful place to be in. Her name is Katinka:
She's always had this habit of sitting on my lap at dinner, pointing at my food, indicating what I should eat next. No big deal, only thing is, she actually touches my food and I have seen the places that finger goes... This has never been a real issue, but all of a sudden it drives me crazy!
I think it comes from the fact that that single plate of food, that she is stabbing her finger at, is all I will be having. Therefore I savour the tastes and enjoy it much more than before. You see, eating on an empty stomach is sort of a new thing for me.
In other news, a guy smashed through may mother's, neighbour's fence, damaging three vehicles. He gets out, stumbling drunk. Calls the owner of the house "Dude" before he runs off to get his mother's help. Guess how old he is... 42 Years! I guess if I do a bit of introspection, I'm not that far off from this guy. It's all about taking responsibility, also for your own health. I lost 4 kg last week! I am now officially 10 kg down from when I started. It took me 3 weeks, which is incredibly fast, I'm sure the "hitting the brick wall" part is around the corner, but I will work through it. I want to lose as quickly as possible to start to enjoy the gym work a bit more. Friday we spent two hours in the gym, as the traffic was stationary in any case. My muscles are still a bit stiff, but I will try my best today. I am planning to try this HIIT thing that I've been reading about. I was a good boy this week-end. Every day was 1000 calories below the daily allowance. Hold thumbs for this week.
I went to school in small rural school in Pietersburg in the northern part of South Africa. There is something magical about the first day of school that make you never forget it. Parents and teachers should keep that in mind. I remember the first days' hall opening like it was this morning. I was sitting there in the front row, watching dust particles drifting in a ray of light that shone through a small hole in the thick curtains. I nervously glanced to the back door to see if my parents were still there, and they were. A boy was crying next to me. I tried to console him, but had no impact. His mother came to him and took him outside. With that, I checked on my parents again. They were gone. A strange feeling came over me. Should I be sad as well or not, but I was too excited. I could sense a new beginning (Queue the star wars sound track). I smiled an enjoyed the moment. Our first grade teacher was an alien. A very nice one, but still an alien. Let me explain. Our first grade photo was taken so long ago that it was in black and white, I kid you not:
Gr 1 - Ivypark Laerskool 1977
I met Miss Dickenson a month or so ago in our local supermarket. She remembered me immediately and we chatted as if we last spoke week ago, she hasn't aged a day. Alien. (I am the first guy on the left, by the way.) I met some of my best friends on that first day. After all those years most of us are still in daily contact. It is interesting to see the paths their lives have taken. Our class has had real trauma, health scares, divorces but we are still the same people. We share our lives only as true friends can. Five of these ladies are in this quest for a better lifestyle with me. We have a WhatsApp group, where we bare our weights to one another, bemoan our temptations and dream about heavenly bodies. They came up with the name of this blog as well. Thanks Riette! The sixth lady on my mind is my sister. She has the same weight challenges as me, she is a very brave person, and she is also in this group. The last lady on my mind is my wife. She is one of those people that carries natural grace and beauty. Somehow she was happy to be seen with a guy classified as morbidly obese. One of the reasons I am doing this is to make her proud of me! I will be hitting the gym this afternoon for a longer session. After that I will climb that scale and officially see how I did for this week. Feedback on Monday! Enjoy the week-end, and take it easy...
I've been doing stationary bicycles for three weeks now. It's quite nifty and tells you how many calories you burn in a session. On day one I started on level 4/25, timer set for 15 minutes. I burned 100 calories and almost died. My feeling was that I must start with some cardio exercise, just to get up my fitness levels, to enable me to really become active. I think its kind of working. Week one, my aim was to break 100 calories every day, which I did. Week two my aim was a daily dose of 130 calories, and this week it was 150 at double the effort level. So far so good... Yesterday it felt like I could do a bit more, so I asked around. The general feeling is that I could start some upper body exercises as well, just to help things along. So today, after my 150 calories on the stationary bike, my eyes fell on this beauty:
My thoughts were that I could squeeze some calories out of my upper body while my legs got a rest. It is really hard work, but I actually got 100 extra calories out of my system today! You kind of use two muscle groups on this. You push forward and once you grow tired of that you pull on the down-stroke. Sounds a bit kinky... I think I will do it again, once I have regained the use of my arms. Got on the scale afterwards, 0.5 kg off since yesterday. Yeah! I installed MyFitnessPal on my phone as well. It helps you to keep track of what you eat and your exercise on a daily basis. You can immediately see how your calorie budget is doing. Hopefully its easier to manage than your financial budget! That song is still stuck in my head. Awkward when a song about riding a bicycle is better than anything produced these days.
This all started with a very good friend and colleague being diagnosed with Leukemia. Initially doctors were of the opinion that he had the aggressive kind and he was immediately put on an extreme treatment regiment. As a precaution, the doctors repeated the tests, just to find that it was actually not as serious as they found originally and it could be treated and controlled in the long run. For a weekend the poor man had a death sentence hanging over his head and if it was not for his internal fortitude, who knows how things might have turned out? To me this was an extreme wake-up call. Although he is fourteen years older than me, he seemed in such good health, while I was grossly overweight, having to take chronic medication for the control of hypertension and gout. What was waiting in my future? He and another friend and colleague, Johan car pools and had just just started to hit the gym early mornings in an attempt to get fit and miss the notorious Gauteng N1 gridlock. Johan has a magical "Black Tag" from Planet Fitness that allows him to take a friend along. As it turned out, our friend with Leukemia was strongly advised not to exercise strenuously any longer in his fight with Leukemia, so Johan was without his gym partner. We discussed it and I became his gym partner. Only not five o'clock in the mornings, but over lunch times, as my situation makes it a bit difficult to get away from home that early. I've been into this for three weeks now and after reading Hélène Horak's story, would like to share this journey with my friends and family as well. Therefore this blog was started. I plan to discuss my relationship with food and exercise, celebrate successes and share my hardships. At least giving up will be really embarrassing on such a public platform, providing even more motivation. With the little bit of exercise and improved eating (Still a long way to go to get to better eating habits!) I've lost 7.4 kg up to now. Now the worst part... the obligatory before photos. I absolutely need them up here to keep my motivation going. I apologise if it makes you nauseous, please realise it is even worse for me.
