Ramblings

This is where I’ll be putting down on paper (so to speak) what’s going on in my day to day life during this journey. I hope that I can make this a habit and jot down thoughts, tips, ideas and general ramblings on a daily basis. I’m not too

I hope that I can make this a habit and jot down thoughts, tips, ideas and general ramblings on a daily basis. I’m not too confident that I’ll be that consistent, if only because I honestly don’t live that an exciting life that I have daily material that is of any interest to any living being!

But please do stay tuned, and pretty please comment of the things I say here (hopefully they’ll be encouraging and uplifting comments).

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December 26th 2011
Take Two
Well that didn’t take me too long to realize how stupid that sidetrack was. Today the gym opened again after the holidays and I was there waiting when the doors opened! Well ok, not maybe when they opened in the morning (I would have gone that early, but I was sleeping) but they opened up for me when I walked in.
I really punished myself and did a full on 60 min, 800 calorie workout on the Summit master and bike. I pushed myself so hard my heartbeat was at over 180 for about half the time I was on the bike.
It felt good that the guy next to me on the bike was some (I’m guessing) iron man, cross-fit guy. He at least had some “uniform” on with sponsor ads and the works. Looked pro at least. But my point is that he was doing the same intensity as I was! Level 15 at 95 rpm. His heart rate was a little lower though, (170 vs 175/8), but it was a nice comparison. I know that I’ve built up good stamina in the months (years even) that I’ve been biking but it was nice seeing that a fatso like myself could keep up with the ad sponsored jock.

I got the UP bracelet for Christamas gift (www.jawbone.com/up) that among other things, vibrates if I’ve been idle for too long. I set the interval at 60 min, so if I’ve been at my desk for 60 min, it vibrates and I have a rule that I stand up and do one of three exercises: 20 push-ups, 20 squats or 10 burpees. I try to rotate these and today I did four sets.
On top of that I went out for a 45 min walk in a snow storm (just love walking outside in bad weather wearing quality outdoor wear).

My diet was good today, could have eaten more protein, but all in all a good day with plenty of exercise.

December 24st 2011
Day hmmm
Been off the diet for a few days and I’m missing it! At the end of the day, I don’t feel any better because I let myself eat more. Mind you, I’m still keeping it fairly healthy, but I am letting myself eat what’s on offer when I go on visits and when there’s something good for dinner. But I always regret it at the end of the day and wonder why this “addiction” is so strong.
I’m going back on a stricter diet after tomorrow and will try to lose some of the disgusting fat that I’ve put on these last days.

December 21st 2011
Day Ten
Yea yea yea, I missed the update yesterday. Shoot me!
I didn’t get home until late, was out doing christmasy things, shopping, meeting friends, drinking beer. Doesn’t anyone care that I’m trying to do this fat loss thing?? Great time to celebrate the birth of Jebus exactly the same time I’m trying to lose weight before the new year! What’s that about?
Today and yesterday have been very similar, so I’m gonna save me some time and bits and do just one update.

Forgive me father for I have sinned. I’ve been a greedy little pig for the last two days.
Again, I haven’t really been eating that much, just not sticking to my diet plan. So both today and yesterday I’ve been around the 2000 calorie mark, and I even burnt 650 calories today at the gym (45 min on high intensity cardio – 165-178 beats pr minute).

To be honest (and I am an extremely honest man by nature) I don’t think there is much sense in continuing this… it’s just not realistic. But what I am going to do is keep the IM (that’s Intermittent Fasting for those of you that don’t follow the latest buzzwords in the fitness world) as it’s working really well and it’s eazy breazy (covergirl) to follow. For me at least.
What I do is that I wake up and don’t eat for 2-3 hours. It’s hard for about 15-20 minutes, but I just drink water and it goes away. Then I hit the jimbo (english: gym) and work my ass off. I then eat a nice protein rich (almost exclusively protein) meal and try to keep it out till dinner. That’s when I have a normal (healthy) dinner and that allows room for some of the festive treats that await you around every corner and in every bar!

