This is the first of my monthly check-in posts where I'll report on my progress over the month and no doubt make excuses for my poor performance :-)
Weight: 10st 12 lbs
Weight Change: -2 lbs
Body Fat: 31.2%
Body Fat: -0.6%
The 'change' figures above are the change in the whole month since 1st July. If you look at my last weekly check-in (I didn't do one last Saturday as I had no internet connection and the stats are virtually the same as they are today) you'll see that I've put ON fat in the last week or two but I've lost fat over the month.
Last year I only tracked my progress on a monthly basis and I figured that weekly blips were just blips. The problem is when the blips come week after week after week. With this blog I can write down the kinds of things that have got in my way so if I have had a very bad month I can look back and see if I had genuine reasons for poor performance or I was just slacking.
The results this month are fairly typical for me as I lost 2lbs overall with a small drop in bodyfat. Over the first year I lost 23lbs which is an average of 2lbs a month. However for this year I would like to do better so I'm not that happy with it.
This really is not a good time for me right now however (excuse alert!!) as it was my partner's birthday on the Monday just gone and we celebrate our 10 year anniversary on Thursday and we'll be extending those celebrations into the weekend. Diet will not be a concern this weekend.
Still here is where I have been stalling for quite some time. I cannot seem to get below 30% body fat. Once this week is over I don't think I have anything coming up so I would really like to see 3lbs lost in August.
Showing posts with label Progress Reports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Progress Reports. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Year 2, Week 2 Check-In
After my small weight gain at my last check in I made more of a concerted effort to work a little harder in the week gone past. I did still indudge more than I should have (especially at the weekend) but I much preferred my new exercise routine and the results have come out quite well:
Weight: 10st 10.75 lbs
Weight Change: -1.75lbs
Body Fat: 30.5%
Body Fat Change: -0.7
One thing that strikes me immediately is that a loss of 1.75 lbs is a lot for me in one week. I did not follow my plan perfectly and I highly doubt I actually burned that much fat. What I suspect is that the previous week on weigh day I was experiencing some fluctuation and I was just having a heavy day. It then dropped off and has showed up on the scales this week instead. I get a lot of fluctuation and it is something I am going to post about in more detail in the near future.
I seem to be back on track but I have still had some issues. I didn't go running this morning and I don't think I will tomorrow morning either. I really don't look forward to it; I dread it and that's not how I want exercise to be. This last week I replaced two of my runs with cardio sessions down the gym and I really enjoyed them and when I enjoy it I work hard and it pays off. I'm changing my routine again slightly to get rid of the running entirely. I still want to exercise daily so if I don't run the only proper exercise I have available to me at the weekends is weight training so that's what I'll do.
This is my new routine for next week:
Monday: Weights (morning), Karate (evening)
Tuesday: Cardio (morning)
Wednesday: Weights (morning), Karate (evening)
Thursday: Cardio (morning)
Friday: Cardio (morning)
Saturday: Weights (anytime)
Sunday: Weights (anytime)
One thing I was unable to do all last year is to break the 30% body fat barrier. I would really like to do that soon but I have to stop pigging out at weekends! Right now I am posting this from my friends house (my broadband box got fried yesterday when our house got hit by lightning!) and we've been pigging out on crisps, dips, donuts... yum :-)
Weight: 10st 10.75 lbs
Weight Change: -1.75lbs
Body Fat: 30.5%
Body Fat Change: -0.7
One thing that strikes me immediately is that a loss of 1.75 lbs is a lot for me in one week. I did not follow my plan perfectly and I highly doubt I actually burned that much fat. What I suspect is that the previous week on weigh day I was experiencing some fluctuation and I was just having a heavy day. It then dropped off and has showed up on the scales this week instead. I get a lot of fluctuation and it is something I am going to post about in more detail in the near future.
