Pete Exposed - Phase 2!

G'day all.

It's been a while since i've been on here, but i've been busy beavering away at what I do. Works been crazy busy, but is going well. I got a terrific rating for '09, and i'm getting a lot more responsibility very soon.

My fitness is still going strong - lots of cardio - and i've got two big events coming up very soon - the Byron Bay triathlon next weekend & the SMH half marathon the weekend after. I'm still doing all the classes at work, and running Monday Movers every Monday lunch time. I'll put up my results soon.

Amazingly, i'm at a point now where my Mum wants me to stop losing weight - I never ever thought that day would come! My Sister showed me off to her friends recently, and it was so nice to see them all. As Niki is 15 years older than me, these women who came along have seen me grow up, and have been hearing all about my accomplishments from Niki. It was great to be fussed over for a bit! I am still getting great compliments. Jacinda at work is blown away everytime she sees me. I see it on her face when she sees me - so I know it's true! She says i'm still changing everyday.

I'm also trying to help out others now too. People who are already there, and people who need it. Here's a little of the people who have been an influence on my life recently:

Ben's qualified for the Commonwealth games and is currently in training in the States. He's put in so much hard work, and is unbelieveably dedicated to his goal. I don't know if i'm entitled to be, but I am so incredibly proud of him & feel very honoured to call him a friend. Ben's still checking in on me and encouraging me from a far. Wow! That blows me away.

Go Ben!

Amanda at work is on the same journey as me. She has joined the 'Fighting Fit for Life' comp at work which I won last year, and we met up to discuss things several weeks ago. There were some amazing similarities in our stories, and I hope that I helped. That reminds me - she's been away, but is back now - so I'd better check in with her!

Jason, who introduced me to Bootcamps, and has provided me with so much encouragement has left ING which i'm sad about :-(, but has done incredibly well to secure a new job at PWC so i'm very happy for him :-). We've caught up a few times since, and i've assured him that in the next bootcamp, i'm gonna kick his ass!

Craig G. & Ben A. at work have also been big influences in my life recently. I've been working out in the gym with Craig, and he's been introducing me to the world of weights. What he's shown me, and where he's guided me has influenced where I want to go next - more to come later! I'm also helping out Craig with his cardio work - interval training together etc - as he wants to drop his body fat % - not that he needs to!

Ben A's been training with me heaps lately - Ben's a super fit guy, and I think i've been an influence on him a bit! We've been training together a bit lately - Monday Movers, Pilates, High Energy class & we even went swimming together! Ben told me that he likes training with me because I push him harder than he would by himself. I feel the same way when I train with Ben - so it's win win!

Craig & Ben came to a mini-bootcamp at Clovelly with Craig R. last weekend - and they both enjoyed it heaps. Here's a pic of us dudes last weekend!

Craig R in the middle next to me, Ben A on the right of me, with Craig G next to him.

Chris is a guy who I started with at ING. He's also been helping me out in the gym with tips, and a ribbing - which I always enjoy! Anytime he's down there he's always ready to give me a hand - or a hard time - which makes that space all the more enjoyable for me!

But it's not all good. There's still some psychological demons i'm fighting. Think about it this way. I've never known a life where i'm fit & slim. I do not know any other Peter. Despite all the compliments, fitting into some size 'S', YES - S!!!! clothes, and size 32 jeans, I still feel fat. I even think I look fat. I see myself in the mirror and see a big guy still. I approached a friend at work, Suzanne, who's one of the lovliest most friendly and genuine people I know and asked her for her honest opinion. "Am I fat?" I asked her. She said no. Very definitavely! That made me feel better, but i'm still battling those demons. I've got loose skin now, and it's starting to affect me. I dont like showing my chest, it gets in the way. When i'm doing pilates, the skin can gather under me, and when I lie on it, it can hurt. I'm hoping it will retract naturally, but I don't see that happening. I have the feeling that until I see pecs, and a 6 pack, I won't be happy. And that scares me.

So that's a little about what's going on with me, and some of the people who I care about.

"So what's Phase 2" I hear you ask?

Well it's my plan for where I go from here. I want to work on my physique. Craig G's influence on me is that i'm starting to use weights to build up my body, and develop a physique that I can be proud of. Bodies like David 'Wolfman' Willams from the Sea-Eagles (below) are what I admire, and that's what i'd like to work towards.

