Category: Fitness

I’m still getting up a 4.  My weight is going in the right direction.  I’m not eating as much junk.  

Today’s Weight:  111kg
Today’s FatSecret log

So why the Body for Life book?  Well…inspiration.  There was a time in my life when I weighed 290lbs (131kg or 20stone 9lbs).  That is 45lbs more than I weigh now.  We went on a ski trip, I had a good time, however, I saw how out of shape I was.  I don’t ever want to be there again! What made the difference then was seeing it and wanting to take action.  I picked up a copy of Bill Philips’ Body for Life and started.  In that 12 weeks, I lost down to 245ish–about where I am now.  When we moved to Columbus around 2003, I decided to do another round and hit my low mark of 205ish.  About a year later, I started riding my bike to work and kept that up until we moved overseas.  While we were in Columbus, I met Rick Harrington (you’ll have to scroll down and read his post.  That link is broke…sorry…I couldn’t find anything else online about him) who had been a semi-finalist in the competition.  He was a big inspiration to keep going while in Columbus

In all of my weight-loss, one thing has been constant:  a body for life.  Unless you have only 5lbs to lose, some sort of weird crash diet isn’t going to work.  You need a lifestyle change.  Some people have had good success with paleo diet sort of things, some people do atkins, the list goes on.  For me, a total change is/was necessary:  I need to start eating healthier and exercising with a purpose.  What does that mean?

Exercise every day.  I don’t have weights (and can’t afford them at the moment).  I’m doing the Biggest Loser xBox game.  So far, it is working out better.

Eat right.  I like Bill’s idea of smaller meals spread through the day.  Portions.  Fist/Palm sized whatevers.  Easy.  It works.  For me, the hardest time to keep this up is when I travel; however, the good news is I shouldn’t be gone as much this year.

Free day.  Bill allows a free day where you can eat whatever you want.  In his Eating for Life Q/A section, he says:

I have people ask me all the time does free day mean you can eat whatever you want?  12 Krispie Kremes?  My [Bill Phillips] answer is sure.  But do it and be honest.  Eventually you won’t like how you feel after.

Sorry, that isn’t an exact quote, but you get the idea (here’s a link to an online discussion of people talking about it).  Yes, you really can have a free day and eat whatever you want.  I lost 90 lbs doing that.  The problem for me is planning the free day so it is that…a free DAY.  Not a free weekend.  Not a day + a night.  A day.  It let’s me put off cravings until the end of the week–very manageable–and if I still want it then I eat it.  But I try not to gorge on the 12 Krispie Kremes because I feel rubbish afterwards.

What does all of this do?  It gets you in a mindset of doing it.  You see you can live like this.  You see you feel better.  So you end up with a Body for Life.

Book cover image from awws via flickr

Yesterday, I did fairly well.  Even though Cyndi and I had kebabs for our anniversary dinner, my calorie intake for the day was good, I thought.  Just a reminder that fatsecret journal is an estimate–especially for things like that.

Weight:  112kg
Today’s (3 Jan 2013) Fatsecret Journal

Oh…even though I feel like it, the image to the left isn’t me.  It is from fbellon via flickr

Last January (Jan 2012), I had to return to the US for a couple of weeks for my grandpa’s funeral–I can’t believe I didn’t blog about that.  While I was there, I bought several things to bring back.  One of those things was The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout for xBox with Kinect.  I never opened it (and had forgotten about it until I was looking through where I had hidden the kid’s and Cyndi’s Christmas presents).  Today was my first time using it.

After some fiddly setup (be prepared for about 30 minutes of “stuff”), I was ready for my first workout.  However, before I could start, it did a short body analysis.  I entered my weight, the game had me face the Kinect, pause, then turn to the side, and pause.  I was ready to work out.

First off, I am way out of shape.  I knew I wasn’t in the best shape; however, I didn’t think I was this out of shape.  After all, I used to ride my bike thousands of miles a year (and had even done two centuries).  Wow.