I seem to be back on track but I have still had some issues. I didn't go running this morning and I don't think I will tomorrow morning either. I really don't look forward to it; I dread it and that's not how I want exercise to be. This last week I replaced two of my runs with cardio sessions down the gym and I really enjoyed them and when I enjoy it I work hard and it pays off. I'm changing my routine again slightly to get rid of the running entirely. I still want to exercise daily so if I don't run the only proper exercise I have available to me at the weekends is weight training so that's what I'll do.
This is my new routine for next week:
Monday: Weights (morning), Karate (evening)
Tuesday: Cardio (morning)
Wednesday: Weights (morning), Karate (evening)
Thursday: Cardio (morning)
Friday: Cardio (morning)
Saturday: Weights (anytime)
Sunday: Weights (anytime)
One thing I was unable to do all last year is to break the 30% body fat barrier. I would really like to do that soon but I have to stop pigging out at weekends! Right now I am posting this from my friends house (my broadband box got fried yesterday when our house got hit by lightning!) and we've been pigging out on crisps, dips, donuts... yum :-)
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Year 2, Week 1 Check-In
This post is the first in a series of weekly progress that I am going to post as I go through my second year on my fat loss and fitness plan. Many weeks I see that I've made little or no progress and I think "damn, must try harder next week" but I don't really pinpoint specific issues I had or look at ways that I could do better. By blogging about it I hope that I will be a bit more diligent.
Weight GAIN: 0.25 lbs
Oh dear! Not a good start to my second year. I didn't just not lose but I gained weight! I didn't bother doing the measurements and bodyfat calculations this week as the results will not really change much with such a small weight change. I usually do that when there's been a change of around 1lb.
Changes in Exercise Routine
Last week I tried quite a different routine to the norm. For quite a few months I had a fairly regular routine of doing cardio weekday mornings, weights weekday lunchtimes, karate two evenings a week and nothing at all on the weekend. This routine had two drawbacks. Firstly it took 14 hours out of my week, phew! Secondly it was all concentrated into 5 days and then I did nothing on weekends and that is when I tend to overeat the most.
I've had a week of illness and then a week on holiday and around that time I also realised that I could no longer afford to spend 14 hours of my week on exercise so I've changed things around quite a lot. I now exercise daily, but no more than twice daily (cardio, weights AND karate in one day is just overkill) and I started replacing cardio at the gym for running near my house as that's something I want to improve.
Running Problems
My current routine has me running 4 times - both weekend days and also two mornings during the week. I had real issue with my mid-week runs as I was doing these straight after getting up at 6am. I don't like to exercise immediately after waking as I'm like a zombie for a while. Secondly, I am greatly dehydrated when I first wake up. Usually I'll have a big glass of water first thing but by running first I missed out on that. Lastly, I'm hungry and have no energy.
I was having a very hard time with the running, feeling terribly lethargic and I kept getting headaches. This week I'm changing the routine to overcome these problems. I'll still run on weekends but not straight away. I'll get up, have my water, have breakfast and wake up a bit before I go. I did that this morning and felt much better for it. During the week, I'm dropping the running and replacing it with two cardio sessions instead. I always workout very well doing cardio at the gym because I put in a solid 40 minutes and I monitor my heart rate the entire time and keep it pretty high.
Snacking
Last week I snacked quite a lot, mostly on sweets and chocolates but I also had peanut butter on toast in the evening twice. Snacking has always been a problem for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to completely give up sweets, chocolates, cakes biscuits etc. Well it's not so much that I can't give them up, as I don't want to. However, I need to do something about it so next week I'll try and compromise by allowing myself one unplanned treat daily. If I raid the receptionists sweetie bowl (she has toffees! how can I resist!!?) then no chocolate and no toast that day!
Those Indulgent Days
Unfortunately I've already got myself off to a bad start this morning by eating a cheese burger! I do my weekly shop on Saturday mornings (which I hate) and a few months ago they went and installed an in-store McDonalds! Usually it doesn't tempt me as I'm not actually a huge fan, I find their food pretty gross really but today I was just so hungry and I caved.
