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

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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