Knee Feeling Better For Having Had Day Off

Yep, the knee is getting back to being right after yesterday's day of rest. It was necessary to take the time out to allow the swelling to come down, and as I had completed a fair chunk of the track with a sore knee, I discovered during the day yesterday that my calf and lower leg had probably not been bending and moving as they should have for a fair chunk of the course. As such, the lower leg muslces were sore yesterday, and are still sore this morning. However, this has only started since I began moving more freely. Nothing serious I reckon, just tight and bit sore and another day's rest should see me right.

So, I will be home based again today but will get out for a stroll to the library to return my DVDs, books, and stretch the legs at the same time. The swelling in my knee has gone right down now and I reckon I will be right to return to the gym tomorrow. I think that I will take it easy tomorrow, probably will just do an upper body workout with weights and leave the running and any pounding exercises for another day to allow a full recovery. It is important to let these things repair properly to avoid any further problems down the line. I am under orders from the trainer not to do anything until all my joints feel right - she was very proud that I did both the advanced spin class and the massive walk on the same weekend.

Aside from that, there is not much else to report today. Our box of vegetables should be arriving today. It is a great way to ensure that I keep eating a lot of veges, and this is an important part of my diet I have come to realise. Last night for dinner we had a wonderful chicken salad and finished off a fair few of the veges that were left from the box delivered last week. My partner is an excellent vege cook, she gets them to taste so good with the addition of a few spices and herbs. Fantastic stuff.

Well, until tomorrow that's it phat fighting fans. Hopefully I will be back into the swing of things and over the slight hick ups presented by the distance walk from the weekend. I'm looking forward to heading back into the gym and getting into the weights and treadmill again. How about that, I actually miss it! Progress for sure.

The Morning After the Long March

Well phat fighting fans, I did it. I managed to make my way around the entire 22km course for the seven bridges walk yesterday, and I am feeling it this morning. On Saturday evening we went out to the BBQ and had a great time. It was so good to get out and spend time in a nice social setting and meet some new people. We had a fantastic dinner - souvlaki with salad and spuds which I accompanied with one or two glasses of a fine rose, and a couple more of red, that we had purchased when we went to the Hunter Valley (north of Sydney). It was delicious, and both myself and my partner had such a good time that we probably had a little bit more wine than we intended - I'd say no more than 5 glasses for me, and probably 4 for her. So, not a hard night, but more than we have had for a while. It felt good and I have always thought that wine is better than beer in terms of putting on weight, or rather not putting on weight! By the time we got home it was midnight, and of course day light savings started so it was really 1:00am by the time that we turned in. Not ideal preparation for the huge day to follow!

We had to get up at 6:00 a.m (really 5:00 a.m) so that we would get into the city on time to start at 9:00 on the dot. We woke my partner's cousin up with text messages and she was ready to head into town with us, in spite of having stayed up late the night before also. We made the trip into town all feeling a bit jaded and not really too sure of how well we were going to perform. On arrival at circular quay (where the opera house is) it was apparent that this thing was going to be pretty popular as there were a lot of people checking in to start the walk already there. We got in line and after about 10 minutes we had our 'passports' and set off on the walk.

The first half of the walk had 6 of the 7 bridges in it. Because of where we started, the last bridge that we were going to have to cross was the harbour bridge, right next door to where we started from. This meant that the walking distance between bridges 6 and 7 turned out to be about 12kms - the entire north shore leg of the walk. In any event we started and things went well to begin with. The first bridge came up pretty fast and we were in high spirits. Pretty much after each bridge there was a village where you could get water, food, sunscreen and medical attention if you needed it. It was rpetty well organised and the only delay was getting your passport scanned at each bridge and village as many people had signed up on the day and the barcodes they were given were not working for some reason.

The first 10kms wasn't bad, but started to get hard as we neared the final bridge. My partner started to get dizzy and so we decided that would be a good time to stop for lunch. We ate, and during lunch it became clear that I was really the only one that wanted to struggle on and complete the entire course. We talked about it and they decided that they had done enough and would catch the bus back to town while I struggled on the walk back to town and to cross the bridge.

That was a fairly important choice that I made. The second half of the walk was much tougher than the first. There were a lot more hills to climb, and lot more stairs to go up and a lot less villages and comfort stops. It really started to hurt on that part of the walk and the best part of the walk from that point was that I had my MP3 player and was able to listen to some great music to help me through. Also I had a few text messages from my partner, parents, and mates to help me stick out the rest of the walk. I made it all the way to the end, however it was tough, I was sore, sunburned, and totally disinterested in the views that the walk provided as it was such a struggle to finish! Finishing was my only goal and I had to swallow hard and push on as people tore past me towards the finish line - by the looks of them I would doubt that they had started at circular quay and were probably only doing part of the walk - I couldn't be sure however and it was a bit demoralising at times. I hadn't thought that it would be as hard as it was as it didn't sound that far when I first heard we were doing it. But it was!

The last part of the walk across the harbour bridge was nice. The wind had picked up, and the bridge was shading where I was walking by that time so it was nice and cool and I could see the finishing line off in the distance. I did have a chance to appreciate the view at that stage, but most of the north shore views I missed as I was simply trying to put one foot in front of the other by that stage. When I got to the end of the harbour bridge, I was scanned at the top before you head down the stairs and out. When I got out of the bridge there weren't any signs to indicate where we should go. I asked one of the marshalls who told me "That's it, you're finished, you are free to go!". They also told me what the time was and that my time was a good one - they hadn't seen anyone finishing there that had also started at circular quay so that made me feel a bit better! A bit of an anti climax really, there was no finishing line or any indication that you had completed the course. I walked the extra bit down to circular quay just to make sure that there was no finishing line, and indeed there was not. All there was by that stage was a few tired souls like myself lying on the grass. I knew that if I lay down there was a good chance I wouldn't get up again so I jumped on the train to head home and meet my partner there.

I was glad to get home and I noticed on the way that one of my knees was a bit swollen (not the one that used to give me trouble at the gym) and I was pretty whacked. I made it home, and even managed to run for a connecting train so I knew that no serious damage had been done. I got home and pretty soon it was time for dinner and then bed. I slept like a log! I'm feeling good today, and am under orders from the trainer to take a day off today to recover. No problems there, my legs need the break, although they feel much better than I thought they would today and my knee has improved thanks to the ice I put on it last night. No lasting trouble I reckon. Good stuff, and a great way to round off a very healthy and fun weekend. Looking forward to this week, it should be good.

