Day 41: Busy morning...lazy afternoon!!

Lots of chores in the morning and early afternoon and a nice long walk along the beach with the kids. Then come the afternoon it was time to laze on the beach while the kids played in the sea.

What weekends are made for..................

Until tomorrow...

Day 40: Nailed the HIT Incline

Well you guessed it from the title I got it today. Second time of trying and the last was a few weeks ago but I got it nailed today...well I would of if the machine hadn't broken at 17 minutes!!!

20 minutes, all at 10kph, the twist in this is that is run at 1 minute intervals on the following gradients: 1%, 3%, 6% and 9%. So I was on the 5th cycle just finished the 1% and the machine stops, bear in mind I am running at 10 kph on a slight incline and the machine stops dead on the spot. Well I almost ran through the wall!!!

I was really disappointed as I was even going to go for my extra minute. Anyway the machine still worked after that but the gradient was knackered so I ran for a further 4 minutes 2 at 12 kph, 1 at 13kph and 1 at 14 kph to finish off. But I felt great at the end.

I am really pleased with how well my fitness is progressing.

Next it was a great abs session.

I finished with a 2000 metre row. Not my best time it has to be said but 7m 32s is not too bad after a workout like that. So a good mix of things today.

I am in process of setting up my mobile blogger account so that I can post whilst I am away in a weeks time to keep my blog going so if you see some strange blogs that 's why I am testing it out.

Until tomorrow...

Day 39: 100 days of posting

Well it may not be 100 days of consecutive posting but this is my 100th post. This time however i will make it to 100 days consecutive posting, as long as that is I can find some way to access the Internet in a weeks time when I have to go away to my Fathers. That is going to be interesting!!!

Still after yesterday's bizarre stats it was back to some serious weights today. Back, chest and arms, increasing the weights but still keeping good form.

I am going to revert back to 3 days cardio and 2 days weights now as this seemed to give me the optimum balance of muscle retention and fat loss. So I will try this for a couple of weeks and see what happens and then mix it up a bit again.

Until tomorrow...

Day 38: Dissappointing and Bizarre

Well as you can guess from the title the stats today were not quite what I was hoping or expecting. I knew that over the past 2 weeks that my body had changed as I could tell from last weeks photo but as you can see from the table I have managed to lose 1.5kg of lean mass. Now I really can't figure this one out as this is a lot to lose in 2 weeks.

However I am not going to get too hung up on it, either this weeks or the last BF test were skewed for whatever reason. I am going to keep going as planned. This week I will be eating more calories than I have been due to the increased cardio session that I have been doing.

Today was a HIT sprint and I again completed the whole 5 cycles, this time with the last 10 seconds at 16.5 kph rather than 16 kph. Exhausted at the end of it but not as bad as the last time which is very positive. Then it was an abs session which was good. I then helped pace my old personal trainer so that should beat her personal best on the rower and she beat it by over 14 seconds so she was real pleased.

Body Stats

Week Number	Date	Weight (kg)	Body Fat (%)	Fat (kg)	Lean Mass (kg)	Weight Change kg	Body Fat % Change	Body Fat kg Change	Lean Mass kg Change
1	21-Apr-2008	84	21	17.64	66.36	0	0	0	0
2	07-May-2008	85.4	21.9	18.70	66.70	1.4	0.9	1.06	0.34
3	14-May-2008	83.6	19.6	16.39	67.21	-1.8	-2.3	-2.32	0.52
4	28-May-2008	82.6	20.4	16.85	65.74	-1	0.8	0.47	-1.47

Until tomorrow...

Day 37: Back to Shredding

Yep, it was back to it today after 3 days off, long weekend in the UK.

After an active weekend though it was good to get back to another 45 minute cardio run. Starting speed was cranked up again to 10.7 kph. Back when I started this session a couple of weeks ago I covered 7.93 km in 45 minutes, today I covered 8.51 km in 45 minutes.

It was hard going today, not like last week when I had something left at the end. One maybe 2 more days of cardio and then some more weights but tomorrow it is another BF measurement day so I am excited and nervous about it.

Until tomorrow...

