NEVER trust your mother!

Today saw me spend some quality time with my mother down from the bush. Now I really enjoy spending time with her when she comes to Sydney, but sometimes she does push the boundary a bit… Like today…

Today was one of those days.

We often like to do things, catch a movie, go to the art gallery or a museum. We’ve done quite a few things together, and we usually like the same sort of movies… (well, to a degree anyway)

BUT TODAY WAS AN EXCEPTION

She is BANNED from picking another movie for 3 (yes that’s THREE) years!

When she initially said she wanted to see “Enchanted” or “Enchantment” or some other such silly sounding name, I got her to describe it. I read the review online and recognised it to be a “kiddie” movie. But was reassured (by her) that it’s for adults too! Right!

It started off with (what felt like) a 3 hour BAD cartoon… Poor story line, bad characters, general run-of-the-mill 5 year old stuff. She tells me, “But it will be a movie soon, it just starts as a cartoon…”EVENTUALLY! But she didn’t mention the fact that it would flash back to the cartoon or END with the cartoon as well!

And the Acting (if you could call it that!) was atrocious.

The point at which I REALLY knew I was in the wrong place, was towards the end when (in the style of sleeping beauty and other crappy fairy tales) I was watching the hap hazard Prince Charming give the princess-to-be a “True Love First Kiss” to wake her up…

But she didn’t. An evil twist would have been to have him keel over and die, but that’s just me. And it was the “REALITY” world lead actor who was the one who needed to kiss her. Anyway, as I was saying, the point at which I just wanted to lunge at the screen and start attacking it a knife was when her “True Love” leans over to kiss her… He stalls… His girlfriend looks up at him… sad… puppy dog eyes… and she tells him to kiss her…

And then so do all the kids in the cinema! 5 and 6 year olds screaming at the screen: “KISS HER!! KISS HER!!!”

I wanted to die. But realising I have much to live for, I wanted to kill my mother.

The only good thing about the whole experience was the fact that (being for kids) it was short!!! YAY!!!

Changing Lifestyles

Diets don’t work. Everyone knows that. If you’re going to go on a diet, you’re going to put the weight back on.

What you need to do is change your lifestyle. Change your eating habits. Change your exercise regime (or at least start one).

I am now in the process of doing just that. I do admit that initially, right now, I am on a diet. But I know this is just a quick fix. A quick solution to an age old problem. I want to lose some weight quickly. I have done some things hard (for example, I have put myself “on the dry” this month). Other things are just about self control and discipline. Unfortunately discipline is something I have very little of, or so I thought…

I have started my diet and the plan is to migrate onto a better eating plan. I have gone cold turkey on some of the most beautiful food groups in the world, namely: Carbohydrates. This is the diet part I am talking about. I am not talking about giving up on carbs altogether. But just for a while. 2 weeks, to a month. I’m at the 2 week period now and I had my first bowl of pasta today. Probably larger than it should have been, but I will not be having anymore for a few more days/weeks yet.

The point of this particular blog though, was to let you know that it hasn’t been that hard. I have a lot of motivation to keep strong and this motivation is keping me on track. The best part is, the motivation itself makes the cravings less severe. I would not mind having a drink or two (I love wild turkey), but know it would be the beginning of the end again. Then I would probably fall into my old ways quickly and probably order a pizza at the end of the night.

So what is my motivation?

  1. Check around this site, you’ll find some pictures, and they are NOT very pretty
  2. health issues
  3. cost
  4. and this motto:

Nothing tastes as good, as being thin feels

Day 13

I did the Centenial Park walk again today. Although I did overdo it a bit this time. I tried jogging way too far and although I impressed myself initially, I soon tired to a state that left me extremely exhausted. But I wasn’t just knackered (so-to-speak) I felt like I was dying.

While I have taken to this pretty full-on, my diet is not really improving. I have cut out all the junk food that I eat and having pretty much one meal a day, supplemented with 3-5 protein shakes. While this is helping (to an extent) it is also hurting in that I do not feel my body is getting enough energy to do that sort of walk/run.

Maybe, maybe not. I’m not 100% sure yet. But I am learning as I go.

Day 12

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Ahhh Day 12… This is my first Centennial Park walk.

The day itself was hugely uneventful, and hot. So I held off going for a walk for a long time. It was late afternoon before I finally got out there. It was about 6.30pm by the time I finally got out the door.

It was a very enjoyable walk. So good, it almost made me think that I wanted to go for a walk! I’ve actually never been to Centennial Park and so this was killing two birds with one stone. I dawdled for much of the walk once I was in there just looking around the place, but I still managed to raise a sweat and got a few short bursts of jogging in there.

