Posts Tagged ‘fitness’

In about an hour from now a story that I filmed with Today Tonight will appear on national TV, and I suppose a lot of people who are reading this now have found me because of the story, so welcome.

My story is just like everyone else, not putting myself first, not planning, etc etc I am not unique or super strict, in fact I continue to battle into the second half of the Saving Alan program. I have another 35 kilos to go (I’ve added a few kilos since Nov) an the plan is to get of them between now and the end of December 2010. So the sponsorship is now open again, just fill out the form and commit to X amount of dollars, but only payable if and when I hit my goal weight of 90 kilos. Just click on the sponsor me tab above.

To help you understand my story here is a list of blog posts that will give you a good background. Please drop me a note, leave a message and even sponsor me .. it all helps and keeps me headed in the right direction.

If you’re interested in Bikram Yoga (and you should be) head over to Bikram Yoga Glen Waverley and South Melbourne to discover more.

• So here we go … almost
• My Son will not be condemned
• The starting point
• Over 50 and I’m super
• The first serious break
• Week 9 Update
• 80 years old
• The Physical
• ABC Richard Stubbs Interview
• Little Victories Week 19
• Man’s Week The Path Back
• Who’s right? PTs or me?
• Still Indestructible
• Week 32 Update
• A Perfect Gift for a Man
• Sunday Age – Page 2
• As seen on TV
• Wobbleguts and the Ironman
• And so 2009 comes to a close
• A late Christmas Gift

Connect with m on Facebook and Twitter as well, I need the support and keep coming back each week.

Cheers

Alan

Being a Bikram Yoga newbie is not easy, I’ve been practicing now for almost a year and it doesn’t get any easier. One day you can have a great practice where you seem to progress and then the next session feel like the very first time you’ve been in the hot room. 37-41 degrees with 70% humidity. But even on the bad days it’s better than not doing it all.

I had a two week layoff due to work and travel and got back into it last Thursday, tough class. Good Friday was awesome, Saturday was strong at a new studio in Melbourne’s Bayside and then Sunday was a bit rough. You just never know what you’re going to get.

Today I took the young fella off to the South Melbourne studio for the 9.30am class, and we were joined by former Richmond footballer Nathan Brown doing his very first class. He hung there all the way without sitting out any postures, a great effort for a first time. It was hot and humid in the room, I found it really tough and obviously had added a few cms as I struggled with postures I can normally achieve.

ex Footscray and Richmond player Nathan Brown's first Bikram Yoga session. Pictured with Declan, myself, Jacqui and Karen.

Nathan now does some work for Triple M Melbourne, and I think this session was an on air challenge of some kind. After class he interviewed Declan, who had joined the class for the floor series, and also Maggie the studio director who has been an amazing supporter of Saving Alan. So tomorrow, sometime between 4 and 6 pm we may hear Declan and Maggie on Triple M. If they podcast the section I’ll post a link later.

I love Bikram Yoga, some days not as much as others, but if I am away from it for more that 2 days my practice really suffers, so I need to find ways of making sure I can get there every second day as well as building in the personal training gym that I am also enjoying. The last piece of the puzzle is food, they say that food is 80% of weight loss, and my experiences are telling me that that is right. So it’s time to put some serious effort into getting the food balance right and watch the kilos strip back off.

Now to get my family members into the heat, so far I have three of four willing to take the step, anyone else up for joining a Saturday morning session? – I promise you’ll love it!

I’m sitting in McDonalds at the moment!

Talk about a test of will power, the smell of fried food is overwhelming and I would love to scoff down a hash brown or two. The simple reason I am here is because they provide free wi-fi, so it is a chance to post the occasional blog.

I’ve just been out for a 50 minute walk along the beach and cliff faces at Mornington, a great way to start the day, and the good news is no blisters on the feet. But I have worked out I can walk about 50 minutes with no problems but if I push out to more than an hour I’ll have the same old problems, so I’ll top and tail the day with a few different walks of around 40-50 minutes.

