2nd week of training

So I'm almost at the end of my 2nd week training, it hasn't been quite as succesful as I'd hoped. I did a session with 2 sets on Tuesday and I ended up having a 2nd session on Friday, unfortunately it was really busy so I didn't get an opportunity to get on the workbenches so I had to go in early this morning and complete the sessions, I also did about 12 minutes running which was a lot harder than I thought.

I've been keeping an eye on my weight through the week so I'm hoping we should be looking quite good for Monday but we'll wait and see.

I'm still using the promax diet shakes but I'm only having one a day in the evenings, I have another tub left but after that I might look at getting some bulking up powder, it will probably depend on what my weight is like in a few weeks time but I'll also do some research between now and then.

Sunday Exercise & Monday morning weigh in

So I did another session on Sunday, it wasn't a bad session got everything done except for my legs as I was quite tired by the end. I'm dreading tomorrow as I'm supposed to do two sets of everything, it should be a very tiring evening. I think that I'm doing too much on some sets but I'll give it a go tomorrow and I'll see how I get on.

I also did a weigh in this morning, not much to say really as its only been a week but I'm 187.2 pounds and 22.1% fat, my lowest when I trained last years was 180 pounds and 19% fat so I've got a lot to do to get back to that state. I'd like to start dropping in some cardio on days when I'm not doing weights, I would have started tonight but I'm going to visit a friend so I'll see if I can do some cardio on Wednesday hopefully that will help for the next weigh in.

Friday night fun

Well I managed to get another session in yesterday, it was a bit rushed as I was going out with a friend from work last night so I had to rush, but I managed to get most of my exercises done. It felt much more difficult last night than it did on Tuesday.

I haven't been on the Promax that much, its a bit of pain making the shakes, I can't remember how I managed to drink so many of them when I trained last year.

I'm also setting myself a target, I'm having a reunion with some friends from school on the 19th September so I'd like to lose as much fat as I can in the next two months. It will be good to set myself a deadline instead of exercising aimlessly.

1st Workout of the new regime

Well I dragged my arse to the gym this evening, I decided to not go yesterday and went today instead. It was a fairly good session I did everything that I wanted, I did have to wait a while for the weight benches there are only 3 and they get quite busy, but I waited around for a while and they became free.

Just a bit about the food that I'm eating, I've gone back tot eh same diet that I was using before when I lost a load of weight, having fruit and fibre for breakfast a cooked meal at work then tuna & sweetcorn on ryvita all topped off with a banana. I tend to enjoy myself on the weekends, I probably still will but I'll just need to be a bit more restricted. I probably need to do a bit more research on the diet side but it should suffice for now.

Starting from scratch (Again!!)

I can't believe its been so long since my last post, although I haven't been posting I have been going to the gym, but this hasn't been very well structured and I haven't been very committed. Therefore I am restarting the blog to hopefully keep motivated.

I have joined a new gym simply called "The Gym", and I have been reading a book from Mens Health called "Muscle". Its quite good as it gives me a complete exercise regime to follow spread out over a long period of time, although I don't know how well I can follow the regimes.

I'll need to update my graphs and pictures but I'll do this later in the week when I do a weigh in on Monday. I'll also try and link to the routine that I'm trying to follow although I doubt anyone will read it.

1 week off 6km run

Well I've been a bit slack, as I hadn't been for a run since Halloween, I kept meaning to go for a run but the week kind of got away from me. Anyway after sitting on my arse all weekend and after having a Banoffee pie for lunch today I knew I had to get out and go for a run, and I did.

I got caught at a traffic lights so instead of stopping for the cars to leave I decided to go a different way, fortunately this added an extra km to my distance and there was a steep hill. I got back after 49 minutes, which isn't particularly good I know but as I've been off for a week and this is the furthest I have run for sometime I didn't think it was too bad, if I'd run all the way back I might have cut it down by 5-10 minutes.

Week 2 - Monday

So I had a bit of a boozey weekend, it was a friends birthday in Cardiff which meant eating out and also drinking for two nights. It was great fun but it wasn't very productive, this meant that even though I was pretty tired when I got back this evening I still had to go out for a run.