Advanced Spin Class a Surprise

I arrived at the gym this morning for my scheduled meeting with the trainer for my first spin class with her. I gather that this class is her own exercise for the day and as such it is not a proper training session for the two of us, more of an introduction to the class and a chance to see how I cope with the cardio aspect of it. I took a little too much notice of her warnings to get to the gym early, and arrived before it even opened! Fortunately it was only by a couple of minutes so I didn't have to wait that long before I was able to get inside.

The instructor was already there and had reserved our bikes for us. After I dropped off my bag in the lockers I met her in the cycle studio and we set up the bikes. She scoped me out and made a few changes to the way that the bike was set up and we were ready to go - only 25 minutes before the class started! We chatted for most of this time and during this discussion I learned that the class was 'advanced' and wasn't for the usual 30-45 minutes, but was for an entire hour. It was at this stage that I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into...

I felt good at the gym, and had managed to have some very strong coffee to fortify me for the workout. I like a caffeine hit before going to the gym, I have no idea if it has a real effect, but it does seem to help power me through my workouts. When I heard I would be cycling for an entire hour I was most grateful that I had the foresight to get up early and suck back some stong coffee before attending the class.

As to the class itself, I knew I was in trouble when I started clock watching 20 minutes into the workout. I found it quite tough, and the music and pace was unrelenting. I kept up, and did managed probably to about 50 minutes of the workout keeping up with the class and even turning up the resistance when told to do so. I know that my form on the cycle is not correct, however I tried hard and corrected my positioning a number of times. It was a good effort on my part, and I know I went as well as I could during the class. I think that I may make this a regular thing as it was good fun, there was some good music, there was also some funny people in the class, and the instructor was pretty classy.

So, chalk up one advanced spin class at the gym. It is very popular and people were being turned away from the class so I will always have to make sure that I arrive very early and sit there cycling for ages. I did get sore from the seat on the bike, but I feel okay now. I know that I will be suffering tomorrow, I am already starting to hobble and it has only been about an hour and a half since I finished the class. This does not bode well for tomorrow and I will be assessing myself tomorrow morning to see how I pull up.

We're off out tonight to a BBQ in Newtown, a hip and happening suburb of Sydney where the University is. The BBQ is being put on by a work colleague of my partner and marks our first invitation out to a a party since we arrived in Sydney. It'll be nice to meet some new folks and have a bit of fun. We're both looking forward to it, and hope that we can return the invite in the not too distant future (we have to get a BBQ ourselves). Good stuff. Roll on weekend, it has started well and if I do 22km tomorrow it will finish well too! I may have to take Monday off and just get the blood test done and recover for the rest of the day.

What a Difference Some Rice Makes!

Last night I had stir fry for dinner with my partner. We had basmati rice from the punjab with the stir fried veges and chicken (apparently that is the ONLY rice to eat I am told). We have been using the vegetalbes we ordered last week and they are much better than the veges we get at the stores in our area, and there was a good mix of different kinds. Given that they are also cheaper, and delivered to our home, as well as being better, it seems like a pretty easy decision to carry on ordering them.

Anyways, the rice that I had last night seemed to be able to power me through the workout this morning. I went so much better than yesterday, even though I was pretty tired during the workout I found that I could push myself and do better. I feel good too, which is more than could have been said at this time yesterday. Tomorrow I am off to the gym to work out in the spin class with the trainer, so that should be interesting. I did 50 minutes on the treadmill (only walking) after the workout this morning to assist with my recovery and avoid (hopefully) being overly sore tomorrow morning, and of course Sunday.

Another loss this week which is encouraging. Not quite what I had thought I was in for, I had thought that I would be losing about .5 of a kg each week, or about 1.1lbs. I didn't quite make it, but I am still heading in the right direction which is the most important thing. Who knows, there could be a big loss coming up as I do seem to go in cycles. Look at it this way, at least I have less to push around the track on Sunday than I would have if I had done it last week! One good thing is that I am sneaking up on being half way to my goal weight, I think that there should be some sort of celebration when that point is reached.

Well, chalk up another loss and any week there is a loss is a good week. I have made some enquiries about getting a blood test and it seems that I can do one on Monday. I am required fast over night and before the test is taken, so I couldn't do the test yesterday or today because I must eat before working out with the trainer. I am planning to go in on Monday morning and get the blood sugar, thyroid, liver function, and cholesterol check up. It'll be interesting to see what comes back...

New Cardio Workout Catches Up With Me...

I finally hit the wall this morning during my training session. I was very tired from the previous three days in a row of the new routine and even though I had twice as much coffee as usual before the workout, I was not able to fire on all cylanders today. The trainer understood, as she had seen me in there working out yesterday and said she was very impressed with what she saw. She slowed things down a bit today on the understanding that tomorrow morning will be another flat out session. She will be trying to get my heart rate up so the next session will be very intense. I will have to make sure that I get some rest today to prepare.

Aside from the fact that I wasn't quite my usual self during the training session, I did okay during the workout and managed to do everything that she asked of me. I even managed to do much better on the back exercises than usual which was good. I was tired, sweaty, and had it by the end, but I did manage to do a decent warm down at the end of the session on the treadmill. I feel better than I did yesterday after the cardio session, so I think I should be right for tomorrow morning.

The trainer and I had a discussion at the end of the workout about my preparation for Sunday's marathon walking effort. She suggested that I join her for a spin session during the group cycle calss on Saturday morning. She wants to take me through it and teach me how to do the class properly. I think this is a good idea, even though she suggested that it may be a bit tough and leave me sore for the next day. I think that I will be okay, but if it gets too tough I can always throttle back a bit. However, I doubt that will be required and I'll go as hard as I can and maybe I can work this class into my routine to break the monotony of the constant treadmill workouts. It'll be good and I am really looking forward to it.

The walk on Sunday should be great, a bit of a challenge and something fun to do. We should see a lot of the city on our way around the course - apparently this is the first year that they have had this walk so we are taking part in what hopefully will be the first of many seven bridges walks that will be held to raise funds over the coming years. I'm looking forward to it, and am hoping that we all get through it and complete the course in less than 5 hours (no point in setting the bar too high at this stage!). Weigh in day tomorrow, check back then to see how I got on this week.

A Good Day, In Spite of Beginning

I had a good day today, despite the first event of the day being a phone call from the trainer asking where I was! She had forgotten to tell me to come in this morning and even after some last minute attempts to rearrange the morning, she wasn't able to rework things. This means that I have a Thursday and a Friday session this week. It has been a while since I last did this so it will be interesting to see how I go. 8:00 tomorrow morning will be a bit of a shock I am sure. Best be getting up at 6 so that I can have my caffeine hit before I take off to meet her. It seems to give me a kick in the pants and keep me working out a bit harder. Placebo effect or not, I'll take it.

