When someone tells you, "that's the best you've played since you started", it feels good. Really good. If my entry from yesterday was me barating myself (and rightly so), then today was a mental boost that whilst the weight loss might have slowed down, my fitness and endurance levels are still very much on the up.
You see it was football (soccer) night again tonight. It was a difficult start and I thought it was going to be a bad night. As the minutes ticked by though, I could feel myself getting stronger. Conversely, the others got more tired as the minutes rolled by.
The big difference I felt was my strength, not in a muscular, bustling, tougher way, but more in the fact that, in a bizarre way, my brain and muscles combined to give me greater balance, awareness and a subtlety of touch that only comes with being more physically fit.
It has given me a boost. A mental up lift. A sense of wellbeing and another reason to kick on and beat my lazy genes!
The fact somebody noticed the difference in my performance, significant improvement enough to say something about it...well, I'm happy with that. I don't want to stop there though, I want to keep on getting better, getting fitter, getting healthier.
Tonight I am a happy man!
19 October 2011 - With Awesomeness Comes Responsibility
Have you read my short and sweet last entry, about how awesome my weekend work out was? Ever heard of pride before a fall? I've just found out that laziness can seep back into your psyche. For starters, it might be worth a read of one of my first blog entries, Laziness is a Disease. You see, because I've been doing so well at the gym, and very good at eating a pretty balanced diet (not depriving my self of too much of things I like, but not snacking for the sake of it), I've found a bit of extra alcohol and extra eats creeping back in to what I'm consuming. These are only the odd bits, and I know why I've been doing it. It's because my work outs have become consistently longer, harder, and through the weight training I can see my body taking shape a little. It's toning!
BUT! BUT! BUT! It is because I'm seeing results that MY MIND IS BECOMING LAZY and is tricking me into thinking I can consume naughty things, more often. This is the curse of the lazy man. Your mind can trick you into thinking its ok to have that extra glass of red, or the packet of crisps, or that take-away!
No wonder I had hit a bit of a brick wall with the weight loss - something I omitted to tell you :-( It was always going to be the case that the first few pounds would fall off quite easily with a bit of effort, the rest a bit slower. The thing is, I have now brought it to a standstill because I let my mind get the better of me.
Whilst I find this situation annoying, it is not going to send me into any downward spiral. I am going to give credit to my powers of self realisation that I noticed, because the important thing is that I can now do something about it. I approach the problem positively.
If anybody has any tips or secrets they would like to share, that might help me and others in a similar position, I would love to hear them. It's not easy being lazy, or, trying to rif yourself of laziness.
Let me know what you think. Anybody experiene the same as this?
15 October 2011 - An awesome distance travelled
This is a short and sweet one for you. I've just had the best work out ever, since my start of trying to become less lazy. Burned just short of 1000 calories at the gym. To see how far I've come, all you need to do is look back to where I started - scroll to the bottom of the page - If you feel stuck in a rut about your physical health, there's no need. The big bonus is that I've also become mentally more positive, so much more. I am enthused. Change is all about taking things at your own pace, not thinking to highly of yourself, nor barating yourself, but just doing. But, always feel good about the positive steps you're taking.
13 October 2011 - Revelations!
Wow! I can't believe the difference just a few weeks makes. I played football tonight, as I said was in yesterdays entry. It was a revelation, not in a sense of me playing fantastically well - because I didn't - but my fitness levels!!
Here's where the difference is. Although I've been back at the gym for a few weeks, I was invited by a work colleague to play football about a month ago. I obliged, enjoyed it, but forgot how fit you need to be to play properly. For the next two weeks after that, we didn't have enough players, so I had to do an extra session at the gym instead. So, between the first football session and tonights, I have done a total of 6 sessions at the gym.
The result of all this is that when playing football tonight, I didn't stop. DIDN'T STOP! Yes, my lungs hurt. Yes, my legs felt heavy by the end. Yes, I sweat loads. But I kept going, a joint effort between mind and body. Evidence surely that through an increased physical fitness comes a equal development of positive mental health.
The true gap between one football session to the other was 3 weeks. How amazing does this make me feel? How pleased am I? How inspired?
Now, lets not get too carried away. Bring it back a bit. I'm doing well and I'm on the right path. But I must remember that my journey of change is still a long one. I will keep incrementally pushing the boundaries little by little, but not too much.
Is anybody else starting to push the boundaries?
12 October 2011 - Paying for my sins and loving it!
So for the last two days I've been right back on it. Two quality sessions at the gym. I didn't want to go. Not really. I knew I would have to pay for sins of the weekend just gone!
But here in lies the change in my mental state, this slow process of becoming more positive - and when I'm not mentally positive, knowing these new physical habits will carry me through - so I felt better, felt good, immediately as I walked into the gym. That's often the biggest step, getting through the door. Right there is the result, the win!
For that alone I was boosted into feeling good and up for it. On weighing myself I found I'd only put back on a minimal amount of weight.
