I woke up on Thursday morning to find I was no longer on the fitness wagon. On Friday morning I realised not only was the wagon missing but I was stranded in 'Monstrous Hangover Village'. Only on Sunday did I finally catch a glimpse of my very battered cart.
Okay, so I broke last week. Thoroughly. Drinks on Wednesday night meant hunger through the morning sated with bacon sandwiches. That evening was the works pub quiz, which led to numerous pints of Kronenburg and Becks. Friday being Friday also involved drinks, as did the rugby led Saturday and Sunday. Dear oh dear. Scales showing no damage but lost training time is damage of it's own.
Finally hit the gym yesterday for a short session, rowing and running to get myself moving. Tonight I'm having dinner out so no time for gym either :( This week I'm looking at Tuesday, Thursday and either Friday & Saturday/or Sunday. I'm just posting these now so I'm committed to at least 3 sessions this week if not 4.
Never going to hit my goals if this is going to happen every other week.
Monday 28 February 2011
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Sweating buckets
Good session last night. Rowing, spinning, brief bodyweight training and stretching. All hard, all good.
On the rowing machine I'm getting better and better. A couple of weeks ago my personal best for the 2k row was 8:14. Then I cut that to 8:13. Last week I got it down to 8:06. Last night? 7:57.2 I maintained an average of over 1000 kcals/per her. I thought that was pretty damned good. Of course I had to look around the web to see what was a good time. Hmm, it seems people at rowing clubs do it under 6:25. Dicks. However I did check out the world records and I am faster than anyone in the over 85+ category. Go me. I did spend few minutes checking out the records on the rower itself though and couldn't see anyone in the past few weeks doing better than me, so I'll content myself with being the fastest rower at my gym. To have used that machine. In the last fortnight.
Mrs. Fyrdman wasn't feeling great at the start of the session so I decided to go for a race day on the spinning bike, 30 mins. 480+ kcals in 30 minutes, according to the machine anyway, so I'm happy with that.
As I say, topped off with a mix of bodyweight exercises - squats, bicycle crunches, more squats, reverse plank, more squats, stretching.
Yesterdays eating was pretty much identical to Mondays except for dinner and that I had a few chinese snacks (two prawn toast, 2 spring rolls and some weird parcel thing, all tiny versions) as a pre-gym snack to stop me falling over. Dinner was stir fried veg with honey and sesame seed chicken. Oh yeah, and a handful of grapes.
All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.
On the rowing machine I'm getting better and better. A couple of weeks ago my personal best for the 2k row was 8:14. Then I cut that to 8:13. Last week I got it down to 8:06. Last night? 7:57.2 I maintained an average of over 1000 kcals/per her. I thought that was pretty damned good. Of course I had to look around the web to see what was a good time. Hmm, it seems people at rowing clubs do it under 6:25. Dicks. However I did check out the world records and I am faster than anyone in the over 85+ category. Go me. I did spend few minutes checking out the records on the rower itself though and couldn't see anyone in the past few weeks doing better than me, so I'll content myself with being the fastest rower at my gym. To have used that machine. In the last fortnight.
Mrs. Fyrdman wasn't feeling great at the start of the session so I decided to go for a race day on the spinning bike, 30 mins. 480+ kcals in 30 minutes, according to the machine anyway, so I'm happy with that.
As I say, topped off with a mix of bodyweight exercises - squats, bicycle crunches, more squats, reverse plank, more squats, stretching.
Yesterdays eating was pretty much identical to Mondays except for dinner and that I had a few chinese snacks (two prawn toast, 2 spring rolls and some weird parcel thing, all tiny versions) as a pre-gym snack to stop me falling over. Dinner was stir fried veg with honey and sesame seed chicken. Oh yeah, and a handful of grapes.
All in all, not bad. Not bad at all.
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Day 1's eating
First day's are never that difficult. Still flush with enthusiasm it seems a breeze and you wonder why it ever falls apart.
Breakfast
Scrambled Egg on Toast, two eggs on 1 slice of Warbutons Seeded Batch (half loaf size), toast buttered with a little Lurpak. Salt and pepper. 1 cup of tea.
Mid-Morning
1 Orange, small portion (no more than 20g) of Tesco's trail mix
Lunch
Salad Nicoise - Well my own anyway. Half an iceberg lettuce, half a red onion, 1 grated carrot, handful of rocket, tuna, 1 boiled egg, 1 tablespoon of damned good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Afternoon
Apple.
Coffee, 4 Galaxy counters. Okay it's chocolate but that's pretty restrained so no worries.
Dinner
Noah's Ark with Chantenay Carrots. Oh yeah, that's the stuff, I could eat that till I die.
Tea.
