Getting ready for Scotland

When I started this blog, my aim was to be from 83 kg down to 78 kg before our holiday to the the Scottish Highlands in April.

As has been charted, that goal was achieved a little while back, but now with less than 2 weeks to go, I have weighed in at 73.5 kg

The weight is not coming off as quick as when I began, but there are a few reasons.

Ironically the more weight you lose, the fewer calories you are allowed to achieve weight loss, making it harder to continually reduce your intake.

The last two weeks I have had a cold / virus that has curtailed my ability to exercise, mind you last weekend I went for a bike ride the first time in ages, and wow that really burnt off the calories, see image below.

Climbing has tailed off a bit, until I can get this cough under control, but hope to give it a go this Monday.

The ability to have a guilt free day on a Saturday removes any monotony, but the biggest risk is those little extra bits in the evening, carry on resisting them really does make a huge difference.

So why the picture of the canoes at the top?

As a birthday treat, my wife has arranged for a sea kayak adventure with a local activity centre in Torridon, where I will get the chance to kayak for the very first time. The location will be around Shieldaig island, (pictured in the background of the picture or if the sea is not sufficiently friendly. it will be in Upper Loch Torridon.

So the next time I update this blog will be in May, and probably a little heavier after a two week holiday in the Highlands, where I will take a break from calorie counting, and enjoy the stunning scenery walks and adventures.

Where have I been, where's it gone?

In answer to the first part, where have I been?

Active, with a combination of raised activity comes less time at the keyboard, but getting out and about. Only a little bit more but as the days are getting longer, the dog walks are getting easier and longer.

In answer to the second part, where's it gone?

I weighed in at 75 kilo's on Saturday, which to me is amazing, that is a loss of over 7 kg in about 11 weeks, and learning a lot along the way. Such as;

• Be in control of what you eat, do not go without meals, and remember you are human, and a treat in moderation does not do any harm.

• Set goals both daily at longer term; But do not be a slave, only do what is sustainable, once I arrived at 76 kg it took three weeks to lose the next kilo.

• Exercise should be varied and enjoyable, there are subtle and aggressive ways to burn calories you will not and should not target just one; my activities have included indoor climbing, badminton, weights, aerobics, skipping (or as others now call it rope jumping), walking, gardening. 

How do I feel, much better, has it been easy, no, has it been worth it, without doubt. There was a few times where cakes or takeaways were an indulgent moment, but all were pre-planned.

How much more should I lose?

While I have a yearning to lose more weight, as I am still classed as overweight, I am keen to lose a smaller amount than previously without any specific targets, other than it would be nice to be around 72kg when we go to the Lake District in September.

We have all seen those that lose too much weight too quick, they look drawn and ill. Though not blessed with the physique or look of a model, I want to lose any more weight gradually.

The fact that few people have commented on the weight loss so far, means not only that I am not looking drawn, but more importantly a very comfortable outward well being.

My main support has been my wife Sue, who patiently helps work out the calories of all my meals and has passed on her nutritional advice. Who has also arranged for me to go Kayaking while we are in the Scottish Highlands in April.

She does tease me a bit about being action man, but I think that is more to do with my height LOL

I hope to have some good advice to share as I continue in my quest, in the near future.

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!!!!

Is it all about timing?

This week there has been a strange turn of events, hence the title.

On saturday morning, my weight showed an increase of 0.75kg how could this be in a week where I have played badminton twice, and had a session of indoor climbing, and no notable changes of eating habits.

A little concerned, I looked at what was different. So just to confirm that my weight had increased, I weighed myself once more, Sunday morning back down now to 80kg as I was last week.

The conclusion was, Friday night we had Fish and Chips from the local chippy, Large battered Cod and a portion of chips with a refreshing bottle of Budweiser. There was no walk before weighing myself Saturday morning, but a sit around for a couple of hours after getting up, having had scrambled egg on toast.

Today before my weigh in, I had a 64 minute street walk with Blue commencing at 7.00am and weighed myself before breakfast. 

One further note after having had a prawn curry, rice and poppadoms, and a magnum for dinner the night before, a magnum for pudding, was hardly weight watcher's stuff. Then about 3 hours later a couple of tins of John Smith's beer while watching the Ender's Game on DVD.

Unpicking all of the above, it demonstrates one thing, the weight is a guide, not an absolute, and can fluctuate.

A new introduction that I am incorporating into my weight / fitness is a better understanding and use of MHR Maximum Heart Rate, which I will explain briefly.