I had a good run though, I ended up running most of the way to the Spectrum then had a short break before running most of the way back. I'm going to try and get 2 other runs in this weekend and I may even try and get a longer run in over the weekend.

I'm back in the game

Well not really, I've only just managed my 2nd jog of the week, I guess its better than nothing.

I had a pretty uptight day at work, so had quite a bit of energy, it was also a miserable night with quite a bit of rain, it wasn't pouring down but it wasn't the most enjoyable night for a run. But I went out anyway, did the same distance as Saturday and I stopped at the same spots on the way there, but on the way back I really got my rythym, I ran from the Spectrum all the way to Frankie and Bennys, now this isn't that far, but considering I did exactly the same distance on Saturday bit I had to stop part way I was quite proud, I just hope it wasn't a one off.

I was thinking about what to do regarding the Protein shakes, I could take them now but I'm not really doing weights so it could be fairly pointless, but then again if I do them now I'll be able to move onto some muscle gaining shakes in the new year, there isn't any rush so for the time being I think I'm just going to stick without them at least for a couple of weeks.

Back again

Well its been a few months since I was last here, I've been having lots of fun over the summer, lots of fun weekends, drinking and eating way too much. All of that fun without any exercise at all, not for any real reason I just lost the motivation, got bored with the gym and because everyone told me that I looked good I kind of felt like I didn't have to do anymore.

But I'm starting to get some motivation back, as I cancelled my gym membership I have been looking for a new gym to join, there aren't many really decent gyms in Guildford, they are either really good (and expensive) or they are cheap but have very little kit in them. But fortunately there is a new gym opening very soon, its just around the corner from my house, its cheap £15 a month, and its going to be open 24 hours, unfortunately it won't be open until January.

So I'm going to try and do some running between now and then hopefully it will get me in better shape than I am now, I went on a run this evening and its my first run that I've been on for a while, it was very difficult I only did 3 miles and I needed a few breaks to catch my breath, but if I'm as dedicated as I was when I did the Reading Half Marathon I should get back into pretty good shape in a few weeks.

Man Flu!

I had a pretty disastrous week last week, I went out for my friends birthday in London which was an all night binge fuelled by Mojitos, it was a great night though. Unfortunately On Monday night I started feeling a bit ropey but not too bad, then on Tuesday I woke up feeling rubbish sore throat, headache, shivers, aches & pains. I felt pretty rough up until Thursday, but I didn't go back to the gym until this evening, and even then I wasn't 100% I really struggled with some of the exercises and I didn't finish my complete set.

But saying that, I got on the scales this morning and I had dropped a lot of weight, all of which was fat. It may just be temporary, but its definitely good results for now.

Also I have posted some new photos, you can see a big change over the first month, my gut dramatically reduced. The results during the 2nd month weren't quite as significant, but you can see some subtle differences, I don't think the changes are going to become quite as obvious overtime.

Also hit some substantial goals with my weight loss, I dropped under the 20% fat mark this week, and I've dropped under the 13 stone mark as well, all very good and definitely an improvement, I'd like to get to 12 and a half stone, I know it will be a struggle but it would be interesting to see how much difference another half a stone loss will make. I may need some more trousers though as I need belts with most of them now.

Long time no hear

Well its been a while since my last post, the last few weeks have been a real challenge, fortunately they haven't been a complete waste.

The gym in the last few weeks has been going through some refurbishment, so some of the equipment has been out of action, in some ways this is good as it got my on a few other pieces of equipment. Fortunately it looks like the refurb is almost complete so I'll be able to get back on my equipment. I also haven't been going quite as often as I should have been, twice a week at a minimum but I do try and get in 3 times if I can.

On the diet side this hasn't been going so well, I was at home a few weeks ago for the rugby, this therefore involved an entire day of booze and bad food, followed by a couple of days getting fed at home. Also last weekend I did get very lazy and bought some unhealthy food, also last night I was at a works do so I had a few drinks and a 3 course meal.