That's it. I was hungry this morning but it's not too bad and now it's time for lunch :)
Breakfast
Scrambled Egg on Toast, two eggs on 1 slice of Warbutons Seeded Batch (half loaf size), toast buttered with a little Lurpak. Salt and pepper. 1 cup of tea.
Mid-Morning
1 Orange, small portion (no more than 20g) of Tesco's trail mix
Lunch
Salad Nicoise - Well my own anyway. Half an iceberg lettuce, half a red onion, 1 grated carrot, handful of rocket, tuna, 1 boiled egg, 1 tablespoon of damned good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Afternoon
Apple.
Coffee, 4 Galaxy counters. Okay it's chocolate but that's pretty restrained so no worries.
Dinner
Noah's Ark with Chantenay Carrots. Oh yeah, that's the stuff, I could eat that till I die.
Tea.
That's it. I was hungry this morning but it's not too bad and now it's time for lunch :)
Statistics
Date: 22/02/2011
Weight: 14 stone / 196lbs / 88.9kg
I'm hoping to have this down to 13 stone/182lbs/83.5kg by Friday 13th May. 12 weeks, 14lbs. That's under 1.2lbs a week. This should be doable. If I stick to my training plans and a healthy diet frankly I'd expect to batter that target to a pulp. On the other hand, Easter is in that time frame which means family gathering and plenty of wine. I'll up the training a little either side of then to try and balance it out so I should stay ahead of the game.
Later today I'll update this post with some measurements if I can find the tape...
Weight: 14 stone / 196lbs / 88.9kg
I'm hoping to have this down to 13 stone/182lbs/83.5kg by Friday 13th May. 12 weeks, 14lbs. That's under 1.2lbs a week. This should be doable. If I stick to my training plans and a healthy diet frankly I'd expect to batter that target to a pulp. On the other hand, Easter is in that time frame which means family gathering and plenty of wine. I'll up the training a little either side of then to try and balance it out so I should stay ahead of the game.
Later today I'll update this post with some measurements if I can find the tape...
Monday 21 February 2011
New to the Blogroll
Just a quick post to bring to your attention a couple of newcomers to the blogroll down on your right. One of them, Guido Fawkes blog, was a terrible ommission by yours truly when setting this site up. His Westminster gossip is always informative, infuriating and most importantly very, very funny.
The second is Joe Abercrombie's blog. For those unfortunate enough to have to yet read any of his work I cannot strongly recommend him enough. His characters are familiar but corrupted archetypes from fantasy, blending classic Tolkein-style worlds with a harsh dose of reality and humour. His blog is pretty good too, but it's there as much for notifying me for when his future books or book tours will be up and coming.
One of things I like so much about Joe's work may also be how very quotable some of his characters are, and I'll leave you with a couple of my favourites:
The second is Joe Abercrombie's blog. For those unfortunate enough to have to yet read any of his work I cannot strongly recommend him enough. His characters are familiar but corrupted archetypes from fantasy, blending classic Tolkein-style worlds with a harsh dose of reality and humour. His blog is pretty good too, but it's there as much for notifying me for when his future books or book tours will be up and coming.
One of things I like so much about Joe's work may also be how very quotable some of his characters are, and I'll leave you with a couple of my favourites:
"A man sleeps through most of his life, even when awake. You get so little time, yet still you spend it utterly oblivious. Angry, frustrated, fixated on meaningless nothings. That drawer does not close flush with the front of my desk. What cards does my opponent hold, and how much money can I win from him? I wish I were taller. What will I have for dinner, for I am not fond of parsnips? It takes a moment like this to jerk us to our senses, to draw our eyes from the mud to the heavens, to root our attention in the present. Now you realise how precious is each moment. That is my gift to you." Shenkt, Best Served Cold
"Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it." Logen Ninefingers, pretty much all of The First Law Trilogy
Heure de reprendre
Well, here I am again. I had made good progress over time, cutting down by 10lbs in nearly two months. It might not sound much but I was happy. This was always going to be a slow, manageable drop. And then, when I last piped up on this blog, I wasn't feeling well. In fact, I felt like crap. I lost about 6lbs in two weeks. Not good. And then, well Christmas started kicking in and I still wasn't particularly well. I say all this as not as an excuse but as a reminder to myself that I was derailed by understandable causes so not to get disheartened; there is always time to get going once again.
January...less justifiable. I think I went a grand total of 0 times in January. I'll not bore you with why but that let's just say it was more than avoidable. On the plus side what was also avoided was those gym packing, New Year's Resolutionaries who make training a misery. They will sit with their friends going at a snails pace for an hour without breaking a sweat, monopolising kit that could be far better used. Alternatively, they will fiddle with the equipment for ten minutes, be on it for two and then move on to the next one, again without a drop of hard work besmirching their foreheads. Ahh well, they are gone in six weeks, and they are a necessary evil in order to effectively subsidise the regular users sessions.
