Posts Tagged ‘media’

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!

Welcome to all the readers who have found Saving Alan through the Sunday Age article today (Jan 17, 2010). The article on Page 2 is titled “Super sized desperate to get things into proportion‘ and covers a bit of how I have gone about losing 43 kilos so far.

Amongst the many things that didn’t get mentioned there are two things that I have found to be very importnt to my success so far and they are;

1. Counseling - understanding what is going on, how I feel and think about myself and starting to get some strategies for change. I am of the very firm belief that in a large proportion of obesity cases the mental health aspect is the underlying disease, not simply the issue of being overweight.
2. Bikram Yoga – a low impact yet intense exercise that has been integral on a number of fronts. Firstly to get me moving without putting too much joint strain, providing the opportunity for the mind to be still (meditation) and gaining a great support network without being judged (unlike the feeling I get in a gym).

One more thing, the cartoon The Age decided to put within the article is a prime example of the ridicule that obese people get all the time. I am not overly offended by it, but it does highlight the stupidity of our media at times just being damn inconsiderate to the plight of the obese and holding them up for ridicule. The outcome of stupidity and deliberate ridicule feel the same. What a shame for a serious article to be diminished by a lack of thought from an editor or sub-editor.

If you’d like to follow my story as it unfolds, connect via Facebook as well as subscribing to the RSS feed on this page.

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.

You’ll have to wait a little longer to find out what the last post is all about! Sometime next week.

I travelled to Sydney last week to present at a business conference, which was great fun, lots of positive affirmation and some really interesting and smart people (Photo’s here and here). Had some great meetings as well and because the Sydney team don’t see me that often they are always amazed at how much weight I have lost and that is a buzz as well, because I live with it every day I don’t see the change as being dramatic, and I suppose it isn’t really, on average just under 1 kilogram a week.

Most of you would know that I was a contributor to the book “The Perfect Gift for a Man”, if not head over to the site and buy a book for every man in your life – go on, do it now!. Anyway through that experience and twittering and blogging about it a journalist from the Sun-Herald in Sydney found my story and was interested in talking to me further about it.

Without hesitating I agreed to meet and so on Tuesday night I met with features writer Nick Galvin and photographer Quentin (as in the famous Quentin’s Arch at Walsh Bay) to share more of my story and why I decided to go the route of being so public about my battle with weight and the depression / melancholy behind it.

I’ve dealt with enough journos over the years to have a healthy mistrust of being misquoted or worse misunderstood, but Nick was fantastic and we had a wide ranging chat about my life.

I don’t consider my story, my life or what I am doing now as that amazing or inspiring (this is not a fishing expedition for support) but I do get that the weight loss story has enough different issues that there will be something there that will resonate with most people if they have some level of insight.

Nick’s opening line was “so when is the book coming out?”

I am really not considering a book, a movie or anything else, I just want to get rid of the weight and teach myself the skills that enable me to reach that end and keep it off for good. I reckon the last thing the world needs is another bloody diet book, although that I would never attempt. They say never say never, so who knows? I saw a clairvoyant in April ‘08 and she said that I would write a book about something that I had achieved, so maybe I will or maybe I wont?

Anyway next Sunday (29 November) there will be a story on Saving Alan in the Sydney newspaper the Sun-Herald. I hope they can get it published in the Melbourne Age as well, fingers crossed, and I hope that it generates that last minute fundraising push that I am after.

Thanks Nick and Quentin, for being interested in Saving Alan and for the care and support you showed during our chat.

Back in July I wrote a post called “The Path Back” which touched on my battle with depressions and facing up to it, with all the feelings of hopelessness, the self doubt, the loneliness, the vulnerability and the fear that goes with it.

It was part of a  project called Man Week. From the series of posts by a variety of bloggers Gavin Heaton and Mark Pollard decided it would be great to combine a whole range of the stories into a book and publish it for the benefit of the Inspire Foundation and so today is the launch of a book called “The Perfect Gift for a Man”. The stories look at a range of subjects from a very open and honest perspective.

I’m lucky enough and honored to be involved and as friends and supporters of my journey I’d ask each of you to visit the website and consider buying the book for a brother, son, father, uncle, cousin, nephew, work mate or friend.

Visit the Perfect Gift for  Man website to find out more.

Buy the soft cover book at Blurb

Buy the ebook at The Perfect Gift for a Man website

If you’re in the media, why not promote the release, access the press release here, or see below (sort of makes the link useless doesn’t it)

And if you haven’t sponsored me yet, hurry there’s only 4 weeks and 5 days left! Do it now!

Blurb “Man book” on sale to support Aussie men
Australia’s first “man book” raises money to lower suicide rates in Aussie men

A group of Australian men have banded together to create a book about some of the tough issues facing the average Aussie bloke.

The book, “The perfect gift for a man – 30 stories about reinventing manhood” aims to get men talking about their feelings in a bid to help prevent male suicide in Australia. This collection of stories was designed and published using Blurb, the creative publishing platform that enables anyone to design, publish, market, and sell their own professional-quality books.

The “man book” is available for purchase in the Blurb Bookstore at www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/915312 with all profits benefiting the Inspire Foundation, a national non-profit that delivers online programs to prevent youth suicide and improve young people’s mental health and well being.

