Andrew is getting fit

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I thought I would share some of the lessons that I have learned in my weight loss and fitness journey. I’ve lost over 100 pounds now so I guess I must have learned one or two things.

The first major lesson I learnt that I would like to share is that is that a life without chocolate cake is a life not worth living.

In the past I would go on diets etc. where you had to be perfect with your eating and never have anything that was not allowed.

I don’t know about you folks but for me as soon as a food is forbidden then it becomes very desirable and I become miserable when I can’t have it.

For example, I followed a plan where you ate very strictly for 6 days a week and then had a cheat day where you could eat what you like.  Oh boy, I lived for that cheat day and I fantasised about it all week long.  Then on the cheat day I would eat like there was no tomorrow.  That doesn’t work.  It doesn’t promote healthy habits that you can keep up in the long term.  Did I lose weight?  Yes.  Was I healthier.  No.  What eventually happened was that one of the cheat days never ended and I ate nonstop for about two months resulting in a regain of most of the weight I lost.

So now I don’t follow a diet.  I have a healthy lifestyle where I eat mainly fresh fruit and vegetables with the odd piece of chocolate cake thrown in.  The key for me is moderation.  I have one piece of cake rather than the whole cake (I kid you not) and I factor that into how much I’ve eaten for the day.  So if I do have a piece of cake then I run a bit more or I have a smaller dinner.

The amazing thing for me now is that it took me so long to realise that moderation is the key to healthy eating.

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Tags: Lessons, fitness by AndrewE
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I did day 2 of the 100 pushup challenge today and it was tough!

Day two calls for 5 sets of pushups (12, 12, 10, 10 and max (min 10)) with at least a 90 second break inbetween each set.

I have to admit that when I woke up today my pecs were sore.  Yesterday they were fine funnily enough.  Anyways, I did the first set no worries, the second set I started to get worried and by the third I was thinking uh oh.  I nutted out a fourth set somehow and then had a two minute break to recover.  I was determined to beat Bill who did 13 for his max but today I have to admit he was the victor.  I had jelly arms by about pushup number 6 and it was all I could do to do the minimum 10.  Nonetheless I did it.  I’m thinking I may be having to repeat a week or two here and there but I’ll keep plugging away at it.

In other news, my gym was holding a mini sprint triathlon today and I’ve always wanted to participate but have always been too unfit too self-conscious to do it.  However, my confidence levels are so much higher nowadays so I jumped in and had a go.

The way it works is you have to row for 1000m, then cycle for 2000m and then grind for 1500m.  Your cumulative time is what counts including changeover. I haven’t been on the rowing machine or the grinder in well over a year so I thought it would be quite tough as it’s a hell for leather kind of event.

Well, the rowing wasn’t too bad.  I decided that I would settle into a rhythm and try and stick to it rather than go hard out and fade rapidly.  For the last 250m I pushed it a bit and ended up with a time of 3:42.

I then jumped on the bike and cycled 2000m.  In hindsight I went too easy on the bike as I think I could have pushed quite a bit harder.  Cumulative time 7:20.

The grinder was tough.  About two thirds of the way through my heart rate was above 200 bpm but I stuck to it and finished with a total time of 9:41.15.

That put me in second place behind last years winner!  Before you get too excited I was at the gym bright and early and was only the 3rd person to compete. ;)  I’ll go have a look at the final standings tomorrow.  I’m just really pleased that I got the gumption to give it a go this year.  And I know I’m not going to be last!

And a big shout out to my lovely wife who started C25K today!  The running bug seems to be spreading.

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Tags: Milestones, fitness by AndrewE
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I’ve been tagged by Jeff to answer 5 questions:

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?

My gut instinct was to say non-existent and after much reflection I realised that my gut instinct was right. :)  I’ve only been running since January this year and I’m really sad I’ve been missing out all my life!

2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?

My best experience was my very first race as I was just so amazed and happy to be able to do it.  My 4th race was also very special as I ran it with my dad. My worst so far was pretty good too in many respects but I (and pretty much all the other runners) took a wrong turn on the track and did a lot more distance than we were supposed to.

3. Why do you run?

Cos I can!  I started running because I thought I couldn’t and now I run because I can’t stop.  I love it.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you’ve been given about running?

The best advice I received was to slow down.  When I started I thought that to improve I had to set a new PR each training session.  Thankfully my readers quickly pointed out that I was setting myself up for injury.

The worst was to do a full marathon.  I’ve taken the first but haven’t quite accepted the second yet…but I’m leaning towards it.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people know.

Err…I love musicals?  Always have, always will.

In other news, the weather was crap today so I ran on the treadmill in the gym.  I ran for 30 minutes, did 30 minutess on the bike and 30 minutess on the elliptical.  And it was good. :)

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Tags: fitness, running by AndrewE
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Well, this week I’m down to 93.86 kgs (206.9 pounds) which is a healthy .84 kg loss (1.85 pounds) for the week. That means I’m down about 50 pounds for the year so far and 101 pounds overall. Pretty incredible isn’t it?

I started my 100 push-ups challenge today:

Today I was required to do 10, 10, 8, 6 and then my max (min 7) with a minute break in between each set.  I saw over on Bill’s blog that he completed his yesterday and did the minimum for his max.  I was determined to beat him so did 8 as my max! :)  Aaron did 26…but that is another story.

