Day 45 - Resistance & Run

Thursday was another early start, racing down to the gym to get stuck into another workout. 

I smashed my pre-workout drinks and sent myself with renewed vigour.

Absolutely Arms & Abs

Continuing with the weeks' theme of compound exercises first, followed by selection of tweaking isolation exercises, I got stuck into arms. Starting with Biceps, I pushed myself through some dumbbell work, then grabbed the biceps bar, chucked on some green disks (10kg) to either side of the bar and got involved! I maxed out with 4 reps of 17.5kg on each side (total 35kg), which was around 5 sets (the previous sets were 10 reps, then 8,8,6) then moved into a second blast of 3 sets with 10kg on each side, doing the barbel slide - from hip to chest to finish my biceps off.

After a quick set of triceps with the dumbbells and set of tricep dips (off of the bench), I moved to the cable crossover. I like using the cables for triceps; I can do over head, and pull downs - plus I can interchange from straight bar, to ropes to really work the entire muscle. Love arms day! 

After burning through my arms session, I gave myself a good going over in the abdominal department - with hanging knee crunches, leg and knee raises, farmers walks, overhead holds.

Not bad for a workout that lasted 60 minutes!

Resistance (is futile) Circuit

After the arm workout I was totally warmed up and ready for RAN PT! Which, as it happened by lucky coincidence, turned out to be a resistance circuit. So, more of the same...well, not quite. Partnered with Mr Peds, the objective was a partner 100 club. The following exercises were to be worked through: Bicep Curls, Squats, Lunges, Overhead Tricip Dips, then high knee sprints, star jumps and burpees. Peds and I shared the load evenly and worked together to get as far through the workout as possible during the hour. We were mid-way through the 100 reps for burpees as the session drew to a close. Not bad, and another well worked team effort with Mr Peds!

Night Run

After a full day of work, and prior to commencing some crash study for Friday's exam, I decided to head out for an early evening run. Another longish day, causing some minor procrastination, held up the start of my run for a while. I set of on the long run, headed for Somers - and I nearly made it there too....except sunset and the lack of street lights put an unexpected turn-around point in my trip....Running the remaining 50% of my run, in the dark employing my red arm light and my iPhone for direction was an interesting experience; one I'd prefer not to repeat, for safety's sake!

I ended up running 18km all up, nearly the half marathon I'd been aiming for....

Not a bad Thursday.

Day 44 - Tri-Harder!

Well, here we are again.... Another fun-filled, exercise fuelled training day. 

Mornings

Getting out of bed at the crack of dawn is really getting easier. I'm just rolling out of bed, with a spring in my step. I briskly walk in the dark every day, planning my training session, thinking about the things that drive me to keep going. I seem to arrive at the gym, and I'm all prepped and ready to go. I step into the gym, with a focus and determination unlike any other. I train my heart out and feel great because I'm training so well.

Training Chest

I'm getting a lot out of chest day. Since adding some additional sets to my bench workouts, I'm feeling really strong. I powered through 7 sets of flat, inclined and declined bench. I tried a powerful lift followed by a slow return. I gradually increased from 50kg to 85kg, and reduced reps from 8 reps down to 4 on the last. I repeated the same process, on the incline bench, but reached a maximum of 75kg. On the declined bench I repeated for a third time focusing on technique reaching a maximum of 85kg again.

After Barbell-ing the heck out of the benches, I did a quick three set dumbbell pectoral fly, to warm up for a big set of fly drills on the cable cross overs. I worked slow, long fly drills with lower weights working the squeeze on my pectorals. I set up the cables with a central position (mid-chest height), then high, then low. After this I moved into abdominals (hanging knee crunch-lifts, leg and knee raises, farmers walks and over head holds).

Big session, but I felt awesome, for the rest of the day!

Tri-Hard!

During class today, Mr Ped offered a good idea for Wednesday arvo tri-club training - A Swim/Bike brick session. Since I was ahead of schedule, I decided to push it a little further. I decided to try a little harder during my cardio-endurance session. I decided that I'd knockout a 1.5km swim, followed by a good hard spin session - planned distance 40km, target time under 2hours, preferably within 90minutes....but that'd be pushing it.

