Submitted by Jon on Wed, 06/08/2008 – 11:55pm
My fitness and weight loss has taken a hit in recent weeks. I had two weeks off work, and although I had great plans to up my exercise during this time, the opposite happened. I had a great holiday, actually a staycation, as we cannot afford to go away due to the credit crunch! I missed kung-fu on Monday last week as we went to the beach for the day and I was exhausted in the evening, and my only excuse on Wednesday was that I wanted to relax at home with my wife rather than train. So it was a holiday off work and off exercise.
I did do some more sprints around the park, making it up to 8 sprints, but that was all.
Tonight I planned to go kick-boxing and kung-fu – a full 2 hours of exercise – but just before I was due to leave my son was sick everywhere, so I helped clean him while my wife cleaned his room, and by the time it was all clean, I had missed kick-boxing. But I did go kung-fu.
A good lesson, lots of basic exercises. Not a single punch was thrown for the whole class – just arm conditioning, iron palm conditioning, stepping drills, weapons training, and a soft form. Plus some exercises – squat thrusts, dips and sit ups. I think that sifu has been watching Superstars. An enjoyable lesson, leaving my upper body well worked, and no bruises.
Diet has gone downhill, but on the mend. I missed this weeks Monday’s class as I was suffering the effects of too much refined carbs, mainly in the form of white bread and pastries. An upset stomach kept me away from class. But now I am back to salad lunches and protein breakfasts, with fishy evening meals.
Oh, I went to the doctor while I was off work. My cholesterol is a little high, 5.6 on the scale, and this may be the result of the Atkins diet regime. I have still lost about 10kg overall though. Also, not sure if that is all bad cholesterol or a mixture of good and bad. I totally forgot to ask for an LDL/HDL split.
So, I am back on track, although have gained a couple of kilos over the last few weeks. Health permitting I will get a couple of sprint sessions in on the football pitch over the weekend.
Kung-fu, Sparring, Running and the Credit Crunch
Submitted by Jon on Tue, 12/08/2008 – 12:45pm
Last night I almost attended a whole kung-fu class. Some business at home meant that I was late again though. It was a fun but intensive class. My fitness is still lagging. The class started with the butterfly knife form, which I feel is finally coming together. Need to buy a paid of knives so that I can practice at home though. We then did some light sparring. This is where things started to go wrong for me last night. There were three other students in the class, and each for them seemed to have the upper hand each time we fought. My sparring seems to have gone to pieces, and this started to get to me. I guess that it is no surprise as we do not do so much sparring now, but my fitness and lack of skill / applying technique seemed to show. I lamost felt like giving up at one point when I got home. Oh, and I managed to pick up a minor injury too. One of the other students did a quick jumping back kick, which I took pretty full on my right arm. It knocked my back a bit, and my upper arm has swollen up. I put dit dar on it last night, maybe that old Chinee medicine will help a little!
Today is the first day of my new fitness plan – the Credit Crunch Fitness Plan! This morning I purchased a single bus fare rather than the usual return, and I have my shorts and trainers in my bag, so I will be running home tonight. It is saving me money, and will also get me fit. No idea how long I will keep it up for. To start with I will run on non-kunf-fu days, which will be Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. So first run tonight. I have also stopped my morning coffee, so my new regime means saving £3.80 a day too – thus the name – Credit Crunch Fitness!
I am also trying to diet again. My weight is stable, but I am not losing. I am eating more bread again, but also need to reduce my cholesterol. A trip to the doctor a couple of weeks ago revealed that my cholesterol was a little high, at 5.6. Apparently it should be at least below 5, and ideally below 4. Blood sugar tests came out OK though, so that is good.
Hopefully running home from work will help me to start losing weight again – I generally look OK apart from my fat gut. So maybe losing my gut should be my main focus now.