New targets ~TJ149

The weight loss took a big nose dive lately (whoops) never mind all is not lost, recovery is on the way.

My new target is to be overweight, as opposed to obese , by 12th April. This means losing about 10kg and moving from current BMI of 33.6 to sub 30. The time period is 65 days so an average daily weight loss of 5 and a bit ounces is required!!!! This is going to be a tough couple of months, so far in this journey I have lost about 5 stone, I aim to lose at least another 2 if not 4, that has yet to be decided. But………………….

This is what i am aiming for

There is a possibility that I am gluten intolerant or allergic to wheat or yeast, this week, on doctors orders, I am eating wheat products ready for blood tests next week. depending on the results of that I may have to change certain eating habits anyway. In the meantime I intend to try and only eat non processed foods – which is more or less what I do now but I do eat bacon, coffee whitener, sausages, occasionally burgers, fish and chips, pizza.

To get the target I will need to watch nutrition closely and reduce the number of ’empty’ calories, those that fill but give nothing for the body to use.

Specially for Steve! (I have a thing for Snickers)

So my fight against the flab is back in earnest, time for coasting to cease, the battle lines have been drawn. Wish me luck

Dog ate my lunch :( ~TJ148

I forgot to mention in yesterdays post that I cook an extra half portion of dinner for my lunch the next day, this way I avoid shop bought stuff and control the nutrition. So it was left to cool on the worktop while I went off to eat. When I went to kitchen later to put lids on and put in fridge, there, on the floor , was a plastic container that had held my lunch share of the delicious cabbage mix.

I picked it up and turned around and there was a very pitiful sight, the dog sitting,  head down, looking so guilty. Was quite comical really. So this morning I cooked a similar side dish, leeks, bacon and tiny pieces of spud, garlic and black pepper and a little butter. mmmmmmm

Not my dog – but you get the idea

Scrummy dinner ~TJ147

I have been trying to avoid carbs for a couple of weeks, bread and spuds are one of my pitfalls, however doc wants me to eat bread so i can be tested for wheat/gluten intolerance. I have managed to avoid any carbs with dinner and lunch though, filling the gap with veg.

Tonight though I fancied some spuds and sausage toad, God knows why, but I really wanted it so off I go and make the stuff. The sausage toad bit quite easy. garlic and herb wedges (plain spuds cut up chucked in oven, some olive oil, garlic, salt and mixed  herbs. In Morrisons on way home yesterday I got 2 bags mixed veg, (cauli, broccoli and carrots) for 9p each, so made a gigantic veg stew yesterday. At the same time there was a sweetheart cabbage for 15p – not a lot of money to waste if we don’t like it and green stuff is good for you.

Not being keen on cabbage I thought I would spice it up, fried a couple of rashers of bacon (cut up tiny), one small white onion and a handful of mushrooms, tiny bit of butter. Sweated the cabbage til just turning soft, drained it then fried with the bacon mix , knob of butter to serve – it was ace, really really nice, even my son liked it! And………………….. not too naughty, in fact quite nutritious I think, I ate cabbage and am pleased with myself for that.

Hurty legs ~TJ146

Been doing the hiit on the treadmill and the rower, some swimming and general walking about, but no fartlek or big sessions since November.

So Sunday was the day and I really had to force myself to do it. Decided to go somewhere new and climb the hill to the castle on top, which I have never been able to do in the 22 years I have lived in Wales.

Part of the hill to the castle – I ran half of it

Ruins from the turret, the bay and Ferryside in the background

So I walked the mile up to the castle, mooched around a bit, walked back down, then for a quick spin on the beach and home. Woke up really achy this morning.

Gym after work and did a hiit with gradients on the treadmill, sustained 5 minutes at 10% gradient at 4.2 kmh, then down to 4% for a bit and back up to 8% to finish – ouch. So, being a fool I jumped on the rowing machine and did a solid 15 minutes of rowing until my legs were screaming.

So now I am sitting here ouching and dreading tomorrow – but I had a lovely day, peaceful and exciting at the same time.

Getting back in the rhythm ~TJ145

So far I have managed gym 2 days a week for a couple of weeks and am feeling better, weight is yoyoing about quite a bit. The last two weekends have just been mum emergency dominated so no chance to do the long fartlek workouts that I love, weather has been cold, foggy, stormy and just nowhere to exercise in safety (rural area no street lights or pavements) except the gym.

I try and do something different on treadmill and rower on every visit. last night I thought I would give gradient a go on the treadmill – started at 0 and 4 kmh increased gradient by 0.5 every 30 seconds for 10 minutes, was all OK began to feel it at around 8 minutes and struggled for last 30 seconds.

Always have a feeling of instability on the treadmill so last night I tried wearing normal old comfy trainers and not running shoes, it felt so much better, must try that again see if it was just an anomaly, I always use the same treadmill so that is a constant factor.

As my poor little legs were tired and achy I did a straight ten minutes on rower 1250m, these are all benchmarks for me to beat in coming weeks.

Big sudden inexplicable weight gain yesterday and a big sudden inexplicable weight loss today – I weigh daily in order to get statistical data and a decent trend line – ask Steve lol

Aches and pains ~TJ144

Monday I was aching after the gym, Tuesday I felt fine, this morning (https://fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/old-age-or-doms-tj143/?preview=true&preview_id=3434&preview_nonce=34a8c4d6ca&post_format=standard) I felt that I may have had DOMS.

Gradually during the day the ache went – old age and arthritis then says the jury! So off I go all happy to the gym where the treadmill awaits.

Just done a minute on treadmill and laces come undone, I stop the machine and then it won’t restart, not keen anyway so rather than wait for an instructor I jump on the rower. Instead of a hiit I think I know I’ll do 5k I have 38 minutes before I have to leave to collect son from work!

