Big Show's Highway to the Half

[Big_Show]

This year so far has not been particularly successful.  Since last December my weight gain has continued inexorably, even when I convince myself that I'm doing things correctly, so as things stand I am currently at my heaviest in many, many years - 113.0kg /250lbs.

 

I have entered the Brighton Marathon next April and I am determined to run a PB (currently 3:57), despite currently having to train in a subtropical desert climate.  As a further incentive, I've entered the Abu Dhabi Half-Marathon at the end of November, so this is a much closer & clearer target for my weight loss & upping the distances of my long runs.  Only ten weeks left for that one!

 

Weight-loss really does all come down to diet with me.  I can get the exercise in, but I am brilliant at coming up with excuses for why I can I make an exception "just this once", or start again tomorrow, or why something doesn't count, or just saying "f*ck it, I want to eat something" and consuming an entire takeaway menu/supermarket...  so my focus really has to stay on my food.

 

I'm going to tell everybody at work about my targets so they can call me on it if I start eating rubbish at work.  Several of my friends have started to lose some weight and get fitter too (it's really easy to put it on in this country!) so they'll be on my side as well.

 

Here's what I've drafted out for my challenges; I'll assign the points to them over the weekend when I've had a think about it:

 

1) Eat clean
 - aim for an calorie deficit across the week
 - cook food from scratch using fresh ingredients wherever possible
 - limit the vending machine to once per week
 - limit ice creams to buying one pack of 6 mini-Magnums per week
 - limit alcohol intake to once per week, and not to excess

 

2) Run a minimum of three times per week
 - gradually increase distance of long run
 - include at least one speed session
 - if too hot/dusty to run outside, use the treadmill in the gym
 - if injured, use the bike or cross-trainer
 - try to make the club's track sessions, otherwise fly solo

 

3) Bodyweight workouts 2x weekly
 - follow the NF Academy workout plans
 - try to do the optional extras at the end of every workout

 

LQ) Weekly work on my distance learning Clinical Coding course

- just starting this week, and my first assessement is at the end of October.

 

There are a couple of weeks in the middle when I'll first be at Camp Nerd Fitness (that's come around alarmingly quickly!) and then in New York for a week, but both of these weeks will be very active (my Fitbit may overheat!) so I'm fully expecting to lose weight depsite being on holiday.  I managed it while at home for a month over the summer despite all the home cooking, so I'm not really worried about the States!

 

So there's my plan.  I've tried to keep it as simple and basic as possible, as one of the ways I manage to get things wrong is be overcomplicating it.  Time to stop the rot and put things right!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

You have a good plan. I'll be following along.

[Xena]

Very solid!

[Big_Show]

I feel like I've made a good start on the challenge today, even though the challenge hasn't actually started yet.

 

Last night I had a quiet night in with the TV and got an early night, so this morning I was up in time to get to running club for the 5:00 start.  It's still brutally humid so it was a nice easy pace - the first 5k loop was ok, but by the second one the sun was coming up and the danger of overheating reared its ugly head.  So the second 5k included a number of walk-breaks, but a few of us stuck together and it all went fine.  10k in 1:06:06 - hopefully next month when I get back from my USA trip it'll be much more conducive to running and we'll be back to happily doing 15k+ without even thinking about it (relatively speaking).

 

I've also been the supermarket to buy my food for the weekend - I'll do the bigger week's shop tomorrow so I can't "accidentally" eat any of that food over the weekend instead.  I'm sure I could come up with a convincing reason for why it's necessary, therefore I'll just neatly avoid the temptation completely.

 

The rest of the day is due to be a pretty quiet one, and I'll be getting another early night so I can make tomorrow morning's social run with the club.  It'll be hotter as it's a 5:30 start, but it's a similar run/walk situation as required and frankly I need to get the mileage done regardless of what pace it is.  Plus there's coffee afterwards, which is always good!

 

Tonight's quiet night in (after the weekly Skype with my family back home) will be spent watching Age of Ultron, which finally became available this week really - looking forward to watching it again!

 

Challenge starts properly on Sunday (the beginning of the weeks over here) so I should have things nicely planned out and bedded in by then.  I want a clean sweep of all six weeks this time around!

[Xena]

It's kind of satisfying to get yourself all set up for success over the next few days, and even more satisfying when it's at the beginning of a new challenge. Sounds like you are ready for some win.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Always good to set up for success in week 0. Well done!

[EricMN]

Solid plan. Glad to see you have some accountability that has faces you can see regularly, too. That always helps me.

And it looks like you're already off to a good start.

[Big_Show]

Had a nice quiet night with Age of Ultron yesterday.  Fought off the temptation to go get a McDonalds, pour more wine, and put on another film - instead I went to bed at the same time I would on a school night and made it to the Corniche for the Saturday morning club run.  Thanks to the unexpected thunderstorm we had yesterday afternoon the humidity has gone right down, so the 10k run I did went much better, despite setting off half an hour later than yesterday - I didn't start overheating until 5 miles in, at which point I switched to walking 100 steps/running 500 steps and repeating for the final 1.2 miles - overall 6.22M in 1:00:44 (five minutes faster than yesteday!)  Then we sat around and drank coffee (in the shade!) until I felt recovered enough to drive home...

 

Having a lazy rest of the day.  A few jobs round the house to do, get things ready for the week ahead at work, that kind of thing.  Really looking forward to the challenge proper starting tomorrow, I'm really determined to kick it's arse!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Good job on the run.

[Big_Show]

Good job on the run.

Cheers mate. Onwards & upwards!