I was feeling a bit tired on it this morning, I think two days in a row of the new routine was taking a toll. I got on the treadmill and started the new routine, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about maybe taking it a bit easy today, maybe trying new things and preparing for the long walk this weekend. However, after the first three minutes that is a bit like a warm up, I was into walking at 7 km/ph and I thought to myself "Harden Up Man!" So, I got stuck in and things were tough to begin with, but I stuck at it and managed to get through the wall and in the end I did a more difficult workout than usual. In the second session I was able to add on another 5 minutes running at 10km/ph instead of the usual walk to warm down at 7km/ph. I felt so good that I decided to do a warm down of 25 minutes duration and I played around with the incline and speed during it so that I ended up cranking out a few extra calories.

The stats for today were 3.52km and 457 calories for the first session, 3.61km and 468.1 calories for the second session, and 2.62km and 282.7 calories for the warm down. All told a massive 9.75km and 1,207.8 calories burned. I am stoked by these figures, they really give me a boost and I am so glad that I keep track of them. It has been a goal of mine to reach the magic 10km mark in total distance and I am sure that it wont be too long before I am there - only 250m shy of it today so had I done some running during the warm down, I probably would have made it! That will come with time, and I must stay injury free. Until then, this is good progress.

I saw the trainer on my way out. She said that she had seen me on the treadmill and was really impressed with the way that I am running. She was very supportive and complimentary (maybe to do with having made the mistake this morning), and it is nice to know that people notice the progress I am making. I told her about the walk this weekend, she thought that it was a great idea and she had told me just to watch out that I don't get too hot in the weather. Take plenty of water and I should be okay. She thinks that I wont have any trouble walking that far, and she should know! I guess this morning was not that far off being half way so I should be able to do it at a walking pace no trouble at all. I will have to keep an eye on my partner and hope that she and her cousin do okay. They both seem keen.

Well, until tomorrow then. Keep fighting the good fight and sticking with it. It seems to me that this is an endurance game and so far I am doing okay. I just have to stick with it.

Round Two

Second round of the new workout today. I doubled up and did the same routine as I did yesterday and I could definitely feel that this was the second day in a row. The legs felt that little bit heavier, I was clock watching even more than usual, and I was very thirsty byt he time I had finished today. It was tough, but I did manage to grind it out. I did not add any weights on at the end of the workout, however I did get my normal ab workout in before I wandered home and into the shopping centre.

It was a good workout today, and I think that I need to keep it going as the walk this weekend will be a fairly lengthy one. It ahs been a long time since I walked all day, and what I remember from that experience is that any preparation you can do ought to be done properly. I remember on the day that once I was about 10km from the end I stopped to do up my shoe and almost never managed to get going again! I am sure not to repeat that mistake this weekend. 22km, that is a long way.

Not much else to report from the day. Our fruit and vegetable box arrived today. I think it is pretty good, especially considering the amount of money that we paid. It will give us greater cause to eat pklenty of fruit and veg, and one of the best things aobut it is that we have a vast array of vegetables to choose from now. This will cause us to be a little more creative than usual and make different meals to ensure that we use up all of the produce that we have. Should be fun!

I still haven't heard from the trainer, we normally have a session on Wendesday morning, but there is still plenty of time for her to contact me. The ball is in her court as at the moment I am on top of the workouts, and am doing well with working in some weights so we will see what the story is. I've been eating well, no troubles there so really just getting by quite well at the moment. Long may that last!

Tough New Cardio Regime

Wow! I did the new routine this morning and it was a bit of a killer. I found it a lot harder than the previous workout regime and I think that this one really is the last transition before I will be running for the entire 50-60 minute period. The first session has two sets of running at over 10km/ph for at least 6 minutes each, so that is 2km there. The rest of the time is walking really quickly so the first session ended with my having covered 3.44 km and having burned 449.3 calories. It is hard, this new routine that she has me doing. At the end when I stopped, I had to de-sweat myself before I started the second session and take a minute to get the breath back a bit. It felt good.

The second session starts with a hiss and a roar. The walking starts at a quick pace for 3 minutes, and then it is straight into the running for 9 minutes - all at over 10km/ph. That is 1.5 kilometres on the trot, and is actually over it as part of the time I was running at 10.5 km/ph. It was, I think, the longest period of running at that pace I have done so far and I found that it went better than I had expected. The rest of the workout in the second session is fast walking with a fair bit of incline thrown in there which makes it tough. This second workout had me cover 3.34km and burn 426.2 calories.

So, the total workout this morning covered a massive 6.78 km and I burned 875.5 calories. Not a bad effort, and a great start to the day. I also did a few weights after the cardio session. I did a set of ricep curls, shoulder press, tricep extensions, and some abs exercises to round out the session. It was a great start to the day.

In other news my partner has booked us to go on a walk around Sydney on Sunday. It is a course that is 22km long and is around the harbour, so we cross a total of seven bridges. It is a fund raising event for various charities and I am really looking forward to it. It is a decent hike and I think it will be a lot of fun, as well as being a chance for us to make a contribution to charity and see some of the city. We are going to try and do the entire course, walking. It will be a challenge, but fun. If anyone else lives in Sydney, or will be in town and is interested in doing a massive walk, click here to check it out. Good opportunity take some more photos!

Well, that is about it for now. I'm not sure when I am next due to see the trainer, but it should be tomorrow or Wendesday I guess. It'll be fun. I will try and do the same cardio session tomorrow, however if I pull up a bit sore I will follow the old routine for a couple more goes to ease into this more difficult stuff. No point in doing myself an injury after all this hard work.

Tough New Cardio Regime

Wow! I did the new routine this morning and it was a bit of a killer. I found it a lot harder than the previous workout regime and I think that this one really is the last transition before I will be running for the entire 50-60 minute period. The first session has two sets of running at over 10km/ph for at least 6 minutes each, so that is 2km there. The rest of the time is walking really quickly so the first session ended with my having covered 3.44 km and having burned 449.3 calories. It is hard, this new routine that she has me doing. At the end when I stopped, I had to de-sweat myself before I started the second session and take a minute to get the breath back a bit. It felt good.

The second session starts with a hiss and a roar. The walking starts at a quick pace for 3 minutes, and then it is straight into the running for 9 minutes - all at over 10km/ph. That is 1.5 kilometres on the trot, and is actually over it as part of the time I was running at 10.5 km/ph. It was, I think, the longest period of running at that pace I have done so far and I found that it went better than I had expected. The rest of the workout in the second session is fast walking with a fair bit of incline thrown in there which makes it tough. This second workout had me cover 3.34km and burn 426.2 calories.

