Andrew is getting fit

It got cold overnight in Auckland!  We had single digit temperatures overnight for the first time in a loooong time.  So my run this morning was a bit chilly.  Having said that it was fantastic.  Slightly chilly is the best temperature for running!

I ran out to the Harbour Bridge and then to work this morning.  I stopped and took this panoramic shot with my cellphone:

I’m mighty impressed that my cellphone can stitch photos together so well!  As you can see it is an absolutely beautiful day here in Auckland.

One thing I was thinking about while running today is that how I’m in danger of becoming derailed from my healthy eating plans as I’m extremely comfortable with where I am at the moment.  I find that I’m not eating as clean as I could because I’m not that fussed about losing weight anymore.  I just want to not gain weight if that makes sense.  The danger with this approach is that it is very easy to tip from having the odd snack to having a lot of snacks and then regaining the weight.  I reckon if I wasn’t running as much as I am I’d be in much greater danger so my motivation to keep running is high.

I guess eternal vigilance is required.  How do you folks deal with this?

Tags: Lessons, running by Andrew
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I’ve noticed that my blog seems to have become a running and push-ups blog. That’s fine by me as it reflects my next lesson learned.

I’ve found that I HAVE to exercise to lose weight and get healthy. Some people may find that for them they can control what they eat and be in tip top shape but that just doesn’t work for me. I need to run and do my pushups. I need to go to the gym and try and lift weights every so often. I need to get on the crosstrainer, the rowing machine, my bike etc. I need to be active!

• Exercise has many beneficial effects for me. It makes me feel good about myself. There is a certain sense of smugness that sets in as I pass people sitting in their cars or cafes as I’m out running.
• It helps to keep me healthy. My cholesterol has dropped dramatically since I started exercising and eating right.  My weight has dropped dramatically.  103 pounds down so far!
• It means I can eat more of finer things in life (hmm…curly fries) as I’m burning more calories.  By exercising I’ve built more muscles so I’m burning more calories while I’m just doing my everyday activities!
• Exercise has transformed me from a couch potato into a runner.

Honestly folks, if I can do it then anyone can.  I think the mistake some folks make is that they try to do too much at once.  If you are just starting out you need to ease into it.  Take it one day at a time.  Before too long you’ll be one of us happy nutters who are out running in the rain!

And so, back to pushups and running:
I did day 02 of week 02 the 100 pushup challenge this morning in the gym.  The schedule called for 16, 13, 11, 11 and max (min 15).  I did the first 16 surprisingly easy although I could feel my abs (or lack thereof) quite strongly.  The next 13, 11 and 11 went well as well.  In my previous pushup post I said that I would definitely do more than the minimum and so I told myself I had to do at least 20 and I did 20.  I’m pretty sure that at least 50% of the pushup challenge is mental so from now on I’ll try and set more ambitious goals!

I also had a good run this morning.  I ran for an hour and did 10.3 km at a 5:50 pace.

Tags: Lessons, fitness, running by Andrew
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A quickie lesson today:  Celebrate all your achievements.  No matter how little or silly.

Losing weight consistently is damn hard work and we need all the encouragement we can get.  Sometimes that encouragement has to come from ourselves and so we need to celebrate how well we are doing.

I break down all my goals into mini goals and whenever I reach one I celebrate it.  The celebration may involve buying new clothes, a little victory dance or a boastful exclamation!  One of the reasons I record my weight in pounds instead of kilograms is so that I have more milestones to celebrate.  It’s brilliant.

If you’d like to see all the posts in the series so far click here.

In other updates:

I redid day 2 of week 01 of the 100 pushup challenge this evening. The program calls for 12, 12, 10, 10 and max (min10).  I did 12, 12, 10, 10 and 20 for my max which I was really happy with.  A search for muscles victory dance may have been performed but I did not get busted by my wife.

I’ve got high hopes that I will complete week 01 day 03 this time.  I think doing the pushups in the evening has been brilliant.  The only hazard is that my daughter came and pushed my head down while I was on my max set on Monday which killed all further efforts.

Tags: Lessons by Andrew
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As you know I’ve lost 100 pounds now and am sharing some of the lessons I’ve learnt. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series so far click here.

The lesson I learned is that I need to track what I’m eating.  Calories in have to be less than calories out if you want to lose weight.  I think a lot of us get frustrated at times as we believe that we are not eating much at all but the scale doesn’t move.  When this happens to me then I start writing what I’m eating down and working out the calories.  I soon find that that extra cup of Milo, that helping of grapes and those 3 cookies liberated from the baby have a surprisingly high calorie count.

Skinny Guy has just written a post on this:

Keeping a food journal will help you see not only what you eat, but also how much you eat. It is a strategy that will help you become more mindful of your eating habits and become more aware of how what you eat affects your body.

Your journal can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like. I know some folks who carry around a folded piece of paper and a pencil while others use spreadsheets and other high tech solutions, including web sites such as FitDay…

I’m pretty lazy so I don’t record everything I eat everyday, but when my weightloss slows down or I start noticing I’m eating stuff I shouldn’t be then I start to record everything for a few days, just to remind myself of the energy coming in that needs to be expended.

Tags: Lessons by Andrew
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As you know I’ve lost 100 pounds now and am sharing some of the lessons I’ve learnt. If you’d like to see all the posts in the series so far click here.

Today’s lesson is start a blog and share your journey! I think starting this blog has really helped me in so many ways.

I know that when I first started running there were times that I wanted to give up and it was all too hard but I didn’t want to report failure to my readers so I gutted it out.  I always find that knowing I’m going to be reporting in to my readers incredibly motivating.  It has given me a sense of accountability in a way.  I’ve always been accountable to myself but knowing that there are other people out there who will be looking in at what I’m doing really helps to keep me going.

It’s also good being able to share when things don’t go according to plan.  Like this weekend when I’ve eaten way too many cookies and not done enough push-ups. It really helps when you get great support when things aren’t going exactly the way you would like them to.

It’s funny how the support network just appears when you start a blog.   It’s rather humbling that so many great people regularly visit my blog to cheer me on, offer advice and support.  You are all a great source of inspiration and I credit a lot of my success so far to you.

The other part of this lesson is that you should also read other people’s blogs.  I find so many of you inspirational and amazing.  And one thing I’ve learnt is that we are all in this together.  Some of our journeys are going well, some not so well but we are all taking action.  That has to be a good thing!

Just as an aside:  The weather forecast for my race tomorrow is thunder and lightning!

Tags: Lessons by Andrew
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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.

Tags: Lessons, fitness by Andrew
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