Week 6 - Cruise

So this is me trying to bring the weekly update back into alignment with a 4 day update.

6 weeks on a diet – this is quite possibly the longest I have stuck to a diet and I know that this is as a result of the scales continuing to tick over. Yes there have been some days when there has been a rise but those are the days that I end up taking stock over and working out what I have done wrong and then fine tuning for the next days! The truth is that if you follow the rules and don’t stray too far from the core principles you will succeed.

So the last 4 days have been a continuation of the recovery from the man flu. Still hacking in the mornings and evenings but went out for my first run in over a week last night. Was dreading it…how quickly do you get out of a routine…two weeks ago it was a no brainer, get home from work, change and hit the pavements for a run/jog…last night it took the whole 30km drive home to mentally wrestle myself into the mindset for the run! Once out there I was glad to get out and run but I had to mentally think about the run! Whilst I run and do sort of enjoy it I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination! I lumber along and I am certain that I am not a pretty sight and if my iPod were to stop working and I actually hear myself breathing I am sure I would be arrested for obscene noises….however, I give it a go and two years ago when I started to move I used to use lamp posts as milestones (run for two or three and walk for two or three) then upgraded to running for a song and walking for a song. Last night, even after a week off I managed to run for the whole 6kms.

The Nike+ app for the iPhone is an awesome tool. It tracks your run via GPS and shows you your average pace and your personal records. I am pretty sad – I need gadgets and gizmos like that to keep me interested and motivated. I need personal challenges to motivate and progress myself. I personally think that we all need challenges, personal and public, to encourage and motivate and help us to excel. I have a half marathon (21kms) coming up in 37 days time. This is my current challenge and focus. I would be interested in knowing what others have as their focus and drive, if you are willing to share please do.

Side note – whilst I have lost 16kgs to date on Dukan since the start of the year I have lost just over 20kgs. This means that I have lost the equivalent of my 5 year old J. Hard to imagine when I pick him up that I used to carry that around with me on a daily basis…Plus he is a much cuter 20kgs than the 20 that I have lost J

I hope that you have a great week ahead.

All the best, happy scales and big smiles.  

Week 5 (+ 3 days) - Cruise

So after thinking that week 4 on cruise was a crappy week, week 5 turned out to be a little bit worse…I got sick…yes yes, man flu jokes aside I was pretty unwell. I spent the best part of 18 hours in bed Thursday and Friday with raging temps and weird ass dreams only to recover slightly on Saturday and plummet back downhill Saturday evening. Much improved after a further 12 hours in bed on Sunday. If anything it was an interesting week that was not without its challenges.

07/07 – (0.9) Loss

08/07 – (0.4) Loss

09/07 – (1.0) Loss

10/07 – 0.2 GAIN

11/07 – (0.2) Loss

12/07 – no measurement

13/07 – no measurement

14/07 – (0.8) Loss

15/07 – no measurement

16/07 – (1.6) Loss

So what happened over the week.

Sunday, went for my, now becoming usual, run in Perth city, up into Kings Park and round the park and back to the Bell Tower (12 kms). Got lost AGAIN, took a wrong turn, but still managed to get back on track and have a good run. Still without my baby sister as she is on holiday away at the moment and besides, she is faster than me and I need to make hay while the sun shines. So the week started on a high.

Monday, session in the gym – felt good – certainly not as stiff and sore as the first session so some improvement there! Not sure of why there is a gain after that session but anyway, we are still looking to tone some of the still flabby bits! AWESOME NEWS – have broken into the 11x.x weight band! Am now at a personal new low!! Chuffed!

Tuesday night, went for a scheduled 8 km run. It was dark, damp and a little windy…motivation for the run was LOW but I forced myself out there and ended up having a FANTASTIC run. A new personal best for the 5k (28mins flat!!) and finished the whole 8kms in 47:54 (another PB time).

So I was riding the wave of a great week after an uphill challenge of the week before and then WHAM I was struck down with the dreaded lurgy! The joys of working in an open plan office, in winter, under stressful conditions, oh and having a 5 year old with a cold too…So it hit me and personally given that I am 6’ 5” and 118kgs (J) I think that they were some pretty big germs to take me down!

Being sick identified a couple of things for me…1) my appetite was/is gone…still is now – I have had no desire to eat for a few days now…I have eaten out of necessity but not through want or desire! 2) Dukan is not appealing (to me) when I am sick. I experienced my highest levels of carb cravings while I was unwell. I have managed to get through – not entirely unscathed but we are through.