On to the good:

• The workouts are good.  My heart rate was up the entire 30 minutes
• There’s good customization.  I was able to tell it my weight goal, select a time-frame, enter how many times a week to work out, and choose my workout duration.
• Having the kinect see the entire body allows the game to give you good feedback:  knees up, too wide, and that sort of thing
• I liked the fact that it measured my waist, height, neck, etc… with nothing more than me removing my shirt.

Now for the bad:

• When I laid on the ground, the kinect didn’t track me so good.  Although, to be fair, I think this may be related to available space more and position more than anything
• It didn’t always track my movements right.  For example, in typical computer fashion, it told me to widen my lunge; however, when I widened it by more than an inch, it said too wide.  In some exercises, it is very “computer picky.”

Now, this was only my first workout.  Overall, I think it went well.  I told it I wanted to do 4 per week.  I’ll use it for this week then post a follow-up.

Yesterday, I blogged about how I wanted to loose 10kg before Cyndi and I went to Prague.  Well, I need to loose 13kg now.  This morning when I stepped on the scales, I weighed 113kg.  Can you believe it?!  249lbs.  Wow.

Anyway, here’s a link to my fatsecret journal for today, 2 Jan 2013.  Just a reminder, the eating will be a day behind…if I can record what I eat.  It may or may not be totally accurate.

I also worked out this morning using an xBox game:  The Biggest Looser Ultimate Workout.  I’ll blog later today about what I think about it.

[Update 2013-01-02 06:38:38] My review of The Biggest Looser Ultimate Workout is posted here.

Image from Mrs. Magic via flickr

While Cyndi and I were in the states 1.5 years ago, I gained a ton of weight.  Over the past year, I lossed that.  Before Christmas, I weighed 110 kg.  That is about 242lbs.  I want to be about 190-195 (call it 90-95kg).  The least I ever weighed while cycling was right around 205lbs.  Cyndi and I have a trip planned to Prague in April.  My goal is to be 10kg down by then…about 100kg.  I’ll be keeping my fatsecret profile up to date with my weight.

Image from puuikibeach via flickr

I’m selling a Nordic Track Ski Machine.  I have two (plus one more in the US).  If you are looking for a great way to loose weight or get in shape this new year, this is the way.  I’m selling it on Ebay…check out my Nordic Track auction here.  More pictures are here.

….I have now lost all the weight I gained while Cyndi and I were in the US last summer.  I know, it took a year, but 1/2 of it came in the last 3 weeks (since I returned from Switzerland).

My goal over the next year is to loose a grand total of 50 lbs.  I’m already down 5 kg from when I started that goal.

Image from pukibeach via flickr

While I was in the US for the summer, I gained a TON of weight.  The scales showed a gain from apx 97kgs to 118kgs (there are 2.2 lbs in a kg so that is about 213 to 260 pounds).  I can’t believe it, but we spent more than 10,000 miles sitting in our car eating fast food….arg.

Anyway, since we are back, I’m working out (well, walking to work at least) and watching what I eat.  I’m doing a combo of a caveman diet and body for life.  What that means is I’m doing the caveman type diet as recommended in The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet  (although I’m not cutting out bread like he says) and throwing in a free day like Bill Phillips recommended (here’s a link to the original Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength and a new kindle edition Champions Body-for-LIFE )

I’ve changed my weight tracking website.  I was using fitday; however, I’ve switched to fatsecret because they have an app for my nexus s.  It has all the same functionality as fitday except this should make it easier to keep track of what I eat.

Here’s a link to my fatsecret.com profile

Anyway, here is a link to my past few days:

Mon, 10 Oct 2011
Tue, 11 Oct 2011
Wed, 12 Oct 2011
Thurs, 13 Oct 2011
Fri, 14 Oct 2011

Image from bark via flickr

I’m waiting at the airport. wonder how much of my life has been spent like this?

My fitday journal for 28 July 2010.

Image from Martin Pettitt via flickr