Touched by the mental health, drug and alcohol problems facing young Australia men, Australian bloggers Gavin Heaton and Mark Pollard appealed to their readers, friends, and family to share honestly the intense emotions and experiences of being a man.

“As bloggers, we have been talking about men’s issues such as depression, mental health and coping with loss for years,” Gavin Heaton, one of the books creators said.

“We had the idea to do a book for men, about men, but finding a channel that helps us design, compile, publish and sell the coffee-table type book isn’t straightforward. But now any Australian can create his or her own professional-quality books, and use the Blurb publishing and marketing platform to reach people around the world and sell books in the Blurb Bookstore,” Mr  Heaton said.

Tim Parsons from Blurb Australia said self publishing was an increasingly popular way to create a book for those who are finding it hard to get a book deal but have something interesting and important to say.

“Blurb is very pleased to help these gentlemen publish “The perfect gift for a man – 30 stories about reinventing manhood”. Developing a book to encourage young Australian men to feel comfortable sharing their feelings and reinventing the idea of Australian masculinity is an important step towards a generation of happier and healthier men,” Tim Parsons, Blurb Australia said. “We encourage anyone with a story to tell to visit www.blurb.com and get started today.”

An excerpt from “The perfect gift for a man – 30 stories about reinventing manhood” reads:

“If I’ve learned anything through all this it is that there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules for how to be a man
in this crazy and unpredictable emotional tornado we call life. The only thing we can really be assured of
is that life will continue to change for us all, regardless of how much we wish it wouldn’t. All I know is that how you grow and evolve as a man to meet the challenges that life will inevitably throw at you is what really counts. I’ve learned that no matter how alone or broken you feel there are men and women who care enough to be there for you, to help you feel less broken and alone.”- Scott Drummond

“We want men to read the stories of others and find strength in knowing that others have lived through the same issues and gone on to live rich lives. It was important for us to find a way for Australian men to share their life experiences and help young men realise that it’s ok to reach out and ask for help when its needed,” said Gavin Heaton.

“The perfect gift for a man – 30 stories reinventing manhood” is priced at $44.95 and is available for sale http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/915312.

- Ends-
About Blurb
Blurb® is a creative publishing and marketing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb’s platform makes it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality books, using our free, award-winning Blurb BookSmart® software, or via the design tool of your choice.  Use Blurb’s Bookstore and online marketing tools to market and sell your books, and keep 100% of your profit. Use Blurb’s social and community features to create and share Blurb books with your friends and colleagues with ease.
Blurb was founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005, and includes a team of design, Internet and media veterans who share a passion for helping people bring their stories to life. Blurb is based in San Francisco with offices in London, and is funded by Canaan Partners and Anthem Venture Partners. For more info, visit http://www.blurb.com.. Blurb supports online community projects for Flickr, Google, Tate Modern, Saatchi & Saatchi and in Australia supports community projects at Australian Centre for Photography, McFarlane Prize for Best Australian Web Design and Concrete Playground. For more info, visit http://au.blurb.com

About Gavin Heaton & Mark Pollard
Gavin is the author of Servant of Chaos, one of Australia’s leading marketing blogs. He is the co-publisher of the ground-breaking collaborative marketing book, Age of Conversation. Gavin has worked in marketing agencies, but is currently holed up on the client side, for global software giant, SAP. He is fascinated with the way communities can create movements which transform the way we see and understand the world.
Mark Pollard is a strategy guy who loves to write. By day, he is a Strategy Director in a communications agency; the rest of the time he tries to be a good dad and husband. Unfortunately, too often, things are actually split like that, but he’s hoping that by writing about his experiences in a way that is both provocative and useful to other people – not purely for catharsis – the split will one day disappear.
About the Inspire Foundation (www.inspire.org.au)
Inspire is an Australian non-profit organisation established in 1996 with a mission to help millions of young people lead happier lives. By combining the power of technology with the face-to-face involvement of young people, Inspire  delivers national online programs, www.reachout.com and www.actnow.com.au, that improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people. In mid-2009, to coincide with the re-launch of Reach Out, Inspire launched the #Manweek campaign to raise awareness of these issues.

The podcast of the my interview with Richard Stubbs on ABC 774 is online now, head over the ABC site and you can either listen online or download the mp3 file.

Here’s the link.

The ABC 774 Blog

Just a short update on today’s activities. Most would know that I spent some time at ABC 774 radio with Richard Stubbs to speak about Saving Alan. Being interviewed is an interesting challenge at the best of time, and I do a lot of it professionally, but talking about myself is not a very comfortable subject usually.

Richard and I worked together back in the early 90s at Triple M Melbourne and have only caught up a few times since, but I was grateful for how he treated the subject and that he didn’t let me off in a few areas. I haven’t listened back to it yet, but I know within the interview there were things I raised but didn’t expand on as time is always of essence.

The blog becomes the opportunity to review the interview and talk about many of the subjects in more detail. One thing I mentioned was that I don’t see myself as the big heavy guy (although I know I am) and sometimes I get horrified when I catch my reflection in a window or mirror.

Unfortunately photo’s don’t lie .. here a shot from this afternoon post interview, I was a little shocked when I saw it, but there’s my current reality, but that doesn’t mean it always has to be.

In the ABC 774 studio with Richard Stubbs post interview.