I did it! I effen did it! Yay!!!

Muribwanji,

YES I DID IT! I hit the target – 123.8 kg’s! For only the first time since January did I manage to hit the target I set for myself. It probobly had something to do with setting myself a more reasonable target, but 5 kg’s is still a fair whack! I am very proud of my efforts this month, and very happy with my results to date.

So before I get into all of my results – which now include a body fat & muscle mass result, here is what I have been up to since my last posting on Monday.

Firstly – to my experiment. I bought a block of Lindt Dark Chocolate 'Intense mint' - and I will see if I can stick to having two squares a night. It's quite thin (the block is only 100gms) and dark choc is proven to have healthy benefits, so as long as it's used in moderation. So with the exception of one night where I had 4 squares, I did stick to 2 squares per night. Not too bad. I did not buy a new block of chocolate at the supermarket yesterday – maybe I’ll test myself again soon!

Monday I had my PT session with Ben in the gym, where we did a combination of cardio & a circuit for strength.

Tuesday I was supposed to go to Starlight after work, and therefore only get a walk home, but as work was super busy I did not go, and was able to do 40 mins of cardio in the gym before walking home.

Wednesday was my massage – followed by some cardio – I did the rower again and managed to improve my time to 2:03.8! Last time it was 2.07.7. I also started running part of the way home. I find it a little difficult with a full backpack on, but I ran down most of Sussex St, did the stairs up to Observatory Hill, then walked up to the bridge. I ran from pylon to pylon on the bridge as well, and then also part of the way past Kirribilli.

Thursday I had my group session which was the favourite one I have done yet! Ben arranged a short circuit – only 30 secs per station, before moving immediately to the next station. It was approx 10 mins doing the circuit before then doing 8 mins on a cardio machine interval training, then circuit, then cardio etc etc. It was great & whilst everyone else was buggered I could have kept going!! It also helped I think that I provided the soundtrack to our workout! I created a CD to use in the gym that everyone loved! Haha!

Friday was my day off, and I DJ’ed after work, so I drove in to work & straight from work to Forestville.

Saturday I went into the gym in the morning prepared to blitz my last time on the rower. I started off though with 30 mins on the cross trainer, then jumped on the rower. My aim is to do 20 mins with an average of under 2 mins per 500 metres. On Wednesday I managed 2:03.8. On Saturday for the first 10 mins I was averaging under 2 mins, but then unfort I dropped off a bit at the end due to tiredness. But even still, I managed to again blitz my time – 2.01.5!! Yeah!

Sunday again early at the gym, where I did 40 mins on the treadmill. After a 5 min warm up at 6km/h, winding up to 7 km/h, I ran for my longest time straight at 8.6 km/h – 10 mins! I then did intervals for the rest of the 40 mins, walking for 1 min at 6, and running for 1 at 8.6. It’s funny – I get a stitch if I run at 9 km/h, but at 8.6 I’m ok! Neil & I then went looking for cars after this, and we did a lot of walking up and down Parramatta road.

So now for my results – Here they go!

Weight
Original – 150 / Last month – 128.8 / Now – 123.8 = a loss of 26.2 kilos!

Waist
Original – 157cm / Last month – 133 cm / Now – 126cm = loss of 31cm

Chest
Original – 136cm / Last month – 122cm / Now – 119cm = loss of 14cm

Leg
Original – 81cm / Last month – 72cm / Now – 71cm = loss of 10cm

Body Fat
Original - 45.5% / Last month – 38.5% / Now – 37.2%

Muscle mass
Original - 20.1% / Last month – 24.3% / Now – 25.1%

Not bad huh!

Looking forward, this month will be the month of my first major reward. The Scooter! I have actually bought a scooter – paid the deposit that is, and I do pick it up next weekend. The scooter however will be staying locked in my garage until I hit 120 kilos. I am booked in to do my learners rider course at St Ives on the 23rd & 24th of this month, and hopefully I will have lost that 3.8 kilos by then! Which means, on the 24th, I will be posting a photo of me riding my brand new (2nd hand) Aprilia scooter!!!

And the goal for this month? 5.8 Kilos. That will have me down to 118 kilos by 1st of July, and well under 120 kilos by my 33rd birthday on June 29!

Thanks for reading, and I’d love any comments!

Cheers,

Pete

And my weight loss to date is equal to a 18 month old…. Labradoodle!!

I'm halfway there!

