Weekly Weigh-In 2006-10-22 October 22, 2006
- Current Weight: 90.54 kg (199.6 lbs)
- Change this week: +0.28 kg (+0.62 lbs)
- FFM: +0.0 kg (+0.0 lbs)
- Fat: +0.28 kg (+0.62 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 19.5 kg (43.0 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 5
Oops, missed a few weeks there! I had two weeks off work, and we spent one of those weeks holidaying with my parents. That involved lots of big meals, desserts and snacks, as well as several outings to markets and parks where ice-cream and other treats beckoned. All up, I gained almost a kilo (about two pounds) over the last three weeks.
Although I overate and am paying for that in weight gain, I also worked my guts out around the house and jogged quite a bit. I barrowed several tons of crusher dust, sand and soil up our steep block, did some paving, built a fence and gate, overhauled the vegie garden, built a laundry cupboard, and generally got a lot of odd jobs done around the house.
Jogging with G has been going well, although I have a sore knee after today’s run (it hurts when walking downhill, especially when pushing a pram) so I think I’ll take it easy for a few days. I’m now up to running 5 km with G in the jogging stroller, taking just over 31 minutes (those hills are killers!).
The week ahead should see me get back in weight-loss-mode. My goal is to lose 10 kg before the end of the year.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-09-24 September 25, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.71 kg (197.8 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.09 kg (-0.20 lbs)
- FFM: -0.06 kg (-0.13 lbs)
- Fat: -0.03 kg (-0.07 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.3 kg (44.8 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 7
A big thanks to Holly for commenting on my last (very much out of date!) weekly report. Your encouragement was one of a number of things that provided me with the motivation to get back in the saddle and get things going again.
Another interesting blog post that helped push me was TappingLuau’s How To Survive Your Young Husband’s First (Unexpected) Heart Attack. Scary stuff, and it makes you think about how your actions (or lack thereof!) can affect those you love most.
So what’s been happening? For the past 6 weeks or so, my weight has been relatively flat (OK, trending upwards very slightly). I’ve been enjoying some extra snacks and higher-calorie meals and not getting as much exercise as I’d like. I’ve been able to take the kids out walking 2 or 3 times per week, but that’s nothing like going for a half-hour run every morning when it comes to burning calories! Still, it’s better than nothing and at least it keeps me in a somewhat active lifestyle. The kids love it too, and we have a great time walking.
This week I made the decision to really try and get some good exercise every day. As we’re heading into spring down here in the southern hemisphere, the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer. It’s now light when I get home from work, so most days I grab from one to three children and stack them into the pram (and baby backpack, if I have all three!) and head out for a brisk half-hour walk. The kids love it, and it gives my wife some peace and quiet after looking after the kids all day. It also means she can get dinner ready without anyone tugging at her leg or trying to ‘help’. So when we get home, the whole household is much more relaxed and happy!
I went for a 3 km run one morning, and was pretty surprised at how well I did. I ran it in 15:45 – I really thought I’d have lost some fitness and wouldn’ be able to even run the whole thing! It left my wife with a lot of work getting all the kids up without my help, though, so I don’t think that’s going to be workable. Several of the other mornings I took our eldest (G, 4.5 yo) for a walk. She’s the earliest riser in our family (5:00 to 5:30 most mornings!) and usually wakes everyone else up, so if I take her with me everyone else can stay asleep until we get home.
A friend heard that I was taking her walking in the mornings and wanted to jog, so she lent us her jogging pram. They don’t use it anymore, so I thought I’d give it a go. I haven’t used it yet (it had flat tyres), but will post back with a report on how well it works.
Well, here we go on Phase 2 of my “lose weight and get fit” journey!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-08-13 August 13, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.26 kg (196.8 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.06 kg (-0.13 lbs)
- FFM: -0.03 kg (-0.07 lbs)
- Fat: -0.03 kg (-0.07 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.7 kg (45.6 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 1
Another fairly flat week this week. My all-time chart is really showing a flat spot now!
I’ve been pretty good about watching what I eat, but I have been enjoying some nice meals out and the occasional treat lately. Exercise has been almost non-existent, too. While it’s not much good for weight loss, it’s good to know that I’m not going backwards. I can certainly go on like this indefinitely once I reach my target weight!
Still, I’m not actually at my target weight yet, so I need to get things moving again. My little break will have to end this week. Right after my birthday on Tuesday 
.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-08-06 August 6, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.32 kg (196.9 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.41 kg (-0.9 lbs)
- FFM: -0.25 kg (-0.55 lbs)
- Fat: -0.16 kg (-0.35 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.7 kg (45.6 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 1
I got one good run in this week. Since I hadn’t run for several weeks, I took it fairly easy and only ran 4 km. I felt great afterwards, but was a little stiff in my legs for the next couple of days. Once again, the weather beat me for the rest of the week. Hopefully next week will fare better.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-30 July 30, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.73 kg (197.8 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.04 kg (-0.09 lbs)
- FFM: +0.04 kg (+0.09 lbs)
- Fat: -0.08 kg (-0.18 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.3 kg (44.8 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 1
Not much to report this week. I hardly lost any weight, but at least I didn’t go backwards. As long as you keep doing that, you’ll eventually reach your goal weight. I think they call this strategy “failing towards the goal”.