I dont know if i'm setting myself up for failure but i'd like to give it a go! 3 weeks ago I started PT sessions with Craig R who runs the boot camps. Craig specialises in this kind of training and is currently assessing my abilities in the gym. We will work together and he will write me a program that I can follow to achieve my goals. I can tell that he really cares about me, and wants to help me achieve. This will begin earnest after the SMH half marathon - though I still want to keep up the running etc - City2Surf is still a goal for 2010!

So that's me for a bit - I will be updating my results from the tri & half marathon soon. Soon I will also put up some new pics & stats, so that I can again use this blog to help me to reach for my very own stars.

Thanks to all the above who've been great influences in my life over the past few months.

Ciao!

Pete

What i've been up to lately....

Dumelang,

Well it’s been a while since I’ve updated the blog, but it’s not because I’ve not done anything! I have been an active boy – but despite all this I’ve actually not lost any more weight!

Yes, still at 90 k’s – not that that’s a bad thing! I would like to lose a little more, but I haven’t been as strict with my diet as normal. So I’m getting back onto the diet band-wagon in the hope of losing a few more kilos.

I have been using my Christmas present – my new bike – a few times – though I would like to use it more – I’ve actually been riding with my brother Anthony and his riding group as they enjoy their rides.

Since my last update I have done quite a bit: Here’s some of my main activities:

10k Run along the beach in Callala Bay - did this on 1st & 2nd of Feb.

21k road and trail run from my place along the coast to Balmoral & back. This includes the Awaba St hill (Balmoral Burn) - and I managed to run the whole length!

Big 54k ride with my Brother & his mates - my longest ride yet!

I’ve also done another Boot Camp up at The Basin. The camp was supposed to be a 2 day boot camp but due to the atrocious weather, and being washed out of the tent on Saturday night, and not getting any sleep, day 2 was called off. Despite this we still got a fair bit of activity done on the Saturday including Short Course Iron Man (I did the swim leg – 400m), & the hill run – a 5.6 run with a massively steep hill to start with which is about 1 k – I managed this in my best time yet – 30 mins – surprising a few of my competitors!! We also kayaked back from the Basin to Palm Beach.

Talking of kayaking, I’ve been doing some more of that as well – my Mum lives on North Harbour and has a kayak of her own that I borrow. About 4 weeks ago I went for a very long kayak – about 1.5 hours worth! I really enjoyed it, but my hands didn’t – they’re still peeling to this day from the rubbing of the wet paddle and the paddling action!!

I’ve been doing some tough interval sessions in the gym – here’s an example of one I did last week
*15 mins – Treadmill - 1 min running at 14km/h – 30 secs rest – 10 reps
*15 mins – Cross trainer – 1 min at 160-170rpm, 30 secs at 100 rpm
*15 mins – Rower – 1 min at 1:45-1:50/500, 30 secs rest
*15 mins – Bike – 1 min hard, 30 secs slow
Tell you what – it takes it out of you, and you’re sweating like crazy! I’ve even got Craig – a mate from work to join me, as he wants to lose about 5 k’s too.

Ben and Richard have also started up another boot camp at work – on Monday arvo’s and Thursday lunch times – lots of running and strength activities. Their boot camps are always very beneficial and work up quite a sweat!

Some of the events I have coming up that I am training for are:

-The Byron Bay Olympic Distance Triathlon – 1.5k Ocean Swim, 40K ride, 10K run
8/9th May

-Hunter Valley Marathon – doing this with Leigh – 21k Road & trail run
18th of July

-Toughest Competitor Alive – Craig’s boot camp up in the basin in October – I wanna win it!

So that’s me to date!

Catch ya later :-)

WWWWAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I’ve done it!

On Monday morning, I jumped on the scales, and my weight was 91.3. However I just knew there was going to be another drop the following day. I even mentioned that to Neil on Monday. Monday also was quite active with the Monday Movers & a gym session after work.

Tuesday morning I jumped on the scales & guess what they said….

90!

Woo Hoo!!

What do I do now? I’m lost… no goals….

NAH!! Onwards and upwards from here! Bootcamp in February, Byron Bay triathlon in May, a few more incidental kilos to lose, work on my physique, and lots, lots more.