Day 36: Another day chillin'

A horrible morning, loads of rain. So we went swimming as it's a Bank Holiday in the UK. After that it brightened up so it was off for a walk and up to the park.

Unfortunately no time for a workout today so it will be back down the gym tomorrow for another cardio session before the stats on Wednesday. Looking forward to them again but again nervous as I have been training hard and eating mostly 100% clean.

Next week I am going to pull back a bit and indulge a bit more than normal to increase my calorie intake and get rid of any cravings that may be trying to take hold. I will still train hard so the object of next week is to either make very small improvements or to stay the same but it will stop me from going completely overboard at some stage in the near future.

Until tomorrow...

Day 35: Lots of Rain...No Blue Sky and Sun!!!

Well the weather forecast was completely wrong for today. Was supposed to be all overcast and raining and the whole afternoon has been completely blue sky and sun.

Spent most of it a fun day with the whole family. Kids had a great time but are now knackered. We've all been running around, bouncy castles etc.

Everyone was drinking but I was good and abstained from it and had a great time none the less.

Until tomorrow...

Day 34: Rest Day

What a lovely day it's been today as well, nice weather, lots to do, plenty of walking around with the kids in the nice weather...great.

No set training today, time to let the body recover from last week and get ready for next week. Going well on the nutrition so far but off to a BBQ tomorrow so that will be interesting but then if I eat too much there then I will just have a snack for tea and I will try to get out for a run tomorrow evening when the kids are in bed, weather permitting.

Well it looks like all the council members have almost made it through the 28 days of accountability, keep up the hard work guys and girls.

Until tomorrow...

Day 33: The End of another great week

It was another full on run today. Cranking it up yet again with a starting speed of 10.6 kph, then 10.8 after 10 mins, 11.1 after 20 minutes and then at 30 minutes 0.1 kph every minute finishing with the final minute at 16 kph.

Again I still had something left at the end so I will continue pushing again next week. That makes a total of 2400 calories in the last 3 workouts which is great.

I had a great meal last night but did not go overboard which is good. 3 day weekend in the UK this week so will need to resist as much as possible and do some sort of workout on Monday as I will not be at work.

New pics are below:

Until tomorrow...

Day 32: Getting Sweaty!

It's getting warm again in the UK and I think the gym's air con was playing catch up today!! It was another 45 minutes loaded into the treadmill with a starting speed of 10.5 kph so another 0.1 kph above yesterdays.

At 10 minutes this went to 10.7 kph, 20 minutes 11 kph, 30 minutes the speed was increased by 0.1 kph each minute with the final minute being run at 16 kph.

Again as yesterday I still felt like I had a bit more to give which is great news. Needless to say by the end of it I was dripping with sweat!!! But there were no tears!!!

My back is still twitching a bit but that is fine as I will not go back to the weights until next week.

Off out for a meal tonight so no doubt there will be a few more calories consumed than normal but I will limit it.

Feeling really great at the moment, fitness wise and body wise, I think there should be some more good results next week. Keeping to eating clean and drinking load of water which I think is doing me the world of good.

Until tomorrow...

Day 31: Bad Back!!!

My back was still not feeling 100% today and having had pulled muscles before which have stopped me lifting for over a month I have decided to go back to the cardio today as I really don't want to be out for a month again.

So 45 minutes on the clock with a starting speed of 10.4 kph, 0.1 kph faster than last weeks best start time. Managed all of the increments including the final 16kph sprint and I was nicely surprised to find there was still gas in the tank when I was finished. The first serious run I have done where I have felt that I could have pushed it a bit more!!

Now this could have been because of the rest over the weekend or maybe my fitness still coming back but either way it's good because tomorrow will be a 10.5 kph start speed.

No stats today but I have sorted my table out which is below. OK I lied I cannot get the table boxes and colours to show. If anyone has any ideas then please let me know in the comments. I am using css to format the table. It works fine opening in a browser but when pasted into blogger it drops all the formatting!!!!

Until tomorrow...

