The Power of Three

Don't worry folks, I'm not about to break into a blog article about that wretched Charmed programme that I occasionally have inflicted upon me. No, the title today refers more to looking at exercise in a cumulative manner.

As regular readers will know, I've been trying to get into an exercise regime. I've not been very good at it so far, but today marked my third straight day of going to the gym.

I'm not there to work with weights. I'm focusing on cardio to aid my weight loss while hopefully raising my atrocious fitness level in the process. Earlier in the year I pledged to run a 10k before 2014, and while I'm a long way from that yet, every little bit of running helps.

It can be quite disheartening to find yourself huffing and puffing after a relatively short distance. As an overweight guy with a touch of asthma, this comes around quite quickly for me. However, while I'm in no condition to run the full ten k's at the moment, I can look back on my combined efforts of the last three days with a small amount of pride.

This is for several reasons. Firstly, I keep going back for more. At the moment I'm focused and determined, which makes it so much easier to pull on the trainers and shorts. Secondly, I'm already starting to feel better for it. A sneak peek at the scales would tell me I'm already better off than I was at the last weigh in, which will hopefully .be confirmed on Wednesday. But it is not just the potential weight loss that is making me feel good. The getting off my backside and physically doing something is working too. Going in my lunch break helps break up my day and gives me a boost for the afternoon that sitting quietly in a lunch room can't match.

But perhaps most importantly, when combining my exercise over the last three days it adds up to a much more impressive total. By my flaky Friday night arithmetic, approximately 75  minutes on the treadmill, over 11km travelled, more than 1100 calories burned. Granted a fair chunk of this was achieved with warm up and warm down walking, but any way I look at it, this was the most productive week of exercise I've had this year, barring the 15 mile charity walk. And I've not destroyed my feet in the process this time!

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Going into the weekend there will be some old demons to conquer. I won't have the gym readily available for a start, so will have to see how motivated I am to be active at home. Can I avoid my bad habits of eating too much? Do I have the will power to keep that 8 pack of bulmers untouched?

I guess we'll just have to see. My early success in January was achieved through consistency. If I can keep to my diet plan and maintain regular exercise, I know I will succeed again.

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One day at a time

Yesterday marked the re-launch of my diet. 24 hours in and so far so good. I stuck to three meals a day, avoided snacks and went to the gym. Repeat again today and I'll be a happy man.

I did think twice about whether or not to have a naan bread last night to accompany my curry, but in the end decided it was a no brainer. I did. A few weeks down the line when I'm hopefully a few pounds lighter I'll be looking to cut down on my evening meal but for now it is my main source of energy and needs to be robust, particularly if I'm planning to hit the treadmill every day. Yes, it was 450 calories or so that I could have done without, but small steps are required to avoid crashing and burning yet again.

So here I am looking to go again and make things routine. I've had my Shredded Wheat, my cup-a-soup is ready to go and my gym bag is taking up my footspace under my desk. Sometime later today the first hunger pangs are likely to kick in when my body begins to recognise that it won't be getting topped up with sugary badness. That'll be when my willpower will be tested.

The fact is I'm a lot bigger than I want to be right now. Maybe not as big as the chap in the screenshot below, but enough to feel unhealthy and for my clothes to be noticeably tighter than they were just a few weeks ago. I got rid of my 2XL & 3XL t-shirts a couple of years back and I've no intention of having to buy them again. Best stick with it then.

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• Wednesday Weigh-In 29 May
• Last Cup of Sorrow
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Wednesday Weigh-In 29 May

So, let's do this with minimal spin. I'm ballooning!

Don't blame the scales

The number on the bathroom scales is not unfriendly. It is a fair reflection of the fact I've been letting things go for a number of weeks now. Almost five months into Year Of The Diet and my net weightloss is 1 stone. My aim for the year was 41 lbs. After a promising start, things have regressed pretty badly of late, and that is entirely down to me.

I could write about new beginnings. Picking up the pieces. Whatever cliche takes your fancy. Ultimately weight management is my own personal responsibility. I know how I've lost weight before, and I know only too well how easy it is to gain. The phrase I'm going to go with is Back to the Primitive - a nice little track by Soulfly which I plan to listen to every morning to offer motivation - which is essentially what I need to do.

Consume less. Exercise more. Lose weight.

A very simple equation. A pity that it is so much easier to do the reverse.

So, with today being my first at getting Back to the Primitive, my day so far has included Shredded Wheat, Cup-A-Soup and 30 minutes of huffing and puffing on a treadmill. A pretty sight it does not make but needs must.