Moïen,

As you can see from the title, i'm halfway there! Yes the goal is to lose 50 kilos by the end of the year, and as of 24th May, i've lost over 25 kilos! Yay!

I haven't updated the blog for a while, so here's an update on what's been happening...

As per my last posting, last weekend I was sick, so I had 3 days with no exercise. I was actually feeling quite down about losing 3 days, and I was totally expecting to gain weight. Thankfully when I stepped on the scales for my Monday morning weigh-in, my body had done me a favour & I had lost a kilo in the week! This good turn inspired me throughout the week to keep on going strong. I did however take it a bit easier, as I was still recovering from being unwell. So here's what I did, activity wise, in the week.

Monday - I did an easy cardio session - a light 30 mins on the cross trainer, followed by a walk home.

Tuesday - PT session with Ben, doing various cardio exercises & strength training. Ben showed me a great way to do interval training on the cross trainer - basically going really hard & fast for 30 secs, followed by a slow down for a minute. It was something I hadn't thought of doing on the cross trainer - which is my favorite machine. Then a walk home afterwards, getting absolutely saturated by a downpour whilst walking acros the bridge!

Wednesday - 30 mins solid interval training on the cross trainer, followed by 10 mins on the bike, & 10 mins on the rower then a walk home.

Thursday - Group session with Richard - it was cardio intensive and quite a hard solid workout - and walk home.

Friday was my day off, but I still walked home.

Saturday - into the gym early for a good cardio & weights session. I started with 30 mins, interval training on the cross trainer, them 10 mins on the bike, and on to the rower. Richard had challenged me to do 20 mins straight on the rower, and the last time I used the rower, before I was sick, I finally reached that 20 min goal. I did it in a better time than I thought as well - a 2.10.8 (average per 500 metres). Now Richard has challenged me to do it in under a 2 min average. So after the bike, I jumped on the rower & went for it. My time? 2.07.7!! Yeah! A big improvement over last time. I followed this with an hour of weights.

Today, I met Neil @ the gym & had an intensive cardio session. I was totally soaked at the end so I know I did well! I did 40 mins on the treadmill, running & walking. In this session I did a 12 min warm up increasing the walking pace, then 8.5 mins running at 9 km/h, followed by a small walking rest, then 8 mins at 9 km/h, walking rest, and 6 mins at 9 km/h followed by a walking rest. I did more than half of the time on the treadmill running, and am very proud of that. I then did 15 mins interval training on the bike, and 15 mins interval training on the cross trainer. A great 70 min cardio session it was!

This past couple of weeks I have also been trying out something new. A double espresso coffee first thing in the morning to 'kick start' my metabolism, and you know what?.. I think it's working! Other than that i'm also eating lots more fresh vegies - i've started using my steamer more, and steaming spinach, beans, squash, carrots, zucchini & more. Having lots of vegies with every meal.

Also I have added an extra ingredient to my morning fresh juice. So along with my 1 orange, 1 apple, 1 carrot & 1 stick celery, i'm also adding a splash of pomegranite juice. I've read up on the benefits of pomegranite juice & I think it's worth it. And i'm still having fish twice a week at least - seafood is great for the system and i'm making myself like it! Tonight it's lemon pepper snapper with vegies, followed by passionfruit yoghurt with mixed berries.

This week i'm also experimenting with will power. I have bought a block of Lindt Dark Chocolate 'Intense mint' - and I will see if I can stick to having two squares a night. It's quite thin (the block is only 100gms) and dark choc is proven to have healthy benefits, so as long as it's used in moderation. And moderation is what i'm testing myself on this week! Wish me luck!

So that's my update - thanks for reading!

Pete

Oh and there's one more thing... ever since I can remember, so pretty much all my adult life, I have been at least 130 kilos. I had an exercise kick a few years ago where I did well, and managed to get down to 126 kgs, albeit from a lower starting weight. So basically that means, i'm now at my lowest adult weight ever! Cool huh!

ACHTUNG! HALT!

Sat sri akal,

In case you're wondering what the title means - it's what my body said to me on Saturday morning. This week I have been coming down with a cold (like everyone else here @ work), and I managed to make it though the week, but by Friday I was coughing, sneezing and had a pretty sore throat.

Saturday morning I got up and went into the gym, but standing on the treadmill, about to start, I just could not do it. So I went home & slept most of the day! Sunday I took it real easy as well never even leaving home.