Body Stats

Week Number	Date	Weight (kg)	Body Fat (%)	Fat (kg)	Lean Mass (kg)	Weight Change (kg)	Body Fat % Change	Body Fat kg Change	Lean Mass kg Change
1	21/04/2008	84	21	17.64	66.36	0	0	0	0
2	07/05/2008	85.4	21.9	18.70	66.70	1.4	0.9	1.06	0.34
3	14/05/2008	83.6	19.6	16.39	67.21	-1.8	-2.3	-2.32	0.52

Day 30: Feeling very tired....

Guess it's all catching up, have been so tired the last few days. Had a big meal last night which was probably not too healthy either but hey it seems to have done the trick. Feeling much better today.

Not sure if I slept funny last night or pulled a lower back muscle slightly but will see how it feels tomorrow and if it is still niggling then I will move on to the cardio tomorrow rather than doing another weights session, but i will wait and see. I really want to do another back and abs session tomorrow but it's not wise if by lower back is twinging.

I have sorted my Stats table out so will post that tomorrow which will include my weight difference only for this week as no BF due to the weights. Then 5 days of cardio to see what happens next Wednesday to the BF!!!

Until tomorrow...

Day 29: Back, legs & abs

Another day of weights and I upped the kgs on all of them today and managed them quite well, keeping form which I was very pleased with. Two more days of weights and then back to cardio...

Nothing else to say today!!!

Until tomorrow...

Day 28: 4 Weeks down and still going strong...

Time fly's...

Another 4 weeks of continuous exercise and daily blogging. Looking forward to the next 2 weeks to see whether I can sustain the results of the past week. A few more days weight training this week and then another 5 days of cardio.

My chest is still really feeling my workout from Thursday so that's great and I'm managing to get lots of protein in the form of tuna, chicken, oats, eggs so I hope that during the 5 days of cardio the muscle will have a good change to rest while I shred the fat off.

I will still be interested to see whether I have lost body weight this week. I will not know what that is though as I will not do a BF test this week due to the weights.

Still feeling great from all the clean living. I did indulge in one glass of wine last night but that was all and the first alcohol for 2 weeks so I am not concerned about that at all.

Until tomorrow...

Day 27: Day of Rest

A nice day off and both the kids are off with friends this afternoon so I have found myself with 2 hours free which is not a very frequent occurrence. When I see free unfortunately I don't mean I have nothing to do!!!

So no scheduled workout today or tomorrow so I have posted my pics below. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Until tomorrow...

Day 26: Tough Evening

Another good day so far, have eaten really well, and manged the 3+ litres of water. Good back and abs session at the gym today. Really feeling yesterday's workout which is good.

Have a day maybe 2 to recover now over the weekend, depending on what happens with the family.

It's been a tough evening though, feeling really tired for some reason and all of a sudden the cravings kicked in a couple of hours ago and are still hanging around so I need to find something to keep myself occupied so I don't go and snaffle all the kids chocolate.

Pics will be up tomorrow now as I am bit short on time tonight.

Until tomorrow...

Day 25: Back to Weights

Well after the high of yesterday it was another course of weights today. I was concentrating mainly on legs, chest & traps today. Again keeping the form as perfect as I could so that I was really working the muscles.

No real aches or pains from yesterday's weight session which is good. I am sure that my chest and legs will be sore tomorrow though. I will go back and do another back session tomorrow to round the week off probably with some abs also.

Next week I will do another 3 days of weights, Monday - Wednesday and then I will get back into 5 days of 45 minute cardio sessions. So no BF next week as it goes really screwy after weights. The plan is to lose only a small amount of BF this week with another large loss hopefully the following week after 5 days of cardio.

I will upload some new pics tomorrow though!!!

Until tomorrow...

Day 24: Now THAT'S what I am talking about...

Well I have to admit that come lunchtime today I was pretty nervous about weighing myself and taking my BF% but as you may have guessed from today's title it was good news. That said I have eaten well this past week, I have not reduced my calorie intake from the previous week in any way, I have drunk plenty of water and have exercised 110%.

So anyway in the past week I have managed to lose....

