Holiday done and back

The holiday to Scotland was excellent, a well earned break, a bit cold at first but warmed up on the final day.

So back on the scales, after two weeks guilt free living, the damage to the waistline was zero.

I had gone away weighing 74 kg, putting on the one kilo the week before.

Our holiday included mainly walking, and an early birthday present; Kayaking on Upper Loch Torridon with a local adventure company.

Back to my daily routine, along with lessons learnt.

I now know what type of things will make me vulnerable to excess's so it makes it easier to avoid and control. The main lesson learnt over the last two weeks, activity does not have to be excessive, but proportional to consumption. On holiday there was no issues with sweets, beer, savouries, and most of all the need to count calories. But at no time did gluttony take over.

Have a reached my end goal?

No, at 74 kg I am still overweight, There is now my next target, to go to the Lake District in September weighing 70 kg.

To achieve this there will be a different strategy; Rather than losing a smaller amount each week, set my goal to approximately 8 weeks from now to lose 0.5 kg a week; Then maintain that weight, and weighing myself every two weeks.

Now we have entered into the better weather, and the need for small projects in the garden along with general gardening, should be sufficient activity combined with dog walking and climbing.

Below are my five top tips from what I have learnt over the last four months;

• Consult a Doctor, for advice, and follow what he says
• Eat less (Sounds obvious), but do you know what you are eating, a diary is a big help
• Begin exercise to boost weight loss, but do not over do it, variety is the spice of life
• Give yourself a "guilt free" day away from calorie limit, without  major excess's
• Set realistic goals and reward achievements

Still no plateau

Weight this morning is 77kg from 83kg at the start of the year, which makes me feel both proud and much more comfortable with my body shape.

Now that others are noticing a difference, and the waist line is not as strained as previously, it is very rewarding, and certainly a lot more comforting, the feeling of well being.

This week has seen a slight shift in attitude, last week, I was unsure if my weight loss was too rapid and could not be sustained. So I began the honest calorie counting and calories burned while exercising. This highlighted on Monday, my food intake to exercise was out of balance, not enough calories were consumed for a day which saw me go for a climb straight from work for an hour. When all the relevant numbers were plugged in there was a shortfall of some 500 calories. Not good, so I looked to ensure that was not a trend to continue with.

By the end of the week, yesterday the balance was just right which saw me have

• a calorie goal of 1,610 
• Food intake of 1,936 caories
• Excerecise burning 350 calories
• Balance 24 calories

With the goal set by the App to loose 0.5 kilo's a week, a good recommended weight loss, my calories and exercise were in balance.

Last night my intake was slightly higher than expected, but this was combated by a 10 minute rope jumping exercise which provieded a 158 calorie burn for 10 minutes of exercise.

 


 This morning started with a walk for about an hour with our dog "Blue" as you can see from the image below the burn rate is less per minute, but six times the duration of rope jumping

The majority of the walk sits nicely in the moderate range of exercise, contrasting from the intensity of rope jumping.

Although we purchased our Suunto Ambit watch for walking in the Lake District and Scottish Highlands, the ability of changing what it displays is excellent for monitoring exercise, expensive but well worth the outlay, though I do use my Polar watch for work.

So in a nutshell it comes down to balance, if you eat a lot, you need to exercise a lot, if you eat less, there is no need to exercise a lot. But remember if you excercise a lot you need to eat accordingly to the amount you use up.

Now looking back at what my GP had told me, my goal should be to eat a little less and exercise a little more and the pounds (Kilo's) would soon start to drop off.

A good barometer of balance, if you are not craving for food or too weak and tired at the end of each day, you have probably got the balance about right.

Exercise this week has seen me, dog walking every morning for around 30 minutes each time, indoor climbing at Reading Climbing Centre, one day for an hour, 45 minutes of badminton, three 10 minute rope juming sessions and one 20 minute weight aerobic training, as well as normal movements encountered during a week at work.