MHR

A guide is taken from your age and sets zones for you to work in, there are a few variations but the most common is nice and simple; 

220 (Men) or 206 (Women) subtract your age, this will give your highest heart rate or sometimes referred to as MHR Maximum Heart Rate. The resulting number is heart beats per minute.

A worked example for me is

220 - (Age)    = MHR bpm     

220 - (56)       = 164 bpm

This is useful for targeting the right exercise to suit your needs, in my case burning fats.

I have a Suunto Ambit watch  that with the use of the heart monitor chest strap can demonstrate a lesson which I have learnt this week.

First off, know what your MaxHR is then you will be able to work in zones, essentially there are four zones dependant that can be divided into two parts, Aerobic or Anaerobic.

These are divided by % of Heart beats per minute and divided as work zones.

60% - 70%     Light activity

70% - 80%     Medium activity

80% - 90%     Hard activity

90% -100%    Extreme activity

These are mine as displayed on Movescount.(Software for Suunto Ambit watches)

Aerobic exercise will target the 60% - 79% which will burn off mainly fats

Anaerobic exercise will target 80% upward which will burn off mainly carbs / sugars

To better understand the impact there are many examples of Aerobics Vs Anaerobic work outs, both will lead to weight loss, because the use up energy in the body and result in weight loss where it is required.

Taking this deeper, what ever you burn off during activity you will use up the opposite during the next 24 - 48 hr recovery period.

In summary when doing aerobic exercise such as walking, running etc under 79% of your MaxHR you will burn off mainly fats, and during the recovery period, you will burn off the carbs and sugars that make up muscle. The opposite for hard intense training, operating 80% and above will predominantly burn up carbs/sugar from the muscles, but during the recovery period draw on the body fats reserves.

Using the understanding of how energy is drawn from the body, I have recorded two specific polar workouts, the first is more aerobic, walking our dog (Blue) 

Note; How the graph only reaches 129 bpm and the bar chart shows activity at the lower end.

Now we see an example of High Intensity workout for 17 minutes using dumbbell weights and doing press ups.

I will look further into the effects of each, but as most sources warn, consult your doctor before undergoing exercise especially if it is at the top end of your heart rate.

This week I will put together a work out schedule / programme and use this new information to do some targeted training.

Losing and gaining

One more week has elapsed, and this week has been a little tougher than the previous two.

Towards the end of the week I was not feeling like a person that had lost any further weight, so was rethinking my strategy. It was a week without badminton, and fewer steps had been recorded than those of the previous week.

For six mornings I have walked "Blue" our faithful German Shepherd, one day I was unable, due to an old operation causing some discomfort, activity at work was the usual amount of walking. A big difference was also there was no walking to work, this week I needed to use the car.

After returning from walking Blue this morning, it was time to weigh myself, which I do only once a week at the same time and on the same scales, 80kg 

The doubts I had of not losing any weight this week were wrong, this was far better than expected. 80kg  was my target for the end of April, now I have lost 1 kilo each week for the last 3 weeks.

From now forward until April my target will be revised, to lose 1 kilo a month, roughly half a lb a week. This will put my weight around 77kg when we go to Scotland for our holiday.

As I am a novice, and no expert, the following statements re merely my opinion and not medical facts.

The fact that I have only had one can of beer, a packet of "wheat crunchies" and a small bowl of peanuts in the evening means I have consumed very little snack calories in the evenings, remains a significant factor.

The meals we eat have been a good balanced diet of vegetables, pasta, potatoes, fish, one meat dish, eggs, various beans, milk cereal, remain a stable food intake.

• Main meal menu for the week

• Saturday
• Chicken and spinach pasta with salad
• Sunday 
• Roast lamb potatoes & veg
• Monday
• Tuna and Tomato Rice with Salad
• Tuesday
• Vegetarian home made (Sort of)
• Wednesday
• Colcannon Jackets, with smoked cod, egg  & beans
• Thursday
• Fish cakes (Smoked haddock and spring onion) Potato wedges with paprika
• Friday
• Vegetable and Bean bake, home-made, Salad and garlic bread

Lunch at work, one sandwich, a yoghurt, raisins, pre biotic drink, cereal bar and one or two pieces of fruit, and no extras purchased.

One other activity last week was indoor climbing at  Reading Climbing Centre

(Screenshot of part of their web page)

Progress was up on my visit the previous week. I spent an hour mainly in the bouldering area, with one successful "Send" on the Auto Belay Grade 5; This included a climb from base to top using Orange holds, followed by a climb down using any hold.

