Week 10 (42 to go)

This week I had my half yearly check-up with my GP. Usually a straight forward affair - Check blood pressure, lungs, weight etc. Pick up scripts and referral for blood tests - in and out in 10 minutes with a bit of banter.

Today, aside from him running late due to a traffic accident, we focused heavily on weight. His scales were about 4kg higher than my ones, however the delta between my last weigh in with him (~September 2019) and now was a whopping 14kg. We spoke about what i was doing and the approach and he was very pleased and interested to keep tracking this with me. I may have grown my readership by 1.

On the tracking side of things for week 10. Again my diet has been good, with only one meal inducing any "indulgences" of note - that being chicken satay noodles. Exercise was strong, 3 sessions of weights and 4 on the cross trainer with a night out at the driving range in between. No more pain - just the feeling of muscles being used if that makes sense. Slowly increasing weights on exercises where i can.

I have a presentation next week and we had a dry run through the week. I have to present for about 15 - 20 minutes. The last presentation ran, while longer, i struggled, sweating and being out of breath after talking for very little time. This time around - absolutely no problems. I was able to be up, animated and sat down with no ill effects. Little things like walking medium distances does not trigger the massive sweating issues I was facing - this is working out ok.

On weigh in, i have found an anomaly with my bathroom scales. The cleaner moved the scales on Wednesday and when i jumped on as a tracker through the week, the number was very high. I thought that this could not be right, so i pulled the scales off the wall a little (all four sensors still on the flat of tiles) and the number changed by 2kg down. I replaced the batteries etc, and tried a few different locations on the tiles, each time i got a different reading. I have since set my scales in a single location for weigh in, however have folded and ordered a new set of scales that i will keep in the garage near the work out equipment that i will use from next week on as the official measuring device. This means that whatever i weigh in on the old scales next week, i will take the delta to the new scales and apply it to existing records. What this means is that i may have actually been heavier than currently tracking and my targets will need to be reset. I will update next week when i can run my experiment.

The positive - i am tracking at over 10kg lost since tracking, which somewhat aligns to the results my GP has - so the trend is accurate. Topping it off, my physical measurements are accurate.

Week 9 (43 to go) - End of Month 2

So exercise with diet works. This week I dropped 1.4kg with a total of 5.99% lost since I started. This has kept me 0.7kg ahead of target in a month where I had a gain in one of the weeks. Absolutely ecstatic. I did it quite easily as well - after the dramas of DOMS last week, this week has been a constant feeling of movement in my body, some minor aches but nothing unbearable.

End of month means measurements, tracking data has been updated below. In the most simple manner, I have lost ~10cm in circumference, from chest to waist since the start. Real world metrics applied, my spanking new RM Williams belt, that didn’t fit when I began this program, that I just fit into at the start of the month and accidentally fit into hole 2 last week is now the permanent hole. I am moving far more freely and am far more active that I used to be, things like taking on the stairs at the train station are effortless now. My sleep is much better, with my resting heart rate while sleeping averaging at 50bpm, it was up near 70bpm at the start of this program.

I mean I know people say this a lot, and I used to dismiss it, but looking after yourself really makes you feel a lot better - and I am only doing 3 x planned workouts a week - it is not onerous.

Being 1/6th of the way into this program, I am abundantly aware that I still have a long way to go, however I cannot see me failing the program and kicking on with this.

Week 8 (44 to go)

This week I discovered that DOMS is a thing and it is not fun. After the disappointment of last weeks weigh in, I spent my day on Sunday finally finishing off setting up my garage. This included cleaning, oiling and setting up my weights set up and the cross trainer (elliptical). It took a lot longer than expected, but by mid afternoon all was set up.

I printed out the free weight training regime drawn up for me years ago as well as the records of what I was lifting. The regime is set in 3 workout groups being Triceps & Back, Shoulders & Legs and Chest & Biceps. In between nights i will do sit ups / planks / bridges / other core exercises.

Being a realist and noting that the records from the last time i did any weight training were from 3 years ago, i set the expectation of lifting from the 2nd week of the previous regime as i immediately increased all my weights after the first week last time, and then had steady gains. I have done nothing since so don't want to tear something straight away being a hero.

The plan - 1 cycle of the workout group (each group has approximately 9 exercises across two areas and includes 3 sets and 10 reps) each week. Nominally a day break between each workout depending on my exercise schedule. Before each session i will do 16 minutes on the cross trainer at a medium setting (it works better with 16 as there are 16 tracking lines on the trainer - visual motivation), then stretch then into a workout group, then stretch and cool down. Ideally in the morning, but as it is in my garage i can do it at night also.

So scene set. Monday was a workout morning so i got up to my alarm at 06:00, got dressed and jumped on the cross trainer. 16 minutes later, nice and sweaty i hopped off and started targeted stretching of my triceps and back as well as general stretching. Feeling good, i launched into my weights. To be honest, i just got through the session. Every set i was struggling to finish my last rep of 10, however got there every time. 45 minutes later, repeated the stretching and cool down began.

I had breakfast, jumped in the shower and logged onto work feeling great. Was easily the best morning i have had in a long time. Around lunchtime i was ravenous and had lunch (tuna and salad sandwich) and after that was tired and lethargic. Throughout the day i kept my water intake up and tried to get up and move as much as possible, but no improvement. Fast forward to the night, and i was in bed by 20:30 and asleep not long after.

I woke up very early Tuesday with a drive to Canberra ahead of me. My back was a little stiff and sore, by triceps more-so. While i was making breakfast i made sure to stretch a little and that was it. Through the day my triceps got progressively worse. I had planned to head to the Driving Range that night as i was overnighting, and nearly stopped it. However with a little stretching i came around, and to be honest felt really good swinging the club for 30 minutes. That night, my arms simply stopped working. I could not lift them above shoulder height. It was a horrendous nights sleep.

To wrap up the DOMS story, it wasn't until Thursday lunch-time that i was able to move with freedom. As such, the next workout was postponed until Thursday night. DOMS IS REAL - and it hurts. I can only hope my recovery time improves as i get deeper into this program.

I nailed my diet this week and am back on track as far as weight-loss is concerned. A real surprise was on Wednesday, driving home from Canberra, i realised that i had my belt on the 2nd notch. It is not overly comfortable yet - which is how i noted something was different, however the first notch is a little loose and the 2nd notch a little tight, but very happy with that change in a couple of weeks!

Monthly weigh in and measurements are next week - focussing on staying ahead of the target next week and hopefully getting through the next workout group with as little pain as possible. Any tips on minimising DOMS greatly appreciated.