So, the total workout this morning covered a massive 6.78 km and I burned 875.5 calories. Not a bad effort, and a great start to the day. I also did a few weights after the cardio session. I did a set of ricep curls, shoulder press, tricep extensions, and some abs exercises to round out the session. It was a great start to the day.

In other news my partner has booked us to go on a walk around Sydney on Sunday. It is a course that is 22km long and is around the harbour, so we cross a total of seven bridges. It is a fund raising event for various charities and I am really looking forward to it. It is a decent hike and I think it will be a lot of fun, as well as being a chance for us to make a contribution to charity and see some of the city. We are going to try and do the entire course, walking. It will be a challenge, but fun. If anyone else lives in Sydney, or will be in town and is interested in doing a massive walk, click here to check it out. Good opportunity take some more photos!

Well, that is about it for now. I'm not sure when I am next due to see the trainer, but it should be tomorrow or Wendesday I guess. It'll be fun. I will try and do the same cardio session tomorrow, however if I pull up a bit sore I will follow the old routine for a couple more goes to ease into this more difficult stuff. No point in doing myself an injury after all this hard work.

Running the Gauntlet

I had a really good day today. I went to the gym nice and early this morning and cranked up the usual cardio workout. I went really hard and managed to get through 800 calories fairly easily. This is a good sign for the new workout, which I am a bit worried will push me pretty hard. I have been feeling a bit sore from the last workout with the trainer, so I am going to start the new regime tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! It should pretty hard, but I am looking forward to it.

After the workout my partner and I decided to go and see the newish flick "Children of Men" with Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. My partner and I enjoyed it very much, I had read the P D James novel that it is based on a few years ago and was interested to see what they had done with it. I thought that it was a very strange novel for her to have written, and while outside her usual genre, it was fairly interesting. The changes that were made for the film were an improvement overall I felt. It was nice to get out and about and take in a film, we haven't been to one for a fair while now...

The theatre that we went to was in a shopping mall that is about three levels high. It is quite large and as we were walking to the movie theatre - from the ground floor all the way to the top we were struck by the opportunities presented to us to consume extremely sweet and fatty food at almost every turn. There was 'gourmet' pop corn featuring such flavours as chocomellow and triple butter caramel, there was a cookie shop that had about 40 different types of cookie on sale. There were ice creams, chocolatiers, frozen yogurt, muffins, and fudge. You name it, it was there if it was bad.

The unhealthy food options that were like a gauntlet around the movie theatre. Not once, not twice, but thrice we were stricken by having to move through an area of almost unlimited opportunities to massive increase our calorie intake for the day. It was hard not to be tempted, but the opportunity was resisted. A massive cup of coke zero was our choice of treat for the film - not the most healthy thing around, but probably only had about 5 calories in the entire cup. I mean, you have to have something watching a movie and of all the choices there, that and water were the only ones that tempted us - and I refuse to pay $5 for water.

So all in all we had a good weekend, bit of a relax, and a workout or two. I'm looking forward to this week, undoubtedly there will be some good workouts coming up and some very trying cardio sessions. Bring it on!

The Longest Kilo...

Finally, I made it to 124kg (272.8lbs) after last weeks slight delay. I think that the workout yesterday will have helped as today my butt is sore from all those lunges and I can really feel the upper body work that I did as well. Feels great, funny how I now look for this feeling the next day to let me know that I have done a good workout, rather than resenting being sore! Maybe I am becoming a sick gym rat!

I put in the usual cardio workout this morning. I didn't want to start the new workout as I was feeling the workout from yesterday and I think that I will need all my strength and fitness to make it through the first session of the new workout. I will be giving it a try tomorrow morning instead, and probably again on Sunday depending on how I feel. If I am sore I will do the pump class, it will also help keep some variation in it.

I wore the new shorts today, and they look really good. I think that they were called cycling shorts, but the only difference I have noticed between them and the other shorts is that they are made out of softer material and I like shorts like this because it reduces any friction between the legs and they just feel nicer when you are wearing them. They certainly went well on the first run today and I think I will pop back into the store and get one more pair so that I have three to keep me going.

I'm feeling pretty good heading into the weekend, and it is nice to have broken the back of the longest kilo - 125kg down to 124kg. It has been a bit of a trying time as I have at times felt like I wasn't being rewarded for all the hard work I had been putting in. However, I did not break in this time of difficulty and have made it to the next round, and now I feel like it was a bit of a triumph to get here. I'm feeling good and know that if I stick at things, eventually I will reach the goals that I am setting for myself. The main thing is to keep going no matter what happens as everything will not go your way all the time.

I also meant to tell you all about a story I saw on one of the tabloid style news shows a couple of nights back. It featured a fish and chip shop that sells battered and deep fried pizza...they claim it as a world first but I don't know about that. Apparently it is at least a first for Australia. What they do is prepare pizza in the ordinary way (although it looked to me like it might have been pizza prepared in an oblong style rather than the round pan), it also looked like it might have been layered say three pieces thick and then cut into oblong pieces, and then they dip a stacked piece in batter (same as what they use for the fish) and then drop it into the boiling fat to deep fry it. It is insane I tells ya! I thought that battered and deep fried mars bars were way over the top but this beats them all. Deep fried cheese and dough...

Apparently one slice packs a mighty 800 plus calories - that is as much as I burn in an entire workout when I go as hard as I can at the moment on the treadmill! I bet most people that eat that stuff probably don't do any exercise so it is no wonder that the weight goes on. They had the fans of the meal raving about how delicious it was, and this was quickly followed by nutritionists denouncing this creation as an abomination on the culinary scene and the quickest way to an early grave. That is one thing that I can honestly say I have no desire whatsoever to try, but it was interesting to hear what people are doing in contrast with my own new healthy style of eating.

I'm glad I have moved on from eating that sort of thing. It seems that there is a greater and greater choice out there of more calorie packed food than ever before, with more on the way. I think that I am lucky to have started turning my life around now and I never want to go back. Let's hope I can get to my goals and change my life during the journey.

Big Workout Complete

Big session with the trainer this morning, and I am feeling mightily pooped at the end of it. It was such a hard workout that my old shorts finally gave up the ghost and now must be consigned to the dust bin. Good excuse to buy some new ones at least, which I did on the way home. Should be looking sharp now with my new shorts - may have to get some new t shirts to go with them I think. However that will have to wait until I have enough money to buy new clothes.

