2nd May Food Diary
05:50 250ml Skimmed Milk (A) 35g Porridge (B) Coffee
07:30 500ml H2O
08:35 Activia Snack pot Peach (.5 Syns)
08:40 Apple
11:00 H2O
11:40 Apple
12:10 Tuna Pasta, Cucumber, Sweetcorn, Onions, Light Mayo (2 Syns)
13:10 H2O, Strawberry's, Raspberry's, Blueberry's, Blackberry's, Melon, Pineapple, Grapes, Muller Yogurt Vanilla
14:30 Coffee
15:40 Coffee
19:00 1 Litre H2O
20:45 35ml 18 Year Old Malt Whiskey (4 Syns)
20:55 300ml Dr Pepper Diet
21:00 Lean Beef mince, Potato's, Salad, Rice, Onion
21:05 300ml Dr Pepper Diet
Today seemed a little bit easier on the diet, although I had run out of water whilst at work which was a major blow. Its amazing still how much water I drink and how much it means to me. In the past when I have helped people diet and lose weight, I have always, always expounded on the virtues of water, water and more water. Most 'normal' human beings need 8 glasses of water a day (roughly 2 litres) but for us flabby people out there we need much more. Maybe as much as double, I know when I am training and dieting my water intake goes through the roof. It is not unusual to find me downing 3-5 litres per day for a couple of reasons. Firstly when I do any form of physical activity I tend to do it to its most intense, as a result, I sweat. Not a little, but a lot. So I need to replace that fluid. Secondly, the more water you drink the less room for food and you feel less hungry. So running out of water in the middle of the morning was quite hard on me.
Other than that, the diet went quite well, it is certainly easier having everything with me at work and just picking up a carrier bag full of the days food each morning. Now I wish that I could say it was me preparing it all, but it is not, in fact I prepare very little of it. The kudos on keeping me on track has to go to Kerry. Yet again a super star. Sorting out food for the whole day the day before, and making sure everyone in the house has what they need. Round of applause for Kerry!!
To go alongside the diet, I have started training again, not in kick boxing, (although I intend to once my weight is down) but at my children's GKR Karate club. I went to my first class last night and took part in one of the most intense kicking drills I have done in a long time. To be fair, my balance was off, my kicks were week, my muscles burned and hurt, but I kept up with them all. I did every single exercise. 90 Min's of leg burning fun, started with some stretching and warm ups, then pyramid kicks across the tops of chairs, front kicks, round kicks and side kicks. More stretching, some running drills games, then into Kata. When I had finished the lesson i was soaked and sore and tired and knew that I had a set of legs even if they did not feel like mine. Shower, food, bed. Sleep.......
This morning, I expected my legs to be full of lactic acid, I mean it has been 3 years and I am 14 stone heavier. However, I woke up this morning and stretched gingerly in bed, awaiting the familiar pain of not being able to move, but nope, nothing, I am a little stiff and my back hurts a bit, but my legs are fine. So that is a positive. More training on Saturday!
27 April Food Diary
06:00 Apple
06:45 Black Coffee and Sweetener
07:30 2x Bacon 2x Eggs, Baked Beans and Mushrooms
07:45 Black Coffee and Sweeter
09:00 750ml H2O
09:30 Apple
11:40 2x Hi-Fi light bars (B)
12:00 Banana
12:35 Apple
12:55 Lemsip (0.5 Syns) 1 sugar (1 Syn)
13:10 Lean Ham, 2 x Eggs, Lettuce, Cucumber, Red Onion
and Low Fat Cesar Salad Dressing
15:50 Lemsip (0.5 Syns) and Black Coffee
17:45 500ml H2O
17:50 Quorn, Baby Sweetcorn, Mange Tout, Water Chestnuts, Chilli's, Carrots, Ginger
and Cabbage
20:30 Pineapple, Blackberry's, Strawberry's, Apple, Muller Light Cherry,
3 Mini Meringues (3 Syns) and 30g Cheddar (A)
Not such a great day today, diet went OK but I am beginning to feel ill, it is probably just a cold, but I hate not being able to breath, so all in all an OK day.
On a much better note Kerry and I did about 45 minutes training with the pads and gloves last night. It was great being able to help Kerry learn to punch properly, she had a couple of combinations down and even started kicking as well! I think Kerry really wanted to punch me as she was getting carried away with the training. When Kerry held the pads for me it was interesting, trying to teach her how to hold pads and punch them at the same time, as well as trying not to hurt her.... but we managed it and both of us were knackered and out of breath by the end of it.