All I can say is ouch ouch ouch, and yay that feels great – I did it. Was flagging a bit and two guys came along and were racing each other so I joined in got the 5k done in 36 min 10 seconds – was very pleased with that and I could feel the sweat despite the arctic air conditioning. I may suffer more tomorrow but that is apparently good, so Steve tells me!

Old age or DOMS? ~TJ143

My legs really ached after gym on Monday, all was OK yesterday but this morning WOW they ache.

Is this DOMS , old age or arthritis or a combination of all three.

Gym tonight we shall see – weight static for three days, this is unusual for me hopefully a sizeable drop to follow

My legs ache ~TJ142

As you know I am creeping back from adding half a stone in weight and no exercise for a period of some weeks. Steve and I decided it would be best to start slowly and build back up to where I was rather than go crazy and try to recoup all the gains/losses in a week!

The plan was to aim for 2 gym sessions a week and two walks/runs/ralks a week, strength stuff to be added later, nutrition to be improved straight away. I have to say that the improved nutrition has solved my resurgent IBS problem – I won’t give you the horrific details unless you ask very nicely  😀

So far so good, more or less to plan until Mum got ill and had to help out on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday, I managed to lead walking group on Saturday but everything else went out the window! Such is life.

Tonight I had the opportunity to go to the gym for about an hour (including changing time), off I toddle, get changed and jump on the treadmill. Gym for me at the moment is ten minutes treadmill and twenty minutes rower. I am still scared of the treadmill, so did a minute at 3 kmh, then 1 at 5 kmh, then 1 at 6 kmh (all hands off equipment – a big deal for me) followed by 7 at 5 kmh.

Onto the rower, I have been doing a variety of different hiit patterns on the rowing machine, tonight was a full on session, I was feeling good, so wanted to push a bit especially as I had missed three sessions at weekend.

 

3 minute warm up then a full 15 minutes of 30 second intervals – high/low. High was from 28 spm to 45 spm and low was as slow as 20 spm, the biggest difficulty I had was ignoring the pace of the two ladies either side of me, I find it very easy to try and match other people’s pace. I had to sit and rest for a full two minutes afterwards as my legs were like jelly and now, 5 hours later, they ache like crazy.

All my fault for not continuing with the moderation theme, and now those pesky nanobots will be back, but this has been the pattern of my weight loss and fitness gains for the last year, exercise, weight gain (while repairs are going on) weight loss for a few days then stabilisation. I’m good all in the right general direction. I know what to do, how to do it and I just need to keep on doing it. As Steve has said from the start:

It’s simple but not easy!

Lighthouse Award ~TJ141

How very lovely gozzabear has nominated this blog for the Lighthouse award. Thank you so much.

You can read about gozzabear here: http://gozzabear.wordpress.com/

The Lighthouse Award

The rules of the award are:

The accompanying rules and guidelines for this award are:

1. Display the Award certificate on your blog. – Done 😀
2. Write a post and link back to the blogger that nominated you. – Done 😀
3. Inform your nominees of their award nominations – Done 😀
4. Share three ways that you like to help other people. – Done 😀
5. There is no limit to the number of people that you can nominate.
6.  HAVE FUN!! – always

Share three ways I like to help people

I lead health walks at the weekend (after Parkrun – when I do it), the walks are designed to help people regain health after, illness, injury or inactivity. I like to listen to people and chat through their problems, hopefully helping them to see they are ‘fixable’ problems and not destructive. Sometimes the best help, is just to be there when needed, in whatever role the person needs you.

My nominees are

http://mawilrunningforcharity.wordpress.com/

http://shazruns.wordpress.com/

http://fitfor365.wordpress.com/

Nanobots ~TJ140

It’s my fault! I went to the gym and did some exercise and now those nanobots are in repairing the muscles I tore up.

I must have the fattest bots in the world, weight has shot up but fat mass down and muscle mass up!

Rest day today to give the work crew a chance to do the restoration, then they can all go away and take the excess weight with them!

How I imagine my muscles being repaired. Copyright and IP rights reserved.

I love this drawing, I want more of them

Gym ~TJ139

Two gym visits this week, feeling the pain and taking it easy, only doing treadmill and rowing. Still not too keen on treadmill, feel very flat-footed on it and unsafe but persevering – facing the fear and dealing with it rather than hiding from it.

So tonight I did ten minutes on the treadmill – not a huge amount but better than the last few weeks! 2 at 6 kmh 6 at 5.5 kmh and 2 at 5 kmh, legs were screaming at me by the end and was sweating (Steve tells me that’s good!)

Then my favourite rower for some hiit. 3 minute warm up at 27 strokes per minute followed by eight sets of 30 second high (38 stroked per minute) and 60 seconds low (28 stroked per minute) – I enjoyed that session, but hip joints and bum hurt a bit. Those seats really need padding!

What I really need to get back to is this:-

Hills to climb, rivers to ford ~TJ138

Apologies for my absence, I have been ill but am slowly recovering. I now have the task of getting back to where I was fitness wise and to start enjoying it again. I kinda lost my way and my mojo for a while, great support from Steve and friends and I have survived the crisis.

The only way now is up!

First gym visit of the year ~TJ137

Well I made it, after a long break (Since October), I got to the gym and my ‘favourite’ treadmill had been taken by someone

So I got on a rowing machine – prefer that anyway! I decided not to go mad. Steve says I don’t ‘do’ moderation! Well I did last night, I went nice and steady for 14 minutes and went nuts for the last minute.