Stay tuned, as I will continue to tell you all about what I’ve been up to!

Annual Result!

G'day all!

Well what a year 2009 has been for me! And now it's time for my annual results. Below I have all my results from 1st Jan '09 to 1st Jan '10, including photos, and charts of my weight loss.

But first I want to say thanks. Thanks to me, and thanks to you.

Thanks to me because I have done it. I went into this really with the belief that I again would fail. I've always failed before, so I did not know what it was like to succeed. But from somewhere, somehow I managed to summon the courage to do it, to continue, not to give up. This blog played a big part. To be able to get my thoughts out there, to share them with the world is something that worked for me. Also starting slow was a big thing. Only starting with walking - just walking home from work was all I started with - now i'm doing Triathlons!!

Thanks to you because of the tremendous amount of support you have all provided. The comments on the blog & on Facebook have so inspired me to push on, to push up & to succeed.

There are some people imparticularly I would like to thank for being the most supportive, wonderful people in my life. Thank you so much; Jeremy Johnston, Neil Polles, Ben St Lawrence, Leigh Edwards, Richard High, Katie Chatfield, Sarah Morris, Mariela Iribarne, Lorraine McIlwain, Jason Markezic, David Ballance, Christianne Barraclough, Vanessa Moore, Andrew Ratchford & my wonderful Sister Niki, as well as everyone who has left me comments & encouragement!

So here are my comparison photos:

Pretty cool to see huh! And the tan doesn't hurt ;-)

And here are my stats:

Weight

1/1/09 - 150kg 1/1/10 - 92.6kg

Body fat

1/1/09 - 45.5% 1/1/10 - 25.9%

Muscle

1/1/09 - 20.1% 1/1/10 - 31.8%

Waist

1/1/09 - 157cm 1/1/10 - 100cm

Chest

1/1/09 - 136cm 1/1/10 - 104cm

Leg

1/1/09 - 81cm 1/1/10 - 59.5cm

I have also been charting my progress every week - below are two charts, 1st, my weight loss per week, 2nd my cumulative weight loss per week against the target.

So how do I feel about it?

Stoked, chuffed, happy, ecstatic, beaming, and a million other adjectives to describe how good i'm feeling. I'm putting myself out there now. I'm dating, i'm going to the beach, i've got more confidence, i'm buying BRAND NAME clothes! These things are what others take for granted - but to me, it's a big deal!

Where to from here?

Well I still have 2.6 kgs to go until I reach my final goal. I also think I have a little more to lose - 85kgs is where I think I can get to. I also want to continue working on my strength - I am starting to get some muscle definition, and i'm really enjoying the training so will continue with this. I'm also training for some triathlons that I am enjoying competing in. 1 in Jan, 1 in Feb & a big one in Byron Bay in May.

I will continue to put up my posts on the blog to track my progress as it is a fantastic record, and it's brilliant to read back on what i've done.

Again, thanks to all who have helped me along the way.

Pete

1 year anniversary tomorrow!

Mbote,

Well today is the anniversary of my journey & tomorrow the first real posting on my blog. As such I will put up my end-of-year results tomorrow, but today, here are some of my accomplishments recently.

Christmas morning I did the below 47k ride on my brand new road bike - my xmas present to myself:



The day after boxing day I am very proud of my best effort yet in a run - I did a 21k run in 1 hour 50 mins - my longest and fastest average speed run ever!:



Cool huh!

So tomorrow, my results!

Catch you then

Happy New Year!

Pete

I went a bit overboard! Magnesium needed!

Privet,

Well this weekend was quite big exercise wise – and I didn’t even have any competitions on!

After a normal week of exercise (but I did have Tuesday off as I was still sore from the Triathlon) I was gearing up for a big weekend.

Saturday I planned a big session in the gym + a swim. I got into the gym at 8am, and did a big weights session, then interval training on the treadmill, and 3 sets of 500m on the rower. I was going to swim, but really didn’t feel like it – so as a compromise I told myself I must do it on Sunday. Which would make Sunday a massive day – and it was.

Sunday I was out at about 7:45 and headed out for a BIG ride! I rode up the Pacific Hwy, the on to Willoughby Road, along Penshurst thru Chatswood, down the Roseville Bridge, all the way down Warringah Road to Dee Why beach, along the beaches to Manly, over the Spit bridge, along Military Road, then home! 39 k’s in total – if you don’t know where that all is – here’s a map:



It was 1hour 45 mins, and I averaged over 22km/h – hills & all! Loved it!