I got one decent walk in this week. It’s not much, but it felt good to stretch the legs and get the blood going.
My aim for the week ahead is to get the diet going more strictly, and to start my jogging again.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-23 July 23, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.77 kg (197.9 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.24 kg (-0.53 lbs)
- FFM: -0.07 kg (-0.15 lbs)
- Fat: -0.17 kg (-0.37 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.2 kg (44.5 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
Hmm, a bit of a shocker this week. I’ve fallen into a bit of a lethargic funk, probably because I haven’t been able to get out for a run for 3 weeks. It’s the weather, it’s been a busy few weeks, it’s the kids, it’s a whole bunch of excuses. But the end result is that I have less energy and seem to have less self-discipline when it comes to eating.
I need to get the exercise happening again this week!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-16 July 16, 2006
- Current Weight: 90.0 kg (198.4 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.84 kg (-1.85 lbs)
- FFM: -0.33 kg (-0.73 lbs)
- Fat: -0.51 kg (-1.12 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.0 kg (44.1 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
Again, this was a terrible week for exercise. Again, it was a combination of illness, late nights, busy days and inclement weather. It’s now been two weeks since I last went for a run, and I’m really getting edgy to get out there again. Man, how I wish the rain would stop!
Despite the lack of exercise, I was able to maintain proper eating habits this week and keep the weight loss rate above 0.8 kg/week. I’m now below 90 kg (198 lbs), which is a huge milestone for me. I think the last time I was at this weight was when I got married 7 1/2 years ago!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-09 July 9, 2006
- Current Weight: 90.85 kg (200.3 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.46 kg (-1.01 lbs)
- FFM: -0.07 kg (-0.15 lbs)
- Fat: -0.39 kg (-0.86 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 19.1 kg (42.1 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
This hasn’t been a very good week for exercise. Bad weather kept me inside for several days, then a series of late nights and waking children had me not wanting to get up early. On Saturday I then fell ill and missed Sunday’s run. I think the gods were conspiring against me this week!
I’m still sick, so I’ll probably miss a few more days of exercise in the coming week too.
As I expected, my weight loss this week was down a bit on the last few weeks. I should be able to get it back up again in the coming week. I’m aiming for at least 0.8 kg lost this week.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-02 July 2, 2006
- Current Weight: 91.31 kg (201.3 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.85 kg (-1.87 lbs)
- FFM: -0.28 kg (-0.62 lbs)
- Fat: -0.57 kg (-1.26 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 18.7 kg (41.2 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 5
Again, this was another great week of weight loss. The extra effort has been paying off, with my weight loss rate rising to a pretty good level. I’m slightly disappointed I wasn’t able to top 1 kg this week, but 0.85 kg is pretty close. Combined with last week’s loss, this puts me above my two-week goal of 1.5 kg.
The week ahead is going to have a few get-togethers involving a bit of eating out, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to maintain my current rate. I’ll do what I can, though, and push to keep the momentum up for the following week.
My goal is to lose 1.3 kg over the next fortnight, which will put me at 20 kg (44 lbs) lost since I began this journey at the end of last year. That puts me at a weight of 90 kg (198 lbs), which is getting back towards normal. I’ll then have just 7 kg to go before I’m at the upper limit of my ideal weight range of 67-83 kg (147-183 lbs) (according to this ideal weight calculator).
The ultimate goal is in sight!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-06-25 June 25, 2006
- Current Weight: 92.16 kg (203.2 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.84 kg (-1.85 lbs)
- FFM: -0.30 kg (-0.66 lbs)
- Fat: -0.54 kg (-1.19 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 17.8 kg (39.3 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 4
What an awesome week! As I mentioned in my last post, by simply changing a few of my daily habits and getting back into the weight-loss frame of mind, I was able to step up my weight loss rate dramatically. Where I had been losing 0.3 to 0.5 kg per week for many weeks, I have now stepped the rate up to over 0.8 kg per week. I’m hoping to push it over 1 kg per week with a little more work this week.
I’m a little concerned that a portion of my weight loss each week is from fat free mass. My body fat percentage isn’t dropping as much as I’d hope, and I don’t really know why. I don’t do any weight training, so I guess that’s one obvious reason, but I would have thought all the running I do would be building up my legs. It’s possible I’m not getting enough protein in my diet to maintain my muscle mass, so I’ve started drinking a protein shake after each big run I do. We’ll see how that helps. I’m also open to other suggestions!
Being fit seems to have really helped my ability to recover from illness. Every winter I get one or two bouts of the flu, which typically hang around for a week or two. The one I had last week only really hung around for a few days, and then I was quickly back to normal. Maybe it was just a weakling strain of the flu bug, but I really think my improved overall health had something to do with shaking it off quickly.
My surge in weight loss has seen me start to move up in the Biggest Loser Rankings (my username is ‘ttgf’) over at PhysicsDiet.com. I’m now pulling ahead slightly of a couple of other people I’d been stuck behind for a while, and am nipping at the heels of a couple more. I find it motivating to have a bit of friendly competition – it keeps me striving to do more, and gives me a sense of progress and feeling of achievement. Somehow I doubt I’m ever going to challenge Matt’s phenomenal weight loss of 43.7 kg (96.3 lbs) though!