Whilst on my swim I pushed through a multitude of things; soreness in my upper arms and shoulders, initially crap breathing rhythm, heavy legs and then a bit of a slog for the last 5 laps. I did pretty good. I swam the first 500m in 13 minutes, the second in 13 minutes and the third leg was 14 minutes. So an overall 1500m swim of 41 minutes was a great result, since I did swim only freestyle too!Very happy about that! As I jumped out of the water Mr Ped jumped in. He was planning a shorter swim - I think I knocked over a 10 minute 500m - awesome time dude!

After a quick rinse, to remove the stinky chlorine from my skin, I was soon gearing up to hit the spin bike. My plan was ambitious, and I worked hard, even though my heart rate stayed relatively low throughout. I was working with a heart rate of 120-130bpm, and was spinning at 85-95rpm in gear 6 from start to 10km, then up at gear 8 for most of the ride. I stayed seated and tried to simulate my awesome road bike - the only saving grace with a spin bike is the pre-fitted aero bars that make it a really good work out. Whilst spinning, I managed to employ my over infectious enthusiasm and motivation, to draw in Mrs Legal-oh. She's a Reserve lawyer who is posted to Cerberus for a few months. Missing her hubby (who is in West Australia), she's turned to fitness to fill her spare time - good girl! Oh and thanks to Mrs Legal-oh, we had some music to spin along to.

After about 10km, Mr Peds joined us and got settled onto his bike. It was nice spinning at a "talking pace", since I love having a good chin-wag. I pushed myself and ended up finishing my ride not that long after the others had left me. I was a sweaty mess as I pulled into the final 5km, with very little time to cover the ground, and being so near to my target goal of 90 minutes I stepped it up a notch. I lifted gears to 11 and powered through with a few short stints of standing. I ended up finishing the ride at 40km, in 89 minutes - Stoked! I got off the bike, stretched (way longer than normal) and made my way back to my cabin.

I actually got caught as I walked back, to stand at attention, and watch sunset. Its the RAN ceremony that is conducted at sunset each day that returns the Australian White Ensign and Australian National Flag from their flagpoles.

After dinner this evening I relaxed in the comfort of knowing how well I'd worked through my training session, and enjoyed a couple glasses of red wine with Holmie and Mrs Legal-oh.

Now I'm going to bed early....ish.

Day 43 - Totally Tuesday!

Tuesday, Tuesday...

 I "Heart" Tuesdays at the moment. I get to train, participate in organised physical training, play team sports and if I'm really lucky - I get to Zen myself out with a healthy Bikram Yoga sesh!

Well, today I had a great day. An even better one when you know you need to pay back a deficit from the day before - as you know I had to work and my training suffered (Boo!). I always pay my debts.... Or is that the Lannisters? Game of Thrones overload, perhaps!

Important Rest Time

I'm learning the hard way, as I'm a bit of a slow starter with resting, that rest is just as important as the training we are doing. I'm starting to see that for me, rest and zen time are essentially my mind and body having a workout....albeit without the sweat. Its like a recuperation workout and its nearing time to go get into that session.... I'll just write this post, and drink my yummy Casein Protein shake first. The shake can then start to give my muscles nutrients as I rest and set my digestive system to work. I sleep much better knowing that my sleeping body is getting heaps of good amino acids delivered over a slower duration to help improve recovery, L-theanine to help relax me, plus a large injection of calcium to support my bones! Awesome, but the key here is that my sleep is starting to be just as important as the training is - Oh My! That lovely wife of mine will be pleased with this! I'm doing well too - last night I managed nearly 6 hours of sleep time...which is a vast improvement!

There has been a great deal of research into sleep and weight loss. I even read a very interesting article that suggested training in the early evening to improve rest. It suggested this because it is a good trigger for the body to prepare for sleep. In brief, we raise the body's temperature whilst training, and the subsequent temperature drop is what 'triggers' this, so if you ever wondered why it takes ages to fall asleep at night when you're too warm...that is why!

Is this you?