Lunch time to get out in the sun, I went for a small bush walk, the in the arvo I ran from home, across the bridge to Pyrmont & the Ian Thorpe pool to do my swim. I planned 1 k in the pool but at half way I started getting some severe cramps – so I had to get out. After a small recovery I ran home – the run was over 10k’s too!

So today I have invested in some Magnesium tablets – to help with the cramping. Normally if I get cramps, it’s because I did not drink enough water, but I drank heaps yesterday – so it must not have been that. Ben has told me several times that magnesium helps, so I got myself a bottle today – hopefully with some time, I should be cramping no more!

So that’s me to-date – I’ll let you know if the magnesium tabs make a difference!

Cheers

Pete

My first ‘proud of’ shirt off photo below!

Nagaa,

Well it’s been another big month for me!

Here are the big things that I have achieved on top of my normal training and exercise

8th November – Rebel Sport 10k Fun Run – Time of 59.57
11th November – JP Morgan challenge – 5.6k run – Time of 30m30secs
22nd November – Swim leg of the Kurnell Triathlon – 750m in 17 mins
29th November – Nepean Triathlon – whole kit & caboodle – 1k swim, 30k ride, 10k run – completed in 1 h 27mins

I was happy with my time in the Rebel Sport race – I was aiming for under 60 mins. JP Morgan, not so happy, as I got a massive stitch and I had to walk for some time – I would have got about 28 mins the rate I was travelling I think! I went too hard at the start which is a hill, and killed myself! The Kurnell swim was not a big one, but it did give me a taste of a Triathlon prior to Nepean. I should have done better as I swam in the wrong direction for a bit!!

The Nepean Triathlon I completed has been my biggest achievement to date, and for a first attempt, I’m pretty happy with that!! The part I’m most pleased about is that in the Rebel run, I did 59.57, and in the Nepean, the run I did in 59.03 – almost a minute faster, considering I had also just done a swim & ride! Here are some photos from the Nepean Tri taken by the awesome Kath O’Connor who was on hand to provide me with lots of encouragement on the day…





On top of all of this I’ve been doing my normal exercise as well which looks like this;

Monday – Lunch – Monday Movers running group – 6-7 k run – 40mins
- Evening – High Energy Class run by Georgie from Bootcamp – 1 hour

Tuesday – Lunch – Pilates with Georgie – 1 hour
- Evening – Gym Session – weights & cardio – 90 mins

Wednesday – Lunch – Run to the Ian Thorpe Pool – 20 mins run, 20 mins swim
- Evening – Session with Ben for 60 mins

Thursday – Evening – Gym session - weights & cardio – 90 mins

Friday – Day off

Saturday & Sunday – Cardio – bike ride (30 k’s) & running + weights

So a fair bit! But I gotta keep it up, to keep it off!

So how did I do in November?

Here are my results:

Weight
Original – 150kg / Last month – 99.7 kg / Now 95.1 kg = a loss of 54.9kg!

Waist
Original - 157cm / Last month – 105 cm / Now – 102 cm = a loss of 55 cm

Chest
Original – 136cm / Last month – 107cm / Now – 104 cm = a loss of 32 cm

Leg
Original - 81cm / Last month – 64cm / Now – 61 cm = a loss of 20 cm

Body fat
Original - 45.5% / Last month – 28.8% / Now – 26.9 % = a loss of 18.6%

Muscle mass
Original - 20.1% / Last month – 30.1% / Now – 31.2% = an increase of 11.1%

So I smashed my target of 96.7 – losing not 3, but 4.6 kilos in November! Woo Hoo!

The other thing is, according to the listings in Wikipedia – my bodyfat % is now in the ‘acceptable’ range! And now only 2cm to go until my waistline is ‘acceptable’ according to those government ads!

Any my target for December – It’s gonna be hard to do – but by the end of the year….

My target weight is 90 kilos!!!!!! – a loss of 60 in total for 2009, and 5.1 for December – wish me luck!!

Thanks for reading.

Pete

PS. My weight loss to-date equals….



Cindy Crawford!