Thought for today... There is no starting or stopping - only doing.
26 April 2012 Food Diary
07:30 Tea
09:00 Tea + Sugar (1 Syn)
10:40 Diet Coke
13:00 180g Pineapple
13:10 Sugar Free Redbull
13:20 Muller Light Strawberry
13:30 Melon, Apple, Grapes and Strawberry 300g
15:25 Melon, Apple, Grapes and Strawberry 300g
16:30 750ml H2O
18:50 750ml H2O
19:35 Luscious Lemon Hi-FI Bar (B)
20:00 Black Coffee + Sweetener
21:00 2x Chicken Breast wrapped in lean bacon, Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower
Jacket Potato with 2 tsp lurpack Lighter (3 syns) 50g Feta (A)
21:30 Muller Light Cherry
21:40 Black Coffee + Sweetener
So that was day 2, as mentioned on yesterdays blog, woke up with a pounding headache which took most of the day to go. Today was quite hectic and I did not get to eat till late, but even so, not a bad day.
We now have the shopping in for the diet so should get a bit easier now and allow us to eat proper breakfasts etc, although it has to be said I am a great fan of fruit, always have been.... don't know why I stopped eating it in the first place really...
Did not get to do any exercise today, but Kerry and I are planning a pad session at home tonight. Think it will be the first time she uses her pink gloves in anger! I am really looking forward to it. I love training, I am a bit concerned as Kerry finds it difficult to hold pads for me and I do not want to hurt her! In reality, it has been a long time since I trained. I know I wont be able to do what my body used to do, but I am scared that it will be worse than I imagine... its not easy moving 30stone... especially quickly...
Feeling OK today, not great, due mainly to a cold, but not bad either. Feeling good about the food choices I have made the last couple of days.. RAWRRRR
One thought... The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination....
Hello one and all. Sorry for the break, life got a bit hectic!! As is the way of life, I guess.
Anyhow, as the title says, Im still going strong and training hard. Work is going well and everything is falling into place, slowly but surely.
I have no idea what my weight is, but people have started commenting on the fact that I am losing weight again, so I guess I am. :o)
As mentioned previously I am training hard, very hard. Stephen Primrose is pushing me hard and we had a great training session on Sunday with Tawatchai Budsadee. A great time spent with an amazingly experianced fighter. Many thanks for your time and comments!!!
The Diet Plate is working for me again, and I am begining to get used to using it all the time once more.
I think I will weigh myself next Monday, just to see how I am going, I want to get to 115 kilos or 18 stone 1 lb or 253 lbs, although not near this yet, I dont imagine it will take me too long with the Diet and the training. I am looking forward to yet again buying a new wardrobe!!
Those that have followed this blog, know that I go on and off, hot and cold, especially where diet is concerned. I spent a long time loseing weight (seems like my whole life) and I lost a significant amount over the last 3 years (more than most of you weigh I bet!!!).
So where are we at? I started this 'new life' back at the start of 2007. Then I weighed a massive 36 and a half stone (511 lbs). Using several different diet techniques over relatively short periods of time untill I found The Diet Plate, which I then stuck to rigidly, I dropped weight down to 19 stone 9 lbs (275 lbs) a loss of 16 stone 12 lbs (236 lbs)!!!! I hit that weight and decided I had reached a place where I was comfortable so would lay of the diet for a while. I have put weight back on over the period of a year, and at times have started dieting again for a few weeks here and there. I went back up to 23 stone (322 lbs) about 5 weeks ago and decided enough was enough, putting aside excuses like lifestyle, being busy, not enough time to shop properly and prepare food (yes I am as guilty as anyone for those) I decided to dust the plate off and start again. Today I weighed in at 21 stone 10 lbs (304 lbs) a loss of 18 lbs in 5 weeks, so thats ok. :o)
I am also involved with a charity called EETEP and have agreed to do the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride with them on July 12th (watch this space for sponsorship details!!!) which is a 60 mile ride through what I can only imagine to be quite hilly country... so I guess it is time to get the bike out and put the car away for a while. :o) (That will help with the environment as well :o) and the savings on fuel too...).
On top of that most of you will be aware that I qualified for the England Kick Boxing Team this year and on October the 30th the team and I are off to Ireland to take part in the World Championships!!! I have neglected my training recently due to several personal issues which have needed addressing, now things are addressed (not sure if that is gramatically correct) it is time to train hard. I have to step my training up from twice a week to at least 4 days in the dojo with Stephen Primrose and hopefully 2 days spent riding a few miles. This will up my calorie burn as well as using The Diet Plate to bring my calorie intake down, and yet keep the correct balance of food groups so I dont starve my muscles of much needed vitamins and minerals to help them recover.