• 1.8 kg (4lbs) of weight


• 2.3% Body Fat


• 2.3 kgs (5.1 lbs) of fat

As you may have already worked out the above figures don't quite add up...until you take the last stat into account, the muscle mass that I have added...

• 0.517 kgs (1.1 lbs) of muscle mass added

So in the past week I have dropped from 21.9% BF to 19.6% BF and to say I am pleased would be an understatement. Now I am aware that this level of lose will not be routine and indeed I do not want it to be. I concentrated on weights today and will for the rest of the week so as to lesson my calorie deficit. As I mentioned I did not lower my intake apart from cutting the alcohol out from the weekend and snacks that come with it. I want to avoid going into starvation mode even though I am not dieting, I am just eating clean foods. Indeed I have over the past week rarely felt hungry.

Once I figure out how to create a decent table in Html I will post all the stats in here. Well time to sleep and now that I have gotten off the mark there is no looking back, 9.6% BF left to reach my goal, here goes.

Until tomorrow...

Day 23: 1 Week in and I've NAILED it...

I was really pleased today after my workout, it was the last cardio workout for this week probably, maybe one on Friday but certainly 2 days of weight training now.

I couldn't resist taking another shot at my speed HIT session which I tried for the first time this year last week. As a reminder the basic session I use is:

1 min @ 6 kph
1 min @ 12 kph
1 min @ 14 kph
1 min @ 16 kph

You repeat this 5 times so for a total of 20 minutes. You can up or down the speeds depending on your fitness levels and if you go to some of my older posts you will see that this is where I started last year and it gets much faster. When I get a bit fitter I will start to put in a 21st minute and it is during this minute that I push it a but further each time until I up the main routine.

Anyway last week I managed 3 complete cycles and on the 4th and 5th I had to drop the 16 kph minutes to 14 kph.

Today I NAILED all 5 cycles at the stated speeds and I was really chuffed to bits with hitting this target. Don't get me wrong I was "dead" by the end but still some way off from throwing up which Christy never thinks is a good sign, hehe!! I must admit I do agree with her but have been close a few times last year when duplicating some of Adam's cardio sessions!!

So the week of cardio has certainly produced some awesome fitness results as far as I am concerned. Every one of my workouts has been increased day over day.

I am really looking forward to a BF test tomorrow to see what effect it has had on my body composition, I am nervous too though, I know it should have made a big difference because I have been 100% with my nutrition, no booze, snacking, sweets and that's no mean feet when the kids have drawers of crisps and sweets, they even have about half a dozen Easter eggs left!!!

The question is how much have I lost, I have gone down a notch on my belt which is a great sign so tune in tomorrow to see whether they are good or bad.

After my run I did a good abs session and ended up burning around 550 calories so not quite as much but still a good amount. Even if I get good results tomorrow I am still going to change my training for a week or so, I will still do cardio but not the long runs as I don't want my body to adapt like last time.

Until tomorrow...

Day 22: Results are coming...

Another amazing day weather wise today, too bad I had to work though. Lunchtime and I hit the gym, another 45 minute session on the treadmill again incrementing the start speed by 0.1 kph which means today's starting speed was 10.3 kph.

Overall today I covered 8.23 kms today in 45 minutes which is 0.3 kms further than this time last week, that's an extra 300 metres, I am pretty pleased with that progress over a bit less than a week. My fitness seems to be slowly coming back. The run I went on yesterday evening was a return to sub 28 minutes which is great too as I was running them a while back at nearly 27 minutes.

I shall do one more cardio session tomorrow, not sure what yet so that I can get an accurate BF measurement and then I will switch to some weights, don't want to let my body get too used to these workouts so time to switch for a bit.

Still eating really clean, the weekend was good, no alcohol, no snacking, eating lots of fruit & vegetables, rice, pasta & cous cous and I'm sticking to my minimum 3 litres of pure water per day, it's probably closer to though, at least during the week, the weekend is not so good on the fluids due to be lots of places. I would say my nutrition has been spot on the past week so I am expecting results come Wednesday.

Until tomorrow...

Day 21: 3 weeks shredded

3 weeks already...

Quick post tonight, it's been a fantastic day most of which was spent on the beach and in the sea with our first beach BBQ of the year which was great.