In other news, spare a thought for Tim who got tripped in a race and broke his collar bone.

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Tags: Weigh in, fitness by AndrewE
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My alarm went off at 5am this morning by letting me know she needed a top-up and a service. I got the bottle while my wife changed her. I decided to get up and not go back to bed as I had my alarm set for 5:45 so that I could be out the door by 6AM for my morning run.

I was really not too keen on my run this morning. My bed was calling me and it was raining and dark out. But I thought bugger this to that little voice inside my head that was telling me to put it off till later and put my shoes on and I was off.

There is something about running somedays that just makes every footfall a joy. I hadn’t been running more than 5 minutes before I was at peace with the world and filled with a sense of bliss. It was really nice. There was a gentle drizzle falling at times during the run and it kept me nice and cool.

I saw about 40 people doing a karate class out on the beach as I ran by Mission Bay which I thought was really cool.  The sun was just starting to come up and that point and I really wished that I had remembered to bring my camera along as it was rather picturesque.

I had a lot to reflect on during my run. I achieved a rather momentous (to me) milestone this week when I finally reached the point where I’ve lost 100 pounds. This didn’t come easy and I was reflecting upon how my life had changed over the last few years and generally speaking I think I have reached a point where I am content with my lot.  That doesn’t mean that I will stop trying to improve myself and my life however.  At one point during my run the song Was it worth it? by the Pet Shop Boys came on and I was thinking YES IT IS!

Anyways, back to my run. I did a long loop as you can see from the picture below:

I did 16.28 kilometers in 1:44:45.  I didn’t break any speed records but I did break my distance record. Parts of the run were very hilly but I just plodded along and didn’t walk at all which I was pleased with.

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Tags: running by AndrewE
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I heard some good things about Running Warehouse on Andrew(AJH)’s blog and so I thought I would give it a go as well.

I ordered two pairs of shoes and a cap.  They then gave me the option of a techshirt for an extra $5 and threw in a free shopping bag as well.  Shipping was quite pricey but that’s always the case as I live in New Zealand and we are far away from everywhere.  The whole order cost me less than a single pair of the same shoes would cost here in New Zealand.

I ordered them on Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon when I got home from work they had arrived already!  If you know what shoes you want then this store is the place to shop!  Great service and great price with fast delivery.  You can’t go wrong!

*Note that this is a personal endorsement.  I don’t get anything from them and I’m not affiliated with them in any way.  I just love them!

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Tags: fitness by AndrewE
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I ran home after work today.  I took the scenic route and did 10.29 km in just over an hour.  It was a nice run and the only downside was that I had assumed my in-laws would be home (they live with us) to let me in and they’d gone out.  So I was forced to nap in the sun for about 15 minutes until my wife got home from work.  It’s a hard life but someone has to do it.

I’ve discovered a new challenge that I’m keen to give a go.  J.D. over at Get Fit Slowly is doing the 100 pushups in 6 weeks challenge and is looking for folks to do it with him.  I’m going to give it a go!

The 100 pushups site claims that most people should be able to do it but we  will have to see.  I know hitting the 25 pushups in a row mark gave me a great boost so even hitting 50 would be great.

If you’re serious about increasing your strength, follow this six week training program and you’ll soon be on your way to completing 100 consecutive push ups! Think there’s no way you could do this? I think you can! All you need is a good plan, plenty of discipline and about 30 minutes a week to achieve this goal!

I saw what C25K could do to get me running so I’m willing to give this a go.  If you want to know more about it then click the image below:

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Tags: fitness by AndrewE
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Check out that Traineo counter on the right hand side! Triple digits at last! I’ll post more later with some thoughts but for now I’m just really happy!

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Tags: Milestones by AndrewE
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I had a funny run yesterday. I went to One Tree Hill as I wanted to do 3 circuits of the volcano as that would be about 10K. However, after one circuit my legs just didn’t want to go no more! It was really weird. I figured maybe I’ve done too much running as I’ve run every day this week so far so I decided to call it quits and stop.

To make up for the abrupt end to my run I did 40 minutes on the exercise bike instead. I probably should have gone and got the real bike out instead but… I didn’t. I’m good that way.

I went for a run in the Domain this morning and everything was back to normal. I was doing loops of the mile track that is there. I bumped into a former colleague who was walking to work but gave a wave and carried on running.  I almost got my car towed away as I parked in one of the few towaway parks that were there by mistake.  Luckily I finished my run before any overzealous parking wardens or towies arrived.

From next week I should be able to go to the gym earlier in the morning before work as my in laws are returning to the country today (they’ve been gone since January) and they will look after my baby 3 days a week. Grandparents start earlier than daycare does so that is great.  Hmm…I wonder if they’ll notice I’ve lost about 50 pounds since they left? We’ll have to wait and see. :)

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Tags: Life, running by AndrewE
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I quite like the look of my graph this week. Even though there was a rather significant birthday indulgence I still managed to lose a decent bit of weight overall.  I’m down .7 kgs (1.5 pounds) for the week.  I was really hoping to drop a further .7 of a pound as that would tick me over to 100 pounds lost.  If I was still going by scale weight I could do it but I’ve switched to using Physics Diet so I’ll wait till my “official” weight gets there.  Next week!

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Tags: Weigh in by AndrewE
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