Another one bites the dust!

Two important things happened this week. On Saturday, My daughter asked me if I can make a cart-wheel. Being the alpha- male in our house, a simple "Yes dear, I'm able" was not enough. My answer was more like: "Stand aside, I will show you!"

So I did it. On my first attempt, she said it looked ok-ish, but I did not point my toes. Of course this was a border-line insult as far as I was concerned. So I went for broke, I needed height and grace to pull off the perfect cart-wheel. The result was outstanding. I'm still proud. Unfortunately, I pulled my hamstring tendon as well, so much so, that my wife sitting a few meters away could hear it pop.

Went to the doctor and got proper meds and treatment. Thankfully, I think this will be a short problem. In gym, I continued exercising, but eliminated all hamstring related exercises. I actually replaced them by sit-ups. Sitting in that doctor's reception, I was terrified that I would have to lay off for a month or so. Luckily it did not happen. After x-rays, the doctor mentioned that the joint space of my hips are quite narrow, although nicely uniform. I should not consider doing marathons. So relieved! Maybe that is also a remnant of carrying excess weight around.

I started this journey on July 4, 2016 (Hey, the new me was born on the fourth of July!) Yesterday, weighing myself on the same scale, in the same Gym, 228 days later, I weighed exactly 30 kg less! This is the second significant event of this week. Some stats: Pant size: 44 to 38, Shirt size, 4XL to XXL, Belt, on 4th new hole. Because of my shoulders, I think XXL will be my shirt size in future as well.



I still carry significant weight around my lower belly. It seems those guys are the most difficult to shed. I still have 13kg to go. There is light in the tunnel!

I try to cut carbs out of my diet. So I am quite a connoisseur of broccoli and cauliflower by now. Both are good replacements for pasta, potato etc. Breakfast is a problem though, bread and breakfast go together like copy and paste. At the moment I eat low-GI bread with peanut butter. This will have to change I think. Lunch is Biogen Diet Fuel, I am well and truly hooked. After gym I'm as hungry as a hostage and it goes down like a smoothie.

It is extremely hard work to lose weight at the moment. It takes a lot of effort. I suspect the fitter me, deals with exercise a bit easier, so the level of effort need to increase to make a significant impact.

Speaking of fitter. Yesterday morning, before I got up from bed, my pulse was 38. That's pretty low!

Eye of the tiger

We had a very eventful state of the nation address last night, as it has sadly become customary now. It seems one needs some hand-to-hand combat training now to go to parliament. Which, if you think carefully, is maybe not such a bad idea. Let them, the people that instigate hate and division to push their own agendas, fight it out among themselves. That leaves us, the common citizenry, to continue leading our relatively peaceful lives, in harmony.
Another tradition that seems to have become entrenched now, is that the sign-language interpreter steals the show.

Nelson Mandela's Funeral (Itsy bitsy spider...)

2016 State of the Nation (Zupta must fall!)

2017 State of the Nation (F@#k you Steenhuysen!)

Speaking of fighters, one of this countries' most loved sons passed away this week. Joost I salute you for your inspiration to us all. He was actually my neighbour! When I was a student, I shared a flat in Sunnyside with a friend. My friend's family was a little moneyed, so it was quite up-market. He was just starting out and the Blue Bulls rented him a flat one or two doors down the passage. I recall his piercing blue-green eyes and the way he always seemed like a wound up spring. Even standing in the lift with him, you were kind of waiting for the energy to release. And it did. Once the doors opened, he was out of there like a bullet from a gun.
I missed my 30kg milestone by a few grams this week. Still down 1.4 kg for the week though!
My gym routine is constantly expanding. I am slowly pushing up the weight and number of repetitions. I am up to 25 repetitions on some machines. After the circuit, I also add extra exercises; sit-ups, leg-ups and Russian twists.
As an experiment, I weigh myself before and after gym. I leave about 0.6 kg in the gym. I think that is quite good.
Honestly, last year this time I would never have thought this possible.


Enjoy the weekend friends!

Today is that day

On this day, in 1959 Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Mr. JP Richardson (The Big Bopper) died in a corn field near Clear Lake, Iowa. Later Don Mclean made a beautiful song about the events and this date is now known as "The day the music died". Buddy Holly was 22 years old at the time and I'm sure he would have gone on to be one of the biggest stars in the music world.

To me this date is also significant, as today is my 47th birthday. 47! Where have the time gone? To be honest, I still feel like a teenager inside.

I am lucky, as I have a great view of my life right now. I can look back at all the experiences, people, moments that fill my memories. I can reflect on the past and learn what needs to be learned. I miss my dad the most, I wonder what he would say today, if he would have been proud of me. At some level, I still want his appreciation. I can also see the future, imagine being what I aspire too for myself... you know, see it believe in it, work it, become it, as the self-help books would like us to believe. There is still a fair bit of future to work with! Something to be thankful for.

But as Winnie the Poo so eloquently put it, what makes this day my favourite, is that it is "Today". Today is a gift given to me where I learn from the past and faithfully build the future, as hopefully tomorrow and the day after that will be. In have made to-do and stop-doing lists to internalize throughout this year. Hopefully it will become part of who I am.

Enough mushy stuff!

Yesterday, on a whim, I tried on the suit I got married in 20 years ago. I am quite disappointed. It does not fit at all. The pants are way too big, by about 15 cm and the jacket is way to small. The sleeves leave about 5 cm of wrist exposed. When I bought it, my mindset was, as always, to disappear in the room. Of course this is a bit silly, seeing as it is your wedding day after all, but you can't argue with the sub-conscious... This is apparently a common phenomenon, as this guy so aptly explains. He has a great blog, by the way, although I don't agree with everything he says. If it was today, that suit may look a bit different, but the wife would be the same.

Embarrassingly, I kind of get the shopping addiction people have. I always dreaded going to clothes shops, even joked that they do not even make handkerchiefs in my size. But now things are different. Suddenly I have choices. Yeah! If only no 12 shoes were common...

I did an interesting experiment last night. I picked up my wife. No, not in a bar, I physically picked her up. She weighs a bit less than the weights I normally train with, so I wanted to feel if it felt more or less the same. She's actually light, I could carry her all day.

My body is definitely changing. This is an unintended by-product of all the gym sessions. My aim was always just to lose the flab and get fit, but I can see things going a different direction. My shoulders and pectorals are definitely widening and changing shape, although my belly is still very flabby. It seems the change works its way down slowly. I kind of like it! Weight-wise I lost 1.2 kg for the week. I worked hard for that.

Enjoy the weekend!