Personally, when I sleep best its usually naked, or on top of the covers (even in winter) and sometimes both combined! :) Sleep is a good idea for people who are training, trying to lose weight, or to just be a bit healthier, since sleep restriction leads to an increase in a hormone called ghrelin, which is attributed to stimulating appetite. This alone may explain why during these past 6 weeks I've been even hungrier than before - Extra training, plus sleep restriction is not a good combo! This has become very apparent to me whilst sitting in class, since the start of this journey. My lack of sleep makes my appetite soar (I try to ignore that and stick to my regime), but I guess this builds as I further exhaust myself during the day. This leads to my excess tiredness causing a serious case of the snack-monster! This could be something to watch out for. If you're not careful, you too, could be reaching for the coffee and donuts at 3pm because you didn't sleep well the night before....think about that the next time you're making your stand-easy brew or popping to get some more munchies to gorge on just to stay awake...I know I will be. 

 

At least until we get our sleep habits improving, we should carry some healthy snack options to make sure we don't detract from the good work we are doing the rest of the time! 

Sleep, rest and Zen Time appear to be very important, don't you think? An interesting observation that led to a little research may have uncovered something about why I get so "hungry" when I'm tired...I'll definitely be monitoring my sleep and eating behaviours much more closely in future.

Super Shoulders

My usual start to the day being a big shoulders set, focussing again on primarily using compound exercises to develop a strong core. I worked bloody hard, lots of barbell work today. I pushed some extra sets onto each exercise, keeping the weight hard enough to sustain it. Feel the burn...the yummy burn that tells you you're working hard! I finished with some hefty cable work to really isolate the muscles, whilst keeping the core engaged - really enjoying pushing myself now! I finished with some abdominal work; farmers walks, overhead holds, hanging knees up crunches, leg raises, oblique training and crunches.

Cardio & Abs Circuit

This guy is cray-cray, I hear you say...Ahem... Well, this morning's PT offering is my favourite circuit - Abs and Cardio. Today, I partnered up with Pon-Goh the ex-Army dude who is in my class. He has a strong training ethic and works hard, so I naturally wanted to partner him! The circuit involved cardio such as: skipping, ladder sprints, sprint starts, spinning, toyota jumps, grid sprints, mattress sprints. The abs worked everything...which made me feel the familiar burn of hard work! Love it.

Footie & Yoga 

After a full day of class, Mr Dutchie had organised the weekly footsall (indoor football) game at the gym. Mr Sos and I were to play for 30 minutes, as a warm up then leave so we could get to Mornington to catch some Zen at Bikram Yoga, Meeting our other yogi, Holmie, there.

When I returned from Yoga I received a picture text from Winnie, and it made me laugh... You see, I quite often fart in the yoga room, and its normally due to my straining as I work hard to bend, stretch and...well, normally during "wind removing posture" funnily enough...still I thought I'd end with something light hearted... Goodnight.

Love my wife!

Day 42 - Week 7 Begins

Compound or Isolated

It was recently brought to my attention that I might gain additional traction with my weights and strength training routine if I were to train using compound exercises. As it happens, I've been doing this already, incorporating a healthy mix of compound and isolation exercises - so it feels like I'm going good.

Functional fitness is that which simulates real-life activities and uses a wide range of movements through a wide range of motion. At the heart of these routines are a variety of compound exercises. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at one time. The type of exercise has more benefits that just being a little bit harder on your workout. Here' what I've learnt:

1. You burn more calories during compound exercise training
2. You simulate real world exercises and activities
3. You get a full body workout faster
4. This improves coordination, reaction time and balance
5. This improves joint stability and improves muscle balance across a joint
6. It reduces the risk of injuries during sport
7. It keeps your heart rate up and this benefits your cardiovascular system
8. It allows you to exercise for longer with less muscle fatigue
9. It allows you to lift heavier loads and build more strength 

Isolations exercises work only one muscle or muscle group and only one joint at a time. These exercises are often performed with the commercial weight machines we see in the gym. These machines isolate one muscle group, so gym users can move from one machine to another to obtain a 'full body workout'.

Isolation exercise is a really good way to focus on specific muscle groups. I used this method of training to recover from my torn hamstring last year, and I hear its a great way to increase size or bulk of specific muscles (if you're into that).

From what I've read the balance is definitely in favour of training with lots of compound, using isolation exercises to improve the performance of specific muscles, groups or joints.

Get To It, Learn New Variations....

I often use the isolation machines to warm up (since I do a major muscle every day), then move to compound exercises for the bulk of my workout. I've always tried (where possible) to complete as many exercises standing to improve my core strength (hoping that one day the hard work will pay off and my belly will shrink)... You get out what you put in....