Last night I went for a walk with my beautiful niece Gemma. It’s always amazing to spend time with nephews and nieces and just to marvel at the adults they have become from the beautiful little babies and todddlers we played with and spoilt. She’s a wonderful and strong woman and a credit to her mother’s sacrifice and struggle (as is Eve of course). I am looking forward to continuing the conversation on tonight’s walk and importantly seeing her spend time with my son and watching their bond grow and develop. One thing is forever .. family.

Sitting in McDonald’s drinking a bottle of water (I had to buy something to overcome the guilts of using their wi-fi) I remember in the late 90’s living in Sydney and catching the ferry to work every morning from Mosman to Circular Quay. There is a McDonalds prominently located between the wharf and the office in Pitt Street and I recall seeing people flocking in there for their breakfast. I could never understand the fast food brands, I was never a fan of McD, Red Rooster, KFC or any of the other corporate fast food joints. I was a more fish and chips sort of guy and that is definitely not a breakfast food, even for me.

One morning I decided to see if there was anything I’d like in McDonalds – error No.1.

I discovered the celebrated hash Brown (celebrated in my mind).

So I bought one, unsure whether I’d like them, added some salt and whammo what a good start to the day.

This soon become a morning ritual, but 2 Hash Browns soon turned to three, then to four, then to six. I’d hide down the corner of the store and eat them in case anyone from the office or that I knew would see me consuming what I knew to be a poor choice breakfast.

Six was about the maximum I thought I could eat, but sure enough it soon became eight Hash Browns for breakfast. I could see the look of surprise and disgust on some of the staff’s face as I ordered, they knew it was just for me, no matter how nonchalant I tried to be.

So there I was, in no time flat I went from 1 to 8 Hash Browns every morning. I was so hooked that when I went and got the newspaper on the weekends I’d nick down to the local McDonald’s and knock back another eight Hash Browns.

Today, I’d still like to have a Hash Brown or two, but the fact is one turns in to eight pretty quickly and the fact is while I like Hash Browns, Hash Brown’s don’t like me!

So here I sit on NYE 2009, just an hour to go until the new year comes and with it more hopes and dreams that I need to find ways of turning into realities. I’m not sure if I am ready, but I wasn’t really ready 11 months ago when I et out on this journey.

It’s been a pretty amazing year by anyone’s standards, here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the year and stories that made it into the 130+ blog posts during 2009.

• Launched Saving Alan, sharing my journey through a blog and social media.
• Appeared on Channel 7 News in January 2009 regarding obesity and genetic research.
• Having a fitness age of 80 and a BMI of over 50 putting me in the “Super Obese” category. (BMI now 37)
• Reducing my risk of heart disease substantially.
• Running a fundraiser for the victims of the vic bushfires with a couple of other local bands and raising over $3,500 in one night
• Lost 40+ kilos from a starting weight of 158 kilograms.
• Sponsorship of $6,400+ for Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
• Become a Yogi, loving Bikram Yoga and going on average 2-3 times a week.
• Cooking, skill improved and filmed 8 Cooking with Al sessions, more to come next year.
• Reconnection with old friends and colleagues.
• Generosity, love and support of family and friends.
• Putting myself first sometimes more often.
• Better understanding of what makes me tick and why I make certain choices.
• I like myself a whole lot more.
• Temptations – the failures and the successes, both equally as important.
• On air interview with Richard Stubbs on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne in May.
• Part of Perfect Gift For a Man book for the Inspire Foundation.
• Featured in an article in Sun-Herald on December 13.
• Story coming on Channel 7’s Today Tonight.
• Openly discussing depression and my darkest moments publicly for the first time.
• Started a new band  (a second one)
• Axed from original band of 7 years for personal reasons that they wouldn’t share – don’t you love 30+ year so called friendships.
• Resigned from new band – now selling one of two drum kits.

The key thing was a happy year with lots of time spent with my son. Most of ll I m in a much better and healthier place than this time last year and I have so many wonderful people to thank, which I will, but at another time. It’s getting late, I’m tired and I want to make the 8am Yoga class and set my intent for 2010.

