Still hunting for my focus....

Slightly out of sync with the update of the blog (like to try to update on a Friday) but here I am none the less…

I am continuing to fight the fat bloke inside. I seem to have lost my way a little bit with Dukan over this past month. I am not sure why or what that is about but I need to recover my focus!

Below are my graphs for the first two months that I was on Dukan and was focused…

And here is the graph for the month of August since my focus has waivered…

Yes there are still a couple of days of August to go but it really does paint a picture of how focus has drifted about for the month.

The Dukan site states that my goal weight should be 104kgs, my desired weight is 100kgs. Breaking the 110kg barrier has been incredibly difficult for me! Is it because my body is having a dummy spit over the changes or is it simply the fat bloke inside rebelling? Not sure but I need to get my focus back and fast! I guess at the same time I think I have lost weight quicker than anticipated on the Dukan website. It stated that from June 1^st I would be on phase 2 until December 2^nd. Given the current weight loss pattern and averages I calculate that I should be there by September 30^th. That follows the average that takes account of all the ups and downs I have suffered over the past 3 months. Is that realistic – no idea, I hope so as I am keen to start the next phase of this life change! Life change – maybe I need to get that right in my head and realise more that this is trying to reset the bad habits of the past 30 years!!!

 So the big drop from yesterday to today – I ran and completed the City to Surf Half Marathon in Perth yesterday! Woo hoo…..what a great day. To think that when I started running (poorly and inconsistently) about 3 years or so ago I could barely get a km and yesterday I managed to run for 16kms before I took my first walk (for 200 mtrs). I finished in 2:06:04! I am mega chuffed. The last half marathon I did in the UK was in Feb 2010 and that took me 2:41:26!!

All I can say is that it is possible and we all start at the same point….small steps and frequent breaks will enable you to build up [gradually] and achieve!  Also, proof that the quantity of carbs we eat is unnecessary, through all the training I have been on Dukan and prior to the start of the race I had my usual bowl of oats for breakfast and only water in the race itself! (i did have an ice cream at the finish though....)

Happy thoughts and lighter scales everyone!

Catch-up plus confession and re-focus!

Well it has been a while since I posted an update and I thought it was about time I got round to it.

So much has happened in life since last I posted.

My last update post was on July 19^th (a Thursday). Weight 114.9kgs.

                                                                                                                       

Saturday the 21^st my second son was born at 4:58 am. My wife was amazing and awesome and I know I could never have succeeded as well as she did. I am so eternally grateful for my two boys and her!

The arrival of my son started 3 weeks of leave for me to try to help get our lives in order with his grand arrival and to help with the routine of our eldest boy (5 years old). 3 weeks of leave. The longest period of leave in one block since I started working…IT WAS GLORIOUS!! I could so see myself being a stay at home dad….unfortunately from a household income perspective it is not feasible but boy did I really enjoy the time off and time with my wife and two boys!

Not being in the 9 – 5 structure of the work day did throw the routine out a bit. I will be honest there were several instances of cheats occurring namely in the form of a small handful of curly fries on occasion and the odd (two) tim tam with afternoon tea.

Tim tams – let me tell you about a bit of a realisation….within me there will always be a greedy person trying to break out! Carbs – I am ok – I enjoy them but they are not the be all and end all for me! Sweets however are a different storey. LATE one evening I snuck into the pantry to have a tim tam…I ended up having six!!! I have NO willpower when it comes to sugary treats! Lesson learnt – avoid sweets.

The one non-Dukan thing that I do on a more regular basis is that I have a bowl of Uncle Toby’s Oats for breakfast. So apart from the odd transgression and the oats the time off was good and was overall a success.

13^th August – Return to work. Weight 110.2kgs. Loss on leave 4.7kgs!

The return to work resulted in a return to structure and routine. My darling wife has coped with the two boys at home alone fantastically well (I am so proud of her!) and I am dealing with the post break blues in my return to the workforce (buying lotto tickets now!!). The first week back found me snacking much more than I did at home. At home I never had 10 am and 3 pm snacks and I also found myself drinking much more water (and coffee) that I did at home sooooooooo…..

I ended up recording almost a week of gains…weight at the end of that week 111.4kgs. That was a GAIN of 1.2kgs in the week. I am certain this was compounded by the fact that I did absolutely no exercise during the week while I tried to get back into the work swing, get used to feeding the baby at 4 am and get home from work “too late and tired”…poor excuses but they were the ones I used.

Over the weekend it was my mother’s birthday and that resulted in morning tea at our house, dinner at my sister’s house and breakfast the next day at the club (a buffet – all you can eat!). I stayed strong. No snacks at the morning tea. No carbs at the dinner and once piece of bacon with the scrambled eggs and mushrooms at the breakfast! Overall a good weekend navigating the constant barrage of food. A couple of runs achieved too and so I am happy to report that as of this morning I was back to 110.0kgs almost a new low (previous low was 109.4kgs).

I am typing this post for several reasons…

1)      To catch up on the trials and updates on the past month.

2)      To try to get my head back in the game. I feel that over the past couple of weeks I have let things slide. I am [today] 6kgs from the Dukan suggested weight and 10kgs from my target yet I am feeling like things are waning. Maybe I am trying to get ahead of myself and try to adopt Stage 3 before I should. If anything in this post I am trying to vocalise my faults to acknowledge them and hopefully overcome them.

3)      Acknowledge the greedy bastard inside of me! I know he is there and I know that I have to manage him. When it comes to sweets I have no willpower! NONE and the fat bastard inside loves that and wants me to fail and forget about this healthy lifestyle. I worry about this fat git when it comes to stage 3 but I hope that acknowledging him means that I will be prepared for the battle that will commence once I arrive at the start of stage 3.

Tomorrow will be a weight gain – I know this with some certainty as despite my plan for an 8km run tonight (we have a weather warning in place at the moment) I have eaten about 200g of biltong (beef jerky – South African style). It is pretty salty so I am expecting water gain. This does not condone the snack or the fact of it but it is self-admission of the fault and is hopefully the start of a refocused, prepared and committed me that goes forward from here.

Thanks for reading my rant along the way.

Happy thoughts and lighter scales.

Cheers

MIA....ish

Hi guys,

Sorry I have been MIA for the past couple of weeks. We have had a bit of excitement in the household that has lead to me being distracted and unable to blog.

We have been blessed with the safe arrival of my second son. He arrived on his due date on July 21st.

We are all getting used to having a new little person in the house and are trying to find out each others routines which is leading to several sleep deprived nights...thankfully my five year old could sleep through anything and as such has not [yet] had his sleep disturbed.

I have been as best as possible sticking to the Dukan way but will admit that the exercise has taken a hit. Once things return to some semblance of normality I will post a better update.

For now, happy thoughts and lighter scales.

Cheers,