Building Up

I have decided to try and build up. Yes, I know, close to 50 and now I decided that this is the time. I have tried to get fit in the past and loose fat, but now I thought if I built up I could do all of it in one go. So the weights (not heavy yet) have come out and I have started a small routine. The Apple Watch has an app called 7 Minutes and I use that too, which is good as it raises my heart rate to fat buring/cardio rates, which is something I don’t get too much of with weights.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about M’s health and that it is slowly getting worse, and with that I decided I had to do something about my health and fitness levels as I will be useless to him if I am a fat lazy lump. I have bought some supliments to assist, but all in all it will be hard work that gets results.

I have been looking at some blogs of people that have been doing the same thing, but a lot of them seem to be using steroids and are gym bunnies that live in the gym 24/7 and eat 7 meals a day. This really is not a posibility for me, let alone the cost of gym membership in the UK is very high and you are automatically stuck in a year contract. Then there is the embarrisment/shyness of working out amongst the gym-rats and muscle dudes, which is entimidating too unless you have a gym mate (I don’t). So I don’t think I will be joining a gym anytime soon.

I have had the weekend off from any exercise as I had a very sore chest after earlier in the week from overdoing it. I needed the recovery time, but tomorrow it all starts again. I have looked at ones site and there is an idea about what to do and when, i.e. Mondays chest day, Tuesday arms and so on. But, I will not be up ar 5am and off to the gym as he does for the above reasons. I also need to do more cardio, but having asthma it can be quite hard, but I will give it a go, anything to get rid of fat and build muscle I guess.

I bought an app too that I can use to measure my body and it also takes photos of my and over time can play to show changes, but I will be a slow show LOL. Anyway, I feel determined to do it this time.

Diet Update…

So far so good. Although, I started with a headache yesterday that lasted for over 24 hours. I think that it was due to the shock on my system, that being lack of carbs and no sugars. Today I finally got it sorted by taking migraine and paracetamol tablets at 3 am then paracetamol every four hours and hey presto, gone. Thank god that is. Even when I was dieting the last time I was never good, and still had sugars and carbs and just counted calories, and did well as I kept to 1200 to 1500 calories a day. Yesterday I did my first weigh in and was 14.31 stone. I am getting on the scales each day, but will not post about each pound lost, just update each week.

Yesterday, I really was not in the mood for eating anything. I had two eggs and spinach for breakfast and a black coffee. Mid-morning I had a protein drink, lunch was a chicken salad that I struggled to eat. Mid-afternoon another protein drink and dinner was just roasted chicken with jerk spices on it. Lots of water too all day.

Today was a little less food, as I really did not want anything this morning, but knowing I had to have something, just had a small apple. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon were the same as yesterday, lunch two egg salad and dinner was roasted turkey and vegetables, followed by another small apple. I have not managed to drink as much water but still had a good go.

Yes, it is very early days, just the first 48 hours, but I don’t feel like I am on a diet. I don’t feel the need to raid the fridge and eat a block of cheese, consume a big tub of Ben & Jerrys or go to the shops and buy a big bag of sweets/candy.

Shredding For Summer…

I have been getting a bit, no, scrap that, a lot lazier the past few months with any forms of exercise and dieting/healthy eating. It can be so hard and let’s be honest, we need some sort of motivation. My last motivation was my mate Mark, we were both on diets and determined to lose weight and get fitter, but doing it our own way and checking in. However, he has totally given up and weighs more now that he did at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, I have not done that, but if I carry on with the lazy streak then I will turn into Ten Tonne Tessy like he has.

M wants to slim down and so that is now my motivation to get moving, get fitter and drop a stone in weight. As such, I have decided to shred for the summer. I have set my goal, that is to lose x amount of weight, tone up completely, and if I end up building muscle mass as a by-product of this, then great. The other reason why, is that I am 50 at the end of the year, and I see quite a lot of men on Instagram and Twitter who either look terrible at 50 or quite fantastic for their age. I am, however, under no illusion that the guys who look stunning are mostly gym rats, they have taken 20+ photos to make sure they look their best, then published it. I have been using social media since 2006, so know the script, but all the same, it is a point of reference for me to look at, aim, and understand that they are goals that I may not reach, but hell, I want to try.

Since it is the last bank holiday in the UK for 3 months we decided to clear out the cupboards and fridge of all the “shite” and either bin it or eat it so that we have no further temptation at hand. I took pleasure in binning a large container of sweets (candy) that had sat there for some time, with me picking at it from time to time. I even check my bedside unit to ensure that nothing tempting was it in. Surprisingly enough there was, so that has now been removed and disposed of.

From tomorrow, we are sticking to protein, lots of it, vegetables and a moderate amount of healthy fats. We are aiming at stating with a low carb diet, but not making the mistake of low fat too as that is one of the failure points, so good fats like nuts, avocado, olive oil, grass-fed butter etc. So, out with the crap and in with good stuff, so the fridge is now full of eggs, chicken, turkey, vegetable. The fruit bowl is full, and the determination is set.

I have also decided to take in more exercise too. I have my new Apple Watch with lots of different apps to make/nag me into getting up off my arse and moving. I also have the dogs as an excuse to get out more and walk the legs off them too. M is going to join me, but due to his disabilities he will be going slow and anything he can do will be at his own pace. One of the things that do not help me is that I tend to go at something at 100 miles an hour rather than gradually building up. M said he would remind me and I am conscious that I need to build up.