I even managed a couple of sets of push-ups and sit-ups along the way (2x 10 of each)

Day 11

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Another work day. I went out for lunch today, and I went for a walk to my local shopping centre. It’s around a 10-15 minute walk and I thought I’d drop in and get some salad stuff for lunch. Well, it turned into a huge shopping experience…

This always happens to me. I walk there thinking I need the one or two essentials and end up walking to the checkout with bags and bags of crap. Well, it happened again. By the time I got home I was well and truly hurting. A large part of the walk is uphill, and carrying 6 or so shopping bags can be quite cumbersome. I should utilise the home delivery option, but I think to myself that “it’s only a couple of bags… You can do it.”

By the time I get 100 metres up the road I am already cursing.

I got home and made myself an omelet. You simply can’t go wrong with one of those.

All up the walk was about 2km, or slightly less and the pedometer reached 4500 paces. Otherwise, an uneventful day.

Day 10

This was a good day considering it was a work day!

Before work I jumped on the treadmill for 2km. Not hugely fast, but without a fan in front of me I started sweating really quick. I mean it was dripping off me.

Nothing to report, work-wise. I ate my usual non-carb lunch but after work a mate and I went for a short power walk*. the total distance of the walk was about 2.5km. We were both happy to go for a longer walk, but he was still on the clock and so he couldn’t afford too much more time away from work. The walk wasn’t too demanding, although my shins did hurt (as usual).

(*note: You may, or may not have realised, I am a little bit of a short-stuff guy. Short legs, big belly. The downside is, my power walk is equivalent to most people’s strolling. Well, not that bad. but it’s not great! As a result, I try and step out more, and even when I don’t i still get shin splints. I was in the Australian Army for a while when I was younger, and every PT session I would always get them. no amount of training or stretching would help)

Day 08

The extent of my exercise today was to walk to Broadway shopping centre. Not a huge walk by any stretch of the imagination, but 6500 paces on the pedometer and roughly 4.5km round trip.

While I was there I bought myself a whole suite of training gear, mainly singlets and socks with a few other odds and ends thrown in.

I had lunch there, a nice piece of grilled Deep Sea Ling. Expensive, but beautiful. The guy next to me was eating battered fish and chips, the good ole Aussie classic. But I got through my large-ish piece of fish and bottle of water.

Day 04

pic of sydney harbour bridge
Sydney Icon

A DAY DEVOTED TO TRAINING

  1. Weight: 103.0kg (neat considering the bad day yesterday!)
  2. Breakfast: Chicken Breast, Onion and Tomato
  3. Lunch: Grilled fish (and 6 calamari)
  4. Dinner: chicken, pumpkin and garden vege’s
  5. Snacks: jerky, and a protein substitute meal/drink
  6. Water: 5+ L
  7. Exercise: Walking (12km), 3 sets x 10 situps (and they REALLY hurt), 1 set of push-ups (I’m too embarrassed to put the number here)

Daily summary:

Overall rating I give myself for today’s effort: 7/10.

I have docked myself points, because even thoughI tried well at the exercise, I know I overdid it. My feet are killing me. Also, even though my snacks weren’t too bad, I had too many of them. Gotta trim that back a bit.

I planned todays activity to involve a bus ride to Circular Quay, then a walk to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and climb the stairs to the walkway (there are a few of them)… Then follow the walkway back over the Quay and over to the Botanical Gardens. From there it’s a cruisy 5k’s home. The whole length I have roughly calculated at a shade over 6km. So if I was to be able to run this, I should be able to do it in an hour or slightly more… NOT!

Diary of today:

  • 0730 – out of bed and minor tinkering (on the net)
  • 0830 – start breakie – grilled single chicken breast thinly sliced with lemon pepper, and ½ onion and a 1 tomato, fried (no oil).
  • 0900 – dishes and general cleaning of the kitchen. I CAN SEE MY BENCH!! WOOT!
    and again, minor tinkering
  • 0930 – I have already had 1L of water. Trying to hydrate and get ready for today
  • 1100 – As plans do, sometimes they go awry. And this one only got better. I walked TO Circular Quay and still did the bridge stairs. Continued over the top of circular quay, into Macquarie street and back to the Quay. (5.5km). I then caught a Ferry to Manly for lunch and then ferried back again. Then a similar 5km walk back home. All up (including the Manly stint) the walking amounted to 12km. A little further than I planned, and I also got a bit sun burnt (as I didn’t plan on spending THAT much time out there
  • 1700 – Home and more cleaning and a couple more litres of water!
  • 2030 – Out to a pub for Karaoke. I drank about 4 10oz glasses of water and snacked on beef Jerky while I watched my friends get drunk. It was hard, and I found it annoying (I hate drunks – I love BEING drunk, but I hate dealing with them when I’m sober lol).
  • 0030 – Finally got home to go to bed (at last!)