This weekend I'm going to be on healthy food all weekend.

I've also got to reassess my protein shake purchases, the maximuscle stacks aren't cheap and I'm wondering if I should try and find a cheaper alternative. Their customer service also hasn't been particularly great, I contacted them to get some advice about my next purchase, I got put through to the wrong department, they said that someone would call me back later that afternoon. That was 2-3 weeks ago, I'm sure they've forgotten about it now.
Also one item from my last stack was out of stock and I'm still waiting to recieve it after 3 weeks.

I've also been spending a lot of time thinking about purchasing a house, I saw an amazing flat last weekend. But that does mean reviewing my finances, I don't know if that is just going to be a pipe dream or whether it will actually be possible, we will need to wait and see.

Week 6

Well this week has been a bit of a challenge, I have had to fit in sessions with my chiropractor on Monday and Friday. This wasn't going to be a problem as I was going to fit in training on Tuesday & Thursday, my training session on Thursday didn't happen as my morale was down, I was going to try and fit in some training after my chiropractor but I didn't think it would be a good idea straight after the session.

So I'm going to have to pull my finger out and get to the gym tomorrow, and go for a run on Sunday.

I'm not going to be expecting much loss this week, due to my lack of training, I'm going to have to get stuck into my training next week.

On the plus side some of the ladies at work mentioned my weight loss, I couldn't help getting slightly embarassed, but its also a good morale booster.

I have a big weekend next weekend as I'm going to the Heineken cup final with some friends, it will be interesting to see if they notice any weight loss, I have seen some of them for months so I should look very different. Weigh in on Monday lets hope we get a better result than last week, although that will be difficult when I haven't done anymore exercise.

Weigh in 12/05/08

Well I did a weigh in this morning, and I'm a bit confused, I don't know whether to be happy or sad.

Overall I dropped 3 pounds from last week, which is the biggest drop in overall weight since I started. But this has been entirely lean muscle mass, in fact I lost more than 3 pounds, as for some reason my body fat increased by 0.5 pounds. It looks like the few ciders I had on the weekend didn't do me any favours, I know that my diet is the one thing that I do need to work on, everything else is going well, but I need to eat much cleaner.

I have created a food diary, so hopefully that will help me keep track of what I am eating, its quite a clever spreadsheet. I just need to make sure I keep it updated.

I'm also seeing my chiropractor this evening (Which should be fun!!) which unfortunately means I won't be able to train, but I am going to go and do weights tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday, I'll also try and fit in some running on Wednesday and Friday, hopefully this extra exercise will help burn the fat.

Weigh in tomorrow!!

I thought I'd get a sneak preview before my weigh in tomorrow, I've been a bit concerned that my progress this week has been nonexistant, I haven't cheated much this week, although I did have a few drinks on Friday night. The results don't look good, but I'll now for sure tomorrow when I do my weigh in.

I'm off to see a chiropractor tomorrow night, his taking a look at some back pain that I have, I don't think this has ben due to weights, it is due to a car accident I had a few months back. Unfortunately due to the times I don't know when I'll be able to fit in my training.

Well the weigh in this morning gave me some motivation, I went for a run first thing this morning, it was painful as it was first thing in the morning and I haven't been for a run in ages.

Anyway, after today I'm going to have to start writing a food diary, I've tried to do these before but they are difficult to keep up-to-date. Also I have the issue regarding lunch at work, as I get the cooked lunch I have no idea what the protein/carb/fat content is for the food, but I'll see what I can do.

Feeling good today

So I went for my usual gym trip this evening, for some reason I was feeling extra strong. I increased the weight on one exercise, and I increased the reps on a few others from 10x3 to 12x3. Also some of the exercises that I really struggle with (which I have in the past not been able to complete) went really well today, I still struggled but I did finish them and they were slightly easier.

I'm also now completely out of Promax (Nightmare!!!) only joking its not the end of the world, I should have the new stuff tomorrow plenty of time for my next gym outing on Thursday.