Starting Wednesday 20th May, I will try and blog at least every other day. This helps me stay focussed more than anything else, as well as giving me a place to vent frustrations!!
I hope you are all well...
Hello all, sorry for the neglect of this blog, it has not been my main focus as of late. So I am going to update people quickly, and then after Sunday, I wil start writing in more depth once again.
Weight has come down a fair amount, not 100% sure what it is at right now, but I am back below the 300lbs mark, thanks to hard training and The Diet Plate. Training is hard and takes up a lot of my time now, but I am enjoying it.
This weekend is the biggest challenge I have faced in a long time as I am taking part in the WKA British Open. Its light contiuous, so no rests or breaks. It will be tireing and fun. For this particular event its kicks above the waist and punchs, no knees or elbows.
Anyhow.... hope to catch you all soon...
Stay well and safe
How time flies when your having fun....
Or how time flies when your not.... strange reallly..
Anyhow, havent weighed myself today, I forgot if I am honest... Training is up and down like a yoyo, still having injury problems and my back is causing me grief yet again. Its unreal I can go two or three days without a niggle, then I will twist or lean over to get something and bang the pain is excrutiating.
I was feeling good yesterday, did some light training, nothing not even a twinge.. great I thought back to full training tomorrow. Last night in bed I lent over to reach something off of the bed side table and wham, pain shooting right up and down my back. The pain is so intense it takes my breath away, and I cant move. I have to literally drag myself around, using my arms and hands to turn myself over, not fun at all.
I got little sleep last night even after the pills. It hurts loads.... This morning I got up and went swimming, I did 62 lengths, not my normal to be fair, but my back was ok whilst swimming it was just getting out of the pool that it hurt. So non load bearing exercise seems fine. I am begining to worry now about the fight, as I am not 100% convinced I am going to be well enough to compete at this rate.
I have popped some more pills today and I am going to try and do some light training and boxing drills tonight, and see how I go. I am thinking perhaps a massage or a sauna may help as well.
Anywyas diet is going ok and I will weigh myself tomorrow morning now. So check back for an update...
Well Kind of lol... the last full working week I should say... I think I am in the office on Monday next week as well... but then that’s it till the 5th January. Wahoo... a break, it is sorely needed.
So Christmas, that wonderful glittery (cold) festive (drink too much) time of the year where we get to have fun (see drink too much) and catch up with family members (who normally you wouldn’t spend 5 minutes in the same room) who we haven’t seen all year....
But it’s not all bah humbug... I love Christmas as much as the next person, if not more, ok I agree it has become overly commercialised and the media has turned it into a crazy shopaholics holiday, for that must have gift. Even taking all that into account I still love it. Even though this year I am on my own for Christmas day, I still love it. I love the fact that people smile at you, for no apparent reason, I love the fact that people are nice to you (mostly) for no apparent reason, it is still a time of good will towards all men (ok and women...) lol.
So how am I going to fair over Christmas dieting... I have already accepted numerous offers for 'Christmas drinks' as the locals refer to a right good knees up and party, and I am already beginning to wonder how I am going to deal with all the rich food and drink that is waved under my nose. Until the day comes I won’t know. I am planning on eating just before attending so hopefully I won’t feel like partaking in the food and hopefully not too many drinks. I have planned on changing my drink from vodka and coke to vodka and slim line tonic, hopefully this will help as well. (Also this means I can drink sparkling water and pretend I am joining in, clever huh?)
Training, the Bain of my life... smiles, ok so it’s not that bad. Found myself back in my old dojo this weekend, and to be honest as much as I loved it, I was also sad. I trained fairly easy, and did several rounds of sparing, didn’t get gassed (panting) which surprised my training partner after such a long lay off, and kept my wits about me. It was a good workout but one I am quite sore from, and I am now sporting a nice black eye as well. Happy Christmas.
I ran into work this morning which took me about 12 minutes it’s roughly a mile and a half so not too bad, and I am planning on running home afterwards as well. Tomorrow morning I am planning on jogging to the pool (about a mile and a half, uphill) doing 30-40 lengths and then jogging to work (about a mile and a half, with a 700 yard steep drop down) tomorrow evening I am getting picked up (hopefully) and going to train with Steve Primrose at Lions Pride. It has been a while since I have trained with Steve and I am both looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measures. As I am sure Steve is as well.
That’s about it for now....
Stay well
Hello... Wednesday, Midweek... OK so I am bored.... but shh don't tell the boss lol...