I am enjoying the journey with all it’s highs and lows and twists and turns and look forward to 2010 as an absolute breakthrough year.

I’ll share resolutions / targets with you in the New Year.

Meanwhile have a safe and happy New Year.

This could be titled “The Tale of Two Brothers”, I’ll leave the other two aside for he moment, yes I come from a larger family of six children, four boys and two girls.

The six of us were born over an 18 year period (’54 – ’72) and all have a pretty good relationship with each other, at times testy, but that’s to be expected in a family of any size.

My younger brother has never dealt with weight issues, although no doubt has confronted his own challenges over the years, as a father of three and separated he has some of the same situations as me, but thankfully a pretty good relationship with his ex-wife.

As kids growing up I was closer in age to the brother above me and as we reached adulthood we had a lot of friends in common and so became quit tight, whereas little brother was 4 years younger and the relationship not so tight as kids. That has changed and developed as we grew older and no doubt will continue to.

I am incredibly proud of my little brother, he is the Ironman to my Wobbleguts – first let me explain Wobbleguts.

When I first started on the Saving Alan journey one of my forms of xercise was Aqua Aerobics, keeping the weight off my ankle joints and feet which were really suffering due to my size.

One day after class my son and I played in the wave pool and mucked around with a story about a super hero and a villain. I decided to give the superhero the name of Wobbleguts, because ion the swimming pool my belly wobbled like you can’t imagine, much to said sons amusement.

So I am Wobbleguts, he has lived on since that day in the pool some nine months ago through our bedtime stories. We create stories around Captain Wobbleguts and his merry men including Monster Guy, Dark Knight and Golden Ninja – a formidable foursome of force.

When we first started the stories, all my son wanted to do was kill Captain Wobbleguts, but we made a deal that we could only let him die when my belly was pretty much gone. So Wobbleguts, your days are numbered!

Back to my brother. A few years ago he started going to the local gym and getting a little more serious about his body shape (enter vanity comments here …), dropping his golf off which I never thought he would do as he was an avid golfer and was able to get his handicap down to single figures.

He seemed to find a little community and click at the gym which motivated him and the change was evident. From being just a normal lean 40 year old he started to develop some serious guns and went shirtless at every opportunity – so would I with the shape that he developed and how hard he had obviously worked.

But something else happened, the kid who was never into running started to get a bit serious and before I knew it he had clocked up a couple of marathons, sheer lunacy in my book, but little did I know that was just the start.

The next thing to appear was a racing bike (bicycle) and out came the lycra – well it was a great opportunity to show off the physique and the tan! He told me he had joined a Triathlon Team called Tribal, this was going to be interesting because couldn’t really swim very well, how was ever going to survive the swim leg of a Tri?

With gusto he threw himself into the training and now 12 months later he just completed his first (I fear there will be more) Ironman length Triathlon. I am so incredibly proud of him and what he has been able to achieve, how he has gone about it, his single-mindedness to prepare his body and mind plus his ability to juggle his everyday life and still deliver on being a father to three gorgeous kids, a worker, brother, friends and partner.

Our stories are similar in that we have both set out with a goal in mind and are focused on the journey and what we have to do to get there. We both needed to learn more about food and diet, exercise and how our bodies work and their current limitations, and we both need to plan ahead to be able to get everything into our sometimes complex and confusing lives.

So last Sunday I was tracking his progress via the web, saw that he had a great swim, a couple of minutes under his expectation, but the bike didn’t seem to be panning out as expected and so I thought he must have gone into complete meltdown after going too hard in the swim. I’ll let him pick up the story from here in an email he sent around last night;

Hey Everyone,

I am now officially an IRONMAN!!

Didn’t quite break 12 hrs. It was 12hrs 18min. But I am absolutely rapped.

The day was hot and windy. 30+ degrees, sunny and windy. Not ideal conditions. At least the water temperature was under 24 degrees so I could wear a wetsuit.