Everyday, Learn Something New...

When I reached the gym, in the early pre-dawn cool air I had already decided to give a full compound workout a go. In exchange for the seat row machines, I used free weights. Mr P gave me a few tips on some of the new versions using a barbell, which was very useful.

I trained hard today. I started with barbell bent over rows, working a couple lightweight sets to practice then chucking on the weight (quite low) so I could focus on technique - going back to basics helps to reinforce what you think you've learnt! After completion of another 3 sets of rows, I then moved to dead lifts. I could feel the difference to my normal machine use almost immediately, and more so in my core! I still used the lat pulldown and the isolated forward inclined row machine - I like the challenge of both, plus its was a good variation and to feel the isolated muscles after working the core also made me more aware of my technique!

I love working my back one side of the spine at a time, using the cable crossover. I modified the normal seat row variants into standing, well, semi-squating routines and felt my legs stabilising whilst holding firm in my abs - whilst focusing on working my back. So good.

After 60 minutes of gym time, all spent on my back (which will love me for it later) I moved to some quick abdominal work. Farmer walks with weight discs, leg and knee raises, not to mention the hanging leg raises - which I found I was swinging more than normal? So, weird!

Another good workout, which was lucky since work commitments meant no evening cardio tonight....which led to a little over eating / indulgence...but I'll push harder in my workouts tomorrow! I'm comfortable with that!

Days 39,40 & 41 - 6 Weeks, already?

Has it been 6 weeks already? Wow! This training regime thingo is really making time fly - or am I just using time more efficiently these days?

So 6 weeks, a relatively short period of time and the half way point in any recommended 12 week training / transformation plan. At this point in time I'm noticing a great many things about myself. I'm less conscious of what other people think of my activities in the gym, pool or outdoors; meaning I'm less worried about looking stupid - I just work out, sweat, ache and get what I need to do done. I've faced a few hurdles at the start and in week 6, but I've learnt heaps and gained a great deal of tips from people in the know to ensure it doesn't happen again (or too often). My body is changing, its slow changes but I feel certain things. I'm definitely stronger, and stand taller - my posture is improving I guess. My swim, cycle and run fitness are maintaining and gaining traction, so that means I'm balancing my routine too.

So, I've been asked to talk about Willpower, and before I do, I wanted to just say that this is all coming from my own personal dealing with these issues, and how I deal with or control them.... My personal disclaimer!

Willpower

Well, Willpower can mean different things, to different people - it all depends who you ask. In the context of this blog, I'm referring to staying power (not to deviate from your chosen course of activity) and, of course, willpower from a nutritional sense. When posed this question by Miss Han-Wan I have to say I did not feel qualified to answer, but in hindsight I believe I am actually very experienced and demonstrating willpower, and as such I'll give my few pennies worth.

Staying on track in any healthy living regimen is a matter of how badly you want to make changes, and how determined you are to stay on track. It is also, a process whereby if you train hard, eat well and get plenty of rest - you can place rewards to keep you on track. A reward is exactly that, and should not be a daily thing otherwise it loses its meaning. It is a milestone, for all your efforts. Mr P believes a person should have a day of rest that includes eating and drinking the things you sacrifice during training. Thats not too bad a philosophy, one I kind of have in place for myself. I don't reward myself weekly, but after set milestones. I have a rough plan of what I want to achieve, and by when. After all the difference between a goal and a dream is a deadline! I set deadlines, milestones and work toward them. So, Firstly, I set a goal of 4 weeks regular and consistent training and healthy eating. After week four I evaluated my progress (using this blog, my food diary and a mirror). I decided I could have a treat day, but waited and saved up my treat day for time spend with my awesome wifey - I didn't feel guilty about the food and drink we shared on her birthday, or over easter because I knew I could cope with it.

After week 4, I started to intensify my workouts and utilise a method of tracking my diet, in terms of calorific input, output and measurable values for protein, carbohydrate and fat intake. I use the "my fitness pal" app on my iPhone, and have done some study into the caloric burn for weight training - I use my Garmin 910XT for my cardio calories. Now, I'm not calorie counting to lose weight, I'm using it as a tool to determine just how well I eat, drink and exercise. I utilise another app (sleep time) for my iPhone for monitoring my sleep habits also. I do all of this to gain a better understanding of how my body is functioning, and what I'm doing to my body. Here's a couple examples from this week:

Since fully integrating both of these interesting applications into my overall health and fitness routine, I've noticed that I'm thinking before I eat, I review how much rest I'm getting and I can see if I should or should not treat / reward myself. These coupled with a strict diet, sleep and training routine is helping to keep me on the right track. I regularly review my progress, and know when I've not put in my normal 150%! 