[Endor]

I find Nutrition the hardest thing to stick to as well. I reckon pre-cooking a few meals would be a good idea for you, these days I pre-cook a lot of fresh stuff (6 meals at a time) and leave them in the fridge but in the past when I dropped the majority of my weight I kept pre-made meals in the freezer always. Whenever I was tempted to get a takeaway I knew there was an alternative ready to go and there were no excuses available, if I ended up eating junk it was because I was too lazy/unmotivated. Funnily enough I have just got back from the supermarket with ingredients for a batch of mexican meatballs to keep in the freezer, nutrition is going to be paramount in this challenge. 

 

Hope it goes well for you this time around, you must be stoked about camp! Make sure you say hi to @Wovercast for me, he's going too. 

[Big_Show]

I find Nutrition the hardest thing to stick to as well. I reckon pre-cooking a few meals would be a good idea for you, these days I pre-cook a lot of fresh stuff (6 meals at a time) and leave them in the fridge but in the past when I dropped the majority of my weight I kept pre-made meals in the freezer always. Whenever I was tempted to get a takeaway I knew there was an alternative ready to go and there were no excuses available, if I ended up eating junk it was because I was too lazy/unmotivated. Funnily enough I have just got back from the supermarket with ingredients for a batch of mexican meatballs to keep in the freezer, nutrition is going to be paramount in this challenge. 

 

Hope it goes well for you this time around, you must be stoked about camp! Make sure you say hi to @Wovercast for me, he's going too. 

 

That's the plan - one of the most successful parts of my first challenge was to try a new recipe each week.  I should try that again this time around, as there are generally always several days' worth of food left over afterwards!

[EricMN]

Off to a strong start, Show.

[Big_Show]

The first day of the challenge went well.  I was starting with fatigued legs from running the previous two days in a row, so when I headed for the treadmill I decided to just do 5k rather than risk an overuse injury on the very first day.

 

I opted for a fartlek session, varying the pace after a bit of a warm-up and throwing in the odd walk break around faster intervals.  Overall 5k in 28:47, although I still hate treadmills...

 

Tonight after work I'm planning to do a bodyweight circuit.  I need to make sure I get in, get changed, and get started before I have chance to think about doing anything else and ending up on the sofa.  It's a lot harder to get going once again after you stop!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I don't often work out in the evenings if I get comfortable first.

[EricMN]

It's a lot harder to get going once again after you stop!

 

Preach it, brother.

[rowan]

SO MUCH.  Intertia is a thing, y'all.  

 

Also, things are getting nice and cool in the eastern US, I think you'll probably surprise yourself with how well you can run in non-apocalyptic conditions!  

 

The after-work-workout is tricky - maybe cover your couch in iron rebar, or some kind of couch roll cage until you've done your workout?  Or there's always this:

 

[Xena]

Fartlek was a good idea. Any kind of game you can play on the treadmill helps pass the time (as you know).

[Big_Show]

SO MUCH.  Intertia is a thing, y'all.  

 

Also, things are getting nice and cool in the eastern US, I think you'll probably surprise yourself with how well you can run in non-apocalyptic conditions!  

 

The after-work-workout is tricky - maybe cover your couch in iron rebar, or some kind of couch roll cage until you've done your workout?  Or there's always this:

 

 

This is actually a good idea - perhaps if I start leaving my workout kit & equipment etc. on the sofa when I go to bed the night before, then I'll have to move it & get all guilty if I try to skip my workout!

[Big_Show]

As it turned out, yesterday was a non-starter for a different reason; three days of running when I'm not used to it took more of a toll on my legs than I thought, and they were just DOMS-y/exhausted all day.  So in the end I decided the more sensible choice was to take the rest day and recover instead (my training plan allows for up to two a week anyway).

 

Unfortunately I ended up eating more food than I planned over the evening as a result.  Ugh.  Boredom really hits me in the fake-hunger centre of the brain.

 

Still, today's a new day!  So I'm simply left with the decision of what to do after work: bump everything along a day and do last night's bodyweight workout, or do the treadmill run I had originally planned?  Doesn't make a major difference either way as I'll just do the other one tomorrow and NF Yoga on Thursday, but it's the kind of pointless decision that I can debate in my head all day at work...

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I spent my childhood eating my boredom, it was not a good way to live. I know that feel.

[Big_Show]

I'm thinking I need to go down the Accountabilibuddy route, possibly even using either WhatsApp or Snapchat to share a photo of everything I eat.  That might help matters.

 

Also, this time last year I was on my way to being in the best shape I'd been in for ages (which peaked around the end of October/November).  I should really look back over my training logs and check on what I was doing then in spite of the heat & humidity, as it was obviously working.

[Sylvaa]

Boredom eating is the worst! I started drinking a cup of tea in the evenings for this reason [insert blanket statement on Americans drinking tea entirely wrong here].

[rowan]

THE BOREDOM EATING DRAGON.  I know it well.

 

Taking photos of your food sounds like a great idea!  You might also want to take a look at your grocery shopping - do you buy a lot of snacking-type foods, or things that are easy to binge on?  It's hard to binge-eat on pre-prepared vegetable stew!  

 

Here's hoping today is better!

[Big_Show]

Yesterday went so much better! Despite boredom I didn't snack at work, I stocked up food to make a maHOOsive bolognese tonight which should last a few days, and it finally feels like my head's in the right place for eating healthy again.

I also wemt for a run in the evening. Still warm, but it started off fine. After about three miles I found my right calf really tight and I'd slowed right down, so I stopped and stretched for a moment, then reset my posture and started running again while paying attention to keeping correct form.

I was suddenly running so much quicker! When I get tired I have a tendancy to slap my feet down and shuffle, whereas when I'm running properly I'm a forefoot striker. It felt so much better, I ran faster for the same level of effort, so there's my answer - more mindful running! Overall 4.2M in 38:47 @ 9:01/mile - looking forward to working those averages back down to the low eights.

Tonight is bodyweight circuits and batch cookery. Can't wait!