I did get a maximuscle catalogue today though, I'm still completely confused about what the difference is between Promax and Promax diet, I'm happy to continue using Promax diet for the next month, but I'm going to contact Maximuscle to see what they suggest after I finish this stack.

Weigh in & Photos

So I did a weight in this morning, overall my weight has dropped but only just, it would be fair to say it hasn't changed at all. My body fat has dropped by 0.9%, which has meant a drop in about 1.7 pounds of fat. My muscle mass has increased to 140 pounds, this was the same as when I started the exercise. Overall I guess there hasn't been a massive change, but at least my overll fat content has dropped.

I also decided to add some photos of my progress so far, I'll be changing these photos as time goes by, the photos from 1/4/08 were very fuzzy but when I reduced the size they didn't turn out so bad. When I first started taking photos it was difficult to see my progress, but after creating the slides and comparing the photos side by side I am pleased with my progress.

I'm pleased with the side view as it shows a noticeable change in my gut size, I never really realised how big my gut was until I took this photo a month ago. Although I have made progress I also realise that I still have a long way to go. I wasn't really that convinced by my front view (I was pleased with my side view so that wasn't a problem), but now that I have the photos side by side I'm quite pleased. You can see that the front of my gut has narrowed, my pecs don't look as droppy, also around the waist there does seem to be some improvements.

Bank Holiday workout

I missed my workout on Friday, I had to go into London for the day and ended up staying in town to catch up with a friend. This meant that my meals for the day were pretty much ruined, but the pizza we had tasted amazing!!

As I was feeling pretty tired and fragile by the time I got back to Guildford I decided to give the gym a miss, but I promised myself that I would hit it hard this morning, which I did. I wasn't feeling 100% when I got there but I put the time in and did my sets, I felt quite fulfilled afterwards.

I also placed an order in for a new stack of maximuscle products, I thought I'd have enough to last me another week but the Promax diet seems to have dissappeared in the last day or so. I decided to go for the same products as last time, I'm certainly not ready to start bulking up, and to be honest I was slightly confused by the other weight loss stacks that they had, so many different products that all do the same thing? Anyway hopefully I'll get them delivered soon before all my stock runs out.

I'll be adding my stats tomorrow morning, I have been keeping an eye on this throughout the week so I'm expecting to see some changes.

Actual fat loss??

I got home from work this afternoon and I decided to take some stats, they aren't going to go in my stats but I was interested to see what they were.

My weight had increased slightly, and my % body fat has dropped, this got me thinking if I had no idea that my body fat % had decreased and I had only seen my weight increase I would be quite dissapointed, but I know that the weight increase has actual been due to increased muscle. and that my body fat has decreased.

This got me thinking should I really worry too much about my overall weight and should I set myself a target for this weight? or should I just concentrate on the body fat %.

I decided to do a few calculations, I multiplied my weight against my body fat %, I'm assuming that this will give me the weight of body fat on me. By my calculations I have dropped from 43.5 pounds of fat to just under 41 pounds of fat so I have lost 2.5 pounds (1.1kg) of fat.

To help me visualise this means I have pretty much lost over a kilo of lard. I couldn't find a photo of 1kg of lard I could only find this, which is about 500g I think:

Improve Progress charts

Well I decided to review my progress charts as the one I put up previously didn't show my progress very well. I have had to find a new Google gadget that would let me create these graphs, unfortunately there is no way to get the body fat and weight on the same chart so I have got to create two charts, if I'm feeling really geeky and adventurous I may look into creating my own gadget.

Anyway, with these new graphs you should be able to see that my weight has dropped over the last month, its not a great deal but I'm losing about a pound a week which isn't too bad, unfortunately this means I have about 3 months to go before I'm a healthy weight.

The body fat hasn't been a steady drop it was a bit dodgy during the first couple of weeks, but it looks like its going down now, lets just hope it is a bit more steady over the next few weeks.

Photos

I have taken some photos of myself as it is a good way of showing changes that are occuring, unfortunately the first set of photos I took are not in focus, and I also have not see a massive change between the photos which is slightly dissapointing, but I will certainly be adding some photos in the future I just need to make sure they show some improvement.