Willpower with regard to nutrition is hard. I found out the hard way this week; No matter how strong you get, how resilient you feel when you're active and energised and happy - it boils down to nothing when you respond unfavourably, when you're tired, pissed off or not so active. I learnt that when you consume something you're body rejects, you will get side effects and you will be punished for it by your body.  That said, if you train and eat smart, you'll reward yourself in a healthy way. My wife makes raw and vegan cakes, that are sugar free, gluten free, lactose free....in fact I'm not sure what she actually puts into them, but these are our treats for doing well.

Ask yourself, why are you rewarding yourself with something you're trying to give up? It's like having a cigarette a month after you've finally quit and cleansed your system - does it seem crazy to you?

If you like chocolate, and you don't want to give it up, work out a way to include it into your eating routine so its not a reward, or a regularity. Mr P's method of once a week might help? Never feel guilty, that would imply you've done something wrong, and that just goes against the programming you are doing to yourself. It's ok to have nice things, if you're prepared to sacrifice it with something else - namely train harder, or ensure you don't go over your caloric intake maximums on those days, so cut something else out...try things, and see what works for you - but keep things positive and I guarantee you'll never have to quit something you don't want to. I like to drink and go for nice dinners, so I train like a mofo to ensure I'm comfortable with indulging on those occasions. I'm a foodie, and a wannabe master chef, so my weakness has always been in my diet - so I'm learning day by day to cope with sacrifice and reward...its working for me and I'm cool with that.

I hope that makes sense?

What have I been doing?

Day 39 was a rest and recuperation day. After secure from work, and a nice gluten free lunch, I slept until dinner, then repeated the same until the next day. I never sleep this much, but this is yet another side effect of my poor judgement - that dang bacon and egg roll!

Day 40 was fun.

Unclip!

So, at 0700h Mr Ped calls me up to ensure I'm awake and to tell me he is almost here. We had planned a saturday morning bike ride and short run. We were travelling to Frankston, to enable us to start there and cycle to Mordialloc, a nice easy round trip of 35km.

On route to Mordialloc we cycled amongst a pack of cyclists, my first time doing so led to me not really getting in tight or close enough, perhaps a little nervous distance between on my part. After around 10km, Mr Ped and I were separated at traffic lights. As I went to pull away, and re-clip my cleat in I slipped and lunged forward, kicking my left leg into my left front fork - ouch! My first scar of the day. Upon recovering and getting underway I caught up to Mr Ped (who had waited for me) and we resumed our ride. The cool crisp air was invigorating, coupled with a warm sunshine I was quite comfortable cycling at 25kph / 80rpm - my new cadence sense is the bomb - I get and use so much info these days - Knowledge is Power!

Happy Cyclist

After a nice cappuccino and a yummy gluten free breakie, we were back on the road heading back. The ride was good, comfortable and pleasant - I was getting a real opportunity to share stories and discuss life in general with my new shipmate. Mr Ped is a really cool guy, and I'm actually looking forward to spending that time  at sea (hopefully) with him! Around 2-3km outside of Frankston, Mr Ped was showing me how to slow down at traffic lights to avoid stopping and unclipping...well, as we did so, I slowed a little too abruptly and came to a halt. Mr Ped saw me freeze-frame list, lean and topple into the warm tarmac - unhurt (just my pride) we both laughed it off and continued our ride! I'll need to practice that one!

Ride

Run

After reaching our destination, we quickly put the bikes into his car, and set off for a quick 2km run. Blood sits in different areas of your legs when doing triathlon, and the objective of this exercise was to train through this awkward sensation. It was made worse for me because I foolishly did a sprint finish on the ride, leaving more blood in my quads than desirable....wobble wobble!

A very enjoyable ride, that I hope we can repeat or improve upon very soon.