Then did about ten minutes on the treadmill. jelly legs by now so off for a swim – heaven!

2 lengths at 1 minute each followed by one at 55 seconds and a final one at 50 seconds. All followed by a sauna and jacuzzi.

Not too bad for a first effort more to come, onward and upward.

Been a while ~TJ136

Hi folks

It’s been a little while since I posted on this blog, but really hs been little to report, I have been naughty and not been running, exercising or doing anything much. Roll on New Year, fresh start.

Going to Mum’s for Christmas, so hope to escape the family and food for 30 minutes a day to do a quick HIIT that I like, leaves me jelly legged and exhausted for a while but feels soooooooo good. Got it from an app called Impetus, and the particular HIIT is called Great Pyramid and consists of rounds og intense work with rounds of 60 seconds active rest.

3 min warm up

30 sec work

60 sec active rest

45 sec work

60 sec active rest

60 sec active work

60 sec rest

90 sec work

And then back down again finishing with a three minute cool down. I walk/run it but you could do strength training or kick boxing or anything else you wanted to do. The lovely little app tells you when to change etc, very good and for me, because it is timed I san sustain the high intensity because I know when it will end.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all

 

 

 

Out of the groove but trying ~TJ135

Hi all, not having the best time of it fitness and health wise but I am soldiering on! (puts on brave face) Got to the gym last night only to find it moved to another part of the leisure centre. They were doing some maintenance, much needed; but the alternative accommodation was small and cramped and the free weights area was in the centre of everything. Made it difficult for everyone, there were queues for what equipment did fit in the room.

So I baled and went for a sauna instead, must say it does wonders for a cold, sinuses etc.

I did have a lovely long walk on the beach on Saturday – started a collection of foot/paw/hoof/claw prints

Dog and me

Giant dog?

2 Horses

Something tracked

I’m back in the groove ~TJ135

Well here I am back in the ‘losing a little bit a day groove’ Had a blip there, some depression, being treated thanks to employer and friends and of course Steve!

So a week or so of self indulgence, eating whatever found its way to my hand/mouth and now back on the road to recovery from the depression and on the road to health, fitness, weight loss and the start of a new way of life.

I expect there will be bumps, blockages, twists, turns, up and down hills and many other things on this road, but I also know that all I have to do every single day is try my best, stay positive, strive for my goals, seek help when needed,  for that will be good enough, and I can do no more than that.

 

Shape and size change ~TJ134

Apologies for not writing for a while, have been mega busy, slightly off the weight loss/get fit/get healthy campaign. Life has gotten in the way big time for the last few days

I wanted people to see that if you just keep doing it – eating properly, doing some exercise and believing in yourself then it does work. I spoke to a young lady at the weekend who told me that at 18 stone she couldn’t lose weight it was ‘too much to do’ and ‘impossible to achieve’ I showed her a picture of me in April 2011 at nearly 19 stone and aged 56, with angina, high blood pressure, gastritis and chronic arthritis.

April 13th 2011

November 29th 2013

As you can see. I am much smaller and the shape has changed significantly – still a long way to go and still that ‘lovely’ English apple shape, but I am getting there! I do not have tons of loose skin, I am fit, healthier than I have been in years and generally am feeling on top of the world.

Hiit ~TJ133

Well I thought it was about time I listened to Steve’s advice and did a bit of Hiit, it was a lot harder than i thought it would be!

I downloaded an app called Impetus which has several preset Hiit routines and selected giant pyramid starts and ends with three minutes warmup/cooldown. Every low part is 60 seconds and the hard parts are, 30, 45, 60, 90, 60, 45, 30 seconds long. I found a nice flat piece of land in the local park and off I went.

It was fun but very hard doing that second minute, what was very good about the app was that you could alter settings, I got a ten second countdown before each transition, and it beeped all through the hard parts. I enjoyed it, was a bit wobbly legged afterwards but had a rest and then ran around as I wanted to for a few minutes.

The graph of my pace, the elevation and heart rate, you can see the different work periods quite easily.

I had a little sit down on a tree stump when i had finished the Hiit, what do you see the pattern as? I see a rabbit with ears like wings – perhaps I shouldn’t have eaten those mushrooms from the woods? 😀

A new trend ~TJ132

So the downward trend of weight loss seems to have stopped and a new scenario emerges from the ashes :

Slight movement around weight up/down by about 0.1 kg a day and increases in muscle mass and decreases in fat mass, this usually leads to a nice drop in weight when the nanobots trot off on holiday after fixing the muscles.

Steve the figures wizard has noted a 21- 28 day pattern in my figures since March. I have long held the belief that despite being post menopausal there is still a ghost menstrual cycle going on, that the body continues to retain water, swell breasts etc even though there is no hormonal dictat to follow. I would be interested to see if other women feel this too, I know my mother does, maybe it’s just us and we have some weird gene!

Whatever the reason the pattern is there and seems set in stone, we will both have to study it and compare to recorded exercise, food diaries etc and try to work out what the drivers are and what the consequences are and whether it can all be used to make the health/weight loss better and easier.

 

Weight gain – but I am happy still ~TJ131

The last few days I have been exercising more and as a consequence the little nanobots are in repairing muscles, retaining water and generally adding weight to my body – this is good weight.

Along with this there has been a marked decrease in the amount of fat in my body and an increase in muscle mass – all these things make me fitter, healthier and look better. My clothes fit better and I feel better for the exercise.

This weight loss, get fit, get healthy campaign is much more complex than people imagine, and more than some will ever consider. My BMI is now up because I have more muscle! So technically I am less healthy if just the cold numbers are looked at, have a health review today lets see what the docs think!

Happy getting healthier, fitter, smaller to you all who are on this roller coaster with me.

