Fitness Blog 001

Fitness Blog 001
I was going to make this part of my Blog Update posts, but after a while, the post grew from a few paragraphs into something…a lot more. So from here on, each time I post something about my weight loss, it will have it’s very own category. That really doesn’t mean anything for you the reader, but for me it allows my creative juices to flow. And flow they will.

It has been almost six months since my last blog update, specifically my last update in regards to my diet. When I last left you, I was at the beginning stages of my diet. I had cut out all Energy Drinks, Soft Drinks and pretty much any drink containing sugar. That was it. Nothing else special, just cut out those drinks and wanted to see what would happen to my body. Fortunately it was doing wonders for me, I shed some weight and felt a lot better in general. However as Christmas approached things changed. I continued to stay away from the sugar drinks but piled on the junk food. I replaced one habit for a lot of another habit. Over the two-week period I managed to gain 5kgs.

Have you ever put on a t-shirt which once fit you perfectly. Not tight, not loose, but just right? I love that feeling….loved that feeling. Over those two weeks, I put on a t-shirt and it was tight. Like a glove, tight. Yuck. Honestly I was devastated but very quickly realised the increase in weight was my own fault and I was the only person who could fix it. So I started to make the change.

Putting on an unwanted 5kgs over two weeks does wonders for ones motivation. I quickly changed my breakfast, lunch and dinner habits almost immediately. Not only that, but with my Fitbit in (on) hand, I even set out to count all my calories in and burned. Might I just add that my Fitbit Charge and now my Blaze have been two of the best fitness helpers and without them, I wouldn’t be as motivated as I am now.

For the record, my breakfast, lunch and dinner during the week consists of the following meals.

Breakfast
2 x Weetbix
1 x cup Nutrigrain
1.5 x cups of lite Milk

It’s a simple meal and one that really gets me going in the morning. Mind you, I also try to polish off a few glasses of water during the morning. And on a side note, I het my milk up. Don’t know why I mentioned that, but you know what, warm milk is the best. Love it.

Lunch
A big salad (it’s a BIG SALAD) with a mix of lettuce, olives and tuna. I also use some of the oil from the small tin of tune to dress the salad as I find salad dressing to be a little too, manufactured. Sometimes I throw in some shredded chicken to mix things up which had previously been roasted. Up until two weeks ago I was including some cheese in my salad, but frankly too much cheese wasn’t good for me and I would eat cheese for breakfast, lunch and dinner if it were socially acceptable. So with all that in mind, I decided to drop cheese from my life. I love it, but wasn’t doing my any favours.

Dinner
Previously I would get home from work and pick on food for two hours until dinner time. Just jump into bed soon after. Never a good thing, at least not for me. So I moved my dinner to 5pm when I’m actually hungry. It has helped me tremendously and I no longer feel bloated the following morning, nor am I picking on bits and pieces. I have a piece of fish/chicken/meat which measures the size of my palm. On the side I have steamed vegetables and also throw in some Beetroot if I’m after something extra. Any vegetable on hand will do.

Now, don’t think I’m a chef, because reading all that you may think I am, but I’m not. I buy steam fresh fish from the supermarket and warm it up when I get home. It works for me, and when I can make more than a meat pie, you’ll be the first to hear about it.

Snacks
Throughout the day, I’m pretty much able to dip into the staff kitchen at work to dig into my Grapes and Apple I bring into work. I usually prepare these in the morning by ripping the Grapes from the tiny branches and putting them in a container. Then, I cut up an Apple and add it too. Simple and surprisingly filling. If there is Watermelon on hand, I’ll add that too.

Again, this is all done to help me eat something that isn’t a packet of chips, mountains of bread or bags of lollies.

Drinks
Water and that’s it. No sugar drinks at all will enter my body. I occasionally have some orange juice with pulp (must have pulp) if I’m feeling a little unwell, but that’s only ever a glass at the most, and only ever once every few weeks or so. I’m not a coffee or tea drinks, but I have heard both are fine for the body without milk and sugar, so maybe I can add that to the mix when visiting family.

Mind you, all the above meals are for Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday is me winging it. Still healthy, but I don’t prepare my own meals.

With all that food, I’ve worked it out to be hovering around 1,500 to 1,700 calories per day. Which when you consider I burn between 4,000 and 5,000 per day, I would like to think I’m doing pretty good.

My whole diet has been a three stage plan by cutting things out bit by bit. First it was the sugar drinks which needed to go. They were my biggest addiction and seriously were controlling my energy flow throughout the day. That has been the biggest and most difficult change so far. I needed to begin that change first or else, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle anything else I threw at myself.

Second was the food. Even if I hadn’t put on 5kgs over two weeks, my salad for lunch still would’ve happened. I wanted to know what was going into my body, and preparing my own breakfast, lunch and dinner had to begin with the salad. Consider it the main push for my change of eating. By preparing my own meals, it also left me accountable for what I consumed. Couldn’t blame anyone but myself. Stage two also meant zero junk food, which believe me when I tell you, that is killing me.

Third and final stage was the working out. I’m a big guy. There is no getting around that, and eventually once I’ve shed enough weight, I will feel more confident to let you know where it was after that 5kgs increase. As a big guy though, I am not a lazy person. That is something people need to stop thinking when they lot at overweight people. I’m overweight because of what I eat, what I drink and because I don’t move around enough. NOT because I don’t move around at all. I work and I work very hard at my job, and since changing my diet, the weight has been coming off. But even after I get home I don’t stop working out. I take a long walk at an average of 5.5kms, five times a week. As of right now, 1kms is taking me about 10 minutes 30 seconds, but when jogging for a bit, it comes down into the 9 minute mark. I’m happy with that. Also a skipping rope is used every so often for a quick workout and I throw in some minor weight lifting.

Quick recap of the three stage plan.
1. No sugar drinks. Only water and the very occasional glass of orange juice.
2. Prepare all my meals and make them healthy. ZERO junk food.
3. Work out at least five days a week.

If I tried to execute all three stages at once, I would’ve quit within a month. I can admit that because I know my limits and realise how much work has been going into it. Yet, at the same time I’m motivated to lose the weight, and once I start something, its locked in as routine for me.

This post has gone on long enough, but I needed to explain my situation and where I was currently at. Since 11th Jan this year, I’ve managed to drop 8.5kgs and seem to be dropping about half a kilo to 1kgs a week. I’m not pushing myself too hard, nor am I starving myself. Plus I don’t do drugs or take any weight loss tablets or shakes. Just hard work and long walks. Oh, make sure you download podcasts. I usually have a few good podcasts or audiobooks on my iPhone at all times. It makes the walk easily tolerable and fly by.

If you’re on your own weight loss journey, change of life, diet or just a healthy person that would love to give some advice or share your own thoughts, feel free to let me know. Either drop a comment down below, or hit me up on Twitter here. I’m always trying to better myself.