Week One - Results - 3 KILOS!!!! 117 - 114kgs.

Well, here it is Week Two - Day Two. Haven't posted because i've been a bit busy but the results of the first week are very encouraging. I lost three kilos, which is a great result.

I don't expect this, its just a nice suprise. I'd be happy with a kilo a week because the more i take it slow, the more its likely to stay off. The biggest change to food is just cutting out all butter. I'd usually have butter on sandwhiches and to cook with. I knew it was a major contributor, so i've switched to light olive oil spread and its been as. I was never that attached to it, it was more just laziness.

Anyway, keep following. Lots more food changes along the way. Slowly removing things so its not to much of a change. The next thing to go is sugar. Sugar in tea, on cereal and milk chocolate. I don't eat much chocolate but i'd have something twice a week. Switching that to a few squares of dark are apparently enough to kill off a craving. Less sugar and less milk fat solids.

Have a great week!

Week One - Day Five - Saying NO to scales.

Today has been a great day. I had lots of energy and I'm sleeping so much better. I've also felt a nice calm feeling which was achieved by pushing myself rather than just doing moderate, long term cardio. I've done a lot of reading on the benefits of HIIT ( Hight Intensity Interval Training). More on this next week, I still have some reading to do about it.

So I came home to look for some recipes, I was shocked at the amount of weight loss themed books and calorie counters I have. I decided the best thing to do was take them down to Vinnies for someone else to fret over. I see all these books as a way to place the responsibility with the author, especially when i find myself not following their advice, or hearing a repeat message that was in the last book. How many times have I heard myself say, "this isn't a good program, that won't work for me". This was a wake up call. By relying on these books to give me the answer I don't really take control and make my own decisions. Doing what feels right for me really is the most important rule. I know exactly what needs to be done to shift fat from my body - it's my body after all.

If everyone with a weight problem listened to their own body then its a big shift to being more responsible for what happens to it. Education around weight is of course a positive move, but there are so many titles and diets and plans - it's all designed to complicate and confuse. I mean if you ask someone skinny about why they are skinny? They don't really know, they haven't thought about it, they don't need to. Perhaps they trust that their body will regulate itself.

In saying that, another problem for me is the propensity to jump on the scales every few days - a major weight loss regulator used by many. I'm not sure if it's a habit or if I'm genuinely concerned - they sit in the bathroom so I tend to step on them. But what do I feel when the scales look back? Well most of the time i feel shit. I've even laughed at the thoughts in my head that say, "no sorry, i disagree with that number". I'd love to know what is and isn't working, but, i don't think the scales are going to do that for me. My new measuring tools are going to be people's comments, my clothes, how hungry i am, how well i sleep and how my body feels. Perhaps also measuring my belly once a week as that's the most dangerous form of fat for guys and probably the best indicator as to whether you're turning into a rolly polly pudding.

Week One - Day Four - Gym and Inspiration

Nothing special today except back in the gym for another hour session. I'm finding it a bit hard going as ive not excercised consistently for a long time.

In fact im just about ready to go to bed. Which is kind of what i was hoping for, early to bed, bigger and deeper sleeps.

Tomorrow I'll be writing an article about High Intensity Interval Training. I had a good chat with a guy at the gym called Steve. If i can look anything like him then I'll be happy.

On Friday's I'm going to start posting a pic of how i want to look. A good visual tool. And these images are based on my body type. I'll never be Mark Whalberg but perhaps i can get my muscle bear on.

Week One - Day Three. Blood Pressure

I went to the doctor today and had my blood pressure checked, i also had my cholesterol checked and other vital blood components. The blood pressure was normal which was good to hear. It was also a good indication of what i can achieve. Basically the sky is the limit - i can push myself as hard as i want to.



The other thing i found interesting today is that a study has come out showing that fat has addicitive properties. In a way this is scary but also essential for people like myself to be aware of. So serious are the outcomes of the study that fat consumption is likened to the same pathways that make us addicted to heroin or cocaine.




It makes sense that there is a period of withdrawl from removing fatty foods from the diet and also that we tend to revert to eating high fat foods when stressed or worried. I know i tend to reach for something fatty when im feeling emotional. I mean I've never heard anyone say, "im so depressed, i'm going to lay on the couch and devour a salad". Unlikely, as nice as it would be.

As i said in the beginning post, this is a journey which contains all the elements of the self. The psychological, physicological and emotional need to be in balance.

Week One Day Two - Got to the gym

A quick post today. I got off to the gym and had a half hour workout. Something easy to start off with. 15 mins on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the stationary bike.

The best part of course was being able to have a bit of a perve. If anything should
be inspirational, it's the guys at the gym who look right at home. I've never seen so much muscle outside of a dance party.

What I hope is to be as comfortable with the weights and machines as some of those
guys are. There is really no showing off - they all seem to be there for the work, heads buried into their weights shedule for that day.

Meanwhile, boxing looks like it drains you of every available ounce of energy. Something i should like to try further down the track on days when i need a big sleep. Some guys from that class came into the change rooms after and not only were they saturated but getting changed seemed a real effort.