After a brief rest Grade 5+ was a challenge unconquered only ascending a third of it's height.

Improvement in my climbing is put own to a few things;

1. Improved weight to strength ratio; A little lighter, with same strength
2. Technical awareness; Making better use of foot positioning
3. Mentality; Improvement on approach, positive attitude and most importantly fun

Wisdom and warning

So as I have shared my progress my goals and ambitions, I am keen to keep this progress steady and achievable without taking risks, cutting corners or meals, which is hoped to be sustainable.

Though I am seeking more from my climbing as a hobby, I know that there is much to learn but already I am more self-aware, but the spin-off I wasn't expecting has been the positive "can -do" approach at work.

Over the next few days I will be working out some training exercise and  routines, not for body building, but toning. These will be needed in order to progress safely with climbing, as well as strengthening pull muscles, giving attention to antagonistic muscles equally.

Feel I may be a way off a six pack, both from my abdominal muscles and the Supermarket shelf's, sat nicely between the two at the moment!!!

Weight shifting (Slowly)

Time to tighten the belt.

One more week has passed, and the effort to loose weight is paying off, yesterday morning I tipped the scales at 81Kg, a loss of one more kilo.

The key word in the above statement is effort, you get nothing in life for free, somewhere somehow you have to pay. Just flipping that on it's head, you pay, if you do nothing, your health ultimately suffers, a warning I received a few years back, where an irregular visit to the GP sounded alarm bells.

I was the classic male person, over 40, very few health checks, a drinker, ex smoker and poor eating habits, but that was then and this is now. There were valuable lessons learnt, but old habits can return.

This week the loss of a kilo came from sensible eating of regular meals, good health food, apart from a couple of "treats" that were planed, but not rewards. Every day I walked the two miles to work and the return journey home. Three evenings upon arrival home, dropped off the work bag and went with my wife Sue for a walk with Blue, monitoring my steps with a Garmain Vivofit, each day exceeding 16,000 steps and once over 20,000 steps.

Monday night indoor climbing at Reading Climbing Centre for an hour, managing 75% of the auto belay and numerous easy routes in the bouldering area. As I am looking to improve my fitness and climbing skills, I am also reading a book "Learning to Climb" by Eric J. Hörst which gives a good all round approach to indoor climbing.

A good training / climbing session should require 30 - 60 minutes actual climbing, though most people are in the arena for longer, on account of belaying, observing and socialising. Although I am only half way through the book, so far, the quality of advice has been sound.

Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime, four games of badminton each session, meant not sitting at a computer lunchtime. Good for building reflexes and explosive movement, helps with hand eye co-ordination.

Then we come to fuel, food and drinks; Most meals have been a combination of fish, pasta, chicken vegetables and a little bit of meat. My wife Sue is an excellent cook, and has gradually introduced me to the finer culinary delights, Using various cook book recipes with a few spin offs to suit our palate, not one meal is missed. All our meals are sat at the dinning table, including breakfast cereal. The plates are left clean, no leftovers.

Those that may struggle with portions, it is worth while to spend a little time counting calories, I did this a couple of years ago, weighing and counting all my food intake. Now to be honest, we know the foods that are calorie heavy and eat accordingly, I was once told, if you wish to follow a healthy diet, buy a recipe book for those with diabetes, but never go without a meal to loose weight.

Can the weight loss over the last two weeks be sustained, I really hope so. This week is my turn to walk Blue, our German Shepherd, for his before dawn walk, so the day will start with a twenty minute stroll. You can't call it a walk, as it is "his time", and he likes to sniff the recent activity. Mind you if he had his way, upon sniffing a nearby cat, he would prefer that I could run like Linford Christie, truth is I run more like Agatha Christie.

This week coming there will be no badminton, so I am going to supplement this with a lunchtime walk, and maybe try doing some "star jumps" which do get the heart pumping.

Calculating my body mass index, I am still obese, and will remain so until my weight drops to 78Kg given that is only 3kg away, dependant on when I reach 80kg, that will be my next goal.

Finally, how do I feel, actually the main feeling of bloated-ness has dissipated, but the "podgy belly" reminds me when I glance my reflection, there is still work to be done. Mentally, I feel very good within myself, probably as I am doing this for me at my pace. 

One piece of sound advice, check with your GP on your medical condition, and visit at least once a year, so you don't cause any unnecessary harm or injury to yourself, and those people with family, don't exclude them and they will support your unselfish actions.