It was mainly an uypper body session today but she also hit me with lunges for the length of the gym. We were in a different area today so the lunge session was much further than usual and it really did get my heart rate right up. She told me part way through that she is going to be working me a lot harder to get my heart rate up like it used to be when I first started. This will burn more calories and will help to get me fitter - along with the new workout. Sounded great, didn't feel quite so good doing it though! Funny that. However, I did feel great when I finished and enjoyed the trip home and stopping off to get some shorts on the way. Feels good to buy with confidence off the rack - I only need XL now instead of...larger sizes than that!

I also did the shopping ont he way home and will start to cook it shortly - we'll have chilli for dinner tonight. Yum. I have a nice low fat version that I can make and it should be real nice for my partner and I tonight. This is hot food weather, and as it speeds up the metabolism I figure that it has got to be good for us!

The diabetes and obesity debate featured on tv again this morning and I managed to take some of it in before the session with the trainer. On morning tv the were debating what, if anything, the government could do about the 'obesity epidemic'. The issue was a little distorted I felt because they seemed to be suggesting that people were blaming the government for being overweight. I don't really think that is the issue at all, no one is looking for someone to blame for being overweight, at least in the way that I see it. What is being asked is "what, if anything, can the government do to deal with this problem before it gets any further out of hand". Once they got off the side issue of blaming the government for what you eat, there were some suggestions that caught my ear.

One such suggestion was having gym memberships claimable on medicare (the government health insurance scheme. The only point against it seemed to be that it would be impossible to know if the people who joined actually went to the gym. Not the best counter argument as they certainly wont if they can't afford it. Another suggestion was making foods with a certain fat and sugar and cholesterol percentage illegal. I'm not sure about this one as I would hate to imagine what "fat and sugar pushers" and an illegal trade in food would be like! What was surprising was that no one suggested making healthy food available in schools or making healthy food cheaper to buy. I'll be abolutely staggered if there is any concrete proposal to do anything, but I will keep you posted.

Weigh in tomorrow - check back then and see how I did.

Sore Today, But Workout Helped

I felt a bit sore this morning from the workout yesterday. The trainer had me do some Romanian deadlifts (straight legged variety) with dumbbells. I had only ever done them with a barbell before and I must say that the dbs made it a lot more difficult for the upper body. My shoulders and lats and feeling it today, but that is a good sign. I went in this morning and did a 50 minute session of the old routine as I felt that it would be a good idea to keep something up my sleeve for tomorrow morning when I next see the trainer. I'm looking forward to it and think that it will be a good leg session as we did mostly upper body last time.

Last night the new cardio workout arrived, however I decided that this morning would not be the best time to start it. I think Friday morning will be the first time that I give it a shot as it looks really tough. There is a lot more running in it than I am used to, and the walking phases are also quite quick. Clearly it is meant to challenge me and I feel that by Friday morning I should be ready to give it a crack. I did well this morning and got a good owrkout so I am feeling pretty good all in all.

News today is that a government report has been released estimating that obesity costs the country $21 billion a year, more than the government currently spends on medicare (the government run health insurance program). It seems that for the next few days there may be some debate on obesity and the epidemic currently sweeping the country that we hear so much about. I will try to collect any interesting snippets and pass them on, but so far the opposition has simply been stating that the government isn't doing enough about the problem, but I have yet to hear of any alternative proposals. Mind you, they have a pretty simple task if they are trying to come up with something more creative - they only have to beat a health minister who says it is the fault of people who just need to stop stuffing their faces with food and take responsibility for how fat they are. A real vote winner that!

We're shaping up for another good weekend. There was some suggestion that we may be doing another suburban walk, but it seems that the plan has changed at least both mornings we will be heading to the gym. I think that I will probably do the pump class again on Sunday as I did enjoy that. The other days I believe we will be doing at least one walk, and I personally am hopign that we do another coastal walk. My partner has managed to get her hands on a book called "Sydney Walks" so it seems that we will not be short of ideas on where to go! Fantastic.

Session with Trainer Complete!

I had a very hard session with the trainer today. She really gave me some tough stuff today, but it felt good (except for reverse lunges which we dispensed with after the second set as they were not working as well as she had hoped). I find that a lot of the time she is giving me new exercises just for the sake of giving me new exercises. I know that I have been on a little bit about some of the boredom that is slipping in, but reverse lunges are not really going to address that. I think it is variation for the sake of variation. It is good to do things different ways, but only so long as there is something better about the way of doing it, or some increase in value. Frankly, I don't see it with that exercise as lunges with dumbells or the barbell are difficult and really kill my legs. I prefer to stick with those as I really feel the benefit of working out with that exercise the next day, and at the time.

Everything else was great though and I did enjoy today's workout. I was tired at the end of it, but not utterly exhausted like I was last time. She suggested that I train with her again tomorrow, however I wasn't sure that was such a good idea as I felt that I would be feeling the workout of today a bit and that might slow me down. She agreed and we are set to train again on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it, it should be good. I even did some running around the gym today and managed to kick it up a gear or two. I am feeling good about my running now, the treadmill has given me a lot of confidence, even if I am still a running novice. I know that I travel better around the gym now than I would have to begin with.

Other news is that she is sending me the new cardio workout today. I gather that it will not be radically different from the previous one, however it will have running for longer periods of time - like 5-7 minutes throughout. In essence, it will be a bit like the variations I was making to the cardio program that she gave me so it wont be too much of a shock to the system. I'm looking forward to it, and if for some reason it doesn't arrive I think that I will start a new training system that essentially does this as I am a bit tired of the monotony of the other system. So long as I am making it harder, but manageable, I think I will be doing the right thing.

I discussed with her the chances of doing some pump classes in addition to the routines that she has me doing. She said I could do a couple a week, but any more that that would start to affect the workouts that I do with her. It sounds to me like she would prefer it if I simply beefed up the cardio sessions that I am doing rather than starting to go in the morning and afternoon each day. So, I think that I will look at that instead of working in pump classes. I will let you know what I settle on, but I think it will be treadmill, cross trainer (short period), followed by a regular abs workout of about 10 minutes duration.

Sick partner today, she is home crook and I have been looking after her, with the exception of going to the workout this morning. She has a fever and is very tired so I have been keeping her watered and fed while she sleeps on the couch taking in a few choice episodes of Frasier and some of the other DVDs in our collection. It has slowed down my post today - hopefully no one missed out due to the delay!

Week Underway

Up and about n time this morning and off to the gym for the standard cardio workout session. I am starting to get a bit bored so I think that I will spend some time this afternoon working on a new routine for myself, I am getting a bit tired of waiting for the trainer to send me a new routine. The workouts I am doing now all have a sense of sameness about them and it is hard to get motivated, so at the weekends you may have noticed I have been trying some new things.