It happened again today. I didn't want to go, but did. I felt good when I walked in...because I walked in, because I like feeling better, mentally and physically.
The sessions burned 700 calories and 600 calories each, respectively. Result. I've got a one hour five-a-side football session tomorrow. That'll do me as a good cardio work out and give my muscles a rest from the weights.
I can't wait!
9 October 2011 - A fun but fitness fail weekend!
I am not going to punish myself, and as much as it was definitely a fitness and health fail this weekend, it was great to let go a bit. After all, I'm not a monk, and nobody should live like one...unless, of course, you are one!
I went to gym on Saturday morning, only to be told it was closed. I went for a (very) short run around the local park. I really wasn't feeling it, at all. At some point I had a snooze during the day, before embarking on a meet up with lads. Now, it's not often we all get together, so it was an evening of chat, jesting and excessive alcohol. The night ended with a big fat pizza!
Not at my best on Sunday, but lots of work done on house things. Not had much to eat today and now we're both starving! So, what have me and the wife decided to do...order a chinese.
I am just off out to collect it now. I'm going to enjoy it. I don't feel bad. It's been a great weekend. Next week, I'll be back at the gym and really giving it some.
6 October 2011 - Wow, you burnt over 700 calories?
Yes, I did do this. I've got to say, I wasn't much in the mood for the gym today after a long day at work. Thing is, I know I would have felt just a little bit guilty if I hadn't gone, but more so, that once I had been I would feel bloody brilliant...and I did!
Making the right decision is sometimes more difficult than making the easy decision. I took the tough choice tonight, but it was the right one (Oh dear, I'm in danger of twisting myself in circles!). Fact is I went, I put in the effort, and after a slow start I eased into what turned out to be a great work out.
The greatest satisfaction came from the fact the I wasn't really up for it in the first place. It was the doing of it, taking the action, making the positive choice, which made it more satisfying than if it has just been another positive day of going to the gym.
Here in lies the lesson - sometimes making the right choice is not always result in taking the easiest path, but it can often bring the best results. For me, it was a massive 700+ calories in just one session. That is far more than I've managed before.
My sense of achievement and mental wellbeing? Through the roof! :-)
5 October 2011 - Please accept my apologies - I've been very busy!
Well, hello there. I've been that busy being active I've had little time to come and update my Health Chart. It hasn't been a case that I've just been physically active, but mentally active too, which has meant quite a bit of writing - food recipes for various dishes. Which ever way you look at it, it's all positive.
I'm proud to say that I've continued my visits to the gym. I'm doing more cardio, which now involves a small amount of running - this is progress on just walking. I have also started doing more weights to try and tone up - lifting more here than when I first started as well.
IMPORTANT: Can anybody advise me on how to lose the stomach fat?
Now, last week when I reported on my weight, I was at about 97kg (15st 4lb) - a loss of 7lb since I first started. I am very happy to say that I am now at 96kg exactly (15st 1lb). That is a brilliant 9lb in just over a month.
There is no special way in which I have achieved this, I don't think. Like many of us, we can procrastinate for too long even in the knowledge that we are overweight or unhealthy. Through reading specific publications, I have started to be able to implement ways that encourage me to consider my health and wellbeing in a far more positive way, actively seeking personal change.
I am being led through small steps to a healthier lifestyle, and I'm loving it.
29 September 2011 - I've found a meditation
The last couple of sessions at the gym have been very productive. While I have been able to step up the physical aspects, doing more than I was just a week ago, it's not this that is the most telling change.
I have noticed a clear improvement in my mental health and feeling of weelbeing. It has occurred as a what can only be described as a short meditation that happens between excerises. The weight machines I use are 'key' operated and record all your lifting stats etc. In between each set of reps, it makes you wait for one minute until you continue. During this minute I have been able to close my eyes and relax into a trance like state.
It sort of feels silly saying that, but its true. The resulting feeling is that of stress exiting through my fingers, as if my body is rejecting it and throwing it out. When I come away from the gym now, I feel more refreshed than I do physically tired.
This is a great feeling. I'm getting mentally tuned...and less lazy! Oh, also, my weight is down to just under 97kg (About 15st 3lb). Thats 3kg (Approx 7lb) I've lost in about 3 or 4 weeks. That's also given me a mental boost.
27 September 2011 - Family commitments are very important
I've had a couple of days off from the gym. Not through lazyness, just through family commitments. It feels good, having that break.
I have noticed that my 'My Health Chart' posts have immediately become long. It wasn't the intention. Lengthy posts should really be reserved for the main blog.
It was good to get back to the gym today though. I can't say I was really that up for it, after a quite frustrating day at work. However, that's the test of the Lazy Man. But it was a decision easily made, after a positive three weeks and a better developed positive mind, I went and did my bit. The cobwebs of the weekend were blown away.