Did the swim in 1hr 18min. A couple mins quicker than planned. I swam really well. Controlled and easy. It felt awesome for a guy who couldn’t swim 100m 12 months ago. 143rd out of 194 in my age group (there must be 51 absolute nuff nuff swimmers…lol). This was by far the biggest thing I achieved. I have carried a fear of swimming and deep water for 30+ years.

Everyone wants to know about my 12min transition. That is embarrassing. But by the time i did my hair!!! I cant believe it was that long. Something to work on!!

The ride was a little disappointing. I rode to heart rate (77-80% of max heart rate) and just couldn’t get the speed up to what I wanted because it felt like we were riding into a head wind all day. It was probably a cross wind that was only a tail wind for a few km’s each lap. I decided to keep to heart rate rather than speed and destroy the legs for the run. I had a little mechanical problem towards the end of the first lap. Had to stop twice because the cadence sensor came loose and was hitting the pedal/crank. Fixed it ok the second time. Struggled on the bike around the 140-150km mark. Didn’t help that they ran out of sports drinks at the drink stations and only had warm/hot water or cola left. So I had to adjust the nutrition plan a little (Kath taught me well). But I coped. So I did a 6hr 20min 180km ride. 144th out of 194.

The run was fantastic, if you can say that after 180km ride. During the first 2km, I was thinking Olympic distance tri’s are a lot better option (10km run)…lol. But I got into a really good rhythm. I worked out I had to run a sub 4hr marathon. But it would have meant pushing my heart rate beyond 85% for the whole run. I again decided to run to 78-80% of max heart rate so I wouldn’t blow up. Which meant at the end of the first lap (14km) I knew I wasn’t going to break 12hrs, but I didn’t care.

I felt strong and was moving really well. But the run leg was like a battle zone. People doubled over with cramp, vomitting and struggling to just walk. I can’t believe how many younger and fitter guys I ran past (they all went too hard in the ride and paid the penalty). But the highlight was interacting with the crowd. I played it up alll along the run. Ordering beers, hamburgers, taxi’s, singing, high 5ing kids, and generally joking with different groups. I did this so I would look forward to seeing these groups at different parts of the course.

The last lap i started to feel it in the legs a bit and slowed. But it wasn’t about time at that stage, it was about taking it all in. And not walking at any stage, which I am happy to say i didn’t walk….ran all the way. Running down the finishing chute was unbelievable (the true highlight of the day). The support crew was towards the start of the chute. Hi-5’s all round and then sucked in the last 150m. It was awesome coming over the line. I felt like i could have done another lap. I was not in distress at all. So i ended up doing a 4hr 20min marathon which I was rapped with considering the amount of people i passed. 43rd out of 194 (266th male out of 966). Somehow running has become my strength.

So over all 12hr 18min. 90th out of 194 in my age group. 463rd male out of 966. And i am now an ironman, and planning the next.

Kath gave me some fantastic advice on Friday night. If I wasn’t smiling for 95% of the time, I shouldn’t be there. It was so true. So I decided to take that into the race. So I joked and chatted my way around the whole bike and run course. And it just puts you in a different mindset. It made my day so enjoyable. There were lots of people who went quicker than me, but I doubt that there was many who enjoyed it as much as I did. The spectators and volunteers were awesome.

The Tribal (the Tri squad i am a member of) cheer squad was awesome to. It was great to see Kath and a mate Nathan every lap. There smiles almost matched mine. It was great to have someone special watching along the way and at the finish and to talk about it afterwards. The coach was over here to and was great to have him here to keep an eye on me.

The house I am staying in is a Rockstar party house. So it should for $5000 per week (thank god we filled it with close to 10 people for most of the week). Wait for the pics on Facebook. Although there are 19 stairs to my bedroom. They have been a struggle until today. The legs are recovering well. I have shared the house with 2 Pro triathletes (one competed at the Olympics last year). And a few others have come and visited and it has been a great week. Just the 3 of us left now and heading back to Melbourne tomorrow.