Day 41, Today, I decided to do a swim in honour of my brother in law. He was busy for 11hours and 3 minutes completing his first Ironman, IronRay, did a great job making it look easy - from what my sources tell me...those scamp sign wavers and photo takers!

Start

Finish

Well, done brother I am very proud of you. Next time, maybe we can try it together! I better train harder....

So in honour of IronRay's awesome achievement, I decided to do some endurance cardio - namely a swim. I jumped in the pool at 1358h and jumped out 02:32:12 later at 1630h. In that time I continuously swam a total of 100 lengths, totalling 5000m. I did train a little differently since it was my first enduro swim in a while. I did:

Laps:  Stokes - Set Info

01-10: 1x50m Freestyle, 1x50m Breast Stroke - 5 Sets

11-20: 2x50m Freestyle, 2x50m Breast Stroke - 2 Sets and 2x50m Freestyle

21-30: 3x50m Freestyle, 3x50m Breast Stroke - 1 Set and 3x50m Breast Stroke & 1x50m Freestyle

31-40: 4x50m Freestyle, 4x50m Breast Stroke - 2x50m Freestyle

41-50: 5x50m Freestyle, 5x50m Breast Stroke

51-60: 6x50m Freestyle, 4x50m Breast Stroke

61-70: 7x50m Freestyle, 3x50m Breast Stroke

71-80: 8x50m Freestyle, 2x50m Breast Stroke

81-90: 9x50m Freestyle, 1x50m Breast Stroke

91-100: 10x50m Freestyle

A challenging workout, but a good one!

Now, although I'm finishing this blog a little later than planned, no 04May would be complete without a geeky Star Wars Reference....so here they are....

Day 38 - Harsh Realities

Its all about the hard yards. I'm finding out that day by day, the challenge of travelling from fat to fit is more about the willpower, resilience and the ability to go the distance, than it is about much else.

Going The Distance

The ability to go the distance is pretty important. The way I see it, you need to be in it for the 'long haul' if you want to achieve more than just a temporary fix. You gotta put in 100% everyday, with consistency (of course), but more than that. You have to be prepared to sacrifice a few things, or take on new burdens, to take a few hits on the way. The pathway to success is not smooth. I'd say, I've always said that:

"You have to fully appreciate the rough in life to get the most out of the smooth."

This is one of those occasions. After my glutard-slip the other morning, which after 37 days is pretty good (although going back to day 1 bowel/intestine cleansing sucks, but is required), kinda bites just a touch. I've got a lovely array of mouth ulcers, a swollen gut, achy joints and I'm feeling really irritable and tired to boot. These are my "immediate" impact symptoms of eating just the tiniest amount of gluten. I'm paying for my flawed eating choice, and I'm learning too. It's hard coping with this, but it is a necessity. I am far from perfect, and I'm not too proud to admit when I make blunders such as this. This blog holds me accountable, which is nice, but really truthfully when I'm led in my bed tonight (and last night) groaning with stomach pains, the accountable doesn't come into it at that point. Whats going on there is an internal dilemma. I'm fighting the pain, with knowledge, knowing that I can and must go longer than 37 days, that I must fight the pains and cramps. You see, you don't stop until you hear the bell ring. 

The Old Glutard-Slip-The Jab!

"It ain't over, 'til its over."

Today, was hard for me. I couldn't concentrate, my body was sore (and not from training) and yet life goes on...and so do I. Tough Titties! Cry me a river...blah blah blah. When you know you messed up and that you need to re-hash the plan to prevent it happening again, do just that...don't dwell or get cranky - just fix it, move on and shut the heck up! 

So, thats what I did; I talked to the 'peeps in power' today, organised (hopefully) better glutard-friendly food, trained my tired mind in the classroom, achy muscles in the gym and more over I forced myself to run in the very cool and drizzly night air, alone! I pushed through all the crap going on and decided to fight, not frown.

I'm telling you this, because you might be giving up smoking, or have to quit sugar, or have some special reason to go against the grain in your life.. You might feel like giving up, reverting back to your former less strict self, or just falling off the wagon...worse still, you might just be crying about all the wrongs you've been dealt..... DON'T YOU EFFING DARE! 

