Tag

Scales

I really don’t know what I am doing in the Gym

Yarr…. I don’t know what I’m doing!

No, it isn’t Talk Like a Pirate Day, but instead it is Stephen’s first day at the gym and like Captain Horatio McAllister, in The Simpsons, I really don’t know what I am doing!

The day started well. I had breakfast (which is something that I too often miss) and I managed to resist the vending machine in my work. And when I say resist, it didn’t even cross my mind and that, on its own, warrants a wee fist pump.

Even walking past endless rows of sweet laden desks didn’t bring out the sweetie monster in me.

By 2.00pm, I was feeling hungry and prior to hitting the gym, I stopped off at my local sandwich shop and had a chicken panini. Not the best choice, but not the worst either and a lesson learned. Although I do not have a lunch break (I work part-time) I will bring food with me. Especially as it is my intention to head straight to the gym.

Which I did today and which did not go quite to plan.

I walked in and although I had spent time in it before with Teresa, I felt like a nervous child entering high school for the first time. I felt alone and I was not sure of my surroundings. I did not know where to go first and even as I entered the changing rooms, I felt like I was trespassing and the onset of a headache (more of that in a moment) did nothing to settle my nerves.

For the past four years I have ran and although I have tried many sports, I have never felt comfortable in a gym. Lack of knowledge, confidence and experience. Hopefully all three will improve as I keep going and as I enlist the help of my Personal Trainer friend Spencer Peek, who works in Pure Gym.

Hiring a PT to guide me in the first few weeks seems like the most sensible approach. I will learn what machines and weights to use and I will have a planned workout for each visit.

But, back to today. My headache became worse and I decided to just do some light cardio. I spent 30 minutes cycling and 20 minutes walking. I tried to run, but my heart was not in it and my headache was not allowing it. For a brief second I lost focus and I nearly slid off the back of the treadmill. Luckily I came to my senses and recovered before suffering any further embarrassment.

Not the best first visit to the gym, but it will not deter me and I will find a way to enjoy it.

Tonight’s dinner was a red Thai curry and I resisted crisps and sweets. I should be going to bed reasonably happy and reasonably early (for a change). However, I am a numbers man and today’s measurements reinforced my need to alter my lifestyle. Yet, again.

As expected my weight, BMI and body fat percentage were as high as they have been in four years. At 234lbs and a Body Fat Percentage of 34%, I have a long way to go.

Also worrying is my blood pressure. At 133 over 90 it is on the high side and I will need to monitor this. The only relatively encouraging measurement was my resting heart rate . At 45 beats per minute, it gives me hope that if I can reduce my blood pressure and weight, I should have a healthy heart and potentially a longer and more active life.

Tomorrow is Day 2 and my goal is to add some more fruit and vegetables to my diet.

December 14, 2015 0 comment

Health Health Rewards Journey Obesity

All I Want For Christmas

written by Stephen Morrison

Is not to be worse than I am right now

Christmas tis the season to be jolly and to overindulge in a festive feeding frenzy. Normally, having spent the year running and training hard, I would accept this and enjoy a few weeks not worrying about the macronutritional content of mince pies and shortbread, but this year is different.

Having put on 40lbs this year, I do not want to exceed that. Since losing all my weight in 2011, I have yo-yo’d a little, putting on a few pounds in the Winter and quickly losing it come Spring.

However, I have never before gained this much and if you have read my previous blog, you will appreciate that my greatest fear is returning to a life less active.

So, I have decided not to wait for a New Year resolution. I am resolved not to gain any more pounds (of fat).

Instead, I will use the rest of December to prepare me for the year ahead. That does not mean that I will procrastinate over plans or spend a small fortune on new training kit (ok, I might still manage the latter). Instead, it means that I will use the next few weeks to devise and implement my new training regime.

It will consist of resistance training at Pure Gym, Shawlands; yoga at Bikram Yoga Southside and my daily active commutes to and from work.

Moreover, It will all revolve around a more structured and consistently adhered to diet. Although I will be using Weight Watchers to record my progress, receive and give support and earn Vitality points, I will not follow a diet plan

I will cut down on my intake of crisps, biscuits, bread, cheese, gums and chocolate. Basically, all the things that I love.

And, when I say cut down, I mean eliminate them from my diet. I am not a fan of any diet that eliminates any type of food, but the simple truth is that I eat far too much of the above and, unfortunately, I cannot currently trust myself to moderate my consumption.

One bite is never quite enough.

I am also going to try and improve my culinary skills, as one of the reasons that I eat too many ready meals and too much toast is that I cannot ready a meal, such as a roast.

So tonight, I have taken my measurements and taken stock of the journey ahead. The next few weeks will not reverse the damage done but they will put me back on the right path.

Three years on and I still do not know how many miles I have to travel, but I do know that it is #timeforme and time to just do it!

“Last Christmas, I lost all my weight and the very next year, I gained it all back” will not be a recurring theme.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my starting measurements and update you on Day 1. As always, your support and encouragemnt is much appreciated.

December 13, 2015 5 comments

Journey

Scaling It Down

written by Stephen Morrison

For over two years now, I have been trying to lose weight. And I have been successful. I have lost lots of weight. Over 12 stone gone and well on the way to reaching my target weight. I have gone from a size xxxxl to size medium and I have embraced physical activity.

I should be delighted. And in many ways I am. I am fitter and happier than I have ever been.

However, in my pursuit of weight loss, I have developed an obsession. I have scales at home and it is a great set of scales. I love my scales. No, I really love my scales. There is not a day goes by that I don’t pay it a visit. Some days I even say hello more than once. I track my morning weight, my evening weight and even my post exercise and eating weights. I love analysing the fluctuating readings. I live to see the readings drop.

I hate my scales. Somedays I am heavier than the day before. Somedays I eat clean and exercise lots and the scales don’t even move. Somedays it even registers a 2 or 3 lb gain only to see it disappear two days later, but not before it has left me deflated. Rather than being a useful tool to monitor my progress, it has became the barometer of my state of mind and it dictates my behaviours (which are normally eat less and do more). I know this and still I cannot resist stepping onto it.

And, in my pursuit of weightloss, I have taken my eye off the prize. I hated and hate being fat. Despite being relatively fit, I still look in the mirror naked and see fat. When I am doing star jumps, push ups and and mountain climbers, I am painfully aware of the fat that hangs dripping from my body. I want to lose this fat. So why do I measure my weight loss when in actual fact I should be measuring my fat loss? By focusing on weight loss, I am negelecting the need to maintain (and increase) lean tissue.

When I first started I weighed 354 lbs and had 185 lbs of fat and 169 lbs of lean tissue. Now, weighing in at 181 lbs I have 36 lbs of fat and 145 lbs of lean tissue.

In my pursuit of weightloss, I love potentially lost 24 lbs of fat burning lean tissue. This may seem a reasonable sacrifice as I am no longer having to carry and move a substantially heavier body, but this video below reminded me of the importance of focusing on the fat.

So, starting from today, I am am going to change my focus. My weight is no longer the metric that will dictate my life or be the measure of my success. From today, I am going to focus on fat loss and use scales (and not even my scales) to measure my body fat percentage.

And from today, I am going to end my need to constantly weigh myself. I will weigh in once a week using the scales at Forward Fitness where my good friend Elle will also measure the centremetres lost, another better way of measuring progress than scales alone.

August 21, 2013 3 comments