So it has been an incredible journey and experience particularly for my first ironman. Now I have to prepare for my next. Port Macquarie. Very hilly and demanding, but it will a great challenge. Sis has already volunteered to come down as support.

Well that’s all for now. look forward to seeing everyone very soon. And i can tell you all about it in person. Thanks for all your messages, they have been appreciated.

Paul (Official Ironman)

The moral of the story – if anyone notices me starting to follow little brothers path – stop me! It’s starts with a bike and ends in lunacy.

The real moral of course is I just need to do things in the moment, for the fun, for the enjoyment, for the journey. I need to enjoy the personal challenge and you never quite know what I’m capable of.

So my journey continues with no defined events to compete in etc and I’ll pick up new things as I go and discard others as ell, most important is that I find things I enjoy and that enthuse me.

At 158 kilos no form of exercise got me excited, but things change if just give yourself a chance, schedule your world a little, live in the moment and with intent amazing things can be achieved.

Bro, thanks for letting me post your email, you inspire me.

Just got a message via Facebook from Jan, I’ll share it with you;-

“Longie. I had no doubt that you would. NOW though is where you get my real support. Whats the next goal? Don’t give me a weight goal, give me an event. x”

I must admit I have only had a weight goal that I thought would give me a good omfortable feel about myself physically, I never had an intention of doing any event of ny kind to prove my fitness or that I had achieved something.

But I m open to the idea of participating in an event although I really don’t know what is out there. One thing we can knock out straight away is the idea of doing a marathon, just not interested in running for 43 kilometres (that’s what cars are for).

So I need your suggestions for something I can target as a goal for next year.

I’ll collate the ideas and put them to communal vote and that will become a goal.

Over to you!

So here I sit 8 days from the final weigh-in for the main fund-raising effort of Saving Alan. Some part of me is disappointed that I am not going to reach 50 kilos lost in the time frame, but I really should be damn proud of hitting 40+ kilos in 42 weeks so far.

By the end I should average 1 kilo a week. So after the end of November, I’ll still have another 30-40 weeks to go to get down to the weight I want to be, which is 80-85 kilos, probably closer to 85. So another 32.5 kilos from where I am now, that would give me a total loss of 73 kilos or 46% of my original body weight – even I’ll say that is pretty amazing.

I have been incredibly busy the last two weeks and have been having problems with the internet connection at home, so I’ve been a little (okay totally) slack in posting. Over the next week I’m going to try and post everyday, even just a short update on what I am up to.

I was genuinely surprised to lose this week, because I really hadn’t exercised much, hadn’t eaten well (but hadn’t been really bad either, unlike other weeks) and let other things take priority, but I had things to deliver, which I have almost been able to meet so I’ve got a good buzz from that as well.

When I travel I really should ring ahead and tell them to get all soft drink, chocolate bars and potato chips out of the room .. hmmmm, enough said.

Last weekend I tried on the the suit that was too tight when I started Saving Alan back in February and was absolutely shocked at how big it was around the girth. I just cant believe I was so big I couldn’t do it up, if I wasn’t so amazed I’d be ashamed.

More good news on the clothing front though is that I have moved three shirts from the “too small” section of the wardrobe to the current (yep, I don’t throw anything out). I haven’t worn them for 7-8 years or maybe more and it’s a good buzz to get back into them, certainly a great way to physically feel the progress because I adjust so quickly to different shape and size that I lose the perspective to know how the week is traveling or how big I used to be.

So the week and a bit a head is a challenge. I am really busy at work and have a heap of deliverables to get through, so there are a few things I need to do to maximise the loss over the coming 10-11 days:

• work at work intensely.
• don’t procrastinate
• Put myself first
• PLAN 60- 90 minutes a day for exercise.

Let’s see how I go, if you haven’t sponsored me as yet, please jump on board and help out. Together we have been able to raise well over $5,000 for the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute and it would great to give it one last tilt.

I’ve been a little under the pump recently, and along with having some internet connection trouble at home I missed last weeks weigh-in and measurement update. So here’s two weeks in one.