Just don't, okay? Keep your chin up, it happens to the best of us, but the difference between someone who wins and someone who quits is very slight:

Isn't that right, Mr Mouldie

You are NOT made of glass and you WILL not crack, shatter or splinter.... Every slip is a new opportunity to learn something, to put new measures in place to prevent it. As an engineer, I know its part of the process - making mistakes is ok, just don't make the same one over and over and over! Learn, move forwards, take the hits and be proud of your resilience to all the BS. Tough talk, but its needed.

So, how do I prevent this happening to me again? Well, firstly a few 'safe guards' are now in place at work. I have also invoked the help of others to pull me through, so hopefully one less failure point and some extra support. But I know, life is a minefield and occasionally you might just set another one off...oh well, learn from it.

Now, I want to win, I want to prove to myself (and all those neigh sayers) that I can achieve this lifestyle change. I will not give up.

Arms & Abs

This morning's workout was powerful, hard work session of arms (biceps and triceps) and abdominals. I used the whole 60 minutes for arms, plus an extra 15 for abs. I was almost late for class. I think even though I was training hard, I felt the pain early on - my stomach was sore and my joints ached...Being swollen makes you feel nauseous, but I pushed through and blasted some 'ripper' burps and farts as I did!

The whole workout, and time sat in class today, I was planning my punishment session for this evening....

Run-Time 

Not the cool run-time you stick to when diving deep and technical, run time...the times when you go running and don't enjoy it! Tonight's punishment - run at least 10km outside of Cerberus. Run in the cold and dark and drizzle. Pretend to enjoy it, be you know I didn't. It worked, I pushed through did almost 11km in 60 minutes and really went through it all. The elation of finishing, the procrastination pre-starting...Mr Joe and Edd both can attest to my tardiness in getting started! I felt the aches of running with soreness, the wind (and moist farts that always make you worry) the burps and puke-feeling you get when you train through indigestion or stomach cramps. My knees hurt, my feet were sore....every excuse my body and brain tried to get me to turn around, I ignored. I pushed through....Just Frickin' Do It... (I'm starting to hate this phrase, but it seems to work). The dim lit streets around Crib with all that wild, unkept foliage and trees was the real test...I can't remember how many times I got whipped by a tree, bush or shrubbery! My brain said: "NO, Gaffa, NO!" but I chose to GO GO GO!!!

How I felt after 11km Running, tonight.

I can remember the surge of joy, then pain, then followed sleepiness. I felt so tired on return to my cabin...I dozed there and then....lost about 20 minutes, sitting in a chair - hadn't even removed my shoes. After, I took a long, warm shower and feebly stretched, groaned and burped some more pukey burps...

 I still feel a bit wasted, but I do know this: I made positive changes today - I stepped forward after taking some hits. I pushed through a range of emotions, justifications and 'reasons not to'...I passed my own test, now it's time to rest.

Day 37 - Start Early, Finish Late...

The Early 'Morning' Watch

Wednesday, 0300h and the familiar sound of my wake up alarm roused me from my shortened slumber. The 'Morning' watch lasts from 0400-0800h, and as a result I knew I'd be missing my early wake up workout. I threw in extra effort yesterday and planned to do the same this evening. However, my wake up was still with much gusto. I got up, dressed and made myself a nice cup of strong tea. I smashed down a thermogenic and a bowl of gluten free cereal. A small breakie at this early time, was all I needed... The watch was another educational and beneficial experience, that allowed me to broaden my engineering experience - a taste of what I'll be doing in the near future.

Sadly, by 0600h I was so hungry that before I'd realised it, and without thinking too hard upon it, I ate the breakfast that came to our watch. It was a bacon and egg roll with melted cheese. The roll was not gluten free, and I felt yucky for the rest of today...with fresh mouth ulcers and a swollen gut in tow... I look back a little embarrassed at my hunger....and subsequent emotions that always come with being hungry. Winnie says I get "Hangry" when I don't eat, or don't eat well, or when I don't get yummy sweet treats...perhaps she's right - I have been on edge all day and feeling less than perfect because of my slip-up.... I will however, detox tonight and onwards until my stomach pains subside. Everyday, we each learn something new about our bodies... Today, I realised that I can slip on my gluten free journey - glutard diets are not easy, especially in a job where all of your food is provided - and that I really cannot afford to do so. I will remain better in control of my hunger in future.

Feel The Burn!