So now it's late February and I can't waste any more time. And thankfully I haven't entirely anyway. I have been re-engaging this month bit by bit. Two sessions in the first week, then three, and last week four. Last week also commenced the beginning of the diet improvements. Cut out the rubbish while at work, drinking limited to Fri-Sun and moderated at that. I've treated this all as a build up, to wake up my legs so they don't collapse into a pile of blubber after one good session. And it seems to have done the trick. On Saturday and Sunday I hit the spinning bike for an hour (Saturday) and 45 mins (Sun) after to mins of treadmill/rowing respectively. Pushed hard each time, dripping with sweat, good stuff. And today I don't feel so bad, only a few aches and pains. Tonight is a night off (though planning on a long walk) so I should be good to go again tomorrow.
That's enough of the past, what's in store for the future? Well as I have a holiday in Argeles, France this July I have a pretty damned convenient target. It's a reasonable time frame and a motivating goal to keep in mind when I feel like slacking. For those who haven't had the pleasure of going there, here is my favourite view...
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Those are the Pyrenees mountains from the French side. By July the place is as hot as a pasty Northerner like me can bare. Good food, tennis, sun, boat rides to medieval towns, what more could I want? Oh yeah, phenomenal quantities of wine, beer and pastis. Heaven.
As I'd prefer to more fit than fat when I get there I have to get me arse in gear now.
So, what is the plan? Highly boring I know but it'll be much like last years as that was proving effective. I'm thinking cardio and core training until May/Mid-May then dropping the cardio to 20-30 mins a session and doing some solid compound training aiming for strength.
I'm also learning French for the first time since 2001 and have been using the brilliant Collins French with Paul Noble. I've learned, and retained, so much in a short space of time with this set and frankly without all too much effort. If any of the two readers left of this blog are looking for an efficient method of getting a really solid grounding in French, I couldn't recommend it enough.
Okay, advert over. I'll come back tomorrow with actual stats and p'raps pictures too plus the deathly dull details of what I have eaten. I'm sure your all on the edge of seats in anticipation.
January...less justifiable. I think I went a grand total of 0 times in January. I'll not bore you with why but that let's just say it was more than avoidable. On the plus side what was also avoided was those gym packing, New Year's Resolutionaries who make training a misery. They will sit with their friends going at a snails pace for an hour without breaking a sweat, monopolising kit that could be far better used. Alternatively, they will fiddle with the equipment for ten minutes, be on it for two and then move on to the next one, again without a drop of hard work besmirching their foreheads. Ahh well, they are gone in six weeks, and they are a necessary evil in order to effectively subsidise the regular users sessions.
So now it's late February and I can't waste any more time. And thankfully I haven't entirely anyway. I have been re-engaging this month bit by bit. Two sessions in the first week, then three, and last week four. Last week also commenced the beginning of the diet improvements. Cut out the rubbish while at work, drinking limited to Fri-Sun and moderated at that. I've treated this all as a build up, to wake up my legs so they don't collapse into a pile of blubber after one good session. And it seems to have done the trick. On Saturday and Sunday I hit the spinning bike for an hour (Saturday) and 45 mins (Sun) after to mins of treadmill/rowing respectively. Pushed hard each time, dripping with sweat, good stuff. And today I don't feel so bad, only a few aches and pains. Tonight is a night off (though planning on a long walk) so I should be good to go again tomorrow.
That's enough of the past, what's in store for the future? Well as I have a holiday in Argeles, France this July I have a pretty damned convenient target. It's a reasonable time frame and a motivating goal to keep in mind when I feel like slacking. For those who haven't had the pleasure of going there, here is my favourite view...
Those are the Pyrenees mountains from the French side. By July the place is as hot as a pasty Northerner like me can bare. Good food, tennis, sun, boat rides to medieval towns, what more could I want? Oh yeah, phenomenal quantities of wine, beer and pastis. Heaven.
As I'd prefer to more fit than fat when I get there I have to get me arse in gear now.
So, what is the plan? Highly boring I know but it'll be much like last years as that was proving effective. I'm thinking cardio and core training until May/Mid-May then dropping the cardio to 20-30 mins a session and doing some solid compound training aiming for strength.
I'm also learning French for the first time since 2001 and have been using the brilliant Collins French with Paul Noble. I've learned, and retained, so much in a short space of time with this set and frankly without all too much effort. If any of the two readers left of this blog are looking for an efficient method of getting a really solid grounding in French, I couldn't recommend it enough.
Okay, advert over. I'll come back tomorrow with actual stats and p'raps pictures too plus the deathly dull details of what I have eaten. I'm sure your all on the edge of seats in anticipation.
Wednesday 16 February 2011
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