Dreadmill continues ~TJ130

Well, I am still alive after thre or four sessions on the dreadmill! I am gradually becoming used to it, but tonight I discovered that I really don’t like being next to someone else running. I find myself trying to keep up with them, and in my case it was a fit young man covered in sweat and going hell for leather.

I also discovered that I can step back a bit from the controls and that improved the way I was running, but I still feel very flat footed and heavy on the dreaded thing! I shall, of course , persevere but I don’t actually have to enjoy it to do it do I?

Trend, does it matter? ~TJ128

So some fuss has been made about the 29 days continual weight loss and the nice trend line that was produced from that, when I look back over the figures a similar thing happened in June and the angle of the line was very similar. The difference this time is that I had lost focus, wasn’t trying that hard, had not hit a plateau, and was not exercising as much. I had drifted into a position where nearly everyone was telling me I was looking great, I was being chatted up by random men when out with friends, I was hearing , ‘You look great in xxxx’ as opposed to the previous, ‘what a lovely top/skirt etc’ ie the compliments had moved away from being about my choice of clothing to me looking good. All these things combined and conspired (subconsciously) with family and work stresses into making me less interested in continuing, the doubt had set in.

Steve decided to question whether I wished to continue, my doctors are deliriously happy with my weight loss, I was looking and feeling good, did I want to lose more weight, tone up, or start to move towards learning how to maintain weight and shape. The only pressure from him was to examine myself and my wants/needs/desires regarding my body size, shape, fitness nd health and decide what I wanted to do; to set some goals and actual targets as opposed to ‘I want to lose weight’.

So I considered, he also is big into visualisation, and I have to say I am not, I think it is nonsense but nonetheless I went along and looked for pictures of the size/shape that would be my ideal. Marilyn Monroe was said to have had the perfect figure for a woman – statistically her bust to waist and waist to hip ratio is 0.70 ie 36 bust 26 waist and 36 hips. Most clothing manufacturers will have hips a minimum of 2 inches bigger than the bust. I think MM looked amazing and I would like to achieve that ratio, if not those actual numbers (that is a long way away and a huge amount of work).

So then decision made to continue and something had to be done to refocus my attention on the weight loss. strength stuff and exercising despite what life was and continues to throw at me (no more than anyone else I imagine but at times overwhelming and all consuming). At this point the brain was to be the focus of the efforts, positive mental attitude, meditation, visualisation of what I want to look like, walking down the beach in a size 12 cossie etc, (this particular tool I don’t like, I may have a limited ability to think in this way) .

Much to Steve’s surprise I took all this ‘woo woo’ stuff on board with relish, I tend to the ‘give me facts and empirical data’, science, prove it stuff, but when you think about it all the spiritual/mental stuff does is to make you focus on the job in hand ie not eating like a pig, thinking about food in a positive way, trying to concoct meals that are tasty, nutritious and filling, trying to overcome the sense of deprivation that comes with restricting the things that you eat and drink. It turns the ‘I can’t have’, ‘I’m not allowed’, ‘I must ..’ type sentences into ‘I will do’, ‘I want..’, it is a very simple trick to play on your mind and it worked for 29 days made me focus on every bite of food every drink etc.

In the end the trend matters as a tool, it shows you the general direction in which you are going, for those of you not maths inclined it is basically the average of the daily weight figures or a straight line that is drawn through the middle of the ups and downs, it is a visual indication that all that slight up , slight down roller coaster look to a weight loss graph is actually Ok and that overall the trend is downwards, of course the trend can also be flat or upwards.

Related articles

• 25 days on trend – my view as the body ~TJ120 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• Little things that matter a lot ~TJ107 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• Weight loss – is it what you really need? (roicegummer.wordpress.com)
• Weight Management (weight-loss-tips-and-secrets.com)
• Healthy Weight Loss How Many Calories (healthy-weight-loss-made-easy.com)

The trend ends or does it ~TJ127

So on paper the trend has ended but there is a little wiggle room!

Let me explain – the manufactures error margin stated on the scales is greater than the difference between the red smoothed line and the blue measured line. -0.14 kg SZ

Also the reading was not able to be taken at the normal time.

But the real issue is not the one-off reading today but the ongoing trend in the readings on 12 13 and 14 combined with the reading today on the 15th.

So for me, The weight loser’, the trend line is important because it shows that everything I am doing, both in and very much out of my comfort zone is working. The effort is worth it in the long run. It is not always easy, comfortable or what I want to do. BUT, in order to achieve my goals I just have to keep doing it and not get fed up when there is a slight blip downwards, or worse, and more often the case, not to get cocky when all is going well. Not really much else I can say it’s a downhill slope that has a senseible as opposed to insane angle of descent that is sustainable over a long period because it is going to be a long long time before I reach my goal.

How many calories equals to one kilo? – Yahoo! Answers

Answers.yahoo.com › All Categories › Health › Diet & Fitness‎

28 Feb 2008 – 1 kilogram = 2.20462262 pounds 1 pound = 3500 calories.
It takes about 7717 calories to equal 1 kilogram. Take care! :).

Clearing up 10 Fitness Fallacies ~TJ126

A great article – well worth a read – and Lisa didn’t delete my comment but responded in a friendly and knowledgeable way!

lentilsandlunges

There seem to be plenty of landmines out there when it comes to safe exercise and dieting. Kick the rumours to the curb so that NOTHING is standing in the way of you and the healthier you.

1.) Static stretching decreases the risk of injury.
Static stretching is the basic move of bending over to touch your toes, pulling your ankles towards your hips. Not only is this ineffective at stretching muscles suitably before exercise, but it can actually increase your chance of injury when muscles are relying on a certain stiffness for stability or force. Rather try a lighter version of the workout you are about to practise to warm up relevant muscles, or even 10 minutes of low-intensity cardio for an all-round, effective warm-up.