Train hard or don't train at all - that's my new mantra for gym time. I headed to the gym after class today, set for a big chest workout. I was aiming for 60minutes of full on, pump. I started on the bench, really pushing myself today, I worked the flat, inclined and declined benches with wide and narrow grip. I tweaked the chest muscles with a pyramid style set for each, going from light to heavy to light, with reps going from high to low to high. This took about 5 minutes per grip style, for each bench type. My chest was pretty pumped and I decided to do a quick set of dumbbell flyes, on the inclined bench. After a short wait for the pec-deck, where I squeezed out a couple sets of chest press machine, I was working the pectoral muscles to a point of pleasurable/agonising burn! Love it!

After I jumped on the cable cross over machine and worked a low, medium, high cross-over pectoral squeeze-burn. This was low weight, low reps (8 reps) to tweak those muscle fibres. It was interesting to see that my body is starting to change - I could see my chest muscles (before this week I had never noticed this)...perhaps I'm starting to sculpt / turn some of the old fat into fit!

It got me to thinking during this set and my abdominal workout, that before today I had been training to try and create habits, make changes and start building my own confidence. Today, however, I realised a few things.... I'll discuss in just a second, but first. I finished my workout and dived into the pool. Swimming 500m, alternating freestyle with breast stroke on a length by length basis, for 15 minutes of solid cardio to finish.

My Thoughts

I realised that I'd taken a few more steps than I had previously thought. I had made a plan, made myself accountable for achieving my goals (this blog is evidence of that), and I had put them into action. So, that made me realise that if by doing those simple steps, and by repeating them day in, day out I've been reprogramming my body. I've challenged my mind, my emotions and my body. I have learnt that consistency (thanks to @mishbridges) is really the answer. To set and maintain routine, you need to be disciplined. You need to apply controls and measures to make sure you don't cheat - use your friends, write a blog and grow a conscience. I also realised that in doing all these things I've made myself a new lifestyle, and its starting to work. Seeing small changes makes you feel good. I've started standing taller, my shirts feel a little looser, my trousers feel less pinching around my hips and gut. I'm taking care of myself better, I try to sleep earlier, I try to eat well (sometimes I slip - I am human after all), but most of all I'm seeing that I'm being very habitual about these things. I'm just out there enjoying my new lifestyle, enjoying the sensations that come as daily rewards for my hard work. These rewards give me a new found confidence about my body, my presence and best of all my health. I feel stronger, I feel less soft and squishy, I feel more alert, less achy and less hunched over. I feel like I'm shaving years off of my age, keeping up with people 10 years younger and enjoying the pace!

Small steps. I was once told that its the "smallest things that can make the biggest difference" - in my case, the small things constitute tightening my belt, or less belly rolls as I sit down, or my muscles looking and feeling firmer. The big difference is the way that effects my emotions, the way I conduct myself and so much more. If the last 37 days has given me nothing else, I'm so glad I've found my toes again! The view from up top was getting lonely!

Some small improvements, big on confidence boosting!

Motivation to keep training, pushing and being strict with myself is getting easier with results - plus something Michelle Bridges said when I met her at Filex a few weeks ago, really, really run home.

"...Make the choice, before the choice is removed from you..."

At so many times in my life, I could've chosen to stop eating so much bread, donuts, cakes, yummy pasta and pizza...I didn't know about Gluten Intolerance, or Coeliac Disease, but even if I had known I would have been one of those people who ignores it and says "that's not me". It brought a tear to my eye and choked me up when Michelle said this, because that's my lot. No more gluten, no yummy foods or easy fill me ups...Now my choice has been removed. Very simple, very stupid to ignore the symptoms for so long! Now, because I'm acutely aware that my "intolerance" and "hypersensitivity" could get worse, leading to full blown Coeliac (since I test positive for the gene) I have NO choice but to be healthy. You don't see me complaining (too much) about being healthy, except when I want cakes or pasta that I can't have :)  but I'm using this knowledge and the hard hitting words of Michelle Bridges to keep me on track.

It's not easy, there will always be neigh sayers, people who mock you or those who just don't understand; but focus, determination and inner spirit help me along - plus my Wifey really can make some yummy gluten free treats! I sense a care parcel should come soon...hint hint?

So,  here we are. 37 days down, and 58 days until I go on my honeymoon with Winnie. I have my goals. Now I have a deadline. Boo-Ya!