Yesterday for instance, I went with my partner and her cousin to the gym near our home and we all did a body pump class. This is like aerobics, but with weights. Basically you do lots of reptetions with relatively light weights, and you have control over the amount of weight that you use for resistance. I used to do these classes in the past, and the used to work well for me. I found that the class was as good as I remember, and I think that I will be working this into the new routine that I design for myself this afternoon. The basic plan will be cardio in the morning and a pump class or some sort of resistance training in the afternoon. I think that this is the next step forward for me now to take things to the next level.

I'll let you all know what it is that I decide on. As for the photos of my day spent walking in Balmain, we all got so excited over the shops and what we were doing that we forgot to take any snaps at all! Shocking I know, but the experience was great and we will be sure to repeat it before too long. We found some great products and really enjoye dthe day out and about. We saw a nice house for sale and took a wee tour of it and thought that it would suit us well. Unfortunately the $1.7 million price tag was a little out of our league! Still, it was a great day and I even managed to get a bit of colour as the sun was out in force - 37 degrees by lunchtime.

Magic Day

It is another wonderful day here weather wise, at least 30 outside already and apparently it is heading for 35 today. Nice and toasty warm again! My partner and I are about to make the most of it and head to Balmain for a nice walk around that part of town. We haven't been there yet, and there are a number of shops that she wants to visit in that area. We're going to catch the bus to the suburb, and then walk around it, mostly down hill to the harbour where we can get on a ferry and head back to circular quay where the Opera House and all that jazz is.

I'm looking forward to the day out and about, it'll be nice for us to spend some time together doing fun stuff and just having a bit of a wander. I guess that we will be walking around 10kms again today so that will probably do for the exercise requirements for the day, but I will be insisting that we get into the gym tomorrow morning so I can do some running. Seems like it has been a little while since I ran at the gym, although it must have only been two days.

I'll be taking my camera today, so I will get some shots for the blog, as well as posting some of the shots that I took during my massive walk the other day. Check back later to hear what we got up to!

More Weight Lost, But Only Just!

Well, today marks the first day that I have weighed myself and lost only a small amount of weight. I knew that this day was coming, but had hoped that it would be a little way off yet. I am certain that this is not the start of the slow down in my weight loss, or even worse a plateau, it just feels to me like this is a blip, and next week I should be back to normal. I don't know why I think this, but I do and I think that is for the best because I don't want to let this get to me and get discouraged. I knew that this was coming, and along the way I am not always going to be dropping 1 or 2 kg every week. The important thing is that I am still heading down, going in the right direction.

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I walked further than I have walked since I lived in the Cook Islands and took it upon myself to walk around Rarotonga, the main Island, as part of a marathon that was being staged on the island. That was a long way, and a really hot day, but yesterday was pretty taxing too. I think the round trip of the island was 32km all told. Mate, my legs were really sore after that! The walk yesterday was great, and I did get to have several delicious espresso shots on my travels. I reckon all told I probably walked about 15km during the course of the day and manged to get a lot of sun without getting burned. My new haircut has meant that parts of my head are exposed to the sun that used to be well covered (such as my ears) however all parts of me seem to go brown over here rather than going red and then back to white!

A big weekend lies in wait for me. Both days I will be at the gym with my partner and her cousin. There is talk that we will be off to the beach again, apparently it is going to be 33 degrees tomorrow so that will be a bit of a challenge. We have a bit of a heatwave going at the moment, but I must say that I like it. I feel toasty warm every time I am outside and just love being bathed in sunlight - it improves my outlook on life, even if I am not out in it.

Well, chalk up another successful week, even if it wasn't as successful as some past weeks. Onwards and upwards and I am sure that I will be rewarded for my ongoing efforts in due course.

Ouch!

Wow, pulling up very sore this morning. The pain is good pain however, just in the muscle and no joint pain at all. A bit of DOMS I think, although the delay was not that long as my legs were quite sore by yesterday lunchtime. I think that a recovery day is in order, and I intend to get out and walk around this fair city to make the most of a wonderful day.

I am going to head into Redfern and check out a couple of coffee houses there that roast and produce their own espresso blends. I plan to make a whole day of it as my partner will be at the university this afternoon and I can meet her there and we will probably have dinner out in the city at one of the nice and cheap claypot restaurants around there. Quite looking forward to it actually, it should be a great day.

I'll be walking between 15 and 20 kms all told today so I should be burning off a few calories, and it seems that my legs will get plenty of light exercise to help them get over the stresses of the lunges yesterday. It has been a while since she had me do the version of the lunges where you have dumbbells and essentially walk up and down the gym. She also had me run aroudn the gym after that and I was proud of the effort that I managed to put in. It was a good workout and I feel good about being able to do it. It should be a good challenge to back this workout up tomorrow, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I may get a few photos of my travel today, so check back later as I will put any up that I take. Enjoy the day!

Back To Trainer Today

What a rough return to form with the trainer! It was an action packed workout, and right after we finished I was so tired that I had to have a bit of a lie down, pretending to stretch of course so that the rest of the gym goers wouldn't be able to catagorically detect that I had gone soft. There is some credible doubt there I feel with the feigned stretches that I carried out! Mate, I was shagged.

Turns out she intended to do it to me to see how I am holding up, and she indicated that she was pleasantly surprised at how well I did today, and how I handled a substantial increase in the weights. She is about to move and intends to send me a new cardio workout with more running in it to increase the calories that I am burning. Sounds like the new cardio workout will be what I turned the old one into over these last few weeks. Looking forward to it.

I was tired today after the workout, but I knew that if I just limped off home I would feel bad tomorrow, so I decided to get on the treadmill for a couple of 25 minute sessions at an easy pace. I felt much better after the 50 minutes of walking and even managed to stroll home with a bit of a spring in my step. The workout was good and I appreciated it all the after the short break that I have had. I am due to see her again on Firday morning and I am looking forward to it at this stage, however I am a little apprehensive as there is a fair bit of recovering that I will need to do bewteen now and then. I am sure that I will handle it.

I was too tired to think much about any other issues this morning on the treadmill. Two days until weigh in, that will be what occupies my mind until then!

Back to Business As Usual

I feel great, after a couple of below par days at the gym, today was a complete turnaround. I started well on the treadmill and managed to do an above average first 25 minute session. Then, in the second session, I built in 6 minutes of running at 10 km/ph so that I cranked out a kilometer to add to the total distance that I ran. I also broke over the 400 calorie mark for that session for the first time since last week. I felt so good once I had finished that I did a further 25 minute session walking at 6 and 7 km/ph in five minute blocks. I feel much better and I am pleased to report that there was no pain at all. My total calories for the day were 1,102.9 - the most I have ever done before since I started to rcord my progress. Now all I have to do is build on this with the trainer tomorrow. It is fantastic to be feeling so good again when exercising, maybe my body is over the shock of losing all my curly locks!

