Posts Tagged ‘changes’

I found this in my pocket the other day, not certain where it came from  but I think I should thank Claire.

It beats punishment

A gift to myself really.

Since the weigh in at the end of November I gave myself a fair bit of leeway on food and exercise and the result was adding 6 kilos over 3 weeks and quite a few cms.

For the first time I can remember the addition of cms felt damn horrible, I did care (that is a big change). My suit felt tight, belt slipped forward a notch and exercise became that little bit tougher (I had some very rough Bikram Yoga classes through that period) and I could see the changes in my shape, specifically my gut.

It was all about my intent and how I was thinking about things, I was getting that old victim / self pity crap going again. Well toughen up young fella!

So at my last weigh in on 21 December I set a target of 117 kilos for weigh in on January 7 (today). Up until Boxing Day things weren’t looking so rosy, I had exercised a lot, but food had been a bit hit and miss but not a blow out.

From Boxing Day onwards I just stuck to my guns, even though I so desperately wanted to eat garbage for the sugar hit or to feel full. Holidays are traditionally a tough time to lose weight as the routine goes out the window, if we look back at my progress and check out the holiday weeks during 2009 I think I added weight in each holiday period.

Not this time though, I set out with the intent of making 2010 a great year on all fronts and most importantly my health. I will get to 85 kilos this year (a total loss of 73 kilos since the start of Saving Alan). I have made a flying start with a 6 kilo loss over the past 2 weeks and I’ve set a target of another 2.5 kilos by next weigh in on January 21, my intention is to surpass that. It’s not that hard to do really, it’s just hard to action, to stay in check, not to give in, not to say “oh, it’s only one thing”. Fat Food Friday helps out a lot in terms of providing a release of anything I may be craving, it gets it over and done with, I feel horrible after it and then I move straight back into the plan.

So I am currently 115 kilos, (-43 kilos), and am really keen on breaking through the 108 mark as quickly as I can, not taking another 20 odd weeks to remove the fifth 10 kilos like it did the fourth.

I am walking every day (40-50 minutes), doing Bikram Yoga three times a week and most importantly eating well. Simple plan, simple outcome.

I ventured onto a tennis court yesterday for the first time in 10 years, it felt good, it felt comfortable and I am looking forward to adding a weekly tennis game to the routine in the near future, I am just not quite mobile enough at the moment .. good news ….. the serve is as mean as ever.

So let’s see what I can achieve in the next two weeks, feeling very motivated after the weigh in.

Sometime over the next couple of weeks is a story on Today Tonight, not sure when as yet but that will keep me on track a little as I couldn’t think of anything worse than walking into a fish and chip shop and someone asking me if I was that guy from that TV story.

So here are this weeks results, enjoy the heat (if you’re in Melbourne)

Very happy, during a time when most people put weight on, I was able to remove 6 kilos. Not as many cms as I would have liked but they will come.

You can imagine how much of a problem losing 40 kilos is, in terms of the challenges of clothes. As I am losing eight there seems to be no use buying clothes only to see them hang off me within a month or two. So far I have lost my way through 3 suits – not a cheap exercise and it wont be long until I am on to my fourth.

On Facebook yesterday Sasha Goldsmith suggested to Witchery Men that he needed a new wardrobe for Christmas, so I piped up and added that I was getting desperate and clothes were going to cost a fortune. So who knows, Laura? Maybe a little sponsorship deal?

Anyway here are some of those photo’s that usually appear in weigh loss ads to illustrate the change in size since I started in February, the most amazing one is the suit jacket, when I started I couldn’t do it up. The jeans were so tight they were digging in severely and I only wore them under sufference. The shirt .. well I can fit Declan in there at the same time.

I am looking forward to what this will look like with another 30 kilos gone.

off to the Healthy Heart Clinic and final weigh-in, will update tonight.

Some people have been asking for a before and current photo to see the change. Believe it or not, I don’t have many shots from january this year, but I found this one from last summer. Underneath is a shot from July 08, when I was smaller than at the Jan 09 shot.

I wonder what I’ll look like with another 30+ kilos gone?

Last month I went in for my second last visit to the Healthy Hearts Clinic to get a status update.

Only one more to go on the 30th of November, the change you will see is quite substantial, wither though I have been battling getting the weight off – it has really slowed down, my health has improved dramatically. Most noticeably my risk of a cardiovascular event has declined 55%, over half than when I started. So this illustrates it’s the health aspect more so than the weight that is important. Mind you I still totally intend to drop the full 70 kilo target and give up the cigarettes which will really have further impact.

