5k ParkRun

A while since I've updated now, but training has been great over the last few weeks. No massive weight losses to speak about, slowly dropping and now at 69.5kg but running has been the main objective and I've put on some more muscle according to Boditrax, I've been working on building more leg muscle to help with the running and now doing 130Kg leg presses.

Today though, I completed my end of year objective of a 5k race. Really pleased with the result of 25:04 which smashed my target. It was a faster time than that as well, but starting in the middle of the pack it was a long time and shuffle from the starting order to actually run. That gave me an actual running time of 24:50!

Parkrun Brighton & Hove were very welcoming, and I was the only new runner that week so had a briefing all to myself. The race itself was great, I started near the 24min pacer and kept with him or kept him in sight all the way around. Was hard going towards the end considering the pace I ran but I'm sure that will become easier. Certainly looking forward to the next one.

Mission Accomplished

Eating more healthily, exercising more and maintaining a sensible calorie deficit have enabled me to achieve the end target I was working on since July. Screenshot courtesy of MonitorYourWeight on iOS.

I haven't really followed a strict diet, the only secret to this has been eating less calories than I use and burning and additional 500 calories per day through exercise has really made that easy.

Some great figures to claim as success in 5 months.

• I lost 16.4Kg
• I can run for 30 minutes without dying!
• I can run more than 5km
• My waist size is 6 inches less that my start (was 36" and now 30")
• I feel great!

My journey isnt complete yet, I still have some stomach fat to lose so I will aim next for another loss of 2.7Kg (half a stone) and I want to do that 5k race by the end of the year. I know I can do the race, and I planned to do it in less than 30 minutes. Ideally, I'd like to do that in under 26 minutes. Just sheer competitiveness, but my brother and nephew run the same course and I want a better time than them.

Post Vegas Update

A week in Las Vegas again, but this time in the Mandalay Bay. Not the best Gym's I have seen but they do have a full suite if you want to pay $30. I just missed out on the Rockstar event, well not quite. It turned out to be on the day I arrived and the 20 minute cab ride took over an hour!

On my first morning (again jet lagged and awake at 3am) I decided to go for a run. The route I took was from the Mandalay Bay Beach level, through the entrance and out to the strip, Unfortunately, the first crossing of a major intersection and a wait. Then along passed the Luxor and Excalibur and over the bridge to New York. Over the Brooklyn Bridge and headed up towards the Aria. Another bridge and over the strip towards the MGM then back along the opposite side of the strip towards New York and then over the strip and back towards the Mandalay Bay. This was a 5k route, but not the easiest run due to the bridges, steps, escalators and crossings so not the quickest!

 I managed to do this every day while I was there, variable temperatures but an enjoyable run with good views. It's not often you can run from Asia to New York and get a view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower in a single run!

I ate pretty well, despite the food and drink challenges. I even had a salad in the Cheescake Factory! Despite the disciplined approach to healthy eating and the daily runs I managed to put 1.7Kg on when I weighed in on my return. Sure most of that is water retention from the flights and will come off quick enough but annoying nonetheless.

And so it did! A week later and 1.9Kg loss and now quite happy sitting under 71Kg staring towards my target of 69.9Kg. I'll do another Boditrax this week to see how I'm doing overall but quite pleased with the progress and the new healthy lifestyle.

Nearly at the final goal!

Another great week, a moderate 0.9Kg loss and now sitting at 71.1Kg and an overall loss of 15.2Kg. Running is going great, just under 30K run this week and getting faster each time. Another business trip to Las Vegas tomorrow and will try and get a run of the Strip in for the week, just missing out on running the RockStar challenge on Saturday as I have to fly back. Would have been awesome to have that on my run list, especially as my first race!

A great week!

This week I've managed to complete my first major target, the goals I set along the way of losing half a stone have obviously been moving me towards an end target weight but the key achievement was to move from being rated "Obese" with a BMI of over 30 down to "Normal" with a BMI of under 25. Today was weigh in day and I've hit 24.9 and 2Kg off my target goal of 69.9Kg (11st). This has been completed in 108 days, through careful calorie consumption against a daily calorie allowance tracked with Livestrong's MyPlate app and increased exercise.