Managed to sneak a 3.5 mile run in this evening when it had cooled down and the kids were in bed which is great as normally I do not train at the weekends so that is a bonus 500 calories to start the week also!!!

I was very careful not to overeat at the BBQ this afternoon and had a small lunch to compensate but as we ate at around 4pm I had plenty of time to digest the food before going to bed plus going out for the run later in the evening.

It's been a great weekend, this is what weekends are made for, on the beach for most of the day, the kids in and out of the sea playing with all there friends....perfect!

Until tomorrow...

Day 20: Sun, Sun & then some more Sun

Wow what a day, started really overcast and then the sun came out and it baked everything, it was a lovely day. A rest day today, mostly, despite a very brisk walk to the shops this morning, then football at the park with one of my sons followed by a trip to the beach which was real hot. So plenty of mild exercise today, lots of sun and plenty of fun...and more sun on it's way, maybe summer has finally reached the UK!!!

Until tomorrow...

Day 19: 3000 calories in 4 days, will it help?

Well there are some new pics below but based on the weight increase over the past couple of weeks there does not look like much difference even with the little bit of muscle mass gained. Still I hope that next weeks will show some real improvement.

Another 800+ calories evaporated over 8.14 kms today. I upped the pace again which meant 0.1 kph faster for the whole 45 minutes and managed the final minutes sprint at 16kph too. So this meant another .07 kms run. May sound small but if I keep going then it all mounts up.

I must say my legs do need a rest now, that's around 29 kms that I have covered in 4 days this week and about 3000 calories.

Almost forgot have been running in the mornings for the last 3 days also, not far, probably only 1 km after dropping the kids off at school but it all helps. So good numbers this week and hopefully will transfer to some noticeable results next week.

I plan to bring in some weights next week again and some long runs some HIT to mix it up and then back to a week of cardio.

I hope to do a short 15 - 20 minute ab workout over the weekend but apart from that it will be mostly downtime. Have a great weekend all. Pics below.

Until tomorrow...

Day 18: Getting Stronger Each Day

It was back down to the gym today and I managed another 800+ calories on the treadmill which was great. Again cranked it up a notch. This is 3rd time now of doing this workout and it is already progressing well, I broke the 8km mark today for the first time. Below is a comparison of the 1st vs 3rd workouts:

1st 3rd
0 - 10 mins 10 kph 10.1 kph
10 - 20 mins 10.2 kph 10.3 kph
20 - 31 mins 10.5 kph
20 - 30 mins 10.6 kph
Final 30 secs 14 kph About 7.93kms covered
Final 1 minute 16 kph About 8.07kms covered

It may not seem like a lot increasing most of the workout by 0.1 kph but this little extra over 45 minutes adds up to quite a bit of extra mileage. Yesterdays session was not as fast as this but it was still more than the first and tomorrows will crank up again. Each day a little more so that I keep pushing my fitness forwards.

I felt pretty good at the end again despite the final minute sprint at 16 kph (that' s 10 mph for those who work in mph) and again the recovery was good too. Kept to my healthy eating and 3 litres of water again so still ticking all of the boxes.

Congratulations Suzette on 400 days blogging and thanks for all the support you have shown.

Until tomorrow...

Day 17: Everything in place!

Well everything is now in place for the next week to shift some serious BF. Cardio from now until next week and then I will bring the weights back in, continue eating clean during the week and eat cleaner at the weekends, I have cranked my water consumption up too as this has always been a week point for me, so am now consuming 3+ litres of water per day.

So if this doesn't work then I don't know what will!!

So it was back to the gym today and another 45 minute run like last week. Cranked it up though from last weeks so that I covered more kms, not sure what it was but felt much better after the run than last week even though it was faster, the fitness is slowly coming back.

So another 800 calories burnt off today and was able to walk out the gym rather than hobbling today.

So I am now firing on all cylinders, everything is lined up and if it works well then I will mix it up next week and then go back to the week after.

Until tomorrow...

Day 16: Long Day...