 2.) I’m working out, so I can eat whatever I want and still lose weight.
The total amount of calories burnt in a workout…

View original post 912 more words

Computer aided thinking ~TJ125

Now there is a months worth of data since the landmark day. The difference is pretty striking and the number dramatic too. We will come back to what changed around this time.

The other big change is in the graphing capability that google docs now allows.

So after ground zero there were 4 occasions where the blue measured line might have crossed the smoothed line BUT it did not. The measured and smoothed measurements are like an early warning system and seem to accurately predict when thing are getting tight as the buffer zone or safety zone SZ as we call it narrows.

Now on some occasions a large number of “nanobot crews” at work explain this. This is the short duration weight gain seen after a more intensive or longer than usual or increase in the volume or intensity of exercise either cardio or especially strength training.

Related articles

• A major breakthrough ~TJ121 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• 25 days on trend – my view as the body ~TJ120 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• The Dreadmill ~TJ123 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• Clearing up 10 Fitness Fallacies (lentilsandlunges.wordpress.com)
• Help please ~TJ117 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)

Despair and euphoria the video ~TJ124

Its a roller coaster ride is often over used but now here it is on video, It could be the most boring video ever created but it means a lot.

In the last 29 days and counting there has been a downward trend in weight BUT for a month before that the numbers were all over the place the comparison could not be more dramatic!

This is the first video capture of data shown in GDocs spreadsheet so please excuse the less than perfect or polished end result it is really a proof of concept – could data be displayed dynamically – and displayed in real time over different time periods.

The red N show negative loss or gain in weight the P show 29 days of positive loss

These graph below are from google docs

Big Picture

—

1 month

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Flateau 1

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Flateau 2

—

Related articles

• 25 days on trend – my view as the body ~TJ120 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)
• The Dreadmill ~TJ123 (fatnessnowfitness.wordpress.com)

The Dreadmill ~TJ123

God help me but I went back to the gym and did a bit more on the infernal machine, feels so very awkward and as if there is more impact. All the rowing machines were taken/broken (as usual) so I had two goes on the dreadmill.

Horrible ‘young’ people ‘music’ blaring out all over the place, it even drowned out my headphones which were trying to play nice ‘old’ people music!

So I got on did a little warm up and then ran for about 5 minutes, tried a rowing machine – broken so went back on the treadmill – do a little interval I thought! Silly me, got over-excited. You know how you click something on a touch screen and nothing happens ? Then you click again and again……. so all of a sudden I went from 5.5 kmh to 7.00 kmh and was slipping about the place, hanging on for grim death and hit the stop button.

 

The stop button also was reluctant to accept my gentle caresses, so I went back to trying to decrease the speed with the minus button, that worked, this felt like hours but was only about a minute – did the interval then !

I understand the benefits of these machines, like I understand the necessity to pay tax but I don’t like doing either ! I will persevere because it is good for me to overcome fear of inanimate objects and irrational phobias, perhaps like running, I will come to love the things. Never say never.

100 Followers – thank you all ~TJ122

How cool is this 100 followers.

Thanks to everyone for following the blog and here is the link to the 100th follower’s blog. An American teenager spending a year in France – that’s pretty cool too.

 

A major breakthrough ~TJ121

Anyone who knows me will know my terror of treadmills, following a hospital test which caused an angina attack!

So Steve does his magic drip drip drip technique and some while back I actually walked on one, the lady at the gym was amazing – I explained my fear and she stood next to me, chatting for a full five minutes as I walked on the flat, slow, treadmill. My knuckles were pure white, I was attached to a ‘deadman’s brake’. I got off feeling terrible, headache, stiff shoulders and fingers from gripping so hard.

Gradually over time I have gotten to a point where I can walk quite quickly, without hanging on, for up to half an hour.

Tonight – for the first time ever, I RAN on the treadmill, not mega fast, but without holding on and for 5 whole minutes. It felt very odd, completely different from ‘real’ running. It was not an experience which I enjoyed (except the victory over my fear) and not one I look forward to doing again.

I have been very down recently due to many things in my life and have missed exercising for a whole week, but my little stint at the gym has made me feel alive again – I’m back!

25 days on trend – my view as the body ~TJ120

Speaking from my standpoint, numbers are numbers, but the brain and the heart they seem to like them, cheers them up to see downward slopes, weight loss, gain in muscle mass.

It’s OK for them! THEY stay the same size it’s me that’s disappearing! But they both tell me to concentrate  on the positives, I can go to more places now, do more things, I do feel better less ‘lumpy’ and have some energy now. All in all it’s a good thing I will be around for longer, enjoy more and feel more.

So, brain must get on with controlling all the systems to lose more, slowly, carefully, increase fitness, stamina and endurance and just be healthier. We can do it if we all pull together!

Christmas is coming ~TJ118

I wanted very much to be a size 12 by Christmas, but that was a little bit unrealistic lol

I have revised downwards and will now be a proper size 18 for Christmas, jeggings purchased and quite snug at the moment, fluffy girlie ankle boots with a nice wedge heel bought. Looking out now for a cheap (not going to wear it more than once) top to wear with jeggings and boots to works dinner on the 14th December.

Will bling the whole outfit up with glittery jewellery, do my hair, make up etc – a very rare event indeed!

Next Christmas however, is a different story, I will be almost 60 then and want to be a size 12/weigh 12 stone for that – the aim may well change as I lose more weight, get fitter, more toned etc, but I like targets, goals or I just lose the way. Dress is all picked out and expensive (by my standards) that will be a real celebration 60th birthday, Christmas, achieving my goals – brilliant, looking forward to that day.