I knew it was looking good as I rescanned myself with Boditrax at the Gym yesterday and was really pleased with the results.

Above is yesterday's scan and below the comparison from a few weeks ago.

I've lost a little muscle mass, but a lot of fat and my Metabolic age is 5 years lower and 8 years below my actual age.

Running is going well, I managed 36.9k last week and have completed 28k this week as well and also attempted to run one of the "official" runs in the area this morning and made the 7.1k run in a time I am very happy with. That's the furthest I have run, and while not my quickest it is quite a tough run with some pretty steep hills.

I'm very tempted to run my first 5k Parkrun tomorrow, but might defer after this morning's run. I'll make a call on it in the morning depending on how stiff I am. It's bonfire night tomorrow and I'm going to a party tonight and as I have now hit my target, I think a beer might be in order!

Goal 4 hit

A hard run this morning, no energy but made it round in a slower time than normal. Not sure why, low carbs or after another 5k run yesterday.. that's twice in a week now and something that wasn't planned at the start of this journey. I've clocked 30k this week which I'm really pleased with but the best part was after this mornings weigh in, 72.9kg and an overall loss of 13.4kg and now 3kg short of my goal of 11 Stone.

My original plan was 0.5Kg a week loss, and I've reset that today to 0.7 from today's weight as the original target date was projected as 24th February 2017 and I was 11 weeks ahead of plan.

My revised target is 25th of November so only 4 weeks to go and I hope to get their early, the reward will be a bottle of Champagne with Sophia and maybe a desert and then I can look towards Goal 6 of 10.5 Stone ready for Xmas. That one will be a hard target, Xmas parties will no doubt derail me for a bit but I'm sure the new me can cope.

Back to the gym later for an hour of weights with a 2k run at then end. From this mornings run I've hit my Apple Watch Green Exercise ring already and 316 calories out of my 550 calorie target and it's only 10:40am. This month is looking to be the first full month where I have filled all rings on the tracker since I started this journey. 

It's looking to be an expensive new year though, my 36" trousers that started this have now been sent to the charity shop, only worn twice. My other suits, at 34" are also too big now, and I've had to buy some smaller belts and put some new holes in some of the others. Waist size is under 32" now, so a really amazing transformation in 3 months. 

First 5K!

Not due for a weigh in yet, but it's looking like I might just make my 4th goal of 73.1Kg but I've now managed a 5k run on the treadmill. I've completed 22.3k overall this week so far so really pleased with that progress. Generally doing 3k with the dog in the morning and 2K as part of my workout but took my daughter to her first girls boxing session at the gym today and had an hour to kill os went on the treadmill. 5k in under 30 mins I am very happy with. Park run in the very near future then!

Gym Membership sorted

We now have a family membership and I've been measured with Boditrax. A 0.9Kg loss this week, not sure why, diet has been good, still no alcohol but maybe it's the weights in the gym. Anyway the Boditrax is supposed to be a fairly accurate tool to measure your overall composition. My results were not too bad, shame I didnt do this in July so I had a real comparison. My training program is for 6 weeks so I'll get measured again at that point.

Goal 3!

A great end to the week, Goal 3 well and truly hit and a 1.7Kg loss. Lots of running this week, what started as a 2K park run challenge now seems too small and I'm moving towards 5K. Weigh in at 74.8Kg today, an 11.5Kg overall loss. Only another 6.5 to go

I think it's time to join a gym

13 weeks of British Summer and I haven't been rained off on the morning walk yet, until this week. It's got cold, dark and now very wet so I need to think about a "Plan B" and start toning up a little but have somewhere I can do cardio as well. I was a member at David Lloyds a few years ago, great Gym but very expensive. My local leisure centre has an Impulse Leisure gym in so I need to get some prices and join the family. Another 1.2Kg down and 0.2 off Goal 3 so all is good still.

Noticeable!

With being away from work for some time now, I made it into HQ for a few days and people noticed the difference without me saying what I've been doing. "How can you lose weight after posting everything you have eaten for the last 3 weeks on Facebook?" was one of my favourites. Still not quite got over the Cape Town peak but down to 77.7Kg now and a 2.1Kg loss last week. I'm now at an 8.6Kg loss overall and up to 2 mile run.

