Failed again, but still making progress – 88kg (194 lbs)
Submitted by Jon on Sun, 18/05/2008 – 11:18pm
Had a funny few days. Last Wednesday I cam down with a throat infection which lasted until Saturday. As I was off work, I decided on Thursday night to do some weight training (I was getting bored doing nothing in the house) and also decided that rather than the usual clean and presses to start with, I would do a quick clean and press warm up, followed by SQUATS.
I only squatted a light weight, but concentrated on form. For the first time, I did full squats, i.e. squatted down until my thighs were parallel to the floor. I think I was using 50kg, but that was enough. I did a few sets of 8-10 reps.
As I had made one change to my routine, I decided to make another. Instead of the bent over rows, I did semi-pull ups. I put a bar low, supported my feet on the floor, so that I was almost horizontal, but not quite (probably about 30 degrees from the floor really) and did pulls ups. Several sets to failure. Did not manage many, and was too tired to count. Probably about 5 each time.
Finished off with the good old bench press and then a few dumbbell curls.
The next day my thighs were killing me. I could hardly walk. Still pretty bad on Saturday, and although better today, there was no way I was going to run around Great Baddow. So I missed the Great Baddow fun run, which I had been planning for 8 months, to do (was actually planning the 10 mile run a while ago, but those plans had to change to the 2 mile fun one!).
Some good news, when I last weighed myself, I was 88kg (194 pounds). So still losing weight.
Steady Weight Loss – 87.1kg (192 pounds)
Submitted by Jon on Tue, 27/05/2008 – 9:03pm
This week I have managed to lose another kilo (2.2046 pounds). Weight loss is slow and steady. I think that I have done really well this week as I suffered from a throat infection, which was then followed by a virus that gave me really bad headaches, which was then followed by me feeling run down. So I have not done any exercise for over a week now, but have still lost another kilo.
Really the weight loss can only be attributed to the ongoing phase of Atkins, as I am still avoiding refined carbs and sugars where I can. Now eating more carbs, but trying to limit that to fruits and vegetables, mainly in stews and soups.
Have eaten some white bread and some potatoes, as we had no other food in the house. But mostly avoiding those danger foods.
Read more of the Atkin’s Diet revolution book today, and interesting to learn more of the role of a low carb diet in preventing type 2 diabetes. Really it seems quite shocking that government health bodies continue to promote low fat diets as a way to lose weight when they have been shown to cause obesity and diabetes.
Dr. Atkin’s says in his book that his next plan was to tackle the diabetes crisis, by promoting more healthy low carb eating. However I think that he passed away before he published a book, so maybe Motley Health will attempt to take up the reins on this, and start a anti diabetes campaign.
Week 15 – Continuing steady weight loss on Atkins – 86.6kg (190 pounds)
Submitted by Jon on Sun, 08/06/2008 – 8:28pm
I am now into week 15 of the Motley Health Fitness and Weight Loss Plan. My total weight loss is now 10kg (22 pounds) and I have gone from a BMI of 32 to a BMI of 28.6.
Well, on Saturday morning I weighed in at 86.6kg. However, Saturday was my son’s first birthday party, and it was a bit of a carb and sugar fest really. I think that by the end of the day, I had eaten:
1 bagel
4 scrambled eggs
rice
chilli con carne (my own fab recipe)
a piece of sponge cake with icing and jam filling
a few pieces of chocolate gateaux
a bowl of trifle
about 5 sausage rolls
a few mini onion bhajis, and some other Indian snacks
half a glass of beer
several glasses of red wine
handfuls of peanuts
and probably more stuff that I can no longer remember. So all in all, it was a really bad day for Atkins. But, I had fun, my son had fun, everyone loved my chilli, I enjoyed eating and drinking. It was worth it. The result?
Well, this morning, I weighed in at 97.3kg. I started the day badly, finishing off some French bread for breakfast, with jam, but then had scrambled eggs on brown bread of brunch and chilli con carne, without rice, for dinner.
I think that after 14 weeks of dieting I am allowed one weekend of binging. The diet has started again, and I will probably move slight back towards an induction method for a couple of days, just to ensure that I get the glycogen out of my system. I’ll should be in a state of lipolysis (burning fat) again by Tuesday at the latest.
All in all, I have accomplished a lot over the last 14 1/2 weeks. My original target was to reach 85kg by mid-summer, and I am almost there. I have two weeks to lose 2kg. However, I think that judging by the amount of fat still on my waist, I need to get my weight down to about 80kg. This will be the lightest I have been in about 15 years. I think that I was about 80kg in 1993 when I fought as a medium weight in the Preston Hung-Kuen kung-fu competition. In fact, I may have even been slightly lighter.
Once I lose the fat, I plan to double my efforts at building some more muscle. Currently I am looking to train harder at
kung-fu, as there is another grading coming up, and I have not graded in what seems like years now. We are currently learning a staff form and a butterfly knife form, so I need to spend my spare time practising if I stand a chance of making the grade – little time for weight training as well.
Two set backs to my fitness and weight loss plan
Submitted by Jon on Sun, 15/06/2008 – 10:29pm
First set back is of a technical nature. For some reason, I lost some blog posts, so recent updates have vanished. This is really just annoying. The other set back has been my recent binging. I had a binge last weekend on my son’s 1st birthday party, and another binge this weekend. I did lose 0.2kg (almost half a pound), weighing in at 86.4kg on Friday monring, but even so those two binges have not been good for my health, my fitness or my weight loss.
I did do some press ups the other evening. I did 20, and it felt much easier than the last time, so being 10kg lighter must have helped a lot. But other than that, I have not done much.
The last week was a bit difficult, as I had a lot of train problems, which meant getting home late and feeling totally exhausted. Hopefully this week will be better.
I also hope that there are no more strange database problems with this blog!
Midsummer Target Missed: Current weight = 86.4kg (190.4lbs)
Submitted by Jon on Thu, 26/06/2008 – 6:54am
Weighed in this morning. For the last week I have had a cold, and I am still in recovery, with a chesty cough. Also hayfever has been really bad. As a result – no exercise at all. Diet has been OK, although drifting from the low-card routine. But, managed to lose a little weight still.
My target for getting to 85kg was mid-summer, which is now almost a week gone. 1.4kg is not too bad though. Still managed to lose a total of 10.6kg so far. Need to start exercising. I think that I sand that last week…..
Still losing weight – 85.6kg (188 lbs)
Submitted by Jon on Tue, 15/07/2008 – 6:57am
This is my first blog in several weeks. I have been very busy recently, and not had time to blog, but I have still been concentrating on my diet. Fitness is improving slowly, but I am relying mostly on kung-fu lessons, where the emphasis is on skill rather than cardio fitness. But, this morning I weighed myself, and I am now a pleasing 85.6kg (188 pounds). My target for the 17th June was 85kg, so I am now almost there,
I have now set myself a new target of 80kg. This may be too light, depends on if I get my weight training in order. At the moment 80kg is probably the right weight for me, but I know I will bulk up pretty quick if I do some intensive weight training sessions. Big if at the moment though.
Overall weight loss since starting the Motleyhealth Fitness and Weight Loss Plan is 11.4kg, 25 pounds. Pretty impressive so far!