Reach for the inhaler people - it is wheeze o'clock

I enjoyed my Magners last night, but that was the last drop of alcohol I plan to consume for at least the next three weeks. Remove that, the muffins, the cheeky bags of crisps, the slide of bread while cooking dinner and all the various little extras and I'll be on my way.

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Last Cup of Sorrow

It is probably no coincidence that the second most prolific day of the week for me in writing for this blog (after Wednesday weigh-in) is a Tuesday, so that I can my excuses in nice and early. All good intentions for the past week rather got blown out of the water as the Bank Holiday Weekend descended into a first class example of over-indulgence.

It is a shame really as things had got off to such a good start. Buoyed by the sight of unfriendly numbers during last week's Wednesday weigh-in, I made a couple of trips to the gym and picked up my running intensity. Meal sizes were restrained and snacks left in the cupboard. But as is so often the case when trying to be proactive about weight management, life intervenes.

On Friday morning I was up at some ungodly hour. Breakfast should never be eaten when the clock begins with the number 5, but circumstances dictated an early start. One commute and several hours of medical appointment later, which wasn't without it's moments of mild panic and concern, I found myself walking down Denmark Hill towards Camberwell feeling stupidly hungry and surrounded by the welcoming sight of Nandos, Subway and Pizza Hut. Which did I choose? Well none of the above. My tuna and cucumber wraps prepared at stupid o'clock would do nicely. But then before my long overdue picnic in a London car park, a detour into Morrisons brought me face to face with the devil.

During the morning, I'd received tweets from the Placement Officer fraternity encouraging me to get involved with #MuffinFriday - and lo and behold I did. This little badboy was added to my lunch

Cherry, chocolate, cream, calories!

Now in isolation, I think this would have been just reward for an early start, commute into town and stressful stop/start journey home on a damp Friday afternoon, caught up in half term/Bank Holiday traffic. However, that sort of mentality inevitably had the domino effect and the rest of the long weekend was filled with that lethal combination of minimal activity, excess food consumption and a few pints a night to round things off.

It is therefore pretty safe to assume that the scales tomorrow morning will not be terribly favourable. Even my effort today at going to the gym in my lunch break was thwarted by my stupidity in walking there from the office in torrential rain only to discover when I got there that I'd left my membership card back in my pedestal. The walk back in the rain, combining with the tighter feel of my clothing after the weekend excess only served up a stew of negativity and gave me a lame excuse not to march back to the gym.

Tonight, I know I have one last bottle of Magners which is currently chilling in the freezer. I've just enjoyed some summer trifle and will be washing that down shortly with the fizzy apple stuff. The scales tomorrow will provide a new baseline to move forward from and I'll be flicking that diet switch. I'm going to enjoy my last hurrah, then it is high time I got #YearOfTheDiet back on track.

Wednesday Weigh-In - 22 May

Ever notice how the minute you start taking a diet seriously you are inundated with stuff encouraging you to say 'to hell with this'? I'm back on the diet and yet almost straight away my email is bombed with messages from Pizza Hut, Prezzo and Toby Carvery. Thanks guys, that is a big help.

I'm waking up this Wednesday morning feeling pretty stiff. Yesterday's trip to the gym has left me with heavy legs, while my back and shoulders have a certain soreness to them which I expect to linger throughout the day. This rather puts a dent in my plans to head back to the gym again today for another session with the treadmill, but I suppose I can give myself today to recover from the shock of physical exercise and head back there on Thursday instead.

Unfortunately heading back onto the scales has shown me that the last month of diet relaxation has resulted in quite a drastic weight gain. Whereas on 17 April is stood at 16st 10lb, just over a month later I'm half a stone heavier. Considering my ambition for 2013 was to lose 41lbs, it is somewhat disappointing that at 5 months in I've managed less than half the target.

Scales looking as bad as my toes after last month's sponsored walk

Guess it is time to knuckle down and revert to the basics which have worked for me in yesteryear. Regular trips to the gym will help - then it is just a question of reintroducing a measure of control for food and drink consumption. Sounds easy when typing it out! I'll have to borrow a typical football manager cliche and say I'll just have to take it one day at a time, and see how that pans out come next Wednesday.

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Breaking the mould

I'm a creature of habit. Maybe there is a touch of OCD about me but when things become routine, I can stick to them religiously. Example - I've been going to the same barbershop for the last 17 years, even though for most of that time I've been living out of that area. Call it familiarity. Call it comforting. For whatever reason I keep going back and have been loathe to cut my hair in other establishments. But you're not reading this blog to hear about my short back and sides. So let me get to the point.

