That's basically the challenge that has been set down to me concerning my work out this week. Since I was planning on upping it anyway it nicely ties in but I may have over estimated my ability by saying I would add 10 minutes and 6km to my work out by the end of this week. Still, as I point out to my friends in a horrible attempt at a Bronx accent, "You ain't nothing if you don't got ambition!".
I am at
203lbs this morning, although I was 202lbs yesterday so I'm not too upset -
especially as Friday and to some extent Saturday were awful binge days. I'm not
really sure why but I was in a pretty dark mood Thursday through to Saturday
night. I've got a couple of ideas but it's not really important - net result
was my diet suffered slightly. However, I'm now at the gym for 70-80 minutes
and burning off 650-700 calories with each visit so I'm pretty chuffed with
that. I also feel like I've been completely drained of energy afterwards but I
accept that as part of the bargain.
What have I
done this week to improve my weight loss regime? Well, I stuck to my gym
schedule pretty closely, but figured adding a trip on Sunday was probably fine.
It worked out okay, so the schedule has been adapted to Tuesday, Thursday,
Saturday, Sunday. I also had to slap myself for misreading the calorie amounts
on sliced ham although since I was over estimating the value I'm not too upset
as it just means I get to eat more. For future reference - KJ's and Kcals are
not the same thing. Obvious point but sometimes we miss the obvious things. I
sure as hell did.
Diet-wise I
am finding it difficult to eat appropriately to compensate for the gym. At the
moment I tend to still have a limited breakfast and lunch, go to the gym and
burn 90% of my day's intake off and then have a huge dinner to compensate,
occasionally treating myself to a beer if there's not enough food in the house
or I simply can't bring myself to eat enough. Good point: My appetite is more
controlled. Bad point: I shouldn't have so many calories in one go. A balanced
intake over the course of the day would be much better.
My diet
goal for this week, as a result, is to work out how many calories to eat before
gym so that it balances with those after the gym. This has two positive gains -
firstly, my metabolism will have a more regular cycle and be able to adapt to
it faster, encouraging weight loss. Second, I won't be able to argue that since
I've eaten so little I don't necessarily
have to go to the gym. This unhelpful train of thought is spawned from the
inherent laziness that still survives within me and I am most displeased with
it for doing so. By eating a substantial amount before the gym I will have to
go so I can have a decent dinner, and hopefully this psychological block will
be expunged.
I also got
laughed at for the first time at the gym this weekend, but not because I was
fat, or because I wasn't working out to a decent degree, or because I was about
to die on the cross trainer. It was because I was male; I had been lost in my
own world trying to ignore the fact my body was screaming abuse at me, that I
still had the cycling machine to do or that I was occasionally singing
Plentakill lyrics under my breath and then looked up to find myself surrounded
by women on the other cross trainers with a gym attendant moving between them
and giving advice. The only other men were over in the weights area. My
confused look got the smirking gym attendant - also female - to come over. She
greeted me with, "So you're here for Girl Power Hour, I take it? You look
a little lost." This was greeted with giggles and titters from the other
girls and women around me.
I could
feel a rising panic - had I invaded a women-only class? Should I have known
about it? Which window was most likely to break if I ran into it so I could
escape this awkward moment? - but the response I gave was, "No, actually,
I'm okay here. Thanks though, and I'm happy to help anyone who needs it."
This didn't go down well with the gym attendant - she and I haven't always seen
eye-to-eye on things, like using my phone while on the treadmill or my refusing
to go through the induction process properly - but got a couple of laughs. I
then had to man up and try to beat the girls either side of me; as a man, I
would never live down being beaten by a girl. I suspect they were actually in
better shape than me but I managed to maintain pace and ran for two minutes
longer than they did so I'm going to claim victory. I definitely didn't look as
chirpy as they did though.
Penultimate for
this entry is an offer. That's right, I'm offering something to other people
beyond my own self-satisfied advice. If anyone in my local area - i.e. someone
who knows me and lives nearby - wants to start going to the gym but isn't
wholly confident about it I can help.
On days I don't go to the gym, I am going to be going to the gym because as an
amateur Sci-Fi writer I love paradox but also because I don't want to get into
lazy habits. These sessions will be much shorter and more technical than my
main sessions and would be a good introduction to the gym should someone want
one. I'd also like company at the gym from people I get on with. If you don't
know me or don't live near me I can still offer advice and instruction, to some
extent, so feel free to get in touch! Comment here or email me at
killingfatsoftly@gmail.com, or if you have another of my emails you can use
that.
Lastly, please comment and/or subscribe if you're enjoying this blog or find it remotely interesting/helpful. All support is appreciated greatly :D
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