Body beat

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!

The word "diet".

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...

My silver dream machine

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. 

I get by with a little help from my friends

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!

I've got Friday on my mind

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!

It hurts so good.

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.

Tarzan boy...

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. 

She drives me crazy...

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.