December 19th 2011
Day Eight
Day two of hangover. Man I’m not too fond of this whole age thing. It seems that the older I get the worse the hangovers are!
Not that I can really complain as I don’t get hung over more than twice a year, but when  I do get hungover it seems as it’s getting worse. And no, I don’t only drink twice a year. I just got lucky this way.
But because of this, I’ve felt like shit today and although the day was a fine day by regular diet standards, it wasn’t too good on a high protein, low calorie diet standards.
So the result of the day was no gym and 1900 calories with too much carbs.
Tomorrow I shall rise from the ashes!!

December 18th 2011
Day Seven
Looking back at the weekend, I probably could have predicted what would happen! I mean, you don’t go to a holidays dinner night out with the boys without totally screwing anything called a “diet”!
Yesterday started out great. Didn’t eat till after my workout, only at protein and was saving myself for the nice dinner and the few beers I planned on drinking.
Dinner was great and not at all unhealthy. A nice steak, some soup and potato thingy with a french name. So far, it was about 9:30 and I was probably still under 1500 calories.
But then we went to a bar where we knew some staff, and the drinks were put on their bill. It’s a known universal fact that you cannot pass up a free alcoholic drink. So, many drinks later we were still in the bar after closing, still drinking free beer and Vodka Red Bulls and it was almost 7 am.
But, that was not the worst of it. The following day (well, later that same day, after much too little sleep) I felt like grade A shit. I usually don’t get hangovers, but man did I get the privilege  of one now.
So, there was no way I was going to stick to my chicken breast diet and I ordered a pizza, and Coke, and some chocolate to sooth stomach (which btw did not work according to plan).

So, at the end of a long short day, I’ve probably eaten about 3000 calories, with 90% of that either fat or carbs.

But, that’s the past and the only thing I can do now is jump back up on the horse and buggy and sweet my ass off tomorrow in the gym and continue doing what I did so well last week.

It’l probably take me about 1-2 days to get back to the weight I was on Saturday morning and hopefully I’ll be able to get 3-4 lbs/1-2kg before Christmas hits with all its chocolate and heavy eating. But since I won’t be hammered off my ass or be recovering from be hammered off my ass, it won’t be that hard to keep my regime.

December 17th 2011
Day Six
Just a small update: I jumped on the scale this morning and I’ve lost a total of 3.2 kg/8 lbs the last 5 days! I know it’s not all fat loss, but based on my past experience on a high protein low calorie diet, I’m preserving the muscle quite well.
I’ve actually got a huge dinner coming up tonight, a night out with the boys. But this is going to be my refeed/recharge day so as long as I don’t overdo it, I should be ok.
I’ll be mainly eating meat (I chose a steakhouse for the dinner) and I’ll allow myself 4 beers tonight.
I’m off to hit the gym and I’ll have another update after I get home (or tomorrow, depending on my physical state (you get a real buzz from only a few beers when eating this little!). A money saving Fit Tip

December 16th 2011
Day Five
I got hit with a sweets craving so bad! It came as a surprise as I haven’t had any cravings for anything bad since I started this. But I managed to be strict with myself and allowed me a dose of 2 dark chocolate bites that cured me of my chocolate desires.

Otherwise, the day went smooth. I didn’t make it to the gym, but that’s OK as I’m not sure that I should be working out that hard with a very low caloric diet such as this one. At least Lyle McDonald who published the Rapid Fatloss Handbook which I model a lot of my diet on strictly forbids any exercise on his diet. I’m not convinced that it’s such a “no no”, but common sense tells me that burning 600 calories on a 1200 calorie diet just can’t be too good many days in a row. But as the Minnesota Starvation Experiment showed, the body will continue to burn fat even long into the so called starvation mode (which doesn’t kick in until 72 hours into a massive caloric restriction). Research tells us that the body keeps burning fat until it reaches a 5% bodyfat level (that’s still a loooong ways away for me!)

Tomorrow I weight myself as usual on a Saturday and I’m really excited to see the results!

December 15th 2011
Day Four
Aaahhhhh, now I remember why it’s not as easy as it seemed yesterday. Social life! Meet a group of special friends (no not the special Olympics kind of special) tonight at a bar. I am really against bans and off-limit foods, so today I took the evening into account, ate a little less than usual over the day and kept dinner similar to my other days. I also allowed myself to drink to beers. So having a social life shouldn’t really be an excuse, you just have to limit yourself and not go on an all-out bing. And even if you do, that’s OK! Just as long as it’s the exception to your normal eating.
I kept my word and only drank two pints so my total calories for today were only 1300. And as I went to the gym this morning…way too early, I earned those two beers!
On the negative side, my protein ratio wasn’ t as high as the last days, but the good thing about the extra calories of the beer is that alcohol is the first extra calories the the body gets rid of. So I have another cardio session planned tomorrow to get things evened out.
I haven’t been on the scales all week so I’m getting very excited about what all this hard work (that hasn’t really been that hard, just haven’t allowed myself to eat like a pig) will deliver.
Stay tuned!

