Today has been one of those days that just keeps on giving! I can't
remember the last time I have felt so motivated and focused, if ever.
This morning I woke up and weighed in. This is not my official weigh in,
that was later on this morning before a PT session with Oli at Peak Fitness, but it
gives me an indication of what I have lost. So, according to my scales, since
my weigh in the day before London Marathon, I have lost 30lbs! I was curious to see
what this
has done to my BMI.
So after a quick search on the internet I had worked it out to be 29.8, which meant I was no longer in the
obese category! Aces! I'm not usually a fan of the BMI scale,
but I found that this time, it really proved to me that what I am achieving is
pretty amazing, I'm getting results, one step at a time.
Generally I have had a mixed few weeks, after the Impetigo incident
where I was on house arrest for a week and generally feeling sorry for
myself at my temporary deformed
appearance, I had my bad run during a race (see last post) and then a week away
where I found it very difficult to stay focused on eating clean (all with a horrible
routine that Oli had set me 3 times a week!!). One thing I have found easy is picking myself
back up and getting back on it again, which leads me to the conclusion that
routine is really important to me; it enables me to stay focused.
Coming up to the beginning of December I was as usual offered an advent calendar
by my Dad, and sensibly
declined. This simple yearly tradition
always end in exactly the same way, tearing the whole thing open on the 1st
December and filling a bowl with all 24 chocolates, then polishing them off in
about 15 minutes before hiding the wrapping at the bottom of the bin! Not this
year though!!
I follow a guy on twitter @StuartAmoryPT and had noticed that he was
setting an Advent Challenge so thought I would give it a go, so not only was I
getting smugatronic from no chocolate but I was motivating myself towards
Christmas which I know is going to be a huge challenge for me. The Advent
challenge started with a 5k run on Saturday, which I did, not a
fantastic time, but negative splits and consistency, something that I
haven't had for some time! Sunday was a dietary challenge, no sweets, chocolate
or cake which I found quite easy, so stuck a strength session in for good
measure. Today's challenge is to complete the hashtag #bytheendof2012, after a
lot of thinking a decided on the sub30 5k that is bugging me, 5 man press ups
and 6lb weight loss. So today I have made myself accountable, and have 4 weeks,
eeek! I'm looking forward to the next 21 days’ worth of challenges!
As I mentioned earlier today was PT day, we started with the usual weigh
in, Oli's scales weigh slightly heavier than mine which meant according to
these measurements my BMI is still over 30, but not by much, and as I said
earlier, I don't usually take this measurement into account anyway. My own
personal target this month was to get below 40% body fat, and I did just that with a reading of
38.7%, so I was well happy.
My muscle mass has gone down slightly but as Oli said I have had good
results despite the ups and downs that I have had this month, so it's all
positive. We also chatted about my diet over the next month, basically more of
the same, and we have agreed on two cheat days, this Friday coming as I have
friends round in the evening, and Christmas Day.
I was a little apprehensive of what exercises Oli had in store for me
today, seeing as though I had hated last month’s so much and threw my toys out my pram
during every single set in every
session! As I was warming up he got a few bits and pieces ready as he explained
that he would be switching things up for the next month.
This month I was to concentrate on upping the weight, dropping the
repetitions to 8, upping the sets to 6 and increasing rest time to 2 minutes.
He did say that I might find this a little boring but I already liked the sound
of it as heavy weights are my favourite.
During the exercises Oli was taking the weights off me and replacing them with
heavier weights, apparently I was making the exercises look far too easy! So
once we had got the weights right, this was the programme that was agreed for
the next month:
10 minutes cycle warm up, followed by:
- Squats, bum to ankles, 8kg
dumbbells x 8
- Shoulder press, 9kg
dumbbells x 8
- Repeat x 6
- Lunges, 8kg dumbbells x 8
each leg
- Lat pull down, 45kg x 8
- Repeat x 6
- 250m sprint row x 4, aim to
beat previous time each time
This programme is to be completed 3 times a week, and Oli has also asked
me to include active rest a couple of days a week, and I can continue to run
with Regency Runners once a week, but no more than 3 miles.
We also had a little chat about my obsession with getting this sub30 for
a 5k, Oli reminded me that this was not what I was training for, and to do so
could risk me losing muscle so for the time being, this can go on the back
burner. We talked about my own personal target of getting down to 25% body fat,
and he is confident that I will get there in good time for the summer. I
skipped out of there really looking forward to the month ahead, and ready to
tackle Christmas head on!
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