Anyway, i got a nice gentle buzz from the first trip there and as this is about a lifestyle change, im taking it nice and easy for the first few weeks.

IPod at the ready.

Whenever i exercise i like to have a good playlist ready but find after a short while those songs just don't bring up the goosebumps like they used to.
High energy house and dance are usually the tracks that get my arse off the couch and going for a good walk. Especially if there is great verse and chorus.

I'll be in the gym on day two of this journey, im feeling a bit better this evening after fearing a flu was creeping up on me. It seems to have given me leave to really get started and make progress.

So, most of us do some form of exercise and most of us have an IPod or similar device to work with. My question to you is this; What music works for you when your exercising? Give me some of your favourites in the comments so i can go and see if they inspire. These tracks should really be the kind that help me forget that im working out - intially anyway. I'm sure to get used to the habit of regularly exercising but a musical boost should do the trick.

Week One - Day One "In Defense Of Food"

So, unfortunately I came down with a head cold over the weekend and now it seems to be turning into something more sinister. It was a good excuse to up my intake of vitamins so i made a fresh juice and dribbled some echinacea in.

I'm using this time to research the benefit of eating whole foods rather than those that are processed. It's a big shock to see how much processed crap we're exposed to. I purchased a book by best-selling author Michael Pollan called, "In Defense of Food".

One of the most interesting parts of the book explains how we lack essential nutrients, even in our fruit and vegetables that are found in most supermarkets. the author talks about how if we were to get the nutrition from one of today's apples, we would need to eat three to gain the full effects. He puts this down to all the pesticides, commerical growing techniques and the delay from farm to suprmarket. I tend to buy my vegies and fruit from Harris Farm markets as i know they're produce is fresher. Many friends have also commented that they prefer to get produce from a grocer rather than the supermarket.

Another eye opener was the fact that 70% of foods found in the supermarket are processed in some way or another. Michael Pollan says that if your great grandparents came with you to the supermarket, they would not recognise most of what they see on the shelves. Basically, if it doesn't look like something you would find on a farm then we probably shouldn't be eating it. He goes on to say that most good food choices occur on the periphery of supermarket aisles. Think the fruit, veg, meats, dairy and bakery sections.

So, my first task is to use foods that are organic, looking for brands that are the least expensive and sticking to foods which have had minimal processing. Like a lot of you, I'm sure that processed food is difficult to stay away from. So much of it makes up parts of our daily meals. My thinking is that to really have a fighting chance at shifting the weight I need to make unprocessed food the basis for all meals and leave the high sugar and high fat stuff for occassion when i go out.

What do you think about processed food? What food do you think is so processed and marketed that it is barley recognisable as food anymore? My first thought is prawn crackers. We had chinese on Saturday night and they seem to disintergrate into oil once in the mouth. Won't be having any of those for a very long time.

A Quick Welcome Video

A video before the journey begins.

So, why i am doing this now?

Most who know me are aware that im a chunky fellow. At primary school I was called "Bouncy Ball Burrell Bum" - the nickname i used to have to carry around and pretend that it wasn't hurtful. All these insults helped develop a good sense of humour about things, however - it was born so I could get a comment in before others did. For a long time that seemed to work. I had friends who liked me as "the funny guy" - not good for me of course but it did work. Thankfully I have enough self awareness to not hide behind a sense of humour, but of course I'm so glad its there because its an important part of being me. Embracing my vulnerability around being overweight and the pain its caused is important for me to be released from it. It's a scary prospect. No, im not jumping from a plane, but I feel by doing this and being honest about what it entails, I'll uncover the reasons I've chosen to hide behind a wall of fat.

In 2008 I started having my own therapy for various issues i wanted to work on. Being overweight was one of those issues. It's a painful experience to be fat and and feel you have no control over it physically. A lot of unresolved emotional problems are the main contributor for me becoming overweight. It's not called "comfort food" for nothing.

Like many people I am full of nutritional, psychological and physiological information about weight loss. I think most people with too many kilos know what they need to do in order to be healthy; because the facts are everywhere. But why don't we? Why for instance have I stuggled when I have choices rather than excuses? It's not easy to answer these questions without being exposed to the feelings that trigger old dysfunctional patterns of behaviour. But this is what i plan on doing here, i know I'm not alone.

I'm using this blog to expose those emotional reasons for sabotaging weight loss efforts, in order to unlock why after many attemtps do i continue to go back to unhealthy ways of eating. What is the payoff for being fat?

Today i purchased a reasonably priced gym membership, close to home for 8 weeks. As much as i want to say I should get a 12 months pass, I know that hasn't worked before and its about changing things up. At the end of 8 weeks, i'll see how I feel and what comes about physically and emotionally.

So, tomorrow is my first day at the gym, i hope you'll join me on this journey - you will see it all here. The feelings that arise, the setbacks, the methods that work. Hopefully some good realisations and positive results.