I trained yesterday twice, once at Evade (which is undergoing some major renovations and installing a fitness suite, whatever one of them is) and again at The Chi Centre in Macclesfield with Steve Primrose... both were very different but good sessions. Heavy pad work session at Evade, and lots of fitness training and conditioning with Primo... All in all today my body aches... not the excruciating build up of lactic acid I suffered a while ago after training at Beast Masters, but it aches, my quads ache and so do my forearms.
So training is back on track... wahoooo... well for this week anyway. Tom Cox, from Evade asked me to go to his lesson tonight as they are sparing, and I am going to try and make it, although I know the timing is going to be tight...
Food... well actually the food side is going OK, I did eat some stupid sugary jelly sweets yesterday, as I missed my evening meal and got hungry and snacked... Dam... Note to all diet followers out there, don't skip meals.... note to self... try harder and do better...
The Diet Plate portions are back on track and I am using the plate and bowl regularly, and I am feeling better for it as well. Just goes to show what balance of food does for your body.
September the 24Th there is a seminar in London by Dan Millman, at the mind body spirit festival, it costs £40 and that's without travel and sorting out digs for the night... :o( So as much as I want to go I guess I wont be... Would be great to meet the man and listen to what he has to say. His books have helped me no end. Especially the now much acclaimed Way of the Peaceful Warrior series...
A quick note of thanks to Claire for the advice and help and kind comments. You can read her blog here
Hello one and all in cyber land..... :o) I hope today sees you feeling revived, happy, excited, and loved.... OK OK So it may be the last Day of the working week for me so perhaps that's why I am feeling so light and happy... or maybe it was today's training session....
Training at Evade today was great, I met Tom Cox first who said he was taking the class, always a little nerve racking as Tom has high expectations and trains like a demon!!! Then Amanda turned up and they decided she would take the class, I think all of us breathed a sigh of relief and a little disappointment, there's nothing like pushing yourself hard to find out what works and what doesn't. Still Amanda had no intentions of letting us slack at all!! She put on a first rate class with a very energetic workout. Good warm up and then straight onto pads, punching combinations and kicking combinations.... the work rate was high and I surprised myself by working through it... I might owe Dan my training partner an apology as one of the side kicks sent him back a few feet.... oops. Went out for a meal last night, had a piece of steak and the most gorgeous salad and fresh fruit for afters, so hats off to Mike Colin for the meal, I knew he was talented but I never realised food was one of his strong points.... And healthy as well!!!! He gave me a book to read, Simon Wiesenthal, Justice not Vengeance, so I plan on starting that this week as well... :o)
All in all a good few days.... :o)
Stay Safe all of you.....
Hello folks.... how is life in cyber land? Good I hope....
I have stepped up the training as I said I would, however this has not been without problems. My body hurts, and I am suffering migraine type headaches as well. I am keeping myself hydrated, but I am burning through the energy in my body fairly quickly.
Today I rode 7 miles on my bicycle, then did over an hours intensive training in the dojo, had some porridge for lunch, and have drunk a fair amount of water to rehydrate my body. Tonight I am training with Steve Primrose who has just defended his world title last weekend (Well done Steve), in the hope of banging, cajoling and smashing my body into the type of shape it should be for my first full contact fight at the end of august.
I want to drop 21lbs from this weeks weigh in and I plan to do that using The Diet Plate and intensive training. Hopefully within the next 4-5 weeks, this will enable me to have 10 days or so walking around at that weight before I fight...
Hi folks, went through my first training session today in quite a while.... Amanda took the class and was kind and easy on me..... not..... lol. She was great and the work out was hard, fast and furious for a good 40 minutes, before moving into self defence stuff. I do feel achy and tired, but is to be expected with the 5 week lay off. I'm just glad to be back at it, although I know I probably wont feel like that tomorrow!!!
Its amazing how fast your fitness levels drop, I am got frustrated with myself as my hands wouldn't move fast enough and I was fatiguing earlier than I would have normally. Thankfully its just a blip and I can get it all back in time.
Looking forward to a hot bath when I get in from work. Also I have my favourite meal tonight, chicken breast, new potatoes, sweetcorn, cauliflower and broccoli..... yum yum :o)
Seeing that has made me smile as less than 2 years ago I was a dedicated veggie dodger.... strange how things change....
Stay Safe
Hello one and all..... So I said I was going to get back on my diet and I didn't.... I know I know.... However, today is the day!!! Have weighed myself, so not good as I am back up to 21 stone 10 or 304lbs..... that's so not good..... and I have lost a lot of muscle mass as well due to the inability to train.