Here are the comparative results from my visits so far;

Smoker: If I stopped smoking then I would get my overall risk factor cut by half to 2, which is below average for someone of my age.

Systolic Blood Pressure: All good

Diastolic Blood Pressure: This is the pressure coming in to the heart, it remains good if not excellent.

TC (Total Cholesterol); Have reduced by 35.3%, and it is well within the healthy normal range

HDL (Good Cholesterol): Here’s the impact of the changes in my diet, I am now aroundr the 1.0 mark, regarded as the healthy benchmark.

LDL (Bad Cholesterol): Down to an unmeasurable level, how good is that..

Triglycerides: Too low to measure, great outcome.

Glucose: Sitting right in the healthy range..

Weight: have been through a rough period, just not getting the food right, but I’ll get there.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Down 18.2% – not sure if I will ever get to 25.

Waist circumference: Down 15.4% or 23cm. By my weekly measurements I got to 40cm off, but over the past 4 weeks have added 10cm although this will come off very quickly.

Heart Health: Risk factor has dropped from 9% to 4% a low risk to have a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years. My target absolute risk is 2.5% and I am 1.6 times more likely than a person with a low risk profile to have said event, down from 3.6x.

Diabetes Health: My risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 years is High, and with this risk level I have a 1 in 7 chance. I’d like to see this drop considerably over the next 4 months.

So I am heading in the right direction to be around to see grandchildren and enjoy all life has to offer.

The Heart Clinic is based at the Alfred Hospital in Commercial Road, Prahran (between Punt and St.Kilda Roads) and you can call them on 03 9076 3398 to organise your own check up. The first time you go takes about 40 minutes and all it consists of is a questionnaire, blood pressure and a blood test. The blood test is cool compared to what I have been used to, instead of taking a syringe to you and extracting a heap of blood, they just prick the end of a finger  and take  small amount of blood through a tiny little straw .. it just runs up there on its own.

Then they analyse the blood in a little machine and that provides results on cholesterols, triglycerides and glucose levels. These combined with blood pressure, weight, body mass index, waist measurement, age and whether you’re a smoker all combine to provide a risk factor.

So give Jan or Liz a call now, it’s free and the information is worth knowing before you end up in the Alfred proper.

So, 18 weeks to go until I wrap this up, although I will continue the personal program through into the new year until I get my weight down the my goal weight of 88 kilos.

Another good week, even though I didn’t exercise on all of the days that I planned to and my eating was poor over last weekend. I’ll somehow fix that this week, although with my son in tow it makes it hard to get out for a walk on Sunday, and I have the additional food temptation of going to the football on Sunday afternoon to see the Bombers take on the Tigers .. the second last game D and I will get to this year. But a little sacrifice of what I’d like in the moment versus the value I get long term by sticking to the plan means I’ll be good, I’ll take some roasted almonds and water, that’ll get me through.

Fat Food Friday was a ripper today, toasted sandwiches for breakfast, Prawn Risotto for lunch and a burger and chips for dinner .. feeling bloated and unsatisfied .. ahh, don’t you love it!

Now I need to cook lunches for next week so that is out of the way for the weekend.

Tomorrow morning is Bikrm Yoga at 9.30am and then an afternoon of housework (cleaning, ironing, washing), followed by playing in my main band How Now at Khyats in Brighton, if you’re in Melbourne and looking for something to do head down around 9pm and say g’day. So it will be a big day of exercise.

The rest of the week will be Monday night – walk, Tuesday 6 am Bikram Yoga, Wednesday – walk, Thursday 6 am Bikram Yoga. I’ll try and get another walk in, maybe Tuesday night if I can get myself organised well enough, but next weekend I’ll do a 2 hour walk on the Sunday morning.

That’s enough for tonight .. can I just ask two things from you.

1. please sponsor me, all funds go to baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute.
2. spread the word about my blog.

Yesterday I ventured into the Healthy Heart Clinic at the Alfred Hospital, run by Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute, for an update on the health impact of my lifestyle changes.

This is the third visit I’ve made, and the plan is to visit again in late September and then again right at the end of SavingAlan in late November. I wrote about my last visit in this blog post.