A very large blip

A fantastic South Africa trip, good food, company and diving with some Great White Sharks but it all came at a price. A 2.4Kg gain. Beer is the enemy here, so lets knock that on the head and abstain until I hit my target. I was so close to my next target though but back up to Goal 1 territory with a 79.8Kg weigh in. Some things I saw, and some I ate this week.

1.7Kg off, nearly at goal 3

Another awesome week. The runs have gotten longer, now over a mile and starting to think that a Park Run is a good target. 77.4Kg and just short of goal 3. As I said last week, off to Cape Town next week and expect some catching up to do when I get back. I'm 4Kg ahead of plan so all good!

Half Kilo Gain

Jet lag hit me pretty hard this week so I was Mr Keen and waiting for the Gym to open at the Aria Hotel at 0500.

Good food, and a load of cocktails and only half a KG gain. I'll hit it hard next week, another overseas trip with work coming up to South Africa and that one will be a lot of beer, and a lot of steak so better get some negative KG's in the bank to cover it!

2.4Kg and hit Goal 2

After last weeks gain, I've worked hard this week and even managed a little jog on my morning dog walk. Not far, but I'll keep increasing the distance on this to see how far I can take this. I'm now at 78.6kg so reached the 12.5 stone mark and really pleased. Another trip next week but this one is work, expect a gain next week but the gym should keep me honest. Next stop Vegas!!!

A slight blip

A fantastic trip to New York, my first visit there and what an amazing place. The Hotel had a gym so I managed some cycling but we walked pretty much the whole of Manhattan and also a couple of days hire of Bikes for a ride around Central Park. On one day, my wife Sophia had a rest and watched/listened to some Jazz in the Mall and I took the opportunity to have a proper ride around the park with the fit brigade. I held my own so can't complain. We ate well, and drank well so it's no surprise that I put some weight on. Only 0.7Kg and some of that is probably water retention from the alcohol so I'm not worried. It could also have been the New York Deli Sandwiches, kudos to Carnegie Deli.

Glad we shared this though!

Progress is good!

Another 1.5Kg and now weighing in 80.3Kg so 6Kg overall. Really pleased with this but expect next week to be a struggle, a week in New York with my wife for our 20th Anniversary. I expect a few hurdles on this path, this isnt a diet it's a lifestyle change so will try and be good but expect a blip from the food and drink on the trip.

Setting some goals

Over the last week I've eaten healthily and now track what I consume with the MyPlate app from Livestrong. That has made a real difference in the diet and I have started looking more at the food labels before I eat. Aiming to lose 0.5Kg a week now as a target and tracking all my activity with an Apple Watch the daily long walks with the dog and a few after work 10 mile cycle rides along the River Adur really have kick started the diet in an awesome way. I've lost 2.2Kg this week! Back to goal setting, looking at my BMI rating I was just under 30... obese, and to become "normal" I need to shed 16.4Kg or 11 Stone. So I have this down as my end target and divided my approach into half stone goals and colour coded my Excel tracker accordingly. Goal 7 is what my recommended weight should be, not sure it's a goal I want though seems way to skinny but 5 weeks in now and I've hit Goal 1.

Start of things to come

This morning my wife and two kids left me and my dog Mako (that's him on the left) to go camping for a week on Brownsea Island and seeing as I had the pleasure of a 5am wake up call as they banged around the house I decided to take the dog out for a long walk as it was such a nice morning. Now I've been doing various bits to try and stay in some form of shape but food, drink and work usually get in the way. A few weeks back I had a wake up call when my suit trousers were becoming very uncomfortable to wear and having to get a size 36" waist size and weighing in at 86.3Kg I decided it was time to lose a few Kg's.

As you can see on the right, that was my starting point according to the NHS but after weighing in this morning, I've shed 1.3Kg over the last 4 weeks but after this morning's 5 mile walk I've burnt 500 calories hit my Move and Exercise target on the Apple Watch and it's only 7am. Results of the last 4 weeks below, I've got some scales that track Muscle and Fat percentages so I can see where the weight comes from, hopefully fat not muscle. Either way, I'm not Obese already, just very overweight!

So what if I do this walk every morning.. more calories burned, weight shifts faster? Let's find out!