5.30 am start today so it's been a long day and also disappointing as I thought I was making progress. One of the local gyms came to the office today to do some health checks so I went along. According to their Tanita machine which does a complete body measurement I had put on 1.5 kg since I last stepped on the scales 2 weeks ago yet had lost 5% BF!!! Not much faith in that reading. It did state that my hydration was good though.

So I weighed myself when I got home, similar weight but 21.9% BF so I am still putting on weight and fat. Very disappointed but even more determined now. Looks like the shift to more weights has not been good for me even though I have put on nearly 0.5kg of muscle the fat is not shifting.

So I am gonna up the cardio and do a week of long runs and then mix it up next week and then another week of long runs etc etc.

So tonight I got home said hi to the kids and wife and the first was packed off to football (soccer for any Americans reading!!!) and then I got changed and headed out for a run along the beach, What a beautiful evening, still really warm and sunny. Ran about 3.5 miles and burnt around 600 calories so that's a good start. I will try for another 800 tomorrow at the gym and see if this gets the trend reversed.

Until tomorrow...

Day 15: Fun with the Kids

Bank holiday in the UK so no work and no school and unfortunately no time for a workout today. But there was plenty of exercise running after the kids all day and I washed the car so it is not all bad. Will be right back into it tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Day 14: WoW 2 weeks already

Can't believe it's 2 weeks already...time fly's when your having fun. Well not much today, my sons birthday so it has been mostly consumed with opening presents then watching or helping him play with presents, but he has had a great day and loved the pressies he got and that is the main thing.

Swimming today, kids are on holiday tomorrow so will try and go for a run at the end of the day.

Until tomorrow...

Day 13: A day of rest...

No formal exercise today but plenty of walking and driving. I spent about 3 hours driving today so was curious to see how many extra calories I burnt compared to if I had just watched TV or sat outside. Surprisingly I burnt an extra 90 calories by driving during those 3 hours, not a great deal but it all counts!

Nothing else to say today so I will sign off.

Until tomorrow...

Day 12: BIG Cardio...LOTS of Calories

Well it was slow and steady wins the race today although it turned out to be reasonable pace throughout. 45 minutes loaded onto the treadmill and then it was off, straight up 10 kph. Whenever I run I always have in my mind that I can increase the speed, incline etc but never decrease so I am cautious to ensure that I stick to this. It can be hard because I also want to get to the end of my workout and have given it 110%.

With this in mind I increased to 10.2 kph at 10 minutes, and then to 10.5 at 20 minutes and then as the timer hit 31 minutes it was time for the 1 minute increases. So each minute that passed I upped the speed by 0.1 kph until I reached the last minute and then it went to 12 kph. By this time my already tired quads from the squats yesterday were really feeling it. For the last 30 seconds I punched it to 14 kph and pushed it through to the end. I just missed the 8 km mark, I think it was about 7.93 km in the end.

By the time I had finished the 1 minute cool down and performed a few stretches my HR monitor was registering a whopping 812 calories burnt which was fantastic. Felt great pushing a long run like that but still some way off with regards to fitness but I can feel it slowly creeping back.

Bank Holiday weekend in the UK so it will be some home workouts over the next few days. 7 days ago I posted the first ever pic on my blog and today 7 days on the second goes up.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Thanks to everyone new and old who has dropped by, it is greatly appreciated.

Until tomorrow...

Day 11: Aches are still coming

Well I was expecting aches when I started out but coming up to 14 days now I thought that they would be gone by now. Maybe it is just because I am going much harder much sooner than previously I don't know but I certainly know that these routines are doing some good.

It was back and legs today, again really concentrating on form. I did however bump the squats up 60kg which I was pleased with, 4 sets of 10 reps and the majority were full squats. Then I did a variety of lower back and upper back exercises and also some leg extensions.

I was as last week hobbling out of the gym afterwards!! A huge tuna salad was consumed shortly there after.

No HIT tomorrow as I want to mix my routines as much as possible this time around, going to concentrate on stamina by running long and hard. So it will around about 40 - 45 minutes on the treadmill. Starting around 10 kph and slowly increasing the speed as I go but basically trying to run as far as I can in the time.

Until tomorrow...