Hello, once again...... I really am getting into the swing of this blogging thing huh? Lets see, training at Evade was great on Thursday, I trained with Dave Breed and he put us through our paces, with a good conditioning workout using weights, some self defence drills and then a blast on the pads to finish it off with. I loved the workout although it was hard, and I have been paying for it over the last two days with a huge lactic acid build up in my thighs.
In the office Thursday I met Simon the MD from PushOn a specialist online marketing company. It was a great meeting, I was really impressed with there attitude and portfolio. After that I had to put the finishing touches on a presentation I was doing for a meeting on Friday.... so after rewriting it at least twice, it ended up 52 pages long and midnight when I thought, that's enough.... Fell into bed and passed out, and strangely enough I don't remember thinking about smoking.....
So the morning of Friday, I was awake and ready to go.... slightly nervous and anxious as this meeting was important for me. Got a text from Steve Primrose informing me he had officially stopped smoking!!!! Great news!!! Keep up the good work mate.... The down side is Steve (King of the ring welter weight kick boxing world champion) Also trains me, the end of the message was want to train Sunday? For the first time ever I thought about this..... by Sunday he is going to be ratty..... this could hurt.... lol. Still he is professional and in both our busy lives I cant afford to miss a training session.... so I will let you know how bad it was on Monday...
So the meeting, it was fine, I did well remembered the main facts and had the figures at my finger tips when cross examined on several points, I think all in all I did well. Dr Ian Campbell was there and it was a privilege to spend time with and speak to the UK's leading obesity specialist.
Friday night was the tester.... went and saw some friends and had a drink.... they all smoke and I have to say so did I, however, I only smoked 3 cigarettes and only half of each of them... I hated the taste and I hate the smell, in fact it almost makes me nauseous. This morning was the worst, how could I have smoked for so long, my mouth felt horrible and the taste, well it was disgusting. I am convinced more than ever now that I will not smoke again.
So what on today's menu? This morning I had my usual breakfast of porridge, using The Diet Plate Bowl. I am out at a Charity event during the day today, so I will try and find a sandwich to eat for lunch, and try and stay away from the cakes on offer!!! This evening I will have an early tea Chicken Korma and rice from my local. I have a treat every Saturday, its not bad as I measure it out on The Diet Plate, I love this diet, eat whatever you want in the right portions. The tag line 'portion control made easy' is so honest and simple. If you want to try it then buy the complete weight management system (it works out cheaper than buying them singularly, like I did).
My thighs still hurt.... have I mentioned that? I took my dogs out for a walk this morning to try and break down the lactic acid, it has helped, but they still hurt....
Oh well, I probably wont get on tomorrow, so I will see you all Monday with the new weigh in.... fingers crossed....
Stay Safe
Today is Thursday, its morning (approx 9am) and I am sat here in the office dieing for a cigarette.... has it only been 2/3 days? I feel better for not smoking, apart from the cough and sore throat which I am told will get better within a couple of months... The cravings are not too bad, but my temper has become shorter, much shorter..... so please bare with me if I rant, rave, threaten and generally act like an idiot....
So shoot me down... I am quite proud of my weight loss, it has been a long hard slog, self discipline, and self control have played huge parts, even self deprivation (OK a bit melodramatic, but that's how it feels). So can you imagine how I feel when I see someone of 70 stone losing half of it, because of surgery? Now don't get me wrong I am all for helping everyone, and for people becoming the best they can be. However for most people to get to that size they eat on average 16k+ calories a day, now to put that amount of calories into your body you have to train your body to take it, pretty much like an athlete trains to get fit, but in reverse. So as much as I feel sorry for them, I also feel they have to take some responsibility for there own actions..... Also someone has to 'enable' them to get to that size, normally a close personal friend/partner or family member. Why is this? Its simple, once a person gets too big to move and is bed ridden, then someone has to a)look after them and clean them and b) bring them food!!! So who is at fault? well its two fold, firstly it is the person for getting that big (yes I know genetics, environment, depression, money etc play a part) and they have to accept some responsibility. Secondly, it is the fault of the enabler, because as soon as they are bed ridden if you only bought them tuna or fresh food or no food, they would have to a) move to get it, meaning they would burn up calories, or b) go hungry meaning they would lose weight. Yes I know this sounds severe but its a fact. Yes it may sound like torture, but then what diet isn't?
Anyhow, that's enough ranting for now.... its now 9:30 and i have to go training at Evade. See you all laters....
Stay Safe