NYE 2007/2008

Sydney Harbour Bridge - New Years Eve
Sydney Harbour Bridge - New Years Eve

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2008

Day Zero – the plan

D-Day. (Dave’s Day)

The first day. It all starts today.

The day that all others are going to be measured by.

(Note to self: Today is the first day of the rest of my life.)

THE 7 P’s

“Prior Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance.”

I have no MASTER PLAN at the moment, but just some basic rules. And maybe a motto/mantra: Eat good and exercise regularly. Yesterday I was very motivated to do the exercise (probably because at this time I am not drunk or hung-over!). But after a night of celebration that feeling of superiority I had over my goal, has most certainly wained.

The hard part though is going to be the diet. I love my food. I love my blue cheese sauce. I love my bread, potatoes and pasta. I have a very bad habit of skipping meals and when I eat, I usually eat until I can fit no more in. I often have only 1 or 2 meals a day. Usually 1, NEVER 3. These are all things I am going to have to change:

  • Eat more regularly,
  • Eat smaller portions,
  • Eat a balanced diet, and most importantly
  • Eat in moderation

Then I am going to have to supplement my diet with exercise. (I’m sure that should be a 4 letter word!). I am very lucky to have a Gym at work, I just need to use it. I have a few mates at work who already use it, I am going to harness the power of peer pressure and advise them to MAKE me do it. Shame me into doing it.

With the exercise, I plan on doing something everyday – 7 days a week. At least 3 – 4 times a week, I have to spend an hour doing something… Running (Walking), Weights, (not) Swimming etc etc. Solid activities. Every other day can be something short and simple for 5 – 10 minutes. Push ups, Sit ups, Crunches…

Back to the 7 P’s. My fridge is not stacked for healthy eating at the moment. In fact, it’s hardly stacked at all. So today is going to be pretty light on (dietary wise) but tomorrow I will go out and purchase more goods. I will be taking the “low carb” approach for the first couple of weeks.

Now to kick this plan into action…

A few years ago…

me a few years ago
me a few years back

Yes, I have decided, it is now or never. I have never made a new years resolution before, but this year it’s going to be different. I’ve decided I’ve had enough of being fat and unfit. So this year, I am going to do something about it. Having been inspired by a few youtubers out there who have documented their journey, I’ve decided I am going to do the same.

A little about me: I’m just a normalish guy, 37 years old, Sydney (Australia) born and bred. 5’7ish (or just a shade over 170cm for us non-imperialists) and weight 105kgs (that’s 231lbs). I wouldn’t necessarily class myself as obese, but I am most certainly overweight. And I want to lose that weight. I’m a normal guy, with an almost normal job (but I work a 12 hour roster, and so this is going to be one of my greatest challenges: Maintaining a strict regime while working). I don’t smoke (and after tonight) only drink on those very rare special ocassions… Like birthdays, farewells and stuff.

But this all starts tomorrow :-)

You’ve heard it all before, haven’t you?

It’s not the new year yet, and we have one more night of celebrating before I go on my no alcohol binge (for at least one month) while I start trying to shed these love handles and other superfluous fatty over-hangs. Having a few drinks 2 or 3 or 5 times a week is going to be a thing of the past.

The Last Meal
The Last Supper

And so is a meal such as this!

For years one of my favourite meals has always been Chicken Kiev. That is, until I met Daniel, the international quisine chef at the Woolpack Hotel. This Sirloin with blue-cheese sauce is simply “to die for”

And if I had of kept eating it, I probably would die… But it’s soooo nice. Ahh well, A thing of the past now (I might have a commemorative
meal tonight – just so that the taste can linger for one last moment…)

After all, it is New Years Eve!

Dave.

Edit: In moving to the new site I thought I would revamp this a little. I had the best of intentions when I started this site, I really wanted to lose the weight, and for a good while I did. I dieted twice and on the second occasion I actually lost almost 20kgs. When I started the 2nd diet I was back to my original starting weight. Right now, I’m almost back to it again. In the last year I have been everywhere between 89.9kg and 105.5. I SHOULD do it again!