On returning home, the girls had decided they were getting tea from the Fish & Chip Shop. Not me. I said, "No thanks". And do you know what? I didn't feel as it I was denying myself a treat; didn't have to think too hard about how I might be missing out. It was a straight down the line, I'm happy to have something a little healthier.
My weight after the weekend has risen by 1lb. Of this I am unconcerned. It, plus maybe one more, will be gone again by the end of the week.
No more work tonight, just a deserved chill out time with my Wife. Enjoy yours!
24 September 2011 - Birthday gym session and bacon
Yep, it was my Birthday today. Yep, I dropped off the girl at work. Yep I hit the gym. Yep, I had bacon.
I really enjoyed the early morning gym session. There were several positives about it. First off, I just felt good about not having a hangover, and in positive frame of mind just because I knew I was doing something good for me. Secondly, when I got in there I had the whole place to myself - it felt like it was my own personal gym. Thirdly, and most importantly, was the boost I got when I weighed myself...15 stone 3lb. That's a loss of half a stone (7lb) in the space of three weeks.
I've got to say, I was absolutely elated. It's not like I have gone on any crash diet, or over done it at the gym. It has been about having a certain mind set, a focus. Being able to focus my mind, has resulted in me slowly being able to change my mind set. The weight loss is the origins of positive habits, ones I am now beginning to re-inforce.
You've got to bear in mind I have come from a negative place. This was a place of lazyness and little activity where, as a consequence, motivation to do anything positive was near zero.
What the last few weeks have shown me then, is that to change, we need to take our opportunities. This is what I did on meeting up with my old friend - see Lazyness is a disease - and you can see how it is beginning to take effect.
What is clear is that we all need a trigger. We've all got one. I think we mostly all know what our own trigger is, that will set us on the path to change what we need to, to become positive about what we're doing and who we are. The difficulty is acting on it in the first place. I have! I'm very happy about it. If you're struggling to take that step, trust me, you can do it.
And...you don't have to cut every bad thing out of your life. I went home after the gym, and my wife had kindly made me a Birthday breakfast of bacon and cream cheese on a bagel. I had two...and I loved it!
23 September 2011 - Friday, Football, Alcohol Free and Saturday Bacon
Traditionally, for me at least, Friday's are for putting my feet up and opening a bottle of wine. I've spent all week at work, given my best in quite testing circumstances with one thing or another, so I can do as I bloody well please!
Tonight I have done just that. Done as I please that is! It hasn't involved wine. It's involved going to play football for an hour with some work mates. It was great fun, if not a little hard. I had a face the colour of a beetroot by the time we'd finished. It's been about 12 months since I last played, so my muscles really felt it...and I mean felt it! My God! But, it has invigorated my mind, I feel lively, my mind is awake, and I don't feel the need for any wine to relax. I'm simply basking in feelings of positive energy, and more than a little pleased with myself!
Also, I'm thinking of all those dead calories I HAVEN'T consumed, as well as eating sensibly during the day. Heck, I had a banana as part of my lunch!!
In the morning I'll get up and take my eldest daughter to work (7.30am start for her - she's got a good attitude toward increasing her wealth, whilst still at college fulltime!). Instead of coming straight home afterwards though, I'm going to hit the gym and burn a few calories. It's a good job I didn't have that bottle of wine last night, otherwise there's no chance I'd do it - I AM ENERGISED!
Hmm, but this is me, this bit...I will not for go my Saturday morning bacon sandwhich. No way. Not this week, at least. I love bacon! :-)
22 September 2011 - Catching up!
A declaration, then! If you've read my back story in my first blog entry, the following will make sense.
Two weeks ago I made a change. My gym membership that has lain idle for about 18 months, was brought back into the light. I took the plunge and went...to...the...GYM! How awful, I know.
I did the almighty stint of 20 minutes walking. That was it! So what? Are you going to laugh? It's okay if you are. My other half laughed right in my face (in as loving a way as she could). I explained to her that it's important to be gentle. I am delicate after all. Her reply: "You mean lazy?" :-) (She's right)
Over the week I paid two more visits. One day I walked for 30 minutes! Yeah, ten more than my first visit.
In the second week I did 15 minutes walking, some leg and arm weights (gentle ones) then 15 more minutes walking. Progression. That's what it is. Slow. Easy. Sod what anybody might think about how little excercise that really is. It's my body, and I know what's good for it.
This extra activity has helped me think about how much I eat, as well. So, I've been eating the same food as I normally do, just a bit less. I've even eaten the evil that is fruit (tomatoes, bananas), but not too much!
The bit you all might want to know is my weight. Well, you might not, but I'll tell you. 100kg. That's about 15 stone 10lb, in English! Well, since starting my more active life style, that's down to 97.5Kg - in just three weeks.
Slow and steady wins the race. I'll tell you what else I've been doing soon. I'm making other life changes too. I am you know! Take it easy everybody, don't do too much! ;-)