Help please ~TJ117

So Steve has sent me some charts to look at and a pretty graph! The trend is still downwards but s less sharp, so I’m lsing at a slower rate than before.

WHEN I ACHIEVE 21 DAYS OF POSITIVE IMPROVEMENT – IT WILL BE A HABIT!

Steve says I need to focus and look at the long term goals not just at the day to day fluctuations, he’s probably right. One of the few men I have ever met that usually is right .

(Waits for backlash 🙂 )

So, if anyone can come up with tips to keep me focussed for the next 21 days at least, preferably for a year or so I would love to hear them. As ever danger time is getting home from work. Still not solved that one.

Cool message – A spike in your stats ~TJ116

Part of this journey is the blog and part of the blog is the stats. Call it vanity or self interest but I defy anyone to not look at their stats. Limited information is provided and I have some tips later for how to learn the most from them. Also in a slightly big brother way it is possible to see if it is lots of people looking at a single page or a small number of people reading the hell out of lots of pages. For me, someone dropping by and reading many pages is much more gratifying than a comment to look at the “cute”, “sad”, “cool” image or story and move swiftly on. Or worse still someone deciding it was not worth reading more than the page they landed on.

The permutations are endless: how many people found it by accident but it was not what they wanted – sprinkle in the “likes and comments” from sites selling stuff “coz a business guru” says “drive traffic to your blog by liking and commenting and ye shall be rich!” Sorry I can tell a real comment from a generic “fake” comment  at a 100 pixels.

Anyway the WordPress robots sent me a message I was rather excited by. I was going to crop the rather disparaging “0 hourly views on average” but the stats part of me knows that it makes “26 hourly views” seem much cooler if the normal viewing figure is zero.

Now I actually think their stats are a little harsh here because we have had a staggering  1,135 views since the launch in July.

So according to WordPress stats we have had an average of 10 views a day BUT November is already double this at 20, so in a long-winded way a massive thank you to everyone that has stopped by even if your “like” was part of a marketing campaign. So I guess until you get 12 or 24 they round it down to ZERO!

So to those kind folk – maybe in France or Canada who came to read the blog and got us noticed by the WordPress stats robot thank you so much – I hope you found something interesting or useful. I would love to hear feedback or questions or receive comments – we are also still awaiting our first re-blog too! email is just as good if you want to email fatnessnowfitness at gmail dot com.

I really love the immediacy of blogging too since I sent an email to one of the other authors – a reader from India has dropped by and added an additional at least 9 page views so the graph for today is ever more impressive. 10 more page views and we break the record of 64 views set way back

 

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Cool word of the day disparaging  adjective   

• expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory.

—

A great musician – Lou Reed – died a week ago aged 71 – what a way to go.

‘He died looking at the trees’: Lou Reed’s wife reveals in touching letter to neighbours that he passed away at home doing Tai Chi

By COLETTE FAHY on the daily mail website

He passed away due to complications from liver disease at his home in Amagansett, New York on Sunday.

And Lou Reed’s wife has revealed the 71-year-old musician’s death was peaceful as he died practising his beloved Tai Chi while looking at the trees in their garden.

In a moving tribute in the East Hampton Star newspaper, performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson reached out to the couple’s neighbours to reveal the circumstances surrounding his last few days and death.

Strange thing ~TJ115

I have of late been having lots of little ‘magic moments’ when my weight loss and fitness levels stand out for some reason, often a minor thing but which means a great deal.

Yesterday in appalling weather conditions I set off to the station to collect my son and I noticed that I fit perfectly into my car seat, the lumbar region was fully supported it was very comfy indeed. Another small victory!

 

Gobsmacked ~TJ113

A huge drop!

Another one of those landmark days a HUGE drop in weight,
well from 88.1 kg to 87.5 kg

I have done next to nothing this week by way of exercise , had one ‘fast’ day, perhaps my poor old body needed a rest or perhaps something else is at play?

Whatever and whyever it is I am a happy bunny – even enjoying my porridge after handing over a full on fry up to son for his breakfast! I have my mini fried brekkie at the weekend when I can really savour it. i find that, for me, a ‘treat / cheat’ has to be that something special, time taken to truly enjoy it or there is no point.

The line that really matters is the orange line but the blue line is
pretty exciting at the moment. This is now a November challenge
to see just what is possible over one month.

The confusing thing is that we are now 18 days into a downward continuous
trend so I will post some numbers tomorrow or over the weekend.

So good or bad the 30 day November challenge is on.
This graph is from Open Office Calc  spreadsheet WT-NC-005.ods

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This graph shows how the Measured & Smoothed figures vary

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This is the M & S data plotted since records began

–

The “smoothed” figure is normally higher than the measured figure – the “maths” keeps a little credit or loss in reserve and drip feeds it into the results over time – assuming there is not a gain. If there is a gain it buffers the gain and uses its reserve to avoid sharp changes,

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Cool 17 day trend – 3 pounds lost ~TJ112

In a previous post – there was a slight weight rise noted – everyone has to remember – it is not possible to lose weight each day – on the average yes the trend may be down but day to day there may be a rise. It is possible to record a variation of 6 pounds or more.

Imagine a big meal and a few glasses of water. The measured number increases.
Likewise a long exercise session when its hot and your measured weight will be reduced.

So your real weight is really an impossible thing to measure. I have deduced over a long period of time that you either measure once a week or month and hope the trend is good and the 7 days of change add up or you measure daily and let some clever maths find your real “weight” for you.