Not only that but in an hour or so I'm taking my son to Legoland where I will no doubt eat more crappy food like burgers. And we always have one of their scrumptious chocolate dipped waffles when we go there! Usually I take my own food with me but I'm just having one of those days today and I just can't be bothered! Lastly, I just know I'll be knackered tonight and I wont want to cook. I've already decided that we're having a Chinese takeaway - I even bought the crispy duck already as I can get it at the shops a lot cheaper!
I don't beat myself up about days like today even though they do tend to sabotage my progress for the whole week. It doesn't happen every week and I still get a life. The key point though is that I go straight back on plan the following day, I never lose sight of the big picture.
Weight GAIN: 0.25 lbs
Oh dear! Not a good start to my second year. I didn't just not lose but I gained weight! I didn't bother doing the measurements and bodyfat calculations this week as the results will not really change much with such a small weight change. I usually do that when there's been a change of around 1lb.
Changes in Exercise Routine
Last week I tried quite a different routine to the norm. For quite a few months I had a fairly regular routine of doing cardio weekday mornings, weights weekday lunchtimes, karate two evenings a week and nothing at all on the weekend. This routine had two drawbacks. Firstly it took 14 hours out of my week, phew! Secondly it was all concentrated into 5 days and then I did nothing on weekends and that is when I tend to overeat the most.
I've had a week of illness and then a week on holiday and around that time I also realised that I could no longer afford to spend 14 hours of my week on exercise so I've changed things around quite a lot. I now exercise daily, but no more than twice daily (cardio, weights AND karate in one day is just overkill) and I started replacing cardio at the gym for running near my house as that's something I want to improve.
Running Problems
My current routine has me running 4 times - both weekend days and also two mornings during the week. I had real issue with my mid-week runs as I was doing these straight after getting up at 6am. I don't like to exercise immediately after waking as I'm like a zombie for a while. Secondly, I am greatly dehydrated when I first wake up. Usually I'll have a big glass of water first thing but by running first I missed out on that. Lastly, I'm hungry and have no energy.
I was having a very hard time with the running, feeling terribly lethargic and I kept getting headaches. This week I'm changing the routine to overcome these problems. I'll still run on weekends but not straight away. I'll get up, have my water, have breakfast and wake up a bit before I go. I did that this morning and felt much better for it. During the week, I'm dropping the running and replacing it with two cardio sessions instead. I always workout very well doing cardio at the gym because I put in a solid 40 minutes and I monitor my heart rate the entire time and keep it pretty high.
Snacking
Last week I snacked quite a lot, mostly on sweets and chocolates but I also had peanut butter on toast in the evening twice. Snacking has always been a problem for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to completely give up sweets, chocolates, cakes biscuits etc. Well it's not so much that I can't give them up, as I don't want to. However, I need to do something about it so next week I'll try and compromise by allowing myself one unplanned treat daily. If I raid the receptionists sweetie bowl (she has toffees! how can I resist!!?) then no chocolate and no toast that day!
Those Indulgent Days
Unfortunately I've already got myself off to a bad start this morning by eating a cheese burger! I do my weekly shop on Saturday mornings (which I hate) and a few months ago they went and installed an in-store McDonalds! Usually it doesn't tempt me as I'm not actually a huge fan, I find their food pretty gross really but today I was just so hungry and I caved.
Not only that but in an hour or so I'm taking my son to Legoland where I will no doubt eat more crappy food like burgers. And we always have one of their scrumptious chocolate dipped waffles when we go there! Usually I take my own food with me but I'm just having one of those days today and I just can't be bothered! Lastly, I just know I'll be knackered tonight and I wont want to cook. I've already decided that we're having a Chinese takeaway - I even bought the crispy duck already as I can get it at the shops a lot cheaper!
I don't beat myself up about days like today even though they do tend to sabotage my progress for the whole week. It doesn't happen every week and I still get a life. The key point though is that I go straight back on plan the following day, I never lose sight of the big picture.
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