Week #29 (26/06/13)

I already know this is going to be a bad one....

Weight: 17st 9.25lb (+3.75lb)
Chest: 43.25" (-0.25")
Stomach: 40.5" (-0.5")
Hips: 39.25" (unchanged)
Collar: 16" (unchanged)

Boom, terrible.  So what happened?

Female visitation is what happened, coupled with a bad few days this week too.  Am I panicking about gaining 3lb? No, I know I can easily lose it again.  Perhaps it may even be a good thing, making me focus in getting back on track.

My new girlfriend was visiting/staying Thursday-Sunday, and we had a few days of "real food" (I couldn't really get her to eat my diet, could I?).  She also decided the days would go easier with a regular intake of wine, amounting to about 4-5 bottles over the few days.  

To add to that, once she went home on Sunday morning we had a very large family gathering on Sunday afternoon.  Good, clean barbecue food, lean meats, salads, just lots of it.  Followed by several desserts, which of course definitely aren't good clean and lean.

To add to that.... yes there's more.  A moment of zero willpower lead to a tub of Haagen Dasz on Monday night.  1000 calories in a moment of weakness.

....aaaaaaaaand.... I was at the gym last night, having decided to really crack back on and WAMMO, my knee went out from under me.  Less than 10 minutes into a short incline run.  Same ligament fuckup as before, hurting like a bastard even when I just walk.  I did manage to do some good cycling and rowing, but it put me in a seriously bad mood which lead to comfort eating in the shape of Chinese.

So how did I put on so much weight and yet still lose inches? Well you've got the above calorific intake, which I'm fairly confident will ease a good amount of its own accord as it was just a temporary thing.  The inch loss I'm very happy with, and this is clearly as a result of the Core Stability classes I've been doing.

Unfortunately I'm 90% sure it was the CoreStab class I did on Sunday that messed my knee up again, doing some wacky side leg left shenanigans with a giant ball between my ankles.  I felt it twinge at the time and stopped the exercise, but seemingly it was enough to cause problems again.

Physio tomorrow, with luck.  See if she can fix me again.

So:

The Good:

- Core classes paying dividends, even if it did hurt me in the process
- Bad week has me mentally focussed to redouble efforts
- Payday + other income means I can get my Personal Trainer back

The Bad:

- Bad food
- Bad drink
- Bad willpower
- See all of the above

Week #28 (19/06/13)

Sooooo... had some great sessions early last week, but events stopped me going again until last night.  A day & evening out in London on Thursday, and Friday to Sunday I was at a stag-do in Southend, eating bad food and drinking bad drinks.

I did get to the gym last night though.  Booked up a 45 minute Core Stability session, which has my back and abs severely aching today, and I went for a short run afterwards.  All said and done though, that was the only exercise this last week.

So here goes!

Weight: 17st 5.5lb (-0.5lb)
Chest: 43.5" (unchanged)
Stomach: 41" (-0.25")
Waist: 39.25" (-0.5")
Collar: 16" (unchanged)


Reallllly can't complain about that, given I've had a very slack week!


17st 5lb puts me more or less at my May target of losing 8lbs, so I'm nearly 3 weeks behind on that goal.  That goal was before my knee went kaput though, I think... let me check.  Yeah, knee went mid-May, and the weight loss has slowed since then.  I'm getting back on track now though after being cleared to run again, just had a good few social engagements last week.

Week #27 (12/06/13)

It's that time again!

Weight: 17st 6lb (-1lb)
Chest: 43.5" (0-.5")
Stomach: 41.25" (-0.25")
Waist: 39.75" (-0.75)
Collar: 16" (unchanged)

Last weeks weight was actually 17st 7lb and 3/4 (for several weeks I'd omitted the fractions, for some reason, even though I was consistently hopping along 3/4s), so this is kinda almost 2lb, but it was 6lb flat either way.

Nice achievement today is the waistline dropping under 40" for the first time since... well, probably since I was a teenager in honesty.

This is all on the back of a horrific week of zero willpower, as mentioned in previous posts.  Several bad nights of takeaways, alcohol and chocolate.  I've been back on the wagon since Sunday and hitting the gym & biking hard since, and managed to get it back under control.

My goal for June, I think, was to lose 7-9lb after meeting my May goal of getting under 18stone. I'm currently 8lbs down, and there's still 2-3 weeks to go.  I may even see out 17st, who knows.

A pause

I seem to post these entries every now and then and I wish to god I could figure out why it

happens.  I've not been to the gym now since Friday 31/5 and my motivation to do so is absolutely zero, and I have no idea why.  I'm tired 24/7 at the moment, physically and mentally and I don't know why.

Noticing a common theme?  I have no idea why things are happening or why I am feeling the way I do.

I've had a bad week this week in general.  The diet has gone right out the window, with chinese food on Wednesday, drinks/partying until 6am on Thursday, chinese food again on Friday, then no small amount of chocolate consumed on Saturday.  I'm on course for a 2lb gain this week, I'm quite sure of it.

I just feel so tired and physically exhausted every waking minute of the day right now and I can't shift it.  I picked up my bike from the office on Sunday to try and do something with my day and just rode and rode, ended up doing a rather tiring 10km ride.  Even that though was extreme effort, and I struggled to finish it, essentially crawling for the last 2km or so.

I'm going to the gym in around an hour, if it kills me.  I'm going, and I'm hoping that once I get a sweat on it'll kick in and get that good vibe going again.

Week #26 (05/06/13)

Just a quicky, not had time to measure yet but did my weigh in.

Weight: 17st 7lb (-1lb)
Chest: 44" (unchanged)
Stomach: 41.5" (-0.5")
Waist: 40.5" (unchanged)
Collar: 16" (-0.5")

That makes it officially two stone (28 pounds) since I started this little venture in December.  Given I had February and half of March off due to illness, that's kinda like two stone in three months.  Not bad at all eh?

Only did two gym sessions this week and ended up having a bit of celebratory cake after the race on Sunday.  Combined with increasing my diet/calorie intake, I was expecting a rise this week.  Losing another pound is therefore a good sign.

Saw my physio yesterday and while she says there is some improvement, she's not happy for me to start running again just yet.  At least one more week before I can start easing into it again.  I'm happy to follow her instructions, as I enjoyed the weekend so much I'll do whatever is needed to get safely back to running even if it takes a little longer.

Keech Superheroes completed

What an amazing day.  A friend of mine has some before and after photos, shall edit them into this post when I get them from him.  Managed to complete the run with no major issues and definitely no problems with the knee, could be back on track!

Keech Run

So here we are! Sunday 2nd June, the big goal for the last month or two.

I've had to borrow an outfit from a friend of mine, "Sir Loin", pictures will follow soon.  He's a primary school teacher so it's slightly adorned with paint and colours, but it'll have to do.

I managed a 2.5k run on Friday as a test.  Knee held up perfectly.  It was stiff for the first 1k but after that I was flying.  No pain or discomfort at the end at all.  It was still a struggle, I'll be honest, felt like my fitness was down a bit.  Definitely going to be difficult doing a full 5k today, but I'm determined to get it done.

Hopefully some pictures to follow later today.  Wish me luck!