Take this story below for example.
http://www.gossipcop.com/lea-michele-skinny-losing-weight/

Weigh yourself after going to the bathroom in the morning then eat all day – then drink lots of extra fluid, then before going to the the bathroom weigh yourself again – 4 – 6 pounds/2 to 3 kg difference with ease. So big numbers, even if the scales show them,  are different to “real” change especially if it is body fat and not water or muscle mass.

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Update ~TJ111

Another all time low weight today following a couple of weigh ins  in the wrong direction.

Hurt my ankle so restricted to upper body and back strength stuff – no running

Cooked my first ever edible soup

So weird – what happened on Mon 14 th ~TJ110

notice something different this month !

I started doing something different this month – any idea – what and when – I am not sure myself yet – so tonight I will be going through my records and seeing if there is an easy thing to isolate.
Also possible that the changes would have required a few days to start coming into effect from a measurement point of view!

Up and down day ~TJ109

Following a stunning week I put on a few grammes today,  0.2kg to be precise, but considering I had had NO exercise of any sort since last Sunday it’s a miracle it didn’t happen before.

So that was the down, lets get to the ups:

Mum said, ‘your bum has a shape now!’
Friends I haven’t seen for a while said, ‘you look amazing’
I bought a size 16/18 running top from Aldi and it fits well

Went to my favourite beach again and had a whale of a time in the wind, waiting for the big storm to hit tonight, was hard going running into the wind and the tide was going out so soggy, sinking sand – very hard on legs, but coming back with the wind behind me was ace!

There were loads of blue jellyfish – all dead

Jellyfish

Jellyfish 2

As usual there were dogs running around thoroughly enjoying themselves

Some industrial past reminders

Nice rocks and driftwood

Christmas is coming – almost holly and ivy

Rose hip and Ivy, such a contrast to the cream beach

All in all a good day, came home and cooked Star Bar cookies (American style) for my son, I can’t believe how much sugar goes in 250 gm flour 325 gm chocolate, 170 gm butter 100 gm caster sugar and 200 gm soft brown sugar! Will be changing this recipe a bit for the future!

Fantastic ~TJ108

This week has been simply one of the best of my life! I am now at lowest weight I have been for TEN, yes TEN years.

I am wearing a jumper that I bought last February, then it was tight (especially on the upper arms) and now it is comfy.

Long may this continue, as ever utmost praise and gratitude to he who must be obeyed( when I’m in the mood! lol)

Seriously this journey would have faltered long ago without Steve’s support, guidance, knowledge and patience.

Dream day ~TJ108

Beach of dreams

What a brilliant start to the day, had the drop in visceral fat yesterday and this morning was just the most perfect weigh in so far.

Weight – down
Muscle mass – up
Fat mass – down
Calories required – down
BMI – down
Visceral – constant

Waist, abs and hips all smaller

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket! But then again I don’t think the way I feel can be beaten. I earned this day, I worked, sweated and cried for it, I went way out of my comfort zone in so many areas of my life and it has all come together on this day.

Couldn’t have done it without Steve and the full support of my family – thanks all

And now onward and upward still a way to go – can’t get complacent.

Can’t wait to see what graphics Steve will add to this!

Little things that matter a lot ~TJ107

Have you ever considered the little things that happen on your weight loss journey? I especially like the ones that you don’t think about in advance, like these:

Putting on a pair of ‘control’ knickers and they are loose.

A second look from a passer by.

Compliments from women.

Being able to buy clothes in the high street.

I hope you all have these little moments too, would love to hear some of yours, fairly certain the guys won’t ‘get’ the knicker one 🙂

Happy, happy, happy ~TJ106

Little note to share my joy, I had a one unit drop in visceral fat today – wooo hoo! It’s been a long time coming and will probably wobble around for a bit before it settles but great news, a little bit safer from all those diseases now!

Makes all the sweat worthwhile, also dropped a bit of weight this past week !

The beach experience ~TJ105

So, yesterday was to be a day for me to sort out my head, do some training and so on. Love the countryside and woods etc., but fancied a change so I took myself off to my local old-fashioned seaside village. There is a proper level crossing, with a nice man in the booth who often hangs out the window for a chat!

The level crossing – cool

There are toilets, a restaurant, a seaside shop, a pub, a yacht club, a lifeboat station (not RNLI) and several churches in the village, it is decidedly ‘quaint’ and one of my favourite places to visit. The scenery is unspoilt and varies from sandy beaches, to rocks and a sort of marshland.

This beach has it all

Above is the marshy type sand where the seabirds seem to gather in numbers, I assume the huge rocks have been placed there by man as a sea defence, the sea comes all the way in.

Food for the soul sea and country melding together

The intermediate beach, shale, the marshy bit in the background.

Pure sand and man made sea defences, just around the headland is a village called St Ishmaels

Then the sandy part of the beach, the sand is not ‘sand’ coloured, it is more of a cream colour. In places quite boggy and easy to sink into. There are cockle beds with fishing rights given to some families for generations back.

For those interested the history of Ferryside can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferryside

My day was split into two parts, the first a ralk session, and I had initially to run into the wind, I met a fellow runner and he said it was lovely when you turned around and the wind was behind you! There was no set programme for the ralk, just do what felt right, avoid injury and enjoy. I did about 2.5 miles like this in around 50 minutes or so. Running on sand, even hard packed wet sand, is very different from woods and tarmac!

The second half of my day was more to just enjoy being in the open, the sea ‘breeze’ – more like a force nine gale!

Wind in the hair

Such a good look 🙂

The effects of the wind – on my hair and clothes and the sand – it almost looks like ripples in the sea.