December 14th 2011
Day Three
When I sit down to write down these thoughts after each day, it strikes me as odd that I am fat! Why? Because this getting-thin stuff is so easy!

I know that it’s only day three and a successful weight loss takes a lot more time. Believe me I’ve been here 10,342 times before!!
But when one takes one day at a time, it really is easy. And not only that, but you feel so good, have a lot more energy and mental focus as well as a more positive self image which influences your general view of life.
Having all this in mind, it really is strange that we let ourselves eat so much that we gain enough fat to be classified as obese! Hence, I just don’t understand how I got myself into this situation, not to mention how I’ve allowed myself to be fat all these years!

Anyway, today was another great day. I at just under 1200 calories, with 45% coming from protein.
I also take omega fish oil pills and a multivitamin which is very important. The only supplements I take is glutamin after workouts and caffeine, either in energy drink form or pill.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

December 13th 2011
Day Two
Day two: Check!
Met my goals, stayed at 1200 calories and just over 40% protein. Had a little more fat than I planned, but carbs were under 80 gr (largely due to an energy drink I had – I swear those things are addictive!).
Went to the gym and did some cardio and some unplanned weight lifting as my friend wanted me to spot him so I thought I’d use the time and pump some iron. I did feel a difference to my usual workouts as I didn’t have the power I usually have and my friend could match my bench press, which he’s never done before.
Food wasn’t a problem and I didn’t have any cravings. In fact I wasn’t hungry at all.
I had a nice big ‘n juicy ommlette for dinner with some onions and turkey hotdog (hotbird?) that is only 2% fat.
I’m a little late going to bed as I’m trying to shift from being a Type B person to a Type A person. I’m taking 5 gr Melatonin before bed and keeping the bedtime and wake up time as constant as I can. This should take 3 weeks before it becomes a habit (if New Years doesn’t ruin it!!)
I’m feeling thinner and lighter and look forward to tomorrow!

December 12th 2011
Day One
Damn time flies by! This day has flown by faster than a neutrino!
I woke up feeling really bad in my stomach, no doubt my gut paying back for the mistreatment over the weekend (hey, I was getting ready for the diet … you know, using my last days of freedom). After about 2,5 hours I had an egg and egg white omelette.
I also went to the doctors today for a checkup. He was really proud of my weight loss since I saw him last in April and said my blood pressure was top notch (I’m sure I could have gotten a gold star if I had asked).
I also went to the gym, as this was a day after a cheat day(s) and tried to use my excess carbs (glycogen)  stored in my body. As this is a low calorie, high protein diet, it is essentially a low carb diet, so  I should be burning as much fat as possible.

I ate just under 1200 calories today, with about 45% protein (about 120 gr), so all in all this was a good day on the Xtreme Fat Loss scale.
It’s really important to take only one day at a time, baby steps to my goal!

December 11th 2011
Countdown to Extreme Fat Loss 2011
Here are the ground rules for the next 14 days:
- I eat maximium 1200 calories per day
- At least 50% of them come from protein (150-170 gr)
- The rest should come from healthy fats and carbs, about 50/50
- I’m throwing in some Intermittent Fasting, so I won’t be eating except for a 8 hour window each day, and try to start the day by going to the gym before eating my “break”fast which will mainly be eggs.
- I’ll be going to the gym 4-5 times per week. Mostly doing light cardio about 30 min or so, mainly to keep my stamina that I’ve built up. I’ll also be weight training 2 times per week to keep the muscle mass that I have.
- The main point of this crash diet is to keep my muscle mass and maximize the fat burning capabilities of the body.
- I’ve done this before with great results, about 1 kg of fat per week, without ANY loss of muscle mass -> pretty darn impressive.
- But this isn’t easy!
- Booya!!