So, there it is, my plan for summer, and fingers crossed, something that we keep doing rather than saying screw it today I need cake. I will still have my black coffee, so all will be well. I am not saying that I will be good for the rest of the time either, let’s face it, life without a little treat is really not a good life LOL, but I am not going to go back to my old ways. I am tired all the time, lack energy and with it motivation, and it is all down to being lazy and eating all this crap, sugar being the main problem. I used to drink my coffee with lots of full-fat milk and 2 spoons of sugar, but at the beginning of the year, I decided that it had to go and I now love black coffee without sugar now, in fact, I also love black tea with no sugar too. I stopped buying coke as the sugar tax in the UK made a usual £1.50 bottle of coke £2.50, so that put me off buying it. I missed it quite a lot, to begin with, but now although I do get it on the very odd occasion I do not miss it, and I guess that is why I have fewer headaches too. I have seen all the celebs going on about sugar-free diets, but at the time I was of the opinion that it was a goal that was not obtainable as everything seems to be laced with sugar. I cannot have aspartame as it gives me violent migraines, something that is not considered in these diets, and by our money grabbing government with its sugar tax. Those of you outside the UK have no idea how insane our government is with its taxes, from TV Tax to Sugar Tax, and not forgetting the latest tax to be implemented this year is the self-service checkout tax, no, that wasn’t a joke. I digress!

In conclusion;

• I will lose weight/fat
• I will get fitter
• I will stop eating crap including sugar
• I will drink more water
• I will stop using excuses
• I will post about my ups, downs, successes and failures in order to keep going
• I will make it to 50 feeling and hopefully, looking great
• I will be an Instagram model (joking)

Roll on Tuesday 28th May, it all starts here.

Dietary Adventures in Narnia

I know, Narnia indeed! But, it would seem like I have stepped into the blessed snowbound place. Why? Well, it would seem that sticking to my diet I have been able to eat really nice things and keep under my calorie count. I decided that it should be around the 1200 mark, with a margin (of error?) taking me to 1500 if I am being a bad boy.

I have cut out milk, which was a shock to the system as I quite literally, live for milk, cannot get enough of it, and tend to drink many pints a day of the lovely creamy full-fat milk. If I have unpasteurised milk, or raw as our American friends call it, I can drink a hell of a lot more, oh, then there is sterilised which is my all time favourite from when I was a kid.

Anyway, I have been keeping track of all that I consume, and I have tried my best to increase my intake of water. I am a bugger for not drinking water, and this is due to the amount of coffee and tea I drink on a daily basis. I am still not drinking enough water if I am honest, but it is a lot more than I have done in the past.

I started at the beginning of the year at 14 stone 7 pounds. I am broad shouldered so carry the weight quite well, but I need to shift my gut. At least I still have a 32″ waist and this has never increased for the past 25 or more years. After weighing myself I have managed to lose a stone (14lb) so far, but there is still a need for lots of improvement. I have been bad the last few days, so back on the diet again and try as I may to avoid the sinner’s delights of cake and sweets (candy).

Both M and I have ended up with colds, so they do say that you have to feed a cold, so that was my excuse to eat cake, ice cream and other delights. The world is too full of nice things, so I don’t mind sinning from time to time, after all, what is life without a little whimsy?

Diet Change…

So, after our holiday I had managed to pile on 7 pounds and M managed to lose 2, how in hell that happened I do not know, I walked countless miles, swam in the Atlantic, ran about with the dogs, and generally never stopped from 5am each day.

We had decided to go Paleo after our holiday was over, so on Monday, we started.  I love paleo, it makes cutting out sugar and processed food easy.  I admit I do miss my coffee with full-fat milk and sugar in the morning, but in the same breath, I don’t miss it.  I think I miss the thought of the sweet richness that I have had for countless years.

We have done paleo before and managed to lose weight and ate so much.  But cut sugar and processed foods and you are bound to lose weight.  I want to lose fat, bulk up, build muscle and generally get fitter and with that healthier.  My previous diet was okay as I was calorie counting all the time, but in all honesty, I was still eating crap and too much sugar, as I love my sweets (candy), just within my calorie goal.

So far so good, I have had a moment when I really fancy something sweet, but then grab a piece of fruit to quash it.  I bought an electric spiralizer, and boy, what fun.  I decided to make a chicken stirfry and apart from chicken, garlic, fine green beans (grey area on this being paleo), chilli, green peppers, onions, and best of all, spiralized courgettes which added a different dimension to it rather than rice.  It was a success, and I intend to spiralize lots of veggies.  I think I will still include raw milk in my diet from time to time, that is whenever I get to the farm for it, and I was reading that some include the odd bit of fetta cheese as this being goats cheese is okay, but I am not too sure as yet.  I love my cheese, but am determined to keep to the basics and by that, I mean to stick to the rules of “what would a caveman eat”

I have tried to find magazines in the UK for paleo, and it really has not caught on so far, if anyone knows of one, please let me know.  I have found many American publications, which are okay, but they have lots of ingredients that you cannot get here.  My friend Anna has been paleo for about 6/7 years now, and I first had a go 5 years back, and loved it, but missed my milk and in the end, the cake cravings were too much.  There was little or no information about the diet, and lots of articles really contradicted each other which was not helpful at all.  The web seems alive now with paleo and primal diet information and lots of the shops are starting to cater for it.  I now get paleo bars from a local supermarket which are mainly dates but have various flavours and they satisfy the sweet need in the diet.  I have eaten these for some time, but now they will be a staple.  Cakes will not be a problem either as I have a few recipe books on my Kindle that have lots of lovely cake and muffin recipes to keep me going. YAY!

I have never drunk so much water since starting.  Each day I have consumed about 4 litres rather than my usual 10-15 cups of coffee and tea.  Over the weekend we bought lots of bad things to eat, and many I never got round to eating as I felt bloated and really not in the mood for stuffing my face, so those treats are still in the cupboard.  Let’s see if they reach the expiry date first or my temptation and willpower give way.

I hope that this lasts and I don’t go back to calorie counting.