I love the ripple effect on the sand, very decptive, tried loads of times to get a shadow image of my wild hair – not very successfully, but not that bad.

So I strolled around the beach, took photos, sat and watched the water, listened to the wind, collected some stones and generally felt refreshed and at one with the owrld.

Found a very nice souvenir of the day

My ‘name ‘ stone’

A tiny stone with my initial on.

All in all a lovely day, dry, windy, raw nature, walked and/or ran for five miles.

 

 

echo beach – far away in time

A  great way to connect with nature and unwind

One step for womankind

Beware the half dog half seabird creature

Sun, sand, sea and stunning countryside

Just  getting out in the open – breathing the fresh air may
make more difference to you  than you think.

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Bonza day ~TJ104

I had a really good day today. AND I even followed suggestions from he who gives instructions, suggestions and great advice (which I ignore from time to time he he he )

Lead the walking group and one of the walkers had a great achievement she walked 2.34 miles today! Her first walk on 14th September was 0.25 miles. We celebrated with hot chocolates in the park cafe.

When that all finished I went for a run round the Parkrun route, when I say run I mean of course, ralk – run/walk. I went from finish line to finish line, there was no goal for pace, time, anything – just do it was the advice, so now we have a baseline figure to build on.

While walking around I was conscious of the beauty all around me, autumn is my favourite season, I love the colours and you can see the character of the trees when they are bare of leaves.

Amazing – natures sculpture

Autumn, blackberries and running water – food for the soul

Outstanding colours

To fartlek or not to fartlek? ~TJ103

Yay it’s the weekend, I have my walking group, and normal domestic stuff but otherwise I have quite a few hours that are purely mine. I have little spare cash, (like most people at the moment), so pleasures have to be simple and cheap – great for the soul!

So it will be running somewhere. I live in Wales so there is a tendency for lots of hills and rain! I may drive to the coast tomorrow and run on the beach in sand – have not done that since I was a child, that sounds very good. Will all depend on how today goes, half parkrun after walking group is favourite.

Tomorrow a nice long fartlek session on the beach sounds great – update tomorrow when I have released my soul to do it’s thing.

Training ~TJ102

Sometimes it all comes together. Sometimes it seems a never ending linked series of life’s conspiracies will prevent even part of what you intended to do to be done. Then sometimes there is a window of opportunity to put one over on the universe!

I think it is 90% “preparation, perseverance and good intention” 10% good fortune. So if your schedule has gone to pot  – take your workout kit with you just in case there is a sneaky opportunity.

I knew there would be an opportunity to use the picture I saw. Even if the link to training is a little tenuous. I really have no idea if the image is faked but I like to think it was a sincere outpouring of emotion from the dog or their owner. I do know that many years ago a young father while gardening found a book on the garden path. It was a book his mother had given to his young wife – the best selling book of all time second to the bible apparently. Its message to mothers is that “you know more than you think you do.”

When the young Dad asked how or why the book had ended up on the garden path – a hefty toss your the upstairs window – she replied that “she didn’t need his help! ( Benjamin Spock, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care )

Training recently has been extra difficult due to family pressures, but suddenly this week I could run on two consecutive nights. 🙂

So last night I go to my favourite place to run – Mynydd Mawr – dark, unlit, woods. I was scared stiff and only lasted about 14 minutes.

Tonight I got to run at 5 pm on the rugby pitch outside my office, my legs turned to lead, there was just no energy in my body, I had been really looking forward to an hours run on the flat, weather was good, ground soft. I simply did not have the energy to run fast or far.

Strength exercises needed I think!

With hindsight – all that matters is getting out there – if the prospect of the workout helps get through the working day and be more productive then it’s a bonus.

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New Parkrun PB ~TJ101

New PB 49:21

I have come back to this now after some time has passed. When I got the result I was initially pleased that I had a sub 50 minute time, but then I got very upset that my techie stuff said my time was 47:18 for 3.17 miles, parkrun course was 3.33 miles not a huge amount further but enough to add on 2 minutes.

I initially wrote a post that was angry it depressed me writing it. So I deleted it.

I am still not happy that the course is so much longer than the 5k but the number is still lower than last time and I am comparing like with like so there is improvement – just not as much as I wanted!

WOW ~TJ100

One hundred posts, that seems like a lot!

So this should be a milestone, something significant. I was asked yesterday if I truly wanted to be a size 12, and continue on this journey. My answer was:

“I look and feel so much better now that it’s hard to imagine how that can be improved. i do know that I don’t want it to the point where I eat, live and breathe weight loss, diet and exercise to the exclusion of everything. I do not want to watch what i eat every second of every day for the rest of my life. I know there is always going to be an element of that with maintenance and regular exercise will help.”

It has caused me to think quite a lot and quite randomly today two different people at work – at different times both said they thought I looked great and should stop dieting. One of the ladies is 5 years older than me and slim and is a runner, the other is 10 years younger than me with weight issues and who yo-yo diets all the time.

All this is causing further thought, I like my new body and hated the old one, but I do want to be slimmer – whether that is achieved by weight loss or toning or a mixture of both I don’t mind. There is one certainty I WANT TO KEEP RUNNING, and to do that I need to get fitter and that will mean getting slimmer, tauter and generally having good nutrition.

My main problem areas are:

1. Maintaining good nutrition – I can moderate the calories easily but making sure they are ‘good’ calories is sometimes a struggle.

2. That gap between finishing work and dinner – if I eat early I am hungry later and if I eat later I snack earlier, if there is fruit available I will eat loads of it. If there is no fruit the danger is a quick sandwich or some toast.

3. Fitting everything in, we all have this problem.

Any suggestions on ways to deal with the above most welcome.