Here are the comparative results from my visits so far;

Smoker: If I stopped smoking then I would get my overall risk factor cut by half to 2.5, which is the average for someone of my age.

Systolic Blood Pressure: They say the pressure is a little high, but a surgeon mate of mine reckons my blood pressure is brilliant for someone my age, regardless of the weight I carry.

Diastolic Blood Pressure: This is the pressure coming in to the heart, it remains good if not excellent.

TC (Total Cholesterol); Have reduced by 22.5%, and it is within the healthy normal range

HDL (Good Cholesterol): Here’s the impact of the changes in my diet, I am now over the 1.0 mark, regarded as the healthy benchmark.

LDL (Bad Cholesterol): Down 35.3% in 5 months.

Triglycerides: No issues here, in fact the decrease of 38.8% is a fantastic result.

Glucose: Sitting right in the healthy range..

Weight: In the last period I only dropped 5 kilos, but have still been able to get the great results we see above. School Holidays blew my routine though.

Body Mass Index (BMI): Down 17.7% – not sure if I will ever get to 25.

Waist circumference: Down 11.4% or 17cm. By my weekly measurements I am down to 126.5cm, so I must have been bloated from toast I didn’t have the day before. I can’t imagine how good it would feel to be 94cm around the waist, but if I stay motivated anything is possible.

Heart Health: Risk factor has dropped from 9% to 8% and now to 5%, regarded as a mild risk to have a cardiovascular event in the next 5 years. My target absolute risk is 2.5% and I am 2 times more likely than a person with a low risk profile to have said event, down from 3.6x.

Diabetes Health: My risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 5 years is High, and with this risk level I have a 1 in 7 chance. I’d like to see this drop considerably over the next 4 months.

So I am still indestructible!

The Heart Clinic is based at the Alfred Hospital in Commercial Road, Prahran (between Punt and St.Kilda Roads) and you can call them on 03 9076 3398 to organise your own check up. The first time you go takes about 40 minutes and all it consists of is a questionnaire, blood pressure and a blood test. The blood test is cool compared to what I have been used to, instead of taking a syringe to you and extracting a heap of blood, they just prick the end of a finger  and take  small amount of blood through a tiny little straw .. it just runs up there on its own.

Then they analyse the blood in a little machine and that provides results on cholesterols, triglycerides and glucose levels. These combined with blood pressure, weight, body mass index, waist measurement, age and whether you’re a smoker all combine to provide a risk factor.

So give Jan or Liz a call now, it’s free and the information is worth knowing before you end up in the Alfred proper.

An interesting week with a great outcome.

Exercise wise only 2 Bikram Yoga sessions and a single walk, although a 2 hour hour one last Sunday. I am thinking the balance of walking and Yoga will give me the best outcomes for weight loss and rebuilding some muscle as well. The previous weeks when loss has been lower I’ve noticed the changes in terms of some muscle definition, reflective of the impact of Yoga, while the walking definitely burns the weight off.

I am getting great loss from the waist which is causing me all sorts of problems with clothing. In the past 2 weeks I have lost 5.5 cms and now my suits just look ridiculous, so I need to go hunting for a new suit, but I don’t want to spend too much as in a couple of months I’ll have the same problem. So clothing is now going to get expensive.

I am also finding it really difficult to find the time to write, with the pressures of work, fitting exercise in and making sure I eat ell something has had to give, and so the blog is not being updated as often as I’d like but I am going to try and up the volume.

Here’s the update for the end of week 21.

Still short of the half way mark in the savingAlan campaign to lose 50-60 kilos and I am now well past the half way mark to the target set for end November. This week’s weigh in was good in a weight sense but short of centimetre loss, which is weird because I feel like I have lost more size around the chest and waist but it din’t show up.

Maybe i am going to see size and weigh alternate week to week. As long as I am having a loss and not a gain I am heaing in the ight direction. There has only been one week where I have gained weigh an size in 4  months and I am oretty pproud of myself for being able to achieve that on my own.

The change in size is obvious to everyone who hasn’t seen me for a while and the positive reinforcement is fantastic and driving me to stay true to myels and continue to follow my plan and not allow temptations get in the way. having said that, the odd break is fine, it doesn’t mean the end of the prorm, it just means a challenge next time I feel tempted.

So here’s the weekly update chart, a 2 kilo loss, and only 0.5cm loss around my thinghs.

Week 18 Update