So it's Monday now, and I'm at work, but still not 100%. The sore throat & cough I can put up with but the main issue is dizziness. I assume that as my sinuses are stuffed up, and when I blow my nose my ears 'squeak', that is what is affecting me.

So... day off on Friday, sick on Sat & Sun, I'll ease back into it today, & hopefully will be OK for my PT session tomorrow.

The good thing though, even though I had 3 days of no exercise, I still managed to lose a kilo!

Yay!

Aim for the hills...

Góðan dag,

Today I fell off the wagon a bit - I don't know why, but I gave in to temptation. Several times. I was even feeling like i'd completely fallen off the wagon. Let me explain.

I have been good. Very good. For quite a while. This doesn't mean that I haven't NOT eaten anything bad - I have - but everything has been in moderation. I had a Kit Kat for example on Saturday evening. But I felt like I deserved it, after a great morning session, and lugging my DJ equipment all around the place.

I think though today I was feeling a bit down, and whenever I used to be down, what did I turn to? Food. And surprisingly, I did this even after some good exercise - see below. So what did I eat? Well I was feeling hungry on the way to the Starlight Room at Randwick Hospital, so I did the right thing, and got a bottle of water, a low kj muesli bar, and an apple. But when I got to te starlight room there was temptation too hard to resist - so I had - a packet of chips - 2 freddos - 2 milky bar freddo things - and 6 minties!

So that's it. My bad. But I did something on the way home to help myself. What I did I did I will keep to myself, but I am feeling better again, and ready to hit it tomorrow & jump back on that wagon & power ahead!

And my session today? I almost didn't do it :-{ I woke up this morning with a bad headache, and didn't do anything before heading to chatswood. That meant I thought I would not do anything - you know what? Maybe that's what made me feel down!! Anyway, Chatswood finished up early, so I was able to get home, and had enough time (1 hour) for a session. So I decided to aim for the hills. I always find that I get a good workout & my heart rate raises well when on a hill. And as I live in a very hilly area, I hit the hills, going up and down my side of Military Rd, and then also up and down the other side of Military Road. Here's the map (it sort of looks like a racerack!):


See ya.

Run in the rain - take 2

Sholem aleikhem,

I finished of the week on a high this week - a massive run/walk this morning in the rain! I headed out at 8:40 this morning with a light drizzle, and walked up the Pacific Hwy. At around the police station in North Sydney I started jogging, and I jogged most of the way to St Leonards. Actually I jogged most of the way to Epping Road, and back! There were only a few short breaks where I walked. Bach home 1 hour 40 mins later - it was my longest run yet!

Here's the map:



Saturday I had a big gym session - 1 hours 10 of cardio - 30 mins interval training on the treadie, 20 mins on the rower (my longest yet! - 15 mins, then 5 mins - average of 2:13), and 20 mins on the bike. Then an hour of weights doing the program I designed myself (modelled on what I have done in PT sessions).

Friday was my day off, Thursday was the group session, Wednesday I had a PT session followed by some weights.

Have a gr8 week!

MMM, interesting...

Namaskkaram,

I managed to get something working today that previously I did not think worked. "What?", I hear you ask.. my body analysis scales! They have been working fine for weight readings, but the previous times i've tried to get my muscle and fat readings it showed up with an error. But now it's up and running, and as a bonus, there is an old reading still in the memory!

So let's compare:

Then - 147.3 kg - 45.5% body fat - 20.1% muscle

Now - 128.1 kg - 38.5% body fat - 24.3% muscle

Cool huh! Now I can report on this as well in my monthly review.

And doing some internet research, 22% is the maximum percentage in the 'healthy' weight range.

See ya!

I'm feeling it now!

Tungjatjeta,

Today I tried something different - and I loved it! But more on that later! Here's an update on what i've done since the last blog.

Saturday I got up early to go to the gym - did a big one - 1 hour of cardio & 40 mins of weights! Sunday was another 50 mins of Cardio.

Monday I had my mid-way fitness test for the ING competition. I think I did much better but i'm yet to get the results - will keep you posted. There was a lot of cardio in the session, so afterwards I did some weights.

Today I tried a big run/walk - from my place to my sisters in Mosman for some water & a break, and then back home. On the way there I ran on all relatively flat areas, and also on the way back. It was a very good session - and I worked myself HARD and i'm feeling it now! See the map below (I havent done one of these for a while!)




Oh - and my foods been good too!

See ya,

Pete