When it comes to exercise, I find myself getting into bad habits very easily. I know for successful weightloss I need to balance reducing calories with increased physical activity. I've been there. I've done that. I didn't got from 24st down to 14 1/2st simply twiddling on my thumbs. Going to the gym was an integral part of that success and when I climbed back on board the diet wagon at the start of this year I had every intention of reintegrating physical exercise into my daily routine.

Only I didn't. I have a gym on site at work which even with two small children makes it easily accessible. Worse still, since last October I've had a 1 year membership that was completely free of charge, ironically won at a 'Well Being' event. I've used that gym before, spent several years as a member and know it inside and out. And yet that membership card has sat idle in my wallet ever since.

Until today.

Today I'm breaking the mould. A short session in my lunch break on a treadmill got me under way. I actually went to a hotel gym while I was at a conference last week and it reminded me that I quite enjoy getting hot and sweaty, though the wheezing and instant reminder about low levels of fitness weren't quite so welcome.

The Tesco approach to exercise - Every Little Helps

A one-off trip to the gym is not going to do very much for me. My efforts last Thursday morning were somewhat wasted when followed up by a three course meal and a boozy evening. To make this work, I have got to convert a bad habit into good and make this a regular gig. If I'm not posting regularly about my gym activity, please hold me to account

Coe, Cram and Ovett have nothing on me!

Call it sibling rivalry if you want, but having read my sister's article on this blog yesterday, I felt compelled to pull on my running shoes. This morning I paced the mean streets of Britwell - well, a small part of it anyway - and did my first outdoor run since I was a teenager.

A couple of years back when I was a regular at the gym I was able to spend quite a bit of time on a treadmill, but doing that in a controlled environment is very different to running in the elements, particularly if like me you have asthma. That was a contributory factor in my 'run' this morning lasting not very long, though 95% of the reason was because I'm hideously unfit. However, it is a start and a foundation to build upon.

Mo Farah is quaking in his boots

My asthma played up and a few hours later I'm still coughing and spluttering at regular intervals. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do if I'm going to get myself fit for a 10k this year. However, after spending the last few weeks gaining weight and eating like a pig, it was good to do something positive and try to get Year of the Diet back on track.

The Friday Fat Fright

I've been a bit quiet of late of the diet front, mostly because I've been disgusted at myself for letting things slide in the last few weeks. However, while I don't have anything positive to say, here is a guest article written by my sister, which should provide inspiration both to me and to mums who are looking to lose a few lbs. Enjoy.

The Friday Fat Fright

Five weeks ago I posted the following on Facebook:

Inspired by my bro's 'Wednesday Weigh-in' (see his blog www.yearofthediet.com) and his signature 'feet on scales' photo, I have just instituted the 'Friday Fat Fright' only I can't post the evidence until a) I've lost weight and b) I've had a pedicure.

I was initially being my usual facetious self but my brain was whirring round that just maybe the sheer terror of having to publicly reveal my weight might spur me into action! And I had actually weighed in and taken a Graham-style feet on scales photo which instead of sharing immediately as my ‘baseline’ I made the wallpaper on my Blackberry and laptop as a constant reminder of the need for action.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t imagine I have any real kind of weight problem but over the last couple of years my weight has crept up to a stone over what I consider my realistic, lets-face-it-I’m-40-and-I’ve-had-three-kids-and-I-do-actually-like-to-eat-and-drink ideal weight.

The weight gain followed, ironically, a delicious period of being back down to my pre-children-world-was-my-oyster weight of my late teens and early twenties. This was a bit to do with finding I actually liked to run when I was 37 and a lot to do with the stress of the build-up to a very painful period in my life.

A three-year run of immense personal upheaval – including finally facing my demons and seeking help for the anxiety and depression that had long since crippled me at least on the inside – alongside being extremely happy in my new life combined to make me pile the weight back on and quite a bit more for good luck. Comfort eating, more alcohol than normal, the effects of medication and lack of exercise make for a vicious circle when you’re trying to make that break-through from the ‘dark side’. Enjoying having meals cooked for me for the first time since I lived at home, as well as romantic meals out and cosy boozy nights in was, whilst to die-for, also not conducive to getting back in shape.

So, now is the time and in the 5 weeks since my Facebook post I have lost exactly half a stone and am running my first race since 2011 tomorrow. Healthy eating (lots to eat but the right things with treats thrown in), less alcohol and 3 or 4 runs a week seem to be working for me. I’m hoping I can keep going until I shed another half stone which I could just manage in time for a no-doubt-gut-busting trip to the US in July! Finishing the 10k tomorrow without stopping is the goal rather than chasing a PB but it feels great to have come this far. Watch out Woodley here comes Thunder Thighs and her Muffin Top! !

Before 05/04/13

Now. Result!