I did transgress. Three times…

1)      I had a bowl of Oats So Simple oats for breakfast on Saturday. Not as nice as I had built it up in my mind. I wanted something warm and sweet and comforting. It filled the gap for a couple of hours but was not a worthy transgression…

2)      I had two pancakes on Sunday morning. Nothing on them just two plain pancakes. They were nice and a pleasant change.

3)      After 4 days in bed and the house and feeling somewhat better we had to get out of the house so we went out for dinner. I had 10 chips…I purposely and consciously had some chips. I was very happy to be able to limit myself to 10. Days gone by I would have had mine, and my sons and any that my wife left too…

Do I feel guilty about the transgressions. No. Do I feel the need to atone for them. No.

I do expect that some of the weight lost over the past couple of days will come back on now that I am back on the Dukan express and I am prepared for that. I am sure that there will be a fair amount of water retention going on to recover the sweat lost over the 4 days. I think the fact that I am firmly in the 11x.x range has helped me with that mindset. I do not intend for the transgressions to become an ongoing thing. It was a nice to do after 45 days of diet and I hope was a sign of things to come with the change in mindset that this lifestyle change has brought to bear after 45 short days.

I hope that you have had a great week and the one ahead is even better.

All the best, happy scales and big smiles,

Cheers

Post outstanding...

Hi guys,

Just wanted to put a quick message up to say that I am a post in arrears this week. I have been pretty unwell (go with the man flu jokes ;) ). In all seriousness, I am on the mend now but have been man down for the last 4 days...

Am hoping to be much more improved tomorrow so that I can go back to work and get back on the Dukan track.

Until then, all the best, happy scales and big smiles

Week 4 - Cruise

	PHASE	CRUISE	Week 4
	Weight	30-Jun	121.2
		6-Jul	121.0
	LOSS for week		(0.2)
	Days on Dukan		36
	Loss to date		(9.9)

What a crappy week…..I work in finance as it is the end of the financial year so it has been a week of late nights (midnight was the latest) and no exercise…combined with having to take my 5 year old to the emergency department at 3 am with a temp of 40 (turns out it was a bacterial throat infection – treated with penicillin and all better now!). All that aside – the reason for the below rollercoaster of weights (in my personal opinion) is down to my lack of exercise…one run and one session in the gym in seven days (for me) is pretty poor. Up till this week I have been running at least 6 kms every other day so I think I am in withdrawals from lack of runs…*cheeky smile* ahem – running… So blaming and “other” factors aside here is the fluctuations for the week and the silver lining is that for the week – I have been able to post a loss!

Woo hoo….ish!

30/06 0.4 GAIN

01/07 (0.5) Loss

02/07 (0.5) Loss

03/07 0.6 GAIN

04/07 (0.1) Loss

05/07 (0.2) Loss

06/07 0.1 GAIN

Given the late nights and driving home on empty roads with too much time to think it lead to many many many thoughts and cravings.

The silly thing is that whilst I had suspicions of having to work late it did not prep myself for it properly and therefore didn’t have any food on hand after lunch to sustain me. Crazy – mental note to at least put some tins of tuna in the desk drawer as emergency rations…

The other thing was, driving home under cover of absolute darkness, the temptation to pull in to the cursed drive through was very high…I mean really – who would have known…I would have probably woken up the poor little teenager that would have been working the grave yard shift, ordered my dirty burger and smashed it before I had turned the final corner into our road – throw the evidence in the bin and climb into bed with no one knowing but me ……….. and the scales!

Well I did not succumb! It was difficult and tempting but common sense prevailed.  It did get me to thinking again how programed I am/we are…a level of stress comes into the day to day routine and BOOM….there goes the structure and the order of things and the temptations come running in force…

·         Its too early/cold/late I can’t exercise (always the first thing to go for me!)

·         Its late, I don’t fancy making dinner/warming it up etc how about a drive through…

·         I’ll just have a quick packet of crisps

·         Wow – I could smash a choccie bar…

·         Just one beer – it will help me unwind!

And on and on….

Well, despite a long week and poor results on the scale the silver linings I am taking away from this week are:

1)      I have had an overall loss for the week

2)      The week is over!

3)      I did not succumb to the all to easy excuse to eat junk/other foods

4)      I did get one run and session in the gym at least…more to come!

Hope you all have had a better week and the week ahead is a great one!

All the best, happy scales and big smiles,

Cheers