When asked by my wife this morning what my ultimate goal for weight loss is, I replied to reach 75 kilo's as a target, and from there on in any weight loss would be coincidental with activity and life style.

Focus on heart beat

Although last week after a delay of one day, my weight had returned to 80kg, the same as the previous week, there was a period of reflection, and noting the takeaway meal the night before my weigh-in and a few other lapses in my diet, this week I decided that exercise was to be my best form of addressing the bulging waistline.

This week I have weighed in at 79kg, which I last weighed in October last year.

Having already in my possession a watch capable of recording heart beats per minute, and the newly acquired knowledge of heart rate target zones, my goal was to be more focused this week and give it a more concentrated effort.

Last Saturday having reached a bpm of 167, which was 3bpm above my recommended heart rate max it was clear as a novice that I was overdoing things and risked causing myself harm.

So now with a better understanding of heart rate zones and the refinement of calculation taking into account my resting heart rate I have started to formulate where I want the training exercises to take me.

Calculating my heart rate workout zone for 60 - 80% workouts

Base figure is 220 - 55 (My age, until May) = 165 =MaxHR

Resting heart rate is Pulse taken 3 consecutive mornings before getting out of bed 50/53/52

Thus given a RHR of (50+53+52)/3 = 52

This was taken direct from the wrist for a full minute.

Now using the formula % (MaxHR - RHR)+RHR= Target Zone bpm

60% * (165-52)+52 = 119.8 bpm

80% * (165-52)+52 = 142.4 bpm

With most advise relating to exercise and heart rate zone training, it is always advisable to check with the GP, if you have any medical conditions. As I am being treated for High Blood Pressure, I have arranged to visit my GP on Monday, to see if there are any limitations in relation to the exercise and heart rate.

Exercise saw me go climbing twice last week, and walking to work on a couple of occasions.

This week I will begin skipping, which will be tailored to the advice from my GP.

Wearing my newly acquired heart monitor "Polar Ft1" I walked our dog " Blue" at the weekend, walking him my bpm rarely got above 110, but when he lunged at a passing cyclist, after order had been restored my bpm had risen to 146.

so you could say while walking him, gives you an "Anaerobic workout as well as an Aerobic" workout.

There is a theory about carrying extra weight helps burn off more calories, through the harder work. One day last week I put 2x 2.5kg in my rucksack to carry to work. 

To replicate a journey I had walked a few days previous, interestingly on reviewing the results, there is only minimal differences, see below;

The most telling figure is 10% more Kcal, but that is also true of the distance, so 5kg of extra weight made minimal difference, but it felt a lot worse carrying it home in the evening.

NEWSFLASH

Today I visited my GP, the good news, medically there is no reason for any restriction on exercise, that is for me to know when I am at my limit, the advice was however different to what I had expected; It was all fine to exercise, but the intake needs to be reigned in, he went through a complex verbal calculation of how I was overweight by 100,000 calories, saying ideally for my height I should look to loose around 2.5 Stone, roughly another 14kg, he rechecked my weight confirming 79 kg but corrected me on my height as being 164cm not 162 as I had thought.

My food intake is in my opinion a healthy balance, except for the festive excess, though I will be more conscious of what I eat, to me the area I need to address is the physical activity.

I will not dismiss the Doctors advice but use it with caution, but by cutting down on the intake a little and taking more targeted exercise, I feel that it will take me to where I want to be.

My target remains the same to go on holiday in April weighing less than 78kg, the only question is now by how much more.

I do feel better for the consultation with my GP, who by the way is a smoker, but he is only giving good advice, as my Mum used to say, "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you" God rest her soul.

Next time I will have worked out a training plan, and share some food for thought.

Many thanks for reading, and remember ALWAYS speak to your GP before increasing exercise significantly, some damage may take a long time to repair.

Finally whatever exercise you take, it must be fun, a little pain is fine, but listen to your body!!!

Our "Blue" having a well earned rest, bless him!!!!