A former boss of mine is in town today so I am about to head out and meet her for a coffee at circular quay. I get the feeling that every visitor to Sydney that we have will be meeting me down there! Just as well that it is one of my most favourite of places in Sydney. I have to take them to a train station that is on my line so unfortunately I wont have much time to knock around in town, but if I do get up to anything exciting I'll make sure that I let you all know about it.

A couple of nights ago on tv there was a segment on 60 minutes about diabetes, and the disease formerly known as adult onset type 2 diabetes. They had some really young kids on the show that had the disease and basically were saying that it was all down to their diet (8 years and 16 years). I was watching what the kids said that they had been eating before they got the disease, and it was rather frightening. The resemblance between their diet, and what mine had degenerated to, was rather sobering. There were several interviews with people that had lost limbs to the disease and all I could think about watching these poor people was how glad I am that I have made a start in reducing my weight, and I hope that I am doing enough right now to prevent myself from getting it. The individuals were urging anyone out there to do whatever they could not to get the disease.

I am fortunate in that there is no family history of diabetes that I am aware of. Family history and genetics plays a major role with this disease, although this was largely left out of the show on 60 minutes. The message was that there is an epidemic sweeping the country and kids are now getting what used to be an adult disease. However, while watching the entire clip it became clear that most of the kids on the show had a diabetic parent, varying between type 1 and type 2. Diet and what have you clearly contribute, but genetics cleary plays a role, emphasised in the same piece by the fact that scientists on the show were searching for a gene that causes it. I believe that you must have a disposition to get the disease as I notice that it is particularly common in certain parts of the world, not just decadent 'fat' western countries where it is rising (India and Pakistan spring to mind).

Immediately after the show we were treated to Supersize Me on free to air tv. I had seen it a few years back at a film festival and was stunned by what happened to the film maker, in particular his liver. It was over the top in that no one would eat McDonalds three times and day for a whole month, but I was still shocked at the havoc it wreaked upon him and I noticed many similarities between what he experienced, and how I used to feel. At one stage he is really down, and then he eats his Mackers and almost seems to be intoxicated from the food. I remember that while eating that sort of food I would feel good, but the rest of the time I would feel like crap. I believe that my liver must have suffered during those days, particularly considering the amount of liver damaging alcohol that I used to drink. Apart from my parents visit, I haven't really touched the stuff since embarking on this mission and I would be interested to know what sort of state my liver is in. It may be that I should head to the doctors and get a blood test to see how I am.

I certainly feel much better, and have more energy. I am still prone to remain sedentary, but at least now I feel guilty when I do it, and normally get out and about to assuage my guilt! However, I have noticed a new trend, and that is that I can actually enjoy exercise, and it is possible for me to feel good when I am doing it. A few months ago that would have been impossible and I must remember how far I have come, as well as keeping track of how far I still have to go. I may still be obese, probably even morbidly so, but at least what I am now has to be so much better than what I was, and where I was likely to end up.

I'd like to say also that while the government is always on about the obesity epidemic and consequent rise in the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, there seems little on offer to assist people that are affected by this problem. Unlike many other things, there are very few people or experts suggesting that there are any concrete steps that could be taken by governments to address this problem by assisting individuals that are in danger of becoming negative statistics in this area. I'd like to know why the only proposals are to regulate the advertising of fast food on tv, or punishing fat people by introducing fat taxes - levied either on food or fat bodies. Why are more positive things not being considered? If everyone agrees that exercise is good, why not offer tax incentives to get people exercising? Perhaps make gym memberships tax deductible? This is no guarantee that people will go to the gym, nor is it a guarantee that they will lose weight if they do. But any exercise is better than none, surely.

The government (in Australia at least and with the current Minister of Health Tony Abott being particularly clear on this point) seems to hold to the view that it is entirely the fault of the individual that they are fat and lack the discipline to control themselves. There have been proposals for a fat tax to be adopted to make fast food more expensive, thus discouraging people from eating it. I say how about something more positive like subsidies for fresh healthy foods to make them less expensive and more readily available? What about teaching food appreciation at schools, instead of serving up pies, ice cream and chips in school lunch rooms?

I notice that smoking and smokers are treated completely differently with quitlines being sponsored by the government where people can call 24 hours a day and get help to give up that habit. I think it is a double standard that there is no corresponding assistance for overweight people that might need the same help. Is it not the case that people can be addicted to a certain type of food? I guess the main difference is that everyone has to eat to live, but you don't have to smoke to live. Unlike smokers that can claim to be addicted to the nicotine in tobacco, fat people apparently just lack self discipline. Gluttony is, after all, a deadly sin. Instead of whipping fat people, perhaps some constructive ideas to positively help those that want to address this issue for themselves would work better.

Pain Persists

I'm not sure what it is, but the shin pain continued today. I still think that it is mostly in my mind, as during the second 25 minute session today, the pain went away in spite of the fact that I ran at 10km/ph for 3 minutes in that leg. I stuck with the training regime that had been given to me, and I did make it to the end. It isn't as hard as what I was doing, but I think it is important to work through whatever it is that is causing the pain without adding too much stress. I will discuss it with the trainer on Wednesday when I next see her, however it may resolve itself by then in any event.

I did add on some extra time on the treadmill today as my knee was also a bit tight during the last walking phase of the 50 minute workout. I decided that I would add on another 25 minute walking session at 6 km/ph which I find is easy. I hoped that this would work out the area and get a bit of blood pumping through without placing any stress on the area. It seemed to work as I felt really good while doing this part of the workout, and I felt really good on the walk home. It was great to walk all the way home without any pain or stiffness at all. I am thinking that perhaps the fact that I don't do any stretching at all on my own may be causing the issues that I am having. I will address this during the week by doing some stretching of my own at home. My hamstrings in paticular are very tight and I think it affects me widely.

The pilates class turned out to be a bit of a fizz today. I did not have any stiffness or tightness anywhere that I was hoping I might. I think it may be a technique thing and I probably have to give it a bit more time before I decide to move on to something else, however for the meantime I may use the pilates class as something to add on after a cradio workout on Sunday mornings. I wont be too tired to concentrate on form, and I can also be sure that I am burning enough calories. I'm looking forward to another workout with the trainer this week, be good to get some huffing and puffing underway with some weights thrown in for good measure.