Week 41 was pretty good, I was really good with food ad I exercised pretty hard, whereas week 42 I can’t claim the same and there was some interstate travel which normally means a poor outcome in the given week. So one good week, and one average week.

The losses:

• Week 41 – 0.8 kilo lost
• Week 42 – 0.7 kilo lost

Go figure, sometimes I just can’t work out the balance, what is the right level of exercise to the maximum outcome and how perfect do I need to be on food. A lot of dietitians and nutritionalists will have the answers, but I want to work it out for myself and how my body and lifestyle operate.

The most pleasing part of the past 2 weeks is the loss of cms around the waist, a total of 3.5 cms, not bad heh!

So I’ve reached 40.5 kilos lost, the same loss I had at week 32 (Sept 11), so we could say that I have stuffed around for the past 10 weeks for no outcome! But you know, the real part of this was always going to be the tough weeks, not the good weeks. How could I overcome the weeks of gain or plateaus and keep going and not give up.

The fight is between the ears, not around the waist.

So while I am not losing s much as I’d like, I am learning a heap about myself and am a lot happier and together than I was at the start of the year, but I still have a long way to go as far as learning and organising my life to reach the outcomes that will be sustainable for the long term.

A while ago I spoke bout developing a calendar for planning food and everything to do with exercise and running a household .. well procrastination has continued on that one and it’s still not done. It will be soon.

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I have been having a lot of trouble with blisters on my let foot and it has meant that I haven’t been doing anywhere near as much walking as I’d like to. So the Podiatrist got me into a new pair of running shoes that stopped the lateral movement that was causing most of the trouble. To test it out I went for a 2 hour walk, and of course no lateral movement, but on the left foot I was getting movement the other way causing a blister to kick in at about the 80 minute mark, and so the walking is on hold until it heals.

Luckily, I have an exercise bike on loan from friends, while they live overseas, and it sits in my living room, mocking me most days, but I have been getting back on it the past few days. With only 4 weeks to go, I am motivated to do whatever it takes to move as much weight as I possibly can and I have been able to move my time spent on it from 30 minutes, to 40 minutes, to 50 minutes and tomorrow morning it will be 60 minutes (if I get up early enough).

Not an attractive facial expression when D took the shot, I think he just wanted me to stop so he could hear the TV

I find it boring and repetitive, but for the next month it will be a great fall back to burn off the weight. So the tunes get turned up and I just keep going, trying to work out the amount of calories I’ll burn, the distance I’ll ride and anything else I can do to keep the mind off wanting to give up at 30 minutes. I just have to keep going, it doesn’t hurt that much and the benefit far outweighs the short term discomfort.

Let’s see if I last 60 minutes in the morning!

Finally I’ve broken through the 40 kilo mark, for a while it felt like I was never going to get out of the 30s.

Here’s a quick look at how long it took to move each of the 10 kilos:

• 10 kilos            3 weeks
• 11-20 kilos      7 weeks
• 21-30 kilos      6 weeks
• 31-40 weeks   16 weeks

Now I know that the loss will slow, but I have been really off the boil the past couple of months, and now feel that I am back on track strongly. This mornings weigh in has really given me a confidence boost that I needed, I didn’t expect to lose much at all, so dropping 2 kilos waqs fantastic.

So now I am into the last 12 weeks of SavingAlan and need to move at least another 9.5 kilos to make my first major goal. Over this weekend I am devising a calendar that will cover all of the things I need to do each week and I am also going to get back to running a food diary, because as I tell clients, if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it. When I have it completed I’ll share it.

One of the beautiful things about the weight / size going off is this morning I got my son to see if he could put his arms around my stomach and touch his hands or fingers behind my back. And for the very for the very first time he could do it, he was so excited and started to tell me that I really must have lost some cms, but maybe not weight as it could be all muscle – he’s a bloody little legend.

So here’s this weeks results, can you believe I’ve lost 37cm around the waist, no wonder clothes hang off me.