Another Workout, Another Loss, Another Telling Off!

Ha Ha! Check it out! These bad boys (well 3 of them) went into my dinner last night. They were superb, nice and fresh (not farmed - probably from the Gulf of Carpentaria). Some mighty large Tiger Prawns - they tasted as good as any prawn I have had before. I know that I'm only supposed to add veges to the omlette that I make for dinner, but I couldn't resist making things more interesting when I spied these at the fishmonger. Besides, I have been told to eat more seafood, so here it is! I didn't take a picture of the omlettes that I cooked (my partner had the same thing I was having) because I managed to only do one right, and even then was still having trouble getting the omlette out of the pan without it tearing or otherwise looking unpresentable. Aside from the prawns I also added green beans, bean sprouts, soy sauce, mushrooms, and a bit of fresh basil. Delicious and nutritious! Or so I thought...

I'm not sure what it is with the trainer, but she seems to think that by making me feel bad each week about losing weight, it will make me want to lose more. Hmmmm, she hasn't really got me pegged yet I think. I tend to respond better to positive reinforcement. Nevertheless, we kicked off with the usual threat involving anger if I didn't perform on the scales and lose weight. In this case she made a throat slitting gesture to describe what would happen if I had put on weight. I was quietly confident that this wouldn't be the case as I have been going well, even if I didn't get to train as hard as I would like due to blisters, and feeling a bit crook yesterday.

She asked me how I had been going on the diet. I told her that there were some things about it that I liked, and some I didn't, but that I was mostly following it. She said that either I was following it or I wasn't. I told her that I didn't follow the cottage cheese part, nor did I feel inclined to toss out all the egg yolks last night (what a waste). She was none too impressed by my spartan approach to the omlette, nor did she approve of the prawns. She said that if I didn't lose weight then I shouldn't blame her. I told her to rest easy, I wouldn't be looking to blame anyone if I don't lose weight, it is my responsibility after all. As such, the authority to decide what I will and wont do rests with me too.

Her objection to the prawns was based on cholesterol levels. I'm not too worried about that, I am eating much less fat now anyway, and almost no saturated fat. My intake of red meat has decreased, and I am eating more fish, chicken, and untold more vegetables than I used to. I have never had high cholesterol and am not at all worried about it, but if I was, the only other thing I could do about it would be to take pills I reckon (aside from the yolks)! I really like prawns, and they went well with the omlette last night.

Reducing my weight, and being able to stick to eating good food in reasonable quantities, is my goal at the moment. I'm not interested yet in trying to live up to an impossible ideal diet that might serve me well once I have reached a certain weight and am finding it difficult to lose more. For the meantime, my number one target is getting used to not overeating. So far, I am doing well and my weight is coming down. That is a good thing, and I refuse to see it any other way. Aside from that, I don't think that losing weight faster than I am now would be a good thing either. Do I think that I may need to change my diet again in future? Yes, of course. But for now, what is manageable and not too much of a hardship is a better option to keep me on the path of the righteous! Well, that is what I think anyway.

In any event, she weighed me today and I came in at 136kg even (299.2lbs). This was down from 137.8kg (303.16lbs) the week before. Good news, it seems that I may have broken the 300 pound mark, and I am 9 kgs down on my original weight. It also means a loss of 1.8kgs (3.96lbs) from last week. However, as you all know the weigh in today was without my shoes on so the official weigh in tomorrow might not have me quite ready to celebrate those achievements yet. The usual comments were made by the trainer as follows "Sure, you are losing weight now but you will plateau. My diet is to stop that from happening". I was stoked to have done so well without having seen her before today this week as it means that I am able to work well on my own without the need to be whipped at every turn.

The workout today was mixed. After the opening exchanges in round one with the trainer, I wasn't feeling too positive about working with her. I feel that this affected the first series of exercises that she had me do. First up I was to do the following in order with no break - Step ups onto a bench holding 10 kg dumbbells which I was to raise up over my head in time with the step up onto the bench. I was to do 15 for each leg. Next up I was to do flys with 10 kg dumbbells for 15 reps lying on the bench. Following that I was to do 15 press ups. Next up were these ridiculous situps she makes me do on the half or quarter Swiss Ball. I had to alternate to each side, and really I don't think that I am meant to do these. When I do them I fell no tightening of the abs, or any present or subsequent ab soreness, unlike crunches. Whether I am doing it wrong or what I don't know, but I do them how she tells me, she offers no corrective tips, and I find them pointless. Finally I had to do 15 tricep push ups off the bench. I did this circuit three times and it was tough. I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath but at least I did make it, and I did put in some good effort to get to the finishing line - particularly on the push ups.

Next up were some more, but slightly different, step ups onto the same bench. This time my knees were paralell with the bench and one foot remained constantly on the bench as I stepped up and down. This time I was holding a 7kg dumbell in the opposite hand to the foot on the bench, and I had to do 15 each leg. Next up was an exercise where I had to lie on the bench and hold a dumbell with both hands and lower it down past my head, and then raise it back up over my head until it was just above my stomach (I think these are called pullovers). I had to do 15 of these with a weight around the 20 kilo mark. Next up was deadlifting a barbell, and finally behind the head dumbell tricep extensions with both hands on the dumbell, again for 15 reps each. I had to do three sets of these exercises as well.

After that, I was pretty puffed, and the hour was up. I was glad that part was at an end, however I knew that my cardio session awaited me. I was instructed to do the cardio routine she had given me, and to leave it at that for today. I stuck with that, although I did make the first 25 minute session harder than the second session of 10 minutes on the treadmill. Before I got underway I paid the trainer for the session today, and the arrears that I owed her from last week. She wanted to set up a session for Saturday morning but I told her that Monday at 3:00 would be fine with me as that is when we usually have our session. I can do without the additional expense at the moment, and I did a weight session myself on Tuesday that was passable. I may even do my own over the weekend if I am feeling good.

So all up, a good result I felt, and I remain hopeful that the official weigh in tomorrow will yield some good results for me. I did a bit of crusing around the internet when I got home from the gym and found that my Basal Metabloic Rate (BMR) is 2612.4 calories according to Discovery Health. This means that even if I lay around in bed doing absolutely nothing I would burn 2612.4 calories per day. Pretty nifty eh? Don't worry though, I wont be tempted to try and lose weight that way, not after having spent this much time overcoming blisters and getting some semblence of fitness back! I gather that exercise can raise the BMR also and I hope that the new lifestyle is assisting there.

I feel good, and ready to carry on to the next level of fitness training - who knows, I may even start running on the treadmill soon! Actually, the trainer did say she had a new cardio routine for me so hopefully I may get that on Monday, if not I will start to do more myself now that the blister is nearly gone and I'm feeling better. Check back tomorrow for the official weigh in, and until then, keep fighting against fat!