Pretty Good Weekend

The weekend is drawing to a close and I have had a pretty good one. Yesterday was fairly slow, but I did make it to the gym for the standard cardio workout. I am still hopeful that the new cardio training regime will be sent to me soon and I can make a start on that. I found the cardio routine quite hard for some reason yesterday, however I did get through it, and I know that is the most important thing. My shins were sore, as were my feet, but I think it was mostly psychological as for some reason I just didn't seem as into the workout as I usually am. Maybe I need new music on my MP3 player!

Today was good, my partner and I tried a pilates class today, my first one. It was unusual, not that much of a sweaty workout but hard nonetheless. I think that it will take me a few goes at it before I get the hang of it, and I found some of the position quite hard because I am still a bit too large for some of them. Bits of me still get in the way, but I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have done this class at my original weight.

I think that I may try and work a few more classes into my routine as they serve a good purpose keeping things new, stopping the boredom and daily grind from setting in too soon and affecting your enthusiasm. I felt good after the class, and while I knew it wasn't the hardest workout I have ever done, I think that I will find bits of me that I don't usually work on have been hit this morning and will probable be sore tomorow! I have a good week ahead of me, I'm feeling good and looking forward to spending some good time at the gym and making some good progress.

Short Term Goal Reached, But Not Passed!

Bang on 125kg (275 lbs) today. So, my short term goal wont officially change until I actually get over the mark, next week with any luck. I feel really good about reaching the 125kg mark today, so much so that I took the afternoon off and went out to Newtown and sampled a few fine coffees at one of the many establishments in that part of Sydney. A wonderful afternoon, and I walked the 4-5km back into town, taking in the many sights on the way. I met my partner after work and we travelled home together. A great afternoon.

The walk and afternoon in the city was the main reason for the delay in my posting the results today. Newtown is a great area, very bohemian and a younger part of town. Lots of students and a diverse demographic makes it a great place to take a stroll and check out the second hand book stores. I had a great time, just whiling away the afternoon. I did manage to find a couple of books I had been trying to get for quite some time. An excellent way to celebrate the result that doesn't involve food.

Of course this morning I went to the gym and did the usual workout. It went well this morning and I am looking forward to hearing from the trainer about my new workout. She is supposed to send it to me in the next few days so I am looking forward to that. The plans for the weekend are to gym it both days and be well prepared for next week. Bring it on! Can't wait until I am halfway to my goal - 2.5kg away now!

Mighty Fine Day

I arose reasonably early this morning and made it into the gym for a standard cardio workout. It was nothing to rave about, but it felt good to get in there a bit early and get it out of the way. I got home, had lunch, and then decided to head into Sydney and meet my partner after work. She works on the North Shore so I got the chance to take the train over the harbour bridge and meet her there after work had finished.

We had decided that we would walk back across the Harbour Bridge to the central city and meet up with my partner's cousin. There is a festival on this month in Hyde Park (in the central city) where they have set up a large number of stalls selling Asian food, and we thought that it might be nice to meet after a nice walk and have dinner there.

The walk from the shore is very nice. We walked around some quite stunning suburbs with nice old terraced houses, most of which have been done up and look very flash. Rents are high, of course, and the view of the bridge, and back to the city is stunning. The walk across the bridge is nice too, although I was pestered by a single fly for more or less the entire trip. I only managed to lose it when we got into the city. You haven't experienced flys if you haven't been to Australia.

The city was extremely busy with the all of the offices emptying out of workers and the footpaths were crowded. It was nice to in and amongst it, normally at that time of day I am at home recovering form the days exertions, but being in town in the action was very stimulating. I enjoyed the walk, and the three of us met at the park as the sun was setting, filling the sky with a wonderful pinkish hue.

The stalls were very good, and we recognised a number of restaurants that we have been too. We had some salt and pepper squid, and my partner had a selection of dim sums which we shared. My partner's cousin also had a Thai pie that we all tried. Most unusual - a red chicken curry pie. It was surprsingly good, however I don't think that I will be making a change to my normal diet to include them as they tasted like they had a fair bit of fat in them. So all in all it was a good day. It is the official weigh in tomorrow, so check back to see how I get on.

A Day Off

I had the day off today, there was a fair bit of work around the house to be done that I had been putting off so I put aside some time today to take care of that. The house is now looking clean and lovely, all the washing is done, and I am looking clean cut and presentable for the first time in a long time.

I splashed out a whole $12 on the 'do' today - very reasonable price for cutting off that much hair. The poor barber was so appreciative when I confirmed that he could shave the hair off the side of my head - I think he envisaged being at it all day with the scissors! By the time he had run the number 2 clippers around the sides and back, and then taken off the mop from the top, there was hair all over the place. I was quite impressed, especially when the other barbers in the store started commenting about it! Nice. He earned his $12 today, let me tell you.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym tomorrow and having my session with the trainer. It will be tough I think, she will be recovered from the operation that she had and be ready to give me a very hard time. Still, bring it on. I'm feeling good and ready to rip into losing the next 20kgs. Check back tomorrow to see if I am still as keen after being taken to task at the gym!

Visit Over Today

A bit sad this evening, earlier on today I farewelled my folks at the airport. I was sad to see them go, I had enjoyed having them around over the last week and I wont be seeing them again for a while - probably not until Xmas. I guess that isn't too far away, but it is always sad to see them off knowing that it will be a while before we are together again. Something to look forward to I suppose, and Xmas will be great as I will in all probability be that much closer to my goal.

Speaking of which, I had two days off over the weekend, but not in a row. I had Saturday and Monday off. Today was a pretty hard session, and I purposely pushed myself beyond the normal routine as I had taken some time off and knew that my body could take it. I didn't do the best workout ever, but I did manage to get over 400 calories per 25 minute session. I think that I needed it as I had noodles for dinner last night and they have plenty of energy in them.

I've also made a decision that having long hair is no longer a good idea. I am finding that in the heat it is making my head hot, and also the hair gets wet when I am running and then flicks into my eyes. So, off it comes along with the moustache and general rugged look that I have been sporting. A new clean shaven and clean cut image awaits! Who knows, it might even account for a few 100 grams when it gets cut off! No, seriously I doubt that my hair could materially affect my weigh ins! I do now have to find a suitable barber to cut off my flowing locks, I may even venture into the city to see what there is on offer.

Tomorrow I have my session with the trainer and it is really early so I will have to get up extremely early so that I am able to have breakfast digested before we get underway. That's about it for now, hope you all have been doing well. I'll be back to regular daily updates to the blog so check back and see how things are going.